Happy Halloween! 🎃 Peruse our favorite haunted house horror 🏚️, A celebration of 'Relic' 👻, & more!

Pumpkin season coming to a close but we have a few more scares for you! With last week's issue discussing ghosts, it only felt natural to move on to Haunted Houses! Did you know that the first recorded instance of a haunted house was recorded by the Roman writer Pliny the Younger (61-112 CE) in a letter to his patron Lucias Sura describing a haunted house in Athens? There is nothing more scary than a creaky, creepy, manor on a dark night for Halloween and we have so many recommendations for you, both movies and books! We hope you all have Happy Halloween!

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THE HORRORVERSE TEAM

IN THE NEWS

Brett Petersel | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd 

🗣📢 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Winners Announced
The 10th annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival has come to an end, and all winners have been announced. You can check out the results on IndieWire here. Also, be sure to check out Bee's coverage below in this issue.

📦 Gotta Catch 'Em All: Umbrella Entertainment collects The Collector films
Umbrella Entertainment has been on a roll. They've not only acquired the rights to the Hatchet films, but now they announced that they've acquired the rights to both The Collector and its sequel, The Collection. With a third film on the way from Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton, currently titled The Collected, we can't wait to see what Umbrella will be doing with these films!

💋 Plans for more Conjuring films and a TV series on the way
With the success of the “final” Conjuring film, The Conjuring: Last Rites, it was inevitable that more films would be made. Well, the ink hasn’t yet fully dried, but we’re getting more. A prequel is currently in the works, as is a TV series for HBO Max. When we get more details, we’ll include it in a future issue.

FAVORITE HAUNTED HOUSE FILMS

For this Halloween issue, buckle up and take a ride with us as we share our favorite haunted house films. From classics like 1959's House on Haunted Hill, to 2023's Haunted Mansion, as well as a little something in-between, there's a film or five here to keep you busy this Halloween weekend (and afterward). Check out our picks here.

RIYL: HELL HOUSE LLC (2015)

With Hell House LLC: Lineage now on Shudder, we're sharing recommendations similar to the original Hell House LLC. If you like creepy found footage, this list is for you!

TIMEWARP

Bee Delores | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

Relic Turns 5 -- An Artful, Devastating Masterpiece

This review originally published on B-Sides & Badlands

When my father died, he had long been a shell of his former self. Once an active, vibrant, and husky fellow ⏤ who worked two or three jobs, hunted, fished, and camped in the woods, and always woke before dawn ⏤ he was reduced to flesh and bones. He died from ALS (also called Lou Gehrig’s disease), a devastating neurodegenerative ailment that completely destroys one’s ability to function, and it was hard to recognize who he’d become. That was six years ago. In my mind, I still have a hard time accepting the lifeless form he was in his last days. I’ve also since begun to see the parallels to such cognitive deterioration as dementia (a collection of various conditions, like memory loss) and Alzheimer’s; I often picture these diseases as the other side of the same coin. ALS takes the body, while dementia and Alzheimer’s take the mind. In either case, the victim’s very identity is peeled down to the bone until only nothingness remains.

Natalie Erika James’ directorial debut Relic is terrifying, soul-crushing, and artful in the way it handles mental decay. With a script co-written with Christian White, the 90-minute feature rearranges the emotional tendons of 2017’s Hereditary and the stylistic absurdity of mother!, cobbling the psychological shards back together into a wholly unique mosaic of humanity’s grimmest, most troubling experiences. Family matriarch Edna (Robyn Nevin) plants in the eye of the tragedy, as her own dementia seeps into every facet of her life, appearing on-screen as icky, sticky black mold. When she goes missing for three days, her daughter Kay (Emily Mortimer) and granddaughter Sam (Bella Heathcote) travel to her estate to mount a search party in the hope she returns unscathed.

Edna does finally return but appears to have no recollection of what happened or where she wondered off to. Her feet are painted thick with the same dirty growths found in splotches around the house. Kay and Sam are flabbergasted, and their dynamic ⏤ one of deep worry, the other of rapt naivety ⏤ underscores three generations of women coping with reality, their own reactions to it, and what it could all mean for their futures. Nevin, Mortimer, and Heathcote dominate every single frame of the story, switching among emotional dishevelment, aggravation, fear, and confusion. Their performances are a marvel to behold.

“I just wish I could turn around and go back,” weeps Edna. After being discovered in the nearby woods eating old photographs, she has a heart-to-heart with Kay. This one last moment of lucid thought is a beautiful reminder of life’s fragility, a poignant, tearful goodbye to what will never be. It seems Edna, like many dementia patients, have put off confronting the truth: their sense of self has been slipping through their fingertips like water for a while now but it took this moment to make it inescapable. In that scene, upon burying her photo album beneath a layer of crunchy pine needles and mud, Edna sees her fate as clear as day. “I’m losing everything, Kay,” she says. But she hasn’t lost everything. She still has the love of her family and friends. And that’s really any of us have left in the end.

What is equally as satisfying is the bait-and-switch. Relic plays around in the supernatural sandbox, but it’s all simply dementias' manifestations, from the wheezing shape crouching underneath Edna’s bed to the mold that oozes and slurps throughout the house. James coats on layers of symbolism with careful, calculated intentions, a dreadful melancholy glossed over the screen. For example, Sam gets lost inside what appears to be greater, darker depths of the house, but this third act sequence serves to accentuate the notion of generational diseases and her fight to break free, reclaim herself, and rise triumphant.

The cinematography, courtesy of Charlie Sarroff, pairs nicely with James’ astute, emotional storytelling. Slow-burns, wide angles, and meticulous set turns are so consuming, you’re drawn into the same frightful state with no hopes of escape.

Uprooting her own personal experience, Natalie Erika James never lifts her foot off the pedal either. When you think you have a moment to breathe, as when Edna gets lost in her vinyl records and asks Sam to dance, she hits you with another grueling gut punch. Start to finish, Relic is a masterclass, an exhibit that’ll tangle you up and provoke you to question why such terrible illnesses even exist. The film’s evocative, tortured themes will haunt and swell your brain; it certainly has made me think all manner of “what if”s I could have done to save my father. I guess I’ll never know.

If Relic is any indication, James is gunning for a magnificent and impressive career.

RECOMMENDED READING

Sarah Stubbs | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

Haunted houses aren't just for movies! We have a book recommendations having to do with this topic, both non-fiction and fiction!

The Haunted House on Film: A Historical Analysis by Paul Meehan- I used this book when researching my article on haunted house films that take place at the turn of the century. Don't let its shorter length deceive you, it's very comprehensive!

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson- After talking about The Haunting for this week's Gore-met Pairings, I couldn't let this book pass by. As I mentioned, the book is a bit more ambiguous about what's going on at the titular manor. Shirley Jackson's writing in absolutely phenomenal and the book flies by. When I read it with my book club, I found it incredibly difficult to put down!

A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand- This book is the official sequel to The Haunting of Hill House sanctioned by Jackson's estate. A Haunting on the Hill is pretty divisive. The purists don't like it while others don't mind that it leaves the ambiguity of the original aside and really leans into the supernatural elements. Personally, I really like this book quite a bit, especially having read it almost directly after its predecessor.

MACABRE DAILY: WEEKLY UPDATES

💀 Macabre Daily is co-producing a kick-ass film, "HELLMARE," debuting a killer grindhouse-style trailer (LINK)
💀 We speak with the couple behind "ZOMBIECON VOL 1" (LINK)
💀 Macabre Daily's staff selections have your Halloween viewing covered! (LINK)
💀 Macabre Daily Podcast shares their LIVE recording @TheTwistedSpine with support from @SagaPress (LINK)
💀 We take a tour of the Waldorf Estate of Horror, home of "HELL HOUSE LLC" (LINK)

GORE-MET PAIRINGS

Sarah Stubbs | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Bee Delores | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd & Sarah Stubbs | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

The opening scene of We Are Still Here is a quiet series of static shots of a snow-crusted landscape. The wind whistles across the countryside, and the snow drifts with increasing severity. The frigid temperature seems to seep from the screen, and the viewer immediately plunges into the dead of winter. Director Ted Geoghegan meditates on winter’s mercilessness in a way that sets the tone for his exploration of depression and grief. We Are Still Here is as much about the cold as it is about one woman’s mental deterioration and eventual acceptance of her son’s death.

Check out my deep-dive essay around We Are Still Here, which turns 10 this year. [written by Bee]

It may seem like an odd pairing, but I'd pair this with Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. While the location is a haunted hotel instead of a haunted house, it's still a haunted home. Also, in a similar fashion, to We Are Still Here, The Shining explores not only the potential for the supernatural, but also mental health and addiction. Stephen King's alcoholism is a major influence in Jack Torrance's character. Mick Garris' adaptation is also a solid pick if you prefer the adaptation that King himself prefers. Garris' take leans more into the supernatural elements of the Overlook. I think both have their merits and are worth exploring. [Written by Sarah]

WHAT TO WATCH

BEE’S BROOKLYN HORROR COVERAGE

Bee Delores | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

Horror film festival season knocked me on my ass. I had the pleasure of covering Fantasia, Popcorn Frights, FrightFest, ScreamFest, Fantastic Fest, and Brooklyn Horror. Phew! But it's all in the name of celebrating horror films, both big and small, and championing the faces of tomorrow. Brooklyn Horror, which just wrapped last weekend, featured some real, certified bangers everyone should keep their eyes.

My Top 3 of Brooklyn Horror are:

3. The past never really stays dead. Just ask Henry Violence. In his feature film debut, writer/director Connor Marsden takes the viewer into a punk-fueled, neon-soaked underworld of the 1980s. Playing this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Violence doesn’t only feel gritty but like a beautiful hellscape, an alternate reality far removed from our own. Marsden, who co-wrote the script with Devin Myler and William Woods, crafts a hypnotically slimy wonderland that goes from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye. It’s 84 relentless minutes slathered in blood, with Rohan Campbell delivering one of his best performances to date. [via B-Sides & Badlands]

2. From The Seventh Victim (1943) to Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and Candy Land (2022), cults have been a staple in the horror genre since the dawn of cinema. There’s not much that hasn’t been tapped to elicit chills and thrills. A film needs to be truly exceptional to stand out these days. With Abigail Before Beatrice, playing this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, writer/director Cassie Keet excels in bringing a fresh perspective to the classic cult template. Where her previous film, Scream Therapy, which also dealt with a cult, went full-on camp, Abigail Before Beatrice offers a raw and grounded examination of the psychological impact of surviving a cult can have on its victims. [via B-Sides & Badlands]

1. In 2025, we need as many unapologetically queer films as possible. With her debut directorial feature film, Tina Romero (yes, the daughter of the George A. Romero!) makes an impressive splash. Playing this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Queens of the Dead adheres to the zombie lore her father perfected while tossing in some necessary, very queer razzle-dazzle for good measure. Tina, who co-wrote the script with Erin Judge, navigates the tumultuous waters of the queer drag scene, anchoring the story with real people with real problems. The film presents a powerful, timely message about queer folx banding together in times of trouble to fight a common enemy and echoes a similar sentiment put forth in Jem Garrard’s Slay, which coincidentally shares a story structure and setup but with vampires. [via B-Sides & Badlands]

TRAILERVILLE

Check out our Screaming Soon list on Letterboxd for the latest release information and what’s coming out in theaters and/or on demand.