New Horror 2023 – Day 14

“Under my fingers, an unambiguous growth.”

“Menopause” by Flore Hazoumé & trans. James D. Jenkins (1994)

A subject I should learn more about and yet have no idea how to ask. As always, a bit of fiction helps expand things in a limited but critical way.

💀💀💀

“The crowd is hushed in a moment of pre-climactic reflection…”

“Hag of the Blood Basket!” by Al Hewetson & Sean Todd (1971)

This is… just torture? Just torture to torture. There’s no comeuppance for a character who’s done wrong nor a twist reveal about the character’s secret dark past. It’s just a torture maze at an amusement park.

💀💀💀

“Every murderer is someone’s old friend.”

A Haunting in Venice dir. Kenneth Branagh (2023)

The supernatural bent makes it appropriate to the season, so it fits. But like the other recent Poirot movies, it’s a big heap of comfort watching. Perhaps that’s just all detective fiction. You know some horrible things will happen to someone(s), but the detective will get the culprit(s) in the end.

New Horror 2023 – Day 13

“How much blood it costs to reach the end.”

“Mater Tenebrarum” by Pilar Pedraza & trans. James D. Jenkins (2000)

That’s what we’re here to read. The darkness is palpable.

💀💀💀

“It was the Chicago in me that kept me from jumping out in front of the nearest moving car.”

“Essence of Life” by Gail Simone, Tula Lotay, Jared K. Fletcher (2013)

This anthology seems to rely on having some knowledge about these characters from the main series, so it does feel like there’s some vital information missing. But it still hits the high notes.

💀💀💀

“This the guy that’s been leaving the wet stuff?”

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter dir. Joseph Zito (1984)

Kind of a snooze since it’s the same formula for most of the movie. It eventually comes around to something kinda new in their attempt to pacify Jason, but it’s still borrowing from an earlier movie to get there.

💀💀💀

“You and your friends are dead.”

Friday the 13th dev. Atlus (1989)

On the one hand, I jumped in my seat the first time Jason appeared, even knowing that happens from past experience. It is certainly a spooky vibe. But the route that leads to the finale is particular and not well-explained, so it takes real tenacity and many playthroughs to get there.

New Horror 2023 – Day 12

“People who live indoors always remind me of something peeled and skinless.”

“The Man Who Went Too Far” by E.F. Benson (1912)

This is going to be the funniest title I come across this month. An alternative title is: “The Man Who Was Extra.”

💀💀💀

“You’re my favorite girl, but you’re still a rotten detective!”

“The Living Ghost” by Frank Belknap Long & Fred Guardineer (1948)

I had a note next to this story asking “superhero who’s a zombie???” because they reference this character appearing again in later issues, but it seems to straight up be a comic series following a villain who is a spawn of satan. Though he’s not an especially clever spawn.

💀💀💀

“I was hungry for you for as long as I could have you.”

The Velvet Vampire dir. Stephanie Rothman (1971)

Mostly an excuse to watch Celeste Yarnall vamp it up with other attractive actors, but that final sequence is great. And I like what the director has to say.

I’m very tired of the whole tradition in western art in which women are always presented nude and men aren’t. I’m not going to dress women and undress men – that would be a form of tortured vengeance. But I certainly am going to undress men, and the result is probably a more healthy environment, because one group of people presenting another in a vulnerable, weaker, more servile position is always distorted.

From “Women in Horror Month: Stephanie Rothman, The Feminist Queen of Exploitation Cinema”

New Horror 2023 – Day 11

“I may not see her; and I warned you to prevent her.”

“The White Priest” by Hélène Gingold (1893)

Another old timey apparition of benign intent. The characters in this one are kinda nonchalant about it, too.

💀💀💀

“It is too much fun being alive…”

“The Thing from the Sea” by Wally Wood & Joe Orlando (1951)

It’s intriguing that there is no attempt to explain things in these older stories. It’s just spontaneous haunted stuff, wrath of the lord/universe, etc. But it also means there’s no pathos for any of the characters.

💀💀💀

“I wish you would at least let me be happy.”

Hatching dir. Hanna Bergholm (2022)

That’s the stuff. I was afraid it’d be a trauma monster or contained in a certain point of view, but there’s no doubting it. And I’m sure that’s the point, because how else can you get someone to listen?

💀💀💀

“Laura… Laura!”

D dev. Warp (1995)

That was excruciating. The pace just crawls and the prospect of having to play through again because time ran out (which it will because there’s no pause or save feature) is bananas. If you must play it, do it with a guide open, or prepare for at least two or three playthroughs. I can see why it hit in the 90s, especially since I came back to play it because it left a big impression, but it’s more valuable as an artifact than a story worth replaying.

New Horror 2023 – Day 10

“For Mr. Bessel was not the only human soul in that place.”

“The Stolen Body” by H.G. Wells (1903)

There’s this whole spiritualism angle in stories from this time. Those Victorians just had to know what kinds of spooky stuff was out there, probably in defiance of (or in concert with) scientific rationale that was overtaking society.

💀💀💀

“It weeps a foggy fluid when pressed, even gently.”

“A Pretty Place” by Emily Carroll (2023)

Describing a fluid as “foggy” just conjures up some gnarly imagery, and of course it helps that it’s part of a comic with lots of gnarly imagery. Truly, Emily Carroll can do no wrong.

💀💀💀

“You know I know, don’t you, Bonnie?”

The Godsend dir. Gabrielle Beaumont (1980)

What in the sam hill. I bet this was in the wake of the mid-70s “kids are monsters” craze.

💀💀💀

“Watching you… cradle under the star…”

Clock Tower dev. Human Entertainment (1995)

The tension here is singular. No weapons, no fighting back, simply running and hiding in an environment rife with decay. This is an absolute gem of the era and it’s good to see it’s getting remastered soon.

New Horror 2023 – Day 9

“I believe in magic now.”

“The Island of Regrets” by Elizabeth Walter (1965)

It has the vibe of a Tales from the Crypt story in that the people aren’t the most likable, but then it’s a harsh lesson for being just sorta dickish.

💀💀💀

“It was your bad land that made me.”

“Famine’s Shadow” by Rachel Deering & Christine Larsen (2014)

Family crumbles from the top-down. This one just left me feeling real sad.

💀💀💀

“I think there’s something here that’s not meant to be.”

The Nun II dir. Michael Chaves (2023)

I’m all in for religion-based investigations and the creepiness that ensues, but this didn’t need to be tied to a big franchise of these things.

New Horror 2023 – Day 8

“It’s a good thing to get beforehand with one’s work.”

“The Haunted House” by M.A. Bird (1865)

There’s a lot happening here for a published story from the 1860s. Even mention of a bosom. But it’s a tightly wound little tale and a fair warning to travelers. Maybe IATA but the comeuppance felt justified. You don’t deserve access to everything, bruv.

💀💀💀

“A power is grasped… brought down upon him… and there is pain.”

“The Evil Dead” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) by Richard Floyd-Walker (1986-1987)

This is most definitely a fanzine, but they were selling it, and this unofficial comic adaptation of a movie feels like it’d cause a for-profit venture like this to get shut down. (Lawyers and copyright law have ruined me.) But props to this creator for getting into a multi-part adaptation and to the publisher for including it, even as it feels rushed at the end. Maybe I should watch this movie someday.

💀💀💀

“Goddamn, motherfucker got blood all over my best clown suit.”

House of 1000 Corpses dir. Rob Zombie (2003)

Most of the movie just feels like it’s wearing Texas Chainsaw Massacre on its sleeve, and it lost me. Then it gets interesting and weird! And proceeds to end way too quickly.

New Horror 2023 – Day 7

“He strains forward out of his darkness; he reaches toward us out of his mystery; he makes us dim signs out of his horror.”

“The Real Right Thing” by Henry James (1899)

That’s a new spin on spooky spirits. What would they have to say about our information age?

💀💀💀

“Chickadees are tough birds, Ma’am.”

“Chickadee!” by Aya Rothwell (2016)

Well, maybe there are worse horrors to tamp down our species, but death by cute creature would be some kinda comeuppance.

💀💀💀

“Lean in a little when you serve ‘em, darlin’, ey?”

The Royal Hotel dir. Kitty Green (2023)

A lowkey sort of terror that some are tuned into and some are not, but it sure does remind me why I don’t like spending any time in bars.

New Horror 2023 – Day 6

“You can’t deny what’s nailed down there in black and white.”

“Last Call for the Sons of Shock” by David J. Schow (1994)

I’m sure “pleasant” is not something that horror authors want to read about their work, but it was! I wanna know if they get up to any adventures. This could be a whole series.

💀💀💀

“No one can put anything over on Biff Demmon!”

“Werewolf!” by Frank Frazetta (1964)

Phew, okay. I needed that comeuppance because this is otherwise just a man’s man comic tale of the kind they were pitching to boys in the fifties to psych them up.

💀💀💀

“I have prayed many times for God to send me a friend.”

The Bride of Frankenstein dir. James Whale (1935)

The first half or so left me grasping to understand what the hell I was watching, but it comes around to the point. It’s neat to see how they took more from the book to set up this sequel. Also a great companion piece to today’s short story.