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45 Articles

NOTE FROM UNDERGROUND

If you ever met Wes Craven, saw him at a convention or watched him in an interview, you may have noticed he had a very paternal presence. (We were lucky enough to have him as our guest of honour at the 2008 Festival of Fear.) A father and grandfather with an undergrad degree in both English and Psychology, and a Master’s degree in Philosophy and Writing, he presented himself as well-spoken (and rather soft-spoken), wise, kind and assured. Following the shocking announcement of his death from brain cancer on August 30, the Internet was flooded with tributes and many mourners discussing how his movies helped define their childhood. It’s especially true for those of us coming of age in the ’80s with the Nightmare on Elm Street series, but also…

NOTE FROM UNDERGROUND

COMMENTS QUESTIONS CRITICISM ANOTHER MONTH, another new issue of Rue Morgue [#159]! Wow. What a stunning cover! Just beautiful. @RueMorgue, @Astron6. @PALEALERIDER, VIA TWITTER HELL-O RUE MORGUE, I have been a horror kid all my life and until recently I only picked up the occasional issue of Rue Morgue (Hellboy, The Cramps, etc.) but now, thanks to HorrorBlock, I am hooked and realize what I’ve been missing. I really like the coverage of all things horror and have read the issues I’ve gotten cover to cover and am looking into back issues. I am really into horror toys, it all started with the 18” Kenner Alien figure when I was five or six years old. I have amassed a huge collection of horror stuff over the years and have a museums worth of…

EXPIRING MINDS…

What’s your favourite Wes Craven movie moment? The trailer scene from The Hills Have Eyes. DAVID GINSBERG The Serpent and the Rainbow: being buried alive with a large tarantula. Damn. ALEX ELIZARDO Shocker, when Horace Pinker bites the guard’s lip, then the other guard’s fingers off, and says “Finger Licking Good.” I love that. LUC LESSARD Krug fighting off the chainsaw-wielding dad in Last House on the Left. JASON LOWE S&M shotgun scene in The People Under the Stairs. DAVID ANDERSON Johnny Depp being eaten by a bed and spit out in A Nightmare on Elm Street. DAMIEN HAYES Wes’ cameo in New Nightmare. It really gave you a glimpse of the soft-spoken, humble, intriguing storytelling genius that he was. DENNIS GEREB WE ENCOURAGE READERS TO SEND THEIR COMMENTS VIA MAIL OR EMAIL. LETTERS MAY BE EDITED FOR LENGTH AND/OR CONTENT. PLEASE SEND TO INFO@RUE-MORGUE.COM…

EXPIRING MINDS…

TORONTO ZOMBIE WALK SUCCUMBS TO LACK OF MUNICIPAL SUPPORT

It seems appropriate that the Toronto Zombie Walk, which was cancelled this year due to insufficient funding, should rise from the dead, however briefly. Organizers held a “funeral” for the much-loved annual event at independent Toronto repertory cinema The Royal this past August. Over 200 “mourners” showed up, many of them dressed as the undead. Those who left a donation in a casket set up on The Royal’s stage were given free tickets to the Canadian National Exhibition. Zombies then shuffled en masse to the annual carnival set up at Toronto’s waterfront. Founding director Thea Munster, who started the walk back in 2003, saw it grow from just seven participants in its first year to over 15,000 in 2014. Organizers never charged an entrance fee, and it became an annual tradition for…

TORONTO ZOMBIE WALK SUCCUMBS TO LACK OF MUNICIPAL SUPPORT

INDIE HORROR SERIES 8 FILMS TO DIE FOR RETURNS

As the horror genre teaches us, things rise from the dead all the time; case in point: After Dark Films’ 8 Films To Die For. Debuting in 2006, Horrorfest: 8 Films To Die For brought eight indie horror films to theatres across North America. The event ran through 2010 and featured among its various high-profile debuts Jim Mickle’s critically acclaimed Mulberry Street, Phedon Papamichael Jr.’s From Within and Anthony DiBlasi’s adaptation of Dread, one of the most acclaimed stories in Clive Barker’s Books of Blood. After going on hiatus, the series has been resurrected in time for Halloween, thanks to a new deal that sees After Dark Films teaming up with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, which will handle distribution. According to Stephanie Caleb, EVP, Creative Affairs & Acquisitions for After…

INDIE HORROR SERIES 8 FILMS TO DIE FOR RETURNS

STOKERCON BRINGS THE BRAM STOKER AWARDS TO VEGAS

After years of presenting the annual Bram Stoker Awards for excellence in horror literature in conjunction with the World Horror Convention, the Horror Writers Association is striking out on its own once again, for the first time since the 2012 awards, this time in Las Vegas. The convention (and awards banquet) takes place May 12 to 15, 2016, and while that may seem like a long way away, registration for the event’s programming and classes is already underway. One of the key ways StokerCon seeks to distinguish itself from WHC and other literary events is through its Horror University stream of programming. “The workshops program we’re running this year takes things to the next level when it comes to what we can offer our guests via convention programming,” says R.J. Cavender, co-chair…

STOKERCON BRINGS THE BRAM STOKER AWARDS TO VEGAS

According to a recent post by ABC News, the cryptid known as the Bishopville Lizard Man was captured on photo and video. The Lizard Man, an alleged reptilian humanoid creature, has been reported by eyewitnesses in the Bishopville, South Carolina area, dating back to 1988. In this latest sighting, the eyewitness who submitted the photo claims she stepped out of a church sanctuary one Sunday morning “to see the Lizard Man running along the treeline.” The accompanying video was submitted anonymously by someone who claimed to have seen the creature in the woods the next day. The photo appears to show a costume or miniature model rather than a real creature, while the short video – shot conveniently from a right-place-at-the-right-time angle – only reveals a shadowy figure. MORE MONSTRO BIZARRO…

CORONER’S REPORT

WEIRD STATS & MORBID FACTS CASE NO.160 When a 91-year-old Canadian veteran recently confessed to killing a prostitute in Britain nearly 70 years ago, he shattered a long-held record. There has been no greater span of time between a crime and a confession in British criminal history than his. Gilda Radner was originally cast in Black Christmas (1974) as Phy – the role that went to Andrea Martin – but had to abandon the film just before shooting began because she got hired to be on Saturday Night Live. Jenny Tay and Darren Cheng of Singapore had their engagement photos go viral this summer after the pair posed in an open coffin for the shoot. Both Tay and Cheng work in the funeral industry and wanted to show that “death is part of…

CORONER’S REPORT

PUTREFACTION PITS 1. PHENOMENA MAGGOT MARINADE 2. THE DESCENT BLOOD ’N’ BONE BATH 3. OPEN GRAVE DECOMPOSING BODY BED 4. THE LOVED ONES SUBTERRANEAN DATE DISPOSAL BOX 5. THE DEAD PIT A POCKET OF ZOMBIE PATIENTS 6. ARMY OF DARKNESS ASH’S DEADITE DEATH TRAP TORTURED TAGLINE THE FOREST (1982) “IF YOU GO DOWN TO THE WOODS TODAY… YOU MIGHT NEVER GET OUT ALIVE!” FINAL WORDS “JUST THE TIP, I PROMISE…” THIS MONTH’S CAPTION CONTEST WINNER IS STEPHANIE BLOXOM Drop by our Facebook page every month for a chance to have your Final Words!…

1 OUIJA BOARD HANDBAG $35.99 Keep the dead in hand with this 100% leather handbag, modelled after the classic mystical talking board. It’s made with a poly-fabric surface so it won’t bleed, crack or fade… but we can’t say that for the spirits. 2 MEN’S “EYE HAIL GOATHEAD” ROCKER TEE $25 Kids today know that Baphomet is where it’s at. So don’t be shy, hail the Great God Pan with this sleeveless tee by Kreepsville 666, designed to bring two very bad things together: rock ’n’ roll and the devil that spawned it! Available in S, M, L, XL, XXL. 3 MICHAEL MYERS PIN $14.99 Halloween fans rejoice! Your favourite Haddonfield resident is now on an enamel pin by Creepy Co with articulated knife that moves up and down in a stabbing motion! Tremor at its 1.5” length,…

TAKE ME TO THE OTHER SIDE

THE 1890S WERE A LOVELY TIME FOR THE MORBIDLY INCLINED. It was the decade that saw the birth of the gory Parisian stage shows known as the Grand Guignol, often considered the forebears of slasher movies. Robert W. Chambers’ eventual True Detective fodder The King in Yellow was published in 1895, with H.G. Wells’ mad-scientist epic The Island of Dr. Moreau following in 1896. The next year saw the publication of Bram Stoker’s Dracula; Henry James’ classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw appeared the year after. But if you craved a more direct experience with the supernatural, there was a new product that you absolutely had to own: the Ouija board. Ostensibly “invented” in 1890 (more on that later), the Ouija rode the waves of the burgeoning Spiritualist craze –…

TAKE ME TO THE OTHER SIDE

ON ITS OWN, A OUIJA BOARD IS ABOUT AS MYSTICAL AS A BAG OF SCRABBLE TILES. For all the board’s vaguely occult iconography and the off-the-charts creep factor ascribed to it by movies such as 13 Ghosts and The Exorcist, it’s just a useless slab of wood (or chipboard, if you’re contacting the beyond on a budget) without the planchette that comes with it. For those who believe a talking board is truly a hotline to the beyond, the board simply gives the dead a vocabulary – it’s the planchette that gives them a voice. Though they’re mostly known as Ouija accessories today, planchettes actually predate talking boards by several decades, and were once popular spirit communication tools in their own right. In fact, the first known mention of what would…

SINCE THE TIME WHEN OUIJA BOARDS WERE PRODUCED AS A CONSUMER NOVELTY, speculations as to their demonic and potentially dangerous influence was shared by both religious fanatics as well as members of the New Age. The myth about the ominous, mystical powers of the boards was reinforced by Hollywood throughout the ages, going back to the silent era. The board’s first appearance was most likely 1920’s Ouija Board, a part live-action, part animated short featuring Koko the Clown. (It’s easy to find on YouTube.) Part of the Out of the Inkwell series, it was created by Max Fleischer, who was also known for his Betty Boop, Popeye and Superman cartoons. Here, the board is used by a superstitious janitor and two sceptical animators, while at the same time Koko is drawn…

50 ESSENTIAL HORROR ALBUMS

WHAT IS HORROR MUSIC? IT’S NOT AN EASY QUESTION. JUST AS HORROR FANS ARE TYPICALLY DRAWN TO DIFFERENT TYPES OF HORROR FILMS, FROM SLASHERS TO SUPERNATURAL THRILLERS, THERE’S NO ONE MUSICAL GENRE SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO APPEAL TO HORROR FANS. “Horror” has been linked to music in such diverse genres as Halloween novelty records for monster kids, heavy metal designed to offend parents, campy punk played in small clubs, and industrial noise-terrorists who create sounds that get under your skin. Horror also pops up in country, blues and hip hop. Rue Morgue’s Audio Drome music section has always been more of an art than a science when it comes to finding the right balance of genres and artists that in some way utilize horror, whether through image, lyrics or sound. The…

50 ESSENTIAL HORROR ALBUMS

THE MONSTER MAKES THE MAN

NEARLY TWO HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE PUBLICATION OF HER AMARANTHINE NOVEL, MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN HAS PROVED AS RESOLUTELY INDESTRUCTIBLE AS HER MONSTER. Ever since the first one-reel 16mm cinematic adaptation was made by the Edison Company and director J. Searle Dawley in 1910, there have been numerous interpretations, sequels, spin-offs and satires that feature the Bavarian boffin and his unholy progeny. These efforts range from the exquisite (The Bride of Frankenstein, 1935) and the parodic (Young Frankenstein, 1974) to the downright regrettable (Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter, 1966). In 1990, at a time when most variations on the mad scientist theme were thought to be well exhausted, Roger Corman was about to give life to his own contribution to Frankenstein film lore. Twenty years after helming the high-flying historical drama Von Richthofen…

THE MONSTER MAKES THE MAN

LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE GRAVEYARD

BEFORE THE CLASSIC MOVIE MONSTERS WERE REINVENTED, REMADE AND REINTERPRETED BY EVERYONE from AIP to Hammer all the way up to modern directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Roger Corman and Joe Johnston, Universal dragged their famed fright icons back into the spotlight for a series of comedy efforts with stars Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all got to mix it up with the popular comedy duo in a series of films that, in many cases, represented the last appearance of Universal’s iteration of that monster. Though available in past DVD sets, the four-movie run has finally been reunited on Abbott and Costello Meet the Monsters, a new collection from Universal. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO…

LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE GRAVEYARD

ANGUISH (USA) SONNY MALLHI Anguish confronts the issue of teenage mental illness using possession as a metaphor for schizophrenia. The first half of the film, a straight teen drama, boasts an unbelievably naturalistic performance from Ryan Simpkins (Surveillance) as Tess. Quiet, lonely scenes of her skateboarding in the fog or hovering on the periphery of her new high school’s clique perfectly capture feelings of adolescent isolation and self-consciousness that act as a precursor to her break with reality. Unfortunately the film jettisons all originality and ambiguity in favour of paint-by-numbers boo scares and a silly secular exorcism finale. AM ANTISOCIAL 2 (CANADA) CODY CALAHAN Antisocial (2013) took an interesting if not unique idea – what if social networking turned us into real zombies instead of metaphorical ones? – and riffed on the rage “zombies” of…

Melies and Magic

GEORGES MÉLIÈS, THE FATHER OF FANTASTIQUE CINEMA, WAS A MAGICIAN BEFORE BECOMING A FILMMAKER, and he utilized his vaudeville-esque artistry to invent some of the first screen effects. In celebration of this, Philippe Spurrell, director of The Film Society in Montreal, curated a spellbinding evening of early genre cinema, live music, 16mm projection, magic, mentalism and even tap dancing! The festivities began with a showing of a rare print of Georges Franju’s The Great Méliès (1952), a tender 31-minute docudrama on the silentera filmmaker starring Méliès’ son André in the titular role. How appropriate that the director who made one of the most exquisite horror films in the history of the genre (Eyes Without a Face) would be the introductory guide for this journey into the phantasmal and oneiric world of…

Melies and Magic

Small gauge Trauma

THIS YEAR, SMALL GAUGE TRAUMA PROGRAMMER MITCH DAVIS WOVE TOGETHER A SIGNATURE SELECTION OF EIGHT SHORT FILMS, which move between beautiful puppet animation and visceral body horror, beginning with Ben Steiner’s The Stomach (UK), which presents a very unique premise: a medium able to communicate with people from beyond the grave through his stomach! The filmmaker creatively hybridizes the gritty British gangster film, body horror and the supernatural subgenre, and carries that exquisite mix to a forceful denouement. In addition, Canadian animator Chris Walsh’s The Shutterbug Man is a sublime and haunting tale of a twisted man who takes pictures of terrible places. A meditation on the filmic gaze, it’s narrated by the iconic Barbara Steele (Black Sunday). Then there’s Slut, by Chloe Okuno (USA), a tightly directed dark comedy about the…

Small gauge Trauma

TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE (USA)

The Tales From Beyond the Pale audio dramas are Glass Eye Pix’s “radio plays for the digital age,” and three new ones were performed at this year’s fest. Boy, did this auditory earwig of a live show lay brain eggs on its unsuspecting audience. The gruesome hatchlings included: HIDDEN RECORDS A riff on the well-worn premise of a musician selling his soul at the crossroads, writer/director Douglas Buck conjures Clifford Redding in place of Robert Johnson, and lets the story play from the angle of Clifford’s son searching for his disappeared Daddy. Tony Todd is brilliantly cast as Judge, an aging bluesman whose occult past may exhume secrets that damn a whole family to Hell. SPEAKING IN TONGUES Director Glenn McQuaid and co-writer (and Rue Morgue staff writer) April Snellings offered a bilingual horror…

TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE (USA)

DEL TORO’S DARK HOUSE

“HOSTS ARE REAL. THIS MUCH I KNOW.” THOSE FIRST LINES IN THE TRAILER FOR CRIMSON PEAK ARE A BIT MISLEADING, because although Guillermo del Toro’s latest film features a cavernous spooky mansion rife with floating apparitions, vaporous spirits and other spectral activities, it’s not a haunted house movie. “We have to be very careful not to confuse a haunted house movie with gothic romance,” he explains in a phone interview leading up to the film’s October 16 release (from Universal). “Gothic romance is very much a separate genre, that if you go in expecting pure romance, you’re disappointed because there are a lot of dark and evil things in the tale. And if you go expecting a pure horror movie, you’ll be disappointed because most of the time these things are…

DEL TORO’S DARK HOUSE

HIGHWAYS TO HELL

LONG BEFORE THE WALKING DEAD HIT SHELVES IN 2003, THERE WAS ANOTHER BLACK AND WHITE ZOMBIE TITLE THAT TORE A GORY SWATH THROUGH THE INDIE COMICS WORLD When Deadworld launched in 1987 there was nothing even remotely like it: harrowing storylines, explicit drawings and bloodsoaked, painted covers made for a wild apocalyptic tapestry. It begins with Mike and Dan, two drug dealers with hearts of gold, their girlfriends Donna and Chris, a precocious kid named Joey and his big brother John (the “leader”). As they struggle to survive in a world where the dead have risen and prey on the living, they’re relentlessly pursued by King Zombie. Unlike The Walking Dead’s rotters, Deadworld features sentient zombies, which lead the more traditional shamblers; King Zombie is an intelligent, scheming biker badass who…

HIGHWAYS TO HELL

BIG EASY BLOODBATH

IT’S OFTEN SAID THAT A GOOD STORY IHAS WINGS. Certain tales, ones that really click with readers, have a tendency to take on a life of their own – perhaps one not even the author intended. Alys Arden’s The Casquette Girls is just such a book. The novel – which Arden describes as having the “romanticism of Southern Gothic mixed with the pop of young adult – like if Mary Shelley and Joss Whedon had a lovechild who was adopted and raised by Ransom Riggs and Tahereh Mafi” – began its life as a popular online serial, then matured into a critically acclaimed indie novel, and is now about to embark on the final leg of its journey, becoming a traditionally published book. “At the time I started writing, I was…

BIG EASY BLOODBATH

CINEMACABRE FILM+DVD+ REISSUES

All That and a Bag of Candy TALES OF HALLOWEEN Starring Lin Shaye, Barry Bostwick and Adrienne Barbeau Written and directed by Axelle Carolyn, Neil Marshall, Mike Mendez et al. Epic Pictures Just like Halloween itself, a good anthology horror film gives us a variety of tasty morsels to chew on while we celebrate all manner of ghoul, ghost and gore. The classic form usually offers approximately five jolting tales of terror (such as in 1982’s Creepshow), but has been known to present as many stories as there are letters in the alphabet (ABCs of Death series). Tales of Halloween, the newest monster kid on the block, finds the sweet spot somewhere in the middle. In this ten-part anthology led by Axelle Carolyn and featuring directorial efforts by members of LA collective The October Society…

CINEMACABRE FILM+DVD+ REISSUES

OVERLOOKED, FORGOTTEN AND DISMISSED

Board To Death I AM ZOZO Anchor Bay Entertainment Ever come across something that just gave you a really bad case of the creeps? A voodoo doll, a blurry old photograph, a bottle of Crystal Pepsi – some things aren’t meant for this Earth! But of all the creepy objects squirrelled away in your attic, none are scarier than a Ouija board. Purportedly based on true events, I am Zozo features five kids who decide to celebrate Halloween alone in a cottage on a remote island, and bring along a Ouija board for fun. They soon find themselves in touch with a malevolent spirit named Zozo who wants to kill them. Shot entirely on Super 8mm, the film has a cool, voyeuristic quality to it, but suffers immensely from uneven pacing and boring…

OVERLOOKED, FORGOTTEN AND DISMISSED

THE MOST HORRIFYING THING ABOUT CHRISTMAS IS USUALLY THE CREDIT CARD BILLS AND DINNER WITH THE IN-LAWS, but one film aims to change that. A Christmas Horror Story (the title a riff on the Bob Clark Canadian holiday classic A Christmas Story) is an anthology whose four stories weave in and out of each other like the ones in the 2007 film Trick ’r Treat, meaning that the tales, characters and themes exist as different narrative threads in the same universe instead of being presented one after the other, as in Creepshow or Tales from the Crypt. “The problem with those movies – and I do love them – is that you can sometimes get film festival fatigue watching them because each story has a beginning, a middle and an end,”…

GRABOIDS IN AFRICA

LIKE ONE OF THE CREATURES THAT POPULATE ITS WORLD, THE TREMORS FRANCHISE HAS BURST FORTH ONCE AGAIN TO STRIKE FEAR INTO THE HEARTS OF THOSE WITH GRABOIDPHOBIA. Tremors 5: Bloodlines – a sequel intended to revive the franchise about gigantic subterranean slug monsters that hunt humans – has bought Burt Gummer back with it. The one constant character through all five Tremors films (the first of which was released in 1990 and starred Kevin Bacon) and the short-lived TV series is the paranoid, gun-toting loner played by Michael Gross, who’s still best-known as patriarch Steven Keaton in the ’80s sitcom Family Ties. “There was someone at Universal, our executive producer, Patty Jackson, who has always loved the product. Tremors is very dear to her heart,” says Gross about the unexpected revival…

GRABOIDS IN AFRICA

CINEMACABRE REISSUES

Surreal Young Thing VALERIE AND HER WEEK OF WONDERS (1970) Blu-ray Starring Jaroslava Schallerová, Helena Anyzová and Petr Kopriva Directed by Jaromil Jires Written by Jaromil Jires and Ester Krumbachová Criterion Adolescence is a surreal experience for most of us, but particularly for girls. Even if you grow up in an idyllic country house in a picturesque village, the snares and double-standards of womanhood lurk in the shadows, and they’re even more threatening than your uncle/father – the vampire who has seduced your grandmother/cousin/mother into giving away your land. Confused? That’s okay. The departure from innocence doesn’t always make sense but it can certainly be scary, which is the gist of Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Jaromil Jires’ surreal, non-linear Czechoslovakian film based on the 1932 novel of the same name. Thirteen-year-old Valerie (Jaroslava Schallerová)…

CINEMACABRE REISSUES

HAPPINESS IS A WARM FLAMETHROWER

Enzo G. Castellari experienced a late period re-evaluation when Quentin Tarantino cited the spaghetti exploitation director’s Dirty Dozen knock-off, The Inglorious Bastards, as a major influence on his similarly titled film. Castellari’s real legacy, however, is his future trilogy: 1990: The Bronx Warriors, Escape From the Bronx and The New Barbarians. Hot on the heels of Mad Max: Fury Road, Blue Underground has reissued these films, but what is to be gleaned from these glimpses of futures past and, uh, future? For starters, remember 1990, when the world marvelled at Mikhail Gorbachev’s birthmark, listened to Will Smith rap and just couldn’t stop doing The Bartman? Well, Castellari’s 1990: The Bronx Warriors (1983) is nothing like that. In proud Italian rip-off tradition, it pilfers from contemporary hits, particularly Escape From New York,…

HAPPINESS IS A WARM FLAMETHROWER

BLOOD, BRIDES AND SIDEBURNS

IN THE EARLY 1970S, WHEN THE WORLD HAD GONE PSYCHEDELIC BUT MONSTERS HAD GONE GOTHIC – SOME WOULD SAY STUFFY, WITH HAMMER HORRORS – COUNT YORGA WAS HIP. With his elegant wit, calm disdain for the clumsy mortals trying to stake him and fang-in-cheek persona, there had never been a vampire like him. He was very much the man who played him, Robert Quarry (1925–2009), one of the most underrated and unappreciated horror actors of all time thanks to a career in the genre that came late and ended early with the demise of Hammer/AIP/Amicus-type shockers in the ’70s. What his career lacked in quantity, it made up for in quality, however, with memorable turns in Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), Sugar Hill (1974), Madhouse (1974) and, most famously, his…

BLOOD, BRIDES AND SIDEBURNS

THE LATE-NITE ARCHIVE

Creepy masks are responsible for some of the most iconic images of the last few decades of horror cinema history – Jason’s hockey mask, Scream’s Ghostface, Hannibal Lecter’s muzzle, etc. These covers are usually used either to disguise their wearer or give a killer a blank, almost inhuman expression as they go about their bloody work (think of Michael Myers). But in classic horror, masks often served not to hide an identity, but to create one. From the Phantom of the Opera to face transplant recipient Christiane in Eyes Without a Face, masks usually indicated a fear of the horror within, including Vincent Price’s ’60s outing for AIP, The Oblong Box, hitting Blu-ray this month from Kino. Following the classic horror leads of Phantom of the Opera and Price’s own turn…

THE LATE-NITE ARCHIVE

IT CAME FROM BOWEN’S BASEMENT DRIVE-INS, DELETE BINS AND OTHER SINS

They’re Satanists and They’re Partying Hello, and welcome to A Very Special Halloween Episode of Bowen’s Basement. Kier-La Janisse and Paul Corupe’s indispensable new book Satanic Panic (RM#158) has been available since the summer so it’s a little late to try to make this column a companion piece, but it wasn’t until just recently that my Kingston homeboy Tom Megginson sent me a link to the Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults, a 1994 “educational video” that needs to be seen by pop culture analysts and irony junkies alike. You won’t find ex-cop turned preacher Gordon Coulter and ex-Satanist turned preacher Eric Pryor among the crusaders in Janisse and Corupe’s book – they’re a little too far down the pecking order. If anti-devil-worship crusaders were A-list celebrities, these dudes would be…

IT CAME FROM BOWEN’S BASEMENT DRIVE-INS, DELETE BINS AND OTHER SINS

BLOOD IN FOUR COLOURS

The 1990s saw a huge surge in comics with several new publishers entering the field in hopes of cashing in. The rise of the direct market meant that many companies could easily bypass the Comics Code Authority and push the boundaries of sex, horror and violence like never before. One of the most notorious books to take advantage of this newfound freedom was the zombie gore-fest The Dead, from Arrow Comics. Created and written by Ralph Griffith and Stuart Kerr, The Dead debuted in 1993 as a loose sequel to the duo’s 1980s indie series Deadworld (see p.56). However, the new series would soon overshadow its predecessor amidst a wave of notoriety and controversy. Graphic scenes of torture and genital mutilation were displayed on the covers, leading to an instant ban in…

BLOOD IN FOUR COLOURS

Janey, the star of Zombie Tramp sets her vengeful sights and baseball bat on an old schoolmate who once raped her best friend, Trish, leading to her suicide. With his pregnant wife and preteen son as witnesses, she proceeds to strip, torture, rend, tear, dismember and even penetrate the helpless jock before turning her attention to the rest of the family. Despite the many disturbing aspects of the story, Dan Mendoza’s art makes it surprisingly palatable, playing up the twisted comedy elements that are a trademark of the book and character. The gore is also somewhat offset by a touching spiritual reunion between Janey and Trish, which also manages to shed a bit more background on Janey’s origins and her ongoing quest for eternal rest. Three meth-addicted friends have inadvertently sold…

THE NINTH CIRCLE BOOKS

MONSTER MASH: THE CREEPY, KOOKY MONSTER CRAZE IN AMERICA 1957–1972 Mark Voger Twomorrows A nostalgic ode to creepy and crawly pop culture, Monster Mash is a fun book that may be the first comprehensive look at the mid-century horror fad. Author Mark Voger captures that period when monster kid madness swept North America following the release of the Shock Theater package that put dozens of classic horror films on TV in the late 1950s, bringing a little bit of fright into every family room. This energetic, heavily illustrated hardback lays out how a steady stream of TV show merchandise, toys, magazines, masks, board games, comics and other pop paraphernalia helped keep horror culture afloat. Unlike, say, the priceless collection showcased in Kirk Hammett’s Too Much Horror Business, Monster Mash is more of a catalogue…

THE NINTH CIRCLE BOOKS

THE GRIM READER

BLACK SUNDAY Martyn Conterio Auteur Publishing Editor, critic and occasional Rue Morgue contributor Martyn Conterio sheds bright light on Black Sunday, filling a curious dearth of writing on the influential Italian classic that has fascinated horror fans for over 50 years. Brief and readable (albeit a tad terse), it’s a handy crash course in the film’s background and context, and a great resource for any horror fan looking to take a peek under the hood. ANDREA SUBISSATI SWERVE Vicki Pettersson Gallery Books Ever wonder what a road trip with Jigsaw would be like? You’re in luck! Just as Kris and her perfect fiancé Daniel leave Vegas for the July 4th holiday, he’s kidnapped and they’re both forced to play along with a faceless assailant’s games to win back their freedom. Swerve is a fun, zippy, though ultimately unremarkable…

THE GRIM READER

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

tRICK-OR-TREAT! TRICK-OR-TREAT! GIVES US SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT! IF YOU GOBBLE UP HORROR STORIES LIKE CANDY EARTHLING PIBLICATIONS' HALLOWEEN SERIES strives to ensure you get something good to sink your teeth into each and every year. Curated by owner/editor Paul Miller, it unofficially kicked off back in 2004 with a limited-to-fifteen-copies handmade hardcover of Glen Hirshberg’s haunted house novella Mr. Dark’s Carnival, and has in the ensuing decade published works in much larger runs by such genre mainstays as James A. Moore (Blood Red), Conrad Williams (The Unblemished), Peter Crowther (By Wizard Oak) and Gary McMahon (The Bones of You). “Horror has been my favourite literary genre since I first read Poe and Lovecraft when I was nine years old, [and] Halloween has always been my favourite holiday,” says Miller of the…

RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW

LIBRARY OF THE DAMNED

Death isn’t any easier to accept despite our propensity as horror fans to face it head-on in our entertainment. When it strikes, it guts us just as effectively as anyone else. It is indeed “the great equalizer,” as someone once said. For me, the death of a creator – especially one stolen from us in his or her prime – cuts particularly deep. I mourn, after all, not only for the person, but for the stories that they’ll never get to tell us. It feels like being doubly robbed. These are all things I’ve thought about in the wake of author Tom Piccirilli’s death this past summer, following his battle with brain cancer. I also thought about how kind and supportive he was when I initially met him as a frightfully green…

LIBRARY OF THE DAMNED

THE FRIGHT GALLERY

Crowned the “King of Thrash Metal Art,” Ed Repka’s been blasting our eyeballs for decades with his apocalyptic visions and vibrant colour palettes. He’s painted scores of magazine and album covers, but he’s perhaps best known as Megadeth’s go-to artist, visualizing Dave Mustaine’s conceptual doom, while defining the band’s skeletal mascot, Vic Rattlehead. Repka mostly works as a traditional painter, a rare breed in the illustration industry these days where tablet pens have replaced brushes. He also doubles as Art Director for NECA Toys, designing, sculpting and developing its line of licensed horror collectibles, including painting prototypes for the company’s action figures, Headknockers and giftware lines, plus art directing sculpts, designing packaging and creating action figure box sets, such as the one for Freddy vs. Jason. I caught up with…

THE FRIGHT GALLERY

Online harassment of women is a pernicious and serious issue. While perhaps simplifying things, women are essentially harassed for one of two perceptions: that they’re a challenge to male dominance or that their sexuality is a commodity to be possessed. The Gamergate fiasco last year is an egregious example of the former. Prominent women critical of the misogyny inherent in video games and the industry were subjected to an anonymous and coordinated campaign to silence them through threats of rape and murder. Similarly, “creeping” is a term that describes cyber-stalking women through their social media activity. Matthew Gunnoe chose to address this in his 2012 film Creeper, released last month on DVD by Unearthed Films. In it, Erica (Monica Chambers) and Cally (Rohnja Morrow) are tired of being harassed on a platform…

WICKED CITY SOUNDTRACK Osamu Shoji TIGER LAB VINYL Tiger Lab, a new label focused on anime vinyl soundtracks, goes horror-noir for its first release, 1987’s Wicked City. Osamu Shoji, a synth artist from the late ’70s and ’80s, provides a varied, often erratic score that is part dark ambient atmosphere, part ’80s new wave/pop and part jazzfunk. Without a recurring theme, it’s all over the place, yet, oddly enough, the constant injections of sound effects and quick shifts in direction don’t detract from its listenability – one can imagine the bass lines and retro synths fuelling any number of slashers or monster flicks. The remastering of Wicked City is superb, resulting in huge, pulsating sounds that pull you into the movie’s world of shape-shifters and secret police. Highly recommended for ’80s horror devotees. AVL FRIDAY THE…

LISTEN to MY NIGHTMARE

In August we were blessed with Meliora, the third full-length from Swedish satanic cult Ghost on Loma Vista. It’s been fun following the band’s meteoric rise in popularity, something that seems to derive from its commitment to secret identities, eccentric demonic stage costumes and, most importantly, a continually evolving sound that combines ’60s psychedelic rock and classic heavy metal in a way that appeals to a huge cross-section of people. I checked in with one of the Nameless Ghouls to find out more about the band’s latest musical incarnation. WHAT IS THE CONCEPT FOR MELIORA? Visually, when you are playing occult-oriented rock music, you automatically end up in some sort of medieval gothic spider-web graveyard world – which I love – but we’ve always thought that if we’re going to be sustainable…

LISTEN to MY NIGHTMARE

IF YOU’VE EVER SAT AROUND A CAMPFIRE WITH A SEASONED STORYTELLER SPINNING A GHOST TALE, YOU KNOW THE POWER OF the oral tradition to spook, scare and otherwise shock you. Cadabra Records, a new label specializing in creepy spoken word albums, hopes to replicate that feeling right on your home turntable with its debut release Where Is Abby? & Other Tales, featuring a handful of stories by renowned artist and author Lee Brown Coye (1907–1981). It’s a release that aims to bring renewed legitimacy to a subgenre too often associated with budget Halloween LPs featuring corny sound effects and haphazard stories. “The spoken arts are very under-appreciated,” says Jonathan Dennison, founder of the Syracuse-based label. “They provide another dimension of the written story. Listening to a spoken word record on vinyl…

UNTIL DAWN PS4 Sony Computer Entertainment As I cling to the ledge, his hand outstretched towards mine, I must decide: do I let go and die bloodied on the rocks with my sister, or let her fall into the black pit and take the stranger’s hand, unlocking a fate I don’t entirely trust? Until Dawn can tug at your heartstrings before it rips the still-beating muscle from your chest. It all boils down to player choice and sacrifice. The interactive movie/adventure game is the morbid tale of a group of teenagers dead set on spending a weekend in a remote cabin, only to find that something waits deep within the bowels of that lonely mountain. You, as the player, decide who lives and dies. The familiar, cinematic plot structure shows developer Supermassive Games’ understanding of…

In 1979 many young, impressionable horror fans settled down in front of the television to watch – through trembling fingers – the highly anticipated CBS miniseries ’Salem’s Lot. Presented in two parts, the 184-minute vampire story directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) was based on Stephen King’s 439-page book that some consider the Great American Horror Novel. Released October 17, 1975, by Doubleday, it tells the tale of Ben Mears, a writer returning to Jerusalem’s Lot, the small town in which he spent a portion of his childhood. His goal, aside from sorting out a particularly nasty demon from his youth, is to write a novel based around the ominous Marsten House, a decrepit, long-abandoned structure with a murderous history that has stood sentry over the small Maine settlement.…

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