31daysofhorror

A collection of 127 posts

31daysofhorror

#31Days: Parasomnia (2025)

Parasomnia is a fascinating exploration of the divide between logic in the waking and sleeping hours of our lives.

Film

Smile Review (Film, 2022) #31DaysOfHorror

Smile is an intense, brutal horror film grappling with serious issues related to mental wellness, healthcare, and trauma response.

Film

Hellraiser (Film, 1987) #31DaysOfHorror

In recognition of the upcoming Hellraiser (2022) release, let’s look back at one of my all-time favorite horror series. Clive Barker has always been way ahead of his time.

Books/Print

#31DaysOfHorror 2022 Schedule

It’s here! Welcome to the return of #31DaysOfHorror for 2022.

Announcements

Happy Birthday to Me (and Other Updates)

> AND SOME SAY, THE FADING ARTISTS STILL LURKS IN THE SHADOWS, READY TO TALK > ANYONE’S EAR OFF WHO BRINGS UP LUCKY MCKEE’S MAY.

Books/Print

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw Review (Novella, 2021) #31DaysOfHorror

Nothing But Blackened Teeth is a haunted house novella by Cassandra Khaw. Cat, a student of Japanese literature, knows exactly what’s going to happen when she arrives at a destination wedding in a clearly haunted mansion in Japan.

Film

Seance Review (Film, 2021) #31DaysOfHorror

Seance is a school horror/ghost story/paranormal slasher hybrid from writer/director Simon Barrett.

Film

Nightbreed, The Director's Cut Review (Film, 1990) #31DaysOfHorror

Nightbreed, The Director’s Cut, is an alternate version of Clive Barker’s horror/fantasy film about a society of monsters living in secret in a city within a cemetery.

Film

Blind Sun Review (Film, 2015) #31DaysOfHorror

Blind Sun is a slow burn horror film about a town succumbing to their worst instincts during a heatwave.

Film

Spookers Review (Film, 2017) #31DaysOfHorror

Spookers is a documentary about the largest haunted attraction in the southern hemisphere, New Zealand’s Spookers.

Film

Southbound Review (Film, 2016) #31DaysOfHorror

Southbound is an interconnected horror/weird fiction anthology all set around abandoned highway in the middle of nowhere.

Film

Phantasm: Ravager Review (Film, 2016) #31DaysofHorror

Phantasm: Ravager is the fifth and final entry in the horror/sci-fi/slasher/action series that started in 1979. The story jumps between two timelines. It starts with Reggie’s quest to find Mike and defeat the Tall Man after the events of Phantasm IV: Oblivion. Then it jumps to one of the saddest tur

Film

Kakurenbo (Hide & Seek) Review (Short Film, 2005) The Archives #31DaysofHorror

“Kakurenbo (Hide & Seek)” is an animated short horror film from Japan. It is 30 minutes of a game of hide and seek with deadly consequences. Once seven children follow the clues in old street signs (O-to-ko-yo), they wind up at the gates of the city of the dead. They must wear fox masks to conceal t

Film

The Shed Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror

Stanley is a 17 year old living under strict parole conditions after being sent to juvenile hall multiple times. He has to live with his grandfather, who is extremely abusive, in a town that despises him because both of his parents are dead and he is poor. One day, he discovers a vampire living in h

Reviews

NOS4A2 Season 1 Review (TV Series, 2020) #31DaysofHorror

NOS4A2 is a fascinating property to explore. The novel by Joe Hill is one of the strangest horror novels I’ve ever encountered. Joe Hill writes brutal weird fiction and this novel is among his strangest. It’s a cross-country and cross-dimension horror story about a monstrous man known as the Charlie

Film

Fear Itself: S1E01 "The Sacrifice" #31DaysofHorror

We’re starting our new recap series at The Avocado today with the unoffical third season of Masters of Horror. Fear Itself aired for one season, and actually, the second half of the show was pushed to the NBC website rather than be aired on TV. Here’s our review of S1E01 “The Sacrifice” from directo

Film

The Strangers Prey At Night Review (Film, 2018) #31DaysofHorror

A family travels to a trailer park owned by their relatives. They’re preparing to settle their teenage daughter into boarding school to help her improve her behavior. Too bad the Strangers are prowling the grounds and they choose to open the door.

Film

Spiral Review (Film, 2020) #31DaysofHorror

Spiral is a concept horror film. The year is 1995. Malik and Aaron, a gay couple, move into a quiet suburban town with their teenage daughter Kayla. Malik is worried about leaving the safety of the city after surviving a vicious homophobic attack in his earlier years. Aaron thinks he’s worried for n

Film

Blanketyy Review (Short Film, 2020) #31DaysofHorror

A team of researchers and coders are working around the clock on a project that could change the course of literary history. Their goal is to teach a computer AI to write fictional stories. The problem is what the computer produces is not sensible. It goes into a tailspin of possibility, turning the

Film

Primal Screen Review (Short Film, 2017) #31DaysofHorror

“Primal Screen” explores this with the uncanny valley and the fear of dolls and puppets. The shared inciting incident for the interview subjects is one of my favorite films, 1978’s Magic. This is the evil ventriloquist dummy film starring Anthony Hopkins and it is terrifying. I never saw the trailer

Film

Phantasm IV: Oblivion Review (Film, 1998) #31DaysofHorror

Phantasm IV: Oblivion is the fourth entry in the long-running Phantasm series. The actual history of production makes the passage of time a significant part of the story with each new entry. The original debuted in 1979. Nine years later, Phantasm II. Six years later, Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead.

Film

Unfriended Review (Film, 2015) The Archives #31DaysofHorror

The plot of Unfriended is simple and effective. Six friends chat in Skype with a mysterious seventh person on the call. That person claims to be the ghost of Laura who wants them to confess to their roles in her death by suicide. One by one, the friends are forced to play various games all connected

Film

The Lighthouse Review (Film, 2019) #31DaysofHorror

The Lighthouse is a psychological horror film about two men tending to a lighthouse in the 1890s. The younger man wants to do everything by the rules. The older man is an experienced keeper who knows and understands the true dangers of the job.

Games

Dead by Daylight: Eternal Blight Event Review (Game, 2020) #31DaysofHorror

Every time I think Behaviour Interactive is actually working to improve Dead by Daylight and move it in a positive direction, I get disappointed. This is especially true for events, which are getting worse as time goes on.

Film

Masters of Horror S2E13: "Dream Cruise" #31DaysofHorror

We’ve finally reached the series finale of Masters of Horror in our review/recap series at The Avocado. Norio Tsuruta’s Dream Cruise is one of the most unique episodes of the second season, which is largely filled with far more adventurous titles than the first season. For one thing, he filmed it as