"Dirty, Slimy Freaks!"

Read my in-depth article on Tod Browning, Lon Chaney, Freaks and the Eugenics Movement, over at DIABOLIQUE

Counterculture's Cinematic Corpses

Secret Transmissions interviewed me for their Samhain special on Subversive Horror and Counterculture.

READ THE INTERVIEW HERE

Coming soon to a mirror near you...

Pre-Order Here

Close Encounters at City Screen, York, Sept 18.

City Screen Picturehouse York.

 

Monday, September 18 at 8:30 PM - 11 PM

'Steven Spielberg’s genre-defining masterpiece returns to cinemas in a dazzling restoration of the director’s cut to win over audiences all over again. This brilliantly paced tale follows two groups of people driven by the prospect that humans are not alone in the universe. The first is a team of scientists on a trail of mind-boggling evidence that leads them to the eventual landing site of alien visitors; the other a group of ordinary people who gravitate to the same spot, plagued by strange visions after close encounters with extra-terrestrial life. The opening sequences masterfully evoke a sense of foreboding, but as the film builds towards its stunning climax, fear gives way to wonder. It’s a tone shift that set Spielberg’s idealistic vision apart from all other big-screen alien encounters at the time, and raised the bar for every first-contact film that would follow.

We have an introduction by Jon Towlson, critic with Starburst Magazine and author of the recent book Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Auteur/Columbia University Press).

Audiences will also be treated to a short about the making of the film, which includes an all-new interview with Steven Spielberg.'

TICKETS

The Electric Cinema, Birmingham, Wednesday, 2 August

TICKETS

Kunst Gallery, Belper. Saturday 28 October

SYNTHETIC FLESH/ROTTEN BLOOD UK Dates

Following the success of my Miskatonic London talk, SYNTHETIC FLESH/ROTTEN BLOOD, based on my book THE TURN TO GRUESOMENESS IN AMERICAN HORROR FILMS, 1931-1936, I'm delighted to announce more UK dates for the talk.

YORK, CITY SCREEN PICTUREHOUSE - 11 JUNE 2017

BIRMINGHAM, SHOCK AND GORE FESTIVAL -  2 AUGUST 2017

INFO AND TICKETS

BELPER, DERBYSHIRE, KUNST GALLERY - 28 OCTOBER 2017

INFO AND TICKETS

MANCHESTER, FESTIVAL OF FANTASTIC FILMS - OCTOBER 2017 (T.B.C)

NEWCASTLE, NOVOCASTRIA MACABRE - (T.B.C)

"Mad scientists...sadistic torture...maniac killers. Alongside gangster movies and sex pictures, thirties horror films used sensational images to attract thrill-hungry audiences during the darkest days of the Great Depression. From Frankenstein (1931) to Freaks (1932) to The Black Cat (1934) to The Raven (1935), studios ballyhooed the public with ‘supershockers’ that left the moral guardians up in arms. Filmmakers like James Whale, Tod Browning and Edgar G. Ulmer exulted in the gruesome and the brutal, flouting the Hays Code at every turn. Eventually, in July 1934, the censors struck back, banning ‘gruesomeness’ from horror, and the genre lost its fangs. Everyone soon forgot how shocking those 1930s films were.

Until now.

Join author and Starburst film critic Jon Towlson on a graphic journey through 'pre-Code' 1930s horror cinema. Experience the terrors of synthetic flesh, the agonies of rotten blood, and abandon any preconceptions you may have that classic horror cinema is cosy and safe - classics like Dr. X (1932) and Murders in the Rue Morgue (1931) may be closer to modern day torture porn than you think..."

Diabolique Interview

James Gracey at Diabolique Magazine interviewed me about thirties horror and gruesomeness. You can read the interview here.

GRUESOMENESS up for a RONDO

I am honored to be nominated for BOOK OF THE YEAR at the 15th Annual Rondo Hatton Awards, a recognition of achievement in classic horror scholarship for my book THE TURN TO GRUESOMNESS IN AMERICAN HORROR FILMS, 1931-1936. It's my second Rondo nomination (the first was for SUBVERSIVE HORROR CINEMA). Congratulations to everyone nominated this year. 

The Rondo is open to voting from the public.

YOU CAN VOTE HERE

GRUESOMENESS on Preliminary Ballot for 2017 Bram Stoker Awards

 

 

I was thrilled to get word today that my book, THE TURN TO GRUESOMENESS IN AMERICAN HORROR FILMS, 1931-1936 has been included in the preliminary ballot for the 2016 BRAM STOKER AWARDS in the category SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN NON-FICTION.

This is not a nomination, I should point out, but it's still a great honour!!!