Macabre Movies

Hey guys,
It's that time of year again when ghosts and ghouls are on everyone's minds. Granted, they're on mine all year round, but I thought this would be a good a time as ever to share my top ten horror flicks. They might not be the scariest flicks ever but they all hold a special place in my heart. I'll start from the bottom and work my way up.



10. SAW
I know a lot of folks can't dig on these movies but I've been a fan since day one and the first is entirely responsible for that. It was smart, had some great jumps (c'mon when the pig-head wearing villain jumped outta the pitch-black closet you almost shit yourself, admit it) and wasn't afraid of some good old fashioned gore. And if you claim to have guessed who the killer is you are so full of it.

9. THE SHINING
I am not a Stephen King fan (I know, blasphemy) but, man, the Shining is some scary shit. This is the ultimate haunted house movie. Ghosts, elevators full of blood, naked ghouls, those creepy twins, and a fucking psychotic Jack Nicholson all haunt this classic. Throw in the fact that it was beautifully directed by Kubrick and well it's damn near perfect.

8. THE THING
This is one of two John Carpenter movies that ended up on this list. Carpenter at his finest, really knows how to play up atmosphere and the sense of isolation he creates here is perfect. The scene where Kurt Russell is burning the blood samples still makes me jump out of my goddamn skin, nevermind the freaky-as-all-hell creature transformations and the sense of paranoia of not knowing who the creature is totally fucks with you.

7. CREEPSHOW
This horror anthology does everything right. It's got horrific monsters devouring people, alien moss, vengeful ghouls back from the grave, what else could one ask for? Another project that Stephen King worked on that I actually enjoyed and directed by the ever-amazing George Romero. This film is like a Tales from the Crypt comic come to life!

6. FRIGHT NIGHT
There are some cool vampire movies out there, but this one takes the cake for me. Chris Sarandon is fantastic as the vampire and Roddy McDowell as late-night B-Horror host Peter Vincent was just tremendous. Fright Night had some great creature effects, dark humor, and still managed to create a solid amount of scares like any good horror flick should! "You're so cool, Brewster!"

5. FRANKENSTEIN (1931)
James Wales' Frankenstein is hands-down my favorite of the old Universal horro flicks. Nothing, and I mean, nothing beats the reveal of Boris Karloff as the monster! Combine that with Wales' expressionistic approach to shadow and this movie has style for miles that makes it standout amongst its kin! Karloff's performance as the monster remains eerie to this day and yet we can sympathize with him in his search for answers. I love me some tragic monsters.

4. DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978)
This is easily George Romero's crowning achievement and is often considered the greatest zombie film ever. Romero combines scathing commentary with building terror and straight-up graphic gore for the total horror package. There are so many great parts to this movie that I can't even begin to pick one. Romero is terrific at writing characters that you actually care about and that are never, ever, safe!

3. EVIL DEAD II: DEAD BY DAWN
Sam Raimi may be a Hollywood big-shot now, but back in the day he all but created horror comedy. With it's seamless blend of slap-stick humor, huge jumps, gallons of gore, and the ultimate chainsaw-weilding horror hero, there is nothing to dislike about this flick. As good ol' Ash would say, "Groovy!"

2. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
Hey, remember when Wes Craven was actually interested in freaking us out? Nightmare introduced us to dream-demon Freddy Kruger: a child-molester/murderer who was burned to death by the parents of Springwood only to return to take revenge on their surviving children! The imaginative dream sequeneces and kills in this movie really stand out when we're used to seeing some dude in some sorta mask just chasing around teens with a knife. Plus it has Johnny Depp, don't you like Johnny Depp?

1. HALLOWEEN (1978)
John Carptener's classic slasher that started it all is still scary as fuck. The suspense and sense of dread Carpenter creates in this nearly bloodless flick make the movie. Combine it with a break-out performance by Jamie Lee Curtis as the ultimate scream-queen, Hollywood's scariest slasher Michael Myers, and that scary as hell soundtrack and you have the perfect horror film. And to top it all off, it's set on Halloween! C'mon, it doesn't get any scarier than that!

I wanted to throw in a couple of my honorable mentions because I love 'em so.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Nosferatu (1922), House of Wax (1953), Trick 'r Treat, The Exorcist, Alien, Hellraiser II, The Silence of the Lambs, Brain Dead (aka Dead Alive)

Have a Happy Halloween!

- K.

Favorite Comics

Hey guys,
I did that piece a while back regarding my favorite web comics (which I'll be doing a sequel to in the near future) but I never did my favorite straight-up comics. So, well, here's that list. This is by no means everything I read but it's definitely a good start.

Hellboy:
by Mike Mignola, Duncan Fedgredo, Richard Corben, & others

Hellboy is hands-down my favorite and is the comic that got be back into the funny books when I was in college. Mignola has created a massive world and his art work never disappoints. Even when the book's art is in the hands of Richard Corben or Duncan Fegredo, it's still freaking fantastic looking. How can you not love a cigar-chomping bad-ass demon from Hell who talks like a 1920's noir detective that fights Lovecraftian horrors, vampires, and other things that go bump in the night? I'm also in love with the spin-offs B.P.R.D. and Lobster Johnson which just expand Hellboy's universe even more! But at the end of the day, ol' H.B. is still king! The first volume: Seed of Destruction is one of those trades that I've read so many times that it is literally falling apart.

The Goon:
by Eric Powell & others

The Goond comes from a special place in comic-book heaven where zombies, werewolves, vampires, and other things that would normally give us nightmares get a proper ass-whooping by a gorilla-looking son of a bitch and his little freakish peanut-headed side-kick! The Goon feels like a love-letter to pulp horror with a huge dash of comedy! I don't think any other comic makes me laugh out loud as frequently as The Goon. And to top it off Powell is one of those artists that just keeps getting better and better as the series goes on.

Fear Agent
by Rick Remender, Tony Moore, Jerome Opena, & others

Man, I found out about Fear Agent back when it was still being put out by Image and the first volume had just come out in trade paperback and it was love at first sight. I was already a big fan of Tony Moore thanks to his short run on The Walking Dead but Fear Agent sealed the fuggin' deal for me. Awesome 1950's style Sci-Fi with robots and aliens and UFO's and a hero with more flaws than admirable qualities. I immediately fell in love with Heath Huston who is one a bad-ass sonofabitch but still extremely human. You can't help but sympathize with the guy and feel like you could have ended up in his shoes too... if you hadn't been annihilated by the invading aliens that is. Fear Agent is as good as you remember the old E.C. comics being. If that doesn't get you to check this out... well... then nothing will.

The Walking Dead
by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, & Charlie Adlard

The Walking Dead is the quintessential zombie comic. (And you folks know how much I zombies.) It's epic, horrifying, and depressing as hell. The fact that the comic is colored in grey-scale only adds to the somber tone of the book. In The Walking Dead nobody is safe. And I mean NOBODY and that makes for some serious drama because this comic isn't about the zombies as much as it is about the people. And that's what separates it from all the zombie comics out there. On the art end while I do miss Tony Moore's initial run on the series, I really feel that Charlie Adlard has come into his own on this book and really produced some amazing stuff!

Watchmen
by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons

Watchmen is, well, Watchmen. It's easily my favorite limited-run series ever. The epic and earth-shattering tale alone make this work a read. It's one of those stories that can really make you question your definitions of good and evil and how far you'd be willing to go to save the world. Throw in characters that are genuinely complex and fleshed then top it off with Dave Gibbons amazing artwork and you have a freaking comic masterpiece.

Batman: The Long Halloween
by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale

The Long Halloween is set after Frank Miller's Year One and is a brilliant continuation of that version of Gotham. Gotham has become a haven for freaks who are trying to wrest control of the city away from Carmine Falcone and his gangsters, and if that wasn't enough to keep Batman, Jim Gordon, and Harvey Dent busy, a serial killer called Holiday has begun marking their calendar with murders of Gotham's organized crime families. The Long Halloween plays out like a brilliant murder mystery and you'll never guess the end! And don't forget to throw in that it covers the origins of one of the great super-villains ever: Two-Face! This is easily my favorite Batman book.

Sin City
by Frank Miller

Man, if you love pulp noir stories (and Lord know, I do) nobody has done them better than Frank Miller. Beautiful women, tough-as-nails guys, evil villains, and some of the most hard-boiled brutal stories put into funny-books. Miller's stark black and white pages with splashes of color accentuate the old-school noir tone of the books.

30 Days of Night
by Steve Niles & Ben Templesmith

If The Walking Dead is the quintessential zombie comic then 30 Days of Night is the quintessential vampire comic. A feral and terrifying re-imagining of
everyone's favorite night-stalkers set in the Alaskan town of Barrow, 30 Days of Night makes vampires scary again. These aren't your suave, well-dressed vampires, these things are true monsters made all the scarier by Templesmith's stylized art-style.

The Dylan Dog Case Files
by Tiziano Sclavi & others

Dylan Dog combines horror, humor, and great weird tales! The art work while handled by 3 or 4 different artists still maintains a consistent quality throughout that always impresses. Sclavi's tales are strange, scary, and brilliant. A must-read for any comic fan!

Tales from the Crypt
by Al Feldstein, Bill Gaines, Wally Wood, Jack Kamen, & others

People talk about knowing your roots and this is it for me. Horror comics at their original state. Undead monsters come back from the grave for revenge, vampires, psychos, serial killers, it's all here! These guys were truly comic pioneers who refused to fall into line when the Comics Code was put into action. Unfortunately, it was also the cause of their death. But Tales from the Crypt and all the old E.C. New Trend books pioneered modern comics. Without these guys we'd all be reading Marvel and DC 24/7.