I’ve had quite a few people ask about our trip to Massachusetts last October for Salem Horror Fest. I can say for certain that it was a trip worth talking about. As a whole, the trip was an amazing opportunity. The city was beautiful and a dream to visit in October. I made several friends and built awesome relationships, both personally and for business. Dark Room Horror now has merch in two shops there, Black Veil Studio and Die With Your Boots On. We got to hang with the Mu

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

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

“Believe nothing you hear, and only one-half that you see.” Our protagonist here, whilst on a venture through the southern stretch of France, finds himself just miles away from a personally much-lauded location: the Maison de Sante. Private madhouse. A place flown famously throughout the airs of the medical community due to its unorthodox treatments, rehabilitations. The system of soothing. This system, although still strict at its parameters, acted as a better angel fo

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

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

We’re at the dawn of a new year and who the fuck cares?! I do. Ultimately, the biggest tangible change we see is the need to purchase a new calendar, but that need comes with weight. It comes with hope for a new season in life. A new year gives us a fresh start and a new perspective. These changes can be helpful to us and give us the chance to change the lens we see life through. At the risk of getting on board with the “New Year, New Me” bullshit, I do think this is the perf

Pyewacket dropped in Canada during the Toronto International Film Festival last year, followed by a limited release in December. As of March of this year, it hit the rest of the world and slipped under my radar until June when one of our local eclectic theaters announced their showing. The poster alone was enough to get me curious. The image of the bloody hand and strand of yarn mixed with the black metal font and subtle dead human lying in the background had me hooked. Metal

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.

Dark Room Horror’s Blood Booth is a photo booth with a horror twist. Every time we set up at events or in studio, everybody gets free blood and prop weapons. This year, we brought in our first guest to shoot with, the infamous Christmas Demon, Krampus. If you’re unfamiliar, Krampus originated in Germanic folklore and is known for coming after the naughty boys and girls who received cole from Santa. He then proceeds to beat children with sticks until they’ve learned their les