Jay McRoy on Nightmare Japan: Contemporary Japanese Horror Cinema
As a student of intercultural studies I have found the discipline very helpful in my appreciation and analysis of the fantastic. Of course, this is particularly the case when considering the fantastic and horrific produced by other countries. One of the expressions of horror films that intrigues me is that coming out of Japan. In […]
The Unborn: Promising Horror for January 2009
My friends and neighbors who know of my interest in horror and other aspects of the fantastic assume that I enjoy every film connected with the genre. Many times I am asked if I have seen the television ads for a new film and whether I am going, and my answer is often that I […]
Top Horror Films Controversy: Definitions, Biases, and Criteria
Ask a group of people what the “best of” may be in any given category and you’re likely to get a diversity of answers. Along with that may come a good deal of disagreement, and possibly controversy, especially if the answers are shared in a public forum. This is exactly the scenario that has taken place in […]
Body Worlds: Art as Horrific Expression
Body Worlds is presently on display in Salt Lake City here in the state where I live. In case you haven’t heard of this before, Body Worlds is described as part art, part science, the brainchild of Gunther von Hagens. It involves the use of actual cadavers whose tissues have been injected with plastic in […]
New Book Explores How Horror Films Use Religion to Stir Fear
One of the reasons why I created TheoFantastique was to explore some of the deeper sociological, cultural, and even religious aspects of horror, sci fi and fantasy. Thankfully I am not alone in this interest, as evidenced by one of my fellow explorers, my friend Douglas Cowan, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Social Development […]
Despite a Distinguished Pedigree and Helpful Function, Monsters Receive Little Respect
You might recall comedian Rodney Dangerfield’s old schtick about getting no respect. Our monstrous literary and cinematic creations might sympathize, as well as those who find them of interest beyond escapist pop culture entertainment. Last week I was looking at the intriguing academic research and writing of Michael Collings of Pepperdine University who has written […]
John Muir Interview: 1980s Horror Films, and Tobe Hooper
One of the privileges I have had in operating this website is to meet and dialogue witha lot of creative and reflective people. One of these people is John Muir, a writer and journalist who is the author of twenty-two reference books covering science fiction and horror on film and television through McFarland Publishing (www.mcfarlandpub.com), […]
Virginia Wexman on Polanski’s Horror and Rosemary’s Baby
One of the very first books that I purchased wich explores horror films from an academic perspective was Gregary A. Waller, ed., American Horrors: Essays on the American Horror Film (Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987). The volume includes a number of intriguing essays, including one by Virginia Wright Wexman titled “The Trauma […]
“The problem with horror movies is…”: Reflections on our cultural context
The League of Tana Tea Drinks (LOTT D) elite group of blogging horrorheads is putting together another unity blog, and one of the topics for discussion involved an invitation to complete the following sentence: “The problem with today’s horror movies is…” Contributors were given the opportunity to finish this sentence in keeping with its negative connotation, or take another […]
Bartholomew of the Scissors: New BlueWater Comics Release
One of my fellow LOTT D members, Chad Helder of Unspeakable Horror!, is involved in a new comic project through BlueWater Comics titled Bartholomew of the Scissors. I have had the privilege to preview this comic and the look is amazing. Below Chad shares some of his thoughts on the comic as writer, and Daniel […]
