// Category Archive for: Horror

Sometimes Undead Is Better: The Walking Dead

By Less Lee Moore

Although I’ve never read The Walking Dead comic series, I have been intrigued ever since Popshifter covered it in a past Halloween issue. When news of the AMC series popped up, I was relieved that it was receiving the episodic TV treatment; it seemed far too complex for a 90-minute movie. Interesting then, that the premiere episode was about that long, and far more engaging than much of the new breed of undead that has infected pop culture.

Rick, Lori, and Carl

As a diehard horror fan, my affections are frequently misunderstood or misinterpreted as some kind of prurient interest in the sick and depraved. Like all good additions to the horror canon, however, The Walking Dead isn’t just about zombies, the undead, or as the show itself refers to them, “Walkers.” Its social commentary is less heavy-handed than the recent spate of Romero zombie creations, but far more relevant. In fact, The Walking Dead has succeeded where four (or five) seasons of LOST failed: deftly mixing interpersonal drama with a touch of the supernatural, to raise provocative questions about our society.
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Let Me In

By Lisa Anderson

As the leaves turn and the air grows colder, a few extra horror movies always make their way into theaters. This year, one of the most anticipated new releases is Let Me In, a remake of the 2008 Swedish vampire film, Let The Right One In. Transplanted from 1980s Stockholm, Sweden to 1980s Los Alamos, New Mexico, this version is helmed by Cloverfield director Matt Reeves.

The basic storyline is the same: a bullied 12-year-old boy in a dreary, snowbound apartment complex befriends a mysterious new neighbor his age. At first, their relationship appears to be typical preteen love, albeit between two strange children. It turns out though, that she is a vampire, and the adult human who lives with her has been committing murder to obtain blood for her. Before the story is over, vampire, boy, and man all see their lives change permanently.
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The Monstrous Feminist

Sometimes it’s hard being a horror movie fan, especially of the female persuasion.
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Five Horror Movies For People Who Don’t Like Horror Movies

By Chelsea Spear

The autumnal season is upon us, and with it, the onslaught of Halloween in all its grease-painted, fun-sized glory. This is great news for the gorehounds and horror-movie fanatics . . . but what of us petite flowers who faint at the sight of blood? You, my friends, are in luck! Herewith are five feature films that eschew the viscera in favor of suspense and chills.
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The Rotary Phone of Doom: My Top Five Scariest Things

By Emily Carney

5. Recurring dreams about high school

I have had the same dream continually over the last few years. It’s about high school. Mind you, it’s not a bittersweet, Breakfast Club-style reminiscence; the dream involves me having to go BACK to high school after being informed not-so-politely BY MAIL that I had somehow “forgotten” to attain my high school diploma. The same thing happens in every damn dream: for some reason, I start skipping classes, I fail most of them, and thus I become trapped in high school, never being able to get out. Suddenly, the halcyon greenish-blue corridors of good old East Lake High school become a horror show on par with Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. By the way, I generally had a good high school experience in real life, so I have no idea where this dream is coming from.
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Killer Instinct: Ten Psychotics With Style

Idea by Matt Keeley
With Contributions By . . .

Everyone knows that psychos in movies are good at one thing: killing. But honestly, that’s unfair. So many of these “homicidal maniacs” as some might call them have other interests. After all, are YOU just one thing? It’s time we set the record straight and give credit where it’s due, so here’s Popshifter‘s list of top multi-faceted murderers in alphabetical order because we don’t want to play favorites and take chances incurring their wrath!

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Let’s Have Fun With Shonen Knife: A Video Interview

By Matt Keeley

I have been listening to Shonen Knife for literally half my life. I’m 30 now, so do the math! That being said, I’ve only been able to see them live twice: once on the Gokigen Tour in 2005, and recently for the new album Free Time. There’ve been line-up changes since the first time, but the sound is the same and just as good as it always was.

I was so thrilled to interview Shonen Knife before their show at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle—the first stop on the new US tour. I got to talk to all of them and ask Naoko Yamano about her songwriting, finding records in Japan when she was growing up, Japanese vs. English, writing about animals and food, and more, including the band’s recent experience playing in China. She even tells a scary story, seeing as it is the Halloween issue and all!
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Blood Writes: Q&A With Author Alex Bledsoe

By Lisa Anderson

Alex Bledsoe is the author of the novels of the Memphis Vampires: 2009’s Blood Groove and The Girls with Games of Blood, which was released earlier this year (both from Tor books). For Popshifter‘s Halloween Horrors issue, he recently took time to answer some of my questions about writing and the bloodthirsty monsters currently enjoying such popularity.
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It Came From Korea: My Super-Quick Intro To Korean Horror Films

By Jim R. Clark

Korean Horror Films, or K-Horror, are horror films made in South Korea. Not North Korea!

NOT THIS KOREA, THE OTHER ONE!

K-Horror films have enjoyed a surge in popularity starting around 1998, and subsequently winning worldwide acclaim in international film festivals and among horror film fans.
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Armchair Casting Director: Dark Shadows

By Lisa Anderson

As a pre-teen vampire fan in 1991, I was very excited when NBC launched Dark Shadows, starring Ben Cross as vampire Barnabas Collins. The show got good ratings, but was pre-empted so often by Gulf War coverage that it was canceled in March after premiering in January. I realized at the time that it was a revival of an earlier show, but it wasn’t until I was in college that I got to watch some of the original Dark Shadows, which aired on ABC from 1966 to 1971, and in which Barnabas was played by Jonathan Frid.
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