I previously shared the story of the death of my own dog, Buck. I’ve never felt a greater pain before it or since. There’s such an incredible bond between humans and non-human animals, that seems to transcend the closeness that even two humans can achieve together (at least for me). It’s a powerful bond that …
Horror writers. We are legion. We are everywhere. We are also easily dismissed, misjudged, and often blamed. Sometimes being a horror writer feels like being a scapegoat for the world’s ills. After all, how can any “normal” person think up so many horrific things? And then they write them down and “influence” others with their …
The Gist The human body has to reach a temperature of about 3,000 degrees in order to be reduced to ashes. Spontaneous Human Combustion (or SHC as I shall be referring to it today to reduce finger fatigue) is when a human being catches on fire without a detectable ignition point or fuel source. In …
Before reading this column, I suggest you read part one and part two of it. It will help give the following some perspective. I have theorized that the violence against women found in many horror movies is meant to garner sympathy for the female character. So why is it that it is a male character …
In the last column I started to delve into the often sticky issue of violence against women in horror. If you did not read that, I suggest you do so first. As a horror writer, I can honestly say I am a slave to the story. I do not ever question violence against any character …
As a writer who not only writes horror, but also writes about it, I get asked a lot of questions about the nuances of horror. I am often asked why characters in horror movies do stupid things such as going into the basement, why there has to be so many sequels, and the often polarizing …
In case you’re late to the party concerning all the drama that’s gone down on #HorrorTwitter over the past few days, I’ll try and quickly recap, before digging in deeper. In a nutshell… @RareHorror got called out for sharing art, but not crediting the artists. They pushed back with their reasons why they didn’t want …
I am besotted with the creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky. I find things some would consider weird, wacky, or “way out” to be wonderful and whimsical, which is more in line with how I like to see the world anyway (you’re welcome for all that alliteration). I’m not sure if I can attribute my admiration …
I get the hate for Hereditary. I do. I understand that in a world where horror has been affected by short attention spans and spoon-fed plots, that a film which builds tension and characters and does not necessarily answer all your questions, is going to be attacked. Hereditary is that film. It, like Mandy, divided …
Hello, I’m Ian Kammer, the director and co-writer of the short film Safe and Sound, a genre film in the tone of The Descent, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Halloween, that follows a young woman at the center of a subterranean monster invasion in a suburban Southern California home. Growing up in the …
