About a year after The Blair Witch Project took the box office by storm in 1999, Random House started publishing a series of tie-in novels in conjunction with Artisan Entertainment. The first film’s production designer and the director of two related features, Ben Rock, was also consulted about geography and lore. And to help reinforce the […]
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The world is loud, and it is only getting louder. Escaping the noise outside can seem impossible, especially when living in an urban environment. But as anyone who frequents them knows, libraries are a haven from all the bustle. While they have evolved to be more like community centers, libraries still encourage guests to keep […]
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Venom was an unprecedented move for video-game adaptations when Dimension Films acquired rights to an unproduced game in 2003. Developers Flint Dille and John Zuur Platten said their concept for Backwater was “ready-made to become a horror film as well as a game,” and players were positioned to be “the prey of a modern-day boogieman” […]
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Desire is the mainspring of the French erotic thriller Stranger by the Lake (L’inconnu du lac). As men from different walks of life converge on the story’s one and only locale, they enter a world removed from reality and time. The sun toasts their bare skin, and the atmosphere frees their inhibitions. The pebbly lakeshore […]
The post ‘Stranger by the Lake’: Cruisers Caught in a Bad Romance in French Erotic Thriller [Horrors Elsewhere] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The 1980s was a pivotal time for horror fiction, especially for young adults. As Grady Hendrix wrote in Paperbacks From Hell, this was the decade where “horror hit its stride with a hungry teenage audience.” Dell Publishing’s own part in the prevailing trend included Twilight: Where Darkness Begins, a collection of self-contained books that helped […]
The post Joseph Trainor’s ‘Watery Grave’ Brings Aquatic Horror to the Surface [Buried in a Book] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
Just when it seemed like 2000s Asian horror could not get any weirder, Sick Nurses threw its hat into the ring and set a high bar for transgressive entertainment. In this Thai hidden gem hailing all the way from ’07, a gaggle of naughty nurses along with a crooked doctor commit a series of heinous […]
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In the 1970s, Lois Duncan’s work began to reflect her interest in the supernatural. The uncanny was an infrequent element throughout her output before she stopped writing fiction entirely, although this fascination led to some of her most popular books. In her ‘76 novel Summer of Fear, Duncan looked no further than her own upbringing […]
The post Lois Duncan’s ‘Summer of Fear’: The Inspiration Behind Wes Craven’s 1978 Movie [Buried in a Book] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
Spain was at the tailend of a nearly 40-year long dictatorship when The Blood Spattered Bride came out in 1972. Until a democracy was established, Spanish citizens sought outlets to voice their grievances. A filmmaker like Vicente Aranda naturally expressed his own feelings by writing and directing. However, not all audiences back then picked up […]
The post ‘The Blood Spattered Bride’: Politics and Vampirism Intersect in Francoist Spanish Cult Film [Horrors Elsewhere] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
Hot on the heels of Fear Street were other series about teens uncovering the goings-on in their hometowns. Mark Rivers’ Taggard Point was one of the more fleeting attempts; it both began and ended in 1995. The series’ namesake does not sound too ominous when compared to a place called Shadyside, however there is plenty […]
The post ‘The Clown’ Is a Wicked Last Laugh for YA Horror Series ‘Taggard Point’ [Buried in a Book] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
Dave Schultz set out to make “a vampire picture that wasn’t really a vampire picture” when he wrote Rufus (also known as Hunted). Given other vampire-centered stories at the time, the Canadian filmmaker was sure to include the fundamentals. More specifically, the brooding and beautiful bloodsucker who takes a fierce liking to a human, and […]
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Martha Powell has no idea what happened that previous November. The young Shadyside resident, a junior at the local high school, remembers everything else about her life — family, friends, and a deep love of art — yet this one event remains a mystery. The worst part is, no one in this Fear Street book […]
The post R. L. Stine’s ‘Fear Street’: ‘The Face’ That Launched a Thousand Screams [Buried in a Book] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
Satoshi Kon thought he was making a mere straight-to-video release when he began production on Perfect Blue. To his surprise, the project was rescheduled for theaters. At that point the director had already made Perfect Blue under the assumption it would not be seen by the general public, so it was unclear how everyone would […]
The post Satoshi Kon’s ‘Perfect Blue’ Is a Layered and Unparalleled Psychological Thriller [Horrors Elsewhere] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
There was a time in horror when a phone call was scarier than a knife. All it took to unnerve someone was a vague but menacing message delivered in a creepy voice. Killers throughout the genre have traditionally used telephones to intimidate their victims. Yet, what happens when the roles are reversed, and the villain […]
The post When a Stranger Calls a Killer: Fred Walton’s 1988 Remake of ‘I Saw What You Did’ [Young Blood] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
The snarling hybrid on the cover of The Cat-Dogs suggests this 1995 anthology has an animal theme. On the contrary, this collection has only a few actual beasties in it. Editor A. Finnis curates an eclectic and largely British assortment of horror, featuring everything from mythical predators to a haunted train station. No two stories are […]
The post ‘The Cat-Dogs’: 1995 YA Horror Anthology Delivers Six Macabre Stories [Buried in a Book] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.
A big part of growing up for kids is overcoming their greatest fears. In time they stop being scared of thunderstorms and visits to the doctor. Being afraid of the dark is also common, but for a lot of children, what terrifies them the most is what might be in the darkness. The following stories […]
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