Table of contents for Issue 178 Sept/Oct 2017 Halloween Special Issue in RUE MORGUE

If Rue Morgue were a person, she’d be old enough to buy alcohol (in Canada, anyway) and drive a car; two seemingly arbitrary life landmarks that signify the transition into adulthood. A lot has changed in the past twenty years, not the least of which is the emergence of the Internet. The revolutionary impact of this technology can’t be understated – it’s been enough to send many a print publication into dire straights if not directly into bankruptcy. Rue Morgue still stands tall and the reason for this has a lot to do with adapting to change. In this same pulsing vein, you’ll notice that this issue of Rue Morgue looks rather different from the last, and I’m pleased to present several important changes to the magazine on the occasion…

DANIEL YU’S JIANGSHI ACOLYTES Based out of Singapore, sculptor Daniel Yu’s deep influence in local tradition is reflected in his clay and resin artwork. The fictitious characters he designs have quite a large cult following in the Singapore urban and subculture art scene that is now spreading worldwide. Among his most popular traditional pieces are his Jiangshi Acolyte figures, hand-cast in resin or vinyl. Known in our circles as the Chinese hopping vampire, ghost or zombie, the Jiangshi is a large part of Chinese legend and folklore as well as literature and cinema (including Spooky Encounters, Crazy Safari, the Mr. Vampire film series and, more recently, 2013’s Rigor Mortis). This figure is recognizable for its traditional Qing Dynasty garment and hopping around in search of living creatures to absorb their…

Witch! A word that has struck fear, hate and paranoia through time immemorial, but one that’s been miraculously reclaimed and reformulated in the present day into a complex icon of Pagan spirituality, feminine empowerment and political dissidence. Much of this remarkable about-face took place over the last hundred years, the same century that saw the final person persecuted under Great Britain’s Witchcraft Act of 1735. Horror movies, of course, have favoured the witch’s darker guises for obvious reasons but, even then, the last hundred years of cinema have shown that even on the darkest screens, the figure of the witch continues to transform herself (and sometimes himself) with the power of a genuine spell. The first instance of note on the subject came from Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen’s 1922 documentary-styled…

MORTICIAN. THE TERM MIGHT CONJURE UP A TALL CADAVEROUS MAN IN A DUSTY BLACK SUIT, BECKONING YOU AT THE DOORWAY OF A GHOULISH, COBWEB-DRAPED MAUSOLEUM. Or maybe you envision a more officious type, leaning towards you over a dark desk, muttering you through the finer details of caskets and burial, while clasping your hand in his clammy palm. Or maybe you’re thinking of television’s most famous undertaking family, the Fishers from Six Feet Under – slightly better-looking than the average ghoul, but at least twice as dysfunctional. Meet Caitlin Doughty. She’s a six-foot-tall woman in her mid–30s, with neatly bobbed black hair and a penchant for loud rockabilly dresses. She’s also one of the most famous morticians in the world. In addition to not fitting the “standard” physical profile (or…

It’s a known fact that horror has reared its head in all kinds of music, from gore-soaked metal and industrial to horror punk, country and even bluegrass, but there’s one genre that seems geared more squarely at horror fans than any other: horror synth. Synth music defined the sound of a generation of horror movies (the 1980s), and gave us some of the most memorable scores to date, which might explain why a new breed of synth artists have begun to mine that era’s retro sounds, often in soundtracks for new movies. The score for 2014’s It Follows by Disasterpiece followed in the footsteps of classic John Carpenter and Alan Howarth scores, while Carpenter himself has taken to writing and recording music anew, bringing synth full circle to its roots.…

LET SATAN SLEEP AWAKEN THE DEVIL Sector 5 Films I don’t believe in God, ergo, I don’t believe in the Devil either, but a 2016 Gallup poll found that 89% of Americans believe in the former, which must mean they believe in the latter as well. That fact is only slightly more fucked up than this snore-fest about a couple of homeless guys who crash an abandoned building, only to discover that they’ve been chosen for a ritual to give birth to Satan’s baby. At least I think that’s what it’s about; it’s hard to tell because one of the characters is mute and the production team watered down the movie’s story along with most of its colour, relying on computer enhancement and animations instead. They might have been…

On assignment in Britain’s South Coast, American photographer Rebecca soon finds herself alone and isolated on a farm outside a small Sussex village, caught up in the local legends of notorious 17th-century smugglers and cutthroats known as the Owlers. Are these legends solely relegated to the town’s past, or do they play a more active (and deadly) role in the lives of the villagers? “England has a really rich history of smuggling, especially along the south coast where I’m from,” says Thom Burgess, author of The Eyrie, the much-anticipated follow-up to 2015’s Malevolents: Click Click. “The smuggling gangs who basically ruled the populace were known for being able to ‘acquire’ goods at a time when the King’s taxes made it nigh impossible for the public to pay for them –…

THE LOVECRAFTIAN POE: ESSAYS ON INFLUENCE, RECEPTION, INTERPRETATION, AND TRANSFORMATION Sean Moreland, ed. Lehigh University Press The Lovecraftian Poe is an illuminating collection of scholarly essays on the two major titans of horror fiction. Much has been written about Poe’s impact on Lovecraft (who called him “My God of Fiction”), but the stress in this volume is, refreshingly, on how Lovecraft has coloured Poe’s work for modern audiences and critics. “Lovecraft’s role in shaping Poe’s contemporary reception has been singularly important, perhaps rivalled in its scope only by that of Baudelaire,” claims the editor in his introduction. Another theme is the notion of influence, and how both writers struggled to find their voice amidst the clamouring of their predecessors. “‘The Strangeness of My Heritage’: Lovecraft’s Poe and the Anxiety of…

LOVED EVERY PAGE of RM176! Congrats to Andrea, not only on the Exec Editor gig but for her review of Get Out, which had me nodding my head in agreement with each sentence. The Reissues section really stood out as well, as did Paul Corupe’s informative article on the B&W classic I Bury the Living. I can’t remember seeing much written about it, so the attention paid to it in the latest issue was very welcome. Last but not least, giving John W. Bowen a few pages to return to Horror of Party Beach was a wise choice. With his third effort at describing the joy found in this sunbaked piece of drive-in super crap, Bowen has become to Horror of Party Beach what James Minchner is to Chesapeake Bay.…

Witches aren’t often known for their looks, but the sorceresses of Suspiria have never been seen in a better light than in the 4K restoration unveiled by Synapse Films this year. The company that has specialized in making horror classics look their best undertook its most monumental task in overseeing the spiffing up of Dario Argento’s eye-filling occult masterpiece. Following its world premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia festival this past summer, Synapse’s edition is targeted for commercial release this fall, tied to the movie’s 40th anniversary. While the company had previously issued sterling remasters of the rest of Argento’s “Three Mothers” trilogy, Tenebrae and Phenomena, Synapse’s Don May Jr. believes Suspiria is one-of-a-kind visually, even within the director’s canon. “It has a very intricate and specific colour palette that, especially in…

ALTHOUGH PENNYWISE ISN’T THE MONSTER AT THE HEART OF STEPHEN KING’S IT – rather only one avatar of its greater cosmic form – it’s the clown that has become the most iconic image of the story (appearing in various cover art renderings on reissues of the best-selling, British Fantasy Award-winning 1986 novel and in the 1990 TV miniseries, as portrayed by Tim Curry). So, not surprisingly, when news broke in 2012 of a new cinematic adaptation being greenlit, it seemed as if the whole Internet began speculating about who would be cast, and how Pennywise would look. As it turned out, there would be a lot to talk about. British actor Will Poulter (The Revenant) initially landed the part before the project stalled under director and screenwriter Cary Fukunaga (HBO’s…

IN 2011, MY MOM DIED. MUCH LIKE HER DEATH ITSELF – QUICK, SUDDEN, AND BRUTAL, FROM COMPLICATIONS DUE TO BREAST CANCER – my family dealt with her visitation and memorial service with an almost ruthless expediency, and both events were physically and psychologically taxing in a way I was completely unprepared for. Afterwards, I was a husk, and spent days on end either zoning out to Sons of Anarchy or staring listlessly at the Internet, seeking any kind of resource to make sense of the monstrous pit in my chest. This is where I encountered the Order of the Good Death – the online home of the modern Death Positivity movement, founded by mortician and author Caitlin Doughty. While it’s hyperbolic to say that the discovery changed my life, it…

Was there ever an arcade anywhere in the world that didn’t house a pinball machine? Of course not, which may explain why these cacophonous contraptions are making a comeback after having been deemed almost obsolete through the ages of home video and digital entertainment. That’s right, retro-gaming and vintage console-themed bars are popping up everywhere, and horror-themed pinball machines featuring some of our favs of the genre (including but not at all limited to Elvira, Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Twilight Zone, The Addams Family and Tales From the Crypt) can once again be spotted in dimly lit corners. Many classic rock bands, including The Who and KISS have also earned a spot in the hallowed halls of pinball arcades, and Metallica recently entered the market with their own…

IN ADAM WINGARD’S NETFLIX-EXCLUSIVE FEATURE DEATH NOTE, LIGHT TURNER (NAT WOLFF) HOLDS PEOPLE’S FATES IN HIS HANDS, THANKS TO A SUPERNATURAL NOTEBOOK THAT BRINGS DEATH TO ANYONE PENCILLED IN. In real life, Wingard seemed fated to tackle the first English-language screen version of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s groundbreaking manga. “It was kind of funny,” the director recalls, “because several years ago, my younger brother told me that if I was going to adapt something into a movie, I should do Death Note. But at the time he said that, the biggest movie I had made was You’re Next, so that kind of thing wasn’t a real prospect.” Wingard’s filmmaking star continued to rise after You’re Next, however, and it was just before he went off to shoot Blair Witch…

THE 1970S AND ’80S WERE A WILD TIME FOR THE HORROR FILM, BUT THEY WERE EQUALLY WILD FOR HORROR FICTION, THOUGH FEW OF THESE NOVELS REMAIN IN PRINT. If your knowledge of the era consists of Stephen King, Clive Barker and Dean Koontz, prepare to be amazed, because mass market publishing tapped weirder plots than anything served up by these masters. Narratives about possessed people and objects, exorcisms, evil children, malevolent beasts, reincarnation, Native American curses and medical horrors, as well as far stranger fare arrived in bookstores throughout this time. Author Grady Hendrix (Horrorstör, My Best Friend’s Exorcism) investigates this period in his new non-fiction book Paperbacks From Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction (out September 19 from Quirk). “I was at ReaderCon when I…

I ve been part of Rue Morgue for the majority of its history, so as the magazine celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year, it’s a bit scary to think about how much media has changed since 1997. As an older, busier adult, I’m afraid of falling out of touch with a horror culture landscape that’s far vaster than was it was two decades ago. Case in point: I never really paid much attention to podcasts until earlier this year when my friend Eric Von Eric (one of Rue Morgue’s resident party DJs) proposed that we start one with fellow RM columnist Ghoulish Gary Pullin, based solely around the idea that – given that we already blab constantly about horror, metal, and retro ’80s nostalgia, why not record our conversations for…

ISSUE # 178 Horror movie veteran Boris Karloff appeared in 80 films before his breakthrough debut in 1931’s Frankenstein. Hybristophilia: sexual attraction to people who have committed violent crimes. Prometheus composer Marc Streitenfeld had an orchestra play his compositions backwards before digitally reversing them for the final film, resulting in an unusual and unsettling musical effect. Earlier this year, Brazilian president Michel Temer and his wife vacated Alvorada Palace, claiming “bad energy” and the possible presence of ghosts. The duo had previously brought in a priest to attempt an exorcism. The Walking Dead star Norman Reedus has a titanium eye socket as a result of a car accident in Berlin, Germany, in 2005. Earlier this year, a 36-year-old Oregon man killed his mother on Mother’s Day and then walked to…

1 SLEEP KILLS JACKET $95 A time-tested tunic for horror movie serial killers, this vintage tan parka just got itself the ultimate makeover, complete with coffin-shaped cut back patch, Craven arm applique and rusty glove zipper. Wear it like it’s 1984 all over again! Electriczombie.merchline.com 2 SPELLBOOK IPHONE CASE $38 Give your pocket technology a retro occult vibe with this specialty 3-D iPhone case, handmade from protective silicone and featuring a spellbook design. Not just for witches and warlocks! Valfre.com 3 OMBOWL $12.99 Turn the tables on those frontal-lobe-lovin’ zombies by trying some undead brains for a change. This unique dinnerware item dares you to make your meal look like a bowl of necrotised grey matter… Beef stew anyone? Thinkgeek.com 4 ELVIRA MAKEUP PALETTE $35 It’s about time the Mistress…

WHILE MUCH OF THE HORROR APPEAL OF IT UNDENIABLY LIES IN THE OTHERWORLDLY, SHAPE-SHIFTING ENTITY THAT LIVES BENEATH THE TOWN OF DERRY, MAINE, and preys on its young via their worst fears, the reason the story has resonated so strongly for more than 30 years can be found in the Loser’s Club, whom we meet as children and again as adults. They may be misfits, but they are also utterly relatable – not perhaps in their showdown with that vast, cosmic force, but in the trials, tribulations and fears of coming-of-age, and then coming-of-middle-age, complicated of course by the return to their hometown. While visiting the Toronto set of It, the film’s cast of kid heroes gave Rue Morgue a behind-the-scenes peek at their characters and the making of the…

HOOD TIDINGS BETTER WATCH OUT Starring Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller and Ed Oxenbould Directed by Chris Peckover Written by Zack Kahn and Chris Peckover WellGo Christmas horror movies are a blessing for genre fans needing respite from holiday cheer, but who says they should be relegated to the yuletide season? Previously titled Safe Neighborhood, Better Watch Out was a surprise hit that’s been delighting festival audiences all year, and it’s a darkly witty little treat that you shouldn’t wait ’til December to unwrap. Twelve-year-old Luke Lerner (Levi Miller) has a common affliction among boys of his age – he’s got a wicked crush on his babysitter, Ashley (Olivia DeJonge). The trouble is, apart from their maturity differential, Ashley’s got a boyfriend and she’s about to leave their sleepy suburb to…

Back in July, British newspaper The Guardian incensed horror fans when they published a story titled “How post-horror movies are taking over cinema.” The writer argued that while recent releases such as It Comes at Night and A Ghost Story engage with horror tropes, they deliver something more existential – and by implication, better – than typical scare fare. The term ‘post-horror’ was coined because, apparently, complex horror movies that challenge genre conventions are a whole new thing. By this admittedly specious logic, one might argue that The Transfiguration could be construed as post-horror. Its story of a parentless teen who thinks he is a vampire (but isn’t) is thought-provoking and sad, but not scary. And its largely handheld aesthetic, with footage shot surreptitiously in locations around New York City…

The Humanity of The Manster A pioneering genre collaboration from the United States and Japan, the 1959 co-production The Manster is a disturbing body-horror effort that provides an evocative look at our own duplicitous capacity for inhumanity. A sophisticated twist on the standard Jekyll and Hyde story, The Manster uniquely depicts the protagonist’s corruption as a malignant bodily growth that eventually takes on a life of its own, illustrating the way festering feelings can come out in less than socially acceptable ways. It’s because of this that The Manster, now out on Blu-ray from Shout! Factory, may perhaps resonate just as strongly in the digital age as it did upon release over 50 years ago. In the film, American journalist Larry (Peter Dyneley) is on assignment in Tokyo. While interviewing…

HAIL TO THE CHIN: FURTHER CONFESSIONS OF A B MOVIE ACTOR Bruce Campbell, with Craig Sanborn Thomas Dunne In 2002, Bruce Campbell gave Evil Dead fans plenty to drool over with his book If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. Campbell presents his latest, Hail to the Chin: Further Confessions of a B Movie Actor, as the second of three acts that will ultimately tell the complete Bruce Campbell story, such as it is. And while the first act offered a fun and informative peek into the worlds of film and television production from the front lines, the second carries Campbell’s journey into his middle age, providing a charming perspective on various aspects of the biz and life in general. Peppered with irresistibly zany jokes and observations,…

SOUNDTRACK ALIEN: COVENANT Jed Kurzel MILAN RECORDS One of the more effective elements of Ridley Scott’s summer misfire is Jed Kurzel’s moody score. Although the movie tries to win back franchise audiences through use of its classic iconography and scare tactics, it’s Kurzel’s score that does much to recall the glory days of Alien, with shoutouts to Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting motifs from the first film, along with nods to the recent Prometheus. Fans of the series will dig the tracks “The Covenant,” and “Wheat Field,” which play with several of Goldsmith’s eerie themes and textures. The score also features some longer sustained tracks, such as the seven-minute “The Med Bay,” based around thudding bass and percussive effects. Covenant’s soundtrack doesn’t rise above the original, but it’s a gripping piece of…

If there is one shared experience among monster kids in Canada, it’s fond memories of the long syndicated, early ’70s children’s show The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. After a few incomplete DVD releases in the 2000s, the Ontario-shot series is about to see another resurrection, this time via a vinyl LP of music and dialogue, to be released this fall on Canadian label Groove Vinyl Records. While vinyl soundtrack reissues are nothing new, the Frightenstein record aims to give fans a bit more ear candy along with the score. “I keep calling it an audio companion to the show,” explains project lead Todd Harapiak. “It’s more an overall package of the history of the show, designed to let somebody sit down and become immersed in the various characters. Part of…