This is Horror, Issue 12 is a sampling of Horror Movies, Art, Fiction, and Gaming, and more. A little bit of everything to make the horror hound in you feel all fuzzy and warm. Or tingle with anticipation. Whatever works for you.
This is Horror’s Quote to Consider:
“Which is the true nightmare, the horrific dream that you have in your sleep or the dissatisfied reality that awaits you when you awake?”
― Justin Alcala
Horror Movies:
Horror Movie Suggestion for the Week:
Devil (2010): Talk about claustrophobic horror! 95 percent of this movie takes place inside of an elevator car. Its a surprisingly good watch, especially with a group of friends. (The guesses on who the devil is can get quite fun!)
Devil Synopsis: A group of people are trapped in an elevator and the Devil is mysteriously amongst them.
Starring: Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas, Bokeem Woodbine
Watch the Devil trailer on Youtube.
Opening this Week (June 16th):
47 Meters Down Synopsis: Two sisters vacationing in Mexico are trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With less than an hour of oxygen left and great white sharks circling nearby, they must fight to survive.
(since I just posted the trailer link for this last week I’m not going to go into a lot of detail. Clicking the movie cover will take you to IMDB.)
Trailer to Watch:
Polaroid is styled in the vein of The Ring and Final Destination and centers on a high school loner, Bird Fitcher, who stumbles upon a vintage Polaroid camera. Bird soon learns that the camera houses a terrible secret: whoever has their picture taken by it meets a tragic and violent end. The girl and her friends must survive one more night as they race to solve the mystery of the haunted Polaroid before it kills them all.. You can check out the trailer here.
Horror Books:
New Releases (June 2nd – June 16th)
Nothing Left to Lose (John Cleaver #6) – Dan Wells – June 6th, 2017
New York Times bestselling author Dan Wells continues his acclaimed John Wayne Cleaver series, popular with fans of Dexter
Hi. My name is John Cleaver, and I hunt monsters. I used to do it alone, and then for a while I did it with a team of government specialists, and then the monsters found us and killed almost everyone, and now I hunt them alone again.
This is my story.
In this thrilling installment in the John Wayne Cleaver series, Dan Wells brings his beloved antihero into a final confrontation with the Withered in a conclusion that is both completely compelling and completely unexpected.
Don’t forget to catch the film adaptation of the first installment in the series, I am Not a Serial Killer, in theaters August 26th.
The Asylum of Dr. Caligari – James K. Morrow – June 13th, 2017
The infamous Dr. Caligari: psychiatrist or psychopath? In this wry and satiric tour de force, award-winning author James Morrow (Towing Jehovah, The Last Witchfinder) offers a surprising and provocative take on a silent film classic.
In the summer of 1914, the world teeters on the brink of the Great War. An American painter, Francis Wyndham, is hired to provide art therapy at a renowned European asylum, working under the auspices of its mysterious director, Alessandro Caligari. Francis is soon beguiled by his most talented student, Ilona Wessels, whose genius with a brush is matched only by the erotic intensity of her madness.
Deep in his secret studio, Dr. Caligari, rumored to be a sorcerer, struggles to create Ecstatic Wisdom, an immense painting so hypnotic it can incite entire regiments to rush headlong into battle. Once Francis and Ilona grasp Caligari’s scheme in all its supernatural audacity, they conspire to defeat him with a magical work of their own…
In the Valley of the Sun – Andy Davidson – June 6th, 2017
Deftly written and utterly addictive, this Western literary horror debut will find a home with fans of authors like Joe Hill, Cormac McCarthy, and Anne Rice.
One night in 1980, a man becomes a monster.
Haunted by his past, Travis Stillwell spends his nights searching out women in West Texas honky-tonks. What he does with them doesn’t make him proud, just quiets the demons for a little while. But after Travis crosses paths one night with a mysterious pale-skinned girl, he wakes weak and bloodied in his cabover camper the next morning—with no sign of a girl, no memory of the night before.
Annabelle Gaskin spies the camper parked behind her motel and offers the cowboy a few odd jobs to pay his board. Travis takes her up on the offer, if only to buy time, to lay low and heal. By day, he mends the old motel, insinuating himself into the lives of Annabelle and her ten-year-old son. By night, in the cave of his camper, he fights an unspeakable hunger. Before long, Annabelle and her boy come to realize that this strange cowboy is not what he seems.
Half a state away, a grizzled Texas Ranger is hunting Travis for his past misdeeds, but what he finds will lead him to a revelation far more monstrous. A man of the law, he’ll have to decide how far into the darkness he’ll go for the sake of justice.
When these lives converge on a dusty autumn night, an old evil will find new life—and new blood.
A Demon Lens
Horrorific Trivia
Ten Great Songs Based on Horror Movies
Here I am, inflicting my love of music on you once again! I just can’t help myself it seems. Here are some fun songs based on horror movies (and maybe one or two not-so-bad ones). I’m sticking to songs penned out of inspiration from the movies themselves, which means I’ll be avoiding songs from the actual soundtracks of the movies themselves. There are so many more but I’m limiting myself to five so as to not make this insanely long. If you’re interested in more drop me a comment down below and I’ll be happy to share. Also, if you have some to share I’d love to hear them!
1. The Ghost of Vincent Price – Wednesday 13: Didn’t think I’d be able to work him onto this trivia did you? This one could use some improvement, in my opinion. Others might really like the rough around the edges punk style but with lyrics like these how could I resist?
“I know I’ll always get my thrill, in that House on Haunted Hill
I know that life can be a gas, locked inside that House of Wax
Some people prefer the finer things in life
I’m alright, just hanging with the ghost of Vincent Price”
2. Nosferatu – Blue Oyster Cult: From the Reaper to Godzilla and finally to Nosferatu. Based on the silent movie of the same name it truly should be an instrumental but with lyrics like these who can complain? Also, this fan made video mixing the lyrics and Nosferatu movie in silent movie style is just plain awesome.
“So chaste so calm, she gave herself
To the pleasure of her dreaded master
He sucked the precious drops of life
Throughout the long and cold dark night”
3. The Wicker Man – Iron Maiden: Iron Maiden is well-known for getting inspiration for their songs from real life events, books and movies.
“You watch the world exploding every single night
Dancing in the sun a newborn in the light
Brothers and their fathers joining hands and make a chain
The shadow of the Wicker Man is rising up again”
4. Hammer Horror – Kate Bush: An odd video but the song is quite good. A nice homage to the great Hammer Horror movies.
“Hammer Horror, Hammer Horror,
Won’t leave me alone.
The first time in my life,
I leave the lights on
To ease my soul.”
5. The Creature from the Black Lagoon – Dave Edmunds: Goofy but kind of sweet. After all, don’t Creatures need a little love, too?
“Only surfaced for a companion,
‘Cause of that he’s never been seen.
Just a big look written in the eyes of his baby,
And a cry of terror, a honeymoon scream”
And one bonus song that I simply could not resist. My apologies to Robert Englund. I’m sure he’d rather this song just be forgotten to the depths of time. But, this being the internet, I bring you:
Do ‘The Freddy’ – from Freddy’s Greatest Hits: The cringe factor is strong with this one so I’ll just let you follow the link to enjoy it in all of it’s semi-glory. That being said, I actually kind of like the song Don’t Sleep from the same album. It’s definitely cheesy (and weirdly romantic sounding) but who doesn’t like a bit of cheese every now and then?
If you enjoyed this bit of musical oddity we also have a Lovecraftian Music post here and on This is Horror: Issue 8 which has a list of songs based on horror books. I can promise you they’re much better, musically speaking.
Horror Around the Web
- FastCompany has an interesting piece from the director of It Comes at Night on making ‘intensely personal horror movies’
- I liked this article from Vulture on deceptive horror movie trailers.
- Camera Obscura do it for you? Here’s a piece on Parade from dir. Aaron Koontz on it.
- Here’s a listicle from ComingSoon with their 18 Baddest Female Monsters In Horror Movies
- This doggo gets into his horror movies – from Mashable
- A POSITIVE! Review of The Mummy if you can believe it (On Huffington Post)
- Y’all, there’s a new trailer out for Sharknado 5. (I stopped watching after 2!)
- A review of 47 Meters Down that makes me even less than the none excited I was to see it.
With Devil me, my husband and son all took bets on who the Devil was before the movie started. I won three bucks, baby, lol!
I can’t wait to see 47 Meyers Down. If it’s half as good as they say it is I’ll be happy. Have you seen The Shallows yet. Or The Reef and Open Water. I liked all of them. Devil was twisted fun too. Got a surprise there didn’t ya. LOL
I’ve seen on of those (either The Shallows or The Reef) and I hated it. Bored me to tears. I guess when it comes to shark movies I’m hard to please. lol.
I love this feature. I really want to watch 47 Meters Down but I seem to be obsessed with sharks this summer (Jaws rewatch and all) so it ties right in. We are struggling to find decent horror movies to stream right now.
Glad you like this feature. I hate doing it sometimes . lol. I have seen like one good review of 47 Meters Down unfortunately