I have failed you, dear readers.  Life has gotten the best of me this Halloween season.  I hope I can at least give you the Halloween Day post - I'll strive for it.  I don't like failure, but alas, monsters need to be vanquished.

 Until then, stay safe -… Read full post »

ZOMBIES, WITH SUGAR ON TOP.  PLUS: MOTHER JEFFERSON!

 Delighting in blaxploitation horror is a tricky proposition.  Nonetheless, I couldn't love the movie Blacula more, and I'm very glad I had the opportunity to take in Sugar Hill and Her Zombie Hitm… Read full post »

SEXY SPONGEBOB!

Really?

 (And a big fist shake to whatever copyright law prevented Hammer Horror's youtube channel from their generous limited time posting of their full length feature "X The Unknown" (1958) outside of the UK). Read full post »

 WHITE, CARRIE (old and new)

The King is a very accomplished man.  I wonder if his most enduring story will be "Carrie, " the amazingly operatic American Gothic tragedy. Don't we see its themes play out to this day, sadly enough, on the news?  Rabid… Read full post »

… Read full post »

URBAN FANTASY: LEATHER PANTS AND TRAMP STAMPS!

Have you taken a good look at the airport, newsstand and supermarket bookshelf?  Have you noticed anything else alongside the wingnut pundit anti-Obama tomes and the many Shades of prurient naughtiness?

Perhaps… Read full post »

 Troll 2!

There are films in this world that will change your life.  Majestic, operatic spectacles of entertainment that will stay with you, haunt you, prompt discussions and lead you to think about the human condition.

Troll 2 is such a film. 

Majestic in… Read full post »

the post on Silent House I don't have  the time management skills or discipline to produce for you today.... Read full post »

 RASPUTIN

I am defeated.  Time has gotten the best of me.  This was going to be a post about Rappers and horror.  But I can't give you that rundown today.  So have a picture of Grigori Rasputin.  He was occult and scary. Read full post »

Q

It's my weak week.  I told you I had nothin'....

 I've never seen Q: The Winged Serpent, but I remember the trailer  in the early 1980's making a big impression on me.  This trailer looks more like a hoot.  Sad, eerie shot of the Twin… Read full post »

PHYLLIS DILLER!

(Note: I wish I could do a lengthy essay every day, but alas, time doesn't permit.  That doesn't preclude an in-depth discussion about the subject in the comments section if you're so inclined!)

michOnne!

Last night was the premiere of The Walking Dead's third season.  Let's see how short I can make this. 

Realizing most every abandoned house is a useless headquarters, Rick and his group stumble on the perfect solution to protect their group: prison.… Read full post »

SISTER LUCRETIA DISMAS,

NOIR NUN!

In

CHOOSERS OF THE SLAIN!

(copyright Chillerpop; sketch by Deanlegion)

He had a carefully styled beard, horn rimmed glasses, a beret and an affected vintage shirt, but his most notable accessory at the moment was the cheap tin fork sticking out of… Read full post »

Mrs. Roper, Mrs. Travolta, the Guy from 'Wings', the Devil, and ME!

I like that title.  It sounds like a New England folktale, or something.

But we're going to go out of order.  Let's start with ME. 

My memory might be fractured, but I think I… Read full post »

Local Lore!

I did a quick bit of amateur ghost hunting last night.  Salt Lake City has more spectacular local ghost stories, but the one I will cover for today is close to where I live, and it afforded me the chance to walk my lovely… Read full post »

KREWES!

It was Salon itself which brought Sean Stewart's Galveston to my attention back in the year 2000.  I had yet to move to New Orleans, where I would live through two consecutive Mardi Gras.  The conceit of Galveston involves an apocalyptic hurricane - an/… Read full post »

Jennifer Rubin!

The letter J will be dedicated to one of my favorite scream queens,  Jennifer Rubin.  

The picture above embodies why Ms. Rubin has forever stood out in classic 1980's horror.

 "In my dreams, I'm beautiful AND bad!"

That's her line from Nig… Read full post »

I YAM AN ANTI-CRRRIST!

Fear No Evil (1981, directed by Frank LaLoggia) is a bizarre piece of horror cinema, a result of yet another lonely night and the bizarre VHS selection at that Blockbuster on 95th and 3rd.    

This film,… Read full post »

HAMMER HORROR!

From wikipedia:

Horror movies are another interest of Bush's and have influenced the gothic nature of several of her songs, such as "Hounds of Love", inspired by the 1957 horror movie Night of the Demon.^[103] Her songs have occasionally combined… Read full post »

GILDA RADNER!

The great Gilda Radner voiced the titular witch in this 1978 Halloween kids' special of which I have fond memories. Dan Akroyd also participated in this. Cute, cute cute.  Cool animation (surreal and perhaps even creepy?).

That is all.  Read full post »

(WARNING: SPOILERS FOR HOSTEL, RED STATE AND THE WICKER MAN)

High five, bro!  Can we point to a male virgin lead character in horror that doesn't die?

I've just been reading about Carol J. Clover's academic book Men, Women… Read full post »

ELDRITCH, ANDREW

DRUIDS!

Tree hugging peaceful pagan hippies, you say?  Perhaps, perhaps...but the horror genre hasn't always seen it that way.  Given their association with the Celtic S'amhain, our Halloween, it's only natural that the ancient Celtic priest class would find their way into our taw… Read full post »

Cults!

I only ever want to fly long transatlantic flights.  The movie selection on my flight back in August was chock full of interesting indie films and psychotronic stuff.  It was on this flight that I managed to catch The Sound of My Voice, a well done if/… Read full post »

Beyond The Door!

The local Channel 9 (a channel that has warped my aesthetic tastes for sure) would repeatedly broadcast this one late at night back in the ninteen hundred and eighties.  And each and every time, because I was traumatized by The Exorcist, I just couldn't bea… Read full post »