To all those who came here from the event or the FB or Instagram page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Men (2022)

The Keep (1983)

Near Dark (1987)

Cat People (1982)

Obsession (2025)

Bubba-Ho-Tep (2002)

My Name Is Bruce (2007)

The Man with the Screaming Brain (2005)

Running Time (1997)

Moontrap (1988)

Darkman (1990)

Ernie & Emma (2026)

The Car (1997)

I Bought A Vampire Motorcycle (1990)

Duel (1971)

Joy Ride (2001)

Nightmares (1983)

Road Games (1981)

Killdozer (1974)

Death Race 2000 (1975)

Race with the Devil (1975)

Books

The October Film Haunt (2025)

Just a quick note to post about a webseries that recently hit the YouTubes. My filmmaker buddy Darryl Shaw, who has been kicking it in Japan for the last few years, just premiered his new web-series The Hounds of Asterisk. The first two eps are now up.

Now, puppy ownership may not sound all that malevolent, but if I know Darryl, things are about to get fucked up right quick. The “full circle” part of this equation is that within my 2013 short Lively, I had footage from one of Darryl's past works Garlic Bread Man vs Superbo Lasagna Man playing on the television. Well, responding in kind, in episode 2 of HoA, Darryl has Lively playing on the tube. It's just like the back-and-forth Raimi & Craven had going back in the day!

Anyway, enjoy! 

My intention to see out February with a final serial killer flick was thwarted by the fragility of analog media so TBD on that one. That meant I had to pivot to the next VHS off the pile, and another one from my recent jaunt to that antique warehouse, in Burt Kennedy's 1974 movie Evil in the Swamp.

A traveling photojournalist (Stacy Keach) picks up a young hitchhiker (Tim Parkison) and after taking him home to his family finds himself trapped in their company.

This will be a shorter one folks, as this was pretty plain. Keach was good in this role, maybe not as memorable as his turns in Road Games and The Gravy Train or even Class of 1999, but he steered the shp in what is a fairly straightforward and pedestrian script. Evil in the Swamp was painfully PG, and only real horror I experienced was from watching Keach absolutely cook his Chevy driving over all that uneven ground. Also, his red eyes on the coverbox are not my camera, they actually look like that for no discernable reason at all.

It was of no surprise to me to discover this originally aired as a Movie of the Week on ABC as All The Kind Strangers. A more apt title and the family in this story was by no means evil. Misguided, yes. Neglected, absolutely. And sure, they may have offed a couple of people and hid their cars ala Texas Chainsaw, but it didn't seem like there was anything intentionally malevolent going on. The television nature of it would explain why something so blasé would be able to land names like Stacy Keach and Samantha Eggar, who really didn't get to do much here. Maybe I'm overvaluing them I dunno.

Director Burt Kennedy was a seasoned pro who worked mostly on westerns, and with the help of two(!) cinematographers banged this out pretty workmanlike. At the end of the day, Evil in the Swamp just isn't all that memorable. The teleplays from my childhood in the early eighties seemed way more lurid and nightmare inducing, Don't Go To Sleep and Deadly Lessons come to mind. However, I'm not going to knock it too bad, this movie is surely not the first TV movie that got renamed and repackaged for video store shelves. Oh well, onto the next!

To all those who came here from the event or the FB or Instagram page, welcome! I am Jay, one half of the horror trivia quizmasters and this is my humble blog. Here's a selected list of titles mentioned at the last event. Click on the titles to be redirected to their Imdb listing. Horror Trivia Night happens at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto. If you're in the area, come on down! Register here.

Iron Lung (2026)

Slaxx (2020)

Children of the Corn (1984)

The Children (1980)

Village of the Damned (1960)

Children of the Damned (1964)

Bloody Birthday (1981)

It's Alive III (1987)

The Bad Seed (1956)

The Good Son (1992)

The Hills Have Eyes (1977)

The Ruins (2008)

Fantasy Island (2020)

Shock Waves (1977)

Dead Calm (1989)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)

Island of Lost Souls (1932)

Tremors (1990)

Hey all! I added a new piece to The Brain museum this weekend.

This piece is courtesy of Chris of Bavbusters. He 3D prints all kinds of movie creatures and when my buddy Schwartz sent me a link to this listing, I knew it must be mine. Less than two days later, it is now holding court in my living room.

Check out his Instagram @bavbusters, you won't be disappointed.

I was sad to hear about the passing of Tom Noonan this Feb 14th. He was a genre giant, not only in stature also in the roles he left behind.

As a filmmaker and actor, he played in dozen of films and television shows, including memorable roles in The Last Action Hero, Robocop 2 and Heat. He had terrific range, as evidenced in his turns as Frances Dolarhyde in Manhunter as well as the Frankenstein monster in The Monster Squad. His screen presence will be sorely missed. Rest in peace, Tom.