Or You Might Just Make Better Movies…

Lookin' for fear in all the wrong places?

This little piece on CNN.com caught my eye for a couple of reasons. Never mind the fact that people have been looking for excuses to capture the brain’s reaction to just about any stimulus for decades, just who the devil experiences fear when they watch a horror movie? Excitement, possibly. Annoyance, often. Fear? Have I just been watching all the wrong movies all these years?

And ever on the prowl for an opportunity to “engage the readership,” CNN has even posted a poll: “Should movie directors use medical science to test audience reactions — or go with their filmmaking instincts?”Judging by a few recent offerings, I’m thinking they could do worse than to rely on the former.

But what really caught my eye was this: the producer they interview is Peter Katz, one of the people behind a movie called Pop Skull. It makes something of a cameo in The New Horror Handbook’s chapter about Rue Morgue magazine. Here’s the exact quote:

“…the magazine has gained an even more distinctive
personality, thanks in large part to the way its stable of writers regularly savage the worst that cinema has to offer. Stuart F Andrews’ issue 78 summation of indie film Pop Skull as being “a challenge to sit through…without hate-fucking the fast-forward button” remains a shining example of film criticism that New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael would’ve envied, however quietly.”

Maybe it IS time to fire up the ol’ brain scanner, but movie audiences wouldn’t be my first pick for testing…

Cheers for the Mention, Rue Crew!

Many thanks to Rue Morgue magazine for their mention of The New Horror Handbook on their blog, The Abattoir, today.

As those of you who have already delved into the book already know, Rue Morgue is largely responsible for inspiring the writing of that book. You can also read about the personalities behind Rue Morgue magazine in the pages of the Handbook.

This is Just So Cool…

Local graffiti artist gives Rue Morgue's House of Horror a nice little touch.

Rue Morgue Short Films on DVD Sept. 1

Rue Morgue founder Rodrigo Gudino's first three short films hit DVD on Sept. 1.

“The magazine is almost like a tool to make it easier for me to be a director,” Rue Morgue magazine founder Rodrigo Gudiño admits in the chapter about his horror mag in The New Horror Handbook.

Come Sept. 1, those who’ve only glimpsed his filmwork online can finally get their hands on all three of his short movies with Curious Stories, Crooked Symbols: The Short Films of Rodrigo Gudiño.

In addition to The Eyes of Edward James, The Demonology of Desire, and The Facts in the Case of Mr. Hollow, the disc comes packed with storyboards, screenplays, commentaries, a making of featurette — even a video tour of the Rue Morgue House of Horror.

To all of those horror movie directors who’ve said “If you’re so great, let’s see what you can do” after receiving a particularly scathing review in the pages of Rue Morgue, here’s your chance to see. Everyone else: this disc is worth the $20 price of admission for Mr. Hollow alone.

Another Chapter Begins: ‘Rue Morgue’

A little more than 400 words into a section of The New Horror Handbook given over to chronicling the rise of Rue Morgue magazine, and how each personality involved has driven the success that publication has enjoyed for more than 10 years.

In the meantime, editor Jovanka Vuckovic takes us for an impromptu tour of Rue Morgue HQ courtesy of this video she posted on her MySpace page (see above).