horror

A collection of 550 posts

Film

Fear Itself: S1E06 "New Year's Day"

The Fear Itself series continues at The Avocado with Darren Lynn Bousman’s New Year’s Day. Do you remember when Bousman was the new “it” director in horror? I do. What a glorious time for incredible theatrical, grotesque, and absurd horror films. He used the success of his participation

Games

Knock-knock, The Fae, and Revisiting Games as Text

The sign of a good game is replay value in some way. Knock-knock has so many ways to read it through suggestion, sound design, and bits and pieces of its own lore.

Film

Don't Listen Review (Film, 2020)

In Don’t Listen (Voces), a family moves into a new home and faces a strange problem. Their son claims he hears voices that tell him to do things. The story occupies an unusual space between haunted house and evil child film and moves in very unexpected ways.

Film

A Short Vision Review (Short Film, 1956) The Archives

A Short Vision is an experimental animated short from 1956 about the destructive power of nuclear weaponry.

Film

Fear Itself: S1E05 "Eater"

We continue our Fear Itself series over at The Avocado with Stuart Gordon’s Eater. This is arguably the best episode of Fear Itself and one of the best episodes in the entire Masters of Horror/Fear Itself series. You can read the full review over at The Avocado [https://the-avocado.org/2020/11/25/fe

Games

Dead by Daylight No Bloodlust Test Weekend

From Friday, 20 November until today, 22 November, Behaviour Interactive turned off the Bloodlust mechanic in Dead by Daylight. DBD is an asymmetrical 4v1 survival horror game where a team of four survivors try to finish five generators and escape the trial before a monstrous killer sacrifices them

Film

Spookier Times Episode 5: Into the Fog with Dead by Daylight and Other Post-Modern Genre-Mash Horror

The new episode of Spookier Times is all about Dead by Daylight’s lore. Fun fact: Spookier Times was almost a podcast about video game lore specifically because of DBD.

Film

Invisible Agent Review (Film, 1942) The Archives

You know that amazing storyline in Inglourious Basterds where Diane Kruger plays a German film star secretly spying for the British troops? All the twists and turns as she comes up with whatever lies to save her life after Plan A fails miserably? The Invisible Agent is basically that storyline as it

Film

The Binding Review (Film, 2020)

A woman and her daughter visit her fiance’s mother in the countryside. The daughter wanders off, as children do, and winds up being hit with a curse from exploring the wrong part of the estate. Now the family is fighting against the forces of evil and the impenetrable secret rites of the locals to s

Film

Fear Itself: S1E04 "In Sickness and In Health"

The Fear Itself review series continues at The Avocado with In Sickness and In Health. This is the episode I dreaded writing about the most because of the director/writer combination. Just know that the screenwriter on this episode made this long after committing his crimes against a child that land

Film

Fear(s) of the Dark Review (Film, 2008) The Archives

Fear(s) of the Dark is a French animated anthology horror film from 2007. Six graphic designers/illustrators were invited to participate. The challenge was to represent their fears in short horror films. They more than delivered.

Film

Fear Itself: S1E03 "Family Man"

I wish I could easily send you off to watch Fear Itself’s third episode “Family Man.” Sadly, the only distributor for it in the US other than the DVD set uploaded episode five “Eater” twice instead of “Family Man.” Ronny Yu’s entry is one of the genuinely scary shorts in the series, playing on a mix

Film

Cadaver (Kadaver) Review (Film, 2020)  

It is the end of the world after a nuclear disaster. The survivors are struggling, digging through abandoned buildings for what little supplies remain. Leo, Jacob, and their daughter Alice are invited to attend a play at a luxury hotel that includes a free meal. It is pure spectacle, a bright spot i

Games

Dead by Daylight 4.3.0 Mid-Chapter Patch Review (Video Game, 2020)

Dead by Daylight released their newest mid-chapter update right before the Halloween event. Now that the game has calmed down and the endless ebony moris have been put away, I can give you a clearer look at how the game has changed for better or worse.

Film

Inner Demons Review (Film, 2014) The Archives

Inner Demons is a possession/exorcism film and a satire of docudrama reality series. Carson Morris is a teenager addicted to any injectable drug she can find. It is revealed that Carson was a perfect little Christian, even a national champion in Bible verse competitions, until she attended Catholic

Film

Fear Itself: S1E02 "Spooked"

The new article is up at The Avocado. Our subject is Brad Anderson’s “Spooked,” a beautifully styled paranormal thriller about a corrupt police detective being haunted by a suspect he killed. Shame the story doesn’t hold up to Anderson’s particularly over the top brand of psychological horror. You c

Games

Doki Doki Literature Club and the Ethics of Horror

In 2007, the indie horror game Doki Doki Literature Club! was released to itchi.io. This free visual novel very quickly became popular, especially in livestream and video playthroughs, due to its chaotic style of horror. What starts as a sweet and innocent anime-styled dating sim set around a high s

Announcements

Announcing Tick: A Short Musical

Introducing Tick: A Short Musical. This is an original short horror musical inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart.” It’s actually part of a longer anthology horror musical called The Sublime Method that I am trying to make available as soon as I can.

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