-
Where Black Stars Rise
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers has had a storied influence on the arts. In the 2014 first season of HBO’s True Detective, for example, there are references to the work and H.P. Lovecraft made passing allusions to it in the story “The Whisperer in Darkness.” Music has been composed in reverence. And to make things ultra-meta, The King in Yellow is also the name of the play which is referred to in some of the ten stories that comprise the eponymous book. In the graphic novel Where Black Stars Rise, writer Nadia Shammas and creator Marie Enger seize upon the meta element, expounding on it and expanding the possibilities. The title…
-
The New Annotated Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Dr. Jekyll is a character who wanted to delve deeper into dormant aspects of his persona. How appropriate then that Leslie S. Klinger in The New Annotated Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde chose to burrow deep into the narrative and expose detailed layers of information regarding the man-men. And in the process, reveal quite a bit about the story’s author Robert Louis Stevenson. Indeed Klinger, an editor-annotator par excellence, has produced a cornucopia of insights about Jekyll and Hyde including adaptations to stage, screen, and graphic novels. Reading Stevenson’s novel with the annotations and copious illustrations enhanced my appreciation for the work. I found myself being drawn in by passages…
-
Spectral Suburbia
Early October in the suburbs of Southern California. It was already happening: a witch here, a skeleton there, wraiths hanging from palm trees. And before you could say “Poltergeist” there was, scattered among the cacti and succulents, a proliferation of ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night. It was positively…scary. Making matters eerier, there’s a contrast between the perceived notion of the season (cooler temperatures, falling leaves) and the locale. It appears barmy when the weather is so balmy. Applying the methods of an anthropologist, it’s possible to view the setting of this holiday ritual with bemused interest. Tile roofs and cul-de-sacs, subdivisions dictated by homeowners’…
-
Stir of Echoes
Whenever there’s a feeling of disappointment in the horror genre, either from a book that’s a letdown or a movie that doesn’t live up to expectations, it’s therapeutic to time trip and go back to a film or novel that rekindles one’s enthusiasm. I recently re-watched the film Stir of Echoes and recalled in wonderment what an extraordinary year 1999 was for horror movies. Consider: The Sixth Sense (which is generally regarded as the film that eclipsed Stir of Echoes in terms of esteem and box office), the groundbreaking The Blair Witch Project, and a Tim Burton take on Sleepy Hollow. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to celebrate Halloween by partying like it’s 1999. Stir of Echoes is based…
-
The Cursed
The Cursed (2021) is a visually stunning film with fine acting. Yes, there is a “but” coming. Like so many horror movies, the plot doesn’t gel. Even cursory analysis of the narrative reveals this weakness. While I admire the brilliant cinematography and actors who endow their performances with gravitas, inconsistencies in the story detract from what could have been a superb genre film. But then plot consistency has always had a rather tenuous relationship with horror. The tale begins during World War I, and scenes of carnage and dismemberment. One of the injured soldiers has bullets extracted from his torso, the third bullet looking very different from the previous two. It…
-
Little Eve by Catriona Ward
Catriona Ward upended the horror scene with her 2021 novel The Last House on Needless Street. It was the first of her books that I had read for review and, man, the way the story was told defied the basics of its narrative. It was a tour-de-force in terms of misdirection. The author expertly planted twists in the tale while revealing the inner workings of the fragile, and seriously twisted, characters. Riotous praise for the book rightfully ensued. When I was subsequently offered a copy of Little Eve, Ward’s Shirley Jackson Award winning novel which was originally published in 2018, I seized the opportunity. Little Eve had debuted in the U.K. and won the…
-
The Ghosts of Halloween Past
Prior to the pandemic, it was a ritual to travel to the Cambria Scarecrow Festival. Cambria is a lovely town situated in California’s Central Coast. Denizens of Cambria enthusiastically participate in this month-long seasonal tradition, placing mannequins/scarecrows at store fronts and in open spaces. It’s hard to not appreciate the cleverness and creativity exhibited in this exuberant celebration of Halloween. The joy of the season is infectious. And reveling in it at a picturesque seaside town that features fine food and libations added an extra treat to the already bountiful delights of trick or treat. To learn more: Cambria Scarecrow Festival
-
A House Full of Owls in A Head Full of Horror
Horror fans have fondness for certain critters: cats, bats, spiders, corvids are among them. While I appreciate all those beasties, there’s a special place in my heart for owls. When this aspect of my personality became common knowledge, my small collection of decorative owl tchotchkes and artwork mushroomed. Friends and family no longer had to scratch their heads about what to give me as a gift. My home was transformed into a quasi-aviary bedecked with inanimate owls. In April of 2022, a live owl came into the picture. For roughly a month, it used a tree outside the master bedroom as its homebase. This resulted in comments such as “Don’t…
-
Lost Boy Lost Girl
On September 4 the horror community was rocked by the death of Peter Straub. The iconic writer’s novel Ghost Story (1979) is often listed as one of the top ten books in the genre. And rightfully so. Since I’ve read Ghost Story multiple times, I decided to mourn Straub’s passing and honor his memory by revisiting another of his works. Lost Boy Lost Girl (2003) excellently displays the author’s literary bravura. Straub possessed a dexterous sleight-of-hand stylistic ability that heightened his creation of narrative ambiguity. In Lost Boy Lost Girl there is a tweaking of the meta mentality and a toying with temporal structure. Both of those devices combine with…
