Miss Velvet was supposed to be my daughter’s cat, a graduation present acquired (along with a mustachioed tuxedo littermate dubbed Henri) from a friend of Maura’s sister-in-law. She was stunningly adorable orange, black, and white calico kitten full of purrs and absurd antics, and I vowed I would not get attached to her because I […]

From the days of old, when T’Pau was in the Top 10 charts and Games Workshop was a weirdly cool alternative to TSR’s stodginess instead of a punchline attached to its most profitably prominent IP comes White Dwarf #91 (July 1987), which featured the following house ad for its line of “Gothic Horror” miniatures. Why […]

What a time to be a junior high geek whose family just bought their first VCR. And that’s on top of it being around the same time a direct market comic shop opened within biking distance of my house. And the local pool hall and bowling alley added arcade games to their floor space. And […]

The House That Dripped Blood was a 1971 British horror anthology film, one of many such releases from Amicus during the period. It’s big selling points were the fact its various segments were adaptations of Robert Bloch tales and its cast included an all-star lineup featuring not only Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, but also […]

Before Eustace Q. Sadism, EdD hit upon the venture which would make him a household name, he’d tried his hand at a staggering number of enterprises which never caught on with the public. Here are a few: – The Yarn Store of Dr. Sadism – The Slot Car Emporium of Dr. Sadism – The Wicker […]

Listen to them, the children of the eurodisco! What music they make! Recommended listening: Did I mention there’s a promo video? Because there is one, Satan help us all.

Boris Karloff is horror royalty, whose presence could elevate even the worst cinematic drek — and he starred in a lot of it, especially during his final years. Unfortunately that legendary status has been somewhat undercut for me by the utterly random epiphany I had some years ago that he bears a striking resemblance to […]

At my elementary school, it was a thing to send the entire sixth grade class off to a campground in the Nashoba Valley for an entire week to learn about nature and shit from a bunch of earthy crunchy undergrads. I absolutely dreaded the experience — not just because the prospect of being with trapped […]

Sore. Why not? Given the current state of the world, I doubt anyone would notice. Recommended listening: The Horned One’s got game.

On March 13, 1987 — also known as my fifteenth birthday — MTV decided change up its Friday Night Party Zone formula by having legendary horror host John Zacherle, the Cool Ghoul himself, cause Downtown Julie Brown to flee the set and make may for the FRIDAY NIGHT HORROR ZONE. That’s some first rate acting, […]