Michael Thomas-Knight published in Twisted Dreams Magazine
My horror-fiction, short-story, ‘Uninvited’ has been published in the new issue of Twisted Dreams Magazine. It’s the huge, June issue with loads of horror fiction, articles and photography. If you are interested you can order the print issue or digital issue (PDF) from the following links:
Twisted Dreams Magazine: June Issue,
Support the underground horror scene!
C.O.D.A.
Ouija Board – fact or fiction – part II
How and why the Ouija Board works
The Ouija board itself has no power. If it did, planchettes would be moving by themselves in the boxes on store shelves where they are sold. Also, toy stores across the nation would resemble Halloween haunted house attractions as ghosts and spirits spread from the confines of their little boxes and out into the aisles.
The success of a Ouija board reading is wholly dependent upon the psychic abilities, spirituality and openness of the individuals using it. Whether the individuals themselves know they have abilities does not matter. Even a skeptic with a strong intuitive nature may get a good reading.
In using the board, it is the ritual of setting up the game, setting the right mood in the room, and clearing your mind for the purpose of communications with the spirit world, that makes it possible. It is your intention that acts as a beacon to draw spirits toward the board, not the board itself.
The contents of a Ouija board consist of a board with the “Yes’ or ‘No’ response choices printed upon it and a movable piece called a ‘planchette’. The planchette is shaped somewhat like a heart, a rounded bottom and a pointed top. The pointed top will aim at answers or letters to communicate with the players. Some planchettes have an open or glass circle in them so the letters will appear in the circle. The players place their fingers upon the movable piece and ask questions. In a successful reading, the spirits will work through the energy of the ’players’ and point the planchette to words or letters, in order to answer questions. Most have a full alphabet printed on the board for more detailed questions/answers. Some have ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ and numbers, 0 thru 9, printed upon them also.
Boards range from the basic Parker Brothers game sold at toy stores to elaborate wooden boards with fine wood-carved planchetes. However, anything can be used as a makeshift Ouija Board. A piece of cardboard box with the words ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ scribbled upon it, and another piece of cardboard cut into planchette shape can be used with the same results. It can be an effective communication tool because of what I had previously mentioned; it is your intention to communicate that draws the spirits forward.
When you use the Ouija Board repeatedly, you will begin to contact one specific entity, over and over. This is the dominant entity of the board. This entity is attracted to you for some reason and will tell you details about their life and answer questions freely. One word of warning: never use a Ouija Board alone. It can be dangerous. Also, anything more than casual or occasional use, even with others, is not recommended.
In part 3 of this article I will get into the dangers of using a Ouija Board.
The Scariest Classic Witches in film
OK, let me first state that I am not speaking of Wiccan’s, Pagan’s, or any earth religions and followers, and I do realize there is a great difference between the perception of witches and what witches actually are. I also know there is a great difference between the Wicca religion and Satan worshipers.
What I am speaking about is the classic legend of witches, the witch image stereotype that had been used for centuries to scare children and keep them from wandering in the forest; the scary image men conjured in centuries past from their own fears of things they did not understand; the visions that sparked the Salem Witch Trials and the Spanish Inquisition.
And, lastly, I am not talking about the pretty or sexy witch. Ever since Bewitched aired in the late 1960’s, there has been way too many of them in film.
So, without further explanation, here are my favorite scary witches:
5) Black Sunday (1960) - Her face encased with the mask of Satan, tortured and burned at the stake, accused witch, Asa Vajda, comes to life centuries later to exact her revenge upon the descendants of her persecutors. Directed by Mario Bava.
4) Darkness Falls (2003) - This tooth seeking witch comes for your last baby tooth. The first six minutes of this film were a tense and chilling scene, making it well worthy of this list.
3) The Wizard of Oz (1939) - Margaret Hamilton’s portrayal of a witch in this classic film is the epitome of the witch legend. Ask any child what a witch looks like and they will draw something resembling The Wicked Witch of the West.
2) Pumpkinhead (1988) - Deep in the shadowed woods lives a witch named, Hagis, who can cast a spell upon anyone that has wronged you. In classic evil fashion, your wish always comes with a consequence. When Ed (Lance Henriksen) realizes what he has done, he is angered at himself. “God Damn me!” he says… to which Hagis replies, “He already has, Ed Harley, he already has.” (Side note: this is some of Henriksen’s best acting of his career.)
1) Tales From the Dark side – episode: Trick or Treat
(1st season – 1983) – Damned if you can find a better classic witch than this one. Creepy as hell, a wickedly evil laugh and voice, and a face that could turn you to stone if you stare into it for too long.
Honorable Mentions:
Sleepy Hollow (1999 – Tim Burton) - Witch of the western wood
Dreams in the Witch House (Masters Of Horror – 2005) Stuart Gordon
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1970)
OK, this is not a film but I remember this album cover portraying the creepiest witch at an abandoned farmhouse in England, and I just had to slip it in here. I remember the first time I saw it; the more I looked at it the more it freaked me out.
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Horror Hotel (aka City of the Dead)
Clash of the Titans (1981) – the Stygian Witches
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These are not necessarily the best movies about witches or witchcraft but were chosen for their portrayal of the iconic witch image. Perhaps I’ll post future list of top witch/witchcraft/occult movies. I will want to wait until I have seen Lords of Salem (2012 – Rob Zombie) before I do that.
Final note:
Believe it or not, there were not a whole lot of choices; I thought there would be so much more. So, if you think of a film or show that featured a scary-classic witch (even in a small role) let me know in the comments and I’ll add a photo to my honorable mentions.
20th Century Ghosts – Joe Hill
William Morrow/Harper Collins Publishing
I believe this is Hill’s first published book of horror-fiction, short-stories. Because of the title, I had expected actual ghost stories but there is only one traditional ghost story within these pages, which shares the same title as the book. The collection varies from visceral horror, to thriller, to weird fiction. It starts splendidly with the brutal tale, “Best New Horror” where a fiction editor picks a violent tale for inclusion in a year-end anthology despite its rawer writing style. Unable to contact the author, he travels by car to the rural home of the writer, only to find, the story may not have been fiction after-all. Next up is the story, 20th Century Ghost, which is a twist on the traditional ghost story, set in a movie theater of a small town. From there we have strange tales which include a modernized, visceral homage to Kafka’s Metamorphosis, a story involving the descendants of Van Helsing, a train riding Hobo, a plastic balloon shaped like a real boy, and others. Hill often shows a sense of humor within his tales, through the character’s actions and twists of fate that mirror the unexpected ironies in real life. 20th Century Ghosts is an interestingly diverse collection of strange tales that will keep you reading through the night, sometimes with the lights on, sometimes with a smirk, and occasionally with a teary eye and a heavy heart.
The Great God Pan – Arthur Machen
Seven Treasures Publications
A young Doctor and his assistant attempt to empower a young woman with the ability to see the hidden world of Pagan gods. The Doctor surgically removes the part of her brain that blocks the human mind from seeing this forbidden world, and the woman spirals into a delirious state, unable to provide any useful account of what she has experienced. Many years later, London is in the grips of a rash of suicides by gentlemen of all social standings. The doctor and his friend begin to unravel clues given by testimony and story from a host of characters and sources. They discover a common thread; all the men had relations with a strange but beautiful woman who had recently taken residence in London. They know this stranger is too young to be the woman of their experiment so many years ago, but can not shake the notion of some connection.
Machen has a way of skirting around the tale and slowly spiraling inward, revealing what is at the center, rather than going straight ahead into the crux of the tale. Most of his stories are this combination of mystery and horror, quite often leaving you at the very edge of an abyss, to imagine the story’s outcome, or the fate of the characters. For those not familiar with Machen’s work, this would be the best tale to begin with, as it sets the tone and style of all of his works and gives you an understanding of the way he reveals his dark visions.
My The Top 10 Underrated horror films:
In no particular order, here are my top 10 underrated horror flicks. This list is subject to change…
The Legend of Hell House (1973)
A great ghost story starring Roddy McDowell, which provides scientific explanations of the existence of ghosts, creepy mood, dark atmosphere and quite a bit of carnage and death! This is one of the first ghost/horror movies that scared me as a young lad, so I may be partial to this film. Would love to know what other people think.
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The Entity (1981)
I watched this recently and was terrified for the woman within the first ten minutes of the film. The movie never lets up. Barbara Hershey, plays a fantastic role as the struggling single mom tormented by an evil spirit. I was surprised that the film had an affect on me so many years after I had first seen it.
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The Amityville Horror II (1982)
IMO this film is scarier than the original, with strong characters played brilliantly by their respective actors. Follow the Defeo’s lives’ up until the time of the true-life murders. There is a ten-minute sequence, from the demon’s POV, where the evil presence travels from the cellar through the house. Creepy as hell.
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The Night Flier (1997)
This quiet little film made for Showtime, from Stephen King’s story of the same name, became one of my favorite King adaptations. A successful yet jaded reporter, for a fringe tabloid newspaper, begins hunting a vampire, who has been landing his Cessna at small northern airports and leaving havoc in his wake. The reporter, played perfectly by, Miguel Ferrer, is a total A-hole, but you like him anyway.
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The Mangler (1995)
How can you go wrong teaming up Stephen King, Tobe Hooper, and Robert Englund? A despicable textile-factory owner (Englund), pushes his workers into higher production numbers and output, even as several are maimed and killed by one of the shop’s massive machines. The machine is so dangerous it is nicknamed ‘The Mangler’. Unbeknownst to anyone in the shop, the Mangler has its own plans.
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Open Water (2003)
Based on a true story, filmed in a gritty, reality style, we follow a young couple on a scuba-diving expedition during their Jamaica vacation. The party boat mistakenly leaves them stranded in the deep Atlantic, with no sign of land anywhere. We follow this couple as they try to stay afloat and fight for survival against the elements.
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The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)
In the first scene, from the killers POV, we see the stalking and murder of a victim. It immediately reminded me of Halloween and I cursed the film as a blatant rip-off of Carpenter’s style – until I looked at the credits. The film was actually written by John Carpenter (but not directed by him). The Eyes of Laura Mars is a great white-knuckle thriller, worthy of mention in the same breath as Hitchcock and Brian DePalma films. Laura is plagued by visions of a serial killer’s murders as they happen in real-time.
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Creep (2004)
A young lady is mistakenly locked in the London Underground – what we NY-ers would call the subway – and is stalked by a strange creature. As she desperately tries to find another way out, she discovers the humanoid’s lair, a long abandoned underground medical facility that had cruelly experimented on humans. It seems this Creep is going to do some surgical experiments of his own.
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The Fourth Kind (2009)
A strong unease gripped me after seeing this film. I wasn‘t even all-that scared when I was watching it, but the movie wouldn’t let go of me; I kept thinking about it for days. Was it a demon disguising itself as an alien so it would be relevant in this modern day and age? Or was it an ancient alien still wielding strange powers upon a small northern town because it could isolate it’s victims? The film never really gives you an answer – I think that is what makes it unnerving.
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Dagon (2001)
A cross between the very short-story, Dagon, and the infamous “Innsmouth” tale, this Lovecraft adaptation successfully captures the true fear, atmosphere and mood of Lovecraft terror. When a young couple’s yacht runs aground, they become stranded in a strange, backward town on the coast of Mediterranean Spain. The feeling of isolation and terror grow, as the strangely deformed townspeople close-in on the unwelcome intruders.
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Honorable mention:
Pulse (2006)
Nobody seemed to like this film as much as I did. To me, it relays a plausible scientific theory: the expansion and amplification of once unknown frequencies will eventually lead us to discover something we should not, or, in this case, they will discover us. A proficient programmer/hacker in college is contacted by entities from the great beyond, only to discover they are the denizens of hell. In the end, this brooding, quiet film turns into an apocalyptic disaster as the film looks outward from this college community to the bigger picture. Wi-Fi is everywhere.
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Let me know what you think of my picks. Post some of your favorite underrated horror flicks in the comments, films you think should’ve gotten more attention.
The Remake Scoreboard – Horror movie remakes – the good and bad list. Thumbs up or thumbs down and a few sentences why.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (remake – 2011)
(original 1973)
This is a movie that should’ve been ripe for a remake. The original, made for TV movie, had a very low-key script with not much back story, and little special effects. Somehow that low-key film managed to be creepy as hell. In the remake, the protagonist was a ten-year-old girl instead of the wife, which should’ve made it even scarier. It wasn’t. The little girl was too brooding and dark for us empathize with her. It would have been much more effective if the girl was happy and when she moved into the house, and the creatures turned her darker. The mansion was too big and exotic for me to associate with my own life. IMO, This film missed its mark by a mile.
The Thing (2011)
(original 1951 & 1982)
While billed as a prequel, it may as well be viewed as a remake because, aside form the last 15 minutes, every aspect and plot point from the 1982 version is repeated in this film. The cold, the isolation, the human/monster test, the flamethrowers, the distrust & paranoia; all are aspects common to both films. Secondly, I heard complaints about the use of CGI in this ‘prequel’, but aside from the finale, the digi-fx were kept to a minimum. I believe the realism in the effects (as opposed to other recent CGI laden films), is that they filmed the scenes with physical animatronics and props, and the CGI was only used to enhance the real props. Despite the first point I made and because of the second, I am giving this a thumbs up. Is it better than the previous two versions? No, not at all. But, it is entertaining with good suspense, gore, monster-fx, and thrills & chills.
Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein (1994)
(original 1931)
Despite baring her name, this film is not true to Mary Shelley’s novel. To differentiate the film from the Universal classic, the studio added the original author’s name to the title, but the film deviates quite a bit from the original story. (No-one can even give Frankie a flat-top head; it is a fiercely protected trademark by Universal.) This film is a combined hybrid of the original and “The Bride of…”. Kenneth Branagh plays a conflicted Doctor Victor Frankenstein, torn between his scientific obsession and his love, Elizabeth, played by Helena Bonham Carter. Robert DeNiro plays the Frankenstein monster, a fully self-aware, coherent, character, struggling to find his place in the world and his purpose in life. It is an exciting film filled with beautiful Victorian atmosphere and the philosophical concepts of life that made the original novel so powerful.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
(original 1956)
Even though the original is the classic paranoia, alien, quiet-invasion film, this remake has something strong going for it too. The incredibly real and likable characters portrayed by, Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams and Jeff Goldblum are exceptional. You can’t help but root for their escape as the world goes mad around them. Coupled with some great special-effects, cinematography, and sound track (effects and music), the remake is a solid, must-see film. Some of the sound effects really get under your skin. I would be hard pressed to make a decision between the two, my suggestion would be to see them both.
The Wolfman (2010)
(original 1941)
I appreciate the nods to the classic here; the gypsy woman and the look of the Wolfman himself, but I think this film missed the mark of becoming a new classic. With Lon Chaney Jr. you had the sense of a deeply conflicted character harboring quite a bit of emotional pain. I think this remake tried too hard and tried to fit too much into the script. It never gave the viewer a sufficient chance to feel the torment of the man-turned-monster. Despite a great cast The Wolfman is just a good movie, not a great one IMO. It doesn’t compare to the elegance and success of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) or, Mary Shelly‘s Frankenstein (1994).
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