New Horror 2023 – Day 31

“Why are you in such a hurry to be old?”

“Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler (1984)

Doesn’t take much to just roll with it, does it?

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“So, who d’you want done?”

“Fair Ground” by Jo Duffy, Mike Manley, Jackson Guice, James Fry, Kevin Cunningham (1992)

Something always catches up.

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“We could’ve helped that child.”

Bedevil dir. Tracey Moffatt (1993)

We need more surreal expressionism in set design. That alone lends a movie those spooky vibes.

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“This one’s gonna make you have to change your chonies.”

Regular Show – “Terror Tales of the Park” I-VI (2011-2016)

I’ve never watched a regular episode of Regular Show, but I get the sense that the Halloween specials aren’t all that out of the ordinary.

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“Oh, you know kids. Still missin’.”

The Simpsons – “Treehouse of Horror Presents: Not It” (2022)

Hm, sticking too close to the source material is a longtime problem with their parodies, and this one certainly suffers for it.

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“C’mon, how powerful could a god from a dump like this be?”

Silent Hill 3 dev. Konami (2003)

The first half kind of drags before it finally gets to the titular setting, then it’s surreal melty wall terror. That makes up for the slow start and cements it as another great entry. I’ll be back for the next one in 2024.

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“So, just be aware, the characters do tend to wander a bit.”

Five Nights at Freddy’s dev. Scott Cawthon (2014)

I always avoided this one because the jumpscare gameplay wasn’t for me, but I figured I had to at least see the first one through to the end. I don’t know that I can recommend it what with Cawthon’s problematic nonsense, but it’s an interesting product from an indie dev of the time.

New Horror 2023 – Day 30

“If the thing could follow him it was of no use to go away.”

“Couching at the Door” by D.K. Broster (1942)

I do like an indescribable Thing that just comes around and starts annoying the hell out of someone.

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“I just take a small token–something nice.”

“The Gris-Gris” by Jim Keegan & Ruth Keegan (2004)

A name can be buried just as easily as a body.

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“What it is and what it will be, my brotha.”

Bones dir. Ernest R. Dickerson (2001)

Snoop Dogg couldn’t quite stick the landing, but everyone else gets us through it well enough.

New Horror 2023 – Day 29

“We can’t ever talk about the same thing.”

“The Phantom Cyclist” by Ruth Ainsworth (1971)

Somehow this light-hearted spirit tale is spookier than a lot of other work I’ve read this month. Perhaps it’s the earnestness of the telling and the ages of the subjects.

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“They’re both an integral part of my overachiever confit with class president puree!”

“Soylent Teen” by Jordan Morris, Liana Kangas, Ellie Wright, Jack Morelli (2023)

A neat little story but that title gives it away too quickly.

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“I give the rainbow to you.”

The Love Witch dir. Anna Biller (2016)

Robinson does to the viewer what her character does to those in the movie, and it’s brilliant. Everyone nailed the vibe and I’d mistake it for something from the early 70s if not for the lack of grain in the film and occasional usage of modern tech.

New Horror 2023 – Day 28

“A dense haze, gray and tinged ruddy, lay between the houses, sometimes blowing with a little wet kiss against the face.”

“The Interval” by Vincent O’Sullivan (1918)

Huh. Maybe I’ve read too many Victorian-ish ghost stories, but this one just sort of happens along until the words stop. There were stronger takes on this earlier in the month.

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“I guess I was really wasting Jimmy’s body.”

“Inside You” by Valerie D’Orazio & David James Cole (2014)

Sometimes you simply aren’t you for a while, but what happens is still on you.

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“Mother, please make it stop!”

The Exorcist: Believer dir. David Gordon Green (2023)

Just not a necessary movie. It’s too unwieldy and trying to include everyone muddles the whole thing.

New Horror 2023 – Day 27

“She could not bear the thought of Jamie’s bringing to marriage anyone who looked haggard and lined.”

“The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson (1949)

Kind of a sedate spooky reading, but still real good. I suppose if there’s a horror here it’s those skewed heteronormative expectations around a) women must marry when they’re young and attractive and b) men don’t need to commit and can afford to be aloof assholes. But the way Jackson writes this, it still has an eerie vibe about what exactly is going on.

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“Wobbling Rock had finally fallen on a family having a picnic.”

“The Willowdale Handcar or The Return of the Black Doll” by Edward Gorey (1962)

The sedate horror continues with this weird, meandering tale about what I can only guess are some rich yuppies traveling about the countryside without a care as those around them suffer. Since it’s Gorey, there’s a general unsettling look in the illustrations, and the ending does nothing to assuage that feeling.

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“Give me back my head!”

Visible Secret dir. Ann Hui (2001)

You know something’s off in this story about ghosts and possessions, and while it may be predictable there are still some interesting turns before you arrive at the destination.

New Horror 2023 – Day 26

“My own belief is that she died simply of the terror of life.”

“The Shadowy Third” by Ellen Glasgow (1923)

While there’s a twist you see coming a mile away, the finale is still a nice bit of surprise comeuppance.

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“Wine outweighs fear!”

“The Duel of the Monsters” by Archie Goodwin & Angelo Torres (1966)

Hey that’s a cool twist as well! Not a big shock, just a good twist of the knife when it seems like it’ll be a straightforward slice.

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“Literally pick up his best friend and use his ass as a battering ram.”

Kuso dir. Steve (2017)

I don’t know what it says about me when the gross and bizarre stuff in this movie doesn’t really phase me. I saw many reviews where people were really sickened by some of the scenes, which sure I get it, but it’s so surreal and cartoony that it didn’t hit the same as movies that approach the nastiness more seriously. Glad I watched it!

New Horror 2023 – Day 25

“My situation was now one of extreme delicacy and embarrassment.”

“The Transferred Ghost” by Frank Stockton (1882)

I’m glad some of these spooky stories can have a laugh with it.

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“I only knew that I should not be.”

“The Muck Monster” by Bernie Wrightson (1975)

That’s an impressive comic! Wrightson was clearly building up to his grand take on Frankenstein with these earlier explorations of existential nightmares. It looks amazing and the story’s nice and somber.

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“Are you in favor of filth coming into Pottsville?”

The Being dir. Jackie Kong (1983)

A neat low-budget monster movie, and impressive given it’s the director’s first work. But I also can’t says you gotta see it. If you watch it for anything, watch it for the monster effects.

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“From the moment he first SPIED-her, he wanted to make that girl his naturally WEBBED wife!”

Tales from the Cryptkeeper – Seasons 2 & 3 (1994 & 1999)

You know, this show is most definitely for KILL-dren, but I still really enjoyed more dead-PUN humor from the Cryptkeeper and the occasional spooky GORY that punched way above its Saturday MOURNING weight class.

New Horror 2023 – Day 24

“Vomit forth the poison in my brain.”

“The Doll” by Daphne du Maurier (1937)

The ways in which a mind responds to you, and the work it takes to tamp it down.

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“But will my loving husband be glad to see me!!?”

“Shadows on the Tomb” by Joe Certa (1952)

Waiting for someone to die is just no way to be.

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“If you wanna plant something, like, there’s a dead guy following us.”

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island dir. Jim Stenstrum (1998)

This animation is so much better than my memories of the reruns of the 70s show. It’s also legit spooky, if not exactly frightening to my adult brain. But still fun to see them break format.

New Horror 2023 – Day 23

“A scripture that would begin in apocalypse and lead its disciple to the wreck of all creation.”

“Vastarien” by Thomas Ligotti (1987)

Ohh, is the forbidden book/knowledge really a Lovecraft thing? Because I’d call it a biblical thing. In any case, here’s another one, and this one definitely has that unsettling sense of some creepy or forbidden world just beneath the veneer of our own reality. It has the same vibe as Mad God [compliment].

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“Can’t he see it’s already dead?”

“The Horror Beneath” by Leah Moore, John Reppion, Timothy Green II, Michelle Madsen, Nate Piekos (2006)

Oh man, another comic that sets up an intriguing story but is way too short. This is a kind of terror I don’t see as much, just that warning we all know and don’t heed about digging too greedily and too deep.

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“So don’t you know, she had to die… she had to die.”

Slumber Party Massacre II dir. Deborah Brock (1987)

What is… happening. I knew this movie well from the many gifs I’ve seen of key scenes featuring that guy with the drill guitar, but that stuff doesn’t even happen until 85% of the way into the movie. In other words, it’s mostly Slumber Party before it gets to Massacre, and it’s also a musical, and it’s all nonsensical but it still works.

New Horror 2023 – Day 22

“What most of them really needed was a good long drink of arsenic, as far as I was concerned.”

“Black Bargain” by Robert Bloch (1942)

This is supposed to be tied to Lovecraft mythology stuff, and I suppose there’s an element of the unknowable horrors here, but it just comes across as a good spooky demon story.

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“She was interested in his skin.”

“A Dog and His Boy” by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, Jill Thompson, Jason Arthur (2006)

I love this! It’s got a human in it but it’s mostly from the point of view of some dogs in a suburb, and that’s a perspective I long for. Just keep those humans on the sidelines and tell me what the animals are thinking, because sometimes…

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“Do you happen to have a pair of birds that are just friendly?”

The Birds dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1963)

Sometimes the birds are absolutely terrifying. I mean, they’re dinosaurs. Those clawed feet and sharp beaks are no joke. This one’s a tougher watch when you know Hitchcock was an obsessive weirdo toward the blonde actresses he loved to cast.

Ten more days of spooky fiction! Where does the time go?