horror

Grotesques: The Terrible, Awful, Wonderful Days of Pre-Code Horror

October 23, 2018 // 1 Comment

So it’s still Halloween time here on the nerd farm. The air’s turning cold, the leaves are falling, the dead are walking the night, keeping us all up with their mournful caterwauling… You know, the usual. It’s our favorite time of year, and we thought we’d continue our celebration this week with a look at the covers of some Pre-Code Horror Comics. If you’re reading this at all, you’re probably at least somewhat familiar with the subject: horror ruled [...]

Evil Night: The Dork Forty Halloween Mixtape!

October 16, 2018 // 5 Comments

So it’s that spooky time of year again, and here on the nerd farm, that means it’s also time for our annual Halloween mixtape. Or a virtual version thereof… Last year, we had fun with a bunch of rockabilly tunes from the Monster Kid era. So this year, I thought we’d take it in a more serious direction, with a collection of 13 songs filled with murder, betrayal, and macabre desire. I’m calling it EVIL NIGHT. Here’s your cover: And here are the songs. Hope you [...]

Lord of the Quiet Moments: A Look at Jeff Lemire

March 13, 2018 // 3 Comments

So we’re pretty big Jeff Lemire fans here on the nerd farm. While he doesn’t write the complex, thematically-dense kind of stuff we like the best, he is the King of the Low-Key. The Lord of Quiet Moments. And that’s a tone he applies to a wider variety of genres than just about anyone else in comics. Science fiction, super heroes, adventure, literary naturalism, small-town slice of life… He does it all with aplomb. Sometimes his straight genre stuff adheres a little too [...]

Strange Angles: Fatale and HP Lovecraft

January 7, 2013 // 0 Comments

Fatale #11, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips Much has been made of this series’ Lovecraftian elements, but so far that’s mostly been a surface thing. There’s no cosmic horror to it, really, no shattering revelations of man’s insignificance in the face of the vast unknowable universe. No, this book’s more about the entirely too knowable horrors of lust and desire, and the terrible things they can make men do. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I don’t [...]

Halloween Leftovers: Jim Steranko’s Tower of Shadows

November 4, 2012 // 0 Comments

Incredible as it may seem after 31 days of posts, I actually did have a few Halloweenie odds and ends that I didn’t get around to last month. But, hey. One of the great pleasures of the holiday season is leftovers, right? So tonight I thought I’d share one of the tastier bits: That’s Jim Steranko‘s cover for Tower of Shadows #1, Marvel Comics’ entry into the late-60s horror comic boom. It’s a striking piece of pop-art, from the killer logo to the violent red [...]

Countdown Completed! IT’S HALLOWEEN!!!

October 31, 2012 // 7 Comments

The big day is here, the Great Punkin is loose in the night, and here on the Dork Forty… I’m afraid our month-long celebration is going to end with a whimper instead of a bang. Due to some WordPress issues, I’m not able to post videos tonight. So our big Halloween mix-tape ends with last night’s Tom Waits marathon. But I’ve still got some pictures for you, so… Let the (somewhat subdued) Halloweenie celebrations begin! Aaaanndd… I can’t let the [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 28: The Three Shadows, Part Two

October 28, 2012 // 0 Comments

I’ve had a long, slow, headachey day today, so tonight’s addition to our on-going virtual Halloween mix-tape is just a simple mood piece. First, some ominous skies photographed by a friend of mine… …and Bauhaus with a quietly evil bedtime [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 26: The Ghosts of New Orleans

October 26, 2012 // 0 Comments

Tonight’s topic: GHOSTS! Picture #1: Funnybook ghost! Picture #2: A fine piece of 19th century trick photography– I mean… An amazing ghost picture from the early days of the photographic arts. Because of course it’s real! Can’t you see how terrified that man is?! Picture #3: Every bit as real as the last one! Disney technician– I mean, Ghost Wrangler– Yale Gracey tests out the Hatbox Ghost in the Haunted Mansion ride to make sure the ghost head [...]

Countdown to Halloween, Day 25: This is My Last Song About Satan

October 25, 2012 // 0 Comments

Much as we love all the various ghouls and ghosts of the Halloween season, let’s face it: the holiday’s real king-daddy, the man with the evil plan… is Satan. Yes, the fundamentalists were right: beneath all the candy and mischief and innocent spooky fun, Halloween is all about the devil. Old Scratch himself. The Great Deceiver. Corrupter of virgin flesh… …leader of strange rituals… …and all-around source of everything that makes Halloween [...]