Happy Halloween! It’s the most wonderful night of the whole year and also the last night of our annual Halloween series. Spending the last month with you all trading scary stories and book recommendations and costume suggestions has been terribly fun. I’m already looking forward to next year.
Cassandra Panek of Synthetic Shadows is a suburban Philadelphia based photographer and artist. During the month of October, Panek has been producing a fantastically awesome Halloween-themed portrait series. She has shared some selections from her series, as well as some thoughts on her process, with Persephone Magazine. – Slay
“Listen to them, the children of the night. What music they make!”
As a horror fan, the question I am most frequently asked is what I personally find scary. Everyone always wants to know what movies or books are “really”frightening, and I’m often at a loss to answer them. The truth is, more than two decades into my fandom, I no longer have a baseline for what […]
October is almost over, which means it’s nearly time to say goodbye to our annual horror series, 31 Days of Halloween. As we round up this year’s posts, here’s a quick look at some horror-related writings around the web.
Without waxing sentimental, let’s acknowledge that teachers have a long-term impact on our upbringing and adult character. Sometimes, though, horrible people can hold such positions of authority over tender young psyches. Many of us have had some horrendous nightmare of a teacher who still gets our hackles up when we think about them. We wish that […]
It’s not hard to understand how pregnancy can be a source of angst and dread. Even in wanted pregnancies, there are very real fears, from the healthy development of the fetus to the specter of maternal and/or fetal death. Women are bombarded with warnings, directions, and horror stories full of “what ifs” and “could happens.” […]
I’ve spent a lot of time so far this month discussing movies and televisions shows. But what is you’re a reader? What if you haven’t destroyed your attention span through over consumption of Lifetime movies, Internet gifs, and caffeine? While you work harder on succumbing to the perils of the modern age, here are some […]
It’s not the Halloween season without a new take on the Dracula legend blighting our nation’s movie theaters. This year’s entry is Dracula Untold, in which were are told the ‘true’ back story of the villainous count, because none of the other eleventy billion Dracula movies has gotten the tale right. Now, Dracula Untold has some things […]
It seems that teenaged girlhood and werewolf transformation would be an obvious metaphor that should have been trampled into banality by now. You have, of course, the irrationality and unpredictability of hormones, the physical evolution of the female form during puberty, and the onset of the menstrual cycle, which is both obviously bloody, classically tied […]
A few Halloweens ago, my daughter and her friends returned from trick-or-treating with their usual haul of candy and, as they put it, some “weird little books.” I perked immediately. Someone in the neighborhood was giving out Chick Tracts in lieu of candy. While the kids were disappointed initially, soon they understood why I was excited […]
Sometimes, watching straight horror movies isn’t enough for a fan. Lots of us like to really chew over the genre, consuming all that’s out there on our favorite films and directors. (Zombie jokes! Get it?) Last year, we looked at a couple of options in the ‘obsessive documentary’ department, but most of the titles had […]
We’re celebrating our 4th birthday here at P-Mag today. While I’ve been a part of Persephone from almost the beginning, my 31 Days of Halloween series didn’t start up until a year into our run, when I figured it was safe enough to ask the other editors to indulge my love of the weird, spooky, […]
Last night, the fourth season of American Horror Story: Freak Show, premiered on the FX Network. While the last three years have been wildly uneven in terms of plotting, character development, and storytelling, AHS has been consistent in one specific area: tremendously impressive casting. Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates join the recurring cast, along with the majestic Jessica Lange, […]
October is the worst month to be a zombie. First, we hate “pumpkin spice” — it’s gross, but avoidable if we don’t chomp any women wearing UGGs. The second point is the most difficult, however: Halloween. October 31st is the worst day of the year, besides Valentine’s Day. Love cannot be turned into a commercial […]