Author: Brien Christopher

  • The Monstaphors Podcast

    The Monstaphors Podcast

  • Monster in the Mirror: Overview

    Monster in the Mirror: Overview

    Stare in the mirror too long and you might just see a monster staring back at you. Two eyes. A nose. Two ears. A mouth. An average number of teeth – none of them particularly fang-like. No horns. No excessive body hair during full moons. Everything seems perfectly normal… except for what is happening beneath…

  • The Grim Outdoors: Overview

    The Grim Outdoors: Overview

    Breathe in that fresh air… pine needles and damp earth and — fresh blood? And why is that tree looking at us funny? Normal people embrace the Great Outdoors. For Normal People, Nature represents tranquility and peace – a place to get away from it all. It’s where one comes to commune with forests and…

  • Losing My Sacrilegion: Overview

    Losing My Sacrilegion: Overview

    Demons, cults, possessions, Anti-Christs — horror sure does love its full on manifestations of evil. Where exactly our collective notion of evil comes from is a bit debatable. One person might view evil as a concrete oppositional force to good, while another might see it simply as the absence of goodness. The notion of evil…

  • Wild Things: Transformation in Horror (Overview)

    Wild Things: Transformation in Horror (Overview)

    This article presents an overview to the “Wild Things: Transformation in Horror” Topic.

  • Gore in the Family: Overview

    Gore in the Family: Overview

    Introduction Family: Holidays. Vacations. The trials and tribulations of daily life with relatives. Family is the cornerstone on which many in this world build their lives. Horror, of course, has a slightly different relationship with Family. In horror, families that splatter together, matter together. Whether the family in question is being torn apart by some…

  • The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep: Freedom and Fear in the Forest

    The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep: Freedom and Fear in the Forest

    [NOTE: The following contains spoilers of The Witch (2015), The Hallow (2015), The Ritual (2017), and The Scarlet Letter (but if you haven’t read that one by now…)] The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. – Robert Frost And so ends…

  • The Art and Culture of Monsters

    The Art and Culture of Monsters

    I think it all starts with the Monster in the Closet. Or under the bed. Or on the roof. Or perhaps perched in the tree just outside our window — the one that makes us take the risk to get out of bed and pull the curtains just a little tighter. Anything that might keep…