(Brain) Food for Worms: Halloween at Criminal Element

Everyone likes a nice pumpkin Poe.

Don’t look now, but Halloween is just around the corner, and with it comes the one time each year where our morbid obsession with all things scary is celebrated! If you’re looking to get that heart rate thumping, look no further; here are the links that will send even the biggest adrenaline junkie running for his mummy.

Are you simply looking for some reading recommendations? We’ve got you covered. Head over here for a list of books guaranteed to be chock full of thrills, chills, and kills! If you’re one of those people who have a hard time deciding on which book to read, we’ve got a convenient flow chart that will make choosing your next scare easier than fighting Dracula at daybreak.

Michael Nethercott wants to take this opportunity to scare with you a gothic whatdunit from Henry JamesThe Turn of the Screw. Roger Clarke has been studying ghosts since his days at Eton College, where there just happens to be an inn that played host to both one of England’s best ghost story writers, M.R. James, as well as a famous ghost sighting from the 17th Century! Comment on Clarke’s post for a chance to win a copy of his updated book Ghosts: A Natural History! And if that’s not enough ghosts for you, check out the true story of the haunted house where Peter James lived.

When it comes to screaming at the top of your voice, is television your medium of choice? If so, you’re in luck. Join Jake Hinkson for his Twin Peaks rewatch as he visits David Lynch’s eerie small town with big secrets. Oh, and did you hear? Twin Peaks will be returning in 2015! (We’re not trying to take credit or anything…) If monsters are more your thing, you’ll want to check out our Hemlock Grove coverage, where Meghan Schuler not only provided a primer to catch you up, but also complete Season 2 episodic recaps, all from one brutal weekend of binge! Monsters and Meghan seem to go well together, as she is currently covering American Horror Story: Freak Show too! If you like monsters, chances are you’ve seen Grimm. But you may have missed The Mythology of Grimm, a book dedicated to breaking down the fairy tale and folklore roots of the show!

Guillermo del Toro is a master of the horror genre, whether it be on television or at the movies. Luckily, we have a resident del Toro expert on call—Angie Barry! Angie put del Toro’s films under the knife as she vivisected his entire filmography. Then it was onto TV and The Strain, where Angie not only covered each episode of Season 1, but also interviewed two regular cast members: Sean Astin and Kevin Durand. Angie's love for the paranormal transcends del Toro, which explains her attendance at the 13th Annual Mothman Festival in West Virginia!

Movies can be bloodcurdling too, for both good and bad reasons. Sometimes, writes Michael Nethercott, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and everything comes out the perfect level of campy-creepy. And sometimes, as Brian Greene notes, the perfect mix of Gothicism, eroticism, and vampirism come together into something great, like in Daughters of Darkness. But every once in a while, a clunker comes along, bringing out the terrible, awful, and very worst of movies. May we present our awesomely bad Crimes Against Film series.

Now of course, to assume everyone is as infatuated with morbidity would be witchful thinking. Halloween can be fun too, as proven by Dixie Lyle’s To Die Fur and Leigh Perry’s The Skeleton Takes a Bow. You can head on over to all of our cozy coverage, if you’d like. But be careful where you click…you never know where you’ll find yourself at Criminal Element.

Comments

  1. Terrie Farley Moran

    Great list! I’d forgotten we have many of these articles here. Off I go to click on links. Thank you.

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