Misc
10 Horror Press Articles You Should Check Out On The Site’s 2nd Anniversary
Ten great articles to check out that will allow you to taste test Horror Press. A little flight of editorials, interviews, and more, that will give you an idea of what kind of material you can find in the literal hundreds of other pieces here on the site! I could only choose 10, so not every writer for the site was included, unfortunately.
It’s the second anniversary of Horror Press today! I wasn’t actually here at the very beginning, but I think that fact just goes to show how much the site has already grown and expanded in such a short time. Our fearless leader James-Michael Fleites asked me to take you on a tour of some of the delectable articles we’ve contributed to the field of horror over the past two sets of 525,600 minutes, and I am prepared to do so with gusto!
Please note that this is a chronological journey, and in no way a ranking. Plus, these are certainly only some of the articles on the site you should read. There’s a whole treasure trove of material in between that you should also feel free to explore!
‘The Evil Dead’: A Meditation on the Five Elements of Horror
Amanda Nevada DeMel (January 7, 2022)
This is one part of the very first batch of articles released on Horror Press, and already the site proved that it was dedicated to not only celebrating the horror genre but examining it, how and why it works on an audience, and what that means in an objective sense as well as a deeply subjective one.
Carrie & I: The Need for Queer Safety
Abigail Waldron (March 4, 2022)
Abigail Waldron’s article about 1976’s Carrie perfectly underscores the subjective perspective I was just talking about. The way meaning is an exchange between the viewer and a work of cinema is perfectly highlighted in this piece about how identity and horror are necessarily intertwined.
‘Jakob’s Wife’ and the Emancipation of Barbara Crampton
Alex Warrick (March 11, 2022)
This piece, which was published one week after the previous one, is basically Horror Press showing off. Like, how could two such compelling articles exist in the same year, let alone the same seven-day span? The site had already collected such a talented group of writers with a variety of interesting perspectives. It almost makes you sick, doesn’t it?
It Came From Shudder: A Curated Selection For Your Viewing Pleasure
James-Michael Fleites (May 6, 2022)
Now, this wouldn’t be a complete list if it didn’t include at least one of our ever-popular “It Came From” series, highlighting some of the best horror streaming titles on the market. This is the very first, and it already showcases what a remarkable variety of fun movies and shows can be added to your watchlist if you follow along monthly.
Nowhere’s Most Memorable Monsters: The 13 Best Episodes of Courage the Cowardly Dog
Tiffany Taylor (November 9, 2022)
This is a piece that proves we know how to have fun, on top of all the more serious examinations of the horror genre we’ve been doing. In addition to being an enjoyable walk down memory lane, this piece shows how valuable it is to have an expert in the room even when discussing a children’s cartoon.
Scream Fans, We Need to Talk: An Open Letter to Toxic Fans
Ian Carlos Crawford (February 28, 2023)
As a hardcore Scream fan myself, I must say the radical honesty of this piece is a breath of fresh air. We’re all horror fans here, but in the modern age where fandom has become both overwhelmingly kaleidoscopic and poisonously myopic at the same time, it is important to take stock of one’s own obsessions and the way they shape our perspective on the world. We are not divided into fans and anti-fans, we are all just people with a multitude of (mostly) valid perspectives trying to have a nice time watching Drew Barrymore fail at horror trivia.
A Married Woman’s Thoughts On ‘Possession’
Jenika McCrayer (April 5, 2023)
Horror Press has found success in its mission to bring underrepresented voices to the table in the horror sphere, but this piece is one of the most fascinating examples. We don’t exactly have a dearth of married women in the world, so the article irresistibly draws attention to the fact that their cultural experience is almost universally ignored. Jenika McCrayer’s piece proves how many different, interlocking identities a person can possess, and how they all interact with the art we experience, like it or not.
P-TOWN AND BLOOD: An Interview with Monster Makeup
Luis Pomales-Diaz (July 14, 2023)
Horror Press is more than just editorials, of course. It’s reviews, news, interviews, and everything you can imagine. But this is more than just functional, as Luis Pomales-Diaz proves in this deep dive into the inner workings of a fascinating group of people offering exciting and honest insight into their filmmaking process.
What Your Favorite ‘Halloween’ Movie Says About You
Brennan Klein (October 4, 2023)
Obviously, this article proves what fabulous taste in writers Horror Press has. All kidding aside, I think this particular piece of mine, and many others like it from various other contributors, highlights the unique perspective Horror Press can provide on franchises that might seem to have been strip-mined of any possible insight after years and years of dissection and re-dissection.
Tea Parties with Michael Myers: An Unlikely Friendship
Sharai Bohannon (October 25, 2023)
This is one of the most intimate and vulnerable pieces that have ever been published on the site, and it arrived just a few months before our second anniversary, proving just how much more we still have to give after two years. The connection between horror killers and otherness has been made elsewhere, but Sharai Bohannon’s piece does so in a particularly succinct and compelling way.
———————————
So, there you have it. Ten great articles to check out that will allow you to taste test Horror Press. A little flight of editorials, interviews, and more, that will give you an idea of what kind of material you can find in the literal hundreds of other pieces here on the site! I could only choose 10, so not every writer for the site was included, unfortunately. However, you can click on over to our Contributors page to check out works by our other talented writers in addition to everyone already listed.
Thank you so much for reading, whether you’ve been with us for two years or this is your very first article! It’s a pleasure bringing these articles to you month in and month out, and here’s to many more years of Horror Press!
Ah, Urban Legend…the plucky younger sibling franchise to Scream. If this is the first time you realize that it’s a franchise at all, that is totally fair. The cult classic slasher’s only theatrical sequel was a critical and box office flop. The third film, Bloody Mary, was direct-to-video. The film has an interesting comparative pitch to Scream. While Scream is a meta-slasher toying with the rules of horror, Urban Legend has its killer basing its slice-and-dicin’ off of famous urban legends…and then they just basically did a version of Scream 3 for its sequel. It’s a fascinating trilogy, particularly in how the movies connect. In Final Cut, the first film exists as an urban legend itself. Bloody Mary, however, is a complete standalone that could be read as an urban legend within the universe of the first entry.
The Urban Legend Franchise Ranked From Worst to Best
So…how do these three films rank against each other? Are the sequels worth checking out at all? Pull up a chair, relax, and start mixing your Pop-Rocks and soda; this is the worst-to-best ranking of the Urban Legend trilogy.
Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005)
Unsurprisingly, the straight-to-video, nearly completely forgotten supernatural entry is last. Directed by Mary Lambert of Pet Sematary acclaim, the movie is a straightforward supernatural horror. Three teen girls say “Bloody Mary” three times into a mirror, and it resurrects a vengeful spirit.
The movie is not terrible by any means. It is just pretty standard, with some good moments of schlocky, 2000s fun. For those that grew up in this era, it can be a goofy little nostalgia trip! The cheesy SFX, hilariously awkward teen acting, and cinematography of a Coke commercial make it a really easy watch. It’s almost like a much bloodier Goosebumps episode! However, for those not fans of this divisive era of TV-horror, it can be a bit of a slog.
The idea of making a movie that feels in-Universe to the first film is clever. However, it is unclear whether that was the exact intention. Despite this critic’s personal, nostalgic love of this film, it is not connected to the franchise at all. Even if this was a masterpiece, this detail makes it hard to put it anything above last place. Sorry Bloody Mary, I still love you.
Urban Legend (1998)
Ready the guillotine. Light up the torches. Find the IP address this article was written on-but let me explain. Yes, it is controversial not to put this one in first place. Still, it is really more of a tie than second placement. This and Final Cut are vastly different, which makes the franchise interesting, nearly incomparable. They each succeed in their own sub-genres…but this one misses the mark.
Urban Legend is a cult classic for a reason. It is completely itself as a late-90s, teen campus-slasher. The movie takes a simple premise, combining it with a likeable cast and a gothic, dark-academia setting. It feels like it was made for slumber parties and sleepovers. A combination of 80s slashers and campfire tales? Amazing. Plus, the soundtrack is killer.
That being said, the mystery, story, and characters are all just okay. The answers to the mystery (spoilers…?) fall in line with I Know What You Did Last Summer, and many films from the 80s. Prom Night, April Fool’s Day, and The Burning all come to mind. If this came out before Scream, this would be number one, for sure. It is probably, technically, the best film of the franchise, if I had to be objective. However, it just doesn’t reach the levels of originality the final film on this list does.
Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000)
Urban Legends: Final Cut is fantastic. No, really. It’s great, and one of the most underrated slashers of its time. While Scream picked apart the slasher genre in a meta-horror classic, this movie picks apart the horror film industry. The film has a lot of commentary on toxicity in the industry, and it is matched by an on-brand mystery.
A big issue with movies is finding a decent throughline. Look at the first Urban Legend, for example. The reason the killer kills has nothing to do with urban legends themselves-it is just a creepy MO. However, the killer in Final Cut has a motive rooted in filmmaking itself. The movie stays on brand, delivering on its promise. It is distinctly different from Scream, while still being perfect for fans of that franchise.
Without spoiling, the mystery is great. While the final reveal is somewhat predictable, the twists and turns of the story itself are great. For fans of lost media horror like Red Rooms or Cigarette Burns, the mystery veers into that. One part of the film involves a student film with a mystery splice in the film spool. While the movie is funnier than it is scary, and somewhat outdated at points, it still feels the most rewatchable of all three movies.
The Fly Movies Ranked
#5 The Fly II (1989)
#4 Curse of the Fly (1965)
#3 Return of the Fly (1959)
#2 The Fly (1958)
#1 The Fly (1986)
