The Monkey Is In.

So be prepared. Bring a banana.

I'm a writer of horror and dark fiction. I've been doing this since 1999 and believe me when I say, it's cheaper than therapy and safer for the world at large.

The Horror Movie Tag

One of the YouTube channels I regularly visit, Blood Bath and Beyond, is run by a gaggle of super friendly Canadians: Travis, Jay, John, and Collin. They were recently tagged by The Horror Whore, aka Lindsey, to answer 10 questions in a Horror Movie Tag. And Jay answered the call.

It got me thinking about what my own answers might be and so I contacted Lindsey to see if it would be all right to do this through a blog, since I don't have a YouTube channel, and if I could tag other bloggers and podcasters. And hooray! She said cool! I'll have the link to her original video with the questions and the BBB vid below.

And now...on to the Horror Movie Tag!

1. What is the first horror movie you remember watching?                                                                     I remember the movie I peeked at when I was supposed to be in bed: The Exorcist. I only caught a few minutes of the film on a little black and white TV. I don't even remember which scene it was but the feeling of absolute terror is still with me today. It was probably my first hit of the Horror drug and I've been hooked ever since.

2. What is your favorite horror movie?                                                                                                       This is a tough one since I love so many. But I'll pick one that I've watched dozens of times and have never tired of it: Fright Night. Vampires are the shit, y'all, and Chris Sarandon was absolutely brilliant as Jerry Dandridge, the most terrifying and sexy vampire to grace the silver screen.

3. What is your favorite horror movie genre?                                                                                       Based on my previous answer, you can probably guess that vampires are my favorite genre in horror. I don't know why but they've always called to me. I love their immortality, their beauty, their powers over so many things (people, animals, weather). Even if they're angsty vamps (whiny little Louis comes to mind first), I still adore them. 

4. What genre scares you the most?                                                                                                                     I assume she meant which sub-genre in horror scares me the most and I'll say supernatural - like ghosts and possession (demons or spirits). Those are the kinds of things that you can't see or grab a hold of so how the hell are you supposed to fight back? Since I lack a certain amount of will power and strength, depending on that aspect in life means I'm basically fucked if a demon ever decides to take control of me.

5. What is the last horror movie you watched that actually scared you?                                           I just watched The Babadook. Mostly it made me uneasy and uncomfortable but there were aspects that terrified me. 

6. Who is your ultimate scream queen?                                                                                                         I'm going to go old school here and say Linnea Quigly. I haven't seen everything she's done but she always comes to mind when I think about the flicks I have seen of hers. She's so quirky and unusual and her characters make the most impact on me, especially that lipstick trick from Night of the Demons. You know what I'm talking about. And if you don't? Oh, you poor little thing.

7. What's a concept that you'd like to see in horror?                                                                                I'd like to see more anthology movies. The original Creepshow films are some of my favorites (and I'm including way back to the 70s, folks). Tales from the Darkside, Trick r Treat, the ABCs of Death are a few that I've really enjoyed. I didn't like the VHS films but that doesn't mean the format has had it's day. I hope more of this style are created in the future.

8. What is your favorite on screen kill?                                                                                                         Ah! So many quality kills out there. But I'll go with the head exploding scene in Scanners. 'Nuf said.

9. What's your favorite horror franchise?                                                                                                 This is probably a toss up between Nightmare on Elm Street and Puppetmaster. I own more films from NOES than from PM but I always loved watching the evolution of the puppets, from sentient bad guys to almost heroes. Freddy devolved into goofy the further the franchise went on but he was the most terrifying right out of the gate and such an enduring presence.

10. Who's your favorite horror director?                                                                                                            I don't really know one director from another just by watching a movie they directed but Wes Craven has been pretty dang consistent in his work. Aside from NOES, I loved The Serpent and the Rainbow, People Under the Stairs, Scream, Last House on the Left, and Swamp Thing to name a few.

That's it for me! I tag MontiLee Stormer, Michael Cieslak, Kevin Moyers, and David Hayes. I figure anyone who doesn't want to blog or make a podcast with this can just post on FB. ALL THE SOCIAL MEDIA! Feel free to tag as few or as many people as you'd like!

To check out The Horror Whore's channel, go here:        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fexgXN4m0Uk

The check out Blood Bath and Beyond's video, go here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SvUG6rqU2E