I’ve probably mentioned it before, but I love horror anthologies of all kinds, and I have a particular soft spot in my black heart for the British “portmanteau” films released by Amicus Productions in the 1960s and 1970s. And because it’s Christmas, I decided to write about a film that actually isn’t entirely based around … More Movies: Tales from the Crypt (1972)
I talked about Rankin/Bass Productions not too long ago, when I discussed their somewhat lesser-known stop-motion animation film Mad Monster Party?, but watching that classic feature made me nostalgic for all the stop-motion specials that aired around Christmastime in the 1970s and formed such a large part of my (and most other people of my … More Revisiting the Rankin/Bass Stop-Motion Christmas Specials
2021’s Red Snow was another movie I came across completely randomly, while browsing through some internet lists of best new Christmas horror movies. I went into it completely blind, like I usually do, and I’m not gonna lie; for the first few minutes, I thought my cavalier movie-choosing strategy was going to bite me in … More Movies: Red Snow (2021)
There were two concrete pylons topped with lanterns and wrapped in strings of blue Christmas lights; they flanked the narrow dirt path off to the left of the car, seeming incongruous against the backdrop of close, moss-hung trees whose forms were starting to turn black in the twilight. “I’m guessing this is probably it,” Evie … More Fiction: Pale Sire
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all you freaks out there! While most normal people at this time of year can probably be found gathering around the TV set in their jammies with their steaming cups of cocoa and their five millionth viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life or Miracle on 34th Street, we horror nerds are carved … More Christmas Double Feature: A Christmas Horror Story (2015) and Red Christmas (2016)
It seemed as though they had emerged from a tunnel. The overhanging trees thinned to nothing, and suddenly they were under the open sky, and the causeway was a flat ribbon before them. Puddles from the earlier storm reflected a sliver of moon. “It’s too bad we couldn’t see it in the daylight,” Adam said. … More Fiction: In the Space Between Our Houses
A while back, after watching the classic 1962 film What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, I went down something of a rabbit hole about the small but potent “psycho-biddy” subgenre, also known by the delightful name of “hagsploitation.” You can probably guess just from the names what these movies involve, but if you can’t, they’re … More Movies: Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)
It sometimes seems as though Canada doesn’t get the attention or respect it deserves in regards to their contributions to the horror genre. The nation has, after all, given us one of the earliest and best slasher films (Black Christmas), one of the best werewolf films (Ginger Snaps), one of the best ghost story movies … More Movies: Curtains (1983)
Not too long ago, when I did a post and video about Disney’s 1980s “Dark Phase” and talked particularly about the 1980 film The Watcher in the Woods, I happened to mention that the movie in this specific cycle and era that actually got the most discussion for being straight-up nightmare fuel for 80s kids … More More Dark Disney: Revisiting Return To Oz (1985)
The afternoon sun dappled the fields like droplets of honey, shining on the backs of the men as they gathered the remaining harvest in their blue-black hands. Far off, a brick structure stood like a paper cutout against the sky, its tall stacks producing a haze that hung over the landscape, the promise of a … More Fiction: Time, of the Essence
The Scare Salon 