Haunted Newsreel

Even before seeing Robert Downey Jr.'s awesome performance in Guy Ritchie's film Sherlock Holmes, I had been a fan of the genius detective for some time. For some reason I was always intrigued by Holmes, something about this figure of reasoning and bravery resonating within me. I still consider him to be one of my literary heroes, right alongside Batman. The Hound of the Baskervilles helped bring back some wonderful memories and reinstate my assertion that Holmes is one of the greatest characters in the history of literature.(read more...)

For a man who appeared in so few horror pictures, there was always something frightening about Dennis Hopper. As an artist and a man, he seemed to pursue madness. For half his life he lived on a diet of booze and amphetamines, pushing his body to the brink of destruction and inviting stories of a man out of control. There are tales of him pulling knives on co-stars, threats of violence and of him drinking his way into character. Charles Manson saw him as a kindred spirit and begged Hopper to play him onscreen. Look into his eyes on any film following Easy Rider (1968) and they show a man who has stared into the abyss.
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In a world that has become populated by hunky, teenaged bloodsuckers with a penchant for sparkling, this reviewer finds it very refreshing to go back to a time when vampires were of a charming nobility and still possessed an air of mystique and utter horror. Dracula is just the fix I need, providing an engaging adventure story set to the tone of the moody European Gothics. While it is not free from faults, this novel is a seminal piece of literature for serious fans of vampires, whether they be Edward Cullen or Max Schreck.(read more...)

Out of all the novels up for examination this month, Frankenstein, penned by 19-year-old Mary Shelley, has been critiqued, studied, and anatomically dissected (no pun intended) by literary analysts big and small. Everything that could have possibly been discussed already has been... and then was discussed some more. Therefore, it is somewhat intimidating for a meager blogger such as myself to delve into the multiple complexities and interpretations that arise from this landmark in horror and the world of literature as a whole without repeating things that have already been said. But there is a thunderous rumbling in the sky that urges me forward and compels me to continue in my dark studies. So with the eagerness of the devoted student of midnight, I will compile together a creature that will hopefully be more appealing to the eye than Shelley's tragic monster.(read more...)