This Is Horror

5 Must Read Horror Articles 24 February 2014

Can you believe it has been 604800 seconds since the last Must Read Horror? Dragged a bit, hasn’t it? Well, here it is once again, and if you prefer to just read the articles and ignore all this pointless banter, feel free to move on, I won’t take it personally. This week’s top five articles as voted for by no-one in particular are:

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Why Horror Needs to Regain its Wit

As a child of the eighties, I recall that a lot of the films I grew up on were both horrific and funny. An American Werewolf in London (1981) is utterly terrifying and yet hilarious in places, and let us not forget Curse of the Queerwolf and House II: The Second Story (both 1987). Whatever happened to funny horror? Where have all the tongue-in-cheek antagonists gone? When did we start taking ourselves so bloody seriously? Den of Geek is on the case.

The 5 Favourite Religious-Themed Horror Films of Holy Ghost People’s Mitchell Altieri

Whether you’re religious or not, nothing quite says horror like a spear through a priest. If the demonic can take out our good guys, then what chance do we lowly mortals have? In this article from Bloody Disgusting, one half of The Butcher Brothers, Mitchell Altieri (The Hamiltons, April Fool’s Day) picks his top five religious-themed horror films.

Movies That Could Never Be Released Today

While some horror films are tame now, decades after their original release, there are a plethora of movies that were so gut-wrenchingly disturbing (leading them to be banned on most planets and their directors to be forced into rehab a la Alex DeLarge) that even Hollywood’s greediest producers would turn their backs and run, very quickly, in the opposite direction should a studio suggest a remake. FearNet handpicks a few films that would never get released in this day and age, despite our relaxed censorship standards.

Terror on a Deadline: Remembering Richard Matheson

Last week would have been genre fiction legend Richard Matheson’s 62nd birthday, and this article over at Tor takes a look back at his life and how he came to be regarded as one of the greatest writers of our time.

5 Harmless Animals That Are Deadly in Horror Films

We all know that sharks are right bastards in horror films (add a weather system and you’ve got real problems) and crocodiles aren’t shy about relieving you of a limb or two (Croc, Lake Placid), but what about those unassuming little beasties, the ones you would never expect to eat you or crawl up inside your bum-hole to make a nest? This article over at Horrormovies.ca looks at 5 films featuring usually benevolent creatures gone wild.

ADAM MILLARD