WEIRD Horror "The New Weird"

Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988) dir. by Stephen Chiodo

Personal Favorite “Weird Horror” Movie is Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil

Cabin in the Woods (2012) dir. By Drew Goddard (9/10 stars)

Corporate, office setting (Maybe research/scientific based)

Light, casual humor between colleagues

Stereotypical “College Girl” scene (“Smart and quirky” girl virgin+ Ditsy party blonde)

Jocks appear!

Token stoner

Set up characters for typical horror movie trope (Group of friends on vacation to a house in the forest)

At this point, the “weird” part of the horror is the scenes of the mysterious “Research” lab

Sketchy gas stop where the “College Kids” are harassed and creeped out by backwoods man

Long, tedious journey to the dwelling in the trees

Creepy, murderous paintings in the house

One way mirror

The College Kids are being filmed by the scientists! For TV shows??

Using hormones, etc. to control behavior/ subtly influencing actions

More workplace drama, making it seem casual

Mention of “The Ancient Ones”

Employees betting on the characters

College kids partying

Cellar door blows open!

Everyone goes down, it is emphasized by the scientists that this choice is entirely up to the college kids

Dana reads from a diary, the dead rises

Basement is filled with things that will each trigger a different monster, depends on what the participants choose to interact with

“The Buchners” Zombie Redneck Torture Family

There’s Horror Movie Torture filming in Japan too! And most likely other countries!

A couple employees disagree with the practice of murdering groups of people with mystical creatures for entertainment

Curt the Jock and Jules the blonde girl get together

Stoner, Marty, is the smartest one so far, knows something ain’t right

The two fornicating characters (Jules and Curt) are brutally murdered by Z.R.T.Family (Maybe they justify this by them “paying for their sins”?)

Seems they sacrifice people for the “Beast’s eternal slumber”

Definitely some blood letting ritual going on

Gnarly zombies thumping at the front door

“We should split up”

Marty realizes its all a reality TV show, is dragged into the woods and presumably killed

LOTS of violence and gore, Bear traps on a chain is a popular way to catch people

Scene of grade school kids in Japan singing away evil spirit, scientists freak out about “the Ancients rising”

College Kids discover the force field surrounding the property

“The Virgin’s death is optional as long as she suffered”

Surprise Marty is still alive!

Marty and Dana find an elevator with other monsters in it, hundreds of terrifying monsters, like every horror movie within a horror movie.

They let out the nightmares!! And it’s epic.

Jerk Scientist has death by mermaid, super brutal, not a typical mermaid

Marty and Dana find a huge ancient temple, used for ritual sacrifice, to punish young people: “The whore (Jules), the athlete (Curt), the scholar Holden), the fool (Marty), the virgin (Dana)”

Ancient Ones are “Gods that used to rule the world”

Practical Demonkeeping by Christopher Moore

 “The netherworld is timeless and unchanging, and boring—much like a doctor’s waiting room.”

No one would like to have a homicidal demon named “Catch” as a companion. To make things worse for our protagonist Travis, Catch loves to swallow people whole. If he were to get rid of him, Travis would age about 90 years in a moment. This is his dilemma as he searches for a solution in the fake Californian town of Pine Cove. Joining the merry duo is a foul-tempered djinn (genie) Gian Hen Gian and an elderly man Effrom Elliot, who dreams about women. Somehow Travis is pulled into a pool competition with a hunky hustler, an invisible and uncontrollable Catch (he only becomes visible to others when he feeds), a sarcastic bar owner, and a lovely woman with so many faults she is practically a saint. On top of this bizarre cast of characters, the rules and required circumstances to get rid of Catch are nearly impossible to enact. The horror and fantastical snakes it’s way through a range of absolutely ridiculous yet believably human characters. All the while, Catch complains about having a pacifist like Travis for a master when he would much more prefer an evil dictator with many enemies for him to consume. Moore really captures the little fallacies of the everyday human experience, and the little irrational quirks and faults that make us who we are. His writing really brings this story and the characters to life in this charming, biting, and laugh out loud novel.