Troll Extraction

by Mark Szasz   “Mm-hm, mm-hm… No doubt about it. You’ve got a troll under your dental bridge,” Dr. Gruff agreed, narrowing his gaze.        The beam from his dental headlight shone on two tiny shining eyes in my mouth, each reflecting in his spectacles and glowering at me.       A gigantic

Network Creep

by Corey Jae White the matter transfer room resembles a cathedral. The gate a window waiting to open onto the light of all Creation, brighter than a thousand suns.  Sometimes I stand on the observation deck and watch storage containers break through the wall of blazing energy and my eyes

ART of the Solar System #7

by Cody Schell

Song of the Loom

by Janet Forbes I Sang to the loom, the day my mother died.   My hands were an echo of hers. Heavy with grief, they wove eight hundred threads onto the frame, a hundred for each string of her Lyra. The weft, the framework, the heart of the weave. Each string

A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects #26: Jennifer’s white string shawl in Lèvres de sang (Lips of Blood) (1975)

by Vince Stadon “You had to remember me before I could appear to you.” – Jennifer  Making movies is arduous work, and sometimes filming is rough on everyone. Lèvres de sang was shot in three weeks, often guerrilla-style, as the film crew would just turn up without pre-planning or permits to,

ART of the Solar System #6

by Cody Schell

They Came for Me at Dusk

by J. S. Watts Art by Arnold T. Blumberg They came for me at dusk, before the tired light had fully faded from the sky. Before I could finally sleep. Before I could wake.  I wasn’t yet dead, was as weak—no, weaker—than them. There were twelve of

A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects #13: Tom Savini’s blood tube in Friday the 13th (1980)

by Vince Stadon  “You see, Jason was my son, and today is his birthday…” – Mrs. Voorhees  Sunday the 1st. I begin watching Friday 13th for the first time in decades. Twenty minutes in it occurs to me that this film might be best experienced in daily chunks. I’d never

The Other Side of Empty

by Aeryn Rudel Art by Arnold T. Blumberg There’s a hole in me. I’m not speaking metaphorically. If I lift my shirt, you’ll see a black disk about the size of a softball just above my belly button. It doesn’t hurt, but it makes a strange

A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects #09- Boris Karloff’s haircut in The Black Cat (1934)

by Vince Stadon “Are we not both the living dead?” – Hjalmar Poelzig  It’s not Karloff’s real hair, of course; it’s a wig he is wearing for his character, the murderous Satanist Hjalmar Poelzig. But, man, what a wig! It’s a widow’s peak, but not a

ART of the Solar System #5

by Cody Schell

A Personal History of Horror Films in 101 Quirky Objects #81: The Doorbell in Repulsion (1974)

by Vince Stadon “There's no need to be alone, you know. Poor little girl. All by herself. All shaking like a little frightened animal.” – Landlord  When that doorbell rings, Carol curls up into a ball, retreating into her internal space. The doorbell is the sound of intrusion into