Table of contents for Issue 204 Jan/Feb 2022 in RUE MORGUE

Living at the Rue Morgue manor, surrounded by horror posters, collectibles, and fellow fanatics, it’s easy for me to forget that, at one point, my love of the genre was a solitary sport. My friends just weren’t into it – guys or girls. Neither were my sisters (although they had left the nest by the time I was old enough to really bond with them) nor my folks – although my mom and I enjoyed spooky Sunday evenings with new episodes of The X-Files, before we decided it got too conspiracy-y. In the early days of the internet, back when you needed to convince your parents not to use the phone lest they bump you offline, word-of-mouth was the most reliable disseminator of horror gems, and I didn’t have that…

CHANCES ARE, IF YOU’VE LISTENED TO A CHINESE METAL ALBUM, IT WAS ADORNED BY THE LURID ARTWORK OF ONE GUANG YANG. The Shiyan-born artist first introduced his vivid oil paintings to the world of extreme metal with Inherit Disease’s 2009 album Visceral Transcendence. Since then, he has provided work for acts ranging from Infant Annihilator to The Black Dahlia Murder with his art depicting everything from flayed anatomy to biomech hellscapes. While Yang’s clients cover a wide spectrum of extreme metal genres, black metal remains his favourite, and his ongoing collaboration with label Pest Productions has seen him providing work for some of its biggest artists, including Holokastrial, Black Kirin, and Zuriaake. While most known for metal album covers, he also has a catalogue of traditional and experimental oil and…

BEST FEATURE FILM MALIGNANT James Wan Warner Bros. https://youtu.be/Gczt0fhawDs BEST FIRST FEATURE CANDYMAN Nia DaCosta Universal Pictures https://youtu.be/TPBH3XO8YEU BEST TV MIDNIGHT MASS Mike Flanagan Netflix https://youtu.be/y-XIRcjf3l4 MOST BINGEWORTHY SQUID GAME Hwang Dong-hyuk Netflix https://youtu.be/oqxAJKy0ii4 BEST TV SPECIAL ELVIRA’S 40TH ANNIVERSARY, VERY SCARY, VERY SPECIAL, SPECIAL Shudder https://youtu.be/8cKA0h-1uk0 BEST INDIE FEATURE CAVEAT Damian McCarthy Shudder https://youtu.be/HoOkSYrf8ew GORIEST FILM THE SADNESS Rob Jabbaz Raven Banner https://youtu.be/d9Pki52L7Ts STANDOUT PERFORMANCE – FILM REBECCA HALL The Night House Searchlight Pictures https://youtu.be/2Tshycci2ZA STANDOUT PERFORMANCE – TV HAMISH LINKLATER Midnight Mass Netflix https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512934/ BEST HORROR SHORT NOVA Daniel Goldstein MOST ORIGINAL CONCEPT TITANE Julia Ducournau Elevation https://youtu.be/Q5_w2W5G9OM MOST LIKELY TO START A LONG-RUNNING FRANCHISE FEAR STREET Netflix https://youtu.be/UyUuzCGblqc BEST DOCUMENTARY WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR Kier-La Janisse Severin Films https://youtu.be/aSYBpdDSh9A BEST ANTHOLOGY…

SUICIDE BY SUNLIGHT 17:07 mins/YouTube via the Short of the Week channel Director Nikyatu Jusu explores a reality where vampirism isn’t a momentous, supernatural discovery, but is rather just another aspect of life that’s been “othered” by public consciousness, adding yet another layer of oppression for Black, queer women. For Valentina (Natalie Paul), her thirst for blood and aversion to sunlight aren’t the only things that define her, but they do complicate her job as a nurse and hinder her ability to reconnect with her estranged daughters. There’s a maturity in the screenplay (co-written by Jusu and Robin Shanea Williams) that you just don’t get in most big-budget features, much less short films. Add to that an excellent turn from Paul, who finds just the right tone to convey a…

SHADOW ATLAS: DARK LANDSCAPES OF THE AMERICAS Carina Bissett, Hillary Dodge, and Joshua Viola, eds. Hex Publishers What if everything was different? Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas is an anthology of dark fiction centred around the concept of an alternate history of the Americas – a revisionist vision filled with spirits, magical creatures, and terrifying places that seem far more threatening than what our actual history implies. Coming in at 439 pages, the tome falls into three sections based on the location of the stories: North America, Mesoamerica, and South America. Each has its own unique voice and characters, and there is little cohesion between the entries outside of their general relationship to fantasy and the unusual. There are also poems and illustrations sprinkled throughout. https://www.hexpublishers.com/publications_shadow-atlas.html The framing…

Hands up if you’ve ever wished that Halloween could last forever. As horror fans, haven’t we all? I own a pair of pajamas with “It’s Halloween every day in my soul” emblazoned on them, and they’re not incorrect. Of course, none of my Halloweens have been as traumatic as the one depicted in Joseph Fink’s middle-grade horror novel The Halloween Moon (from Quill Tree Books). Esther Gold is one of us, or maybe someone we used to be: a thirteen-year-old girl who loves Halloween more than anything. She loves it so much that she makes three costumes each year: one for school, one for trick-or-treating, and one for backup. However, Esther’s favourite holiday is about to be rocked in more ways than one, starting with her parents’ bombshell announcement that…

https://katvond.bandcamp.com/track/exorcism-gunship-remix KAT VON D ELECTRONIC Exorcism Remix EP KVD/KARTEL MUSIC GROUP Anyone surprised by Kat Von D’s recent rebirth as a purveyor of dark-hearted synthwave hasn’t been paying attention: the celebrity tattoo artist-cum-cosmetics tycoon has slowly been building up her musical cred thanks to collaborations with the likes of Gunship, IAMX, and her husband, Prayers. Now, her 2020 debut album Love Made Me Do It has spawned a remix EP that sees catchy first single “Exorcism” mutated, torn apart, and reassembled like Frankenstein’s monster. Gunship’s Dan Haigh credits a refrigerated studio and John Carpenter’s The Thing for inspiring his icy but majestic reworking, which simplifies the more cluttered uptempo original to good effect (although more interesting work comes with Cold Cave’s glacial and stately version). Indeed, the slower mixes bring…

JACK FROST – I love that movie and thought I was alone in the world until I saw your beautiful cover for RM#203. Your interview with Michael Cooney was pure gold. It only took 24 years but Christmas has finally been saved! Thank you for being who you are and doing what you do. ROB WATKINS – HOUSTON, TEXAS LONG-TIME-READER, first-time writer. The first issue I have is the Jan/Feb 2000 issue [RM#192]. I am writing to thank you for the side article of horror shorts. I opened up YouTube to David F. Sandberg’s videos and was completely wowed! Keep up the great work, love this magazine. From a 60-year-old horror fan. KAREN ZWOLINKIEWICZ – BUFFALO, NEW YORK FIRST, LET ME SAY Rue Morgue has the best customer service ever!…

SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE SILENT NIGHT Starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Annabelle Wallis Written and directed by Camille Griffin RLJE Films The holidays can be incredibly stressful for any number of reasons but, rest assured, none of us has had it as bad as the revellers in Silent Night, the bizarre, ambitious feature debut from Camille Griffin. https://youtu.be/u1dOECVgqIQ In its opening scenes, Silent Night hits the familiar notes of countless benign, mildly amusing Christmas movies: there are montages set to upbeat carols, mild kitchen disasters during frantic preparations, and precocious children yelling swear words at one another. But once the guests arrive at the country estate of Nell, Simon, and their son Art (Knightley, Goode, and Jojo Rabbit’s Roman Griffin Davis), we see that the anxious edge to the…

Trigger Happy “TRANSGRESSIVE CINEMA ISN’T ABOUT WATCHING A MOVIE AS AN ACT OF REBELLION, IT’S ABOUT CHALLENGING OUR OWN VALUES WITH NEW PERSPECTIVES ON TABOO TOPICS.” Whether you prefer gross-out gore or classic chillers, one of the most underappreciated aspects of the horror genre is that it’s never been afraid of crossing boundaries that more traditional films wouldn’t dare approach. From the very beginning, scary movies have thrived on depictions of transgressive themes and imagery, and have kept pace with modern concerns even at a time when culture and art is increasingly seen as a battleground for political ideals. The 1960 Euro-horror classic Mill of the Stone Women, recently released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video, may no longer be considered as provocative as it once was, but the film’s depictions…

HYMNS OF ABOMINATION: SECRET SONGS OF LEEDS Justin A. Burnett, ed. Silent Motorist Media At last, a tribute anthology to Matthew M. Bartlett! Wait… Matt who? As per the editor’s intro: “Ligotti, Evenson, Barron, Bartlett… if there’s a ‘canon’ of contemporary weird writers, Bartlett’s unquestionably in it.” Fear not: if you missed the author’s fiery debut collection, Gateways to Abomination (2014), and his other small press publications, you’ll quickly accommodate to the sinister town of Leeds, Massachusetts, with its legacy of witches, black magic, supernatural goats, winged leeches, and the omnipresent highly personalized messages from WXXT radio station. Sounds crazy, right? The author only debuted seven years ago, yet he has already merited a 400-page homage from a “who’s who” in contemporary horror lit. John Langan offers “Uncle Bart’s Map,”…

https://thirteenpodcast.com/ THIRTEEN THEME: Atmospheric horror FREQUENCY: Monthly Proving that horror fiction doesn’t always have to be brutal comes Thirteen, an audio drama for those who prefer a good story arc to cheap scares. Taking time to focus on creating atmosphere rather than nightmares, each episode stretches out over an hour or so, revealing slow-burn scares in small spurts. This mindful approach raises goosebumps as the winding narratives keep listeners on edge, ever anticipating a tonal shift or a side-swiping scare. Keeping things simple, the episodes are primarily driven by a single narrator, some light sound effects, and soft background music. Actors/writers Brooke Jennett, Bridgett Howard, and Ian Epperson helm the podcast and share narration duties, delivering the content in a captivating, fully immersive manner. Best of all, writers are encouraged…

Listen, I was a video game purist once. I’d hear someone say that they had only played Unreal Tournament on their PlayStation 2 and I’d start on some tirade about how they hadn’t really played the game at all unless they used a mouse and keyboard. Then, two things happened: I did my best to stop being a condescending prick, and I had a kid. Children can bring a lot of joy to one’s life, but they regularly demand these things called “care” and “attention.” Faced with dwindling time to indulge in what had always been my favourite hobby, I had no choice but to evolve for the sake of convenience – I started regularly gaming on my mobile device. While it’s true that some games demand more precision than…

1 SOURPUSS CREATURE SHELF $28 USD Hear us out: what if the shelf you used to display your unique collectibles was itself a unique collectible? Sourpuss has you and your precious collection covered, with an easy-to-mount shelving unit measuring 12 x 12.5 inches and featuring original artwork of your favourite Black Lagoon dweller, natch. Sourpussclothing.com 2 NOTE FROM MOTHER PROP REPLICA MAGNET $1.99 USD Send out the right message about your mental health to dates and guests with this 3-inch fridge magnet replica from 1983’s criminally overlooked Psycho II because a close relationship with your mother is always bound to impress! Wig and dress not included. Pixelelixir.com 3 THE COUNT COOKIE JAR $39.99 USD Guard your baked goods from those greedy children of the night with this menacing cookie jar…

HORROR AND THEATRE HAVE ALWAYS GONE HAND IN GLOVE; THAT’S AS TRUE FOR MOVIES AS IT IS FOR THE STAGE, AND MUSIC IS NO EXCEPTION. The English-speaking world has long been spellbound by the horrorshow theatrics of bands like Slipknot and GWAR; further off we find Ghost (Sweden) and Lordi (Finland). And if we travel all the way to the other side of the world, we find a rising star in Zuriaake, an enigmatic group that has become notorious for dramatic live shows that have the feel of a séance and a hint that there’s more to them than mere theatrics. Emerging in 1998 from Jinan, Shandong Province, Zuriaake has maintained an air of sinister mystery by performing in almost perfect darkness, in black cloaks and fisherman hats that keep…

CONVENTIONS January 21-23 VILLICON Orlando, Florida lunattix.com January 22-23 HORRORVILLE Cocoa, Florida horrorvillecon.com January 29-30 COWTOWN HORROR FEST Fort Worth, Texas cowtowncomiccon.com February 18-20 MAD MONSTER PARTY Concord, North Carolina madmonsterparty.com February 19-21 FANEXPO VANCOUVER Vancouver, British Columbia fanexpohq.com/fanexpovancouver February 25-27 DAYS OF THE DEAD Atlanta, Georgia daysofthedead.com/atlanta March 17-20 TRANSWORLD’S HALLOWEEN & ATTRACTION SHOW St. Louis, Missouri haashow.com March 18-20 THE FANDEMIC DEAD Atlanta, Georgia fandemictour.com March 25-27 HORROR HOUND WEEKEND Cincinnati, Ohio horrorhoundweekend.com April 8-10 CINEMA WASTELAND MOVIE AND MEMORABILIA EXPO Strongsville, Ohio cinemawasteland.com April 8-10 NEW JERSEY HORROR CON & FILM FESTIVAL Atlantic City, New Jersey newjerseyhorrorcon.com April 21-24 CALGARY EXPO Calgary, Alberta fanexpohq.com/calgaryexpo April TBD FULL MOON TATTOO AND HORROR FESTIVAL Nashville, Tennessee fullmoontattooandhorrorfestival.com April 29-May 1 TEXAS FRIGHTMARE WEEKEND Dallas, Texas texasfrightmareweekend.com May 12-15 STOKER…

PAYBACK’S A BITCH https://youtu.be/YOu0g__6s_0 THE RINGMASTER MVD Visual Revenge may be best served cold, but it’s always eaten piping hot with the ire of a thousand paybacks! That’s why it’s a treat to daydream about the things we would do to those who’ve wronged us – the guy who stole your wallet, that girl who cheated on you, or the dick who hogged that last slice of pizza! This dish from Denmark serves up this baseline premise as a gruesome game show, where a young girl is kidnapped and subjected to a sadistic ringmaster who tortures and kills her friends for the enjoyment of the dark web. Unfortunately, The Ringmaster follows the recipe of done-to-death cinema done better elsewhere so you might be better off dunking this particular Danish in…

REPLAYING THE DEATH GAME Sometimes, all it takes to rescue a movie from obscurity is the right fan in the right place. Over a decade ago, author and film historian David Szulkin (Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left: The Making of a Cult Classic) passed on a tape of one of his favourite exploitation flicks to Sage Stallone, with whom he was working at Grindhouse Releasing. The film was The Seducers, a retitle of the psychosexual shocker better known as Death Game, first released in 1977. It was something he’d show to “anyone and everyone who’d sit still for it – girlfriends, bandmates, relatives, friends, acquaintances – just for the prankish enjoyment of their reactions. “The film has a uniquely jarring effect that you don’t find in a mainstream…

Despite being one of the most iconic actors during the Golden Age of cinema horror, Bela Lugosi’s career was plagued with loss, humiliation, and addiction. Now, the man who arguably played the definitive Dracula and was chronicled in such works as Tim Burton’s Ed Wood is the subject of a new graphic novel biography – Lugosi: The Rise and Fall of Hollywood’s Dracula. Writer and artist Koren Shadmi, who gained acclaim with his 2019 illustrated biography of Rod Serling, The Twilight Man, found inspiration in Lugosi’s tumultuous life for this unique project. “Lugosi’s life is just as dramatic as Count Dracula, if not more so,” Shadmi tells me. “He had a very romantic personality which I think also contributed to his unstable life and substance abuse. When I first heard…

WINTER IS THE TIME OF HIBERNATION AND, HERE IN CANADA, THAT’S NOT WITHOUT GOOD REASON – it’s damned cold outside. Thus, it’s also the season for hot drinks, cozy blankets, and scary books. If your to-read list is looking anemic following the holidays, fear not, because Alessandro Manzetti has 150 Exquisite Horror Books (out now from Crystal Lake Publishing) to get you through to spring… and beyond. Claiming to be an “essential guide to the best 150 books of modern and contemporary horror fiction,” the tome doesn’t disappoint. While Manzetti never goes too deep into a story’s history or its author – each entry is limited to a page of text – his selections are beyond reproach. Each is a modern classic in its own right. Within these pages are…