#holiday horror 2022

[rachel-langella-author]

Anna and the Apocalypse

Shudder has a lovely curated collection of holiday horror movies, so I'm going to watch (and in some cases, rewatch) the entire collection over the remainder of this month.

Tonight is night one! I've chosen to start with Anna and the Apocalypse (2017), which is a holiday horror comedy musical set in Scotland during a zombie apocalypse at Christmas. I'll be posting my reactions while watching it, so there will be SPOILERS.

Okay, we're starting off with strong teen angst vibes. Anna wants to take some time to travel before going to university, but her father doesn't approve of the idea. We have the obligatory "I can't wait to get away from you!" Also the obligatory "teen boy in love with his female best friend who has no idea" trope.

Oh, we are drenched in irony-laden foreshadowing with Anna looking straight at the camera as she sings, "this isn't what you expect" (or something to that effect. The "Not a Hollywood Ending" number is catchy, but I do wonder if Lisa and Chris collapsing on the floor at the end is giving us a clue as to whether they'll survive until the end or not.

I know Headmaster Savage is supposed to be unlikeable, but I think he might be my favorite just for the "Withdraw your tongues!" line aimed at a couple making out in the hall. Clearly, he's been broken by long years of teaching. Or he's just a dick. Either way, I'm amused by him and his unconcealed disdain.

Anna and John singing about what a wonderful day it is while smoke from a distant house fire billows and zombies lunge after terrified neighbors behind them. "Subtle" commentary about how unobservant people can be, especially when they have their ear buds in? It's a funny juxtaposition, at least! Also, the movie really hammers home what the viewer is in for when Anna kills her first zombie with a seesaw. Its head flies off, and we're treated to a close up of a Monty Python-esque up-spray of blood from the neck.

OMG #evacselfie Okay, I officially love the scathing dark humor.

"Tay-tay's fine. She's FINE."

John kills a zombie by bashing its head between two bowling balls so hard that the skull erupts. So we have pretty graphic gore, but it's so over the top, I'm not grossed out by it. The visual juxtapositions are interesting: one scene shows us a deserted residential street and zooms in on someone's limp hand in a pool of blood against the backdrop of the dismal, grey winter sky. Visually striking and poignant! Not long after that, a scene shows us Steph shoving a zombie's head into a toilet and beating it to death with the lid. Tinsel and garlands are everywhere, and red and green lights shine down on bodies sprawled in empty streets. A bloody apocalypse festooned with colorful holiday decorations pretty much sums up this movie.

Of course the local group of dudebros are hunting zombies and looting, led by Nick the dick, who bursts into an "Eye of the Tiger"-sounding solo about being "a soldier at war."

Voice-over narration of "The Night Before Christmas" while Anna and her ragtag band of survivors fight their way out of a Christmas tree lot in slo-mo. Anna's weapon of choice? A candy cane lawn decoration with a spiky bit at the end. Steph is wielding a mannequin leg, which could be a nod to A Christmas Story? Nick is swinging a baseball bat because he's basic.

Oh shit, Savage has straight up snapped. The actor playing him is a brilliant scenery chewer in the fine tradition of Alan Rickman in that Robin Hood movie.

Nick gets a redemption...moment? I can't tell if it's going to develop into a full-blown arc. Nice bit of concise character development, but he's still a dick.

"BOOM! Saved your life." Steph is my favorite.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Okay, so lots of blood, but most of it is very Monty Python, so it's not that bad. It's not scary, and there are minimal jump scares (thank goodness). It mixes social commentary with dark humor in the way that I like, and while there are some poignant moments, they don't delve into pathos. You get two seconds to have a feeling about it before the movie does something to make you laugh in that "OMG I'm going to hell for laughing" way.

If you like Shaun of the Dead and musical theater, you'll probably like this movie. 4.5 out of 5 zombie Santas.

[the-watcher-in-the-sky]

Happy holidays!

[maveras-posts]

Art during 🖤CHRISTMAS🎄

Sorry for the delay I have had writers block and I’ve gotten surgery as well so I’ve had tons of time to think of how to make content that’s true to you and art. Happy Holidays yall!♥️🎄💋

Art LOVES Christmas like seriously don’t get in the way of his festiveness…seriously don’t 🥲

He’ll want to build a snow man (it won’t be your traditional one)

Most likely there will be a head that not made of snow on there (if ur catching my drift)

He’ll decorate the second Halloween is over

You’ll ask him what’s he’s doing at 3AM and he’ll whip around with the tree glasses on😭

The mofo will look like this:

Hell start blasting Mariah on repeat as well (ITS TIMMMEEE)

Will make himself sick from eating the cookies (For the love of God STOP him)

This motherfucker enjoys biting the heads of the gingerpeople off and placing them back 😡

I feel like he’s the type of person that would feed into the peppermint hype (Peppermint Latte, treats you name it he HAS IT!)

Art is also obsessed with popcorn, seriously he will attsck anyone who tries to take it

He would also love to decorate with you (let’s just say it’ll be unconventional tho😭 by that I mean ✨LimBs✨ and don’t forget the ✨GuTs✨)

He likes to make blood Snow angels (totally ignore the red—)

He would definitely also enjoy the ugly sweater hype and he might even make his own (might have nails and razors on it but ignore it please 🥲)

Art would most likely get annoyed at the Christmas Carolers (he’d get the flame thrower STOP HIM)

Art would also wake you up at 4AM to open gifts and will it take no for an answer

There may be a foot in your stocking (foot of ur enemy perhaps?)

For Christmas dinner he might make himself sick from the rolls and the cranberry sauce don’t question it reminds him of Bl00d

He might’ve gotten baked beforehand too it’s gonna be a fever dream lemme tell ya that now😭

[homemadehorrors]

Keep the light, as we approach the longest night of the year. 🪔🎄

[mostlikelynothuman]

Backup Truce time!

Happy (belated) holidays @aggressivelyclueless. I was your backup gifter this year, so here’s something based off of your fic fairy circle, because the image refused leave my mind.

Hope you like it!

[fantasymusicwarrior]

So was anyone else entirely enthralled by the pins Siobhan was wearing in episode 4 or was it just me

[sundial-bee-scribbles]

as my first act of 2023 im gonna expose myself: yes i did snap and wrote a vocaloid fic a while back, here it is

[rudeguacamole]

Happy holidays y'all, and have a nice week too ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

this is my first time publishing so- yeah.. (lll￢ω￢)

[savzo]

Merry Christmas from the Graveyard Shift. A little Krampus for yall. Hope you were good ;)

[theprofessionalpromptmaker]

Prompt Advent Calendar 2022: Day 2

Person A is a witch/magic entity/etc. who can carve out people’s flesh and make their dreams come true - if they wish for money, they can turn the flesh into pure gold; if they want power, they can turn the flesh into a blessed magic item; etc. Person B is trying to think of a good gift for their friends for Christmas and decides to go to Person A and exchange their flesh for great gifts for their loved ones. Person A has never seen anyone do that before and is a little concerned that Person B is willing to sacrifice to much to earn the praise and affection of their friends and family.

[t1ffanyval3nt1ne]

merry christmas my emos 💋💋

[rachel-langella-author]

Black Christmas

Tonight's holiday horror pick is Black Christmas (1974), which is notable for being one of the earliest slasher films. Like When a Stranger Calls (1979), it was inspired by the "the call is coming from inside the house!" urban legend, but with sorority sisters rather than a babysitter.

SPOILERS below!

Low budget, early 1970s film quality--check! We open to a cheerful holiday scene outside what I presume is the sorority house, all decked out in lights and decorations. Cue the creepy mouth-breathing and slight camera wobble to signal we're in the killer's POV. Fortunately, that's just an establishing technique, and it doesn't last long. We switch to a steady camera while the creepy dude's shadow falls across the window of the sorority house. Mouth breathing intensifies.

Margo Kidder! What's Lois Lane doing smoking cigarettes and using foul language??

Return to Creeper Cam as he climbs the trellis to gain access to the house.

Olivia Hussey! What's Juliet doing at a college party with alcohol and boys?

Creeper Cam: He's in the attic. Why do they have a rocking horse in the attic of a sorority house?

Oh, god, the burnt orange carpet. The orange/brown/cream flower patterned drapes. I'm having Seventies flashbacks. If I see an avocado green or mustard yellow appliance, someone will need to send help.

Fake out with the first phone call--it's Barb's mom, with whom Barb obviously has a rocky relationship. (Calling her mom a "gold-plated whore" to her face was my first clue.) The second call, though, is Creeper Dude, and he's called before. The girls refer to him as "The Moaner." If he's called before and he obviously knows where the sorority house is, I think we can assume he's stalked them. So tonight is his escalation from gross creeping to murder. Yay.

The call consists of disturbing noises that escalate to very gross, very crude, and very misogynistic rambling. The young women crowd around the phone and listen with visible fear and concern while "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" plays in the background until Barb grabs the phone from Jess and delivers some stinging zingers. Creeper Dude dials his misogyny up to 11 and ends with "I'm going to kill you" before hanging up.

Claire mentions a "townie" girl who was sexually assaulted recently, and Barb replies in a way that lets us know she's a) a snob and b) carrying around some internalized misogyny of her own.

The house mother arrives, wearing a cloche hat and dangling a cigarette in an actual cigarette holder from her lips. Faded 1920s/1930s chic. She's the "recapturing her youth by overseeing the young women" trope in the flesh. She is also, of course, a secret lush who has bottles of booze hidden all over the house.

This script was written by a man, wasn't it.

First victim! It's Claire, who had a brief bit of dialogue with her boyfriend earlier. Not nearly enough to make us invested in her, but hey, someone's got to be brutally murdered first. Creepy Killer is lurking in her closet, and we see her through a sheet of plastic (why is that in the closet? who knows. Deus ex Machina killer cover, I suppose According to wikipedia, it's a plastic dress bag) from his POV.

The yellow flowered wallpaper in Claire's room. I can't.

Claire commits the common error of horror movie victims: moving toward the strange noise while asking, "Who's there? Claude?" I'm not sure if Claude is her boyfriend or the house cat. I'm just saying Creepy Killer better keep his fucking mitts off the cat. Do I care that much about Claire? No. But if the cat dies, I riot.

I low-key want Phyl's shawl.

We can see this movie setting up some of the standard tropes used in later slasher movies. Barb is a brash young woman who smokes and drinks set up in opposition to Jess, who tries to play peacemaker between Barb and Claire. Barb is wearing her shirt unbuttoned low enough that we can tell she's not wearing a bra, while Jess is fully covered in a sweater and wears a cross pendant. Clear good girl/bad girl juxtaposition. I predict Barb is going to be murdered, and Jess is going to be our Final Girl.

Jess's boyfriend, Peter, calls. He's a dick. Jess then goes upstairs and knocks on Claire's door, but, uh... too late.

Creepy Killer has her stashed in the attic, seated by the window in a rocking chair.

Update: Claude is the cat. He's trapped in the attic with Claire.

Plot twist! Jess is pregnant! Peter is overjoyed, but Jess wants an abortion. Peter: "Don't you ever consider anyone but yourself?" Jess, you can do so much better.

Creepy Killer calls the sorority house again, and this time, he does voices and mentions someone named Billy. "Where did you put Agnes, Billy?"

Peter bombs the piano audition/judged recital or whatever the fuck he's been practicing for, and OF COURSE it's all Jess's fault. He destroys the piano, because that's the reasonable and mature response.

John Saxon! I remember seeing him in everything back in the day.

House mother: "I might be gone when you get back because I'm going to my sister's for the holidays." So you're going to be murdered while everyone else is out of the house, and no one will find your body because they'll assume you've left town. Got it.

RIP house mother! She took a hook to the face when she went up to the attic to find Claude.

Peter: "I'm quitting the conservatory, and we're getting married...Let's get one thing straight: you're not getting rid of that baby." A controlling dick. Jess says she doesn't want to marry Peter, and he tells her she'll be sorry. I think we're being set up to suspect him as the killer? But no, I think he's just an abusive control freak.

Creepy Killer put a baby doll in Claire's lap and is rocking the chair. This is some Norman Bates level shit.

Having a plainclothes cop watching the house won't do any good when the killer is inside the house!

RIP Barb, murdered by being stabbed with the horn of one of her own unicorn figurines. Creepy Killer aka Billy rambled about Agnes again, so I think we can safely assume he did something bad to her. Probably his sister? No one knows Barb is dead yet because some kids who sound like the Vienna Boys Choir showed up at the door to sing "Oh Come Let Us Adore Him" and drowned out Barb's death screams.

It's a bit late to be locking all the doors and windows now, Phyl!

Oh shit, RIP Phyl. She went to check on Barb, and the ominous closing of the door behind her signals off-camera murder.

Oh my sweet Baby Jane--the house mother really was trying to cling to her faded glory! There are vinyl records of The McHenry Sisters propped up near Billy while he makes another call using the house mother's phone in her room.

"You left Billy alone with Agnes?" Okay, yeah, Billy killed his sister.

John Saxon's slow dawning horror as he realizes THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE. Also, the plainclothes cop is dead.

Nash, you dumbass, you weren't supposed to tell Jess that.

Jess, what part of "put the phone down and walk out of the house" do you not understand? Barb and Phyl are not going to answer you!

So they take Claire's dad to the hospital, but not Jess who has just killed Peter with a poker because he was being creepy and obsessive at the most wrong time of all and who is pregnant.

...I'm not sure if they've even found Claire and the house mother yet.

NOPE THEY HAVE NOT.

God damn it, this is why 1970s horror movies annoy the fuck out of me! The endings. The police left Jess alone in her bedroom in the house rather than taking her to the hospital while Claire is still visible in the attic window. Sure, there's a cop milling around outside, but the killer is still in there, and as the camera pulls back from the exterior of the house, we hear a phone start to ring.

Final Thoughts: I can see how it provided a foundation for the slasher films that came after it. We never see more of the killer than isolated body parts, and we never learn anything more about him or his motives than what he alludes to re: Agnes during the phone calls, and I'm fine with his motives being vague. I'm not so fine with the implications the movie makes about mental health issues. Clearly this is a guy who should have been in treatment of some kind. But stigmatizing mental health and making Billy a serial killer obsessed with young women is the easy and low effort path to creating a frightening antagonist.

I strongly suspect Barb is bisexual or a lesbian. I'd have to rewatch the movie to construct a supported thesis, which I don't want to do anytime soon, but maybe I'll circle back to that someday.

I really have to wonder if the scriptwriter thought he was being a feminist when he wrote this.

Overall, not bad, especially if you're interested in seeing an early slasher prototype. No jump scares (yay!), no gore, minimal blood. And the blood we do see is that Hammer Horror movie type blood that looks radioactive and is in no way mistakable for real blood. The murders aren't at all graphic; the movie is very careful in what it doesn't show, which lets us fill in the blanks ourselves.

As far as I can tell, Claude the cat survived.

I'm waffling between 3.5 and 4, but it's the holidays, so I'll be generous: 4 out of 5 zombie Santas.

[randr2086]

Christmas Bloody Christmas 2022

[batboyblog]

Copy Right and Public Domain in 2024

Happy 2024 all! its also Public Domain Day! a magical holiday here in America where things enter the public domain. Works published in the year 1928 (or 95 years ago!) have entered the public domain, which means they belong to us, all of us, the public!

Mickey's Back!

Yes! I'm sure you've heard, but Mickey Mouse (and Minnie Mouse too) is entering the Public Domain today. This has been news for a few years and indeed Disney's lobbying in the late 1990s is why our copy right term is SO long. So what exactly is now public domain?

Most people know about Mickey's first appearance Steamboat Willie, but a second short film, Plane Crazy was also released in 1928 so will also be public domain. So what's public? well these two films first of all, you're allowed to play them, upload them to YouTube or whatever without paying Disney. In theory you'll be allowed to cut and sample them, have them playing in the background of your movie etc. Likewise in theory the image of Mickey and Minnie as they appear (thats important) in these films will be free to use as well as Mickey's character as he appears in these works will be free to use. Now Mickey's later and more famous appearance

will still be protected. Famously the Conan Doyle Estate claimed that Sherlock Holmes couldn't be nice, smile, or not hate women in works because they still held the copyright on the short stories where he first did those things even though 90% of Sherlock Holmes stories were public domain. It's very likely Disney will assert similar claims over Mickey, claiming much of his personality first appeared in works still copyrighted.

Finally there's copyright vs trademark. Copyright is total ownership of a piece of media and all the ideas that appear in it, copyright has a limited set term and expires. Trademark is more limited and only applies to things used to market and sell a product. You can have a Coke branded vending machine in your movie if you want, but it couldn't appear anywhere in the trailer for your movie as thats you marketing your movie.

Where trademark ends and copyright begins and how trademarked something in the public domain is allowed to be are all unsettled areas of law and clearly Disney in the last few years as been aggressively pushing its trademark not just to Mickey in general but Steamboat Willie Mickey in particular

Ultimately the legal rights and wrongs of this might not matter so much since few people have the money and legal resources of the Walt Disney corporation so they might manage to maintain a de facto copyright on Mickey through legal intimidation, but maybe not?

And Tigger Too!

All the talk about Mickey Mouse and Steamboat Willie has sadly overshadowed other MAJOR things entering the public domain today. Most people are aware Winnie the Pooh entered the public domain in 2022, but they might not realize his beloved friend Tigger didn't. Thats because Tigger didn't appear till A. A. Milne's second (and last) book of Pooh short stories, The House at Pooh Corner in 1928.

Much like Mickey Mouse only what appears in The House at Pooh Corner is public domain so the orange bouncy boy from the 1960s Disney cartoon is still on lock down. But the A. A. Milne original as illustrated by E. H. Shepard is free for you to use in fiction or art. His friend Winnie the Pooh has made a number of appearances since being freed, most notably in a horror movie, but also a Mint Mobile commercial so maybe Tigger too will have a lot of luck in the public domain.

Other works:

Peter Pan; or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up

Peter Pan is a strange case, even though the play was first mounted in 1904, and the novelization (Peter and Wendy) was published in 1911, The script for the play was not published till 1928 (confusing!) meaning while the novel as been public domain for years the play (which came first) hasn't been, but now it is and people are welcome to mount productions of it.

Millions of Cats

The oldest picture book still in print, did you own a copy growing up? (I did)

Lady Chatterley's Lover

The iconic porn novel that was at the center of a number of groundbreaking obscenity cases in the 1960s and helped establish your right to free speech.

All Quiet on the Western Front and The Threepenny Opera in their original German (but you can translate them if you want), The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie, and Orlando by Virginia Woolf will also be joining us in the public domain along with any and all plays, novels, and books published in 1928

for Films we have The Man Who Laughs who's iconic image inspired the Joker

Charlie Chaplin's The Circus, Buster Keaton's The Cameraman, Should Married Men Go Home? the first Laurel and Hardy movie, Lights of New York the first "all talking" movie, The Passion of Joan of Arc, The Wind, as well as The Last Command and Street Angel the first films to win Oscars for Best Actor and Best Actress respectively will all be entering public domain

For Musical Compositions (more on that in a moment) we've got

Mack the Knife by Bertolt Brecht, Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) by Cole Porter, Sonny Boy by George Gard DeSylva, Lew Brown & Ray Henderson, Empty Bed Blues by J. C. Johnson, and Makin’ Whoopee! by Gus Khan are some of the notables but any piece of music published in 1928 is covered

Any art work published in 1928, which might include works by Frida Kahlo, Georgia O'Keeffe, Alexej von Jawlensky, Edward Hopper, and André Kertész will enter the public domain, we are sure those that M. C. Escher's Tower of Babel will be in the public domain

Swan Song, Public Domain and recorded music

While most things are covered by the Copyright Act of 1976 as amended by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, none of the copyright acts covered recordings you see when American copyright law was first written recordings did not exist and so through its many amendings no one fixed this problem, movies were treated like plays and artwork, but recorded sound wasn't covered by any federal law. So all sound recordings from before 1972 were governed by a confusing mess of state level laws making it basically impossible to say what was public and what was under copyright. In 2017 Congress managed to do something right and passed the Music Modernization Act. Under the act all recordings from 1922 and before would enter the public domain in 2022. After taking a break for 2023, all sound recordings made in 1923 have entered the public domain today on January 1st 2024, these include.

Charleston by James P. Johnson

Yes! We Have No Bananas (recorded by a lot artists that year)

Who’s Sorry Now by Lewis James

Down Hearted Blues by Bessie Smith

Lawdy, Lawdy Blues by Ida Cox

Southern Blues and Moonshine Blues by Ma Rainey

That American Boy of Mine and Parade of the Wooden Soldiers by Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra

Dipper Mouth Blues and Froggie More by King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band, featuring Louis Armstrong

Bambalina by Ray Miller Orchestra

Swingin’ Down the Lane by Isham Jones Orchestra

Enjoy your public domain works!

[hauntedxwritings]

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

No matter what it is that you celebrate at this time of year, Yule, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day,  Ōmisoka..  whatever it is.. remember that now is the time for rebirth.. for the world to start over.  Make sure that you do it right.  Out with the old and in with the new.  Don’t worry about the sadness and hurt of the past.. or the things that people have done to harm you.. let it go and start the New Year with a better outlook and a new hope.   Over the next few days, focus on yourself.  Give yourself some self care and focus on YOUR goals for the coming year.  Now is the time for that.. 

[daniellerenino]

My YA horror novel is the perfect read for anyone who wishes spooky season could last year round.

🫀When Silvie hears her own voice calling from inside the walls of an abandoned Victorian mansion, what it has to say will leave her questioning exactly who — and what she is🫀

Atmospheric horror, Frankenstein vibes, a heart in a jar - if you like weird reads, you’re gonna love it🫙🫀✨