Author Archives: Thomas Ellison

Gross Gifts

The success of Blanche Knott’s Truly Tasteless Jokes spawned numerous rip-offs in the early 80s.  Julius Alvin cashed in on the raunchy joke book craze with the Gross Jokes series.   Gross Gifts, the entry from 1983, skips the usual dead baby … Continue reading

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My Bloody Valentine: The Secret Mastermind Theory

***WARNING*** HEAVY SPOILERS AHEAD*** If you’ve never seen My Bloody Valentine then you might want to skip this post.  If you’ve seen My Bloody Valentine more times than you can count (like me), then this post will offer up a … Continue reading

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Fangoria #300

Fangoria has reached a major milestone with its 300th issue available now.  Instead of the usual retrospectives common with special anniversary issues, editor Chris Alexander and friends compiled a list consisting of 300 major horror films.  Alexander admits his “intention” … Continue reading

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Slashers and Urban Legends: The Baby-Sitter and the Man Upstairs

The Legend: After putting the children to bed for the night, a baby-sitter receives a strange phone call.  “Have you checked the children?,” the caller asks.  At first, the baby-sitter thinks the calls are from friends trying to scare her.  … Continue reading

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Misleading Slasher Trailers

Final Exam:  If you’ve ever seen the trailer for Halloween, then you may remember it ends with the line “The night HE came home.”  The trailer for Final Exam uses the phrase “HE’s come back!” twice in an attempt to … Continue reading

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Slashers and Urban Legends: The Slit-Mouth Woman

The Legend: A beautiful, young wife has an affair then taunts her impotent husband with details.  The husband becomes enraged, grabs a pair of scissors, and mutilates his wife.  After slitting his wife’s mouth from ear to ear, the husband asks “Who will … Continue reading

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Hollywood Monster

Hollywood Monster, Robert Englund’s autobiography, is really an exceptional book.  Some actors use autobiographies as vanity pieces and fill them with anecdotes about how great they were way back when.  That isn’t the case with Hollywood Monster.  Englund became a cultural icon … Continue reading

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A Retro Slasher Salute to Bob Clark

There’s a story circulating among slasher fans that goes a little something like this:  Bob Clark took this young guy named John Carpenter under his wing to help show him how to direct feature films.  While serving as an apprentice, Carpenter learned Clark … Continue reading

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Black Christmas is coming to TCM

Bob Clark’s classic slasher is set to debut on Turner Classic Movies Saturday, Dec. 18th at 2:00 A.M. during the TCM Underground block.  This 1974 ode to Yuletide slaughter is one of the best and creepiest films in the slasher genre.  … Continue reading

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The Slasher Witch Hunt part 5: John Lennon’s Death Sparks a Backlash

On Dec. 8, 1980, a crazed fan murdered the voice of a generation.  The outpouring of grief occurred on a global scale.  Thirty years later, it’s almost impossible for those of us not yet born or too young to understand … Continue reading

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