Faculty of Horror's Best of 2017

If you love horror film, and are not listening to the Faculty of Horror podcast, get ON it. Andrea Subissati and Alexandra West are smart and funny and provide a fascinating feminist take on horror film.

Check out Episode 58: A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste for a their picks of their favourite (they're Canadian!) horror and horror-adjacent films of 2017.

Since they talk fast and there isn't a movie list on their website, here's their list. Descriptions are from IMDB, of course.

The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox and Facility (November 2017)

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love, 11/12/17)

Hurrah for Minnesota Fringe Festival remounts! More, please!

The Memory Box of the Sisters Fox, presented and created by The Winding Sheet Outfit and Facility, presented by Imagined Theatre both appeared on our Don't Miss Fringe 2017 list and are now showing at the Sabes JCC through November 19th.

Go.

The first act of this double feature is the fascinating and true story of the Fox Sisters, who accidentally founded the Spiritualism movement in the 1800s. From the moment you step up to the seating area set up right on the stage, and see the performance space encircled by empty picture frames and music boxes, and a mysterious black-veiled woman (Amber Bjork, also the director) arranging candles, the mood is so set.

This is an unbelievably gorgeous and thoroughly conceived show. The relationship between the sisters is authentic, rich and, at times, light and funny. The sisters are depicted in their youth by Boo Segersin and Kayla Dvorak Feld; Kristina Fjellman and Megan Campbell Lagas play their older versions. The interplay between both sets of sisters, and between the older and younger versions themselves is beautifully done.

Every element of this show works to perfection. The movement and the physicality of this small-set play, particularly in the scenes where the sisters are 'speaking' with the spirits and the seances, creates a gorgeous mood, and amazingly memorable imagery. The spare music, from the aforementioned music boxes, contributes to this mood, and the cast sings a gorgeous, five-part version of "In the Gloaming" that will give you chills. Even the spare, authentic costuming is perfectly done.

We can't say enough good things. Go see it. Bring your sister.

On to Facility... Interestingly, both of these plays could have easily fit into the Twin Cities Horror Festival--for wildly different reasons. Let's get into it.

 

 

We returned from a short intermission (spent admiring a fantastic art display of Scary Monsters--see above--by fourth graders) to a stage featuring little other than a hospital bed. After a blackout, the lights come up and we find Lionel (Paul Brissett) in bed receiving a visit from his wife Dorothy. His next visitor is nurse Jeff, who works for the care home in which Lionel is currently residing due to his dementia.

We see Lionel struggling with his memory and his helplessness, his daughter Rachel struggling with the decision to put Lionel in this facility, and administrator Fran and nurse Jeff struggle with staffing issues and all of them struggling with the incredible challenges that dementia can bring.

This show is harrowing. There's no other word for it. Directed and written by Phil Darg, this play brings up a lot of issues with no easy answers and depicts the challenges incredibly realistically. As hard as it was to watch--and if you have a loved one struggling with dementia or have lost someone to an unexpected illness, it will be incredibly hard--it's a valuable story to tell.

Paul Brissett gives an astonishing performance as Lionel. He inhabited this difficult role with utter and complete commitment and made you feel all of the love and the frustration that his caregivers feel for him. It's one of the most amazing performances I've seen all year, and landed immediately on my short list for the 2017 Twin Cities Theater Blogger Awards.

Public service announcement from Carol:

If you are caring for someone with dementia, there is help available. I work with an organization called Roseville Alzheimers & Dementia Community Action Team, which provides community information, programming and helpful resources at your local library for those with dementia and their caregivers. Check out their amazingly helpful website for more information.

I also highly recommend a couple of books:

A Caregiver's Guide to Dementia: Using Strategies to Prevent, Reduce and Manage Behavioral Symptoms by Laura Gitlin

This fairly slim and not remotely intimidating book helps caregivers find ways to manage the symptoms of dementia. Filled with incredibly simple and practical advice, this is a must-have for anyone working, caring for, or loving someone with dementia. SO highly recommended.

Creating Moments of Joy Along the Alzheimer's Journey: A Guide for Families and Caregivers by Jolene Brackey

As Brackey says: "When people have short-term memory loss, their lives are made up of moments. We are not able to create perfectly wonderful days for people with dementia or Alzheimer's, but we can create perfectly wonderful moments, moments that put a smile on their faces and a twinkle in their eyes. Five minutes later, they will not remember what we did or said, but the feeling that we left them with will linger." Lionel's daughter Rachel really needs to read this book.

Public service announcement over. Thanks for listening.

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love.)

Twin Cities Horror Festival VI: Why I LOVE TCHF and Review Roundup (October 2017)

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love, 10/31/17)

Wanna see something scary? 

One of the joys of seeing all twelve shows at the Twin Cities Horror Festival in one glorious weekend is that now I can see some again. And so can you!

The Twin Cities Horror Festival VI runs through November 5th at the Southern Theater and there is so much spooky theater goodness awaiting you. Below I've included links to our short takes on the shows we saw. Super props to the Twin Cities Horror Festival for being so inclusive with shows created by women and POC. Yay!

Quick, a quick rundown on why I love the TCHF:

Twin Cities Horror Festival V: Why I Love TCHF and Review Roundup (October 2016)

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love, 11/9/16)

I LOVE the Twin Cities Horror Festival, now in its fifth year and here's why:

- Manageable size (ten shows, plus a few one-night events)
- Runs a reasonable amount of time (October 27 through November 6, 2016)
- Only one theater (The Southern Theater)
- Which has a bar (with excellent beer)

- That theater space is appropriately atmospheric (plus, this year the lobby is beautifully decorated by Katie Hartman of The Coldharts)
- Their website rocks: Simple, organized and featuring genres and ratings
- The staff and volunteers are welcoming, friendly and efficient

Oh, and I almost forgot: IT'S ALL ABOUT HORROR. I didn't think my favorite time of year could get any more favorite. Thanks, TCHF!

Our reviews so far for TCHF V (updated as they're added):

Teenage Misery - Revisionary Theatre Collective (October 2016)

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love, 10/21/16)

There is nothing sadder to me than seeing a completely amazing show ... on its very last day. Teenage Misery, by Revisionary Theatre Collective, is one of those shows that I'd have loved to sing its praises to horror fans, musical fans, new work fans and pretty much everyone else.

But I have hopes that this amazing show will have a the long and fruitful life it deserves, Originally part of the 2013 Fringe Festival, Teenage Misery has book, music AND lyrics by Keith Hovis, who describes it as a "dark comedy musical that mashes up Bye, Bye, Birdie and Stephen King's Misery." Sold.

Teenage Misery, performed at the intimate Sandbox Theatre space (only 35 seats!), starts with college friends Carrie Black (Kelly Matthews), Whitney Fuller (Karissa Lade) and Harvey Kellerman (Jake Rahler) swearing their devotion to hot young singer Shane West (Ryan London Levin). When it turns out he's coming to town and meeting with his biggest fan, they contrive to win the contest in a most Stephen King way. From there, it goes downhill for nearly everyone. Equally avid Shane West fan and possible psychic Hannah Alloran (Whitney Rhodes) and her lumbersexual bf Richie Gibbs (Adam Rice) drive across the country to save Shane from his fans --

OMG, I just realized that Hannah Alloran's name is not just a reference to a Stephen King character, her character's end is eerily similar to the character's end in the film. There are so many delicious references in this show. I must have the cast recording. MUST.

Two things:

1) When this show started, and the cast started singing in this intimate space, I settled in with delight. There is NOTHING like being in amazingly close proximity to marvelously talented singers. No mikes, no distance, just you and the voices. And they are amazing, every single one of the six-person cast.

2) And not just that, the show is GOOD. I mean, really good. The lyrics are marvelously clever, the music is tuneful, the melodies are memorable, the arrangements are beautifully done. This show has legs, y'all. Mark my words.

Okay, a couple more things--and props to director Ari Koehnen:

1) The staging. There could not be a more challenging space than Sandbox's teensy storefront. With chairs on two sides, facing each other, with all of the action taking place in the center, it is astounding that the actors moved so beautifully and did so much in such a small space, even using the theater entrance to dramatic effect.

2) The tone is PERFECT. With horror comedy, tone is really challenging, but every member of this cast gets the tone perfect. They are utterly committed and sincere, which makes the plot and violence that much more absurd and funny. It reminded me of Minneapolis Musical Theatre's Silence: The Musical (also starring Ryan London Levin) from earlier this year. Ooh, and there's a wildly clever twist, performed perfectly.

I can't really say more except that it's a talented, committed cast performing a hilarious, clever and tuneful show and I really hope to see it again. And if there's a Kickstarter to record a cast album, I'm IN.

Want to know more? Check out Teenage Misery's fabulous Facebook page. In particular, I loved their Easter Egg series of photos explaining all of the references. And trust me, these references go deep.



(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love.)

Basement Creatures - In the Heart of the Beast (March 2016)

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love, 3/17/16)

Enormously strange and utterly original, Basement Creatures at the In the Heart of the Beast Theater (HOBT) left me nearly speechless. 

Summing it up is incredibly difficult, so I'll let the madly skilled folks at HOBT tell you what it is (and it runs through March 26, btw):

"This wildly original rock opera follows the journey of a subterranean explorer, featuring a stellar live band, haunting choral voices, aerial dance, and puppetry peculiarities from the underworld. Emerging from the sold-out run of performances in Puppet Lab 2015, this expanded production includes your favorite singing centipedes and lonely bedbugs, along with all new monsters from under your bed."

2015 production photo by Bruce Silcox

So let's start at the very beginning.

As you enter the theater, mysterious masked figures offer you a glowing "elixir of life." Sipping the elixir, you mill about the area customarily used as seating but now housing the art exhibit "A New Twist on the Old Testament Part II" by Samuel Robertson. Shielding the stage is a large white curtain, with mysterious sounds emitting from behind it. Finally, the gong is sounded and the ushers beckon you onto the stage. Taking a seat on the risers, you settle in.

The lights go down, the band begins and chains rattle as a dark-clad, silent 'explorer' climbs the chains in a lovely aerial dance and descends into 'the basement.' Here she meets (in song!) centipedes, bedbugs, silk spiders, professors and organ surgeons, all depicted by a talented cast of aerialists, musicians, puppeteers, and projectionists. And, of course, she meets the mysterious "basement dweller."

Basement Creatures was created by Lead Artist (and "Basement Dweller") Davey T Steinman, who was inspired by his own childhood and home basements, as well as the "waiting darkness" of Minnesota winters. The show started at the HOBT Puppet Lab fellowship, and an abridged version was produced by HOBT last year. This version is revised and expanded from the original.

2015 production photo by Bruce Silcox

As someone who loves musicals and all things spooky, I was all about this show, but had no idea what to actually expect. It's far more rocking than I expected (even though it's described as a rock opera--I've seen too many musicals purporting to be rock operas to trust the term) and far more abstract as well. But when the bedbug started singing "Lonely Bedbug," I was in, and during "Gates of Hell", I was ready to buy the CD. (Which I did, and it's going to add considerably to my Halloween music collection.)

What else? The aerial work is amazing, the puppets are wonderfully creative, and the lighting and projections work beautifully together with the music to create an incredibly original, yet dream-like experience. The show also features the work of Artemis, a vocal ensemble with gorgeous harmonies (playing the part of the pipe organ). Although there was so much of the show that I loved, there were a few bits I just didn't get. In some ways, it still feels a bit like a work in progress, but a fascinating one with even more amazing potential.

And I love that I have a whole new list of talented performers to keep an eye out for in local theater. For one, I'm very curious to see what projections Davey T Steinman comes up with for Carson Kreitzer's Lasso of Truth, an upcoming Workhaus Collective/Walking Shadow Theatre Company production starting April 15 at the Playwrights' Center.

Silence! The Musical - Minneapolis Musical Theater at the Lab (February 2016)

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love, 2/14/16)

Silence! The Musical (showing now through March 6 at the Lab Theater) is almost definitely the best parody musical based on a horror film that you'll see this year. 

Released in 1991, The Silence of the Lambs won five Oscars and scared the hell out of millions of people. Now that it's an indelible part of pop culture, why not make it a musical? And I can't think of a better local theater than Minneapolis Musical Theatre (and Steven Meerdink's Bitter Boy Productions) to take on this show.

You know the story: FBI fledgling Clarice Starling is sought out to interview famed serial killer Hannibal Lecter in order to find yet another serial killer. Although much of the original movie's script has become go-to pop culture punchlines (liver with fava beans and Chianti, it puts the lotion in the basket, ffffffftttttt) the movie is still genuinely disturbing.

Hannibal Lecter (Tim Kuehl) watches as Clarice
Starling (Emily Jabas) admires his artwork. (photos: Unser Imagery) 

So how can this possibly be a hilarious musical? (Which it IS.) Well, it starts off with a fabulously witty book by Hunter Bell, and music and lyrics by Jon & Al Kaplan that manage to be truthful to the source material and tuneful, while hilarious and shocking at the same time.

And then, if you're Minneapolis Musical Theatre, which specialize in musicals rarely seen by Twin Cities audiences (their tagline is "Rare Musicals. Well Done."), you give it 112%. Every member of the cast performs with utter commitment and director Steven Meerdink creates the perfect tone.

The cast hits every joke in the script perfectly, and finds a few laughs that probably aren't in the script, yet never ever milks a joke. The show also has musical theater references that theater fans will love to pick out. You'll note references to Bob Fosse's choreography, Will Rogers Follies, Evita, Cats, and the King and I. These nods add an additional layer of fun to an already hilarious show.

Clarice Starling gets her Fosse on with the chorus of lambs.
Did we not mention the chorus of lambs?

The cast is spot on, referencing the actors' work in the film, but bringing it slightly over the edge in a hysterical way. From the moment that Emily Jabas sprints (slowly) on stage as Clarice Shtarling, you know it's going to be good. Tim Kuehl as Hannibal Lecter gives a delightful blend of menace and confusion, despite acting mostly behind glass and a mask. Alice McGlave gives a great boost to the thankless role of Ardelia (one of film's first black best friends), and Jordan Oxborough was a perfectly insane Dr. Chilton.

My personal favorite performance was by Ryan London Levin as Buffalo Bill. Originally played by Ted Levine in a balls-out, Gene Loves Jezebel-dancing, putting-the-lotion-in-the-basket, Precious-loving performance, Buffalo Bill is one of the most vivid characters in horror. Starting with his first song, "Are You About a Size 14?", Levin gives everything he has to this character and hits it perfectly. He gets Levine's (Levine/Levin/WHAT?) weird mumbly voice perfectly right, and actually has a fantastic singing voice. The entire chorus, including Gregory Adam (so good in MMT's Eating Raoul) and Daniel Lundin (excellent in this season's Murder Ballad) give amazing performances in a variety of roles.

The show is at the Lab Theater, which I hope Minneapolis Musical Theatre can use for future shows. The warm and inviting--but bare bones and industrial--space is perfect for a show like this. The beautifully constructed set by Darren Hensel made perfect use of the space, and the props by Valerie Larche lend a realistic (yet over-the-top) tone to the production.

Starling and Lecter face off  through the high-security window.

By the way, if you are faint of heart and delicate, you may be shocked by some of the material in the show. Hannibal Lecter's first song (of which the Washington Post said the title was too dirty to even hint at) uses a word that is rarely used on the American stage or in film. Hint: It starts with "If I Could Smell Her", and references a line by Multiple Miggs. That's all I'm giving you. But I you pass up this fabulous, hysterical show because of that, well, I would be sad. Go see this fun show!

PS: Every program received a postcard to help promote the show with a 20% off discount code. I don't feel right posting the code, but you could always mention you read about the discount in this review from us and maybe the box office will give it to you. Or check MMT's Facebook page for deals.

(co-written by KRL, Carly and Jules)

Why I Love the Twin Cities Horror Festival (IV) (October 2015)

(Cross-posted from Minnesota Theater Love, 10/25/15)

I heart the Twin Cities Horror Fest, now in its fourth year. Here's why (not in order of importance):

- It's a manageable size (twelve shows this year)
- It runs a reasonable amount of time (October 22 through November 1, 2015)

- It's at only one theater (The Southern Theater)
- And that theater is appropriately spooky
- And it has a bar

- Their website rocks: Simple, clean and clear with descriptions, schedules by day and by show, and useful genres and ratings
- The staff and volunteers are marvelously organized, friendly and efficient

- The theater is located near a number of excellent restaurants and bars (Town Hall Brewery, Republic, Jewel of India and many more)

Oh, and I almost forgot: IT'S ALL SCARY!

For a horror and theater fan, who often has to content herself with the occasional Martin McDonough and Conor McPherson production, to have a whole festival devoted to spooky theater, during the best holiday season ever is fabulous. Thank you, TCHF!

Reviews so far (updated as they're added):

Mortem Capiendum - Four Humors
The Deep Dark - Oncoming Productions
The Trail - The Importance of Being Fotis
Epidemic - Dangerous Productions
Short Film Festival - Horrorshow Hot Dog
Martina's Broadway Horror Cabaret - Silver Slipper Productions

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (2016)

In 1988, Abby and Gretchen are in high school and are best friends. After a experiment with LSD after which Gretchen goes missing for an evening, Gretchen comes back and seems very different and very wrong. Abby tries to figure out what is wrong with her friend, and tries to get help from family, friends and other grownups, to no avail. 

As the dust jacket says, "Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?" Filled with pop culture references that will delight readers of a certain age (my age, btw), this is also a great horror novel and a great novel about friendship. It's an unexpected combination that works beautifully.

Surprisingly insightful into the minds of teenage girls and all the trials and tribulations of friendship and of being a teen. It also has a yearbook design motif (probably used since Hendrix's Horrorstor used the IKEA catalog so effectively), which is a bit superfluous in this novel. Nonetheless, Hendrix powerfully captures just how powerless you are when you're a teen.

I adored this:

"Abby Rivers and Gretchen Lang were best friends, on and off, for seventy-five years, and there aren't many people who can say that. They weren't perfect. They didn't always get along. They screwed up. They acted like assholes. They fought, they fell out, they patched things up, they drove each other crazy, and they didn't make it to Halley's Comet. But they tried."

Aw!

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (2013)

You MUST read this book.

I hear about books from a lot of sources. Blogs, friends, reviews, whatever. And then there's the books that I just run across in the library catalog while looking for something else. Which is to say, I have NO idea how I found this book. But I'm so glad I did!

Set in colonial Mayala, among the Chinese who reside there, the story is about Li Lin, a young woman of marriageable age who lives with her opium-addicted father and her beloved Amah. Despite the loss of her mother at a young age, all is pretty much satisfactory until she receives a marriage proposal from Lim Tian Ching, the son of an influential neighbor. A promising engagement with one small detail: Lim Tian Ching is dead and the proposal is for Li Lin to be his ghost bride.

Lim Tian Ching begins to haunt Li Lin in her dreams, and she is quickly drawn into a dark world of murder, hungry ghosts and restless spirits. She also falls in love with Tian Bai, the new (live) heir to the family. Li Lin ventures into the Chinese afterlife, travelling to the Plains of the Dead on an errand for the mysterious Er Lang, a man who may not be what he seems.

Choo creates a marvelously rich and detailed world of the dead: paper funeral offerings and hell money, afterworld bureaucracy and the shifting corporeal nature of ghosts. This novel is utterly original and impossible to slot in a particular genre. It's historical fiction with elements of fantasy, wonderfully suspenseful and spooky with more than a touch of romance. It's also just beautifully, vividly and cinematically written. Much of the book's world is based on Chinese folklore, and Choo's notes section outlines the original stories as well as her own creations. CRIPES, this is a good book.

The Uninvited by Cat Winters (2015)

This historical novel is set during WWI and the influenza epidemic. Ivy has recently recovered from a bout of the flu, and is finding the world has changed radically since she took to her bed. Not only is she dealing with the loss of family members, she still has her lifelong ability to see ghosts.

She struggles with the overzealous American Protection League and her feelings for a German living in her town while taking on the job of driving a Red Cross ambulance. And did I mention she see ghosts? So very lovely and romantic.

See also the romantic ghost stories of Simone St. James.

Day Four by Sarah Lotz (2015)

Chilling horror(ish) tale about a cruise that goes terribly wrong. The ship stops moving, the plumbing stops functioning, the power is sporadic and all goes to heck. But is there something more than simply ship malfunction at fault? 

A racially and culturally diverse cast of characters include a famous psychic, the blogger determined to debunk her work, two old ladies determined to end it all on the ship, and the cruise ship employees with their own mega-dramas. Suspenseful, atmospheric and beautifully constructed.

Day Four reminded me of Stephen King (high praise), particularly his novels that focus on humanity's last stand such as The Stand and The Mist. Great summer fun that will make you want to never, ever take a cruise.

The Voices by F.R. Tallis (2014)

Really interesting haunted house novel, set in the 1970s in London, about a composer, his wife, and their young daughter, who move to a stately home in Hampstead Heath where they start to hear mysterious voices. 

The wife hears them through the baby monitor, he picks up voices through his recording equipment. This starts them on a mysterious journey of finding out who may have lived in the house and where the voices came from. 

It's hard to say anything else without spoiling the mystery, so I'm not going to. Quite suspenseful and chilling, and extremely atmospheric. Surprising and haunting.

The Silent Land by Graham Joyce (2010)

I loved this book so much that I was searching for more books by Graham Joyce before I'd even gotten halfway through this one.

From the beginning to the ending, this is a practically perfect novel--one that I wanted to prolong reading as I was enjoying it so much.

Jake and Zoe are skiing at a resort when they are caught in an avalanche. And the description of Zoe trapped under snow is one of the scariest things I've ever read. Ever. When they finally dig out and return to the resort, everyone is gone, and they can't seem to leave the village. Not only are they trying to figure out what's happening, they're also working on some issues in their marriage.

This novel is subtle and realistic, and beautifully done to the very last page. Everyone I've recommended it to has loved it as much as I have--about six people to date. Yay!

Horrorstor: A Novel by Grady Hendrix (2014)

Horrorstor is so cool, it should have its own theme song.

And yes, as you may have guessed from the cover, it's a horror novel set in the big-box semi-Swedish home furnishing retailer Orsk. The fabulous book design by Andie Reid hilariously replicates the iconic IKEA catalogs.

Some strange things have been happening at the Orsk store and a few employees have been enlisted to stay after closing and keep an eye out. Another couple of employees are conducting their own ghost hunt and when they get together to have a seance, all hell breaks loose.

In addition to the great, realistic characters, this novel has a great in-depth backstory that is beautifully supported by the book design. And it actually had me at the edge of my seat--I was genuinely biting my nails to see if the characters would make it through. Beautifully done.

666 Park Avenue by Gabrielle Pierce (2011)

I picked up this book at a charming used bookstore in Winona called Paperbacks and Pieces, and I picked it up purely for its fabulous design. The cover is not only gorgeous, but has fabulous texture. Even the edges of the pages and chapter design is really striking and original.

That said, I finally read it, and found it to be way more fun than it should be. Jane Boyle, architect living in Paris meets swoony and rich Malcolm Doran, has a whirlwind romance and goes to NYC to live with him and his rich and influential family on Park Avenue. Only problem is, she discovers that she's a witch, and they want her power.

Pierce sets up her world and the mythology very well, and creates a very suspenseful story filled with very well-drawn supporting characters.

Followed by two sequels: The Dark Glamour and The Lost Soul, both of which I enjoyed every bit as much as this one. I finished The Dark Glamour and literally immediately picked up The Lost Soul, which is really saying something as I have a very short attention span for series. Delightful.

The Harrowing by Alexandra Sokoloff (2006)

My bar for horror novels is pretty low. But I can't resist a good ghost story/haunted house novel, so when this crossed by desk, I gave it a try.

Five students are left alone in their college dorm over the holidays, they get in touch with some scary spirits, and mysterious and spooky things begin to occur.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. Sokoloff created rich and complex characters, and I like that the backstory and mythology was quite in-depth. I have the attention span of a distracted gnat, but even after reading it six months ago, I can still picture some of the characters and settings.

Must check out more of her work! Yay, excellent horror novels by female authors!

The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James (2012)

This is a lovely ghost story/love story/historical novel.

Sarah Piper is a lonely soul, working in London in the years after the first World War when she gets an unexpected assignment from her temporary agency--to assist an author and ghost hunter. They travel to a small village to track down the ghost of Maddy Clare and both love and mystery ensues.

The haunting itself is quite dark and violent and she writes quite unsparingly about the emotionally turbulent years after the war. The story is excellent and the romance is lovely.

Fun fact for Downton Abbey fans: the ghost hunter Alastair is a dead ringer for Matthew Crawley and if you squint a bit, his assistant Matthew could be mistaken for a slightly more broken Mr. Bates.

The Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale (2012)

Prepare for massive gushing ahead ...

First, the plot summary:

Trying to escape her worthless life leads to unexpected and disastrous consequences when Sue Ellen steals money and a raft and embarks on a journey to dig up her best friend's body, burn it, and sprinkle the ashes in Hollywood.

You can see how this is not an easy sell plotwise, but let me tell you that I loved this book. LOVED it. LOVE Joe R. Lansdale.

His writing about East Texas (see also The Bottoms), so evocative and filled with dark insight about the area always reminds me of Harper Lee. His writing about Texas is incredibly vivid and almost affectionate (despite the darkness of the events that occur.)

He writes amazingly realistic but unusual characters and the dialogue is perfect--I'd love to see him write a play. The characters in this book--Sue Ellen, her friends Terry and Jinx and her alcoholic mother-- are as vivid to me now as when I read the book months ago--I loved spending time with them and the very dark journey that they are on.

Their trip down the river reminded me so much of the river trip that the children take in The Night of the Hunter. It's as if that trippy, black and white journey was transformed into an entire book, in full color with fully fleshed out characters, and it sustains that eerie, unsettling atmosphere through the whole book.

Trust me on this one--it's MARVELOUS.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (2011)

I picked up this zombie romantic comedy purely because they made a movie of it and the trailer looked cute. By the way, isn't that cover great?

This is a very endearing zombie romantic comedy--yes, zombie romantic comedy--that tells the story of R, a zombie wandering around in a zombie vs. survivalist humans world. The story is told from R's point of view, and there are many laugh out loud moments. When he eats the brain of a young human and falls for his girlfriend Julie, it gets a bit more serious.

But throughout, it still has lovely touches of humor. Marion does a beautiful job of getting inside R's head and still showing what he looks and sounds like from the outside. It's thoughtful and philosophical about the end of the world in a way that most zombie, post-apocalyptic novels don't bother with--certainly not zombie movies anyway. R, Julie and her friend Nora are very endearing characters as are the complex leaders of the humans.

Really a great book and rather gentle and sweet for a book about zombies.

The Raising by Laura Kasischke (2011)

Compulsively readable novel about a boy returning to college after being involved in an accident that killed his girlfriend. 

But here's the weird thing: he keeps seeing glimmers of her around campus and his memory of the crash still hasn't returned. Kasischke skillfully weaves together chapters from the present with chapters from the year leading up to the accident. Eventually the threads meet in such a way that I may have actually gasped out loud. 

Beautifully written, suspenseful, and unbelievably absorbing. I liked this so much I sought out the rest of Kasischke's novels and read them all. I love the moody, thoughtful, elegiac, but spooky tone of her novels. See also her YA novels Feathered and Boy Heaven.

What You See in the Dark by Manuel Munoz (2011)

Fascinating, spare novel that tells the story of a few inhabitants of Bakersfield, California, from a young singer, her handsome boyfriend, and his hotel owning mother to the Actress and the Director, who are scouting locations for a new film.

The film being referenced is clearly Psycho, and the story of the singer, her beau and his mother has some interesting parallels to that film.

I love this from the Director's musing:

"The Americans were always good at dying, but not death. Good at plot, but not fatalism. Good at cowboys shot down from the backs of horses, but not the finality of writhing in the dust. Good at the cars roaring lustily into each other as if no one were in them, but not the full horror of a boy hurtling into the rigidity of the steering column. Good at the beautiful Radcliffe heroine succumbing to cancer in her bed, but not the ugly business of the night nurse wiping her clean at two in the morning. What they didn't know is that you take the little glimmer of the truth of death when you see it, and then have the nerve to give it light."

Quiet, melancholy and deliberately written.

We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver (2003)

Unbelievably gripping book written as a series of letters from a woman to her estranged husband. The subject of the letters is her relationship with him, but primarily the subject is their son Kevin--a very troubled young man who shot up his school. 

The strange thing about this book is that the subject matter is so very shocking and horrific, which is normally is found more in pulpy, mass market novels, and yet it's written at an incredibly high level, vocabulary-wise and structurally. It's incredibly compelling, and almost like a more literary The Bad Seed by William March. So creepy. 

For a nonfiction take on a similar subject, check out Columbine by Dave Cullen.

Audrey's Door by Sarah Langan (2009)

Excellent haunted house story set on the Upper West Side of New York City.

It's a hidden gem--a quality trade paperback hidden in the pages of a mass market paperback. Good, complex characterization (the ex-fiance and shrewish boss are not painted as black and white bad guys), as well as an unusual, complicated backstory (chaotic naturalism!) and many scenes that just cry out to be filmed.

This is a great fit for fans of the contemporary gothic of Gillian Flynn.

The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer (2010)

Never underestimate the power of a good blurb.

 I picked up this zombie novel because it was blurbed on the front by Christopher Moore as "really kind of hot, in a very creepy way." Truly a modern novel, with really realistic dialogue and believable young characters. You have to love a zombie novel that starts out at a Trader Joe's. 

Ooh, and here's an interesting slant: the virus is spread through sex and kissing. Which in the zombie world seems like a recipe for some pretty dodgy situations, but Beamer handles them all in very realistic and not at all exploitative ways. 

Fun and original.

Burke and Hare (2010)

I was reading John Landis's book Monsters in the Movies, which is, like Landis himself, completely delightful. 

In it, he explores movie monsters, mostly through showing poster and film images and making short, snarky comments about them.  He also interviews horror icons like Ray Harryhausen, Guillermo del Toro, Sam Raimi and Christopher Lee.  Great fun.  Anyway, in it, he casually mentions his film, Burke and Hare.  What?  I'd never even heard of it!

Maybe it's a British thing, but I don't even remember seeing Burke and Hare released over here.  It's an old British story, about two grave robbers who sell bodies to a medical school.  Then, when the supply of bodies dry up, they start making their own corpses (by killing people). 

Have I mentioned the cast?  It stars Simon Pegg (of the brilliant Shaun of the Dead) and Andy Serkis (Gollum!) as Burke and Hare, and the cast includes an impressive roster of British actors.  Bill Bailey, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry, Hugh Bonneville, Ronnie Corbett, Jenny Agutter and Stephen Merchant among others.  Oh, and a few cameos I won't spoil. 

With that cast, it's bound to be funny, and it is.  But it also looks amazing.  It's beautifully filmed and designed, with gorgeous sets and great costumes.  There's also a bit of a romance for Burke (Pegg) with Isla Fisher, playing an actress.  It's not perfect ... but it is charming and funny, and lovely to look at and clearly, for Landis, a labor of love.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

"You think you know the story."  I loved this movie so much that I'd like to hug it and hold it and call it George.  It's as if Joss Whedon wrote it especially for me.

This movie has as its basic plot the plot of so many other horror movies:  A group of attractive young adults of mixed gender and race (depending on the year made, that is) take a trip into the backwoods to stay at a cabin/house/abandoned mental hospital and have sex/get drunk/etc.  Spookiness and gory, possibly creative murders ensue.  And yet this movie is so much more than that.  Have you seen it?  Go and see it!  Seriously.

It's officially spoilery to say anything else about the movie, but as the movie itself starts by letting you know you're in for something unusual, I guess we'll have to crack on.  The movie starts not with our young heroes setting off on their journey, but with two middle management looking middle-aged guys in white dress shirts in a laboratory.  We see them banter and talk about their latest project and then BANG, in a shot that made me jump (and I never jump), the title hits the screen in huge, blood red letters.  Right across the dull laboratory set up as the two middle managers wheel off in a golf cart.  Fabulous.

Suffice it to say, there is much more than meets the eye in this film.  But along the way, there is utter hilarity.  You have to love the movie for having Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins as the dryly hilarious management guys.  And Fran Kranz as stoner Marty was completely hilarious.  And even the rest of the group, from the alpha male to the hot girlfriend to the smart guy (he wears glasses in one scene!) to the hot girl's smart friend are interesting, slightly complicated characters.

And the amazing creativity as the story unfolds!  It becomes clear (SO SPOILER) pretty early on that this cabin and these kids are part of some sort of scientific experiment or something.  And when the kids get into the laboratory and we see some of the other horrors in reserve--it's just awesome.  A horror movie fan's dream--not in a pandery way, but in a smart, respectful way.  Blink and you'll miss the twins from the Shining.  And is that the werewolf from American Werewolf in London?  So cool.  I've never wished so much for a freeze button at the movie theater.

So in short, it's an amazing film--smart, funny, thrilling, beautiful to look at (if you don't mind a little gore)--and it turns horror movie cliches upside down.  Truly one of the best movies I've ever seen.  Yay!  All praise to you, Joss Whedon.  All is forgiven for those bad, last years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

"When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

Dawn of the Dead is a completely awesome remake of a classic 1978 George Romero zombie movie, which pays tribute to the original, but is wholly its own film, and one of the best horror films I've ever seen.

Indie actress Sarah Polley plays Ana, a nurse whose horror begins when a neighbor girl walks into the house, bites Ana's husband, who turns into the snarling, bloodthirsty undead.  She escapes, takes off in the car, and we see the complete, rapid destruction of civilization, at least in her Milwaukee suburb.  We also see one of the most horrifying car crashes, captured from a helicopter POV shot.

And then the credits start:  "The Man Comes Around" by Johnny Cash, played against truly chilling footage of the ensuing disaster.  And we're barely even ten minutes into the movie!  Ana meets up with a few survivors and they make their way to a nearby shopping mall.  Survivors include Kenneth (Ving Rhames), Michael (Jake Weber), and Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his pregnant wife Luda (Inna Korobkina).  And can I just say how awesome the casual diversity in this film is?  Diversity is not throwing in one person of color; it's having a truly color blind cast, with actual characters that exist outside of their skin color. 

They meet up with some thuggish security guys, the leader of whom is C.J (Michael Kelly), but soon realize they all need to work together to fight whatever it is is going on outside.  One of the best aspects of this movie is C.J.'s character development.  He goes from a selfish jackass to a quietly self-sacrificing guy--an arc you don't see in a lot of major movies, much less horror.   Although the action in this movie seldom stops, and the blood and gore are plentiful, it's the character development and the performances, grounded especially by Polley, Weber and Rhames, that make this film so wholly satisfying.

And as long as this is the girls' POV on horror film, I can't not mention that this film is crazy full of handsome men with gorgeous arms handling major weaponry.  A girl totally has her pick of film crushes in this film--I choose smart normal guy Michael, who has a unexpectedly deep gravelly voice, and looks amazing in a black tee shirt.

Another awesome aspect of this film is the deep appreciation the filmmakers show to the original.  When Tom Savini shows up as a sheriff advising people to 'blow their heads off', you know you're in the hands of those who appreciate horror.  IMDB has a fascinating trivia list of all the nods they made to the original.  A couple more bits of trivia:  the word zombie is never used in this film, nor is it ever really determined where how the infection spread.  Like I said, the movie hits the ground running and never lets up.  It's an amazingly well made movie, and one of the best movies I've seen in any genre.

The Uninvited (2009)

They say you can't judge a book by its cover--however, with horror films, you sometimes can.  Think of classic posters like that for Halloween, and The Exorcist.  Then think about the posters for slasher films like Happy Birthday to Me or any poster that includes scantily clad women and dripping blood.  There's a definite difference between a horror movie poster with pretensions to art (or even a mainstream audience) and one that is clearly b-movie material.

Here's the thing about The Uninvited:  This poster tells you NOTHING about the film.  It definitely doesn't tell you that it's a remake of an acclaimed Korean horror film (A Tale of Two Sisters), and it doesn't tell you that it stars high-caliber acting talent like David Straithairn.  But once you get past that, and actually pick up this movie, it's a pleasant surprise.

As the movie begins, teenager Anna is being released from a mental institution, where she had been placed after the death of her mother and her suicide attempt.  She returns home (to a beautiful, beautiful Maine home) to her father, her sister and her father's creepy new girlfriend where she tries to figure out what happened the night of her mother's death.

The Uninvited is beautifully filmed and makes the most of its gorgeous Maine location and amazing house.  Universally well-acted, the characters are strong, engaging and complex.  There's no doubt about it--this is a really good horror film.  There's only one problem:  It's not scary.  It's interesting, it has compelling plot twists, it features some spooky imagery . . . but no scares.  Still good, though! 

The Crazies (2010)

It's so nice to be pleasantly surprised by a horror film--particularly a remake. Expectations tend to be awfully low for remakes, even if, as in this case, we haven't seen the original.

The Crazies is a remake of a 1973 film by George Romero and it's about a small Iowa town where people start to act a little "crazy." (A little bit like zombies actually.) Could it be something in the water? The government comes in and makes everything much better, as usual. And that's about it for the plot.

What makes this film better than average is what it DOESN'T have: the overused cliches of contemporary horror films. It does not have 1) a large cast of forgettable characters who get killed off one by forgettable one in new and unusual ways, 2) gratuituous gore, 3) overwrought music, and 4) telegraphed "jumps" (cats jumping out of closets, etc.).

What is does have is a solid, fast-moving plot and an outstanding cast of only about four characters, all of whom are complex and realistic. The always engaging Timothy Olyphant plays the sheriff trying to get to the bottom of all this "craziness", Radha Mitchell plays his semi-grating pregnant doctor wife, and Danielle Panabaker plays the doctor's assistant.

All the actors are good, and characterizations are pretty strong. But it's the fourth actor and character that brings this movie to a whole new level. Although a secondary character to the 'hero' sheriff, Joe Anderson as the deputy sheriff plays a surprisingly complex character. He brings depth and humor to the role, and his performance is probably one of the best I've ever seen in a horror film. All in all, it's a darned good contemporary horror film.

Black Christmas (1974)

One of the first movies in the slasher genre, Black Christmas is set in a sorority house over Christmas break and the girls are receiving scary, psycho phone calls. And then they start being killed by some unseen intruder. And the calls are coming from INSIDE THE HOUSE!

With its sly wit and restrained gore, the film rises above the genre. Although the line between horror and psychological thriller are pretty thin here, there are genuinely unsettling (perhaps supernatural) moments in the film, particularly during the phone calls. This film features a good performance by Olivia Hussey as a pretty tough heroine, as well as a crazy performance by Margot Kidder, who appeared to be completely out of it in all of her scenes and never appears without a cocktail in her hand. Shelley Winters plays the boozy housemother and adds lots of humor to the film and don't forget to look for Andrea Martin in an almost unrecognizably straight role. John Saxon, that mainstay of horror films, shows up as a police detective and in a great departure from many horror films, the police are concerned and helpful to the sorority girls.

As it was filmed in 1974, this film sports some truly hilarious clothing and hairstyle decisions. One of the girls' boyfriends goes around sporting a giant (GIANT) fur coat and it's pretty much impossible to concentrate on anything he says. For a film set in a sorority house and made in the 1970s, it has a refreshing lack of t & a-type exploitation. Especially considering that Bob Clark went on to film Porky's (and A Christmas Story)! (Note:  This film was remade in 2006, which was apparently a big year for remaking classic horror films of the 1970s.  See also The Wicker Man. )

Ginger Snaps (2000)

Ginger Snaps is a Canadian horror film about two sisters who have a death obsession. The stylish film begins with a series of elegant staged photographs of fake death scenes. The credits sequence alone is worth the price of admission. The girls are outcasts in their school and devoted to one another, with a possible suicide pact planned. However, everything turns upside down when the older sister gets bitten by a werewolf. She gets her period at the same time (little symbolism there much?) and begins dressing sexily and acting uncharacteristically. Her sister, the younger, frumpier one, finds herself with the task of cleaning up for her sister, covering up for her sister and attempting to find a way to save her life. She enlists the attractive drug dealer in town for help.

One of the best aspects of Ginger Snaps is its fully developed and unique characters. The sisters are strong, complex characters and their complicated relationship is portrayed really effectively. As opposed to most romantic bad boy leads in teen horror movies, the drug dealer is smart, ambitious, AND pretty. Plus, he's able to see beyond people's looks to their personalities. All of the characters in this film are non-stereotypical and complex, as well as non-traditional-looking. There is no way that an American horror film would allow the younger sister to remain her frumpy self – there would have been a makeover planned at some point.

The film is a bit on the gory side, maybe even a little unnecessarily so. But the characters are so interesting and the plot has such unexpected twists that any complaints about the film are mere trifles. This film has a number of sequels as well as prequels.  It's like Friday the 13th for Canadians!

The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man is a fabulous movie, which was not nearly well known enough here in America (until the wretched remake, that is*).

In this well-written gem, an upright policeman goes to a Scottish island looking for a missing girl about whom he received an anonymous letter. The people of the island are not particularly helpful with his search.  During his investigation he discovers all sorts of indecent goings-on--sexual, pagan rituals that make the good church-going policeman quite uneasy and rightly so.

It's an incredibly well-written story, with a simple, but interesting plot with a truly shocking ending. Set in contemporary times, it sustains an uneasy atmosphere and includes a number of sometimes funny, but often unsettling folk musical numbers. It also includes a fabulous performance by Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle, pagan leader with quite the head of hair. There's lots of excellent quotes by Lord Summerisle such as "Do sit down, Sergeant. Shocks are so much better absorbed with the knees bent." It's a terribly quotable script. Despite all of the quirky townspeople, odd musical numbers and showy performance by Lee, Edward Woodward keeps the film from turning campy with his excellent, restrained performance.

This film also has quite an interesting backstory.  This website explains the backstory well, and outlines the various versions.  Try to find the version with 97 minutes (at least) of footage. The hacked-up American version (at 88 minutes or so) is too choppy to establish the suspenseful tone.

* Watch out for the 2006 remake starring Nicholas Cage that completely destroys the original story and inserts a matriarchal society of evil.  The movie, made by the always charming and not at all misogynist Neil LaBute, includes a truly bewildering number of scenes where Cage's character beats up women and provides only unintentional humor, mostly due to Cage's wild overacting.  Check out any video on YouTube that mentions this movie and bees for a sneak peek.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Ah, The Blair Witch Project.

If I may make a very personal digression, this movie totally brings me back to 1999. I remember how crazy the buzz was about this film – my friend Tim and I were terribly excited for it to finally open in our town. We rushed over to the one theater in town that it was showing at for the first midnight showing and were absolutely astounded by the massive crush of people trying to get tickets. No luck that night, but we finally got tickets for later in the week and still had to stand in line that night to get in the theater. I've never seen this theater so full, or the audience so excited. And it was well worth it. It was a great film and a great experience and I slept with my light on for three days.

The Blair Witch Project begins with text on the screen saying that three film students disappeared in the woods and were never found and what we are about to see is the footage from their trip. The rest of the film is the film that these students shot; we see the whole film through the cameras of Heather, Mike and Josh. They go into the woods to investigate the "Blair Witch" legend and lose their way and are soon beset upon by mysterious forces. Again, as with all truly great horror films, The Blair Witch Project is not afraid to take time to build up suspense.

The story is very simple:  being lost in the woods and how the characters respond to this situation, each other and the increasingly menacing atmosphere in the woods. You really don't see much in this film, and as always, what you don't see and imagine is far scarier than anything the filmmakers would directly show you. Why are there piles of rocks outside their tents? What was in the bundle of sticks? Was that a baby crying and where is Josh?

Excellent film that became a true cultural phenomenon with practically every show and form of media mocking and playing on the images in the film. Plus, the Blair Witch actors were on the cover of Time and Newsweek. Astounding. And the story behind the film is as interesting as the film itself: the actors were sent out into the woods to film without knowing what to expect or what was happening. Even knowing the behind-the scenes details does not dilute any of the scares. It's a great modern, classic horror film.

The Exorcist (1973)

What is there to say about one of the best horror films of all time?

Landing at or near the top of best horror films of all time, The Exorcist scared the tar out of me as a kid, and even in high school. Watching it as an adult, although it's not nearly as scary, it is a really well-made, complex horror film which has a number of levels of interpretation. Long story short (and everybody knows it anyway), a young girl named Regan acts strangely and is found to be possessed by a demon after playing with a Ouija Board. Before her mother comes to this conclusion, however, she has her daughter undergo much medical testing. Finally, her mother calls upon a priest (with his own issues and a background in psychiatrics) to exorcise her daughter's demon(s).

The best aspects of this film are how the filmmakers are not afraid to take time to build up suspense, and take time to establish the characters of Regan and her mother before throwing them into the possession nightmare. Even after 30 years, the film has some genuinely shocking parts and was banned in Britain for many years (and may even still be banned today). The special effects are good and not distracting and limited to "necessary" effects. And the film is not just about demonic possession, but encompasses broader subjects like adolescence, family relationships, The Church, ancient evil, modern medical practices and their fallibility. And it's genuinely scary, particularly to this lapsed Catholic. It's so very much about what is unknown in the world. What else can you say?

The Ring (2002)

The Ring is an American remake of the Japanese horror film Ringu, and in keeping with general American style, turned a spare, suspenseful film into an over-the-top, overly explained, rather clichéd one. Like the original, it's about a reporter investigating a videotape that apparently kills its watchers within seven days. Her niece mysteriously dies after watching the videotape, which piques her curiosity, if not really her compassion. You never get a sense that Watts had any emotional connection to her niece, or for that matter, anyone else.

The tape itself is gratuitously weird and includes lots of iconic horrific images, if not many actual clues to the mystery. The investigation she undertakes is very Hollywood, lots of breaking into file rooms and destroying a poor archiver's hard work by throwing files into chaos. The actual story behind the tape is much more complicated and less realistic than the story in the original film. Plus, the reporter's son, who was sweet and sympathetic in the original, is needlessly creepy.  It's as if he's doing his best Haley Joel Osment and you just want to say, honey, this ain't The Sixth Sense. Not by a long shot.

Although The Ring is not a terrible movie, it certainly suffers in comparison with the original. Where Ringu had sympathetic, complex characters with complicated relationships, The Ring offers only character traits and clichéd relationships. Also, The Ring attempts to do too much, with its unnecessarily complicated plot twists and half-assed indictment of tv and motherhood. Also, there is much gratuitous animal and human violence, none of which seems to bother our intrepid heroine. However, it was fairly popular in the theater and many people seemed to find it genuinely scary, so something in it must appeal to people. There are some genuinely spooky bits, but it shows too much and is unnecessarily complicated and violent. (2.5/5)