reviews – Stephen McClurg

May 3, 2026

At Horror DNA: Fantaspoa Festival 2026: Adorable Humans

Even the best horror anthologies invite rankings of individual stories and a tolerance for unevenness. What makes the Danish collection Adorable Humans stand out is not that every segment lands equally, but that the collection shares a surprisingly cohesive emotional and thematic heart. Maybe because they share source material. All of the segments are adaptations of Hans … Continue reading At Horror DNA: Fantaspoa Festival 2026: Adorable Humans

February 3, 2026February 3, 2026

At Horror DNA: Of Beasts

You can read my review at Horror DNA. Continue reading At Horror DNA: Of Beasts

January 16, 2026

From the Eunoia Archives: The Terror Test: Test Prep #14

(I thought I had reposted these since The Terror Test is no more, but I missed this one.) Test Prep is a series of essays that I occasionally wrote to complement episodes of The Terror Test, a horror podcast. Originally written for Episode 46 on Les Diaboliques (1955) and High Tension (2003). Amour Fou-Frou Until … Continue reading From the Eunoia Archives: The Terror Test: Test Prep #14

November 7, 2025

At Horror DNA: Scared by the Bible

In his introduction, Brandon Grafius recalls being ten years old and attempting his first cover-to-cover read of the Bible. He found himself not shocked by the dull stretches but by the strange, violent, and uncanny bits never mentioned in Sunday school. That early discovery stayed with him, eventually inspiring his work on a PhD in … Continue reading At Horror DNA: Scared by the Bible

September 5, 2025

At Horror DNA: Spanned Canyons: The Only Perfect Way for This to End

If anything, Pete Nickerson and Gary Gahan, the duo behind Spanned Canyons, should be proud that they nailed the premise of their new conceptual album. The Only Perfect Way for This to End is a nine-track expedition into icebound hell, echoing Dante Alighieri’s ninth circle, where the damned are trapped in a vast frozen lake. Instead of … Continue reading At Horror DNA: Spanned Canyons: The Only Perfect Way for This to End