This is not a horror novel that’s going to fill you with icy knives of dread or cause you to fundamentally question the nature of human existence. But it is a pretty fun read. The setup is that a female protagonist moves into the Manhattan apartment of her recently murdered grandmother. It turns out Granny…

Perhaps I’ve mentioned my idea that modern films can experiment with more ethereal themes and plots because the producers know viewers can find answers to their burning questions by going on the web and reading those “The Ending of XXX Explained” articles. In truth, I’m not sure the theory holds up. There were plenty of…

The issue of authors using AI to design a book cover is a hot one. I should get one thing out in the open right off: My view on AI training and its use in the creative arts is definitely in the minority. Essentially, I think as long as the output isn’t directly reproducing existing…

I was dimly intrigued when I stumbled across this film on Amazon. It looked like a forgotten 80s suspense film set in a hospital. From the description, I thought it might be no more gruesome than an episode of Columbo. (For you young folks, that was an 80s detective show.) It turned out to be…

I mentioned this book when I was about halfway through it and said that I was enjoying it. Now that I’ve finished it, what’s the verdict? Meh. The general plot is straightforward. Someone is recreating the Jack the Ripper killings, targeting women with the same names as the original victims. The cops and several authors…

Why do I watch movies like “Morgan: Killer Doll”? It’s obvious from the outset that it’s low-budget schlock.  And yet these films continually draw me in. Is it some kind of sickness on my part? A personality defect? But, surprise—”Morgan: Killer Doll” wasn’t actually that bad. The title of the movie makes clear that the…

So I recently started a movie viewing session planning on watching a movie recommended by a friend, only to find it wasn’t available in my region. After screaming in rage for several minutes, I randomly picked a movie that was in the little Amazon recommendations list. That movie was “Exhuma”, a Korean occult horror about…

This is kind of a rarity. I’m reviewing this book about seven years after having read it. Why? Because I think it’s one of the greatest horror novels ever, and I realized I never left a formal review to this effect. The plot centers around a group of “at-risk” youth visiting an island as part…

I’ll say this upfront. “The Super” has one of the creepiest introductory sequences I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately, it doesn’t maintain that mood for the rest of the film. In that creepy intro, a woman caring for her disabled relative is tormented by a mysterious force in her New York apartment. It’s nail-biting, y’all. When the…

“Good Neighbors” was just a random film I pulled off Amazon Prime. It turned out to be quite enjoyable. Billed as a thriller, it’s really more of a dark comedy. The plot centers around three young people in a Montreal apartment building. We have cynical Spencer, played by Scott Speedman, who is wheelchair-bound. We have…

An interesting sub-theme of horror and crime movies is “rebellious kids.” These are films that capitalize on the idea that kids—particularly young boys—are not charming moppets but sadistic death machines. (I’m reminded of a great schlocko-thriller from the ‘60s titled “The Sadist” that starred the under-appreciated Arch Hall Jr.) Maybe it goes back to “Lord…

I’ve read several of Claire’s books (“Unmasked” is a favorite) and always appreciate her solid, no-frills writing. Her stories usually bring to mind the best of 80s schlocko horror cinema: a bit of sleaze, a bit of comedy, and plenty of spilled blood. In this case, the story revolves around oddball characters in a small…

A common fantasy of teenagers is the death of their parents. It’s a kind of traumatic split they seem to yearn for. And it’s frequently mentioned in fiction – think of Harry Potter, or the origins of Bat-Man and Spider-Man. (Or frickin’ Bambi for that matter.) My belief is that evolution has programmed teens with…

This was a short story I discovered in one of the free book promotions I often take part in. It’s one of the best-written tales I’ve found via such a method. As a result, I went ahead and bought one of the author’s novels. (Review forthcoming.) For an example of the prose, I liked the…

When I watched “The Stepfather” recently, it was my third viewing of the film. As a teenager, I saw it when it came out, 1987, at the Kuhio theater in Honolulu, the same theater where I watched “Rawhead Rex” and “Nightmare on Elm Street Part III.” (Funny, the details that stick in the head. I…