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HP Lovecraft had the degenerate and inbred back country of Dunwich and Innsmouth but we Slaughterees had our own “end of the road” mutant puppy mill country as our home for nine years:  The Klickitat valley and the Wahkiacus Heights, places that look OK at first glance but also have that wrong turn, “what the heck are these people doing out here”, feel to them.  This is a pastiche of the opening of HPL’s “The Dunwich Horror” originally posted in a CS email thread back in the day:  Lest we forget as we move onto fancier digs.

When a traveler in Northern Oregon takes the wrong fork at the junction of Hood River passing over the Columbia River, and turns North at the lonely hamlet of Lyle,  he comes upon a lonely and curious country.  (more…)

I don’t know what to tell all of you Slaughterers. I was so looking forward to the recent scouting trip to our new campground, with Jeff, Juliana, and Steve.  Fernview Group Camp had so much promise. First of all, it’s on a river, the South Santiam, which is cold, but not colder than the wild, cold, Klickitat. The S. Santiam is beautiful, with small streams cascading into it it over picturesque boulders, shallow, bathtub sized hollows to sit in, and clear, clean pools, deep and calm enough to swim in, right by our camp! It should be noted, access is down a steep climb, and rocks can be slippy (water shoes with some sort of traction recommended). There are sunny spots on smooth, flat stone, to basque in the sun, surrounded by the flow of water, and loads of trees provide ample shade for cooling off if the river is too cold for you. Unfortunately, the trees aren’t the only thing shady about Fernview Group Camp. (more…)

The greatest movie theater on earth stood on a half block patch of urine and blood-stained concrete on San Francisco’s upper Market street. Pawn shops and skid row flops clustered around it like a post-apocalyptic movie set, real life sirens and screams vying with the horrors on screen. The marquee up above looked like a giant squashed cigarette pack, S-T-R-A-N-D spelled out in exhaust-caked neon letters. Not The Strand…. More like someone tried to spell out “S-T-R-A-N-D-E-D”, but then gave up three quarters through.

Down on the street, an endless parade of dealers, hookers and addicts haunted the front entrance round the clock. Babbling, cursing drifters- casualties of Reagan’s deregulation of the mental health industry- roamed the lobby tirelessly, becoming such a regular nuisance that the theatre staff finally tacked up signs around the front entrance and snack bar:

Groping for your seat in the darkness was always a nerve-racking safari through broken bottles, dozing vagrants and raspy whisperers (“Hey mannn? Hey! Mannn! Mannnnn??“). It helped to bring an old coat with you when you sat down, adding an extra layer of protection over the crusty relief map covering nearly every cushion. (more…)

When writing about horror films, no list is complete without John Carpenter’s 1978 independent horror film Halloween. The film has been credited as the first in a long line of slasher films (which were inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho) but unlike many of its imitators, Halloween contains little graphic violence and gore.

Much of the credit for the concept which would become Halloween, must go to its producer Irwin Yablans. He had the concept for a horror film about a psychotic killer that stalked babysitters. As Yablans would say in an interview with Fangoria magazine, “I was thinking [of] what would make sense in the horror genre, and what I wanted to do was make a picture that had the same impact as The Exorcist.” After viewing Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), Yablans sought out its director John Carpenter to write and direct the film. Carpenter and his then-girlfriend Debra Hill began drafting a story originally titled The Babysitter Murders, but, as Carpenter told Entertainment Weekly, Yablans suggested setting the movie on Halloween night and naming it Halloween instead. (more…)

We like being scared and this is not a new phenomenon. As a culture, we seem to be craving these intense panic button experiences more and more. Why do we like being scared so much?

When we have the daylights frightened out of us our heart beats a little faster, we breathe a bit more intensely, perspire more and get butterflies in the pit of our stomachs. Experts know it’s not uncommon for people to want to push the envelope just to see just how much fear they can tolerate. There is a great sense of satisfaction when we can prove to ourselves we actually can handle more anxiety than we ever imagined we could. (more…)