Happy Sunday, Horror fiends!
It’s hard to believe that today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark since we still feel like the same snot-nosed kids who snuck into the duplex movie theatre and then spent months wondering how we could get our dog to be as cool as Algonquin. So in honor of our much beloved doyenne of horror, we’re rolling out this month’s Creepy Cliff Notes.
You know that death by paperclip scene in Student Bodies? Yeah, that pretty much sums up our current workload. But have no fear because we are Victor Frankenstein levels of committed to scouring the web for horror-related goodies!
This month Horror Homeroom took a stab at showcasing the diversity of the genre by offering up think pieces on rethinking Teeth as a Superhero story and considering the transgressive possibilities of queer spectatorship in Sleepaway Camp. We also delved into sleep paralysis in Mara, explored the wasted potential of The Predator and offered up a top 10 list of Are You Afraid of the Dark. And that’s not even counting our review of Michael Tully’s Don’t Leave Home as well as our interview with the senior programmer of Grimmfest. And we also dropped the super exciting news that Dawn will be editing a new series, Critical Conversations in Horror Studies, from Lehigh University Press. Manuscripts in all areas of horror studies are currently being sought!
So if Pumpkinhead gets you more excited than pumpkin spiced lattes, keep reading!
// The trailer for Human Centipede director Tom Six’s latest film, The Onania Club, dropped and is approximately 30 seconds of women masturbating to scenes of the September 11th attacks. Stuart Heritage breaks down why the director’s attempt at provocation deserves one big yawn from audiences.
// Horror themed enamel pins are our latest obsession and we’re hard pressed to find a better collection than what Demonic Pinfestation offers. We’re especially obsessed with their odes to Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Shape of Water.
// M M Owen’s excellent essay on why horror is the answer to our cultural moment of anxiety is a compelling read and the perfect way to kickstart a new week!
// The decision to remake Train to Busan-and in English to boot!-has us scratching our heads. Why remake perfection?
// The call for abstracts for the 15th international International Gothic Association conference is live and the 2019 conference, to be held at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, promises to be an exciting deep dive into all things gothic horror.
// We are anxiously counting down the days until the October release of Darryl Jones’ Sleeping With The Lights On: The Unsettling Story of Horror. Seriously, if this is even half as good as Jones’ Horror: A Thematic History in Fiction and Film, you’ll want it for your personal collection.
You can pre-order Sleeping With the Lights On here–and it comes out October 11:
// Strangehouse Books is looking for writers who identify as women to contribute to a new horror anthology Not all Monsters. Submissions open on November 1!
// October is always our favorite month but this year promises to be even better thanks to the debut of two podcasts we can’t wait to drop: FANGS – the Bram Stoker Dublin Festival podcast (hosted by Liam Geraghty) and Halloween Unmasked (hosted by Amy Nicholson).
// Michael Grasso’s piece on the Occult Spy Novels of E. Howard Hunt is a fascinating dive into the connection between 1970s Cold War America and our fascination with the occult.
// Meagan Navarro’s ode to creature mayhem in Cabin in the Woods is making our Merman loving hearts so happy!
// We are stoked for the October A Stranger Crate (which you can still order!) but we may have to snag this super rad Stephen King paper doll bookmark as well!
//And keep following the Indiegogo campaign of House of Leaves Publishing and their forthcoming book, Scared Sacred: Idolatry, Religion and Worship in the Horror Film. They are getting halfway to their campaign goal—and you can get some really cool stuff by supporting independent horror writing. Check out an excerpt from Alexandra West’s chapter on The Conjuring franchise for Scared Sacred here.
// The Purge is getting right everything that horror television usually gets wrong. It has great performances, haunting cinematography, interesting characters and authentic horror storytelling that brings the dread. So if you aren’t watching yet, you need to get on that ASAP!
That’s it for us, this month! We’re planning an even bigger roundup in October but until then…
