Category

Horror

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Creation of “The Path”: A Krampus Story

Months and months ago, I don't remember exactly when, a call for tales inspired by Krampus for Burial Day Books' sixth volume of their Gothic Blue Book went out across this wide writerly world. Great glowing Christmas lights! I desperately wanted to write a Krampus story and, though I didn't think I stood a chance, submit it. I had to try. When faced with a submission call, one problem must be dealt with...the blank page, leaving the mind swirling with dark ideas and thoughts. So many. Too many. My mind latched onto one thing, the final scene of the mov[...]

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It’s June 27th. Read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

No seriously--go read it. The New Yorker, in which the story was originally published in 1948, has the story up online. You can read it right here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1948/06/26/the-lottery. Come back when you're done. It's amazing, right? I mean, when we say a story is "haunting," or that it "stays with you," we are talking about the feeling you get from almost every single Shirley Jackson story--and most definitely from "The Lottery." You just keep turning it over in your mind after you read it. "The morning of June 27th was clear and[...]

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The Power of Mystical Magical Horrifying Sound

One of my favorite parts of horror is the sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0Nx8HeGQ_A A snippet of music that will have everyone glancing over their shoulder or walking a bit faster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi9fnHCxmUA Or a nice little melody that can send shivers up your spine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdUVeHgjYmA Or a word. A voice. A growl. Sound is magic when it comes to horror. Whether it's a creepy series of notes in the soundtrack, a sinister voice, or the simple crunch crunch crunch of footsteps wh[...]

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Music to Write Scary Stories To: Dying Light (Original Game Soundtrack)

It's Camp Nano time, and if you're writing horror like all of us here at the Midnight Society, you need some good music to write to. I tend to flip between horror movie and video game soundtracks, and one of my absolute faves is on Spotify now, so you can check it out for free--the soundtrack for 2015's Dying Light. The soundtrack, composed by Pawel Blaszczak, is like a modern John Carpenter movie score. The main theme creepy, while making you want to go out and kick zombie ass at the same time. Many of the tracks are variations on that core theme, and[...]

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Airplane Movie Reviews: Ready Or Not

I fly a decent amount for work now, and it’s one of the few times I can catch up on some of the newer horror flicks, as well as old classics that make their way to in-flight entertainment services. Welcome to another installment of Airplane Movie Reviews. I'd heard a lot of good things about Ready or Not, and for the most part, the movie is a fun, thriller-comedy featuring a great performance by Samara Weaving. But I can't help comparing it to 2011's You're Next, and in that comparison, Ready or Not falls very short. https://youtu.be/ZtYTwUxhAoI Rea[...]

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The Haunted Summer of 1816 and the Origin of Frankenstein

There's not much I love more than haunted things and horror origin stories...well, other than puppies and iced coffee. Being that it is Women in Horror month, I started looking into the origin story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. The history is more interesting than you think. The Year Without a Summer The year of 1816 was known as the year without a summer. In April 1815, there was a volcanic eruption.  The eruption of Mount Tambora (located in present-day Indonesia) was the most powerful volcanic eruption in human recorded history. It is reported that the[...]

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The Outsider is a Perfect Blend of Mystery and Horror

Seasons one and three of True Detective are among my favorite television stories of all time. It's rare that I find a show that has just the right blend of horror and mystery for me. But I found another one, and it's The Outsider, the new HBO show based on Stephen King's novel of the same name. I haven't read the novel, so I have no idea whether or not the adaptation is faithful, but I will tell you this--it's expertly crafted as a TV series. Halfway through the ten-episode series, the pacing has been perfect, and the way this mystery is unfolding is so, so good.[...]

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Terror Lurks in the Little Things

Little things can be terrifying, stressful, and panic-inducing. Not the miniature demons skittering across the ground or dolls and evil toddlers pitter-pattering over a creaky wood floor, but those tiny mistakes that haunt us. Last fall, my son applied to colleges. Two accepted him, and he waited to hear from the third, before making a final decision. Stressful, right? When we learned that the final college posted decisions online, online we went, only to learn of a missing SAT score. His application hadn't been processed, and the deadline to apply gone. A tiny[...]