Based on the comic series written by Robert Kirkman comes a portrayal of life in the months and years following the zombie apocalypse. Former police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is shot in the months prior to the apocalypse and falls into a coma. When he wakes, the world has been overtaken by zombies and he is forced to navigate it alone. He eventually is reunited with his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and son Carl (Chandler Riggs); however, they were led to believe that he had died in the hospital where he was left by his “best friend” Shane (Jon Bernthal). This is The Walking Dead.

Now, I’ll be candid. I’ve followed this show since it’s starting days. I’ve disliked Rick for as long as I can remember. My boyfriend says my reasoning isn’t sound, but I really just don’t like seeing him on the screen; ever since his wife died in season three, he became a whiny baby. Not that he wasn’t before, because he definitely was. At least when Shane was alive, I was distracted by my strong dislike for him rather than Rick. Why people tune in to watch Rick having an emotional breakdown in the midst of the zombie apocalypse is BEYOND me, he solves every foreseeable issue with tears and violence. Even when his son – on the brink of death – asks him to try to solve an issue nonviolently, he still resorts to violence.

 

Rick aside, this show is good. Some seasons are a bit of a lull, but if you stick with it, it always picks up again. The show is now well into the ninth season and a lot of the original characters have been killed off. Every season features a major change in location and usually some new characters to join the original group. The special effects on this tv show are really good. While other zombie tv shows feature mediocre makeup, these zombies are a chilling depiction to see on screen. The show is also very well-known at this point. Universal in California features a walk-through Walking Dead attraction and the show now has a spin off: Fear the Walking Dead.

If you’re looking for a show that will prompt you to lock your door at night and check your closets, this is the one. It successfully navigates life in the apocalypse. If you decide you can’t put up with Rick, at least give the first season a try. It is most definitely a show worth trying.

You is a Netflix tv show that fits within the crime drama and psychological thriller genres. Though it is not immediately considered to be within the horror genre, it paints a pretty terrifying picture about how accessible our lives on social media are.

You, based on the novel written by Caroline Kepnes, is about a charming bookstore manager who becomes obsessed with an aspiring writer and goes to extreme measures to insert himself into her life, stopping at nothing (not even murder) to get close to her. The TV series, which originally aired on Lifetime and was then picked up by Netflix for a second season, quickly gained the attention of millennials everywhere after it began streaming on Netflix.

 

The TV series follows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), an intelligent narcissist with a dissociative identity disorder who stalks women. Throughout the show the watcher is given minimal information about his background, including that his father figure was abusive towards him and that his ex-girlfriend disappeared soon after they broke up – and her brother suspected that Joe had something to do with that. What is particularly chilling about this show though is not Joe’s murderous tendencies so much as his strong belief that his job to ‘protect’ his love interest has no limits.

 

Joe stops at nothing to insert himself into this girl’s life, he stalks her through social media and even kills her current love interest in an attempt to distance her from things that he deems are not good for her. Long before Joe and Guinevere Beck (Elizabeth Lail) ever strike up a romance, Joe knew everything about her. Becoming her stalker didn’t take much determination, a simple google search of her name and he was able to find her on all social media, with all of her accounts set to public. Without much effort on his part (honestly, he really didn’t try very hard) Joe found himself with all of the resources to become Beck’s perfect man. Perhaps this is a modern romance, warning us all of what can come from our tendencies to overshare online.

Penn Badgley brings Joe to life, possibly even a little too well. Readers of the book claim that it is much more apparent that Joe is a disturbed individual than is portrayed on screen. His caring nature towards his neighbor Paco and his complete belief that he is acting in Beck’s best interest make him seem more attractive to the watcher and the character Beck herself. If you’re looking for something that will leave you haunted about your next love interest, watch this.

Based (loosely) on the 1959 novel by Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House follows the five Crain siblings. Though it is stated in every description of the show that the siblings grew up in the house, they really only spent a summer there. I watched this show per the request of my mother and roped my boyfriend (who has never been much a fan of the horror genre) into watching it along with me when I was home for winter break. Now, I have never read the book, but I have seen a few of the multiple film adaptations that have come from it. I have heard countless times that the opening paragraph of the book is one of the best within the horror genre, ending with the eerie statement “whatever walked there, walked alone.” Given that I have limited knowledge about the book, I watched this show with few expectations in mind.

 

Something that I didn’t expect this show to do was focus on the effects of personal and familial trauma. The show is told from the perspective of Steven Crain (Michiel Huisman) who has written a best-selling book, “The Haunting of Hill House,” based on his family’s experience in the haunted house. Steven, the eldest Crain, has had trouble connecting with his family since the summer at Hill House. The book he wrote was a compilation of stories that they told him, and his siblings resent him for exposing their private lives for profit especially because he doesn’t even believe the events themselves to be true. Shirley (Elizabeth Reaser) is the most upset about this exploitation and tells Steven that nobody is going to take his money – after he offers them compensation. In spite of this, both her husband and sister Theo (Kate Sigel) take Steven’s money.

The five siblings each represent a stage of grief. Steven is denial, Shirley is anger, Theo is bargaining, Luke is depression, and Nell is acceptance. Throughout the show, it is clear to see how the summer in Hill House affected each of the Crain children. Steve secretly got a vasectomy so that he would never pass on his family’s genetic legacy of madness, Shirley sees her marriage as a kind of business, Theo fears intimacy so much that she wears gloves to protect herself against feeling things too strongly, Luke is addicted to heroin, and Nell suffers from night terrors which lead to her return to Hill House and, ultimately, her own suicide.

 

Yes, The Haunting of Hill House is a chilling adaptation of the novel. But it is also an unsettling tale of how our relationships deeply affect us. It is well worth the watch.

December 20, 1996.

 

The day slasher films were both revolutionized and revitalized.

 

From the mind of Wes Craven, the director of A Nightmare on Elm Street, comes a modern horror classic about a masked villain who stalks high school students.

A year after her mother’s murder, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is terrorized by a killer targeting her and her friends. Using horror films and intimidation as part of a deadly game, the fictional identity Ghost face is brought to life. This film is elevated by its comical undertones, adding a lighter note to a more serious genre. Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) and her boyfriend are the first pair to be murdered. Barrymore’s exaggerated screams and (arguably) poor acting essentially serve as comedic relief within the opening scenes of the movie. It seems as if every cliché about what women typically do in horror movies (actions which inevitably get them killed) is intentionally shown throughout the movie. Clichés that Sidney Prescott even comments on it, “they’re all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can’t act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door.” Ironically enough, moments after saying this, Sidney is then pursued by ghost face where she locks the door, is attacked, and ultimately runs up the stairs. Despite breaking one of the more critical rules for surviving a horror movie that Randy (Jamie Kennedy) lays out – losing her virginity – Sidney survives and continues on to star in the sequel, redefining the roles that women play in horror movies. Sidney breaking the norms within the horror genre for females only makes this film better.

 

Most movies within this genre are relatively predictable. Though simplistic, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and Stuart (Matthew Lillard) were certainly not the anticipated killers. Loomis was presumably in the clear after spending a night in jail during which Sidney received another ominous phone call from the killer. However, it was later revealed that the identity of ghost face was assumed by two people.

Now, this film did have its shortcomings. In spite of good intentions, the police are all but worthless. Sidney does more to protect herself than they do, they never even show up on time. Endearing as Deputy Dewey (David Arquette) is, he was honestly terrible at his job. Some structure and organization within the department would have been significantly more realistic. How terribly convenient for the killer is it that the police happen to show up only to see the aftermath of every interaction, even if they’ve been called beforehand. Billy and Stuart really weren’t all that intelligent, it doesn’t seem all too plausible that they could so easily thwart the entire police department. Suspicion is also lifted off of Billy much too quickly. He hardly committed the perfect crime. Though there wasn’t any tangible evidence on him, any investigation into his whereabouts and connection to the crimes should have been significantly more thorough than it was.

 

Regardless of its downfalls, Scream remains the highest grossing slasher film in America. It is definitely worthy of the praise it has received (and will likely continue to receive).