Kiss Me At Midnight....

Merry Christmas To All...

...and to all a good (and gruesome) night!

Oh, how I do love themed-horror movies, particularly when it is Christmastime.

My last post gave you numbers 10-6 of my list of favorite Christmas horror movies. Here are the top five:

5. Thomas Kinkade's Christmas Cottage



Thomas Kinkade, the painter of light! Oh, the horror, the horror! Oh, that red scarf that Jared Padalecki wears around his neck! I must cover my eyes! ( Don't worry, Jared Padalecki, we will still watch you on Supernatural; just don't submit us to this again).

Ok, this isn't really horror, but I had to include it. A random killer hacking his way through this movie might be an improvement.
4. Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974)


Because where else would you be on Christmas Eve other than a mansion turned mental asylum?

3. Christmas Evil



This film is really a cautionary tale for all would-be parents who are thinking of lying to their children about Santa. I mean, really, who thought telling children that Santa is real was a good idea? Who thought the little ones wouldn't be scarred when they realized it was just Dad dressed up in a fake beard and red suit?

2. P2 



I almost didn't include this movie, but I did find it creepy. It was suspenseful at moments, and just a good, overall film, especially when you consider it is really just a cast of two actors in one location (a parking garage). The Christmas Eve setting is almost secondary, but it is necessary to the plot. After all, how else could you explain an empty office building? Plus, the dinner scene between the kidnapper and his captive woman is just eerie. The Christmas decorations, the food, the music all just added to the atmosphere. Overall, an enjoyable movie.

1. Elves [VHS] (1989)



I have to admit I've never seen this movie; I've never even heard of this movie. But it looks AWESOME! A Nazi experiment gone wrong! Murderous elves! Grizzly Adams! What more could you ask for in a Christmas horror film?

And so concludes my list of holiday horror. There were many, many more I could've included, but that would have messed up my nice and tidy list of ten (plus, I need to leave a few for next year).

Seriously, though, I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I did. And I hope you are enjoying your holiday season.

Luke 2:14: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

It's Christmas Eve and You Know What That Means...

lTHE CHRISTMAS HORROR MOVIE LIST!!!

Or at least Part I, anyway.

So, dust off your Santa hat, hang your stockings (by the chimney with care, of course), and snuggle in with some hot cocoa...

I've already given you a little sneak peak of the first three in previous entries:

10. Gremlins

9. Jack Frost

8. Black Christmas (1974)

NOTE: I know they remade Black Christmas a few years ago, but as much as I love Buffy's Michelle Trachtenberg, I still like to watch the original. I mean, it is absolutely classic 1970's horror. The villain gets absolutely no back story. The plot consists of only a madman killing young women at Christmas. Throw in a little of that day-glo red blood and some well-placed moans and groans (mostly from the killer) and you've got a fun, popcorn horror flick that is bad in the very best way possible.

7. Don't Open 'Til Christmas (1984)


 
Teehee...this movie trailer makes me giggle. Doesn't it just look like such a Grindhouse movie that it almost doesn't even look real?
It's almost as if it is a parody of itself, but it isn't! I cannot even tell you what I love  most. Maybe it's the premise: a serial killer who only kills Santas. Hmmmm....have we found a precursor to our favorite specialized serial killer, Dexter? Or maybe it's the random, glittery Disco music in the middle of all the mayhem. I don't know, but I like it.

6. Silent Night, Deadly Night



Here's another goodie courtesy of the 1980's. This one is from 1984 too...that Christmas must have been horrific. I love the title, a lovely take on a classic carol. And those animatronic elves are enough to give anyone nightmares. The trailer itself isn't the best, but I absolutely love the film's taglines. Here are a few from IMDB:
You've made it through Halloween, now try and survive Christmas

---

Santa's Here!

---

He knows when you've been naughty

---

Shocking... disturbing... The movie they tried to ban.

---

If "A Nightmare on Elm Street" gave you sleepless nights, or if "Halloween" made you jump in every shadow or if every "Friday the 13th" was more frightening that the others... THEN BEWARE!

That's right...beware the holiday-themed horror movie!!


These should be enough to get you through the night. Check back tomorrow for the continuation of the list! Oh, and watch out for fat men trying to sneak into your house tonight. Santa is not always so jolly...

See you tomorrow!

Can Corey Feldman Save Christmas?

Never let them eat after midnight!

Heehee... I had to include this in my favorite films of the Christmas season. I don't know if it is truly "horror," but it scared the living daylights out of me as a child. It really does not get much better than this. Gizmo, Pheobe Cates, Corey Feldman...need I say more?

Not only is the movie set during Christmas, it also serves as a cautionary tale for all would be Santas out there.

Don't remember what I'm talking about? Allow me to refresh your memory...



A few things a love about that scene:

1) Pretty sure that's an urban legend I've heard before

2) Gizmo shows more emotion than the boyfriend

3) The "subtlety" of the word Christmas shown in shadow along the back wall

Hope y'all are getting ready for Christmas...only a few more days for my full list of Christmas horror flicks. Coming Christmas Eve...

Another One to Put in Your Stocking...

Remember Shannon Elizabeth from American Pie? This was one of her early films.

And let me tell you...it is brilliant.

Ok, so the makers of this film do bill it as a horror/comedy. I guess I can give them some credit for not taking this movie so seriously, but...come on, really? A snowman? I get that dolls can be creepy. I definitely understand the ick factor of the clown. But a snowman?

I guess I just never understood the terror of something that could be defeated by a sunny day.

Oh, well. This is still enjoyable as an incredibly bad holiday horror movie.

What's even funnier is that it looks like they used the same snowman from that Michael Keaton movie of the same name. You know, the one where the father dies and he comes back as a snowman to help his family? I ask you...why wasn't that a horror movie plot?

But I'm getting off topic. Back to this Jack Frost.

If you want more, I dare you to go to YouTube and look up the bathtub scene from this movie. It does for bubble baths what The Evil Dead did for trees.

Enjoy!!

Oh, and a full list of Christmas-themed horror flicks to come...

Black Christmas (1974) Full Trailer

Well, kiddos, it's that time of year again.

Bright lights, shiny tinsel on the tree...or is that just the glint from the knife in the serial killer's hand? It is so hard to tell.

Keeping with what is quickly becoming a tradition, I am compiling a list of appropriately holiday-themed horror movies. This one is a personal favorite. I know they remade it a few years ago, but I still prefer the original 1974 version. In fact, I have been known to show Black Christmas and White Christmas back-to-back. I call it, wait for it, wait for it...

Gray Christmas!

Ok, maybe that title needs some work.

Speaking of work, I need to get back to mine. Enjoy this little taste of the blog entry that will come next week...the horror films of Christmas.

Season's Greetings...and watch out for those strange men looking to get into your house via the chimney. You never know which one has the gifts to fill your stocking and which one has the gore-streaked knife waiting to get you while you sleep. [Insert evil laugh here.]

Happy Holidays!

Is Technology Killing the Horror Movie?

I have this theory (ok...not really mine...many, many people share this opinion) that for horror to be truly scary it needs a few key elements. The first and foremost is a feeling of claustrophobia--that is, the feeling that escape is not possible.

I've written about this before, but this though really struck me as I was revisiting a classic Stephen King tale, Cujo (25th Anniversary Edition). I haven't read the book or seen the movie in ages, so when AMC recently aired the film version, I sat down and watched. The story, while flawed, is still a pretty scary one, in my opinion. What really gets me, though, is the simplicity of the plot. It's only a mother and her son in a broken down car in the middle of nowhere. Add in a rabid dog (a St. Bernard, no less) stalking just outside, and the story becomes truly terrifying. It doesn't get much more claustrophobic. The pair cannot even leave their car for long, for fear of the dog; just trying to use the restroom takes equal parts careful planning and just dumb luck. The image of the mother, lying bleeding and nearly lifeless following the dog attack, and her son, screaming and half-naked in the back seat, is one that haunts my nightmares.

Then, something else occurred to me. This story could not happen today. The mother would have had a cellphone. The son probably would have had a cellphone. They could have called for help--the local police, an ambulance service, animal control, and probably a pizza delivery while they waited. Heck, the mother could have even used her smart phone to learn how to treat a dog bite and recognize the symptoms of a rabid dog. This same story set in 2003 or 2013--not 1983--would have been a short, boring tale.

Technology, it seems, is connecting the world, making us closer to everything and everyone, and destroying the horror genre as a result.

Sure, there have been brave writers and directors who have attempted to infuse their stories with modern technology, but none of them have really struck me as outstanding. Films like Shutter, Fear Dot Com, Pulse (Unrated Widescreen Edition), and One Missed Callcome to mind.

Instead, more writers are having to get creative with their settings, choosing to set their plots in places away from the reach of the wireless signal. For example, the underground cave, as in The Descent (Original Unrated Cut) [Widescreen Edition], or outer space, or even a post-apocalyptic world where technology has been rendered useless (The Walking Dead, Book 1 (Bk. 1) does this well) are all settings that the horror genre is now embracing.

When my father and I went to the movies to see the Let Me In (the recent remake of the 2009 Swedish film Let The Right One In), he only had one question as we left the theater. He couldn't understand why the film was set in the early 1980's.

Easy, I thought. No cellphones. No computers in the home. Complete isolation. If the kid had had a smart phone and a complete gaming system (with internet connection) at home, would he ever had met the little vampire girl? My thoughts...probably not.

Because Only a Day Spent with Family Could Inspire Such Violence...

Okay, maybe that's a little overly dramatic. The truth is I really enjoy Thanksgiving. I like the whole "Norman Rockwell" feel to the day. I like the dinner with the entire family around the big table. I like the crisp Autumn air (although as I type this, it is a muggy 76° outside, but a girl can dream), and most of all, I love the food. Fried turkey (yes, I said fried...deep fried Cajun-style, actually), cornbread dressing, broccoli salad, pumpkin pie...wow, I'm making myself hungry now. 

I also love the traditions of the horror movies that this holiday season inspires. Yes, there are Thanksgiving horror movies. 

Everyone knows about Eli Roth's fake trailer in the film Grindhouse Presents, Death Proof - Extended and Unrated (Two-Disc Special Edition) (which I heard was to be made into a real movie...but who knows). Brilliant. 

WARNING: The videos below include nudity, violence, and foul language. Cover the kiddo's eyes, please!

Though not as numerous as the other holiday horror movies (Christmas for some odd reason really brings out the murderous maniacs in horror films), there are a few real horror movies.

I give you ThanksKilling (2009)!



It is so awesomely bad that this year a second one was released. The tag line? He always comes back for seconds!

Need more? Why not try Thanxgiving (2006)?



Still hungry? Feeling nostalgic for the gritty feel of the 1970's horror film? BLOOD FREAK ~ TERA ANDERSON, DANA CULLIVAN, BOB CURRIER, AND DOLORES CURRIER 1972 is for you!



I really don't have anything to say about that one...except WOW. Okay, moving on.

Here's a few more:
Home Sweet Home (1981)

Children of the Corn (1984) Not really Thanksgiving, but corn can be just as creepy as turkey...

Icons of Horror Collection - Sam Katzman (The Giant Claw / Creature with the Atom Brain / Zombies of Mora Tau / The Werewolf) (1957) The monster in The Giant Claw will make you think twice about turkey.

BIRDEMIC - Shock and Terror (2008) Turkey-like vultures attack!

And finally a piece of pumpkin pie for dessert: The Pumpkin Karver (2006)

Enjoy your Thanksgiving! Remember what you're truly thankful for...and have fun!!

The Problem of "Us"

Is anyone else excited about The Walking Dead tonight?

I, for one, cannot wait. The pilot episode did not disappoint, and while the second episode brought up many questions, at least for me, as to whether or not the series could maintain its original promise, last week's episode "Tell It To the Frogs" dispelled any doubts I may have had. Quite honestly, I thought it was brilliant.

One of the reasons I love horror in general is how the genre lends itself to the epic struggle of good versus evil. For example, vampires are usually bad. We know very clearly who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. Zombies tend to fit this pattern. After all, everyone knows the object of the zombie movie is to kill the zombies, no questions asked. It is this paradigm that allows for such entertainment that a movie like Zombieland (2009) can produce. We love to watch our hero bash in some zombie brains.

The Walking Dead follows this model well. One of the characters even comments that it is "us versus the dead." The problem, though, in Darabont's world is not the dead--it is the "us." Flannery O'Connor in her short story "A Good Man is Hard to Find" writes, using the voice of the Misfit, "She would have been a good woman [...] if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life," drawing upon the idea that in the face of death our humanity really shows through. The knowledge of our own mortality highlights the goodness in us, the true evil in us, and all those messy gray areas in between.

In The Walking Dead, as in life, the true horror is what we as humans are capable of doing to one another.

The third episode opens (and I promise if you're worried about spoilers, this is the only detail I give away) with Merle Dixon on the roof alone, handcuffed to a pipe after a recent scuffle. The image is a truly horrific one as we watch a man face his imminent death. Interestingly, similar to what the Misfit observes in the O'Connor story, Merle reaches out to Jesus, begging for help in between frantic and often angry outcries. The terror of the man's situation intensifies as the audience wrestles with the fact that another man put him in this situation, leaving him there to die. The chain and lock on the door only exemplify this problem: is it an act of kindness to keep the zombies out (a gruesome, painful, but quick death), or is it worse to let him slowly die of thirst and exposure? The characters themselves, like the audience, are not sure how to answer this question.

Maybe this is what I like about the show so far. It resists moralizing and preaching. The characters are not sure how to answer these tough questions. They struggle with defining morality just as we do. The past three episodes have already tackled difficult issues like race and gender, and the series has done so successfully thus far. Interestingly, religion has not been directly addressed, but it has been alluded to. The survivors have pondered over the ethics of their actions (looting the department store in Atlanta, for instance). In another subtle example, the van in the background of the survivor's campsite is a church van (Holy Cross Lutheran Church). Darabont has created a South that is, to borrow another of Flannery O'Connor's terms, "Christ-haunted." I have a feeling that this will be something the survivors will have to address at some point in the series. Are ideas like religion and faith still applicable in this post-apocalyptic world? What does it mean for ideas like heaven and hell if the dead are roaming the earth looking for their next meal? If ethics and morality are still important, then who determines right and wrong? And what happens when two people's ideas of right conflict?

I don't know how these questions will be answered, but I know I can't wait to tune in and see.

One Writer's Journey

I have had moderate success in my writing since I began pursuing it as a career just over a year ago. I've always liked writing, and books are a true obsession for me. I graduated with my Ph.D. in English Literature in 2009 and have been looking for work since then. When (like many of my colleagues) I could only get part-time adjunct work, I decided to use my free time at home to really work on my fiction. Since then, I've gotten numerous flash pieces published (thanks, MicroHorror! http://microhorror.com/microhorror); I've also had great encouragement from publishers. Like many writers know, the rejection letter is inevitable. What I didn't know is that it can also be cruel and kind in various degrees. At first, I was only receiving the typical "Thanks, but no thanks" letters. These were short, sweet, form letters that usually arrived quickly. Then, I began to notice the letters getting longer and more flattering. I continued to work on my prose, polishing my fiction, and sent those stories out again and again--making sure to wear my armor for all those rejections I knew were coming.


One day, the letter was a personal one. The editor personally complimented my work! It was another rejection, but I did get a request to send more stories. I have found that these kinds of rejections are becoming more and more common, and I'm taking that as good news. It's a sign that my work is being enjoyed; I just have to find the right market.


I think every writer needs a little encouragement now and then. This is not the easiest of professions, especially with all of the denials. I have found a few tips that have worked in building my confidence as a writer, and I hope these will help you as well:


1. Don't stop writing! Keep those fingers constantly on a pen or a keyboard. I hear too many people saying they want to be writers and they are doing little to no actual writing.
2. Don't stop reading. Read anything and everything (and not just writers like yourself--read lots of genres). How else will you learn what good writing is? How will you know what bad writing is?
3. Know your craft. I have found several books on writing helpful. Stephen King's On Writing has been immensely helpful; he gives clear and practical advice.

Also, every writer needs a good grammar handbook. I have several, including Strunk and White's handbook, which King recommends.















Once you do have writing you are ready to send out into the world, The Writer's Market will be invaluable in telling you where to send your material, as well as useful tips on how to write a cover letter.













If it sounds like a lot of work, it is! At times, it can be difficult to continue writing, especially when you have little or no paycheck for what amounts to a full time job, but we don't do it for the money, or the fame, or the bragging rights. If you're anything like me, you do it for the sheer love of it. I cannot imagine doing anything else, which brings me to my last point.

4. Have fun!

A friend of mine (another writer) recommended the "I Write Like" website (http://iwl.me/). It allows you to submit portions of your work and the "analyzer" tells you who you write like. This is mine:

http://iwl.me/s/b3a26720

Too much fun! Another internet addiction in the making...

Cheers to all of you, and happy writing!

The Guild - Halloween Special

I don't know if it's just me, but it seems like Christmas comes earlier every year. October barely ended before signs of Yuletide were popping up everywhere. Stores were taking down their black and orange Halloween decorations only to put up red tinsel and giant smiling snowmen (those ever-smiling snowmen somehow seem creepier to me than any zombie or vampire, but that's another subject entirely).

It feels premature. What happened to November? Thanksgiving? Since when did December 25 come directly after October 31. Not that I'm that attached to Thanksgiving. Aside from the food (my father makes a mean deep-fried Cajun turkey and my mother's stuffing is legendary), I could really care less about Thanksgiving. It always felt like a second-rate holiday anyway--just a reason to get off school/work. The thing that truly disturbs me is that Christmas might actually further encroach on the autumn season and endanger my favorite holiday: Halloween.

Maybe this is my one-woman stand against the marching army of Christmas, maybe it's my uncanny knack for wasting time on the internet, but I happened upon this video. I was late to The Guild--a friend recommended the show a few weeks ago. She warned me that it was addictive. I laughed off her warning. I could handle it, I assured her.

I was wrong.

In the course of just a few weeks, I have become the queen of procrastination. Why would I want to write when I could watch The Guild? After all, each episode is only a few minutes long (of course, like any delicious temptation, you can't have just one). I have now caught up with all four seasons, and in my yearning for more, I found this Halloween special.

So, here's to letting Halloween last just a little longer and keeping the Christmas music on mute for just a few more weeks. And here's to me getting back to my writing...

Frank Darabont’s The Walking Dead

The much anticipated television series The Walking Dead premiered on AMC last night. I know I was like a little kid at Christmas, practically giddy as I waited for the show to start. And it did not disappoint. While the pilot had its weaknesses (some overacting, a bad Southern accent or two, a few trite plot devices), I must say I am hooked. The special effects are absolutely amazing. Quite frankly, I found myself shocked more than once. I don’t know when I last saw zombies that looked that good (or that bad, as the case may be). The makeup effects were better than most big-budget movies. And bloodier.  Much bloodier. There were more than a few times that, squealing through fingers half covering my eyes, I exclaimed, “They can’t show that on television!”

Well, they can and they did. And I for one am ecstatic.

I will be tuning in again—and not just for the gore, though that will be a guarantee for future episodes, I am sure.

What really struck me was the humanity that the show itself has been built upon. The show appears to be written as more of a character study than pure survival zombie apocalypse story. At times, this seemed forced: the mother zombie causing her still-living son to burst into sobs. At other times, the humanity was gut-wrenching. One particularly difficult scene to watch was when Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) sees a zombie woman crawling on the ground and decides to kill her out of mercy. The woman was in an advanced state of decay (missing a good part of her face, her legs reduced to fleshless bone), and it was the visual that first stopped me. I found the image profoundly disturbing. Zombies from recent films have seemed much more cartoonish—fast moving, strong—certainly not like this woman, who reflected the true horror of death. It is this, the idea of death, that makes zombies a lasting trope in movies and literature. As a culture, we are both fascinated and disturbed by the idea of death—dying, what happens after death, the possibility of everlasting life.

Perhaps my viewing of the show last night was colored a bit by a recent suicide in my community. The death shocked everyone, leaving more questions than answers. I don’t always have the right thing to say, and certainly not in this situation, but I do know a few things that I feel compelled to share, particularly in light of the rash of suicides that I hear about every time I turn on the news: We are not alone in this world. God made us to love each other and to take care of each other. More than that, God is a loving God, who is in control, even when it seems like the world itself is spinning out of control.

Hebrews 13: 5-6: Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

1 Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

The Green-Eyed Monster

The most wonderful time of the year is almost here: Halloween! Carved pumpkins are being put out on every door step. Television channels are showing horror movies in all day marathons. Zombies are invading AMC, vampires are walking the streets (or at least kids everywhere are letting their Goth flags fly high), and bloggers from across the globe are suddenly espousing the love of horror movie greats, like Robert Englund, Bruce Campbell, and Lon Chaney, Jr.

If only every month of the year could be October!

As a self-proclaimed addict of all things horror and Halloween, I am like a kid in a candy store right now…which brings me to today’s topic: candy. When this time of the year comes around, so does all the wonderful Halloween candy. Normally, I don’t have a big sweet tooth, but there’s just something about Halloween that makes me crave it. Maybe it’s all the bags of the good stuff that the stores put out around September. Who could resist giant size bags of Reese’s? Or M&M’s in orange and black colors? I love it all.

With one exception: green candy.

I don’t care if it is lemon-lime flavored Skittles or just green-colored peanut M&M’s; I just cannot bring myself to eat any of it. There is something in my brain that won’t let me. Sounds crazy, I know, but it’s true. I won’t eat the green stuff. It’s the color itself I can’t get past. I don’t trust green.

And I have horror movies to blame.

Let me explain. After a lifetime of watching horror movies, I have found that if something is green, it usually is BAD.

Case in point: Re-Animator. Stuart Gordon’s 1985 movie is proof that the color green is evil. Don’t believe me? Watch the trailer below and pay particular attention to the liquid that is injected into the cat. Yep, you guessed it...green.

This particular color of neon, lime green is stock standard for the horror/sci-fi genre. Anything radioactive is this particular shade of chartreuse. Think Toxic Avenger.

 Need more proof? What color does the Hulk turn when he is crazy, angry Hulk? Bright green. The color of the stuff vomited during The Exorcist? Green. And let's not forget the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West. Almost every kid that has dressed up as an evil witch has painted his or her face green thanks to that movie.

It’s enough to put anyone off the color.

So, this Halloween, have fun. Dress up as your favorite character. Carve a pumpkin. Trick or Treat.

Just watch out for the green stuff.

Devil (2010)

SPOILERS!!

First of all, I have to express my extreme fangirl joy (squeal) at all the good horror movies that have been released in the past year or two. While many people have lamented Hollywood’s latest penchant for recreating and recycling old movie plots in the forms of remakes and sequels/prequels (though I must insert here that not all remakes are inherently bad—last year’s My Bloody Valentine 3D was a lot of fun to see in the theater), the horror movie has seemed to be a breath of fresh air in stale movie scripts and familiar direction. Paranormal Activity was a good, scary movie that reminded readers that not a lot is needed for something to be frightening. All most people really need is something to go bump in the night and we will wet our pants. (I am the perfect example of this. Last night, I dropped something under the bed and I hesitated for just a moment before reaching my hand under the bed into the dark space. Why? I don’t know. I guess somewhere deep inside my inner five year old still believes there might be a monster under there just waiting to grab me by the hand and pull me under.)

M. Night Shyamalan’s latest story Devil preys upon these exact fears. The movie follows all the classic rules of a good scary tale. 

·         Number One: Less is always more. So many films have been ruined by showing the monster. Imagination is always worse than whatever a special effects team can create. Devil director John Erick Dowdle is a master of this. His movie Quarantine (2008) builds suspense by timing moments of darkness just at the time the monsters are hunting. The audience only gets glimpses of what is actually there, instead having to rely on sound to try and piece together what is happening on screen. Dowdle brought this same technique to his newest movie, and the result was some truly terrifying moments. 

·         Number Two: Claustrophobia is essential to a good setting. The Shining is a great example. Isolated in an old hotel with no one around but your creepy son and psychotic husband plus a snowstorm that has wiped out any connection to the outside world equals true terror. In our world of ever increasing technology, we have the world (literally) at our fingertips. We can reach anyone anywhere through telephones, email, text messages, Skype. With that connectivity, we have a false sense of security. If something bad might happen, we can always call for help. Isn’t that the main reason we all use for giving children cell phones? Little Jimmy might need to call me when he is away from home. A movie set in an elevator where no one can get in or out AND the cellular signal is jammed? Claustrophobia at its best.

·         Number Three: Don’t try and reinvent the wheel with your horror villain. Fans of M. Night Shyamalan’s previous films may be disappointed that there is no “twist” to this movie. The audience knows from the beginning that the culprit is the Devil (though the Devil’s identity is secret, that twist seems secondary to the plot). Here’s the thing I wish I could tell every horror filmmaker out there: the classic monsters are scary for a reason. The Devil is a frightening idea; there’s no need to pump him up for contemporary audiences. We don’t need an overly complicated villain, just one that will scare the wits out of us. 

·         Number Four: Don’t neglect your characters. Just because a movie is classified as horror doesn’t mean that blood and gore are all that are needed. The good horror movies will all have characters that the audience cares about, usually because they are flawed humans who are just trying to make sense of life and the world around them. Devil gave the audience two characters whose lives are intertwined in ways even they couldn’t understand until the end of the movie: the cop with the hardened heart due to a past tragedy and the man who caused the cop to lose everything. By the end of the movie, both men find peace through faith and forgiveness. (Interestingly enough, Devil fits perfectly with my last blog entry. The film opens with a Bible verse and deals with spiritual warfare.) 

·         Number Five: Add humor for a perfect recipe. When my mother was trying to teach me to cook, she told me to always add a bit of salt whenever I add sugar. I didn’t get it then, but I do now. The salt is there to balance out the sugar. It is the same with horror. Yes, fear and suspense should be the number one ingredient, but humor has its place. It serves to lighten the mood and give the audience a chance to catch their breath, but it also makes the viewers a bit uncomfortable. Much of the humor is dark, at the expense of the people on (and sometimes off) screen. When we as an audience laugh, we do so thinking that we maybe shouldn’t be laughing. This throws off our balance and heightens the emotions we are already feeling, thereby making that next scare just a bit scarier by comparison and we jump just a little higher. There wasn’t a lot of humor in Devil, though I did find myself laughing at times, especially early on the film when the characters themselves were making awkward jokes to lighten the mood in the elevator.

When I started this list, I intended to outline the rules of good horror, but now I see that I could probably fill a book on that subject. I’ll settle with five good things that Devil did. Perhaps I’ll see another movie that will inspire me to add to this list. I hope so.

The Theology of Horror

People are often surprised when they meet me to find that I am a writer of horror fiction and a devout Christian. Many believe the two things are mutually exclusive. Usually, if they don’t outright condemn my choice of entertainment, they immediately try to downplay it. I am met with comments like, “Oh, you mean like science fiction-fantasy, type stuff?” or even worse, “You must love the Twilight books.” Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against science fiction or fantasy or even glittering vampires (I read the entire series though I’ll save that review for another day), but those are not the fiction I am talking about. More than that, though, I don’t like the implication that I (a Christian and an otherwise loveable person) enjoy the “soft stuff,” that glossy, whitewashed version of scary. The truth is I enjoy horror in all its forms but most when it is at its bloodiest. I like to see body parts flying and guts being spilled. I would even say I crave it (for anyone who hasn’t read it, Stephen King’s essay “Why We Crave Horror Movies” gives a wonderful look into the psychology of why people like me love to watch the gory and brutal movies that comprise the genre of “horror”).

Does that make me less of a Christian?

The truth is much of what we enjoy in the horror genre owes a lot to the Christian theology and worldview. Take the latest vampire craze, for instance. The vampire (and his close cousin, the werewolf) has always been a perversion of the Christian. In Christianity, eternal life is promised, a point celebrated by the Holy Communion, which is the eating of the body and the drinking of the blood of Christ. And let’s not forget the basis of Christianity: someone who defeated death by rising from the grave. Sound familiar? The newest vampires (those of the friendly, vegetarian variety) even demonstrate the classic struggle of sin. Our nature tells us to do one thing when we desperately want the opposite (the apostle Paul told of the same struggle between flesh and spirit in his letter to the Romans). But, you say, of course, vampires are inspired by Christianity; they are repelled by Holy Water and the crucifix.

I give you then another staple of the horror movie: the zombie. Like the vampire, the zombie builds upon the Christian concept of everlasting life and defeat of the grave. Look at the baptism ceremony.  Believers are “buried” in water only to be raised a new creature. The fear of these creatures is not in their ability to live beyond death, though it does give them a rather gruesome, decayed appearance, but in their lack of conscience. They live only to feed on flesh (hmmm, that sounds familiar) without any regard for, well, anything else. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead is a perfect example. Mindless zombies in a shopping mall, consuming everything without regard—wait, that sounds like everyday in my town. Seriously, though, the zombie, like the vampire and the werewolf, becomes “evil” when he/she/it gives into the carnal desires. It is the point of Christianity, like most religions, to strive toward the divine and relinquish the bodily temptations. Yes, I know zombies, like vampires and werewolves, have other (and maybe even more prominent) cultural and historical precedents, but I am just exemplifying one thread among many that goes into the horror genre.

Perhaps the most compelling argument for a Christian theology at work is in the demon possession subgenre. The Exorcist is for many, myself included, the most terrifying movie ever made. I confess, I have never thought about why I find it so terrifying. I know it is only split pea soup, but I am still wetting my pants whenever I watch that film. It is not until I saw The Last Exorcism (an excellent film, by the way) that it really struck home for me. Possession is truly terrifying because I believe it can really happen. As a Christian, I have to acknowledge a spiritual realm beyond this one, and as much as I want to believe in only the pretty angels, I know there is something much more sinister too. More than that, I actively invite, as most Christians do, the Holy Spirit to fill my body. The Bible itself speaks of such acts, calling the followers of Christ to reduce themselves and let Jesus into their hearts (John 3:30 says “He must become greater, I must become less,” speaking of the Christian’s quest to reduce selfish inclinations and allow Christ to control his or her life). The fear that something might control my body is a frightening thing. I don’t like the idea, and I suspect that others most likely feel the same way. And to invite something like that? Not something that people willingly do. And yet, as I Christian, I do it daily.

The filmmakers of The Last Exorcism seem to acknowledge this delicate balance. The protagonist Cotton Marcus (a wonderful name, by the way…a reference to Cotton Mather, I wonder?) is an evangelical preacher who is trying to overcome his own crisis of faith when he comes across a supposed case of demon possession (I won’t go into further plot details…if you haven’t seen the movie, just trust me and go watch it; it is well worth it). Cotton is at times troubled and repulsed by the notion of spirit possession, perhaps because he believes there is no spiritual world, good or bad, beyond our own physical realm. The film is just as much about his own reconciliation with his faith as it is about things that go bump in the night.

And this, for me, is what is at the heart of all horror: the battle of good versus evil. Like the serial killer on screen or on the page who we all secretly, I suspect, wish will win just this once, we all can recognize a bit of that evil within us, just as we can see the good in us as well. That battle, as old as God and the Devil, is at war with each one of us. We find the zombie, the werewolf, the vampire, the possessed girl so repulsive because we see just how close we are to that monster. If we only let our desires run rampant without regard for anyone or anything else, how long would it take for us to look like one of those monsters that haunt our nightmares?