Bleeders, a new short film by local filmmaker Carssan T. Morrissey, will premiere at FilmScene in Iowa City Wednesday, following a showing of Evil Dead (2013). The two films are paired together as part of FilmScene’s long-running love letter to niche horror flicks, Late Shift at the Grindhouse. Morrissey’s short film explores consumption, lust and […]
horror
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘The Mean Ones’ by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne
Tatiana Schlote-Bonne’s sophomore novel The Mean Ones (Creature Publishing) sounds relatively straightforward from the summary: a young girl survives a ritual sacrifice in the woods at summer camp, from which she suffers intense PTSD, and upon finding herself in the woods as an adult she’s faced with familiar horrors. In reading the book, though, the […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Fully Booked at DMPL: Haunted houses, haunting reads
Halloween is just around the corner, when larger-than-life skeletons adorn front yards and glowing pumpkins sit on every doorstep. These spooky season staples aren’t always indicative of thrills and chills behind the front door — but if you’re a horror reader like me, you can’t help but wonder what terrors may lurk inside. One of […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Fully Booked at ICPL: Horror classics for young readers
October is upon us, and the veil grows thin, which means it’s time to put aside our beach reads and turn towards some darker books. As a child, I loved being read to by my mom, and our go-to for a long time was Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural, a collection of 19th and early-20th […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Does your book break the mold? Is it growing mold? Iowa’s new One of Us horror fest accepts you!
Filthy Loot, a small boutique literary press based in Ames, specializes in what founding editor Ira Rat calls “misfit fictions.” The books published by Filthy Loot push boundaries. “I found that a lot of the writers I like were getting ignored because they didn’t fit into a mold,” Rat said in a phone interview. An […]
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Book Review: ‘Soft Ceremonies’
Pitched with the concept “if A24 made horror in the days of shot-on-video,” indie press Filthy Loot’s horror collection Soft Ceremonies absolutely hits its marks. For the uninitiated, A24 is an indie film production company whose horror movies are known for arthouse elements and getting under people’s skin. “Shot-on-video” is exactly what it sounds like: […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: About Time Theatre’s ‘Squeamish’ is so effective, I had to step out
There’s a phrase that you’ll have likely heard if you’ve taken any English or Communications courses: “The medium is the message.” The notion was expressed by Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian media commentator, attempting to express the importance of the packaging/setting/staging as a vehicle for any piece of (for lack of a better word) content. McLuhan […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Davenport horror fans cheered for iconic kills, scored live by legendary composer Fabio Frizzi
The gang at Void Church added something new to their repertoire by co-hosting Italian composer Fabio Frizzi at The Capitol Theater in Davenport on Thursday, May 8. Void Church typically aims for an audio-visual experience of goth and shoegaze based concerts complete with custom lighting, visuals, and the occasional fog machine as well as DJ-driven […]
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Void Church welcomes Italian horror composer Fabio Frizzi back to the Quad Cities with his masterful ‘Zombie’ score
Quad Cities arts collective Void Church has a taste for the goth, synthy and underground side of music. It’s no surprise, then, that they’re big fans of Italian horror films, specifically the influential works of director Lucio Fulci and composer Fabio Frizzi. The two maestros paid a visit to the Q.C. in the before times […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Big Screen: ‘The Last Boy Scout’ and other football-adjacent movies to stream this month
Nicotine gum releases just enough of the good stuff to help you forget about cigs for, like, 15 minutes. A similar cessation aid has yet to be developed for fans of Iowa Hawkeyes football, but to maybe take the edge off Kirk Ferentz’ next press conference, Little Big Screen has some counter-programming to chew on.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘I’ve had “evil video game” in my notes for story ideas for, like, ever’: Tatiana Schlote-Bonne on writing horror for the fun of it
On the day of the release of her debut, Such Lovely Skin, Tatiana Schlote-Bonne expressed excitement and optimism about her literary future and upcoming books. The Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program graduate’s horror novel centers on a young gamer and Twitch streamer, Viv, whose most recent game creates a demonic mimic of her which is determined to ruin her life.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Little Big Screen: ‘The Crazies’ and other horror-thrillers streaming this July that hit too close to home
Little Big Screen has a stack of dirty water movies to stream this month.
