This is Horror, Issue 14 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 Weekly Quote:
“The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them. They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror and Others
Horror Movies
Horror Movie Suggestion for the Week:
Gnaw: Food of the Gods II: Being a true horror-hound means you watch the good, the bad-good, and the just bad. This one, apparently, falls under the ‘just bad’ category.
Give it a watch. If you dare.
Gnaw: Food of the Gods II (1989) Synopsis: A growth hormone experiment gets out of hand, when the the resulting giant man-eating rats escape, reaking havoc on the unsuspecting campus. Much blood-letting follows.
Starring: Paul Coufos, Lisa Schrage, Réal Andrews
Opening This Week (July 14th):
Wish Upon Synopsis: A teenage girl discovers a box that carries magic powers and a deadly price for using them.
Wish Upon Tagline: Be careful what you wish for.
Starring: Joey King, Ryan Phillippe, Ki Hong Lee
In Theatres Now:
Coming Soon:
The Dark Tower (August 4th, 2017): The Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, roams an Old West-like landscape where “the world has moved on” in pursuit of the man in black. Also searching for the fabled Dark Tower, in the hopes that reaching it will preserve his dying world.
Horrorific Trivia
My little brain tends to wander if I don’t keep it occupied (the last time it wandered off it took two weeks for it to come back) so, while I’m doing stuff, I like to listen to things. But since I’m also cheap, I don’t like to pay for audiobooks of stories that I already have. Like, for instance, Lovecraft. And since he’s mainly in the public domain I can listen to them on Youtube guilt-free. Now, readings on Youtube can sometimes be iffy so, after listening to various readings (and subjecting myself to more than a few terrible ones) I have come up with a list of 5 of the best readings. Enjoy!
1. The Call of Cthulhu – Read by Garrick Hagon – The reader is really good and I like the echo effect to it. It makes it sound like an old recording and gives it an interesting quality. It is also captioned by the creator.
2. The Dunwich Horror – Read by Caden Clegg – A great reading with great sound effects. It’s a very professionally put together and the rest of the channel, Chilling Tales for Dark Nights, has a nice offering of creepypastas, podcasts and readings.
3. Pickman’s Model – Read by Huw Carr – There are quite a few different readings of Pickman’s Model but this is my preferred one. It’s slightly melodramatic but it suits the story.
4. The Haunter of the Dark – Read by H.P. Podcraft – A very nicely subtle reading of Lovecraft’s Haunter of the Dark.
5. The Outsider – Read by Roddy McDowall – Roddy McDowall’s unique voice is perfect for reading Lovecraft’s works. Unfortunately, the only other reading by him is The Hound. Which is a very good story that often gets overlooked.
Horror Books
New Releases (July 1st – July 14th)
Meddling Kids – Edgar Cantero – July 11th, 2017
For fans of John Dies at the End and Welcome to Night Vale comes a tour de force of horror, humor, and H.P. Lovecraft. The surviving members of a forgotten teenage detective club (and their dog) must reunite as broken adults to finally solve the terrifying case that ruined them all and sent the wrong man to prison. Scooby Doo and the gang never had to do this!
1990. The teen detectives once known as the Blyton Summer Detective Club (of Blyton Hills, a small mining town in the Zoinx River Valley in Oregon) are all grown up and haven’t seen each other since their fateful, final case in 1977. Andy, the tomboy, is twenty-five and on the run, wanted in at least two states. Kerri, one-time kid genius and budding biologist, is bartending in New York, working on a serious drinking problem. At least she’s got Tim, an excitable Weimaraner descended from the original canine member of the team. Nate, the horror nerd, has spent the last thirteen years in and out of mental health institutions, and currently resides in an asylum in Arhkam, Massachusetts. The only friend he still sees is Peter, the handsome jock turned movie star. The problem is, Peter’s been dead for years.
The time has come to uncover the source of their nightmares and return to where it all began in 1977. This time, it better not be a man in a mask. The real monsters are waiting.
Read our review of Meddling Kids here.
The Devil’s Colony – Bill Schweigart – July 11th, 2017
The greatest monster is man. From the author of The Beast of Barcroft and Northwoods comes a chilling descent into the depths of horror and human depravity.
Ben McKelvie had a good job, a nice house, a beautiful fiancée . . . until a bloodthirsty shapeshifter took everything away. Ever since, he’s been chasing supernatural phenomena all across the country, aided by dedicated zoologist Lindsay Clark and wealthy cryptozoologist Richard Severance.
Now they face their deadliest challenge yet. In the New Jersey Pine Barrens, a man named Henry Drexler operates a private compound called Välkommen, which is Swedish for “welcome.” Indeed, Drexler welcomes all visitors—so long as they’re racists, neo-Nazis, or otherwise in cahoots with the alt-right. But Drexler is no mere Hitler wannabe. Once he was Severance’s mentor, and his research may well have summoned a monster to the Pine Barrens.
To find out the truth, Ben and Lindsay must enter the camp incognito. There, under the watchful eyes of Drexler’s bodyguards and sociopathic son, they will learn that the most dangerous beasts lurk in the human heart.
Read our review of The Devil’s Colony here.
The Delirium Brief – Charles Stross – July 11th, 2017
Bob Howard’s career in the Laundry, the secret British government agency dedicated to protecting the world from unspeakable horrors from beyond spacetime, has entailed high combat, brilliant hacking, ancient magic, and combat with indescribably repellent creatures of pure evil. It has also involved a wearying amount of paperwork and office politics, and his expense reports are still a mess.
Now, following the invasion of Yorkshire by the Host of Air and Darkness, the Laundry’s existence has become public, and Bob is being trotted out on TV to answer pointed questions about elven asylum seekers. What neither Bob nor his managers have foreseen is that their organization has earned the attention of a horror far more terrifying than any demon: a British government looking for public services to privatize. There’s a lot of potential shareholder value in the Laundry’s “knowledge assets.”
Inch by inch, Bob Howard and his managers are forced to consider the truly unthinkable: a coup against the British government itself.
Weekly Horror Poll
Loading ...
Horror on the Web
- Detroit Free Press says Wish Upon is “inadvertently funny” – Now I have to see it what about you?
- How many of these made-for-tv horror movies from the 70s and 80s have you seen? From ComingSoon.
- If you’ve got a bad case of coulrophobia, you won’t want to look at this list from Thrillist.
- The Houston Chronicle interviews Riley Sager about the novel Final Girls
- How post-horror movies are taking over cinema is a good read from The Guardian.
- And finally, here’s 5 Insane B-Horror Movies Coming This Month from ComicBook.com
The list of made-for-TV horror movies brought back quite a few memories. Probably the funniest had to do with “Duel.” No, the movie is definitely not funny. But every time I tried to watch it, I was interrupted or my TV reception went out or the power failed or . . . I began to think the combination of me and that movie were cursed. Finally got to watch it through, and was glad I did, even after all that trouble.
Forgotten all about “The Norliss Tapes,” even though I saw it. But can’t forget “The Night Stalker” or “Trilogy of Terror.” And I’ll need to check out “I, Desire” to see if I did see it or not.
I always enjoy this feature and I had missed your Meddling Kids review. Yours is the first good one I’ve seen (vs 2 bad) and I’m glad I caught it because now I’m excited to read it again. The dog dies doesn’t it? For some reason, that’s where my head is going. I sure hope not.
Also, after seeing Shock Rock on your blog recently I scoured the internet for a copy. I’m glad to say I managed to snag used copies of both it and Volume 2 and have you to thank for turning me on to this. I’m looking forward to reading them in October.
Nah, the dog doesn’t die.
I’m honestly surprised to hear you have only seen bad reviews of Meddling Kids, but I guess it is a pretty narrow audience it appeals to.
I hope you like Shock Rock, they have some great stories. Most anthologies are a bit uneven but I can’t really think of a story I outright hated or found boring. Enjoy and please let me know what you think!