For my last entry in this month’s guest blog I’d like to briefly introduce a couple of Mexican narratives that present Pre-Hispanic figures as dangerous monsters, and which can be interestingly analysed as containing some suggestive gothic elements. I’ll start, once again, with Carlos Fuentes and his 1954 short story “Chac Mool”. The tale is collected in the volume Los días enmascarados, and can be found in English translation online. The narration tells of Filiberto, a young man who collects indigenous figurines of idols and deities. One day he buys a statuette of Chac Mool, a Pre

A little christmas treat for you all this year. My friend Simon Lloyd writes his own zombie blog and has written his own version of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'.  It's the perfect way for a dedicated goth to bring in christmas, so, here you are: ‘T was the night before Christmas, When all through the house Not a creature was stirring Except a small mouse - Now this was quite odd As a matter of fact It had been killed earlier By a black and white cat - But out in the graveyard Strange noises were heard The undead were rising, Fresh flesh the

This is Horror has just announced the nominees for the year's This is Horror Awards. Noticed that someone who has done some great reviews for this website, David McWilliam, has two of his Twisted Tales events nominated i

As group of friends we took a trip to The Edinburgh Dungeons, a place set on making sure history really comes alive—but only the fun, dark, gory parts.

Another possession film coming along ...

In May 2012, Mary Shelley, a play about the life and works of the author of Frankenstein, will debut at the Playhouse Theatre in Liverpool.  The piece is directed by award-winning Director Polly Teale, and is a co-production of the Nottingham Playhouse, the West Yorkshire Playhouse, and the Shared Experience team.  See the website here for further details: it's bound to be a run-away success.

As a companion study to his own monograph Stephen King on the Big Screen (2009), in which Mark Browning discusses theatrically released movies formulated around a King-based premise, Stephen King on the Small Screen (2011) now deals with television-oriented productions based on material by King. A brief introductory review of the major works on the topic up to the date of publication demonstrates that this is indeed a much neglected area. King adaptations in television are mostly mentioned in passing, if at all, even in those works proclaiming to analyse a wide range of material. Browning thus provides a platform for King’s television pieces to be discussed in their own right and outside of potentially restricting or distorting theoretical frameworks...

Just as we are presented with the spectre of Charlize Theron and Julia Roberts hamming it up for all they are worth...

There's a new animated horror comedy forthcoming from the makers of Coraline featuring the voice of Kodi Smit-McPhee (Let Me In) as Norman, a boy who can speak to the dead.

One cannot refer to Mexican gothic fiction without mentioning Carlos Fuentes. In fact, I would dare to say that one cannot refer to Mexican 20th century fiction in general without mentioning Carlos Fuentes. As early as 1962 the author publishes Aura, a short novel that includes many traditional gothic features. Aura can be easily found in English translation (Manchester University Press) as well as in bilingual edition (Macmillan: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux). The narrative tells the story of Felipe Montero, a young historian who’s hired to organise and complete the memoirs of a dead gene