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Michael Walters

October 09 2020, 08:00

Fascination (1979)

Marc, a thief, steals a bag of gold from a gang, and is chased by them to a nearby chateau, where two women, Elisabeth and Eva, are waiting for the arrival of their marchioness. [more...]

October 08 2020, 08:00

Vampyres (1974)

The first of my #31DaysOfHorror choices this year that I would say is exploitation cinema, I chose Vampyres, naturally, because of the cover art. [more...]

October 07 2020, 08:00

Knife+Heart (2018)

Knife+Heart (Un couteau dans le cœur) is a modern giallo film that plays out in a gay porn production company in the summer of 1979. [more...]

October 06 2020, 08:00

Death of a Vlogger (2020)

A bang-up-to-date social media horror mockumentary. Twenty years on from Pulse, people still feel empty and disconnected, but now everyone has a webcam. Affecting, funny, and unnerving. [more...]

October 05 2020, 08:00

Pulse (2001)

The Tokyo in Pulse is empty and eerie. People are lonely and disconnected from each other. The characters are all young and, in one way or another, alone. [more...]

October 04 2020, 08:00

The Crow (1994)

Eric and his fiance Shelly are murdered by a gang of men on the night before their wedding. Eric’s soul cannot rest until he gets justice. [more...]

October 03 2020, 08:00

The Fog (1980)

The Fog is an old favourite. I watched it over and over again on VHS as a kid, recorded off the television, and it embedded Adrienne Barbeau’s radio DJ, alone in a lighthouse on the edge of town, as a lifelong crush. [more...]

October 02 2020, 08:00

Atlantics (2019)

Atlantics is art house, and it’s a romance, but it’s hardly a horror film. It is, however, fascinating. [more...]

October 01 2020, 08:00

Creature From the Black Lagoon (1954)

I wanted to start this year’s #31DaysOfHorror with a classic. I’m trying to watch only films I haven’t seen, and Creature From the Black Lagoon was the oldest unwatched horror film I owned. [more...]

September 30 2020, 16:39

October beckons

I love October. I love September too, but October is the favoured child. [more...]

September 20 2020, 12:13

In the foothills

Graham Swift once said, ‘All novelists must form personal pacts with the pace of their craft.’ Now I am in the foothills of my second novel, that quote is a comfort. [more...]

September 06 2020, 15:38

Doing 31 Days of Horror, 2020

With 2020 being a demented shitshow, I did fleetingly wonder if I wanted to do #31DaysOfHorror again this year, but then I remembered why I love horror films — they are an escape from reality. [more...]

July 12 2020, 05:28

Reality Bites

Reality Bites is still surprisingly affecting. I had low expectations. I’m not sure why. There is something about your early twenties that is particularly painful and potent. [more...]

May 25 2020, 08:56

Writers on lockdown

I miss the opportunities to write in a coffee shop, with the ritual of a double macchiato to get me into the groove, especially on my way into work. [more...]

May 18 2020, 06:09

Leaving Rebecca

It’s hard to pinpoint when I stopped reading Rebecca. I started in the middle of April, and I chose it for many reasons. There were so many little cues from the universe that it felt rude not to read it. [more...]

May 16 2020, 11:40

Website as digital garden

I’m doing okay in my little lockdown bubble. We live in a relatively rural spot, we have a garden, and we are working remotely pretty successfully. The days are going really fast. [more...]

April 21 2020, 14:22

The inner Wonder Woman

Last night, I had a deep dream of stasis and being held. I seemed to accept it, though there was a suggestion of pressing against constraints. I can’t remember any details. It’s a feeling from a fragment. [more...]

April 17 2020, 10:34

My favourite five books of 2019

In 2019, on Goodreads, I set myself the challenge of reading 52 books. Here are my favourite five. [more...]

April 12 2020, 15:55

A walk around my writer’s block

It took me thirty years to get from wanting to write a novel to finishing one. I walked away from writing several times, but I always came back... [more...]

March 31 2020, 22:21

Escape room

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed all of us back into our homes, and my writing room is now where I also do software development work for my employer. [more...]

January 29 2020, 19:22

First post, best post

I find it liberating to write whatever is next in my thoughts. The train doesn’t ever stop, not even for sleep. [more...]

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