Women have always had an integral, if not somewhat cubbyholed role to play in the horror genre. In the earliest days of the genre on stage and screen they became either the damsel in distress to be rescued by the heroic male lead or they were some villainous monstress, a concubine of Satan sent to steer that same male hero into disaster. Even with the emergence of women’s rights and changing views of sex and sexuality in society, the most you could ever hope for was still som

One of the most amazing things about DragonCon in Atlanta was the cosplay. For those unfamiliar with the term, it’s costuming to portray a character or figure from one’s preferred fandom. DragonCon is known as one of the greatest showcases for cosplay in the Southeast -arguably the nation- and for good cause. With over 80,000 people in attendance this year alone, there were thousands of costumed characters from every conceivable fictional universe you could imagine. I was for

Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston, Corpus Christi, and much of the Texas coast days before DragonCon 2017 was set to begin in Atlanta, Georgia. Meanwhile, in La Tuna, California yet another wildfire is claiming homes and lives. These are just a couple of the bitter reminders nature offers regarding the fragility of human life and the brutality that sometimes finds us when we least suspect it. At DragonCon, it made the annual Heinlein Society sponsored blood drive all the m

Is a monster frightening because it can physically kill you or is it more terrifying when it robs you of your individual humanity? I’ve often wondered what makes a monster truly terrifying to me. Some monsters are relentless stalkers, hunting their prey the way a werewolf or vampire might. Others are relentless forces of nature in the vein of Godzilla and other kaiju who wipe out entire cities like volcanic eruptions before disappearing into the nothing. But these are monster

Summer’s almost over and the kids are getting ready to head back to school. Those of you who wish to get into the spirit of education would do well to head over to Shudder this month, where a Battle Royale double feature is waiting just for you. Directed by Kinja Fukasu and starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, and Tarô Yamamoto, Battle Royale follows a class of Japanese ninth-grade students who are forced to fight to the death under the requirements of a sacrificial governem

Never have I seen a movie that so perfectly lived up to its title like WTF! and I’ve seen my fair share of slasher movies over the years. I’ve watched all the classics and I’ve dug down into the dregs and I can safely say that, despite the overwhelming popularity of the genre, it’s very hard to make a timeless classic about a crazed killer. But there are always exceptions. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and Friday the 13th set the bar for fans and filmmakers while others

What’s better than a schlocky, B horror extravaganza? A schlocky, B horror extravaganza with a bizarre, sarcastic sense of humor and a -barely- functional alcoholic police officer/werewolf as the lead character. I first experienced Wolfcop in early 2016 streaming it off of Amazon and I wasn’t totally sold before I hit play. The cover art was cool and it looked like it had that 80’s B horror style but looks can be deceiving. What followed, however, absolutely obliterated any d

Horror has seen a renaissance in the last century that has pushed it from an obscure, almost taboo lust shared by a small group of fringe fetishists to a truly vibrant and thriving subculture around the globe. No one has done more to shape this terrifying landscape than legendary filmmaker George A. Romero. I was eight when I saw his seminal classic, Night of the Living Dead for the first time. I'm hard pressed to think of any intangible thing that ever frightened me more. An

Horror hosts are nothing new. They’ve been around since the dawn of television, haunting our sets with bizarre and intriguing ghouls who set the stage for even stranger tales. From the likes of Vampira, Criswell, and Elvira we’ve been welcomed you into their lairs with promises of chills, thrills and outright terror. Like any notion or cultural phenomena, the horror host has evolved. Other shows quickly took to the model making modifications to fit the platform they had in mi

I was drowning, in way over my head with no clue what to do. Potential sponsors wouldn't talk to me because I was nobody to them and my crowd funding campaign was more a pipe dream than an actual plan. I was running down the options from creating some disorganized flash mob to taking out a personal loan just to make sure the zombie walk happened. Posting online from the Facebook page (the only media outlet I had access to for the event) things were floundering fast. And all I