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My latest list is up at horrornews.net! It's "13 Great Films that Start with D."

A preview:

My Favorite Monster

An Ode to the Werewolf

I've always had a soft spot for the hairy guy. I have a three foot-by five foot wall art to prove it. I even used to kiss the TV screen when Larry Talbot (as a man; I'm not a total freak) appeared. I love werewolves. But it seems to me that I'm one of the few.
For instance, there are nearly twenty movies about Dracula alone. There are about another bazillion books and movies about vampires, Twilight (even though it sucks) and True Blood are the two hottest things out there, and zombies are always awesome... it seems like monsters are coming into fashion again, but where are all the werewolves? Don't whine to me that Twilight has werewolves, because they don't count. Just like vampires don't sparkle.
It's always been like this, I suppose.
Why are there so many more people who like vamps and zombies instead of the Full Mooners? I mean, I understand. I love Shaun of the Dead and Let the Right One In. But if you want to watch a (good) werewolf movie, your choices are pretty limited:


Werewolf of London (1935)

The Wolf Man (1941) and its equally-awesome remake The Wolfman (2010)

Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
An American Werewolf in London (1981)

The Howling (1981)
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Dog Soldiers (2002)

Or, you could read The Werewolf's Guide to Life: A Manual for the Newly Bitten.

But these are few, when there should be many. Why?

Perhaps it's because werewolves aren't all-monster-all-the-time like vamps. They're more in line with Jekyll and Hyde. Werewolves are, at their core, philosophical: werewolf movies are about the good and evil in every person. It's deep for horror, but every horror movie worth watching has something more to offer than just blood and guts.
Plus: have you seen the special effects in werewolf movies? COME. ON. Rick Baker did such a great job on American Werewolf that the Academy Awards created a new category just so they could honor him. And he did it with no CGI. And The Howling? I totally bought that the resort they were at was really Werewolf Central. Look at the photos in this post. Do you see the awesome?!?! I knew you would.

Werewolf movies are a subgenre that needs more fanfare than it gets, and I, for one, am going to toot the fanged horn.

Willy Inducing Moments

Andre Dumas over at the Horror Digest started this, and all my favorite blogs are doing their own versions, so, for my first post, I decided to do my own. It's presumptuous, I know, but I love horror lists more than anything else. Except I don't do Top 10s. I do Top 13s. (See my lists on horrornews.net if you want to see more.) This won't be as good as the other blogs, I'm sure, but why not start out with a bang?

So, in no particular order: my 13 Willy Inducing Moments!

• Forget about the Showers! This is What Happens When You Go to Prison: Salem's Lot

I love Salem's Lot. I do not, however, like blue-faced Nosferatu-like vampires popping up out of nowhere. Yikes. This scene should be shown to kids everywhere as a crime prevention tool.

• Pencil It In: Evil Dead

Oh, Bruce Campbell, why couldn't you save your girlfriend... and save us all the pain of having the watch her get a pencil stuck deep into her ankle?!

• Blue Moon: An American Werewolf in London

It makes sense that turning into a werewolf would be a painful, painful experience. Thank you, John Landis, for showing us all just how dreadfully painful it could be.

• Glovin' in the Tub: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Taking a bath--or showering--is scary enough. Anything could happen to you. Most of the other blogs I've read are including Psycho on their lists, for this reason. But as the Pythons would say, it's time for something (almost) completely different. So, I give you A Nightmare on Elm Street. I can't really think of anything worse happening than the knife-fingered glove of a pedophile-madman emerging between my legs. (Look at this picture: it's even scary in Italian.)

• All the Girls in Martyrs

I won't say this is the best movie ever, because it's not. It is really gory, and the story is semi-groundbreaking, but overall... eh. I could take it or leave it. And, thanks to those tortured women, I think I'll leave it.

• The Ending of The Mist

Man, oh man, that was rough.

• Voice-Over in Session 9

This movie creeps me out, period. I can't watch it alone because when it's over I'm sure someone's broken into my house and is waiting to hack me apart with an ax. Just thinking about Simon gives me the willies.

• It Puts the Lotion on its Skin: Silence of the Lambs

This is one of my favorite movies ever, and this is probably my favorite scene. Ted Levine makes Buffalo Bill scary; no other actor could have done it.

• The Quilted Underground: Jeepers Creepers

Jeepers Creepers was really good until the Creeper turned out to be an alien. The best, and most creepy part? All those bodies sewed to the ceiling.

• Needles: Saw II

Falling into a pit of needles. Yeah, that gives me the willies.

• Mum's the Word: Shaun of the Dead

I really, really love this movie, but the thought of my mother turning into a zombie is terrible. Having to kill her is even worse. For the record, if my best friend turned into a zombie, I'd keep her in the shed too.

• "The Body Never Lies:" Tales from the Crypt, "Death of Some Salesman"

Tales from the Crypt was one awesome show; some of my fondest childhood memories are of staying up late to watch it after The X-Files. The first episode of Season 5, "Death of Some Salesman," may be the best of the entire series. It's about a traveling salesman who comes to the wrong door... the door of a family played by the ever-fabulous Tim Curry. You read that right: he plays all three characters, including the daughter, Winona, who the salesman must "prove his love to" in order to stay alive. And I mean "love" in the biblical sense.

• The Ultimate Bodice-Ripper: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

The 1994 version of Frankenstein is not the best. In fact, it's not very good. But it is the only movie that has ever given me nightmares. Some movies freak me out, and might make it hard for me sleep, but this movie gives me the worst nightmares this side of Elm St. When the Creature ripped Elizabeth's heart out, it felt like he ripped mine out too. I was eight when I first saw this movie, and I still can't watch it without it keeping me up all night.