Steve Morrison's Blog, page 11

Now Available: Monsters & Mormons!

Do you like monsters? Do you like Mormons? Well, this is probably the book for you. Dozens of stories from Nebula and Hugo award-winning writers. Also has my longest published comic (graphic novella?), "Mormon Golem." Buy yourself a copy--a good time is sure to be had by all.







My illustration for Emily Milner's "The Living Wife" -- a hilarious and poignant story of a woman dealing with the ghosts of her new husband's first two wives.









Title page of my comic.

Prometheus

Collage 5

Collage 4

Collage 3

Collage 2

Collage 1

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Mountain

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I need to play with oils more often. This has dirt from the landscape mixed with the paint.

Favorite Halloween Movies

Here are some of my Halloween movies. Hopefully there are a couple here that you haven't seen--new recommendations are always fun.











The Church (La Chiesa)

1989, Michele Soavi

A crazy, gothic mess of an entertainment. Incredible imagery and one of my favorite giallo movies. Also watch Soavi's hilariously oddball Cemetery Man.





Spider Baby

1968, Jack Hill

Madness from start to finish, a deliriously insane ride. I've seen a lot of weird movies, and this is one of the weirdest--in a very, very good way.





The Bride of Frankenstein

1935, James Whale

Not remotely scary, but thoroughly odd--from the opening scene with foppish poets hobnobbing in a fancy parlor, to the tiny king in a bottle trying to woo a tiny queen in another bottle, you really won't guess what's coming next. The birdlike Bride herself only gets about four minutes of screentime. An absolute delight, and one of the most original movies I've seen.





Bubba Ho-Tep

2002, Don Coscarelli

An aging Elvis battles ancient Egyptian demons in a nursing home. Need I say more?




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Carnival of Souls

1962, Herk Harvey

Incredibly creepy tale of a young Salt Lake City organist haunted by ghosts.




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Cat People

1942, Jacques Tourneur

Incredible movie. Watch the very different sequel as well.





The Company of Wolves

1984, Neil Jordan

Angela Carter's fairy tale visions on screen. Poetic, creepy, campy, and has great werewolf transformation scenes.




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Daughters of Darkness

1971, Harry Kumel

Stylish, elegant, European vampire trash. If the 19th century Romantic writers (Coleridge, Poe, Le Fanu, etc) had been B-movie Euro-trash directors in the 70s, they would have come up with something like this sumptuous dish. Lots of red.




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Dead Ringers

1988, David Cronenberg

Jeremy Irons plays two very creepy twins. Rather brilliant.





Hour of the Wolf

1968, Ingmar Bergman

Bergman's foray into horror is an unsettling journey into the Scandinavian heart of darkness.







Kwaidan

1964, Masaki Kobayashi

Somewhat creepy, but mostly gorgeous and poetic. A great series of short Japanese ghost stories.





Let The Right One In

2008, Tomas Alfredson

One of the most wonderful films I've ever seen. The stark Swedish winter surrounds a warm, yet unnerving, relationship between its two young protagonists. Best teen vampire movie ever, by a thousand miles. (Avoid the American remake, which is fine on it's own, but at best a pale counterpart to this rich masterpiece).





Lisa and the Devil

1974, Mario Bava

Bava's movies are filled with incredible imagery, rich colors, and fantastic storytelling--and this is my favorite Bava. Surreal, poetic, and perhaps closer to being arthouse fare than it is to being a B-movie cult classic. Watch lots of Bava, please. He was the Godfather of Giallo.




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Mad Monster Party?

1967, Jules Rankin

Rankin & Bass's Christmas classics (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Year Without A Santa Claus, etc.) are wondrous, and their Halloween treat is no less delightful. I watched this the other day with my daughter (age four), and she thought it was a hoot. A little edgier than the usual Rankin/Bass fare.





Night of the Hunter

1955, Charles Laughton

One of the most amazing movies ever made, and one of the most unsettling. Part fairy tale, part Flannery O'Connor, part chase movie, part religious allegory; all brilliant.





Nosferatu

1922, F. W. Murnau

Still one of the scariest movies I've seen, this silent vampire film somehow burrows it's way into your psyche like a horrific albino rat.





Suspiria

1977, Dario Argento

Argento picked up where Bava left off. Insane colors and weird archetypal imagery tell the story of a ballerina and witches. I liked the follow-up, Inferno, almost as much as Suspiria.





The Descent

2005, Neil Marshall

One of the scariest movies I've seen. If you have claustrophobia (I do), this will destroy your life for an hour and a half.





Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

1970, Jaromil Jires

Dreamlike Czech coming-of-age fantasy, with vampires. Lovely music, too.




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Vampire's Kiss

1988, Robert Bierman

A crazy vampire Nick Cage jumps on a table. It happens. This movie makes me laugh.







Have a happy Halloween!

Figure Drawings

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