New Stephen King, IT 2 Cast Updates, and More!
In this Issue:
- Horror History: Great Lakes
- Tiny Bites – This Week’s Best Horror Headlines
- The A to Z of Subgenres: H is for Home Invasion
- Things We Love: Rick Baker’s Instagram
HORROR HISTORY: GREAT LAKES
By Joshua Lyon
The symbolic start of summer, Memorial Day, is almost here. A time when people pack up coolers and head to the nearest lake so they can be hunted down by machete-fetishists, dissolved by ominous oil slicks, and eaten by giant alligators.
Lakes have always been a go-to staging ground for horror: they’re often isolated, which means help is far away, skinny-dipping is a must, and anything can be lurking in their murky waters. The spot that’s seen the highest body count is, of course, Crystal Lake from the Friday the 13th films (for budgetary purposes, portrayed by a different body of water in every film).
Aside from Jason’s franchise, a few of our other favorite lake horror movies include Lake Placid, the most fun giant alligator movie since, well, Alligator. Then there’s Lake Mungo, a haunting faux-documentary about a drowned girl with an ending that’s chillier than a cold spot. And Phenomena’s lake-set final battle manages to squeeze in flaming water, an insect-ravaged underwater menace, a beachside beheading, and a razor-wielding monkey.
One of the greatest lake horror stories is Creepshow 2’s “The Raft.” This short crams everything we love about ’80s horror tropes into 21 minutes. There’s a desolate locale, pot-smoking college students, and a final girl fake-out. While the monster is laughable at first—essentially a giant floating Hefty bag—once the flesh melting kicks in, there’s gore galore and a satisfying comeuppance for the handsy guy who doesn’t understand the meaning of consent. The mini-movie is well worth a closer watch, and if you’re lake-bound yourself this weekend, keep telling yourself that anything grazing your foot is only a fish.
TINY BITES
NEW STEPHEN KING AND HORROR CARTOONS
You can read Stephen King’s new short story “Laurie” on his website for free. He calls it an “an appetizer to the main course” for his new book “The Outsider.” Intrigued? Watch two trailers for the book or listen to the first 20 minutes (or, you know, just buy the book and read it.)
Here’s a great list of five ‘90s horror cartoons that should be revived. We really want to see an updated kid’s version of The Toxic Avenger.
Learn all about one of our favorite subgenres, Giallo, that spawned classics like Lizard in a Woman’s Skinin the ongoing series “All the Colours of the 1970s.”
Adult members of The Losers’ Club now include Andy Bean as Stanley Uris and The Wire’s James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak. Five down, two to go.
We can’t stop looking at this cache of black & white publicity stills from iconic 1950s horror movies like Attack of the Crab Monsters, The Fly, and our personal obscure favorite, From Hell It Came.
The trailer for Gasper Noé’s new dance horror film Climax heavily suggests there’s something wrong with the sangria.
You can, like, now buy a line of Elvira party decorations for your next Mistress of the Dark party (or for Halloween).
Help put a bronze bust of Mary Shelley in the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, created by the amazing sculptor who made these busts of H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker.
THE A TO Z OF SUBGENRES: H IS FOR HOME INVASION
Where, exactly, are you safest? We know where the answer should be, but visceral subgenre, Home Invasion, preys on just how unexpectedly vulnerable we are in our houses, apartments, weekend cottages, etc. A vehicle for personal grievances, random acts of violence, escaped convicts and “what has the world come to” fear mongering, Home Invasion is for many, one of the toughest and most intense realms of horror. Which is perhaps why it’s so glorious when tables are climactically turned, or the entire subgenre is subverted, and what’s waiting inside is worse than the invaders.
Essentials: Desperate Hours (1955), Wait Until Dark(1967), The Strangers, Funny Games (’97 or ’08), You’re Next (2011)
Personal Favorites: Angst (1983), Inside (aka À l’intérieur) (2007), Kidnapped (2010), Fight For Your Life (1977), Them (Ils) (2006)
THINGS WE LOVE: RICK BAKER’S INSTAGRAM
Rick Baker’s Instagram account proves the monster maker can retire, but the monster kid certainly hasn’t. While the legendary FX artist behind An American Werewolf in London has left the profession, he’s still toiling away on sculptures, paintings, and miniatures, like a Frankenstein set, a 3D print of Chaney’s The Phantom of the Opera—even turning himself into Christopher Lee. It’s a delightful, in-depth chronicle by one of the genre’s greatest contributors whose passion, skill, and movie magic still thrills us.