Horror Report

Tag: horror

  • Revisiting George Harrison’s song that made WEAPONS better

    Revisiting George Harrison’s song that made WEAPONS better

    One of the better movies this year in the horror world has been Weapons. We’ve talked about it a number of times and there has been some debate on whether it lived up to the hype or if expectations were just too high to begin with. But all that aside, the opening sequence of Weapons sticks in your head. Kids running through neighborhood streets, the suburban landscape turning ominous, the way the tension creeps up before you realize why you’re uncomfortable.

    As a matter of fact, I was at a football game last week — one of the final ones of the season — and some of the students in front of me were laughing about how the players looked like the kids from Weapons and how it was the greatest movie they’ve ever seen. They’re young. They still have the entire library of 70s and 80s horror history to experience. So we forgive them for the cardinal sin for now.

    But the movie was pretty good, and that opening scene was genuinely memorable. And one of the strongest reasons why the opening hits so hard is the song choice. The George Harrison track that plays over the scene isn’t just background noise — it sets the emotional temperature. It elevates it. It whispers something the dialogue doesn’t say.

    And here’s the thing: there’s a lot going on behind that George Harrison song that most people don’t know.

    Beware of Darkness – What the Song Is Actually Saying

    George Harrison’s “Beware of Darkness” isn’t literally about “evil” or some boogeyman in the woods. He was drawing from Hindu and Eastern spirituality, particularly the concept of Māyā — the illusion of the material world that distracts the soul.

    When Harrison sings:

    “Beware of the Maya”

    He doesn’t mean a person.
    He means the force that tricks you into forgetting who you really are.

    The song is layered with meaning:

    Beware of the world’s negativity.
    People will try to use you. Leaders will mislead. Culture will exhaust you.

    Beware of your own sadness.
    Not in the sense of denying it — but in not letting it swallow you whole.

    “It can hit you, it can hurt you
    Make you sore and what is more
    That is not what you are here for.”

    You are not meant to live permanently in despair.

    Beware of forgetting the spirit.
    Māyā — illusion — convinces us that status, approval, and fear are reality.
    Harrison’s message is simply:

    Don’t lose your inner light.
    Don’t let the world make you forget yourself.

    Movies know how to use music when they’re paying attention.
    Weapons did.

    That song wasn’t just a soundtrack choice — it was the thesis.
    A warning delivered before the audience knows what’s about to happen.

    And now, as we move deeper into the darker stretch of the year — colder mornings, longer nights, that creeping seasonal weight that settles in the chest — maybe the timing is fitting.

    Maybe it’s a reminder:

    Beware of the darkness.
    Beware of the sadness.
    Beware of the soft-shoe shufflers.
    And yes — beware of Māyā.

    Because sometimes horror isn’t on the screen.
    Sometimes it’s just life trying to make you forget who you are.

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  • Keeping the Halloween SPIRIT a little longer

    Keeping the Halloween SPIRIT a little longer

    Halloween is over. The Spirit Halloween stores are packing up, lights going off, signs disappearing, and those empty retail shells will sit silent again… at least until next August when they reawaken like they always do.

    But — you might notice something different this year. A few of those locations aren’t going dark. They’re turning into Spirit Christmas.
    And honestly? That’s kind of amazing.

    We’re completely on board with Spirit Halloween existing. It has become a tradition. A yearly pilgrimage. A seasonal personality trait. And if Spirit Christmas wants to step into the game and bring some of that same energy into December, we welcome it. Why not? Let weirdness continue all year long.

    However — when outlets like Gizmodo start writing about it, it does start to feel like a little product-placement whisper campaign. Their article highlights that Spirit Christmas will be selling an exclusive Art the Clown “Terrifier” Christmas sweater. Yes… Art the Clown. For Christmas.

    We love horror. We love creepy. We love a little darkness mixed into the tinsel and eggnog. But Art the Clown is… let’s just say… a strong choice for holiday cheer. There are plenty of horror icons that blend nicely with Christmas themes — Krampus, Black Christmas, Gremlins, Jack Skellington — but a child-murdering clown who blows up shopping malls might be a bit of a leap for the family fireplace mantel.
    But hey — to each their own. If you want to deck the halls with decapitation, no one is stopping you.

    The reality is that Spirit Christmas will not be nearly as widespread as Spirit Halloween — at least not yet. It’s more of a test run. Only select stores. Only certain markets. But if people show up, if the ugly sweaters sell, if the creepy ornaments fly off shelves… expect this to grow.

    And honestly, we’ve always had a soft spot for keeping a little creepy in Christmas. There’s something fun about breaking the overly-sanitized Hallmark version of the holiday and letting the weird spirits in.

    So we say:

    The more the merrier.
    Deck the halls.
    Light your balls.
    Wear your Terrifier sweater if you dare.
    Let Christmas get a little strange.

    ‘Tis the season. 🎄🩸

  • CAN WE JUST STOP COMPARING SHOWS TO EACH OTHER AND ENJOY THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE?

    CAN WE JUST STOP COMPARING SHOWS TO EACH OTHER AND ENJOY THEM FOR WHAT THEY ARE?

    Collider just ran an article about Welcome to Derry, which has been on HBO for several days now. According to their write-up, they’re leaning into the idea that this series has a Stranger Things feel — the whole “group of kids vs. a mysterious, looming evil” angle. And sure, on the surface, that does exist here. But Collider also admits the show is darker, creepier, and more adult — and we agree with that part completely.

    We’ve been watching, and this is absolutely not just a sci-fi nostalgia trip. It’s heavier. More sinister. It leans way harder into horror than Stranger Things ever did.

    It’s set in 1962 and follows the twisted early events that open the door to the version of Derry, Maine, we all know… the one haunted by Pennywise the Dancing Clown. And yes — Bill Skarsgård is back, fully locked in, bringing the same chilling energy that made the movies so memorable.

    Collider points out that the show goes further into horror than Stranger Things does, and they’re right.

    But what we don’t love is when headlines try to frame it as though the two are the same thing. Just because a story has kids in danger doesn’t automatically make it Stranger Things. If anything, you can argue the influence goes the other direction — It existed long before Hawkins, Indiana, bikes, walkie-talkies, and The Upside Down. The Duffer Brothers have openly borrowed (lovingly) from 1980s pop culture, which itself was shaped by King. So the lineage is clear.

    It sometimes feels like we can’t just enjoy entertainment anymore without everything being compared, ranked, and stacked in lists.

    Why can’t a show be allowed to stand on its own without being “the next” anything?

    So here’s where we land:
    We appreciate Stranger Things.
    We appreciate Welcome to Derry.
    They are both completely different experiences — and that’s the point.

    We’ll enjoy Welcome to Derry now.
    And when Stranger Things arrives in a few weeks, we’ll enjoy that too.

    But let’s be honest — the reason a lot of us are here is Bill Skarsgård’s Pennywise. He was phenomenal in the films, and he’s already proving he’s going to bring something equally unsettling, memorable, and terrifying to this series.

    Just let good storytelling be good storytelling.
    No comparisons needed.

  • 40 years of Freddy’s Revenge

    40 years of Freddy’s Revenge

    November 1st 1985, on a budget of $3 million,  Freddy’s Revenge grossed $30 million.

    Some people love this movie, some people hate it — but it’s now been 40 years since A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge hit theaters. Over the decades, detractors have always said it doesn’t “fit” the storyline of the original. Meanwhile, others have celebrated it, especially for its place in horror history and the way it unintentionally (or maybe intentionally) introduced the idea of the male scream queen.

    For years, many in the LGBTQ community recognized and embraced the movie’s underlying themes .. a hidden subtext that wasn’t widely discussed back then, but is now openly talked about and appreciated today. It’s become a cult conversation piece because of that. And a male scream queen!

    But one thing is absolutely certain:
    The makeup and visual effects in this film were some of the best in the entire series.
    Freddy’s face is incredible. The school bus scene is iconic. And Jesse’s transformation into Freddy remains one of the most memorable sequences in the franchise… disturbing, surreal, and unforgettable.

    Forty years later, I still celebrate this film. In my opinion, it’s one of the better entries in the series. And without question — it has one of the greatest VHS cover arts of all time.

    Here’s a great behind the scenes video *embed may not work due to age restrictions but here’s a link to the video in case it does not:

    Also his a great story from Fangoria back in 1985 about the film’s makeup..

  • A star is born on Halloween

    A star is born on Halloween

    Great timing!

    “A Nightmare on Elm Street” star, Robert Englund, was honored with his Hollywood star, appropriately on this Halloween Friday.

    The 78-year-old theatrically trained actor may be best known for his menacing portrayal of Freddy Krueger, but he has also appeared in over 80 films, multiple television series, and countless guest star roles.

    “I love the smell of peanut butter cups in the morning, Happy Halloween,” Englund said to the crowd gathered at the Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony.

  • This is a message to the Academy: Are you still afraid of the dark?

    This is a message to the Academy: Are you still afraid of the dark?

    Apparently they are despite the fact that we’ve never seen the movies they tell us to..

    If Ryan Coogler’s Sinners or Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein make the cut this year, it’ll mark the first time in the Academy Awards’ 97-year history that a horror film has been nominated in consecutive contests.

    And honestly—maybe that’s one of the main reasons people have stopped caring about the Oscars.

    Sure, we’ll talk about who wins, we’ll share the highlights, we’ll glance at the “Best Picture” list. But let’s be real—most people haven’t even seen these movies. A lot of them are the kind of films critics love and audiences sleep through. Pretentious, overly symbolic, and sometimes just flat-out unwatchable.

    Meanwhile, the movies that actually get people talking? They’re the ones with life, adrenaline, and imagination. The action blockbusters of summer. The horror movies that get under your skin.

    Take The Black Phone 2 — we just reviewed it, and it was epic. Masterfully done, deeply unsettling, and emotionally sharp. Even Weapons — which wasn’t our pick for the best of the year — had a cinematic energy that felt alive. And yes, Sinners was powerful too. It brought real weight to the horror genre this year.

    But that’s the thing: horror has been delivering for decades, and the Academy just refuses to acknowledge it. From Hereditary to The Conjuring, from Get Out to The Black Phone, horror consistently gives us stories that are bold, imaginative, and yes—crowd favorites.

    Yet when award season rolls around, horror is treated like the weird cousin who showed up uninvited.

    So, if Sinners or Frankenstein manage to claw their way into the Best Picture category, kudos to the Academy for finally giving the genre a little respect.

    But don’t hold your breath for the next one. History tells us it might be a long, dark wait before the Oscars dare to honor horror again.

    “The Oscars claim to celebrate cinema. But when’s the last time they celebrated fear?”

    Maybe this year. For the last time of course.

  • 35 years of the Treehouse of horror

    35 years of the Treehouse of horror

    October 25 1990: the day spooky Springfield history was made. The very first Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons aired on FOX. Back then it was simply called The Simpsons Halloween Special ..  and it kicked off what would become one of the most beloved Halloween traditions on TV.

    The episode pulled inspiration straight out of those eerie 1950s horror comics, and even began with a tongue-in-cheek disclaimer warning that it “might be too scary for children.” It also had that classic opening pan through a cemetery filled with funny tombstones .. it was a joke that became iconic before eventually disappearing in later years.

    The stories themselves were told by Bart, Lisa, and Maggie in the family’s treehouse:  three twisted tales that set the tone for decades to come. First, a haunted house riffing on The Amityville Horror and Poltergeist. Then came the debut of Kang and Kodos, those slimy alien siblings who abduct the Simpsons in a darkly comic “To Serve Man” parody. Finally, the show closed with one of the greatest Simpsons segments ever made, a dramatic retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven,” featuring the voice of the legendary James Earl Jones.

    And just like that, a tradition was born. Now, all of Treehouse of Horror episodes later, it’s impossible to imagine Halloween without them. They hace become as much as tradition as anything else ..

    What’s funny is how something meant to parody horror has now become its own kind of prophecy because every year it feels like The Simpsons somehow predicts the future. From political moments to pop culture events, people keep pointing back to old episodes saying, “See? They knew!” Maybe it’s coincidence. Maybe it’s satire gone psychic. Either way, that first Halloween special started something that’s still giving us chills — and predictions — 35 years later.

    So far aliens haven’t landed.. we don’t think?

  • Unpopular(maybe) opinion: Halloween 2 was actually better than the first one

    Unpopular(maybe) opinion: Halloween 2 was actually better than the first one



    Halloween II picks up right where John Carpenter’s 1978 classic left off .. literally seconds after Michael Myers disappears into the darkness. The sequel takes us deeper into the same October 31st night, only now the screams echo through Haddonfield Memorial Hospital instead of quiet suburban streets.

    The movie doesn’t wastes little time with new setups or character introductions; it just drops you right back into that same world, that same panic, that same cold air that hung over the end of the first film. You feel the chaos in the cold night.. even Mrs. Elrod screams as she makes a sandwich and finds blood–to this day we don’t know if her husband wanted mayo or mustard.



    There a few interesting back stories to Halloween II almost .. one major point is that it almost didn’t happen the way we know it.

    Carpenter himself didn’t originally plan a direct sequel and he envisioned the Halloween name turning into an anthology of different scary stories. He was YEARS ahead of his time on that thought process.

    Moustapha Akkad sensed a hit… and it was time to capitalize ..

    After the studio pushed for more Michael Myers Carpenter grudgingly agreed to write it. He’s even said he wrote the script with a six-pack of beer by his side, just trying to make sense of what would happen next. That might explain the surreal, dream-like pacing the film has. The movie is admittedly a little sloppy, but hazier, and far more violent than the first.

    The mask was back. It was still the same Shatner face, but this time yellowed by chain smoking that Debra Hill subjected it to. Also the new inhabitant with a different face shape. Dick Warlock’s mug was rounder while Nick Castle was longer, hence the difference in appearance.

    The new film also had more blood–Carpenter did that on purpose to match what audiences were then wanting. Akkad wasn’t overly happy with that because the TV broadcasts had to be tamed down ..

    Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode became the face of the “final girl” trope. But in the sequel, she spends much of the movie confined to a hospital bed, drugged and traumatized, yet still somehow finds the strength to fight back. Donald Pleasence returns as Dr. Loomis, more unhinged than ever, shouting his famous lines about evil and destiny as he hunts Michael through sterile hallways. It is the hospital scenes that give the most feeling of the film. The fluorescent lights, the empty corridors, beeping heart monitors, all building to that fiery ending.

    There were several points of Halloween 2 that feel like a docu-drama. You can feel the chaos and panic of the police in the movie–this is exactly how small town America police faced with a gory bloody scene of teenagers being killed would actually react. Now poor Ben Tramer got the brunt. Was it Loomis’ fault by the way? We never really get the chance to flesh that out..

    Recently, Nightmare Nostalgia wrote about how II was the scarier sequel.

    To us, not only scarier but quite frankly better. Halloween II seems to get better with each passing year despite Carpenter still unwilling to embrace the face that he and Hill either accidentally or unwittingly created a classic.

    Perhaps the only pet peeve is that this movie could have been renamed ALL SAINTS DAY since it mostly took place after Halloween, mostly on November 1 if you think about the continuity.

    It’s often overshadowed by the original, but Halloween II deserves more credit. It’s the movie that closed the story of Laurie and Michael (at least until later recreations), expanded the mythology, and gave us the twist that Laurie was his sister .. love it or hate it, it was a plot line that shaped the franchise for decades.

    When Halloween ENDS came out, fans watched.. and never watched again. But they loved the opening 7 minutes that herald back to the original night he came home. There is lure in a way to what Michael Myers did in the immediate aftermath to Loomis’ six shots.

    While ENDS gives us a perspective of a movie that Carpenter never made, we still love the one he did: Halloween II is better than Halloween 1.

  • I finally answered the BLACK PHONE 2!

    I finally answered the BLACK PHONE 2!



    Just got out from seeing The Black Phone 2 in theaters–a little late i know..

    I have to say, I’m writing this with that fresh post-movie buzz. Honestly, this might be a little horror masterpiece of 2025. It picks up where the last film left off, and we dive right back into Finn’s world.. yeah, the same Finn who beat the Grabber the first time around.

    This time around we have a different Finn and a very different atmosphere.. There is no feeling of victory here.. no hero mentality. Instead we have a mass amount of trauma..

    What makes this sequel really shine is how it plunges us into life after trauma. We see Finn, his sister with her eerie psychic dreams, and their dad, who’s still got plenty of issues of his own. There’s guilt, stress, and a whole lot of darkness everyone’s carrying around. The movie does an incredible job showing how these characters are dealing (or not dealing) with their inner demons.

    There was something this movie did very well: It drew us into the darkness with it. Seeing the theater in a dim theater is a perfect coupling of the atmosphere. You feel the bleakness and the depth of personal stress these characters are being forced to embrace..

    And let me tell you, the dream sequences? Absolutely breathtaking. They pull you into this surreal, otherworldly atmosphere that just hits different. You’re not just watching a horror movie; you’re feeling every ounce of the characters’ emotions.

    It’s dark, yes, but it’s also one of those films where you end up genuinely loving the characters. There is actually some depth to them, and not some void of mindlessness that horror films can give us. This time around, there as no playing around. We have grit and bluntness.. we had desperation and big issues. This movie did not shy away and stay safe. It dares to be different and, in the end, despite having a few little continuity issues for me, it became an instant hit. When a movie hits you emotionally, especially a horror film, you know it did something right.

    By the end, you’re rooting for them, and that’s not something every horror movie pulls off. So if you can, catch it in a theater—let that darkness just surround you. It’s totally worth it.

    See this in a theater while there is still a chance.

  • Mike Flanagan Wraps Filming on the New Carrie Remake

    Mike Flanagan Wraps Filming on the New Carrie Remake

    Mike Flanagan Wraps Filming on the New Carrie Remake

    For about nine months, people have been groaning that we don’t really need another remake of Carrie from the Stephen King series. But Mike Flanagan was chosen to do it — and the series will be releasing soon on Prime Video.

    According to Flanagan’s own post, filming is officially wrapped. Listen, I’m in the same camp where remakes are getting really old. But I’m also in the camp where Mike Flanagan can touch a piece of horse manure and somehow turn it into something extravagant.

    Now, Carrie was never horse manure — not by a long shot — but it’s also not one of my personal favorites. Still, with Flanagan at the helm, it has the promise to become something much more exquisite.

    Looking forward to this one. On Prime soon.