James Grainger on Folk Horror and confronting Canada’s colonial past
In order to establish a Folk Horror tradition, Canada would first have to reckon with the sins of its history as a settler-colonial nation.
Michael McDowell combines Southern Gothic and a haunted house tale in The Elementals
McDowell’s mashup of Southern Gothic and a traditional haunted house story provides a slow burn as opposed to the anarchic energy of his earlier novel.
Tananarive Due and the rise of Black horror
Black creators have made their mark in horror film and literature, though they have had to work to get noticed. There are signs that this is changing.
Josh and Benny Safdie on what scares them
“You can imagine that character – Max Renn – you can imagine him having a Twitter account after going through and seeing the true colours of society.”
Michael Kelly branches out with a throwback to the pulp periodicals of yore
Weird Horror, an offshoot of the publisher’s book imprint, Undertow Publications, is a nostalgic magazine in the EC Comics, Weird Tales vein.
Psychology of the uncanny: “The Scar” by Ramsey Campbell
This story of a man and his malevolent doppelgänger recalls Poe and includes a critique of apparent social respectability.
“You don’t really believe what you read”: Stephen King on the attraction of horror fiction
Horror fiction provides a buffer against the ongoing stresses and upheavals of the real world.
The history of horror: What are the best books in the genre?
There are certain core texts that must appear on any list of the “best” horror novels ever written. Then what?
Sue Carter on sleepovers, un-ironic humour, and why she’ll never watch The Human Centipede
“I have always been drawn to adrenaline-cranking moments that straddle that delicate space between hysterical fright and laughter.”
The law of unintended consequences: “The Fly” by George Langelaan
The story, which originally appeared in 1957, includes a framing structure that distances the reader from the main action.