This time we will be summoning the Old Ones. Dagon, Yog- Sothoth, Shoggoth, Azathoth, and Cthulhu will all be gathered around the table for a festival of films set to satiate their appetites.
Cosmic horror is a subgenre that's made me feel some type of way for a long time. For this season in particular, I will be checking out films that I haven't seen: The Void, The Color Out of Space, The Dunwich Horror. Along with old favorites like In the Mouth of Madness and The Mist. This 'theme' isn't meant to encompass the whole season. It's a throughline. In the broader scheme of things, I will be taking a 31 New to Me Horror Films Challenge.
TOMES OF TERROR
I will forever be chasing that feeling of dread when watching a movie or reading a book. What I've noticed is I find it more in books than films nowadays. Movies rarely scare me. Accordingly, I've set aside a handful of works of fiction that promise to get under my skin. That's what the blurbs on the dust jackets say at least.
The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
I never fully read the book my favorite horror movie is based on. I plan on rectifying this in October.
The Troop by Nick Cutter
Scoutmaster Tim Riggs leads a troop of kids into the Canadian wilderness for a three day camping trip. What starts off as good natured tradition turns into outright horror when a shockingly thin and voraciously hungry man stumbles into their campsite.
Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco
A 1976 Oliver Reed starring movie was made from this. While I'm not a big fan, I hear the source material is much better. A classic haunted house story that was an influence on King's The Shining.
The Auctioneer by Joan Samson
The story of John Moore, his wife Mim and his mother, it is a tale of a small town being quietly overrun by auctioneer Pearly Dunsmore. Stephen King named it as an influence on Needful Things.
To Be Devoured by Sarah Tantlinger
Andi has an insatiable desire to taste dead flesh. The vultures circling outside her home taunt her to come to understand the secrets hiding in their banquet of decay. Her girlfriend tries to help Andi battle her inner darkness. This is a novella and I've heard nothing but good things about it.
Gone to See the River Man by Kristofer Triana
Follows a serial killer fanatic on her quest to meet Edmund Cox. Edmund tells her she must go to his cabin in the woods and retrieve a key to deliver to a mysterious figure known only as the River Man.
Negative Space by BR Yeager
Four teens in a small New Hampshire town abuse a hallucinogenic drug called WHORL to cope with a suicide epidemic.
The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories by HP Lovecraft
HP Lovecraft is a name so synonymous with the subgenre of Cosmic Horror that it's been decribed as Lovecraftian Horror. As such, I will be tackling several of his short stories.
The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti
Ligotti blew me away the first time I came across his work. This was a holy grail find for me earlier this year. It compiles 45 of his stories written from 1981 to 1996.
The Dark Descent
As with the last two spooky seasons, I will continue to read some stories from this compendium.
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