Thoughts on Turning 50
I woke up this morning and found myself 50 years old. It is a significant moment, a momentous occasion, a milestone worthy of celebration and revelry. Except that it isn’t. You see I don’t feel [...]
No Joke: 2019 Resolutions: Honesty & Courage
Today is January 1, 2019. A new year. And as with all new years it is a time to reflect and make plans for the future and to make resolutions for change and to make [...]
Happy Life Day: The Star Wars Holiday Special
Author's note: This was written nearly four years ago and I must admit my opinion of the Star Wars Holiday Special has softened a bit. Oh, I still think it's awful don't get me [...]
He Sees You When You’re Sleeping: Krampus the Anti-Claus
We are all familiar with the benevolent nighttime intruder who once a year indulges in mass breaking and entering to deposit gifts under indoor foliage. You know, the omnipotent fat man dressed in red who [...]
Horse with No Name: A Shining Beacon of Mediocrity for the Ages
I work in a place that plays canned music on the loudspeaker all day. To be fair there is a decent amount of variety (although at the time I write this, in mid-December, there is [...]
Painting Movement: Jackson Pollock: Autumn Rhythm (Number 30)
Back when I was in High school I took an art history class where we studied the life and works of artists from the Renaissance to the modern period. I had by this time [...]
Things I Like: Longbox of Darkness
There are three things I like quite a bit: comics, horror, and podcasts. So imagine my surprise and delight when I discovered someone combined all three! The Longbox of Darkness is a podcast covering horror [...]
A Trip Through the Woods (100 Word Stories)
There was little left of our party when the fire went out and shadows became only darkness. When the whispers got loud and the laughter faded. The music we played became a drone, an echo [...]
Blood Rush (A Short Story by Guest Author Tessa Lee Carr)
We shared our first kiss under the cherry blossom tree. It was perfect, like a scene from the movies. I stared into her eyes and brushed her soft hair from her delicate face. I saw [...]
Reckoning Upon God: Frankenstein (Monster Memories)
Frankenstein is one of the few classic monster movies that I did not see on a Saturday afternoon on a UHF channel. No, this film was played in prime time. It was a special [...]
The Blood Elevator: It’s Meaning & Symbol
The blood elevator scene, sometimes called the ‘river of blood’, from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is a horrifying and disturbing image in a film full of horrifying and disturbing images. Upon watching it the scene [...]
Even the Moon is Frightened of Me: The Invisible Man (Monster Memories)
An invisible man must be one of the more bizarre choices for a monster. First of all it’s not really a monster, not in the classical sense anyway. He is, after all, just a [...]
Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart: The Wolf-Man (Monster Memories)
By 1941 Universal had been making monster movies for over a decade. It had now become a well-oiled machine and while not quite formulaic just yet was well on its way to becoming so. [...]
Cover Story: The Chronicles of Amber
We’ve all heard the saying: don’t judge a book by its cover. This is of course meant to be taken metaphorically. It is meant to reinforce the notion that one should not form an [...]
All of This is New to You, And New Can Be Scary (The Return of Doctor Who)
The new season (series) of Doctor Who started yesterday and I feel I am required to say something about it. Typically this is not something I do, at least in the terms of a “hot [...]
I Dislike Being Touched: The Mummy (Monster Memories)
The Mummy from 1932 is a classic. A flawed classic for sure, but a classic nonetheless. There are parts of this film that are truly brilliant and there are parts that are…well…not. To be honest [...]
I Mistrust My Own Judgement: Dracula (Monster Memories)
Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Dracula is the granddaddy of them all, the film the launched the Classic Monster films of Universal. The Universal cinematic universe if you will. I try not to judge [...]
Fruit Flavored Terror: Monster Memories
As a kid I loved monsters. Not the ones that hid under the bed or lived in the closet obviously - those were terrifying and nightmare inducing if one actually managed to get to [...]
Creature Double Feature: My Saturday Monster Time
Growing up my Saturday afternoons would be spent with creatures, monsters, ghosts, ghouls, murderers and mad scientists. Beginning around one o'clock I would settle down in front of our 17" Sony Trinatron (complete with simulated wood [...]
All Hallows’ Eve Month is Here! A Month of Classic Horror
October has arrived - the most wonderful time of the year. There is a nip in the air, the leaves are changing and the smell of pumpkin pie surrounds us. It’s time to wear flannel [...]
It Is What It Is: King Kong Escapes: Kong Hits V
King Kong Escapes is one of - if not the - strangest entries in the King Kong cannon. (As an aside saying ‘King Kong cannon’ out loud is a fun thing to do. Go ahead, [...]