In its own warped way, horror fiction has always reflected whatever is happening in the world around it. The most obvious metaphor is a funhouse mirror, offering a twisted representation of its surroundings for the audience’s surprise and entertainment. Inevitably, some of horror’s attempts to portray the surrounding world will be more successful than others.
Women in British Animation: Petra Freeman
“Animation is for weirdos.” —Petra Freeman During the eighties and nineties, Channel 4’s patronage of experimental animation provided opportunities for new talent across the country. Some of these animators arrived at the medium very much through the back door, bringing with them aesthetic sensibilities unlike those of anyone else in the field. One such person…
Monsterella: Nevin Arnold’s New 1970s-Inspired Anti-Heroine
Canada-based publisher Hangman Comics has taken to Kickstarter to fund Monsterella, an anthology which will bring a new set of anti-heroines to the comic pantheon. Women Write About Comics spoke to creator Nevin Arnold about what we can expect from this upcoming title.
Women in British Animation: Candy Guard
“I just want to make people laugh. Not by being silly – but by being truthful.” —Candy Guard In her student days at Newcastle Polytechnic and St Martins School of Art, Candy Guard hoped to enter live-action filmmaking. But instead, she found herself being tugged towards the world of cartoons. “I started to put ideas…
Dragon Awards Reviews: Horror, War and the Apocalypse
In the previous installment of this series, Al Rosenberg looked over the winners of the 2016 Dragon Awards’ four gaming categories. Now, after some unfortunate delays, it is time for the second part. This time we will be discussing the books that won three of the seven novel categories: Best Horror Novel, Best Military Science Fiction…
The Last Resurrection and Millennial Adolescence
Content warning: this article discusses fictional portrayals of rape, incest, necrophilia and Nazi atrocities, along with a whole lot of religious insensitivity.
Chelsea Cain Does Superheroes in Mockingbird Volume 1: I Can Explain
Mockingbird Volume 1: I Can Explain Chelsea Cain (Writer), Kate Niemczyk, Sean Parsons and Ibrahim Moustafa (Artists), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colours), Joe Caramagna (Letters) Marvel Comics November 2016 Bobbi Morse, alias Mockingbird, is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who possesses fighting skill and intellect, but not, for most of her existence, actual superpowers. After being injected with an experimental…
Giving Cthulhu 40 Whacks: Cherie Priest’s The Borden Dispatches
Charged in 1892 with killing her father and stepmother, Lizzie Borden is one of the most iconic wrongdoers of American history. Her reputation as a brutal axe-murderer is reflected in everything from a playground rhyme to a Halloween special of The Simpsons. In reality, meanwhile, she was acquitted of the murders due to a lack…
The Life and Times of Marya Zaleska, Dracula’s Daughter: Part Three
Having discussed the 1936 film Dracula’s Daughter in the first and second posts in this series, I shall now conclude with a look at the film’s afterlife in adaptations and derivative works. Dracula’s Daughter: The Novel The novelisation of Dracula’s Daughter was published by Berkley Books in 1977. Its author was credited as Carl Dreadstone;…
Varney the Vampire: A Penny Dreadful Pioneer
When it comes to the vampire fiction of nineteenth-century Britain, four works in particular are sure to be mentioned during any in-depth discussion. One, of course, is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, published in 1897. Another is Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, serialised from 1871 to 1872, which continues to inspire writers and filmmakers today. Predating either of them…
Vampirella In Design
Vampirella is being rebooted and recostumed again! Dynamite has announced that they will be rebooting the comic for the second time in recent years, with a new creative team and another new direction. Paul Cornell and Jimmy Broxton (Knight and Squire, Saucer County) will be taking over the book and delivering a Vampirella for a…
The Life and Times of Marya Zaleska, Dracula’s Daughter: Part Two
Having taken a look at the plot of the 1936 film Dracula’s Daughter in my previous article, I shall now discuss the origins of the film and make a closer examination of its themes. The Birth of Dracula’s Daughter The film started life as a proposed adaptation of “Dracula’s Guest” by Bram Stoker, a short story…