Dance With the Devil
the attraction and repulsion of horror


There a few things - movies, books, stories and TV shows - that scared me enough as a kid that I still remember them. Some are just moments from a book, show or whatever that wasn't that scary beyond that one ...

Last time I talked about catharsis I focused on how important it is in a story, whether by its presence or absense. This time I want to talk about how to incorporate it in a story.

To give a brief recap, catharsis is the feeling of release of powerful emotions ...

So I know I got two pending articles to finish up my Religion and my Catharsis series but I'm too tired right now to talk about anything that requires sociopolitical analyses and extrapolations.

So let's talk about hands in comics!

One of the easiest way to mitigate the ...

Halloween is around the corner!

The swiftly-international-becoming Fright Season, where people dress up and surround themselves in scary imagery and settings. Everything is about the scare, the close brush with death or worse, the thrill of the blood running cold in our veins for seconds before laughing at each other ...

It’s not surprising that drama and romance are two popular genres when it comes to media. From TV to novels to comics, they draw the audience in with the simple question: “Who is going to end up with who?” Ships set sail, twists get turns and hearts get broken ...

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Today we chat about fight scenes! This was spurred by a post in our forums about how bad fight choreography can spoil a film. Our Patron vid ...

Who doesn't love a happy ending?

Eh, there are a good few people I've met that just turn their noses up at happy endings, because apparently according to their opinion, happy endings are for the weak.

But for all other normal people, a happy ending is a good ...

There is a general idea that cliches, when they surface in the narrative of a story, be it movie, tv or webcomics or anything else, is a sign of bad writing.

There is of course a good basis for this presumption, because usually a cliche is a plot device, or ...

Have you ever read something and it gave you the “feels?” Something that was so intense that you couldn't help but feel the emotional truth of a fictional moment in time? In many ways that is the highest form of our art, and possibly any art; to communicate an ...

When they happen, nightmares can be anything from a terrible experience to a nuisance that can be settled with a warm cup of tea or chocolate. And while they harp on our peace of mind and our precious time asleep, the general consensus among psychologists is that, if it isn ...