Another Halloween Gone

Feels like I missed October altogether. Just too much going on and lots of little bumps in the road kept me busy. 

I wanted to catch a couple of newer horror movies and give a couple of old favorites another watch. Had to make due with some podcasts and audio plays during drivetime. 

Here's one that's always in the rotation for me. Nigel Kneale's The Stone Tape. Influential and brilliant. 

The Unsettling Horror of Junji Ito

It's that month.

A speed bump on the way to Christmas for some. But for some of us, that best, most eerie time of the year. When those strange changes are on the wind. The time when reality thins a bit and the shadows stretch longer and deeper. It's time for Halloween and time to remind ourselves how to shiver and huddle closer before the bleakness of winter is upon us.

I thought I would share something that makes me shiver a bit. A favorite of mine...

Junji Ito is without a doubt my favorite mangaka, possibly my favorite creator of anything in the horror genre. I first encountered him the pages of the long dead monthly manga anthology Pulp published by Viz. It was there I lost my equilibrium in the death spiral that is Uzumaki.

Uzumaki tells the tale of a small coastal town that is cursed and ultimately doomed by spirals. It is lovecraftian in the strange and unknowable nature of the curse and in the futility of the protagonists ' struggles. Chapter after chapter brings more strange corruption of the town, and brings our central characters closer to their fate.

The thing about Uzumaki, and about all Ito stories, is there's always this moment. A moment that makes you stop and take a breath, and shudder a bit. so I thought I would share some of those. If you've never read Ito's stuff, this will either compel you to seek  him out or convince you to never delve into his work.

More after the jump...

The Dunwich Horror

"Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread."

To the left is Wilbur Whateley from H.P. Lovecraft's The Dunwich Horror as illustrated by Tatsuya Morino. Check out more art at Pink Tentacle.

Read the complete text of The Dunwich Horror here.

Free Movie Watch

If you have Comcast there's two notable movies available for free On Demand right now.

The first is The Cottage starring Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville) and Andy Serkis (y'know Gollum). The UK trailer's here.





The other is [REC], the original Spanish horror film that was adapted domestically as Quarantine. [REC] is superior (imho) and has spawned a sequel in Spain with more in the works. (I'm a Balaguero fan and suggest you track down Los sin nombre, Darkness, Fragile, and To Let as well.) (Mike)