Here’s a bold and interesting reading of the zombie as a monster that is at root “a remnant of an imperialistic and racist era”: UA doctoral student Kyle W. Bishop argues that while the zombie has become a hugely popular cinematic device, the creature is a remnant of an imperialistic and racist era. ….Bishop, who…
Tag: horror
Shadow Visitors: Sleep paralysis and discarnate “dark ones”
A week or so ago I finished reading Louis Proud’s fascinating book Dark Intrusions: An Investigation into the Paranormal Nature of Sleep Paralysis Experiences. Published just last year, it argues that sleep paralysis is actually a cousin to spirit mediumship, in that the experience represents an actual visitation by paranormal entities that live constantly among…
The Rise of “Zombie Walks”: Is the human race finally embracing its true identity?
So have you heard of zombie walks, ladies and gentlemen? I’m talking about those increasingly ubiquitous events where groups of respectable everyday folk get in touch with their inner zombie by dressing up in costumes and makeup as the named monster in its modern mass entertainment incarnation — that is, as reanimated, flesh-eating corpses who…
Sleep Paralysis: The ultimate horror
I’m just going to share these YouTube movie previews with minimal comment, since I have already talked here in the past about my experiences with sleep paralysis. If you’ve never experienced it, be advised that sleep paralysis really is as thoroughly and deeply shattering as the people in these videos make it out to be….
Thomas Ligotti’s horror aesthetic mirrored by — Rob Zombie?
My readers know it’s no secret that I’m compulsively fascinated by the work of literary horror master Thomas Ligotti. As I’ve explained here in the past, I’m also compulsively fascinated by horrorific musical icon and now horror cinema auteur Rob Zombie, for reasons that are more obscure to me. The two fascinations would seem to…
Zombies, Digital Media, and Cultural Preservation in the New Dark Age
âHow secure is our civilizationâs accumulated knowledge?â Thatâs the question posed in a recent essay by Richard Heinberg, one of the most consistently brilliant, reasonable, and nuanced writers about the ecological and cultural-civilizational ramifications of peak fossil fuels and economic calamity. In âOur evanescent culture and the awesome duty of librarians,” he offers a detailed…
Lovecraft’s Longing – Part Two (final)
My two-part article “Lovecraft’s Longing,” which I wrote for Art Throb, and whose first part I announced in a previous post, is now finished and published. In Part Two I explain how, in the words of the introduction, Lovecraft was âaboutâ more than just the horrors of bodily corruption and cosmic monstrosity that cling so…
Lovecraft’s Longing: Article for Art Throb
A few months ago I wrote a post about the launch of Art Throb, a Web-based arts initiative headed by my Salem-based sister that chronicles the creative life of the Massachusetts North Shore. Now I have become one of the writers for this venture. Dinah, my sister, invited me a couple of months ago to…
Arthur Machen profiled in The Guardian as “forgotten father of weird fiction”
I was pleasantly surprised to see this story come cross the Internet transom today: Machen is the forgotten father of weird fiction Damien G. Walter, The Guardian online, September 29, 2009 The slug line accurately indicates the article’s content: “Arthur Machen might be little read today, but his ideas lie at the heart of modern…
ArmadilloCon 2009: Michael Moorcock, martial arts, and more
First read my previous post about last weekend’s ArmadilloCon, which I wrote on Saturday night during the con itself. Then read the following to fill in the rest of the details of my experiences there. In no particular order: I attended readings by Joe McKinney, Lee Thomas, and A. Lee Martinez, the last of whom…