Based on the Sawney Bean story like The Hills Have Eyes, Off Season is a blast and is considered one of the first extreme horror books. It resembles a mix of Hills, Night of the Living Dead, and Last House on the Left.
Off Season is gory but well-written. Ketchum writes from multiple perspectives and lulls you into false senses of security. In other words, you sit in one character’s consciousness only to see them torn apart and eaten from another perspective later. No safe spaces!
This should do the trick if you are in the mood for an exploitation gore film in book form. Stephen King is a fan and probably wanted Bachman to be more like this, though maybe the closest he got was Thinner or The Dark Half.
A micro-budget film from Wichita made by teenagers. Filmed in the ’80s but was not funded for release until the ’90s. Scary Casio and local metal on the soundtrack (which I ordered in a ridiculously gorgeous boutique vinyl package). A group of teens fight zombie vampire things.
A great example of teenagers with little money making a fun movie that doesn’t have to make sense—lots of homemade blood and head explosions. Not for the squeamish, despite it’s lack of budget.
I’m looking forward to checking out an announced remaster of this in 2025. The double-vinyl soundtrack is available at Mystic Vault.
Dean Hurley ran David Lynch’s music studio, worked on his music projects, and built sound design for him. Anthology Resource Vol. I is a collection of sound design from Twin Peaks: The Return.
I don’t know why I doubted this, but I just now got around to listening to it. Eraserhead is one of my favorite soundtracks because so much is done in sound design. This album also contains dark ambient sounds for those who love the rumbly Lynch room tone.
Stephen McClurg 