I’ve been rereading some classic horror including Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla and Stoker’s Lair of the White Worm. Le Fanu is the better writer and sets up a lot for Stoker’s Dracula almost three decades later. These and M. R. James’s ghost stories have filled up my October reading.
Kyua (Cure, 1997) is part of the the so-called J-Horror wave that eventually featured the more popular Ring and Ju-on: The Grudge. While not having an iconic ghost like those other two films, Cure feels more like Jacob’s Ladder, an overall quiet strangeness punctuated by bizarre, horrifying moments.
“Islands” (2017) is a short film by Yann Gonzalez, who made Knife + Heart (2018). What I’ve seen of Gonzalez’s films I’ve loved, though I would say they are not for everybody. Extreme gore, sexuality, and stylization over by-the-numbers storytelling. Maybe if Peter Greenaway had been more into MTV, Doris Wishman, and Dario Argento than Classical art and architecture.
I’ve always loved the enigmatic sense of this record: the obscured cover image, the blown-out distortion of many of the tracks. I love recordings that have their own sound world like this one.
The Spearfinger release by Ghost Food is a blast. A Southern Gothic rendition of old school Haunted Mansion-type records blitzed through the duo’s noise-folk aesthetic. Gorgeous artwork! Available at Sweet Wreath and on Bandcamp.
Stabbing’s Ravenous Psychotic Onslaught is pretty much what the title says it is. Brutal death metal with some killer riffs.
Stephen McClurg 