Vampires and werewolves may be frightful, but they lack the gnawing existential elan of the terrors of parenthood. Besides all the anxieties about perils which might afflict your offspring, there are more subtle chills — namely the recurring fits of angst over whether the example you’ve tried to set or lessons you’ve tried to impart […]

The unconvincing gorilla suit was a staple of stage and screen dating back to at least the late 19th Century. Need an exotic menace for an old dark house? Someone to send a slapstick ensemble into a state of comedic terror? A zany bit of zest for a struggling sitcom? Just throw someone with the […]

GIANT SPIDERS! They like to interfere with road crews for kicks! GIANT SPIDERS! They like to picnic in the grass! GIANT SPIDERS! Always looking for a good deal on a firm but comfortable queen-size mattress! GIANT SPIDERS! They greatly overestimate their abilities as pick-up artists! GIANT SPIDERS! Sometimes they are powered by a rear-mounted 1600 […]

For Robert Scott Carey, this was the most terrifying day of his life. But for me, it was just another Tuesday.

AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *hic* AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ARF! Recommended listening: You were expecting that Warren Zevon track, right? Sorry.

One of the bigger events that happened during the hiatus was the passing of Ollie Dog last spring. He is much missed, but he had a grand life, was much loved, and left this world peacefully. My opinion that we should maybe wait a bit before getting another canine companion was vetoed by the wife […]

A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place your sight can knock on, echoing; but here within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze will be absorbed and utterly disappear: just as a raving madman, when nothing else can ease him, charges into his dark night howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels […]