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‘Monster, She Wrote’ Will Shed Light on the Women who Shaped Genre Fiction

Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction is set for release on September 17, 2019.
The book, which is described as one part biography and one part reader’s guide, is the latest from Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson who previously worked together on Shirley Jackson: Influences and Confluences and The Ghostly and the Ghosted in Literature and Film: Spectral Identities.
Split into eight sections beginning with “The Founding Mothers,” Monster, She Wrote includes biographies of some of the most influential women in horror and speculative fiction, detailing their lives as well as providing reading lists of their work so that the reader can further explore the writings of these incredible women.
Some of these authors will no doubt be recognizable to readers. Mary Shelley, Tanith Lee, Shirley Jackson, Toni Morrison, and Anne Rice are household names while Edith Wharton and Charlotte Riddell have appeared on more college literature syllabi than I could probably count.
But then there are others.
Take, for instance, Margaret “Mad Madge” Cavendish, the Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne who published a Utopian romance titled The Blazing World–largely considered one of the earliest works of science fiction–over 100 years before Shelley’s Frankenstein. She was also the first woman to attend a meeting of the Royal Society of London where she not only openly criticized but engaged in debate with Rene Descartes, Robert Boyle, and other leading male philosophers of her time.
Then there’s Jewelle Gomez, whose work has helped shape the literary subgenre of Afrofuturism and re-framed traditional vampire narratives with works like The Gilda Stories, which chronicles the life of an escaped slave woman who finds herself among vampires and who comes of age as an immortal over 200 years. Gomez has been a tireless advocate for LGBTQ women of color and her work beautifully reflects that.
These are just a few of the names that Kröger and Anderson explore in the new book which features amazing illustrations by Natalia Balnova.
You can pre-order a copy of Monster, She Wrote an Amazon and have it in hand next week when it is set for release.

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Paranormal Games: Red Door, Yellow Door

Let’s play a game: Red Door, Yellow Door
Also Known As Doors Of The Mind
Spooky games that border on the paranormal are a mainstay at slumber parties around the world. From light as a feather, stiff as a board… Doors of the Mind
to the classic Ouija board, we’ve all played at least one, but there are others out there, perhaps less well known, and one of the spookiest is Red Door, Yellow Door. Doors of the Mind
What is Red Door Yellow Door?
Sometimes this paranormal game is called Doors of the Mind or Black Door, White Door, and well, any other combination of colors, you can think of.
Red Door, Yellow Door takes two to play. However, it’s perfect for a late-night audience of scared teens, so it’s no surprise that it’s made a resurgence in recent years.
The Game Rules
The rules are simple, but the outcome could be dire, or so the urban legends claim.
One player is the guide, and the other is the subject.
- The guide sits on the floor, cross-legged with a pillow in their lap.
- The subject will then lie on the ground with their head in the guide’s lap and their hands raised in the air.
- The guide should, at this point, begin to massage the subject’s temples in a circular motion chanting, “Red Door, Yellow Door, any other color door” over and over again, joined by any witnesses to the game. Doors of the Mind
- As the subject slips into the trance, they will find themselves in a room in their mind and at that point, they should lower their arms to the floor signaling the guide and any witnesses to stop chanting.
The game has officially begun.
At this point, the person acting as the guide will begin to ask questions to the subject in order to get them to describe the room.
Any witnesses should be silent so that there is no sound except for the voice of the guide and the voice of the subject answering the guide’s question.
The instructor might ask what colors the doors to the room are, how they feel about the doors, and instruct them to go through varying doors into other rooms.
The subject is encouraged to answer all questions honestly until the guide decides to end the game, but there are some warnings and signs of danger to keep in mind.
Dangers To Keep In Mind Doors of the Mind
According to Scary for Kids:
- If you encounter people in the room, it may be best not to interact with them. They may be evil and try to trick you.
- If you find yourself in a room full of clocks, leave immediately. Clocks can trap you.
- You can go wherever you want, but it is safer to go up than down.
- Light things and light colors tend to be better than dark things and dark colors.
- If you should find yourself trapped in a room, you must try to wake up. If you don’t, you might be trapped forever.
- If you die in the game, you will supposedly die in real life.
- If you encounter a man in a suit who makes you uncomfortable, end the game immediately.
- If the guide is having a hard time waking the subject from the trance, they should shake them roughly to bring them into wakefulness.
Sounds creepy, right?!
The whole point of the Red Door, Yellow Door, seemingly, is to explore the inner workings of your own mind and to also understand that there are also dark sides to everyone.
Some of the things you might encounter inside the game may be those very things about yourself that you don’t wish to face.
Have you ever played Red Door, Yellow Door or any variation of this spooky game? Let us know in the comments!
This article has been updated. it was originally posted in February 2020.
News
Jean-Claude Van Damme Rumored to Appear as a Ghost in ‘Beetlejuice 2’

During The Hot Mic Podcast, the crew spoke about Jenna Ortega in talks to play Lydia’s daughter. Well, it turns out that the guys on Hot Mic also heard that an aging action star is set to play a ghost in the sequel as well. Over on Arrow in the Head, the direction of the aging action star immediately took the shape of Jean-Claude Van Damme. However, there are options out there that may point to other action stars like Sylvester Stallone. To be honest we would be totally fine with either of these guys coming to the world of Beetlejuice and playing a ghost.
The synopsis for Beetlejuice went like this:
After Barbara (Geena Davis) and Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) die in a car accident, they find themselves stuck haunting their country residence, unable to leave the house. When the unbearable Deetzes (Catherine O’Hara, Jeffrey Jones) and teen daughter Lydia (Winona Ryder) buy the home, the Maitlands attempt to scare them away without success. Their efforts attract Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a rambunctious spirit whose “help” quickly becomes dangerous for the Maitlands and innocent Lydia.
We can’t wait to find out if this bit of info is true. So far, we know that Jenna Ortega has been in talks to play Lydia’s daughter in the Tim Burton directd sequel. It will also see a return of Michael Keaton.
We will be sure to keep you updated on future Beetlejuice sequel updates.
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‘The Lighthouse’ Comes to Special 4K UHD A24 Collectors Release

If it is one thing we know it is that we love Robert Eggers. Between The VVitch and The Lighthouse we were made into huge fans. Next up, Eggers will take on Nosferatu. In the meantime, A24 has released a very special edition release of The Lighthouse on 4K UHD.
The synopsis for The Lighthouse goes like this:
Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s.
Disc extras include:
○ Director’s Commentary with Robert Eggers
○ Exclusive mini-documentary on composer Mark Korven
○ Costume walkthrough and interview with costume designer Linda Muir
○ 2019 making-of featurette
○ Deleted scenes Book contents include:
○ Storyboard excerpts by David Cullen
○ Production design drawings by Craig Lathrop
○ BTS photography by Eric Chakeen
○ Bib-front shirt pattern made by Marvin Schlichting to Linda Muir’s design
We can’t wait to add this one to our collection. You can pick up your very own copy right over HERE at A24.

