Welcome back to another edition of Sunday Scaries. My friend Jake was in for a visit from Toronto, which resulted in a brief newsletter hiatus as we saw some sights and enjoyed some (a lot) of the local seafood. I’m back and I’m stuffed! We also watched the entire first season of Widow’s Bay, a good chunk of the HBO Westworld series (which I’d never seen), and a few vintage Hammer films as an extra treat. I’m sure Jake wouldn’t mind me saying that he is relatively new to horror, and has an aversion to some of the more extreme and abrasive aspects of the genre.

He revealed on this visit that he had never seen even a single Hammer film, so this seemed like something to rectify. This turned out to be the perfect choice as both their salaciousness and their gruesomeness have dated sufficiently to designate them as ‘comfort horror,’ the kind of low-stakes low-friction but still vaguely chilling movie you can watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon, with some mild suspense regarding the perils of the characters, perhaps the occasional frisson as someone bares their fangs or is impaled on a pike, and a feeling of shivery satisfaction as the story reaches its end. They have the feel of old-world fairy tales at this point, with their stodgy dialogue, their pageants of recognizable archetypes and set pieces, their soothing array of accents, costumes and bosoms, their splashes of fake blood and variable practical effects. They are not as moody and arty as Corman’s Poe adaptations, but they have their own lurid charms. Thanks to the wonders of Tubi, we watched The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula (retellings of Carmilla and the Elizabeth Bathory legend respectively), showcasing the ample talents of Ingrid Pitt, and had an altogether lovely time.

I (and maybe only I) draw a distinction between comfort horror and cozy horror—in which the vibes and trappings of horror are deployed around a narrative where the conflicts, tensions and challenges of horror are muted or non-existent. Kind of like taking an afternoon wander through a Spirit Halloween. Comfort horror, for me at least, keeps all of the elements of the genre intact, but their efficacy may be softened by familiarity, cultural change, or just the passage of time. If you yourself are relatively fresh to the genre, or to the delights of Hammer Horror, you may want to sample some of the delights to be found the following films, which join The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula in my list of favourites.

The Horror of Dracula: Christopher Lee’s debut as the titular Count, aristocratic and unambiguously evil, in this still-potent (and, for many, definitive) 1958 adaptation.

Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed: Hammer also had an entertaining run of Frankenstein films, which in my mind peaked with this surprisingly brutal 1969 sequel featuring Peter Cushing as the truly evil Baron and Freddie Jones, powerfully affecting as the man-turned-monster via brain transplant.

Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde: Hammer capitalized on the 1970s fascination with transgender transformation in this provocative 1971 re-envisioning, conflating the Ripper murders with the Jekyll/Hyde story. Despite the inherent misogyny/transphobia of the era, the film uses its exploitation elements as a springboard to tackle the underlying themes with surprising candour, and explores the inherent queerness of the premise with gusto. Martine Beswick steals the show.

Taste of Fear (also known as Scream of Fear): The rarest of things, a genuine shocker, full of twists and turns and scares and suspense. A contemporary mystery-thriller, unusual for Hammer, about a young woman (Susan Strasberg) returning after ten years away to visit her father and his new wife. But where is he? Hitchcock must have been seething. If you’ve not seen it, read as little as possible before going in.

The Devil Rides Out: This satanic thriller hits the ground running as surprise good guy Christopher Lee—the Duc de Richelieu, no less—races to rescue a vulnerable young friend from the clutches of a devil cult led by the delicious Charles Gray. Has a very old-school feel considering it was released the same year as Night of the Living Dead and Rosemary’s Baby but, aside from one unfortunate moment of Britishy racism, it is still captivating, and the climactic face-off between good and evil is tense and chilling.

The Gorgon: This 1964 gothic monster horror has moments where you’d swear Mario Bava has taken over the show. Who is turning all the young men in the village to stone? Well, three guesses, but the so-called mystery is not the appeal here. Eerie and atmospheric in all the best ways, with a gorgeous use of colour.

Vampire Circus: The title says it all in this grisly 1972 revenge tale, which has the titular circus descending on a plague-ridden village to wreak havoc and fulfill a curse. Can the villagers get it together to defend themselves? Well, probably not. Copious amounts of sex and nudity lubricated with some juicy gore and sadism, laced with camp and covered with cheese. Enjoy!

Cool story, bro! We’ve been apart so long, I have a backlog of little gifts for you: Take Him by our master of the weird and unsettling, Joe Koch; If Not Friend Then Why Friend Shaped, a wonderfully eerie poem by Chloe N. Clark; the delightful fractured fairy tale Oldgirl by Sean Dowie; and an exceptional essay on horror, anxiety and mortality by Rachel Harrison.

This Week in Horror: A fond farewell to musician, producer and collaborator William Orbit

Currently watching: I am making my way through some favourite TV movies these days, many of which are on YouTube or Tubi. I’m sure I’ll be talking about them here soon! This past week was the 125th anniversary of a visit to the gardens of Versailles by two educated clearheaded British women, who apparently either suffered some kind of joint hallucination—or somehow travelled through time and encountered Marie Antoinette. The compelling ITV drama Mrs. Morison's Ghosts, starring Dame Wendy Hillier, is available on YouTube.

That’s all for this edition. We barely had a summer here in St. John’s and now autumn is approaching. The good news is that Hallowe’en is just around the corner! Until next time, be good to yourself and remember: “Never ceases to amaze me why the most noble word of God, the human brain, is the most revolting to the human eye.”