Fireside Chats: I Know That Face!

A frozen, static, largely featureless visage. If the desired effect is to be creepy or intimidating, it works. It works big time. Check out the image below. The one on the left is from the 1960 French Horror film EYES WITHOUT A FACE, about a woman whose face is horribly disfigured so she keeps it…

THE CHOSEN Part Two: IN THE PADDED BELLY OF A CONCRETE WHALE Chapter 14

For the first time since the planet Earth had been birthed from the womb of Creation’s chaos, since the first unicellular living thing had begun to wiggle in a tiny pool of primordial ooze, for the first time since its absolute dominion had been usurped, the Darkness knew true freedom. Its awareness spread out, becoming…

Fireside Chats: The Pocong

I reported last week on the creative ways government officials and college students teaming up in Indonesia are trying to keep people indoors during this quarantine period: by dressing up as revenants, known as Pocong, to scare people into staying home. Initially this backfired, as people were going out at night specifically to see the…

Fireside Chats: Ghosts at the Museum

Noah Angell, an artist, is also conducting an ongoing investigation of hauntings at the British Museum. It would be surprising if the museum *wasn’t* haunted, honestly, given some of the pieces in its collection, their history, their provenance, their initial purposes. But it is suggested that some of the hauntings are the result of artifacts…

Will Pattinson be a Skinny Batman?

Some fanboys have themselves all in a dander because Robert Pattinson said in an interview that he refuses to exercise while he’s in quarantine. “Batman is supposed to be buff!” they proclaim in unison. True enough; he is. “This means the movie is gonna suck like a Hoover!” they add. Um, no. Honestly Pattinson’s physique…

Fireside Chats: Restless Leg and Night Terrors, Part Two

Read the first installment in this series—which was intended to be the *only* installment in this series—before you read this one. It will make more sense that way. So this past weekend I had another of my (thankfully infrequent) experiences of sleep paralysis. This one was the worst I’ve ever had. I still had no…

Fireside Chats: The Ghosts of Indonesia and the Plague Doctor of Norfolk

Keeping people at home during this time of quarantine hasn’t been a problem only for the US, it seems. Sure, the problem here has been more visible, where we’ve had big fat greasy Jethros carrying assault rifles (“See, I do so have a penis!”) storming state capitals to protest their rights to infect other people…

THE CHOSEN Part Two: IN THE PADDED BELLY OF A CONCRETE WHALE Chapter 13

Deb turned towards the sounds of commotion erupting from the far end of the camp. Her eyes met the young doctor’s and they exchanged a questioning expression. Angry shouts were punctuated by a pained shriek. Gale took a step in the direction of the scream, only to be stopped short by another, this second being…

Fireside Chats: More Virtual and Video Tours

Are you going to miss the Fireside Chats after everything gets back to normal? I have to admit, while I for damn sure won’t miss anything about this ‘Rona pandemic—historic though it may be, I’m more than ready for it to be over with!—there are certain memories associated with it that will, when recalled, make…

Fireside Chats: The Cursed Tablets

If someone tried to read any of these, and mispronounced even one word, like Ash did in AMRY OF DARKNESS when he was supposed to speak the words “Klaatu barada nikto!” before picking up the Necronomicon but he forgot the last word—it could explain a lot about what’s been going on here lately. They found…

Fireside Chats: Fireside Chats with Ed Wood

I named this segment “Fireside Chats” after the “Fireside Chats” implemented by Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. They were radio broadcasts where FDR spoke in a conversational tone to the American public. It was from one of these Fireside Chats that the famous adage “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” came…

Movie Review: TRIANGLE

How did I miss this one? This movie came out eleven years ago. No way should it have gotten lost in the shuffle. It’s fantastic. Quality performances across the board, and what a script! Intelligent Horror is such a rarity, examples of it ought to shine like the stars atop Christmas trees. Maybe there are,…