Retrospectives
Why The Shining is Just a Ghost Story (And Why That’s Okay)
Stephen King’s chief influence for his novel The Shining was Shirley Jackson’s classic book The Haunting of Hill House. He speaks clearly about this in introductions to the book and in i...
Grave Encounters is One of the Smartest Movies of the Found Footage Boom
I have to be honest, I didn’t mind the found footage boom when it first started. Paranormal Activity really got to me in the theater. They turned out all the lights right at the end and left us...
White Horse Whisperer: Why Zombie’s Halloween II is (Almost) a Masterpiece
There aren’t many horror films that are more immediately divisive than Rob Zombie’s remakes of Halloween and Halloween II. Some people love them more than the original—I donȁ...
A Drinking Problem: Why Return to Salem’s Lot is One of the Most Bats–t Sequels Ever Made
Despite being a made-for-TV miniseries, Salem’s Lot is one of the pinnacles of the vampire genre. It’s iconic. Often hailed as one of the best Stephen King adaptations, as well as one of...
Many Strings Attached: The Troubled History of Puppet Master
Puppet Master is one of the most successful independent horror film franchises of all time. It’s spawned an action figure series, Halloween costumes, T-shirts, comic books and even a reboot fro...
Panic at the Theater: How Demons Reimagined Meta Horror
In the 1980s, the horror genre experienced immense cultural backlash. Parents groups, religious groups, critics and especially censorship committees fought back against the genre as hard as they could...
Family Matters: Defending Seed of Chucky (Sort of)
The greatest thing about the Child’s Play franchise can also be one of the most alienating things to fans, and that’s the fact that every entry is a completely different kind of movie th...
The Mangler is as Fun as it is Ridiculous
Stephen King can make just about any idea work on the page, no matter how ridiculous it actually is. But sometimes those ideas don’t always translate well to film. Sometimes they’re not ...
Why Halloween III is Perfect for St. Patrick’s Day Viewing
Halloween III is far from the most beloved of its franchise, but it has gained quite a few new supporters in recent years. A lot of fans hate it for its lack of Michael Myers and for having ...