Category: Reviews

Film Review: Heir (2015)

“Heir’s ending is one that sticks firmly in the mind with a brave image of purely human horror, dismay and revulsion.” Director Richard Powell’s 14-minute short film Heir opens on a palpably ominous note. A lone man, Gordon, sits in a darkened room, lit only by the artificial light of his computer monitor. An email …

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Book Review: The Night Clock by Paul Meloy

“Meloy is a master at developing characters who feel real.” Although The Night Clock is Paul Meloy’s debut novel there is a real sense that his body of short fiction work has been building towards this accomplished novel which is by turn captivating, humorous, devastating, but ultimately uplifting. No prior knowledge of the author’s work …

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Film Review: Pay The Ghost (2015)

“There’s a more than halfway decent movie here struggling to get out, it’s just buried under too much that lags and drags.” On paper, at least, Pay the Ghost has an impressive pedigree: in addition to the high quality source material in the shape of the excellent novella by Tim Lebbon, it’s directed by the …

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Grimmfest 2015

For horror fans up in the north of England, and arguably across the country Grimmfest is an unmissable line-up of some of the best upcoming and ‘ones to watch’ of the genre. This years event once again saw some of  films biggest and best showcase of horror films from across the globe, including Manchester film …

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Permanent link to this article: https://www.thisishorror.co.uk/grimmfest-2015/

Book Review: There’s a Bluebird in my Heart by Gary McMahon

“If Bukowski was ‘a laureate of American lowlife’, then it would be fair to cast McMahon as a poet of the British soul.” The latest release from miserablist British author Gary McMahon is curiously entitled There’s a Bluebird in my Heart from White Noise Press. The title comes from the Charles Bukowski poem ‘Bluebird’ and …

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Film Review: V/H/S: Viral (2014)

“In spite of its defects, V/H/S: Viral is still an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half.” Film fans, and cineastes of all stripes, have a theory about trilogies. In short, according to this theory, the first movie is iconic, the second is by far the best and the third falls far short …

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Film Review: Julia (2014)

“Julia is ultimately hollow, and says nothing that Ferrara and Zeirchi didn’t say better thirty years before.” The titular character (Ashley C. Williams), a cosmetic surgeon’s nurse, is a shy withdrawn figure, a ‘born victim’ who is invited to the apartment of Piers Malone (Ryan Cooper) a wealthy surgeon’s son, on a supposed date. He …

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Book Review: Voices of the Damned by Barbie Wilde

“Incredible storytelling garnished with some stunning artwork make Barbie Wilde’s Voices of the Damned one story collection you don’t want to miss.” It’s probably best to get this out of the way first…this collection will tear your soul apart. For the uninitiated, Barbie Wilde (The Venus Complex) is a name all fans of horror should …

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Film Review: Howl (2015)

“Ultimately, Howl has to be considered a disappointment.” Howl (not to be confused with the Allen Ginsburg biopic starring James Franco, although a werewolf Allen Ginsburg movie might be fun…) is the second film directed by Paul Hyett, who made 2012’s divisive The Seasoning House. It’s mostly been described (accurately) as “werewolves on a train”, …

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Book Review: Brother by Ania Alhborn

“An instant classic.” All Michael knows is killing and pain. It’s a way of life, and not a life he’s very happy about. Deep in the West Virginia woods, off the main roads and highways, the Morrow family tracks down young female hitchhikers, and make their nightmares come true. They never have to worry about …

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