May you always have horror in your life!

I'm here to help that happen. Ready for more movie recommendations?

What up, readers and listeners?!

Thanks, as always, for being here and for being part of my little horror community. I really do love you people.

And it’s because of that love that I’m here today, once more, to share the best horror I’ve gotten into lately. Let’s get right into it:

• They Live in the Grey

The opening scene of this movie is absolutely heartbreaking and it doesn’t let up for a second from there.

If The Sixth Sense was actually terrifying and written by someone who understands how human relationships actually work, it would be this story about a mother struggling with the tragic loss of her young son. Her marriage now in shambles, her career as a CPS agent crumbling, and her mind torn asunder by terrible visions of violent death, Claire clings to the shattered remnants of her life by the tattered threads of her fingers. Its a heart-rending, tragedy-stricken tale of grief, depression, and fighting tooth and nail to salvage bygone relationships.

In terms of the narrative devices used, this movie doesn’t do much to ‘break the mold’ but what it does do better than many other ’I see ghosts’ movies, or ‘my kid died’ movies is that it really forces us to explore the deaths of the many ghost characters Claire encounters. Not only does she see them. Not only do they scare her, but she also gleans insight and purpose from her interactions with them, often when she doesn’t even realize it’s happening and despite all the darkness in this film, it is still laced throughout with a thread of gleaming hope.

As you all know, I’m a sucker for any horror story that deep dives into relationship dynamics and the marriage between Claire and Peter in this story feels vivid, real, alive, and believable, all while meeting the dramatic standards of a horror story. That is not a feat easily obtained, but this film did an excellent job of painting a struggling marriage, wrought by despair and hardship that, even in it’s darkest hour, is worth fighting for. That’s true love, in my opinion. Not the fairy tale portrayal of rom-coms, but these types of stories that show people persevering together, no matter what trial is placed before them.

Story aside, the acting in this film is phenomenal, too.

Go check out They Live in the Grey and support awesome indie horror like this film!

• The Tunnel

More found footage recommendations from me (if you’re new here, that’s something you’ll have to get used to). I try not to reiterate things too much, despite being a sucker for this format, but I feel all the good ones do really well at bringing something unique to the sub-genre.

Two things I really loved bout this one: First, the realistic portrayal of film crew dynamics as justification for the form and for the characters. Second, the exploration of that fine line between obsession and creativity, especially as it regards ‘making it’ in the creative fields. What, after all, would so many of us not do to succeed at our passion, in our craft? Is there anything or anyone an artist wouldn’t risk if they believed enough in what they were creating? You see this narrative explored pretty thoroughly in stories like The Shining or Whiplash, but this film does a good job of putting us, as viewers, in that driver’s seat and making us a part of that choice, whether we want to be or not.

The movie is also pretty terrifying, doing well to utilize a creepy cryptid that lurks in the dark of an abandoned subway tunnel. This film has a good combination of immersive story telling, tense horror scenes, and a fast-paced conclusion where everything hits the fan. The labyrinthine feel of the tunnel system, the ever-present shadows, and the creature that lurks within plays a terrifying backdrop to the everyday drama that unfolds amongst the production team, and serves as a strong metaphor for that looming dread and terror that always waits around the figurative corner of any creative career.

We, as creators, have to take risks, dive deep into terrifying situations, and collaborate with those we admire and those we dislike all together to realize our visions and no true art is every discovered wholly in the light. So much of what makes a good story can only be realized by delving into the shadows. That’s why I love horror so much, I just like to live in that place, take it all in, breathe and smell it, and for that, you have to take your time.

This movie does that and so much more. Go check out The Tunnel and let us know what you thought! As always, get out there and support indie horror :).

• Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward

I’m a little late to the party on this book, which, when it first showed up in 2023, got a tremendous amount of hype and won Best Book of the Year at Observer.

Now that I’ve finally gotten around to reading it, I can see why. If you’re into literary prose, horror, thrillers, and mystery novels all living together in a creepy melange of grisly, relationship-centric, twisting and turning narrative, then this book is definitely for you. This is what one of my heroes Johnny B. Truant would call a ‘mind-fuckery’ book. Each time you think you understand what is happening in this story it takes yet another turn, deeper into the labyrinth that Ward has expertly crafted for her readers, and further into the depths of depravity and darkness which can exist in the shadowy corners of our close relationships and the creative process.

This book is a little like Shudder Island meets The Shining as it follows Wilder Harlow and his friends Nat, Harper, and Sky. What begins as a coming of age story where Wilder meets his first real friends in Harper and Nat, quickly becomes a dark and twisted psychological thriller when one of the three friends is linked to a series of local slayings.

As Wilder grows older and eventually goes to college, he meets Sky, his college sweetheart and the first real connection he’s had since the breakout with Harper and Nat. But Sky, like his other friends, is not all he seems and the story only gets darker from there.

This is a harrowing tale about adolescent connections, the lifelong desire to maintain good relationships and to cement a legacy, and about the way that intellectual theft can drive a person mad.

I highly recommend giving this one a read, or if you’re into audiobooks, the Audible version is superbly done. I’ll say nothing else about it so that I don’t spoil anything but definitely go CHECK IT OUT if you’re into that cross between horror, mystery, and thriller.

Hope this satiates your desires for horror until next month, ya’ll! See you in a couple weeks for some more personal updates :).

-Clay