This is Horror 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. Hope you enjoy!
This is Horror’s Quote to Consider
It takes shape after shape as its own, and each body it puts on is as hungry as the last.”
― Adam Slater, Hunted
Horror Movies
Horror Movie Suggestion for the Week
Your horror movie suggestion for this week is Frailty. Directed and starring the late Bill Paxton Frailty is a very underrated psychological thriller. It’s creepy and will crawl under your skin and stay there. Matthew McConaughey and Powers Booth play well off of each other and the lines Matthew McConaughey delivers are chilling.
Synopsis: “A man confesses to an FBI agent his family’s story of how his religious fanatic father’s visions led to a series of murders to destroy supposed “demons.””
Starring: Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, Powers Booth
Opening This Week (April 21st):
Phoenix Forgotten Synopsis: 20 years after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.
Starring: Florence Hartigan, Luke Spencer Roberts, Chelsea Lopez, Justin Matthews
Watch the Phoenix Forgotten trailer.
Read our interview with director Justin Barber.
Featured Horror from DeviantArt
Star Spawn Codex by MrZarono on DeviantArt
I can’t believe I haven’t stumbled upon MrZarono before. I absolutely love some of the work I saw on his page! Definitely stop by DeviantArt and give him some love.
Notable Events in Horror History
5 Horror Actors Born (April 8- April 21):
Tim Curry – April 19th (It)
Maria Bello – April 18th (Lights Out)
Anya Taylor-Joy – April 16th (The Witch)
Sarah Michelle Gellar – April 14th (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)
Jessica Lange – April 20th (American Horror Story)
5 Horror Movies Released (April 8- April 21)
Demon Seed (1997)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Sleepwalkers (1992)
Cat’s Eye (1985)
Silent Hill (2006)
Horror Books
New Horror Releases
The Scarlet Coven Synopsis:
New York 1936. Leading New York detective Simon Finch has received an unexpected inheritance and left the force to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. But a true detective is never far from finding trouble…or trouble finding him…
A stranger approaches Finch in the Algonquin Hotel, asking him to help find his sister who has disappeared. When he later visits the man’s hotel room he discovers that he has been murdered – stabbed with a dagger decorated with strange markings. As Finch investigates further he discovers recently acquitted crime boss Fats Molloy is mixed up with the man’s murder and the missing sister. The trail leads him to an occult bookshop …has the missing woman been kidnapped by a group of Satanists, The Scarlet Coven?
Joining forces with a black private eye, Patrick Murphy, who is also investigating the cult, they endure a series of wild adventures and close calls with demonic forces as they seek the truth about the mysterious leader of the Coven…and the nefarious plans for death and mayhem…
Dark Screams Synopsis:
Stephen King, Lisa Morton, Nell Quinn-Gibney, Norman Prentiss, Joyce Carol Oates, and Tim Curran plunge readers into the dark side in this deeply unsettling short-story collection curated by legendary horror editors Brian James Freeman and Richard Chizmar.
THE OLD DUDE’S TICKER by Stephen King: Richard Drogan has been spooked ever since he came back from Nam, but he’s no head case, dig? He just knows the old dude needs to die. || THE RICH ARE DIFFERENT by Lisa Morton: Even though she made her name revealing the private lives of the rich and famous, Sara Peck has no idea how deep their secrets really go . . . or the price they’ll pay to get what they desire.|| THE MANICURE by Nell Quinn-Gibney: A trip to the nail salon is supposed to be relaxing. But as the demons of the past creep closer with every clip, even the most serene day of pampering can become a nightmare. || THE COMFORTING VOICE by Norman Prentiss: It’s a little strange how baby Lydia can only be soothed by her grandfather’s unnatural voice, ravaged by throat cancer. The weirdest part? What he’s saying is more disturbing than how he says it. ||THE SITUATIONS by Joyce Carol Oates: There are certain lessons children must learn, rules they must follow, scars they must bear. No lesson is more important than this: Never question Daddy. Or else.|| THE CORPSE KING by Tim Curran: Grave robbers Kierney and Clow keep one step ahead of the law as they ply their ghoulish trade, but there’s no outrunning a far more frightening enemy that hungers for the dead.
Penance Synopsis:
The tense, chilling story of four women haunted by a childhood trauma.
When they were children, Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko were tricked into separating from their friend Emily by a mysterious stranger. Then the unthinkable occurs: Emily is found murdered hours later.
Sae, Maki, Akiko and Yuko weren’t able to accurately describe the stranger’s appearance to the police after the Emili’s body was discovered. Asako, Emily’s mother, curses the surviving girls, vowing that they will pay for her daughter’s murder.
Like Confessions, Kanae Minato’s award-winning, internationally bestselling debut, PENANCE is a dark and voice-driven tale of revenge and psychological trauma that will leave readers breathless.
Sea Monsters? See Monsters!
Terrorific Trivia: Reading Music
GracieKat: I suppose it’s not exactly trivia but I find it interesting how many songs have books as their inspiration. It also seems to be rock/metal/New Wave Punk that are the most prolific. I’m referencing strictly songs that are influenced by horror here. I am also leaving off Lovecraftian songs as they are a list unto themselves and will be forthcoming soon from us in a separate post of it’s own. I am also leaving off any songs inspired by The Lord of the Rings as they are fantasy and also so numerous that they will have a separate list of their own. So get your earbuds in and get ready to check out some music based on horror novels.
1. A Skeleton in the Closet – Anthrax
From the album Among the Living and based on the story Apt Pupil by Stephen King. Apt Pupil is a novella length story from the book Different Seasons.
“All american, an evil game of extortion
A sick old man, and who would guess
He was once S.S.
A deadly fascination, of a madman’s solution”
2. Hands of Your God – Jorn Lande & Trond Holter
From the album Dracula: Swing of Death. The entire album (obviously) is about Dracula but my favorite song is the Hands of Your God track.
“Embraced your god with heart and soul.
You blessed me, then you killed my love.
I cursed my faith in the lord from the devils shore.
I promise you a genocide, a dawn of death and fraud.
I’ll paint the world with the blood from the hands of your god.”
3. The Stand – The Alarm
This song comes courtesy of Kelluloid Sinema who is always awesome with music and horror items. Thanks!
The song itself comes from The Alarm’s album Declaration. The song, which I’m sure you’ve guessed by now, is inspired by Stephen King’s The Stand.
“Oh, I have been out searching with the black book in my hand
And I’ve looked between the lines that lie on the pages that I tread
I met the walking dude, religious, in his worn down cowboy boots
He walked liked no man on earth
I swear he had no name”
4. Among the Living – Anthrax
Speaking of The Stand…we have another song, this time by Anthrax from the album of the same name.
“Disease! Disease! Spreading the disease.
With some help from Captain Trips,
He’ll bring the world down to his knees.
Power, yes Power! He’ll show them all his power.”
5. Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Iron Maiden
From their album Powerslave. I realize it is a poem and not technically a book it still belongs, in my opinion at least, firmly in the horror tradition. The image of the Ancient Mariner cursed to wander to tell his tale to the mesmerized wedding guest, the Albatross of guilt hung immovably about his neck and the roll of the dice between Death and Life-in-Death for the fate of the crew and captain are all images to cool the blood.
“Death and she Life in Death,
They throw their dice for the crew
She wins the mariner and he belongs to her now.
Then, crew one by one
they drop down dead, two hundred men
She, she, Life in Death.
She lets him live, her chosen one.”
6. Hey Pretty (Drive-By Version 2001) – Poe
Poe’s album Haunted is linked very closely with the book The House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Which is not very surprising, considering that Poe is the sister of Mr. Danielewski. The Drive-By Version 2001 (which is a terrible name for it) has part of the original Hey Pretty song, mixed in with Mr. Danielewski reading excerpts from House of Leaves. It works better together than it has any right to and is also notable for being one of the few Pop songs on the list. The only thing that’s a tad creepy is how sexual the reading is and her parts of the video are also sexy. Which isn’t so bad…until you remember they’re brother and sister. Thank Cthulhu they’re not on-screen together. It would be a bit awkward.
Poe:
“Hey pretty
Don’t you wanna take a ride with me?
Through my world
Hey pretty
Don’t you wanna kick and slide
Through my world”
Mark:
“We never even kissed, or looked into each other’s eyes, our lips just
Trespassed on those inner labyrinths hidden deep within our ears,
Filled them with the private music of wicked words
Hers in many languages, mine in the off-color of my only tongue”
7. Pet Sematary – The Ramones
I believe this song was actually written for the movie but since the movie is based on the book by Stephen King it’s pretty much semantics.
“I don’t want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,
I don’t want to live my life again,
I don’t want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,
I don’t want to live my life again.”
8. Old Friend – Disturbed
It has been confirmed by David Dramain that the song is indeed about Dexter. It’s pretty obvious from the lyrics but it’s nice to have it confirmed nonetheless. From the album The Lost Children it’s a little unclear whether it’s about the tv series or the books. But, once again, semantics.
“The blood became my life
When I was trapped inside
And I can feel the Dark Passenger calling me
My mother’s blood and mine
Uniquely intertwined
Help me father purge the memory from my mind”
9. The Phantom of the Opera – Iron Maiden
From their self-titled album and released in 1980 The Phantom of the Opera is based on the book, I believe, rather than the movie or Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical
“I’m running and hiding in my dreams you’re always there.
You’re the Phantom of the Opera, you’re the devil, you’re just out to scare.
You damaged my mind and my soul it just floats through the air.
Haunt me, you taunt me, you torture me back at your lair.”
10. For Whom the Bell Tolls – Metallica
Based on the Ernest Hemingway book. While not actually ‘horror’ per se, but war is pretty freaking horrific so I’m putting it in.
“Take a look to the sky just before you die
It’s the last time he will
Blackened roar, massive roar, fills the crumbling sky
Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry”
That may be a little longer of a trivia section than you were prepared for but it’s a huge stereotype that metal-heads are barely literate and can hardly read the names of the albums they buy. It’s an irritating one and still pretty pervasive. so, I just wanted to take a minute to try and dispel that notion a bit. Thank you much for bearing with me.
Horror on the Web
Paste Magazine has The 10 Best Horror Movies of 2017 (So Far)
Bloody Disgusting has an article on a new Monster Movie called Zombiesaurus
And to continue the IT hype-train Body Disgusting also has 10 Different book covers of Stephen King’s IT
Horrornews.net has a bit more info on Annabelle: Creation
Wanting to see The Void? Read this review from The Ithacan first
Shannon Doherty does horror?! Fangoria interviews her about Bethany, her upcoming horror flick.
Holy Horror! LOL So much to entertain. Funny you mentioned Frailty as I recently watched it along with some others Bill starred in. About movies…Have you seen Troll HUnter?
Yes! I plan on watching it again soon!