Table of contents for Issue 203 Nov/Dec Xmas 2021 in RUE MORGUE

It sometimes surprises people to learn that while I love horror movies and I love gaming, I don’t especially love horror video games. Well, I should specify – I don’t especially love the prevailing form of what is known as horror gaming, which is to say a game with first-person perspective, sneaking around a dark environment with a flickering flashlight and near-to-no ammo, waiting for a jump scare à la Alien: Isolation or the new-fangled Resident Evil entries. I find them exhausting, to be honest – their narratives never tickle me on the same level as movies do. Imagine strapping in and riding a roller coaster – thrilling, right? Now imagine you’re responsible for also steering that roller coaster at 92 mph. It’s still thrilling (for some?) but that’s a…

‘I WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, AND ALL OF THE ELVES WERE STOCKING THE HORROR ON VHS SHELVES. THE FANS ALL SLEPT SOUNDLY WITH THEIR FINGERS CROSSED, IN HOPES THAT ST. NICHOLAS BRINGS THEM JACK FROST! ‘It’s not the classic version of the poem, to be sure, but as horror fans we choose our own classics. Case in point: Michael Cooney’s Jack Frost – a veritable holiday horrorshow about a maniacal serial killer (Scott MacDonald) who has his genetic material fused with snow, creating “the world’s most pissed-off snow cone” let loose on a town in need of some “social pruning.” It is horror’s most preposterous plotline? Certainly not, considering the genre has shown us everything from killer tomatoes to Zombeavers… but it’s up there. Since its release on video…

AH, GUINEA PIG. IF THE NAME RINGS A BELL, IT COULD BE THAT YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT THAT TIME IN THE EARLY ’90S WHEN FAMED ACTOR/#WINNER CHARLIE SHEEN SAW A HORROR MOVIE SO REALISTIC AND EXTREME, he thought it was an actual snuff film and reported it to the FBI. That film was Hideshi Hino’s notorious 1985 splatter movie Guinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood, and although the charges were dropped once the investigation viewed the film’s making-of documentary (which recreates the special effects used in the feature), the high-profile hubbub made the Guinea Pig movies something of an urban legend in the horror world. Now, the franchise has found new life on a whole new continent thanks to Stephen Biro, of U.S. horror distributor Unearthed Films. Biro acquired…

https://youtu.be/3_rBMIppv7k DEVIL TO PAY 3:33 AM Sector 5 Films If I was the Devil, I’d be pissed at how many stupid movies are made in my name. So, if you’re thinking about shooting a film that deals with the Man Downstairs, make like Mick and have some sympathy! Sadly, the makers of this digital dumpster dive never heard of the Stones, or else they may have sidestepped this bit of cinematic blasphemy about an ex-con trying to reintegrate into society. He’s sidetracked by weirdos living in his halfway house as well as the evil-goings-on in the abandoned house next door in the middle of the night – at 3:33 a.m. to be precise. Half-assed attempts at humour aren’t enough to drag the corpse of this film across your wounded eyes…

HOMEBODIES: EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN For many horror devotees, the news that a beloved obscurity is coming out on special-edition Blu-ray can be even more exciting than learning of a popular classic getting the same treatment. For this particular fan, it was particularly thrilling to hear, a few years back, that Kino Lorber had acquired 1974’s Homebodies for disc release. It has since been a long road, with delays due to the pandemic and other stumbling blocks, leading up to the November 2 Blu-ray/DVD debut of this largely lost, unique combination of chills and black comedy. Filmed in Cincinnati in 1973, Homebodies was directed by Larry Yust and produced by Marshal Backlar, reuniting from 1972’s Iceberg Slim-based crime drama Trick Baby. The script by Yust, Howard Kaminsky, and Bennett…

Before reanimated zombies, before Frankenstein’s monster, there was the golem. Stretching back to early Judaism, the idea of an inanimate creature formed by humanity – usually out of mud or clay – and brought to life in order to fulfill the wishes of its creator continues to influence modern horror writers. One such writer is Francesco Artibani, whose new comic He Who Fights With Monsters owes its existence to the Jewish legend. “The figure of the golem is fascinating and powerful,” he explains. “[Its] story, like that of all the great legends, crosses time because it remains highly symbolic and significant. This adventure comes from the desire to continue to explore this larger-than-life character.” In most of the classic tales, such as the famous Golem of Prague, the golem is…

ADAPTING STEPHEN KING, VOLUME 1; CARRIE, ’SALEM’S LOT AND THE SHINING FROM NOVEL TO SCREENPLAY Joseph Maddrey McFarland Stephen King has inspired more motion picture adaptations than any other living author, so it’s no wonder that several books have already been devoted to his cinematic adaptations, from The Films of Stephen King (1986) to Screening Stephen King (2018). Yet, at least two qualities set this McFarland project apart from the previous ones. One is its scope: a series of books means more space and details than one volume could ever offer. The other is its stress on the screenplays: the author’s stated goal is “to focus on the ways and reasons that Stephen King’s stories have been reconfigured by different storytellers for different mediums at different times.” In this, Joseph…

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/afaf9365-8911-42fc-9169-cc471330817f/camp-monsters?ref=dmm_acq_mrn_d_ds_rh_z_-c_c_539036640611_g_127821134784 CAMP MONSTERS PODCAST THEME: Cryptids FREQUENCY: Weekly (in seasons) Come gather ’round the campfire – you’ll need that warmth for when the chills start running up your spine. The Camp Monsters Podcast wants to teach you a few things about the malevolent cryptids that could be lurking in your midst, and you ought to be ready. Each episode, host/writer Weston Davis transports listeners to a wild new spot in North America, taking about half an hour to describe a specific monster culled from local lore, and relating testimony from someone who encountered it in the flesh. (Whether the stories are true is up to the listener to decide.) While some of the featured creatures – like the Sasquatch, Chupacabra, Jersey Devil, and Thunderbirds – will be familiar to most,…

WHILE I’VE BEEN reading Rue Morgue since the beginning and have consistently enjoyed every issue from front to back, the past few issues have been nothing short of phenomenal. I’ve had issue #202 in my possession for less than 24 hours and have read the Roots of Folk Horror three times already. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed an article this much in at least ten years. Kudos to Dejan Ognjanovic for another outstanding contribution and also to Andrea Subissati for a Note From Underground that was somehow equal parts humorous and touching. Your readers are lucky to have you at the helm. STACEY DURST, VIA EMAIL FANTASTIC ISSUE [RM202]! I let my subscription lapse a while back and I can’t remember why, because I have always adored Rue Morgue. Needless…

IT DOESN’T TAKE AN INDIE FILMMAKER TO KNOW THAT INDIE FILMMAKING CAN BE A TERRIBLY PUNISHING VOCATION. From budgetary cuts to studios going under to Hollywood family movies bearing the exact same title, director Michael Cooney knows a thing or two about how hard it is to make a movie. But that didn’t stop him from gathering a passionate crew to film Jack Frost, in the hopes of channelling some Sam Raimi/Evil Dead indie energy and ingenuity on the set. The only trouble with shooting a holiday horror film in California was… you guessed it – no snow. “We shot the first [film] in Big Bear, which is a mountain about two hours from California where I happened to have a little cabin, and it snows every year,” Cooney recalls.…

‘DON’T SEEM LIKE CHRISTMAS IF THE MUMMERS AREN’T HERE/GRANNY WOULD SAY AS SHE’D SIT IN HER CHAIR/THINGS HAVE GONE MODERN, I ’SPOSE THAT’S THE CAUSE/CHRISTMAS IS NOT LIKE IT WAS…” So begins the “Mummers Song,” a staple in Newfoundland culture. A tradition brought over by Irish and English settlers, its modern form is thought to have started in Newfoundland somewhere around 1819. Also called “mumming” or “janneying,” depending on who you ask, it typically takes place at Christmastime between December 26 and January 6. “There’s big ones ’n’ tall ones ’n’ small ones ’n’ thin/Boys dressed as women and girls dressed as men/Humps on their backs an’ mitts on their feet/My blessed we’ll die with the heat…” And so the song continues, referring to the odd costumes that Mummers create…

BLENDING ECOLOGICAL REVENGE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TENSION, SET IN AND AROUND A REMOTE HOUSE IN THE BEAUTIFUL-YET-UNFORGIVING MOUNTAINS OF WALES, the Welsh-language horror film The Feast tells the story of a lavish dinner party that turns deadly for its guests and hosts, whose lives are unravelled over the course of the evening as punishment for their crimes against nature. Directed by Lee Haven Jones and written by Roger Williams – both born and raised in Wales – The Feast operates on the power of suggestion and unfolds at the level of implicit psychological horror rather than explicit physical violence. Or, as the director puts it, the “terror manifests itself through pace.” “The film is a slow burn that is big on mood and atmosphere,” says Haven Jones, who makes his feature…

PARALYSIS 19:50 mins/Vimeo via Robin Shanea Williams’ channel Mental health is always a complex subject, one made trickier in the horror genre where the possibility of supernatural elements muddies the waters even further. In Paralysis, a woman suffers from sleep paralysis and dreams that make her wonder if there’s a sinister entity at play. But we also learn that she’s recently divorced and attempted suicide at some point, so we’re left to wonder if her torment is external at all. Actress Nia Fairweather is compelling in her steadfast certainty that a paranormal entity is haunting her, while director Robin Shanea Williams expertly plants seeds of doubt in the audience. The question that lingers at the end of the film isn’t whether the turmoil is all in her head, but whether…

Bite Me… Again “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” – Mark 16:18 Snake handlers – what a zany subculture, am I right? I’m not talking herpetologists here, I’m talking holy-rollin’ crazoids who spend their Sundays in backwoods churches, assholing around with live rattlesnakes on the premise that either: a) God will save them from getting bitten, or b) if they do get bitten, God will save them anyway. You don’t hear much of them these days, except as a Moe Szyslak-related punchline on The Simpsons and a hilarious set piece in the underappreciated Will Ferrell vehicle The Campaign (2012). But a cursory YouTube search will reveal that snake…

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE FAMOUS SEQUENCE IN 2004’S SHAUN OF THE DEAD, WHEREIN TITULAR WORKING-CLASS HERO SHAUN COMES UP WITH A SCHEME TO SAVE HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY in a series of hyper-fast cuts now known as “The Plan,” confused potential investors reading the script to the point where they wanted to axe it? No one could visualize director Edgar Wright’s vision for the sequence, and so it speaks to its raw, cinematic power that some sixteen years after the film’s initial release, The Plan was reborn as a newly topical meme in the wake of COVID-19 (“Go to the Winchester, have a pint, and wait for this all to blow over”). https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58320306-you-ve-got-red-on-you This is just one of the revelations found in Clark Collis’ new book You’ve Got Red…

NOT TO SOUND TOO “WE ARE THE WEIRDOS, MISTER,” BUT LATELY I’VE BEEN FEELING ODDLY NOSTALGIC for some good old-fashioned “horror scares the normies” controversy. I’m pining for the time when we were told that horror movies would irreparably harm our psyches and were made for degenerates. Horror is all but respectable these days! Don’t get me wrong, I love to see the genre treated like the legitimate art form that it is. But when was the last time a film or even a trailer generated more than a shrug from casual audiences? No one asks how I can stand watching this stuff anymore! I can’t remember the last time I was told to think of the children! I think it’s the impending threat of the holiday season that’s got…

1 AXE PIZZA CUTTER $4.50 USD Slice your way to demented levels of delicious with this hatchet-inspired rotary pizza cutter! This handy accoutrement sports a lightweight bamboo handle to ease in those beginner axe-wielding maniacs, and a blade sharp enough to slice through anything standing between you and culinary bliss. Dishwasher safe, because safety first! Amazon.com 2 WINTER GETAWAY WRAPPING PAPER $11.99 USD Now you can wrap your holiday gifts in the carpet patterns of the Overlook Hotel – a sure way to subliminally insert the pall of madness and murder into your family gathering! Let your loved ones know it’s the thought that counts with these 30 x 96 inches of premium grade wrapping paper. Pre-orders are open now and they ship Nov 22. Trickortreatstudios.com 3 BABY BAT FLEECE…

HEAVY MENTAL TITANE Starring Vincent Lindon, Agathe Rousselle and Garance Marillier Directed by Julia Ducournau Written by Jacques Akchoti, Jean-Christophe Bouzy and Julia Ducournau Elevation Pictures https://youtu.be/Q5_w2W5G9OM Mechaphilia is the sexual attraction to cars or other motor transport vehicles. Is it interesting? Sure. Is it scary? Could be. But it’s only one of many narrative threads in Titane, the latest from writer/director Julia Ducournau (Raw), that tease delightfully even as they defy expectations to culminate in a conventional web. Having survived a terrible car accident as a child that necessitated a titanium plate installed in her head, Alexia (Agathe Rousselle) now makes a living as an exotic dancer at car shows. It’s a hypersexualized masculine world, but Alexia navigates it with ease – and has no qualms performing amateur lobotomy…

WITH FOLK HORROR ALL THE RAGE THESE DAYS (SEE RM#202), some low-budget filmmakers, hot on the heels of their well-received The Dinner Party (2020), decided to maintain the momentum they’d built with that film. Director Miles Doleac reworked a script by his collaborators, Jim Bulian and Michael Donovan Horn, and came up with Demigod, about a young woman, Robin (Rachel Nichols: 2005’s The Amityville Horror), visiting her recently deceased grandfather’s cabin in the middle of Germany’s Black Forest. Together with her husband Leo (Yohance Myles) she encounters a dark family legacy, but also a host of characters, including a hunter (director Doleac, with a German accent), three robed witchlike women who claim to be “servants of The Hunt,” and another hunter, Cernunnos – whose name is likely to be recognized…

WRITERS WORKSHOP OF HORROR 2 Michael Knost, ed. Hydra Publications “A little bit for everyone” – that’s the phrase to sum up this anthology of short essays and articles which clarify the basic questions that any wannabe horror author may have regarding their genre, craft, and would-be career. The “Why Horror?” query is most convincingly answered by the masterful writers who look back upon the genre’s tradition and their own biographies, confessing how they moulded their lives’ experiences into horror tales, from the theoretical (“To the Next Generation” by Ramsey Campbell and “Who Is That Walking Beside You? Haunted by Tradition” by John Langan), to the subjective (Joe R. Lansdale’s “Working from the Subconscious”), right down to the most explicitly autobiographical, but also lyrical (“The Ouroboros Bites Down” by Laird…

What if there was a book that explained our undying love of all things spooky and gory to those people in our lives who think of our cinematic obsessions as weird and unhealthy? You know, the ones who instantly recoil at the mere suggestion of watching a fright flick. Would this book grant them insight into our genre-loving souls? Would it convince them to watch more horror movies? Well, I was dying to know, and as it happened, a book making just such a claim – Mathias Clasen’s A Very Nervous Person’s Guide to Horror Movies – recently ended up in my inbox. For this experiment I enlisted Professor Jen McKinney, my oldest and dearest friend, who has stuck by me for some 37 years but has never watched a…

https://nicholaselert.bandcamp.com/album/the-stylist THE STYLIST SOUNDTRACK Nicholas Elert BURNING WITCHES RECORDS Last year saw the full-length release of director Jill Gevargizian’s short The Stylist, in which a lonely hairdresser resorts to murder in order to make her life more interesting. As in the short, Nicholas Elert is tapped to produce massively ominous atmospherics, peppered with beautifully composed keys, creating a mesmerizing listen from start to finish. There are a couple of immediate comparisons to be made – namely the works of Cliff Martinez and Rob’s now legendary score for 2012’s Maniac remake, more so in the mentality of the thing rather than as a sonic equivalent. Elert’s electronic drones offer abundant insight into lead character Claire’s disordered mind, with a power and fury that likely surpasses the impact of the film itself.…

The festive season is fast approaching, and whatever you may be celebrating in and around the months of November and December – Diwali, Bodhi Day, Christmas – here in Eastern Canada, it also typically means snow. Lots of snow. Red blood spilled across a white blanket of snow may conjure thoughts of classic horror cinema, perhaps that of MacReady torching a shape-shifting extraterrestrial at an Antarctic research station for instance, but my gamer mind goes someplace else: New York, circa 2001. As the worst winter storm in the city’s history pelts The Big Apple in frozen flakes, an undercover cop-gone-vigilante hunts down a pack of drug dealers that murdered his family in cold blood… his name is Max Payne. Though it might not have set out to be a horror…