Happy International Artist Day! Today we celebrate the dark fantasy art of Diana Levin of Ghoulish Bunny Studios!
Diana Levin’s art could be described as both whimsical and menacing. Her imaginative and unique style embrace death and horror, all while capturing the natural beauty of an enchanted forest or a fantastical world.
Diana and her author husband Shawn Givens travel around to different conventions and trade shows all over the USA. They’re two of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Stop by and say hello!
Enter the 5th Annual Halloween Haiku Challenge for a chance to win a witchy prize pack containing a canvas bag and an enamel pin featuring the art of Diana Levin!
Title: The Boogeyman Director: Rob Savage Starring: Chris Messina, Sophie Thatcher, Vivien Lyra Blair Distributed by: 20th Century Studios Running Time: 1hr 38m
Based off the 1973 short story by Stephen King, I found this one on Hulu the other night. I hadn’t read the story before, so I thought maybe it would be a paranormal movie, but it kinda turned into a creature feature. For anyone new to the lore, a Boogeyman is predominantly North American mythos of a hellish creature that hides in closets, under the bed, or other dark creepy places and eats children who misbehave, or in this case, are just unlucky.
A recently widowed psychologist Will Harper (always solid Chris Messina) and his two daughters, teen Sadie (Yellowjackets star ingenue Sophie Thatcher) and young Sawyer (very talented Vivien Lyra Blair) are still reeling after the unexpected death of the mother, when the youngest girl suddenly finds stalked by the Boogeyman. It’s a little unclear how the creature came to find young Sawyer, maybe the family’s collective grief invited the Boogeyman into the home.
Or it could have been this sad welp below, who lost his family in the movie’s opening scene.
Lester Billings (played by my new favorite character actor David Dastmalchian) shows up in doc’s office, totally unannounced, without an appointment, and talking about the creature that comes for your kids when you’re not paying attention. Dark stuff and the doc Harper agees, there’s something off about this dude. For some creepy reason, while Harper is in the next room calling 911, Lester decides to check out the families’ closets and quickly finds out the Boogeyman eats adults too. Btw, the Boogeyman is also an extreme multi-tasker because it manages to haunt two families at the same time.
Now about that Boogeyman, filmmakers kept all the traditional tropes to make their monster feel familiar to audiences, hiding in the dark, afraid of light, mimicing voices, fast traveling like ghosts or a spirit, but, then, they also smartly added some new characteristics to unnerve and surprise filmgoers, moving away from a paranormal entity to a more corporeal physical creature.
It was ugly, had tentacle-like appendages walked on ceilings, moved in all directions, making it near impossible to outrun.
Monsters are not all powerful though. In fact, they have a lot of limitations, and Sadie and Sawyer turn out to be two smart cookies, who manage to defeat the Boogeyman, for now at least. People should probably still check under the bed and in the closet.
I found this PG-13 horror thriller to be a short enjoyable romp. The film relies on the creeponess of the dark, jump scares and the anxieties of a grieving family to scare audiences. Much like Lake Mungo, a film I reviewed earlier this month, grief is a powerful negative emotion that really opens you up to supernatural. Since there’s no gore, sex, and only mild use of drugs and bad language, The Boogeyman is probably good for families looking to introduce older kids into horror.
Scariest scenes: When young Sawyer rolls her lamp ball under the bed to reveal the Boogeyman for the first time and another jump scare moment when the Boogeyman suddenly appears and grabs Sadie.
Hammer’s unique story mash up between Burke and Hare cases, legendary serial killer Jack the Ripper, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a mesmorizing gender-bender thriller.
Set in infamous Whitechapel at the height of Jack the Ripper’s murderous spree, Dr. Henry Jekyll (Ralph Bates) hell-bent on his quest for immortality, crosses moral barriers with his experiments.
At first, the young doctor pays a local mortician to acquire body parts of newly-deceased women who end up in the morgue, but when supplies run low, the doctor enlists the grisly services of two lowly gentleman, Burke and Hare, who indiscriminately kill unsuspecting victims and bring their dead bodies to Dr. Jekyll.
But Dr. Jekyll’s serum has unintended consequences, when it transforms his own body into the body of a beautiful woman, who he eventually names Mrs. Hyde (Martine Beswick). He tells his noisy neighbors, including his admirer Susan (Susan Brodrick), that the alluring woman now living with him is his recently widowed sister.
Between The Ripper and Burke and Hare, the city of Whitechapel is gripped by fear. Someone eventually finds out about deadly duo’s murderous deeds and they succomb to the town’s pitchfork. This leaves Dr. Jekyll at a disadvantage, just as he was making progress with his serum.
Sister Hyde quickly realizes her demise is tied to Dr. Jekyll’s research, so she begins stalking the dark alleys of Whitechapel herself for young female victims to murder in the name of science.
Back in 1971, the idea of a man transforming into a woman was really taboo stuff. For some moviegoers, that in of itself was the horror. Despite the obvious misogynistic horror trope of making every other woman who appears on a screen a victim, this film really pioneered LGBTQ and woman empowerment themes.
Martine Beswick really stands out here with her cutthroat and sensual performance as Sister Hyde. She’s one spooky bitch, and probably deserves a little more attention in the pantheon of horror villains. If you’re new to Hammer Horror, definitely give this wickedly smart thriller a watch.
Title: Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum Director: Jung Bum-shik Starring: Wi Ha-joon, Park Sung-hoon, Ji-Hyun Park Distributed by: Showbox Running Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
I found this South Korean ghost flick while strolling through Tubi the the other day. Korean horror cinema is known for its bleak and tragic outcomes and this one was right on point.
Inspired by a real CNN travel story that named Gonjiam one of seven freakiest places on Earth, Director Jung Bum-shik crafts a story of a web series film crew live streaming their visit to the abandoned South Korean asylum, in hopes to make big money, only to find it plagued with demonic forces.
The movie starts with a motley group answering an ad posted by Youtube owner Ha-joon for “Horror Times” to shoot a live-streamed event held at the long abandoned and haunted Gonjiam, the site where dozens of curious trespassers and self-proclaimed ghost hunters have disappeared from. Room 402 in particular is so haunted, no one can even open the door. The controversial mental hospital had closed after the death of its pioneer director, who mysteriously killed herself. Rumor was, the asylum was actually a place designed to torture and kill political prisoners.
Now, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from decades of watching paranormal films, is that ghosts don’t like liars and fakers, but what they hate most of all is being disrespected and underappreciated. Basically, all ghosts act like teenage girls.
Despite the natural setting of an abandoned hospital, the film crew’s captain, played by Wi Ha-joon from Squid Game fame, decides to trick audiences by setting up fake shots of “haunted activity”. Ugh! Ha-joon sets up camp a half mile down the road to control the broadcasts, all while directing his crew to film and go where he wants.
Well, dude, the spirits see your creepy doll and motion detector lights, and raise you wheelchairs that move on their own, ghastly ping pong balls, and changing wall messages from “let’s live” to “let’s die”.
As the exploring crew go deeper and deeper into the hospital, their experiences with the former residents increase enough to spook them out and they all try to flee. It doesnt take long for them to find out though, once you’re admitted to Gonjiam, there’s no escape.
Gonjiam is a mix of standard horror fare and hand-held camera footage, which provides the most scares. The formulaic film relies heavily on the dark atmosphere and jump scares, but honestly, there’s not enough of them to make this film stand out. That said, it’s not the worst way to spend the evening.
Scariest scene: Crew member Charlotte finds herself locked in Room 402 with a ghost of a naked man.
Part spy thriller, part goth horror, all parts 1970s grooviness, complete with sherpa vests, The Satanic Rites of Dracula takes place two years after Dracula, A.D. 1972. An undercover cop for Scotland Yard barely escapes the clutches of an evil mysterious cult in London.
In his dying last breaths, the agent recalls witnessing the horrifying bloody ritual sacrifice of a beautiful young naked woman, seen in secret photo evidence that he smuggled out of the compound.
With their colleague dead, Inspector Murray and Scotland Yard are at a loss for answers, so they call on Professor Van Helsing and his scholarly granddaughter Jessica to help decipher the satanic symbols and identify cult members.
While Inspector Murray, Jessica, and others go to the compound to dig around, Van Helsing reaches out to an old friend he recognized in the photos, with hopes of infiltrating the satanic cult made up of government officials hellbent on destroying the world and bringing back the Prince of Darkness.
Christopher Lee returns for his 7th and final performance as Count Dracula for Hammer Films. Also reprising their roles, Peter Cushing starring as Professor Lorrimer Van Helsing (a descendant of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing) and Michael Coles as Inspector Murray; and a young and absolutely fabulous Joanna Lumely shines brightly as Jessica Van Helsing, the woman Dracula hopes to make his new bride.
A heavily edited version of Satanic Rites of Dracula was redistributed in the U.S. in 1979 as Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride. You will find it streaming under that name on Plex, a free streaming service with an overwhelming ton of ads.
Title: Lake Mungo Director: Joel Anderson Starring: Rosie Traynor, Talia Zucker, David Pledger, Martin Sharper Distributed by: Arclight Films Running Time: 88 minutes
Since its release in 2008, the psychological thriller Lake Mungo consistently shows up in peoples’ top scary movies you’ve never seen lists. This was originally a movie that I skipped back in the day because it was a found footage horror like mega-hits The Blair Witch, 1999, or Paranormal Activity, 2007. Although hugely popular, I thought slow-burn, hand-held shaky cam stylized horror films had oversaturated the market in the 2000s and I grew tired of them. The only found footage gem to come from that era was the 2007 Spanish zombie film Rec.
Instead of in-your-face jump scares, slow-burn horror movies move at a snail’s pace and build up all the tension up front, usually for an hour and a half, all for one big giant scary payoff at the end. It’s a film technique that flat-out doesn’t work for some horror fans, particularly any with attention deficit disorders. After finding Lake Mungo on good ole Tubi, I decided to give it a try. After getting over my usual gripes about slow-burn, found-footage films, I began to appreciate Lake Mungo for what the film was really selling, death and existential dread.
The movie starts with a typical Australian middle-class family living in Victoria suburbia of Ararat, explaining through documentary-style interviews and shared family and police photos and videos, how the recent mysterious loss of their teenage daughter Alice has devastated their family.
Watching a family grieve is never fun. Audiences are immediately thrust into one family’s nightmare scenario and it’s here where the excellent casting becomes one of the most brilliant things about Lake Mungo. Thanks to these strong unassuming low-key performances, the beginning is utterly depressing. It feels like you’re watching a documentary about a real family mourning their daughter, sister, and friend, a beautiful, cheerful girl living what we think is the perfect life. The painful agony of tragically losing a loved one hits hard, yet, boredom might set in for anyone who hasn’t experienced any such loss.
Eventually, evil starts to seep into the family’s photographs and found footage as the movie progresses. Through police photos, we learn what Alice’s father Russell saw when he identified Alice’s body but Alice’s mother June couldn’t bring herself to look, which leads to her not finding closure. Later, a particularly agonizing stunt pulled by her grieving son Matthew, who is also dealing with his sister’s death in a different way, prompts June to begin questioning whether her daughter is actually dead.
In her quest, June meets a psychic Ray who may hold the key to understanding Alice’s untimely demise. June and the family uncover truths about Alice’s double life and clues leading them back to the source of evil at Lake Mungo.
In his feature-length writing and directorial debut, Joel Anderson makes all the smart choices in mixing documentary-style interviewing, showing photographs, and found footage video to tell his story. While some shots are repeated, and there are a few red herrings, no scene is wasted. You’re constantly fed new information and you’ll start scouring the screen looking for ghosts or signs of the paranormal. The tension towards the end is agony because you know something is not right, but you’re not sure what it is. Be sure to watch through the credits as the extra photos confirm paranormal evidence.
Scariest scene: Near the end, the big reveal of what Alice saw at Lake Mungo. It’s a subtle scare, one that takes a while for you to get creeped out.
Legendary screen actor Peter Cushing reprises his role as Professor Van Helsing in Brides of Dracula, a sequel to the popular Hammer film, Horror of Dracula.
Count Dracula is dead, but his disciples live on, terrorizing Transylvania, all thanks to a young school mistress Marianne Danielle, played by Yvonne Monlaur, traveling to a small village to teach girls French and etiquette.
After her stagecoach mysteriously rides away leaving her stranded, Marianne meets the Baroness Meinster and agrees to stay the night in her castle.
Marianne sees a strange man in the chamber across from hers. In the middle of the night, she sneaks over and finds that the man is actually the Baroness’ son and her host keeps him locked up.
Ignorant to the dangers, she helps Baron Meinster escape and unknowingly releases a monster.
The undead Baron wrecks havoc on the local village, but thankfully, infamous vampire hunter Van Helsing, who has been called upon by a local priest, is back to save the day!
Released in 1960, Brides of Dracula was directed by Terence Fisher, a frequent collaborator and director of Hammer films. Despite losing the charismatic Christopher Lee as the titular character, Hammer had vision to expand the vampire universe and this was their first film doing so. I’ve read online that the production was plagued with problems, but totally worth it, as this is one of best Hammer films I’ve seen.
Brides of Dracula is now streaming on Prime Video with paid subscription.
**PROGRAM UPDATE 10-07-23: Due to a malfunctioning oven, I will not be able whip up recipes for Sinister Saturdays as promised. So instead, I’ll do something little more in my wheelhouse, scary movie reviews. Every Saturday in October will now be dedicated to reviewing a scary paranormal movie.**
Happy Autumn! Don’t be scared, but October is exactly one week away!
Earlier this year, Halloween Horror Haiku celebrated its 5th anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been 5 years already. It hasn’t always been easy, especially these days when work consumes most of my life, but I’m still enjoying writing haiku and sharing in the spirit of Halloween. That’s why instead of easing up, I’m forging ahead with a 31-day plan to celebrate Halloween 2023!
Be sure to check in every day in October for cool, fun, and inspirational Halloween artwork, haiku, poems, stories, and PRIZES!!! That’s right, I’m giving away a ton of cool prizes this year, but you must be a follower of Halloween Horror Haiku, either here on WordPress or Instagram (click the links to join me).
HALLOWEEN SCHEDULE 2023
Monday Macabre
Our theme this month is A Haunted Halloween. What’s Halloween without a visit to a haunted house? New haiku will be posted every Monday and will connect to tell an overarching story.
Trick or Treat Tuesdays
Play spooky games and win spooky prizes, every Tuesday this October.
Wicked Art Wednesdays
Every Wednesday, I’ll showcase original Halloween art that most represents our theme of “A Haunted Halloween” from the world’s most talented artists.
Thursday Terror
Every Thursday, let’s travel back and revisit the scariest films to come out of the golden age of Hammer Horror.
Friday Fright Nightcaps
What did the ghost say to the bartender? More boos, please! Grab your cauldron, it’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps!
Sinister Saturdays
Join me in my own personal dungeon in hell, y’all might know as the kitchen, as I share some spooook-tacular recipes to die for every Saturday, and post pics and videos of my follies. This could be the scariest day on the schedule, folks (definitely the funniest)!
Spooky Sundays
Spooky Sundays are for reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms.
‘Ber months may start tomorrow, but Summer isn’t over just yet. There’s still 23 days left to celebrate Summerween. I couldn’t decide which is scarier, horror films featuring spooky cabins or mysterious beaches. So, here’s a double list with the best of both worlds. From creature features to crazed killers, you can find all of these films streaming somewhere. Let me know which list you think has the scariest movies.
Halloween Horror Haiku 
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