This is Horror, Issue 19 is a sampling of Horror News, including book and movie releases, 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 would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man?”
– Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island
Horror Movies
Horror Movies Releasing This Week:
Friend Request Synopsis: A popular college student graciously accepts a social outcast’s online friend request, but soon finds herself fighting a demonic presence that wants to make her lonely by killing her closest friends.
Starring: Alycia Debnam-Carey, William Moseley, Connor Paolo
Coming Soon:
Flatliners
Horror Books
Featured New Horror Release
The Haunting of Rookward House – Darcy Coates – September 22nd, 2017
She’s always watching…
When Guy finds the deeds to a house in his mother’s attic, it seems like an incredible stroke of luck. Sure, the building hasn’t been inhabited in forty years and vines strangle the age-stained walls, but Guy is convinced he can fix it up enough to sell. He’d be crazy to turn down free money. Right?
But there’s a reason no one lives in Rookward House, and the dilapidated rooms aren’t as empty as they seem…
A woman tormented the family living in Rookward House forty years before. Now her ghost clings to the building. She’s bitter, obsessive, and jealous… and has no intention of ever letting Guy leave.
Personal Note: While I can’t say that Darcy Coates is one of my favorite authors, I will say that she consistently delivers a good, mildly creepy, atmospheric read.
Goodreads Horror Giveaways
Horrorific Trivia
So, has everyone seen IT yet? What did you think? With IT remade (for better or worse) I’m kind of hoping that directors will start setting their sights on other King movies that could stand a remake. Hopefully they never try to remake the good ones like Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption, Dolores Claiborne or Misery. For some reason the less supernatural movies fare better than the supernatural or fantasy heavy ones. Here are a few they could redo as the originals suffered from low budgets or the constraints of television censorship.
1. Graveyard Shift: This middling adaptation really isn’t too bad. It’s not too great either, though. In fact, it’s largely forgettable. Based on a short story I think this would work better if shortened into a segment of an anthology-type movie with others from the same anthology – Night Shift.
2. Hearts in Atlantis: This is a back and forth one for me. While I do actually like the movie it isn’t a very good adaptation of that segment of the novel. They seemed to take all of the ‘supernatural’ out of it. However, with all the Dark Tower references, I can see why they did that. With The Dark Tower being an actual movie now people would get the references so they could be put back in with minimal effort. Although looking around it appears they do have a movie coming out of a later portion of the book.
3. Needful Things: I love Max von Sydow as Leland Gaunt. I love Ed Harris as Sheriff Pangborn. The movie, however, is a bit garbled and the message at the end is cringe-worthy at best. It’s not any of their fault for being greedy, no, it was the bad old devil. Ugh.
4. The Tommyknockers: If this book got the big budget (and better actors) it could be a great movie. As it is the effects have not worn well over time and some of the acting is atrocious.
5. The Stand: If there’s a book begging for a three part adaptation The Stand is it. Unlike IT, The Stand does not have a large fan following. And seriously, it would be almost impossible to not be better than the original.
6. The Langoliers: Again, the movie wasn’t bad, exactly. It was just very forgettable. It really, really suffers from being on television and the special effects were marginal back when it first came out and they have not held up over time. The acting is a bit better than most of the other television adaptations but I would like to see a big screen version with some good CGI.
Now, I could go on (and on and on and on) but I won’t. Are there any King movies in particular that you guys would like to see redone? Let me know in the down below!
Horror on the Web
- The Verge calls Friend Request “The Goofiest Internet Horror Story I’ve Ever Seen“
- Insider says these are the 7 Reasons Why Mother! Flopped
- Tokyo Dark: A New Horror Visual Novel Adventure Perfect for Anime Fans – a writeup from ComicBook.com
- The Guardian’s piece on Why Hollywood Always Returns to Mum-Horror might be worth your read.
- Shudder will be releasing Found Footage 3D on October 26th. Arrow in the Head has all the details and pretty pictures here.