Category: H.J. Dutton’s Horrific Highlights
Four Desert Stories
by H.J. Dutton Among the most inhospitable places on the planet is the desert. The desert’s unwelcoming attitude is something our pop culture depictions get (mostly) right. In T.E. Lawrence’s 1926 classic Seven Pillars of Wisdom (the basis for the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia), George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and Arizona-based author
Four Jungle Stories
by H.J. Dutton One of my favorite horror topics is underused settings. Like the jungle. Though not as rare as other neglected settings – zoos, prehistory, etc. – the jungle certainly isn’t a staple, either, which is odd, because by all means it should be. Anything could hide inside that mess of green, waiting to
Five Tales of Aquatic Creepy Crawlies
by H.J. Dutton This article builds on two previous articles, “Five Stories about Bugs and Creepy Crawlies” and “Four Stories Set Underwater.” Although reading those articles is not necessary for understanding this one, understandings of creep-factors and specific underwater frights are related… and you can also get similar thrills from those articles’ recommendations. So, like
Four Stories Set Underwater
by H.J. Dutton Thousands of years of experiences with unpredictable tides and unreliable ships have hammered in a deep fear of the world beneath the waves. Even if their plots don’t center around the sea, horror stories – especially those of the modern Gothic variety – often take place near the ocean. Less common, though,
Four Stories About Dogs
by H.J. Dutton Dogs often enjoy more diverse roles in horror than cats. While the feline almost always plays a spooky set piece or antagonist, the canine might play victim, protagonist, tragic villain, or maybe an agent of evil. Of these options, the last is least common. Historic and evolutionary connections between dogs and humans
Snuff and Stuff: A History of Internet Shock Content
by H.J. Dutton It’s eighth grade. You’re at a cafeteria table picking through dry salad when the boy next to you nudges your side. Turning, you see he has his phone out. He says something along the lines of, “Hey man, check this out. You gotta see this; it’s nuts. Seriously crazy shit.” So, curious,
Five Tales of Avian Terror
by H.J. Dutton No animal in mythology and fiction has had stronger associations with horror than the bird. Millennia before James O’Barr’s brooding series The Crow was collected into a graphic novel in 1993 and adapted into a cult film classic in 1994, corvids were associated with death and other ill tidings. Their natural role
Five Stories About Bugs and Creepy Crawlies
by H.J. Dutton and Reese Hurd The popularity of some topics in horror doesn’t require much explaining. Bugs, for example. Through millions of years of evolution, humans developed an instinctual aversion to insects and arachnids, a survival mechanism that protects us from toxins, disease, and infestation. The horror genre routinely exploits our primal fears of
Five Stories About the Urban Underground
by H.J. Dutton Few places can fill the mind with unease like the subway. The slick tiled halls, the platforms of cold concrete, the tracks crawling with rats, and the black abysses of the tunnels–and don’t forget the sounds and smells, the drips, the groans, the putrescent garbage and… what on Earth smells like that
Resident Evil: A Retrospective
by H.J. Dutton and Reese Hurd In 1989, Kiyoshi Kurosawa directed Sweet Home, a supernatural j-horror film in which a film crew visits a deceased artist’s estate and encounters the violent spirit of the man’s wife. Kurosawa disowned the project after producer Juzo Itami edited the final cut without Kurosawa’s permission. Today, people are likely