LITERAL REMAINS

A very angry, ancient, monster is freed from his underground prison to terrorize the little town of Zeal, Kent, in Clive Barker’s short story, “Rawhead Rex“.  In interviews, Barker has described Rawhead as a nine-foot tall walking phallus, which is probably why the one thing that scares the monster is a talisman depicting a pregnant woman. [...]

1 sm. pumpkin (8 or 9-inch diameter) 1 c. chopped apples 1 c. cranberries 1 c. raisins 1/2 c. chopped nuts 1/3 c. sugar 1 tsp. lemon juice 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1/4 tsp. cinnamon   Cut off pumpkin lid; remove seeds and wash pumpkin. Mix all ingredients and stuff pumpkin. Bake uncovered on a cookie [...]

That’s right, a Friday Fright Film triple feature.  Yes, I may be crazy, but that don’t change a thang. I’ve looked back over the reviews I’ve written here at Literal Remains and I culled three films that I think should not be missed.  Sadly, they are three films that may have been overlooked. Trick ‘r [...]

Supplies for Your Homemade Scarecrow Long-sleeved shirt Old pair of pants or jeans – preferably with patches Old pair of socks or boots Gardening gloves Straw hat Plenty of baling twine or string Safety pins A pillowcase or pumpkin for the head Fiberfill, newspapers, rags, or straw for stuffing Pencil, paint and markers for face [...]

Jack the Ripper is probably the most well known serial killer of all time, notorious for the savagery of the murders, the chaos that ensued, and, most of all, for remaining unsolved to the present day.  The search for Jack the Ripper’s identity is still ongoing, being investigated and debated by professional investigators and armchair sleuths [...]

When Rory inherits his grandmother’s house after her death, he and his wife, Julia, eventually decide to move into it.  Rory shares the inheritance with his brother, Frank.  Upon moving in, Rory and Julia discover evidence that Frank has been at the house.  Brother Frank is the bad brother, and Julia had an affair with [...]

The ancient Druids believed that on the eve of November 1st, the spirits of the dead returned to visit the world of the living, and that a lot of these spirits had harmful intent.  The priests would wear masks to disguise themselves as spirits to conduct the rituals of Samhain in the hopes of tricking [...]

Detective Bill Grant has seen it all in Orangefield — and always around Halloween. For that is when Samhain, the Celtic Lord of the Dead who has made this pumpkin-growing upstate New York town his home, plies his trade.  But this year when Autumn rolls around, Grant is confronted with something brand new — and [...]

1 tablespoon butter or margarine        1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 1 cup chopped onion                                  1 teaspoon salt 3 eggs                                                             2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill 3 cups winter squash, cooked                 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper          and mashed 1/2 cup milk 1.  In a medium size skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and [...]

One of the films that left an indelible mark on me as a child was Dark Night of the Scarecrow.  I don’t know if I saw it when it originally premiered on CBS in October of 1981, but I was fortunate enough to see it a couple of times as I grew up.  Frankly, it [...]

Things You’ll Need: old white bed sheet tea bags hot glue gun old sweat pants old sweat shirt ski mask old gloves scissors How To Make It: 1.  The first thing you should do is take your old white bed sheet place it in a wash tub sink or bucket. Once this is done place a [...]

By the time she committed suicide in 1967 while serving a life sentence in prison, Ilse Koch was known as “The Witch of Buchenwald”, and by the title “The Bitch of Buchenwald”.  A decade later, Ilse Koch and her crimes against humanity would inspire the title character of Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS. Ilse [...]

Of the major titles in classic horror literature, my favorite will always be Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Shelley’s Frankenstein and Stoker’s Dracula complete the essential  ménage à trois of terror of yesteryear with Strange Case, but Stevenson’s economy of words render it the most effective of the works.  There is no [...]

Halloween and jack o’ lanterns go hand in hand.  It seems you can’t have one without the other.  It originates in Ireland where hollowed-out turnips were used as handheld lanterns.  Faces were carved into the turnips, and in addition to being used for illumination, they were thought to scare off ghosts.  A face was carved [...]

When it comes to the macabre, especially when it concerns those tales born in the good ol’ U.S. of A., the grandaddy of all horror writers is Edgar Allan Poe.  Nearly everyone has read Poe at some time, and most were probably introduced to him by reading his works in school.  His list of “greatest [...]