27/4/2021
I’ve always had a bit of a phone phobia. That might sound paradoxical coming from a guy who has as much of an addiction to the damned thing as the next author with a social media feed and a doom scrolling habit, but I m talking mostly about the voice part of the phone. The part we don t use much anymore. There s just something about having a conversation without being able to read the other person’s body language and facial expressions that I find unsettling, and the idea of having to make telemarketing cold calls sounds like a special circle of hell to me. Not that there aren t aspects of our text-centric smart phones that get my hair up. Anyone who s ever mentioned some odd product within earshot of their phone only to find ads for that very thing the next time they log on to Facebook has ample reason to feel creeped out.
16/2/2021
Having become familiar with Lex Jones via his work and on a personal level in recent months, I ve learned a little regarding the influences that inform the state of his imagination, ranging from written fiction to cinema; from childhood toys and cartoons to comic books and video games. That context has lent my reading of
Whistling Past the Graveyard a certain frisson, as not only can I hear Lex s voice in the writing, but I also see where those influences manifest (often chimerically, Lex taking various different tropes and traditions and weaving them together in a post-modern fashion to produce something idiosyncratic).
Indonesian horror: RATU ILMU HITAM (The Queen of Black Magic)
On January 28th Shudder TV will be premiering the fascinating Indonesian horror film
Ratu Ilmu Hitam ( The Queen of Black Magic) from director Kimo Stamboel and to celebrate its release we are proud to bring you an amazing panel discussion featuring Kimo Stamboel, which
was conducted as part of the Nightstream Film Festival in October of last year, as well as full details and a trailer of
Ilmu Hitam ( The Queen of Black Magic). I for one will be loading this up as soon as it is available to stream on Shudder