pop culture

Pop culture for horror junkies; all about the famous films, creepypasta tales, trends and tropes that bled from the fringes of fright into the macabre mainstream.

A Christmas Massacre
S. Hileman 8/18/2021 Pear Tree Challenge “...and a partridge in a pear treeeeeeeeee!” Sally sang with real joy for the first time that day. The 12 days of Christmas was a crowd pleaser at the Oakridge Mall, and they ended every shift with it. Sally had been an elf for the night shift mall Santa for two weeks, and already she had begun to hate carols, candy canes and kids. The money was good though, so she showed up on time, and put on the red and green tights and the stupid hat with annoying bells on it. She forced a smile for six straight hours, six days a week. She’d already been spoken to by Randall, the fat bastard playing Santa, for not being ‘jolly enough’. Another couple weeks and she could tell Randall that he sucked, his ho ho ho’s were mediocre and most of the kids were frightened by him. She’d also tell him to get a life, since some days she was convinced that he really believed he was St. NIck. Earlier today some girl of six or seven was chatting up the fat fuck about American Girl Dolls, when suddenly she coughed once and puked all over his synthetic polyester Santa pants. Sally had to stifle the blast of laughter that threatened to burst out of her. She grabbed at some paper towels and feigned concern for Randall, but what she was really thinking was she ought to buy that kid the fucking doll because she had just earned it.
By S. Hileman Iannazzo4 years ago in Horror
Lifetime Greenlights ‘Flowers In The Attic’ Prequel Miniseries Adaptation
V.C. Andrews' notorious Flowers of the Attic saga is returning to Lifetime. The network has greenlighted Flowers In The Attic: The Origin, a four-part prequel miniseries event starring Jemima Rooper (Gold Digger) and Max Irons (Condor), from Paul Sciarrotta (Jane the Virgin), Jennie Snyder Urman and Joanna Klein’s Sutton St. Productions and CBS Studios. Flowers in the Attic: The Origin is an A+E Studios production in association with Sutton St. and CBS Studios.
By Ted Ryan4 years ago in Horror
Why Do We Need Horror Icons?
For those of us who love horror movies and TV shows, there are a multitude of reasons as to why we are drawn to this expansive genre. Whether we are attracted to the high stakes, gore, or the stories of survival, it all boils down to one thing: We all love horror villains and icons.
By Jenika Enoch5 years ago in Horror
Rosalie Hale Deserved Better
When I read Midnight Sun last year, something bothered me on my re-read of the Twilight franchise that dominated my adolescence. No, it wasn’t just Edward’s stalker tendencies trying to be justified as romantic - the lowest point was him taking the time to oil Bella’s creaking window while she slept and then hide while she got up to go to the bathroom - it was the way Edward’s perspective undermined and patronised Rosalie’s character.
By Ted Ryan5 years ago in Horror
Elena Gilbert: The Death of the Protagonist
For six seasons, Nina Dobrev starred as the protagonist (as well as several other characters) of the CW show The Vampire Diaries - her character was often at the centre of many dramatic and tragic storylines. However, as a protagonist Elena Gilbert was more of the damsel archetype. A valid argument for this character could be that for the majority of the series, she was human and by default a weaker character in comparison to the supernatural counterparts.
By Ted Ryan5 years ago in Horror
What It Means To see 1313,
Is 1313 meaning evil or angel number? So exactly what does see number 1313 mean? The number 13 has been portrait as an unlucky number in most pop culture and some cultures. This makes people believe that when you see number 1313 means something bad or negative may happen to you.
By Muangakili5 years ago in Horror
I'm in Love with a Zombie's Daughter
I have always thought zombie stories were stupid with a capitol S, until something ordinary happened to me right in my own home. Yes, I said ordinary. I was minding my own business when our new neighbors knocked on our door and my mom invited them in. She then proceeded to call her children from the four corners of the earth to present her brood in polite fashion once the neighbors had removed their government issued radiation prevention suits. I tried to ignore her as I usually would, but she was unrelenting. “Fedar Elias Ouray!” she repeated. So, I slunk from the basement to see what the issue could be. Could anything be more earth shattering than the radiation released from the nuclear power plants when our President demanded they be ratcheted up beyond maximum capacity?
By Alice Vargas5 years ago in Horror
What Happened to Horror?
Horror movies have gotten weird lately, huh? It seems like they always either have some gimmick or they’re attached to existing franchises. We haven’t gotten a really solid, classic horror movie in a while.
By Michaela Calabrese5 years ago in Horror
Top 10 Horror Films of the 1970s.
The 1970s IMHO was the greatest decade of cinema which produced timeless classics. In fact most films mature with time. The horror genre turned it up so many notches that it reshaped the way we would view horror movies for many generations to come.
By Ace Howell5 years ago in Horror
Writing: The Evil Mother
Since the beginning of storytelling, one trope has been recognised through fairy tales into adult fiction - an Evil or Wicked Mother. A mother is one of the most central figures that a character can have growing up, and her influence can have an impact on that character even as an adult. If the character is lucky, that mother will be a loving one - but in many cases, The mother figure is truly evil in a traditional sense, and is one of the worst villains one can face, especially if one of the Heroes or Love Interests is one of her children (or if she's married into his or her family as a stepmother).
By Ted Ryan5 years ago in Horror
Snagging The Exorcist
In the 1980s our home was rushed into the 20th century with the arrival of a VHS recorder, this arrival awoke something I had missed for several years, a love of horror. My love of horror began in the late 1970’s watching late night double bills of horror on BBC2, I’d love to say I remember the first films I saw, but I cannot. This love of horror drifted as my mother and father divorced, my Saturday night horror partner (my father) leaving home and my passion for horror while it remained, was forgotten until the arrival of the recorder. Suddenly I was taken back, through the power of recordings I was able to watch all the late-night horror I could get my hands on, which was not a lot, one film a week to be precise. As my passion of horror grew, I became acquainted with the video library just up the road from my home. I spent many days hiring movies and watching them, broadening my love of horror. But one day my visit to the video library led me to a mysterious list on the counter, the list said “horror movies for sale”, one title on the list stood out it was called The Exorcist.
By Spencer Hawken5 years ago in Horror
The King! I Found the King!
I’m going to start with I think summer birthdays suck! I know that is not the popular opinion but my birthday is in the latter half of July which meant that my friends were all off visiting family or adventuring somewhere. It is also the dead of summer and I despise the heat. As a child I spent my birthdays with family, meaning my cousins, and not that we didn’t get along but we were not close. We didn’t have a whole lot in common, still don’t in fact.
By Kristen Renee5 years ago in Horror