Posted on November 9, 2023

Saw: Liberalism’s Favourite Franchise

Guest Post

I recently came across a web-comic that satirised the premise of Breaking Bad. The gist of it is that Breaking Bad would never work in a country with free healthcare, since Walter White’s impetus for selling drugs is to cover the exorbitant cost of his cancer treatment.

Now this is arguably an oversimplification, but it is funny nonetheless and does illustrate how neoliberalism is often a driving force behind films and series.  This is especially so if the media in question is a US-based production where the liberal ideology of individual choice, meritocracy, and pulling oneself up by their bootstraps is firmly entrenched in the larger social consciousness. In the US, you are the master of your own fate, and you don’t need a handout. Now while it might not, at first glance, appear to be the case with the Saw franchise, the series has a deeply entrenched philosophy of aggressive individualism that covertly celebrates liberalism and glosses over systemic and societal factors underpinning many social ills.

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Posted on October 28, 2023

Horror Literature: Special Issue #8

Special Issue #8

This special issue on horror literature ranges from the exploration of queer sexuality in a late nineteenth-century horror novella to explorations of creativity, ecological crisis, sexual taboo, trauma and grief in twenty-first-century horror fiction. The incredible span and diversity of the fiction taken up by the essays here – and the importance and complexity of the questions asked by that fiction – make it clear that horror literature may well be one of the most important of literary genres. And we may well be living through another boom, another golden era, of horror production.

We have essays by: Elizabeth Erwin, Dawn Keetley, Gavin F. Hurley, Steffen Hantke, Kat Albrecht, David Edwards, Marco Malvestio, Irene Pagano, Alissa Burger, Emma Hallock, Amira Shokr, Carina Stopenski, Jacob Babb, and Isaiah Frost Rivera.

Cover art by Andrew Foley

Enjoy as a flipbook or download the full issue

A teenager in a yellow robe holds a petrified hand.
Posted on October 26, 2023

A Hand to Hold: Talking Talk to Me (2023)

Elizabeth Erwin/ Podcast

In today’s episode, Australian horror takes center stage courtesy of Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou’s Talk to Me (2023). In the film, Mia, who is grappling with the imminent second anniversary of her mother’s death, attends a party with Jade, her best friend, and Riley, Jade’s brother. There, they are given the opportunity to commune with the spirit world via an embalmed hand. Predictably, things do not go according to plan. With unrelenting hype and a domestic box office gross outpacing other A24 releases, the film is a potent hybrid of gore and dread but is it the best horror film of the year so far? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned!

Posted on October 25, 2023

Face to Face: Indigenous Experience and Zombie Cinema

Guest Post

by

James Rose

In June 1981, Minister of Fisheries Lucien Lessard authorised more than 300 Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) to raid the Restigouche Reserve in relation to restrictions placed upon the indigenous peoples by the Department of Fisheries: the point of contention was salmon fishing rights; the Mi’kmaq claimed their right to fish salmon six nights a week while the Quebec government attempted to limit their fishing to three days a week as, according to them, their fishing practices were endangering the salmon population. A survey commissioned by the Mi’kmaq and undertaken by Dr. Alan Roy demonstrated the indigenous salmon haul did not exceed 1,200 fish a year, a smaller amount compared to the 1,800 per year that were fished by commercial organisations (Ambroziak). Despite this, the QPP raid occurred and, one of the young people involved was Mi’kmaq Jeff Barnaby:

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Posted on October 24, 2023

The Best of R. L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour

Dawn Keetley

R. L Stine’s The Haunting Hour is an excellent – and distinctly underrated youth horror series. It ran for four seasons from late in 2010 until 2014 on Discovery Family and should definitely be talked about more than it is.

In this essay, I’m going to highlight some of the best episodes of the series – adding to the list over time. I’d love to hear from readers – and viewers of the series – what your favorite episodes are.

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