Alec Worley's Blog

Lessons from Hannibal Lecter: How to Write a Human Monster

Poster image for Hannibal (Ridley Scott, 2001).

What’s so scary about Hannibal Lecter anyway?

He can’t float through your bedroom window or break through walls. He can’t sprout tentacles, drag you to Hell, hunt you in your dreams, or throttle you with telekinesis. Bullets are a grave inconvenience to him, and he would never be so uncouth as to pick up a chainsaw.

He’s just a man, “a small, lithe man. Very neat.”

So how did premier thriller/horror author Thomas Harris make a character with no superna...

The Best Scene in 'An American Werewolf in London' (1981) Isn't the One You Think

Please be advised, this post contains detailed references to fictional suicide.

If this horror-themed post isn’t for you, check out these alternatives.

As horror-comedies go, An American Werewolf in London is a peculiar beast.

It’s not a loony gross-out routine like Evil Dead II (1987) or Braindead (1992). It’s steeped in werewolf movie-lore, but it’s not a parody like Young Frankenstein (1974), Scary Movie (2000) or What We Do in the Shadows (2014). It’s full of funhouse monsters, but it’s more th...

Audio of Weird: The Red Room (H.G. Wells, 1896)

Adrien Olichon, Unsplash

Not content with founding pretty much every science fiction sub-genre known to humanity, H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was also a dab hand at writing fantasy and horror short stories.

A painter encounters a devilish critic in The Temptation of Harringay (1895), a sinister body-swap takes place in The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham (1896), paranormal investigators dabble in astral projection in The Stolen Body (1898), Lovecraftian beings observe us through dimensional peepholes in...

Telling a Superhero Story the DC Way

© Warner Brothers

This year’s Superman opens with the Man of Steel lying spent and bloody on the Arctic tundra. It’s a perfect metaphor for the state of the world’s founding superhero after the battering he took under DC’s chaotic Extended Universe project. An uppercut from the ponderous Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013), a one-two from the joyless Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Snyder, 2016), a body-slam from whatever the hell Justice League was supposed to be (Snyder and Joss Whedon, 2017),...

Review: Superman (James Gunn, 2025)

© Warner Brothers

This year’s Superman opens with the Man of Steel lying spent and wheezing on the Arctic tundra. It’s a perfect metaphor for the state of the world’s founding superhero after the battering he took under DC’s chaotic Extended Universe project. An uppercut from the ponderous Man of Steel (Zack Snyder, 2013), a one-two from the joyless Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Snyder, 2016), a body-slam from whatever the hell Justice League was supposed to be (Snyder and Joss Whedon, 2017...

Building a Labyrinth of Liminal Horror

Cover art by Jialun Deng, design by Suzanne Dean

The Hotel existed long before it was built. Its doors open into places unexpected. Staying in Room 63 is not advised. The Hotel has a way of concealing itself, but you’ll have no trouble finding your way there. Those who visit rarely visit by choice. Things disappear in The Hotel. Things return. We’ll be at The Hotel soon.

Booker shortlister Daisy Johnson’s fourteen-tale anthology chronicles the brief and beguiling history of a liminal Travelodge mi...

Review: The Hotel (Daisy Johnson, 2024)

Cover art by Jialun Deng, design by Suzanne Dean

The Hotel existed long before it was built. Its doors open into places unexpected. Staying in Room 63 is not advised. The Hotel has a way of concealing itself, but you’ll have no trouble finding your way there. Those who visit rarely visit by choice. Things disappear in The Hotel. Things return. We’ll be at The Hotel soon.

Booker shortlister Daisy Johnson’s fourteen-tale anthology chronicles the brief and beguiling history of a liminal Travelodge mi...

Aces of Weird: The Hotel (Daisy Johnson, 2024)

Cover art by Jialun Deng, design by Suzanne Dean

The Hotel existed long before it was built. Its doors open into places unexpected. Staying in Room 63 is not advised. The Hotel has a way of concealing itself, but you’ll have no trouble finding your way there. Those who visit rarely visit by choice. Things disappear in The Hotel. Things return. We’ll be at The Hotel soon.

Booker shortlister Daisy Johnson’s fourteen-tale anthology chronicles the brief and beguiling history of a liminal Travelodge mi...

28 Days Later (2002) vs. 28 Weeks Later (2007)

I’ve added a spoiler-flag for those who haven’t seen the first movie, allowing you to skip a section in this post. But expect trailer-level spoilers overall.

Having lived through 9/11, Brexit and Covid – while barely surviving the world’s current epidemic of algorithm-induced psychosis – watching 28 Days Later makes you wonder if someone travelled back in time to give Alex Garland a checklist to work from while he was writing the script.

Like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1984) and Peter Weir’s The Trum...

Science Fiction Double Feature: 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002) + 28 Weeks Later (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2007)

I’ve added a spoiler-flag for those who haven’t seen the first movie, allowing you to skip a section in this post. But expect trailer-level spoilers overall.

Having lived through 9/11, Brexit and Covid – while barely surviving the world’s current epidemic of algorithm-induced psychosis – watching 28 Days Later makes you wonder if someone travelled back in time to give Alex Garland a checklist to work from while he was writing the script.

Like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil (1984) and Peter Weir’s The Trum...