I am not a horror movie person. I’m a “hide behind a pillow until the monster is gone” kind of person. But when Merry Scary Christmas time rolled around again at WWAC, I decided to challenge myself a little and take part. Now, the one exception to my no-horror-movies rule is John Carpenter’s The Thing…
Merry Scary Christmas: The Horror of The Santa Clause
Most holiday films don’t hinge their plots on involuntary manslaughter, but most holiday films aren’t as inadvertently grim as The Santa Clause. Instead of a heart-warming tale of what it would be like if your father was Santa, this film presents a world where Santa is a role much like Death. If you kill him,…
Merry Scary Christmas: Bob’s Burgers’ “Christmas in the Car”
“You know what? Who needs a nice cozy, warm, comfortable home? We can have our Christmas right here in the car!” “Yeah, until it runs out of gas and we freeze to death.” “Yeah.” It’s perhaps surprising that a show as gentle and warmhearted as Bob’s Burgers gives its holiday episodes a dark, maniacal edge. “Dawn…
Look At This Excellent Imperfection: Ashley Franklin’s “The Ghost Dream”
I like hand lettering a lot. There’s a certain character that linear insufficiency, messiness, brings to a work.
Trading Outpost: I Wanna List You A Merry Christmas
Hey, y’all, it’s the last Trading Post of the year with us, your last The Trades of the year. We’re exactly the same great The Trades podcast hosts as the rest of the year, Aaron LaRoche and your faithful correspondent in this space, FST.
Merry Scary Christmas: Masculinity In Jack Frost (and Jack Frost)
Trigger Warning: Please note that this article discusses a rape that occurs within one of the films.
Handling Hate and Bigotry the Hufflepuff Way
Over the past couple of weeks since the U.S. election, I’ve been seeing some people urging unity with those who have supported a certain political candidate. As a Hufflepuff it might seem hypocritical of me to say that we should ignore those people and to fight this change of power. It is not. The Hufflepuff…
Thursday Book Beat: South Asian KidLit, Handmaiden’s Tale Adaptation and Pantsuit Nation Book Controversy
Hi book lovers! The countdown to the holidays is here! I’ve finally lifted my head from my textbooks, finished my exams and am now working as much as I can to pay for all the gifts I’m buying (because Christmas is a capitalist holiday in the Western world). I’m headed up to my godmother’s cottage…
Interview: Sequentials, a New “Comics” Journal
As part of Comics Academe, one of the things I want to do is to promote what’s happening in academia and comics studies–especially when what’s happening is something that is innovative, or challenges what academic “scholarship” can be. When I first heard about Sequentials, a new comics “journal” being put out by the incredible English…
Merry Scary Christmas: Gremlins Just Gets Me
I have never liked Christmas. I’m a child of divorce. Any fall or winter holidays in my childhood consisted of being passed back and forth because of custody agreements, regardless of what I, the child in question, actually wanted. Christmas especially was a nightmare of being shunted between three sets of grandparents and two parents,…
DIY Geeky Gifts: Sparkly Hair Fascinators
Looking to add a little sparkle to your holiday gift giving? Then these fun hair fascinators are for you. I originally delved into the world of hair fascinators as a fun way to be found across the convention floor. You can make them low-key for every day wear or, like me, as something fancy for…
What a Webcomic! Digital Recommendations
Welcome to What a Webcomic, a series by the enigmatic Sergio Alexis, where they cover the best webcomics they read since…the last time they did one of these. Hold onto your butts, because these comics are queer, they are female lead, and they are wonderful! For now I will not be repeating entries from my…