Mike (Josh Hutcherson) is a loner in desperate need of a job, seeing as he got into trouble at his last post for mercilessly pummeling a dude he thought was kidnapping a kid. (He’s obsessed with finding his little brother, who was kidnapped, by lucid dreaming about the incident as often as possible.) His meanContinue reading “‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’: Prepare for Disappointment”
Author Archives: GhoulieJoe
Real Fear Part Two: Pregnancy Gone Wrong
*Author’s note: In the process of analyzing films, I let loose major spoilers.* Childbirth and pregnancy are by nature nerve-wracking, agonizing experiences. “It takes a lot of pushing and stretching to move a baby the size of a melon through a cervical opening the size of a kidney bean” (Sears, et al, p. 291). Even cesarean sectionsContinue reading “Real Fear Part Two: Pregnancy Gone Wrong”
‘Evil Dead Rise’: The Mommening is Fun and Well-Intentioned
A sequel\reboot\something…it’s canon, whatever it is, in the Evil Dead universe–it’s produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and Bruce Campbell, who has a voice cameo as well. In this chapter of the saga of the demon-y deadites we have a bickering but sweet family trapped in their apartment building with the possessed matriarch, Ellie (AlyssaContinue reading “‘Evil Dead Rise’: The Mommening is Fun and Well-Intentioned”
Nostalgia Tiiiime!!!! “Black Hole Sun”
Today, I saw a book with some disconcerting artwork, and it brought to mind the music video for Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”, which alternately terrified and fascinated me as a kid. It’s the giant creepy grimace-y smiles and lipstick. Some of the illustrations are quite lovely, but most are awkward and unintentionally creepy.
Ti West’s ‘X’ is Wicked, Fun, and Un-X-pectedly Clever
Texas, 1979. Led by producer Wayne (Martin Henderson), a group of young hooligans: actors Maxine (Mia Goth), Jackson (Scott Mescudi, AKA Kid Cudi), and Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow), director RJ (Owen Campbell), and sound/lighting/cinematography assistant Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) are making a low-budget adult film at a farmhouse, unbeknownst to its golden-ager owners, Howard (Stephen Ure) andContinue reading “Ti West’s ‘X’ is Wicked, Fun, and Un-X-pectedly Clever”
Book Quote of the Day
[Margo has escaped her former life as a killer nurse and is now a tame library clerk; she’s mad that she finished the first book that she really enjoyed reading] ” ‘Oh Constance. We are so happy.’ What about the rest of us?! I pick up the book and hurl it against the living roomContinue reading “Book Quote of the Day”
The Birds is Coming, The Birds is Coming!
Today I was driving to work on a little country road that leads to the freeway, and from a distance I saw a flock of sizable birds just chilling in the street. The car coming from the opposite direction honked, and they grudgingly shuffled out of the way. I think all of my knowledge ofContinue reading “The Birds is Coming, The Birds is Coming!”
And That’s Why I Don’t Write Fiction
I had the stupidest dream last night. In it, I was the mother of a manipulative, evil kid with supernatural powers. It’s an overdone subgenre already, and my subconscious was also busily stealing plotlines such as a woman being coerced into eating glass, like in Choose or Die or Oculus. The resulting solution was thatContinue reading “And That’s Why I Don’t Write Fiction”
Book Quote of the Day
“But the only difference between her and a mother who leaves, if there’s much of a difference at all, is that Whitney already knows there’s no relief in having left. Not if her son is in the world, existing without her. He will never not be wrapped around her conscience, infiltrating her dreams, an endlessContinue reading “Book Quote of the Day”
Real Fear: Part One
This is a piece I’ve been working on since my teenager was a newborn. I’ve struggled with the format, the length, and especially the tone; generally I go for light and fun, but then my undergraduate training in analysis comes out and it gets way too serious and pretentious. I’ve got this pretty much theContinue reading “Real Fear: Part One”
GhoulieJoe 