Highway 299 high up in the Trinity Alps. Nighttime. Nobody on the road. On the side of a mountain looking down into a valley as my girlfriend puked her guts up on the road’s shoulder. All those years of studying Leatherface and his clan led to this moment. All those years of wondering why the …
It’s been a decade now since I first started Halloween Love. In all that time, the project never went Big Time™ (though I always try and offer people big time fun) or made a single penny of profit. Thankfully, passion was always the primary goal, and the idea of profit barely an afterthought, otherwise I …
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 …
