genre elements Archives - Page 3 of 64

Night Patrol Opens the 2026 Horror Conversation

Going into 2026, I’ve found myself genuinely optimistic about the state of horror in a way I haven’t felt in a while. Not the cautious “maybe this year won’t be a disaster” optimism, but the kind that comes from looking… Continue Reading →

The 2025 #HauntLife Movie Awards

Every year I hand out my #HauntLife Movie Awards, a collection of completely fake, deeply personal honors that exist somewhere between sincere appreciation and gentle bullying. These aren’t about box-office numbers, Rotten Tomatoes scores or what film Twitter decided was… Continue Reading →

January 12, 2026

Wicked: For Good and the Price of Playing the Villain

I have spent a large portion of my life pretending to be things I am very much not. In middle school, I pretended I understood whatever band everyone else suddenly swore had “changed their life,” nodding along like I’d memorized… Continue Reading →

January 6, 2026

We Bury The Dead Knows Where the Real Pain Is

I have reached the age where regret no longer arrives in loud, cinematic moments. It shows up quietly. In the pause before sending a text that never gets written. In the memory of a conversation I rushed through because I… Continue Reading →

December 23, 2025

Belief Is the Real Monster in Bugonia

I have a long, complicated history with group projects. Not the school kind, where some kid named Kyle shows up with nothing but a Capri-Sun and the confidence of a man who did zero work, but the adult kind: meetings,… Continue Reading →

December 17, 2025

The Rule of Jenny Pen Turns Assisted Living Into a Nightmare

There are some life decisions you never expect to be part of the job description, when you sign up for adulthood. Taxes? Sure. Car troubles? Expected. Realizing I am finally at the age where my shoulders make more noise than… Continue Reading →

November 16, 2025

Kiss of the Spider Woman Takes Flight Between Fantasy and Harsh Reality

There are moments in life when your brain decides it has had enough of reality and just wanders into fantasy without asking permission. It is not that I am bored. It is just that the world sometimes needs a little… Continue Reading →

November 14, 2025

The Luckiest Man in America Gets No Whammies!

The game-show industry has had a number of controversies throughout the years, but it has really advanced since employees of the Twenty-One quiz show fed a contestant the correct answers during the ’50s, in order to upset a previous champion…. Continue Reading →

November 13, 2025

Frankenstein: The Ride I Couldn’t Take, But the Movie I Needed

I’ve loved classic movie monsters for as long as I can remember. Dracula, the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon… they were my bedtime stories, but Frankenstein’s Monster was probably my favorite. So, when Universal’s new Epic Universe… Continue Reading →

November 10, 2025

Bob Trevino Likes It, Facebook Likes It and Apparently, I Do Too

It’s that magical time of year again, the start of movie awards season, when critics pretend to be classy while secretly justifying why they watched Cocaine Shark 2 “for research.” As for me, this is when I start bouncing between… Continue Reading →

November 6, 2025

Geek Culture, Zombies... and Other Monsters

Tag genre elements

Night Patrol Opens the 2026 Horror Conversation

The Rule of Jenny Pen Turns Assisted Living Into a Nightmare

The Luckiest Man in America Gets No Whammies!

Frankenstein: The Ride I Couldn’t Take, But the Movie I Needed