It’s getting close to Halloween, and Tor.com wanted to celebrate this year with monsters! This week, Tor.com will be featuring reprints of some of their favorite monster stories, talking about the classic movies and books, and generally enjoying all things that go bump in the night.
In their first story, “Apologue” by James Morrow, you’ll get a glimpse of three famous city-sized monsters reacting to the aftermath of 9/11. “The Dead,” by Michael Swanwick, takes you to a future where zombies have become commodities. Then, Cherie Priest brings you “Wishbones,” a tale in which a horrific composite creature with a long-lived past spooks some locals…
In addition, Madeline Ashby takes a good hard look at all the terrifying children you’ve faced in horror tales, and Joshua Starr takes you on a tour of three recently released pop hits by the name of “Monster.” Saladin’s Sundrarium examines four cultural artifacts that demonstrate the varied influence of the “Universal Monsters,” and Vincent di Fate talks about everyone’s favorite embalmed romantic, The Mummy.
Also as part of Monster Mash, Tor.com is taking a look at some of the great horror classics in both screen and print form. Ryan Britt has rewatched King Kong, Godzilla, Frankenstein, Dracula and The Mummy, and has some intriguing thoughts on these vintage monster movies. Alex Brown teaches us all a thing or two about Nosferatu, one of the earliest vampire films that was almost lost to time, and Danny Bowes reminds us of why it’s fun to indulge in nostalgia as he takes on The Monster Squad for the very first time.
This week’s Genre in the Mainstream is all about Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and the philosophical lessons we might glean from (or read too much into) such a compelling narrative. Then, Emily Asher-Perrin tries to read Bram Stoker’s Dracula and runs into a problem: pop culture’s unfortunate tendency to mangle a reader’s expectations. The week’s not over, so check back for more of your favorites monsters, fearsome creatures, and unnameable horrors!
