WerewolvesIn Costa Rica, the annual Fiesta de los Diablitos, or “Dance of the Little Devils,” is a celebration honoring the ancestral spirits and animal totems of the Brunka tribe held in the sister villages of Rey Curre and Boruca. The ancestral spirits and animal guides helped the Brunka gain a victory over Spanish conquistadors during…Continue readingDance of the Little Devils
“The stomach rules the world!” said William Buckland, professor of Geology at Oxford University circa the early nineteenth century. “The great ones eat the less, and the less the lesser still.” He was right about that, really. Nature is just a fight for survival, and to survive a creature must eat. Even plants have to…Continue readingEat ‘Em Up!
This one was featured on MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000, but it’s just as much fun, or almost, if you watch it straight and make up your own quips as you go along. Despite the presence of Horror flick legends like George Zucco and Glenn Strange (who would appear with far greater effectiveness as the Frankenstein…Continue readingRevisiting the “Classics”: THE MAD MONSTER
Forget Netflix or on-demand or even going to your local arthouse theater. If you want to see WOLF HOUSE—and I want to see it, and I expect that you will as well, once I finish telling you the premise—you’re gonna have to go to Walmart. Not a problem, I’m sure, as, if you are reading…Continue readingWOLF HOUSE at the ‘Mart
There’s another’n! Another mysterious “cat-like” beast is on the prowl, this time in Watford, which is in England. I know this because ALL big black cat-like beast sightings are in England, aren’t they? (No, not really, but England DOES have far more than its fair share.) Also a sighting took place in a locale called…Continue readingThe Beast of Watford
It can get depressing, being a cinephile. (Or, as I prefer to call myself and folks of a similar fascination with celluloid, “cinepheliacs.” It sounds more ominous, doncha think? I propose that “cinepheliac” become the official designation for a cinephile who loves Horror films in particular.) I go see a lot of movies, yet right…Continue readingI like my movies RAW
This week brought some sad news. Sad, if not outright heartbreaking. Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, the world’s largest traveling circus, “The Greatest Show on Earth,” is folding. PETA celebrated this as a knockout victory, and the RBBB Circus HAS had some issues in the past with properly taking care of its animals, which…Continue readingThe Circus is dead. Long live the Circus!
Have you heard the grand news, dreadfuls? We, the hardcore fans of the Showtime series PENNY DREADFUL who got royally screwed over by series showrunner John Logan when he prematurely pulled the plug about halfway through season three, when the overall story wasn’t even close to being satisfactorily concluded (But we’re not bitter!), are being…Continue readingPENNY DREADFUL – The Comic Book
Disappointed. I was really excited about this one. After hearing it was based on a reputedly true story, which always adds an extra layer of creepiness to a story, and that one of my favorite actors, Doug Jones, would be playing the titular supernatural villain. Sadly the film is the worst kind of cinematic failure,…Continue readingReview: THE BYE BYE MAN
There is debate amongst True Crime specialists and laypersons alike as to whether or not Charles Manson should be considered a serial killer. While his name remains one of the first that comes to mind when one hears the term spoken, it is a sticking point for the nomenclature that Manson never actually killed anybody.…Continue readingManson about to kick it?
Here is a short list of pets that terrified both animal lovers and non-animal lovers alike. Church the cat from PET SEMETERY. (Although to be honest this zombie cat’s personality wasn’t all that different from that of ANY cat, in my experience.) Cujo. (Some more Stephen King love going on, there.) Jones the cat from…Continue readingZowie!
Dude, or Dudette (I’m not sure which) over at iHorror waxes poetic in this article on the appropriateness of the connection between wintertime and Horror. He or she—Kelly is one of those names that can belong to either gender—mentions Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING as a, *cough*, shining example of the subgenre. Rightfully so. Also credited…Continue readingWinter Has Teeth
First off, is it Lyoki or Lykoi? I keep seeing it spelled as both, but I believe the correct spelling is “Lyoki.” I think I prefer that spelling, too, as it puts one in mind of the Norse god (and Marvel Comics supervillain) Loki. “Lykoi,” though, shares that alliteration with “lycanthropy,” which would also be…Continue readingWerewolf Kitties Steal the Show
Have you ever heard of the “Cosmic Trickster”? A Trickster god is a common archetype in mythologies around the world. The Norse Loki is a prime example. The American Indians had the deity “Coyote.” These entities and their like were never outright evil, but their levels of mischief, or practical jokery, could range from the…Continue readingMystery ‘Roos
Joe Dante’s 1981 werewolf opus THE HOWLING is rightfully recognized today as a true classic, one of the greatest werewolf films, and one of the greatest Horror films, in general, ever made. (Hardcore Horror hounds like me, with a particular love for werewolves, would suggest it’s one of the best movies, PERIOD, regardless of genre.)…Continue readingTHE HOWLING: A Slasher Film?
This article isn’t meant to be a complete overview of the phenomenon of lycanthropy in comics, so don’t let the title fool you. I intend only to talk about a few cases wherein a prominent character has been transformed into a werewolf within the pages of his comic; this overview was prompted by a new…Continue readingWerewolves in Comics
Teenage Wereskunk! Bum-buum! Teenage Wereskunk! (You have to sing it to the tune of The Who’s “Baba O’Riley,” the song that everybody and his kid brother knows as “Teenage Wasteland,” to fully appreciate it.) Somehow or other I’d managed to miss this one. I AM A TEENAGE WERESKUNK is exactly what its title suggests, and…Continue readingTeenage Wereskunk!
You ever heard the old saying “Everybody on the planet is either predator or prey. And if you don’t know which you are, you’re prey,” or some variation on that? It’s generally accurate, but don’t feel bad if you aren’t a predator. Human beings in general ARE predators, but the way the slogan is used,…Continue readingAurochs on the Way Back
Admit it, you’ve always wanted to know how our pre-human ancestors had sex. Wonder no longer; your curiosity is about to be satisfied! They did it like gorillas. How do we know? Footprints, that’s how. No, you perverts, the fossil prints (some 3 ½ million years old) discovered in Tanzania can’t tell us what position…Continue readingOur Ancestors Were Freaks
What is 4-D, anyway? You know what 3-D is. Well, add some sensory input—vibrating seats, rain, fog, and even odors. Then you’ve got 4-D. They have things like that at Disneyworld. I remember, several years ago, watching some mini-movie based on A BUG’S LIFE at Animal Kingdom. You got sprayed with water at one point,…Continue readingIs 4-D the Way of the Future?
This article takes an interesting but fairly highbrow—which is not to say it’s boring, BUT…—look at the functions of human empathy, and how it doesn’t only benefit the other guy; our ability to empathize is also good for us. What part of the brain is responsible for self-control? Previously science told us it was the…Continue readingEmpathy for the Devil
As in, these are the original designs created by writer-director Michael Dougherty for his onscreen KRAMPUS project, not the Germanic, pre-Christian demonic figure incorporated into Christmas symbology as the years passed. While I love the final design they went with for the creature in the movie—Did you know that Krampus’s bearded, slack-jawed face in the…Continue readingOK—Original Krampus
I need to stop saying I’ll *never* do something. I said I’d never embrace ebooks; I loved my old-fashioned paper and canvas books, dammit, and technology could never replicate the magic holding a book in my hands brings. ‘They’ll never succeed,” I said on more than one occasion, “until they can create an ebook reader…Continue readingCreepy Colorful Christmas
I hope I’m preaching to the choir here, but I feel I can’t stress enough the value of classic Horror movies, and in particular those of the black-and-white variety. I’m certainly not alone in my love for and appreciation of that cinematic subgenre. I have a softness in my heart for all old movies, if…Continue readingIn Appreciation of Black and White
I’m talking about the annual Atlas Obscura Greatest Discoveries of the Past Year list. This time around there are 58 of them in total. While I get a couple of compendium emails a week from the folks at Atlas Obscura, and I have not too infrequently reported on something, or, I guess, to be accurate,…Continue readingWerewolf Kittens Made The List!
