What I Love About HorrorHound Magazine

About 2 years ago I came across a most magnificent little tome on the shelves of my local bookstore. HORRORHOUND magazine (full color, approx. 64 pages) made my eyes light up the same way FANGORIA forever changed my gore-soaked eyes back in 1989. While I will always be most loyal to the mag which formed, guided and wickedly enhanced my tastes for horror forever, HORRORHOUND has quickly become my naughty little mistress.

The key to HorrorHound's niche is that it appeals directly to my generation the same way Scarlett Street retrospected all of my parents fright flicks for modern times. At the same time, it's information and photo packed pages drag you right back to all the graphically orgasmic horror mags of the mid-late 80s, and still manages to draw the attention of today's jaded teens and their internet damped eyes. Cover stories and extremely detailed retros on such original fan-favorites as Friday the 13th, Halloween, Salem's Lot, Pumpkinhead, Child's Play, The Exorcist and even Michael Jackson's Thriller are promoted with the same respect as though the films are just now being released.

To further grab your attention are "Fun Facts" and "Did you know?" bits of fandom Q&A lining the bottom of every single page... seemingly useless details to the untrained eye, but knowledge being absorbed like UV rays by any true fan of freakishness. While there's also fresh interviews and news on upcoming theatrical releases for "new" product (i.e. lame remakes), there are much more gruesomely delicious bits on horror comix, model kits, video games, toys, conventions, and DVD releases of our fave films of yesteryear. Even the ads filling quarter pages jump out and beat you over your bludgeoned noggin. I have to say, however, there are two specific regular pieces I automatically flip to...

First up is "The Video Invasion," a typically 3-4 page breakdown of the vaults of long-forgotten and defunct VHS distributors such as Wizard, Camp, Vestron, Gorgon, et al. Each page is gore-iously designed with the company's complete collection of VHS box art, and whether or not the title came in the traditional (i.e. more common) VHS sleeve or the giant clam shell (most often remembered as the size of 80s porn VHS box covers). Additional promotional materials (such as the light-up posters of A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 & 4 and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2 released by Media Home Entertainment) are also displayed with a loving touch. Imagine the hunt these collectors must dedicate themselves to in order to hunt down the eBay bound items.

Second, and probably because it gives me the same soothing sensation and excitement as those People magazine "Where are they now?" stories, I savor "Horror's Hallowed Grounds." Pictures taken directly from the film are matched up to pictures taken today by a devoted fan hungry enough to hunt down original filming locations in random towns across the nation! Anyone willing to put forth that kind of effort (squinting their eyes til they bleed at the TV screen to try and pick up addresses on homes and rusted street signs to identify possible landmarks) wins my vote for "most devoted." There's simply something so fascinating - at least to me - about how people and places have aged over the years.

What I love most about HorrorHound magazine, though, is just how much fun its staff seems to have in creating it. The writing is enjoyable, easy to consume and typically to the point. The layouts are playful and filled with photos of varying sizes meant to squeeze in as many as possible. It's clear from front to back that this mag is made entirely by fans for fans, bringing long-lost and forgotten titles of my youth back to life. Thank you, HorrorHound, for bringing me back to my childhood and making me a fan again, remembering why this genre consumed me in the first place.

Review: The House of the Devil (2009)

So on an unexpected stop at my local Blockbuster (I rent about 4 times a year) to specifically look for a copy of the unbelievably inspiring PRECIOUS (2009), I decided to peruse the new releases section and came across THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL. I had seen the box art in a few magazines and recalled its mention on a variety of online horror sites. I had the evening free, so I figured "Why the F^*k not?" It was an excellent decision.

I'm not impressed by very many horror flicks these days. "Been there, seen that" is what I usually think after most modern flicks have wasted my time. Complete lack of originality. THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL (HOTD) is that rare gem, and after seeing it over a month ago, I still can't get it out of my head. Hence, my need to share it with others and figure why it captured my inner demon, especially since nothing happens in the first 55 minutes... but I couldn't stop watching!

The general premise: Set in 1981, college sophomore Samantha is in dire need of $$$ to escape her annoying dorm mate and get her own apartment, but she needs the down payment in 3 days. Passing a community campus board later that day she sees a babysitting ad. Upon arriving at the secluded house, however, she finds she won't be caring for a child, but instead an unseen, elderly woman in the attic. All she has to do is stay in the house for 4 hours while the family is away at an event and she'll earn a cool $400. Against her better judgment, she agrees, and as the night unfolds discovers she should have followed her gut instinct.

Sounds like a been-there/done-that plot from the early 1980s - but it's just that element which is what makes this film work. The awesome thing here is that this doesn't seem like a 2009-made feature set in 1981. Director Ti West (CABIN FEVER 2) pays such intimate attention to period detail in costumes, props, hair, set design and the type of film used in 1981 that it actually comes across as a forgotten time capsule just released to the public. Its time period also plays extreme importance in that in today's cell phone/instant 911 help era, this story wouldn't work. In 1981, it's still entirely plausible.

So, like I said earlier, nothing happens for the bulk of the film. Samantha walks around the eerie 3 story house, trying to ignore its creepy creaks and groans.... until she can't take them anymore. As she tries to silence the night and her nerves, Sam slowly begins to accidentally discover the secrets of the house, the family she knows nothing about... and that lady in the attic. For anyone who's ever babysat in an unfamiliar home, all that tension will quickly come back to you, which is the brilliance behind West's quest to terrify you from the inside out. Once Samantha discovers all the truths of her unfortunate situation, you'll be chewing your nails off and - that rare of rarest things for true fans bored with everything they've seen before - you'll be covering your eyes and screaming at the screen. Think back to the original HALLOWEEN (1978) or THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974). Yeah - it gets that scary. Overall, however, this is much more aesthetically ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) than Leatherface.

If you want to see the latest modern remake or sequel, pick up SAW VI or - snooze - PROM NIGHT '08. If you want to remember what it was like to watch something with a true sense of evil and suspense -something that wants to crawl under your skin and sink into your brain vs. simply grossing you out - spend a night in THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL.