Table of contents for Issue 227 Nov/Dec Xmas 2025 in RUE MORGUE

Rue Morgue · 001 Rue Morgue #227 - Intro   Interviewing Guillermo del Toro for this issue’s cover story was a pleasure, an honour, a true bucket list item, but it wasn’t the first time I got to meet and chat with the Academy Award-winning filmmaker. That gig came back in 2017, when his art exhibit, “At Home with Monsters,” arrived at the Art Gallery of Ontario, and I was tapped to moderate his conversation with co-curator Jim Sheddon for the opening night press conference. I was fresh in this role of Executive Editor at the time, and the opportunity fucking terrified me. I had conducted many interviews by then, to be sure, but there’s a big difference between getting serviceable quotes to embed in an article and…

Much has been made of the fact that Mary Shelley’s classic gothic novel came from the imagination of an outspoken teenage girl on a dark and spooky night. Less known is that Shelley had an especially fraught relationship with motherhood, having lost her own mother (writer and activist Mary Wollstonecraft) at a young age and, later, two of her own three children. During my conversation with Guillermo del Toro, discussion inevitably turned toward Shelley and, in response to my probing, he elaborated his own understanding of the late author as an intellectual and as a creative, and as a hero of her time. “Mary Shelley was born of death,” says del Toro. “Her mother died eleven days after she was birthed. When [Mary] had babies, the first baby she had…

Rue Morgue · 003 Rue Morgue #227 - Boulet Brothers   IF THEY WERE TO PICK ANY HOLIDAY IN WHICH TO SET THEIR NEW ANTHOLOGY SPECIAL, YOU MAY HAVE EXPECTED DRACMORDA AND Swanthula Boulet – a.k.a. The Boulet Brothers – to pick Halloween. After all, the horror drag superstars are best known for their Shudder reality competition show The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula, where creepy (and catty) drag artists from around the world compete to be named the “World’s Next Drag Supermonster” by executing all manner of spooky and sexy looks and surviving some truly ghastly challenges should they fall short of expectations. Instead, The Boulet Brothers’ Holiday of Horrors, out this December on Shudder, promises to be a big ol’ gift-wrapped box of yuletide scariness stuffed under your tacky…

DAUGHTER OF THE LIVING DEAD QUEENS OF THE DEAD Starring Katy O’Brian, Jack Haven and Jaquel Spivey Directed by Tina Romero Written by Tina Romero and Erin Judge Independent Film Company/Shudder It might seem an impossible task to launch a career by taking on the bloodsoaked filmmaking mantle of your legendary father, but Tina Romero, daughter of George A. Romero (you know, the guy who essentially invented zombie cinema as we know it), has done just that with her zom-com Queens of the Dead. In this audacious and assured feature debut, the director follows in her father’s formidable footsteps while also blazing her own trail and leaving her own bite marks on the undead genre. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32986431/ During drag night at a gay nightclub in Bushwick, mundane issues like last-minute cancellations…

I FINISHED READING SARAH MARIA GRIFFIN’S HORTICULTURAL HORROR NOVEL EAT THE ONES YOU LOVE ON A Tuesday evening and whiled away my Wednesday thinking about Baby, the carnivorous orchid who spends the novel plotting to consume the florist who tends him. And I wondered why, despite all my macabre interests and dark inclinations, I’d never considered cultivating something with savage appetites. Griffin’s story drops us into the Woodbine Crown Mall, one of those slowly dying retail spaces where the food court echoes with phantom teenage conversations and half the storefronts gape empty like missing teeth in a still-grinning skull. Baby lives in the heart of this decay, and it’s a perfect set-up: a carnivorous orchid thriving off the decaying ecosystem of a place that’s feeding on its own corpse while…

Just because the halls are decked with shiny baubles and glimmering tinsel and the normies are overdosing on Christmas carols, eggnog, and saccharine holiday cheer, doesn’t mean we aren’t itching for some Halloween-in-December. So, here’s a selection of spooky new stuff – for monster kids young and old – guaranteed to add a bit of macabre mayhem to those carefully hung stockings. Happy Holidays! SUNSET SCARES If the wee ones are already busy planning for next Halloween (who isn’t?), this softcover picture book by co-authors Oliver Robins and Dustin Warburton (and illustrator Jared Gagnon) will take them out on the town in the meantime. Featuring a trio of past-their-prime spooks, the book asks its young readers what a bunch of old monsters should do now that horror’s moved on to…

https://open.spotify.com/album/7M2kbHZtoBbQvbpAYsScqC SPANNED CANYONS INSTRUMENTAL The Only Perfect Way for This to End (INDEPENDENT) Spanned Canyons (a.k.a. Rue Morgue alumnus Gary Gahan and company) invites you to slip on a pair of headphones and descend into an open-veined bath of lulling soundscapes. The opening track, appropriately titled “The Descent,” plays with various layers of static and a mournful saxophone to full effect. That’s pretty much the mood for the whole album, in which the sax continues to wail throughout, like a foghorn piercing the mist that envelops each densely mixed track. Voices occasionally sound out, although it’s hard to hang onto any specific thematic strands, but maybe we’re not meant to. As with previous offerings, Spanned Canyons’ collages of white noises evoke the liminal spaces of dreaming – no small feat. In…

I MISS SEEING Lon Chaney’s face on magazine covers – or anywhere, really. But horror magazine covers especially. Hard to quantify what this man gave the industry – we should be celebrating him so much more. Thanks for your coverage, it was a treat to read. SAM J, VIA EMAIL I AM NOT A SUBSCRIBER to your magazine, but I was drawn to your cover story on the return of Alice Cooper. I have been following him since I was a kid and loved him during his horror heyday in the 1980s when he was appearing in movies (anyone remember Monster Dog?). Alice was definitely a gateway drug to horror movies for me, and I still follow his music to dark places I normally would not go into. Kudos for…

MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN (Delacorte Press, 1980, 1981) For monster fans too young to pore over an unabridged edition of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, New York-based Delacorte Press published a beautifully illustrated children’s book that was a staple of schools and libraries in the early 1980s. Adapted and illustrated by the wife and husband team of Alice and Joel Schick, the book (originally issued as a hardcover edition in 1980, before being reprinted the following year in a softcover version) covers all the major plot points of Shelley’s classic and, despite including portions of text from the original 1818 novel, is very accessible for younger readers. The fantastic watercolour painted panels by award-winning artist Joel (who worked for years as an illustrator for children’s publications and books) perfectly capture the essence of…

You may know David Dastmalchian from last year’s breakout hit Late Night with the Devil (a film you should really see if you haven’t already) but did you know the actor/director hosts a real-life talk show called Grave Conversations? The show, which can be found on YouTube, offers a macabre twist to the format by inviting guests to chat about death, dying, grief, end-of-life care, and other convivial topics… all while laying in a coffin. “These are big, tough conversations about stuff that scares us and often makes us feel isolated,” says Dastmalchian. “So, when we have an opportunity to go into a space where we can talk about things openly, without any kind of fear or shame, it’s just a great reminder that we’re not alone in this, and…

FOR SOME, JIGSAW PUZZLES ARE A RELIC OF THE KINDERGARTEN CLASSROOM, A PRE-TABLET SLAB OF LO-FI ENTERTAINMENT DESIGNED TO KEEP sticky preschooler fingers busy. But many a hobbyist has kept up with the pastime, advancing to tougher difficulties, often featuring smaller pieces and more intricate artwork. While horror has gotten in on the fun with licensed illustrations and movie posters (see Rue Morgue’s wicked collab with Messed Up Puzzles from 2020), David Axelrod of Spark Plug Publishing took things a step further with his Puzzles of Doom line, where completing the puzzle reveals a classic painting… with a horrifying surprise twist. “For a person who hasn’t done a jigsaw puzzle since kindergarten and is reading this magazine, this puzzle is for you,” says Axelrod. “What I’ll say about the reveals…

STINKING SHIP https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18394428/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_2_nm_0_in_0_q_Titanic%2520666 TITANIC 666 The Asylum It was the summer of 1982 when I first heard “The Number of the Beast” by Iron Maiden. It opened with English actor Barry Clayton quoting Revelation 12:12 and 13:18, and would ignite a firestorm of religious controversy that lasted through the ’80s. Skip ahead 40 years to a time when anyone can throw “666” around with impudence, including haphazardly tacking it onto film titles like these! Set 110 years after the launch of the original doomed ocean liner, this soggy outing follows the relaunch of the Titanic III, which is crammed full of personal possessions from its namesake’s wreck, thereby pissing off the unquiet spirits of its dead crew and passengers. Though competently filmed and passably acted, it lacks the dread and…

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109838/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_freaked During the first half of the 1990s, before Scream revitalized horror commercially in ’96, the genre went into a serious downswing when it came to theatrical releases. The combination of slasher-franchise fatigue, the rise of VHS, and the collapse of many major independents in the late ’80s meant that in the following decade, many scary movies went straight to video. And numerous titles that would have enjoyed wide breaks or filled grindhouse and drive-in screens several years before received only single-screen bookings in a handful of major cities, sometimes just one or two. A key example is Tom Stern and Alex Winter’s berserk horror comedy Freaked, though it was more a victim of a corporate regime change than the aforementioned factors. The new top brass at 20th Century Fox…

I have a friend who suffers from apotemnophobia to the point where even the mention of the word “amputation” sends him into spasms. Though extreme, it is undoubtedly a deep-rooted fear shared by many, and one that writer Ryan Oliver sought to explore in his latest graphic novel, Phantom Grip. “I’ve always had an intense, morbid fascination with the fear of losing a limb or such,” says Oliver. “One of the touchstone subgenres for me is body horror. Threats or attacks from outside forces are a bit commonplace in drama, but when one’s own body turns on itself, I find it uncommonly terrifying. So this story is deeply rooted in the phobias of self-sabotage and physical trauma. Dark as those themes are, I tried to infuse them in a creative…

MIDNIGHT SOMEWHERE Johnny Compton Blackstone Publishing https://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Somewhere-Short-Story-Johnny-Compton/dp/B0FBBYBGCY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1CY9XB5T6A32K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aQh_oo-IAUzy0piF41bpC2A3MzbVtCRTWHUDPmUt-5iLC6EcFN29g0kfUpEd6UPLuBnl8X9IcvAiN9Lf7Y4_cZjgE8mZd42pIjrhsDAgKR7iKE9IJS1bF20Uq3aBi9alvgQIBF7pEnp4HVepdaHh1731x6t3HIQlQllloSb_bGzxKRrHg74FTiO4GJ3uFELi_DZ4kvdf1QjSwlsoM8Dk285zGNW-tIfrsSc08VhTKR4.rAhs7JDv4CVvJGa1VaU9VBolwmOgVs92Dg5tDNqw0G8&dib_tag=se&keywords=midnight+somewhere&qid=1759948606&sprefix=midnight+somewhere%2Caps%2C103&sr=8-1 Relative newcomer Johnny Compton has been generating buzz in horror lit circles with his novels The Spite House (2023) and Devils Kill Devils (2024), but with his new collection, Midnight Somewhere, it could be argued that his short stories are even more impactful and haunting. There’s no overarching theme, instead the book offers up a choice selection of Compton’s previously published short works (which appeared on various horror fiction podcasts and in publications such as Strange Horizons and The Rack anthology) along with a sizable number of new tales. Part of the fun here is never knowing where Compton will take us next but coming to realize that the destination is always worthwhile – and always dark. In “Monster Bites,” for instance, a…

1 HORROR PUNK BUTTON-UP $84 USD The perfect button-up for Rue Morgue readers doesn’t exist? Think again! Future Monsters had ghouls like you in mind when it came up with this all-over print featuring a carefully curated collage of vintage punk and horror magazine clippings. This unisex black-and-white shirt is made in soft, lightweight viscose and features engraved buttons for maximum cool. Wear your horror love on your sleeve – literally! Futuremonsters.com 2 DREADMAS SEASONAL ORNAMENTS $30 CAD You might know the Mysterious Package Company for its top-notch murder mystery tabletop games, but this season marks the launch of a new line of “Dreadmas” holiday decor designed to spread fear, not cheer! Dubbed “The Dark Choir,” the three resin ornaments in this set are 10cm in height but at least…

Rue Morgue · 002 Rue Morgue #227 - Frankenstein   ONE NEEDN’T BE A HARDENED HORROR FAN TO APPRECIATE THE UBIQUITY OF MARY SHELLEY’S FRANKENSTEIN. BEFORE HE became the stuff of kids’ Halloween costumes, Victor Frankenstein’s clumsy creation was rendered to celluloid in 1931 in a film starring Boris Karloff, whose portrayal of the monster, assisted by famed Universal monster-maker Jack Pierce, cemented the image of a heavy-lidded, bolt-necked, broad-browed giant into the public consciousness, laying the foundation for one of horror’s most iconic figures. That portrayal also blew the mind of one Mexican filmmaker-to-be, a man who would go on to dominate the film industry as one of the genre’s most dazzling dreamers: Guillermo del Toro. Garnering international acclaim for his Spanish language independent features before grappling with…

You don’t have to go on set to a Guillermo del Toro movie to know the man has turned cinema into high art – just look at the resulting movie, awash in exquisite visuals, unforgettable creatures, and a colour palette that will warm your soul. For those looking to go beyond the screen, there is The Art & Making of Frankenstein: Written & Directed by Guillermo del Toro, the official companion book to the film, out this month from Insight Editions. Written by film critic Sheila O’Malley, the impressive tome lumbers in a 9.25” x 12.75” hardcover with 264 pages and throws open a window into del Toro’s creative process and the meticulous craftsmanship with which he resurrected Mary Shelley’s novel for the screen. The hefty volume is compiled of…

WHEN THEY TAUGHT THE NOAH’S ARK STORY IN SUNDAY SCHOOL, MY ATTENTION ALWAYS DRIFTED TO THE NIGHTMARISH VISION OF all those people – a whole world of people – slowly drowning. Later, when the waters finally receded, would they reveal all the dead? What would that look like? Smell like? I’ve always found the Bible kind of a scary thing. But, according to author and associate professor Brandon R. Grafius, the study of horror in relation to the Bible is a fairly new branch of research. It only began to develop about twenty years ago, following the publication of Timothy K. Beal’s Religion and Its Monsters, a book Grafius considers formative to his own academic work. “I think the first edition came out in 2003, and there was just about…

ON THE SLAB: FEAR IS IN THE EAR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJlQHlI9RGw TINY THING 15:52 mins/Vimeo via Joshua Giuliano’s Channel When young couple Brian (Jacob DeMonte-Finn) and Lacy (Britt Harris) arrive at their rented lakeside cabin, they have what looks like a perfect romantic getaway ahead of them with swimming, a lovely steak dinner, and some hanky-panky – until the bright mood is soured when Lacy drops the L-bomb and Brian fails to reciprocate. Later, a bug curiously flies into Brian’s ear, sending the pair into a night of ever-maddening chaos. Los Angeles native Joshua Guiliano’s previous two short films, Grandma’s House (2017) and In Sound, We Live Forever (2018), both relied heavily on audio cues to push their narratives, and in Tiny Thing, the buzzing sound of a pesky fly is the…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx6lEn2S1rI DEAD RESET PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, iOS, Android Wales Interactive Full-motion video (FMV) has always filled a strange niche in the gaming landscape. Typically, it’s not game-y enough for the purists, not book-y enough for the visual novel crowd, and is confined within the constraints of a playable-film gimmick. Indie developer/publisher Wales Interactive made a mark in the FMV world with games such as 2016’s The Bunker and 2020’s The Complex, and Dead Reset showcases all of the upsides and downsides of how the company approaches this niche: there’s high-quality, compelling storytelling, but there’s so little gameplay that it’s essentially a sometimes-interactive movie. The story centres on Cole Mason, a surgeon who wakes up in a grimy research station with no memory, but is nonetheless forced at gunpoint to…