One of the big things about horror, whether it be books or film, or the monster. A horror movie or a scary story seems weak when there isn’t some monster to fear. Sometimes we’re faced with something rational like a killer clown or serial killer, other times we’re presented with something paranormal like Dracula or Pazuzu.
With over hundreds upon hundreds of classic horror titles, and with new ideas popping up here and there, we have a huge and growing list of monsters.
But which one is your favorite and why?
Some might mention Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. Others might mention Frankenstein’s monster or even the Wolf Man.
Some might even surprise and mention Jennifer Check, played by the very hot Megan Fox. Others might even mention the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Let us know what horror monster us your favorite. I share mine this Friday on the Deadman’s Tome podcast.
The guys at Scarydad podcast invited me over to chat about Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and hopefully they won’t bill me for all the beer I drank. use this link to catch the episode!
Reflecting on the top articles and stories, and I remembered that there were a few guest editorials. I checked the most viewed posts for 2017 and Philip W. Kleaver’s Freak Out! 5 Horror Films to Watch Under the Influence was high up on the list. With over 40 Facebook shares and about 600 views, Kleaver clearly caught readers’ attention, but what exactly did they learn?
Well, I could regurgitate the article for you, but I wouldn’t do it justice. Besides, you can read it for yourself by following this link.
Horror strips away the layers of comfort and expose characters and the reader to life-threatening scenarios. This requires the author to pull from what he or she fears, and more often than not we as human species share a common thread of fears. We don’t like it when our comfort is removed. We don’t like it when our safety is undermined. We definitely do not like it when our life or the life of a loved one is at stake!
Horror isn’t a genre for lovey-dovey and good feelings. You don’t snuggle with a Stephen King novel for comfort. No, you snuggle up to horror because you want to feel the sense of dread, because you want the re-assurance that your life could be bad, but isn’t. Horror exists for one purpose and that purpose is to exploit our fears! But at what cost? To what degree do we allow horror fiction to shine light on the things we fear?
I do not believe at all that there is a topic too taboo for horror to explore. Whether it be gruesome violence, brutal torture, or even rape, it’s all fair game, as long as it’s merited. The power in horror is being able to exploit our deepest and darkest fears, and relevance to those deepest and darkest fears is essential. Some might argue that some might be motivated to imitate certain taboo topics and therefore it should be banned. But I argue what sense does that make? Death and violence is potent throughout horror, and we enjoy the tension and the suspense without ANY study showing a relation between violent media and rate of violent crime. Friday the 13th has been seen by millions and yet we do not see millions of Jason imitators, not even a good dozen.
Some might say that horror shouldn’t explore certain topics because it may offend people. How do you expect to exploit people’s fears without offending them to some degree? Good horror makes us uncomfortable. Good horror challenges our sensibilities, right?
A day ago, I stumble upon a little B-movie horror called Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. The title instantly grabbed my curiosity. I mean, who wouldn’t be curious to just how bad this slaughter fest could actually be, right? Well, if you have read my review of this cheese fest, then you’ll know that it is actually not as bad, thought extremely awful in it areas that still allow it to be enjoyable for the laughs (lulz for the younger generation). But some might be afraid to venture down this horror alone, and that’s where I come in.
The first part of Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers with Mr. Deadman’s Commentary. Is this within fair use? Expect the nudity, the all to frequent scenes of beautiful breasts, to be censored.
Second part of this hilarious and yet hideous master piece of chainsaw worshiping sexy ladies of the night. You NEED to watch the virgin dance of the double chainsaws to really have lived!
Like what you see? Well, I mean, did you enjoy the commentary? Then become a patron to watch future commentaries and riff tracks! All it takes is ONE DOLLAR!
Deadman’s Tome is a small, but rapidly growing online horror magazine that went from two-thousand views in 2015 to six-thousand views in 2016. The site grows in response to two things: consistent delivery of content and a strong focus on community engagement. Deadman’s Tome offers writers a unique way to earn revenue from their stories. Instead of offering a fixed rate or a rate based on the number of words, I pay based on the number of views, likes, and comments received. As you could expect, writers have reacted favorably by submitting waves of submissions, and the stories are spreading out like AIDS in the 80’s. With a consistent submission pool, Deadman’s Tome is able to publish original, demented, thought-provoking, and often gory horror shorts almost daily!
