Like any kind of writing, literary criticism must strive to find the most precise words to communicate what it wants readers to see as it deconstructs a narrative. That’s why vague words like “special” and “unique” are frowned upon; they fail to be specific. That said, both of them apply perfectly to Richard Chizmar’s Chasing…
Lynette belongs to an exclusive club. To join, it’s pretty straightforward: everyone around you just has to die. You have to outlast the psychotic maniac. Survive your grievous wounds. And then you have to do it again. She’s what society calls a Final Girl. You’re watching a horror movie and the silent killer knocks off…
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 FIVE HOURS LATER Eleanor The light in the small room is cold, the stark, white glare of an eco-friendly bulb. I’m sure it’s meant to be reassuringly normal, just like the anonymous chair I’m sitting on, and the smooth, light-wood table in front of me. When I look at my hands I…
Prologue “Will it hurt?” Patty Cakes paused, the tattoo needle in her hand, looking at the man who lay facedown on the table. He was as white and hairless as a worm. She could have lied to him, but she never did that. “Yes,” she said. The man took a long time before he…
Many of my favorite novels are not easily classified and often fall under that nebulous term “Literary Fiction.” But I value my origins. As a teenager, I learned to love reading through the Horror genre, and I knew just where to go in the stacks to find Stephen King and Anne Rice. When I later…
Cassandra Taylor, like many middle-aged women, has plenty of practice putting her own dreams and career on the backburner in order to focus on her family. She has a lovely home in Hillston, New Jersey. Three wonderful daughters. And fills her free hours with a part-time docent position at a museum. It’s not the life…
The Loop is a heart-racing thriller where a small town nestled in the hills of central Oregon becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence when the teenaged children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Cinematic comparisons are inevitable with a horror novel of the breadth and scope…
Many of us film watchers rely on critical reviews of movies to help us decide whether a particular title is worth our time, whether it’s a new release we’re thinking of seeing in a theater or an old one we’re considering checking out through various means. But what to do when a certain movie has…
Film is a medium of two senses: sight and sound. We can’t touch the people or objects depicted, we can’t smell or taste them. But horror? Horror involves all the senses.
Ever read a book and think, “Wow, I wish there was a movie of this”?
