#art

Jan 13, 2020
3 min

Professional Weirdo

It takes a lot of time, work, and dedication to become a professional in any field. Becoming a Professional Weirdo takes something else… I met Jordan Jonas on Friday the 13th, in July 2018. This was my first official Blood Booth at Sister Bar. He walked in around 1 am, wearing a Local Boogeyman tee, and hair that looked like it jumped off the cover of August 89’s issue of Metal Hammer Magazine. He and his girlfriend, Tiffany, had come into the bar after what I could only assu

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Josh T. Romero

Nov 1, 2019
4 min

The Tell Tale Heart with Josh T. Romero

My head was resting on the interior frame of a small SUV, behind the driver’s seat, parked outside an outlet mall in California. I held a book that I can say without a doubt, has influenced who I have become today. Not to say that I am mad… I was 15 years old when I read Poe’s short story, The Tell Tale Heart. It’s a quick-paced tale of terror that begins with the confession of a cold-blooded murder. I’d read various poems from Poe earlier on, and I could have honestly called

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The Fall of the House of Usher with Dr. Casing

Josh T. Romero

Nov 1, 2019
3 min

The Fall of the House of Usher with Dr. Casing

The historical context of Edgar Allan Poe is always worth noting when discussing his work. The United States was plagued by Tuberculosis and chattel slavery. This comes across in his poetry through a variety of motifs. Do you remember reading Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher (or, perhaps, having it read to you)? I believe this particular poem is a not-so-subtle commentary on race, racial purity, and the transmission of property (among other things) within a tr

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Josh T. Romero

Oct 30, 2019
2 min

HAIL POE

Edgar Allan Poe. The Tomahawk Man. Progenitor of what some may deem as horror, the psychedelia and the psychosis and the wherewithal of the human condition, writ upon the pages of burgeoning, and troubling, times—whilst going through his own troubling times, mind you: rifling through the waning cupboards of poverty, circumstances orphaning, abandoning, coming to awful grips with the loss of both his Wife and Mother at the early hands of tuberculosis, struggling the th

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2018 Noteworthy Horror: Haunting of Hill House

Josh T. Romero

Dec 29, 2018
3 min

2018 Noteworthy Horror: Haunting of Hill House

Adaptations always are tricky. They can sometimes hit the brunt of the mark – rarely, yes, but it does happen luckily from time to time, and usually with some unavoidable plot-point martyrdom. And sometimes they lie in a somewhere-in-between, existing as a wildly different story with no actual relations to the source material, but yet still managing its decency and enjoyability as whatever it is. But most often, they fall short and beyond, crippling the hopes and dreams of th

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Josh T. Romero

Dec 28, 2018
2 min

2018 Noteworthy Horror: Hereditary

I have had the pleasure of consuming great horror this year. I’ll gladly speak highly of The Haunting of Hill House. Annihilation checked all of my sci-fi/horror boxes while adding in plenty of Lovecraftian lore. And Mandy was the best kind of gruesome. However, nothing had quite the impact that Hereditary did. If you have not seen Hereditary, kindly remove yourself from the rock you’ve been living under. I saw it. It kicked my ass. I analyzed with friends. I saw it again.

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31 Days of Horror: Day 30 “Night of the Living Dead”

Josh T. Romero

Oct 31, 2018
2 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 30 “Night of the Living Dead”

Day 30: They keep coming back in a bloodthirsty lust for HUMAN FLESH!… If it doesn’t scare you, you’re already dead! George A. Romero’s original masterpiece, Night of the Living Dead. The zombies in this movie are not very scary and don’t even look that much different than regular humans, but given when it was filmed it was probably very cutting edge. The movie looks like it was filmed on a tight budget which may have contributed to its simplicity. It has a tragic ending whic

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31 Days of Horror: Day 27 “Fright Night”

Josh T. Romero

Oct 29, 2018
2 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 27 “Fright Night”

There are good reasons to be afraid of the dark. If you love being scared, it’ll be the night of your life. Fright Night! This was my first time watching this classic. There were some bothersome aspects, mostly the friend Ed’s character. Is he a bully or does he get bullied? Still not sure on that one. But overall the story is a timeless tale of terror; every child’s worse fear. The use of practical effects is remarkable and missing from today’s cinema. Specifically, the wolf

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31 Days of Horror: Day 26 “Young Frankenstein”

Josh T. Romero

Oct 27, 2018
2 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 26 “Young Frankenstein”

Day 26: The scariest comedy of all time! Young Frankenstein. Young Frankenstein is a movie I will watch year after year. The jokes are obvious and silly but the pacing is excellent and I never feel like I miss out the punchline. But what amazes me here is the actual attention to detail placed on delivering a product that feels like it I was made way back when. The staging shots are all done in a similar slow pan and the lighting tricks are simple but work well with the black

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Josh T. Romero

Oct 26, 2018
3 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 25 “Hereditary”

Day 25: Every family tree hides a secret… Hereditary. This movie is a cinema masterpiece as far as combining great special effects with a believable horror storyline. There are very subtle special effects that are just done perfectly. The build up of mystery and suspense is really good. The characters evolve with the story line really well with great acting. The last 20-30 minutes of the movie pull everything together and really make the movie worthwhile. I felt like the movi

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Josh T. Romero

Oct 25, 2018
2 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 24 “Lost Boys”

Day 24: Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire. The Lost Boys. Once you get past the bad camera shots and some cheap special effects of this movie you realize that is a must-see film. The movie does a good job of addressing questions that any viewer may ask, so there aren’t any holes in the story line. It has a great balance of horror mixed with comedy. I believe there is a message in the movie that even vampire boys need a family

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31 Days of Horror: Day 22 “Let the Right One In”

Josh T. Romero

Oct 23, 2018
2 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 22 “Let the Right One In”

Day 22: Eli is 12 years old. She’s been 12 for over 200 years and, she just moved in next door. “Låt den rätte komma in” Let the Right One In. I’m not sure what to make of this movie. I felt like they wanted to make a horror movie with a purpose but they didn’t accomplish either in my opinion. The monsters in this movie are kids, which makes for a creepy story, but it could have been done much better instead it only gets creepy toward the end of the movie. The point I think t

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31 Days of Horror: Day 19 “The Babadook”

Josh T. Romero

Oct 19, 2018
2 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 19 “The Babadook”

Day 19: Where there is imagination, there is darkness and from within that darkness lurks a being of unfathomable terror … close to home. If it’s in a word. Or it’s in a look. You can’t get rid of … The Babadook I don’t have anything negative to say about The Babadook. I absolutely loved it. It’s dreary and tense from the start with little rest throughout. The creature’s design is unnerving but he is kept just enough in the dark that I was inescapably drawn to him. The mother

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Josh T. Romero

Oct 18, 2018
3 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 18 “The Void”

Day 18: A new dimension in evil; There is a hell – This is worse. The Void. The Void is not perfect though it does deserve at least one viewing. The acting is just okay across the board with a relational subplot that’s been done plenty of times before. Where it shines is the practical effects. Almost every creature and set piece look handmade and I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic to horror movies of yesteryear when that was all they had. Each layer down the shift in atmosphe

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31 Days of Horror: Day 13 “The Exorcist”

Josh T. Romero

Oct 13, 2018
3 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 13 “The Exorcist”

Somewhere between science and superstition, there is another world. The world of darkness. Nobody expected it, nobody believed it, and nobody could stop it. The one hope, the only hope: THE EXORCIST This is not only a horror movie but a psychological thriller. This movie has it all from jump scares, gore, vulgarities, to just creepy scenes. The special effects are really good and truly remarkable. I kept thinking I should turn this off but I just couldn’t because I couldn’t r

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Josh T. Romero

Oct 9, 2018
2 min

31 Days of Horror: Day 9 “Frankenstein”

A Chilling Thriller. The walking nightmare that frightened the world! A monster that science created – but could not destroy! Join us as we share our opinions on the Universal Pictures thriller, 1931’s Frankenstein. We wear our badge of courage proudly. The story of Frankenstein is one of my all time favorites. It’s a solid piece of horror sci-fi that draws you in and causes you to sympathize with all of the characters, including the monster. This story is so close to my hear

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Josh T. Romero

Oct 1, 2018
1 min

31 Days of Horror

Happy October! We’re stoked to begin our 31 Days of Horror and share in the wonder of the season with you! Here you’ll find Dark Room Horror’s list of movies to bring in those sweet holiday feels 🎃 Join us as we soak in the season we’ve all been waiting for. We’ll be posting quick reviews on each movie each day from 5 of our writers! With this many people only getting to write a paragraph on each film, we’re bound to have some differences in opinion. Join the discussion a

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Josh T. Romero

Aug 24, 2018
3 min

The Haunting of Black Phillip

Contains light spoilers from The Witch (2015) I’d like to begin with a dream I had recently. In this dream, I was walking with my 2 year old daughter when a man approached us. I felt uneasy at his presence but did nothing. He then knelt down to my daughter’s level and reached out a long, thin finger. He touched her lip. As his finger left its place, I began to see a wart forming. It was growing fast. From that wart, a few others were beginning to emerge from her skin surround

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Josh T. Romero

Aug 4, 2018
1 min

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

Beetlejuice has been in my top 10 favorite movies of all time since I could remember. Since ’93 I’ve been in love with Tim Burton’s visual aesthetic when I saw Nightmare Before Christmas 3 times in theaters. I was 3 years old when the movie came out. Beetlejuice is one of those films that I honestly can’t recall my first time viewing. I’ve seen the movie countless times and I still love watching it. Because the movie came out in ’88, I never had the opportunity to see the cas

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Josh T. Romero

Jun 14, 2018
2 min

Blood Booth

Like many before me, I got into photography in High School. Moody/emo selfies and melodramatic still life was kind of my thing. I created a myspace page separate from my personal account called 2:57 Photography. I thought the name was deep. That time just before the witching hour when “the body’s at low tide… The soul is out. The blood moves slow. You’re the nearest to dead you’ll ever be save dying.” But when people would ask what it meant, I’d simply tell them that’s what t

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