The Dangers of Sitting Too Close to the TV in A Nightmare on Elm...
Freddy's Big Break
Many years passed between my introduction to Freddy Krueger and my subsequent foray into the remainder of the franchise. I was a different horror fan then, no longer the fresh faced teenager...
A Case of Worms: Escaping the Graboids of Tremors (1990)
After the cereal had grown soggy and the orange juice was long gone, the final credits rolled on the morning’s last cartoon. Still, the day was far from over. It was time to roll...
Babysitting Jud in Pet Sematary (1989)
Even as a child, with no knowledge or interest in the more horrific stories that the world had to offer me, I was aware of the name: Stephen King.
The moniker felt more like a...
Hungry, Hungry Crites: The Chaos of Critters 2 (1988)
Fandom, that is, one’s dedication to a particular topic, study or artistic exploit, is driven and often defined by discovery. Exploration. Finding something new… and taking it with you as your appreciation and understanding...
Written in Blood: The Scoleri Brothers of Ghostbusters II (1989)
For years I thought my earliest theatrical experience belonged to Duck Tales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990). Even in my hazy, 6-year-old memory, I recall the dark theater, the huge screen...
Good VS Evil: Murphy’s Death in Robocop (1987)
The pop culture zeitgeist is a machine that can metamorphose its icons into something digestible. Safe. Crowd— and therefore family— friendly. The more press and entertainment space awarded to a figure, the more familiar...
Blood, Laughs and Yard Work in Tucker and Dale VS. Evil (2010)
I had been hearing about Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010) for over a year when it finally hit Netflix in late 2011. I was deeply entrenched in the horror genre then— scouring...
A Pain in the Butt: The Tiny Ashs of Army of Darkness (1984)
The day the Hollywood Video finally opened its doors was a notable one in the small town where I grew up.
Over the months leading up to its grand opening, my friends and I had...
A Congregation of Werewolves in Silver Bullet (1985)
There’s this place in horror that exists somewhere in between the innocent and wholesome and the brutal and disturbing. A place that feels so familiar, so welcoming and yet… quietly dangerous. It’s the sort...
The Start of a Plague: Zombieland (2009)
As a burgeoning horror fan in the mid-2000s, it became rather apparent fairly quickly that not everyone in the world was as into the genre as I was.
Sure, these days horror seems to be...
The Violent Birth of the Chestburster in Alien (1979)
As a kid, I was utterly petrified by the mere idea of watching a horror film. My friends would try to get me to watch them during sleepovers or on those rare occasions where...
Bath Invaders from Outer Space in James Gunn’s Slither (2006)
Global Worming
I arrived at the movie theater about 45 minutes early. I was energized. Excited. It was Friday night, opening night, and I was certain every other horror fan was feeling the same way....
Ripping Through Reality in IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994)
Reality is a funny thing
It all boils down to perspective, doesn’t it? Each person builds their world-view based on what surrounds them, which in time becomes their reality. Still, even then, most seek out...
Just Hanging Around in Urban Legend (1998)
I have a confession: I didn’t always get horror.
You see, the horror genre and I have a long, sordid relationship. Sure, everything is all wine and roses now, but, like most great romances, it...
An Eye for Detail in THE TERMINATOR (1984)
I suppose I knew Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) was a sequel, but for all intents and purposes in my eight-year-old mind, that was definitively the only entry in the killer robot from the post-apocalyptic...
Written in Blood: That Bloody Mirror Scene from Poltergeist (1982)
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: as a kid who was terrified of the mere idea of watching a horror movie, little on this Earth distressed me more than the horror...
A Hand, Broken Dishes, and a Chainsaw in Evil Dead II
Lend me a hand?
I came upon the first Evil Dead (1981) while researching influential horror movies online. I had heard the title before and had previously assumed it to be a schlock oddity, something...
The Queen Attacks in THE FACULTY (1998)
As a high school student in the late 90s and early 2000s who was only peripherally aware of horror, even I knew the name Kevin Williamson. Not only had he helped to usher in...
The Mouth of Hell in Jaws (1975)
Like most kids born in the early to mid-80s, I grew up knowing the name Steven Spielberg. My cousins and I wore out my grandmother’s VHS copy of E.T. (1982) growing up (and not...
Facing Down a Mack Truck: Severen in Near Dark (1987)
At first glance, I thought I was staring at a copy of Twilight (2008).
The pale, brooding face staring down from the top right corner of the key art was a dead ringer for Robert...
Speaking the Curse to Drag Me to Hell (2009)
You Shamed Me
It was early summer in 2009. Friday night. I was sitting in a movie theater, as I was prone to do and I was excited. No, scratch that… ecstatic. I was there...
Goodnight, Evil Ed, Fright Night (1985)
Every year, on October 1st, I have a ritual.
I light some candles. I plug in the jack o’lantern beside my couch. I watch as the timer on my outdoor decorations clicks over, illuminating my...
Try Walking That Off …a Written in Blood Look at Misery (1990)
Creating something, regardless of your canvas of choice, is a frustrating, tumultuous process. The act requires sacrifice, both of self and ideology, resulting in something that goes out into the world and, in turn,...
Desires of Blood in the Folktale Horror of The Witch (2015)
There are some movies that just feel dangerous. As if they’re capable of anything. Movies that seem to be constructed more of dread than plot. Nightmarish windows into a different world, foreign to us...
Clowning Around in Krampus (2015)
“He left me, as a reminder of what happens when hope is lost, when belief is forgotten, and the Christmas spirit dies.”
Now, I know what you’re thinking: it’s Christmas and, conceptually speaking, a dead...