While I’m a big fan of Clive Barker’s fiction and have read most of his stuff, I find that most film adaptations of his work fall far short of of the fantastical grotesqueries presented in his prose. 1992’s Candyman and 2008’s The Midnight Meat Train were rare exceptions to that, as was 1987’s excellent Hellraiser, … More Movies: Hellraiser (2022)
Not too long ago, I chose Grady Hendrix’s 2016 novel My Best Friend’s Exorcism as one of my favorite horror novels of the 21st century so far, so it was with some measure of…trepidation? cautious excitement?…that I took the news that Amazon Studios was producing a film adaptation of it. I was pretty sure that … More Movies: My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022)
The year of 1976 has provided my biggest challenge yet, as far as winnowing my favorites down to just five; seriously, just a cursory glance of the horror films released that year produced an easy eight, and several more that might also make the cut if I was in a particular mood that day. But … More My Favorite Horror Movies from Every Year Since I Was Born: 1976
Daniel J. Volpe was a name I’d heard before, though I didn’t know much about him and had never read any of his prior works. It seems that he’s mostly known for extreme horror and splatterpunk, and while his 2021 novel Left To You is certainly gory and stomach-churning in places, it’s also a heart-wrenching … More Books: Left To You by Daniel J. Volpe
I’ve generally had good luck with most of the Shudder originals and exclusives that I’ve watched; the team at Shudder seem to have a decent handle on ably curating what appears on their streaming service, and almost everything they acquire is at least worth watching (and no, I’m not sponsored by them; I’ve just had … More Movies: Revealer (2022)
I’m sure I’ve mentioned once or twice (or several times) how much I love made-for-TV horror movies from the 1970s. I’m not entirely sure what it is about them; it might just be that they take me back to my childhood and give me a warm, fuzzy feeling of nostalgia, or it could be that … More Movies: The Norliss Tapes (1973)
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (2016) Grady Hendrix has quickly become one of my favorite authors working today, not only because of the awesome graphic design elements of his books and the fact that he wrote an amazing non-fiction coffee table book all about the horror paperback boom of the 70s and 80s, … More Five of My Favorite Horror Novels of the 21st Century (So Far)
How I ended up watching this film was something bizarrely like kismet. My boyfriend Tom woke up one Sunday morning, and immediately (and inexplicably) started describing scenes from a movie he’d seen a long time ago, asking if I knew what movie it was. It didn’t sound familiar to me, but then he suddenly remembered … More Movies: Brimstone and Treacle (1982)
I’ve written before about how my formative years corresponded almost perfectly with the rise of home video, cable television, the new wave and post-punk explosion, and MTV, and the film I want to talk about today is sort of a culmination of all those cultural touchstones coming together in one dark, delightful, and musical package. Though subject of this post … More Movies: Rock & Rule (1983)
I decided to discuss these two particular movies together because I dug them both a great deal, and they share a very music-centric theme. As in, they’re not musicals, but they both prominently feature music as a central characteristic of the plot. So, onward. Sean Byrne’s The Devil’s Candy from 2015 is the follow-up to the Australian … More Devil’s Music Double Feature: The Devil’s Candy (2015) and Scherzo Diabolico (2015)
The Scare Salon 