DRACULA by Bram Stoker
DRACULA may well be the most famous horror novel of all time. I’m almost chagrined to admit I’m never been entirely thrilled with it.
THE DELICATE DEPENDENCY
To be sure, a lot of crap was published during the horror boom of the 1980s, but some real gems also made their way to publication during that period, and were inexplicably lost in the shuffle. Examples of the latter include the early novels of Jack Ketchum, which have only recently gotten the attention they deserve, and Michael Talbot’s THE DELICATE DEPENDENCY, an unassumingly packaged paperback original that has yet to receive its full dues.
COUNT DRACULA’S CANADIAN AFFAIR
In the seminal “Fantasy Five-Foot Bookshelf” feature in THE TWILIGHT ZONE Magazine, R.S. Hadji places this dreadful novel at number 3 on his “Worst Stinkers of the Weird” list. I believe he was being overly generous, as I’d probably move it up to number one.
BANSHEES
The idea of a satanically endowed rock band isn’t new, but in the hands of author Mike Baron (of 2013’s SKORPIO) it assumes a terrifically pulpy grandeur
2010: The Worst Summer Movie Season Ever?
Well, maybe it wasn’t the absolute worst, but movie-wise the summer of 2010 was a pretty rotten one
2009: A Look Back in Bedlam
Here it is, my second annual look back at many noteworthy events in the world of horror film and literature
CARNE DE TU CARNE
Politically minded Columbian horror pivoting on incest and vampirism
THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI
Often cited as the world’s first true horror film, this German classic from 1920 has taken on near-legendary status among cultists, and retains a loopy aura that has yet to be matched
WOHI BHAYANAK RAAT
This film differs from other bad horror movies in that it’s a Bollywood horror movie. This means many large-scale musical numbers, much over the top melodrama, a two-and-a-half hour running time and a painfully low budget
MY SOUL IS SLASHED
The Japanese video market of the 1990s produced some pretty amazing films, among them this highly audacious take on vampires, an exhausted subject this film treats with considerable freshness and ingenuity