A silent horror celebration 📽️, 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari' doubled 💉, Classic book recs 📚, & more!

Intro by Bee Delores | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

I haven't always enjoyed silent horror movies. It took me a long time to appreciate the very early days of cinematic storytelling. Once I ripped off the bandaid with such classics as Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I was hooked. For this week's silent horror excursion, the Horrorverse team walks through the hallowed halls of the past and celebrate many landmark films that set the entire genre in motion.

SCREAMING SOON HORROR CALENDAR (2026-2027)

ESSENTIAL SILENT FILMS AND SHORTS

Want to dip your toes into the world of Silent Horror? Here are the essentials according to the Horrorverse team! Check out our list on Letterboxd.

RECOMMENDED READING

Candi Norwood | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

Isn’t all reading silent when you’re reading with your eyes (versus your ears)?, was my question when thinking of what to recommend as we watch silent horror films this week. Well, I narrowed it down from all books to books and stories I’ve read which have been adapted into silent films, and here are a few of my favorites.

Edgar Allan Poe, Various- If you’ve only ever seen film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works, this is me telling you - go read some. His use of language as much as his plots have made his work classic. These are all short stories, and they may even be available as free pdfs thanks to copyright laws, but there are also some really pretty collections out there if you need a reason to add some deco to your bookshelf. A Selection: The Tell-Tale Heart: A guy claims to be sane but stalks an old man and murders him because his eye freaks him out. “Slowly, little by little, I lifted the cloth, until a small, small light escaped from under it to fall upon — to fall upon that vulture eye!” The Pit and the Pendulum: A prisoner of war experiences torture by sensory deprivation and more, including walls closing in and a sharp pendulum above him slowly being lowered. “The intensity of the darkness seemed to oppress and stifle me.” The Fall of the House of Usher: Super atmospheric gothic about a crumbling house witnessing the end of the family line and/or living with your sibling makes you crazy. “It was a dark and soundless day near the end of the year, and clouds were hanging low in the heavens.”

Bonus Rec: What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher- a novella which reimagines The Fall of the House of Usher, bringing in the fungal horror and non-binary protagonist we didn’t know we needed.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley- It’s a classic. It’s one of the earliest horror novels to be published. It has birthed the memes of “Frankenstein is the doctor” even though he’s not. Victor Frankenstein is a student with more brains than sense who brings a body to life just because he can. He then immediately becomes a deadbeat dad because his kid is ugly, abandoning his creation with no consideration of the consequences, of which there are many. Besides being a thrilling tale of hate and love and murder (and the Arctic, randomly, or more probably because, like Victor, people want to go there just because they can), Frankenstein urges us to consider what it means to be human.

Bonus Rec: Chicano Frankenstein by Daniel Olivas- Full disclosure, I haven’t finished this yet, but I am reading it for book club, and I was hooked from page 1, which reminded me of the anti-mutant laws from X-Men; in this case, it was a headline of a politician promising an “Anti-Stitcher” law. Instead of an individual, the reanimated are a class in this reimagining, and the horror has layers like a parfait, people.

Dracula by Bram Stoker- I didn’t mean to turn this whole week’s recs into an argument for reading the classics, but did you know this book is written in the form of letters (and a few other things like journal entries and newspaper articles)? You bought an old trunk at a yard sale and when you decided to replace the moth-eaten lining on the inside, you found a bunch of letters hidden there, and now you’re reading all about a lawyer, Jonathan Harker, who is sent to the castle of this creepy guy, Dracula, who really wants to go to London for all the delicious blood, I guess, and needs help with his immigration papers which feels like a very modern problem. There’s a boat ride, some light stalking, entomophagy (word of the day for insect eating), and, of course, blood-sucking vampire death.

Bonus Rec: Dracula Daily from Matt Kirkland- this book was born from an online newsletter that would send you real-time pages of Dracula as the time passes for the characters. e.g., on May 3, you’ll be sent the letters & entries dated May 3 and so on through the months until the conclusion on November 6. Also, in a weird art imitates life imitates art meta kind of way, the book includes some internet commentary.

IN THE NEWS

Sarah Stubbs | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd & Brett Petersel | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

🪞 Just when you think Black Mirror can't come up with any new ideas for its series, Charlie Brooker will prove us wrong, which is why Netflix has renewed the popular series for another season. The series has featured a number of popular actors, such as Paul Giamatti and Letitia Wright, so we can expect the same in the upcoming season.

🦷 You can't get enough Sinners, right? The film, after winning many awards, including at the Critics’ Choice Awards and Golden Globes, the film's heading back to theaters on January 23rd.

🍿 Watch parties are making a comeback on the 100 Horror Movies in 92 Days Challenge Discord server! Leading up to the next challenge in May, there will be monthly watch parties! This Sunday will mark their return with Barbarian (2021) at 7pm ET. Join the server so you don't miss out!

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Sarah Stubbs | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd

This week in honor of Silent Horror Week I thought I'd discuss a silent film and it's non-silent sequel. That's right, I'm talking about The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari (1920) and Dr. Caligari (1989)!

The German expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one the most well known silent horror films. It's also one of the earliest feature length horror films. I recently revisited this one for the first time since college and was just as enamored as the first time I saw it. The sets are visually stunning. What makes them stand out is that they don't feel real, more like you're watching an over exaggerated stage show. At a brief 77 minutes, it's easy to get lost in what feels like a dark moody fever dream.

Dr. Caligari is an avant-garde follow up to the aforementioned film directed by adult filmmaker Stephen Sayadian (aka Rinse Dream). The titular character is a relation of the original Dr. Caligari running her own facility where she conducts mind swapping experiments. The film differs greatly from the original in that where the original is dark and moody, this film explodes with color and offbeat visuals. There isn't much connection in terms of story and it's not really a retelling either. Mileage will definitely vary but if you're into weird horror, this might be worth a shot! Fun bonus fact: the director of Auntie Lee's Meat Pies produced this film!

TRAILERVILLE

MACABRE DAILY: WEEKLY UPDATES

Macabre Daily | Bluesky | Instagram | Letterboxd | Website

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RIYL: THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of the most well known silent horror films. There is even some contention as to whether or not it was the first feature length horror film. The Horrorverse crew has some picks that they think you'll enjoy if you liked this film, which you can find on Letterboxd here.

THE HORRORVERSE TEAM