Top 5 Things Horror Fans Should Be Thankful for in 2014
Debi Moore
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Author Anne Rice is the catalyst for our third reason to be thankful: Lestat is BACK! After leaving the supernatural world behind for several years, Rice returned to the fold in 2012 with The Wolf Gift, followed the next year by The Wolves of Midwinter. Both of these werewolf novels were welcome additions to her oeuvre, but they didn’t exactly fill the void left by the absence of her most popular creation, the vampire Lestat, who has been credited with sparking the current glut of vamps on the scene like Twilight, “True Blood,” and their ilk. When word came that Rice would be releasing a brand new Lestat book in 2014, her fans (this Woman included) just about went into cardiac arrest. What could we expect? Had Rice and Lestat been apart for too long to resurrect their old magic together? Well, now that I’ve read about half of Prince Lestat (expect a review soon – it’s simply too good to rush through), I can promise that longtime fans won’t be disappointed as it doesn’t seem that either Anne or her brat prince have missed a step over the intervening years. Along with catching up with just about everyone in The Vampire Chronicles, we also get to meet several new characters who are sure to become just as beloved as Lestat, Marius, Louis, Armand, and the rest. Anne’s accessibility to her fans on Facebook (and forthright expression of her views – popular or not) is another reason to appreciate her. If you haven’t picked up your copy of Prince Lestat yet, be sure to put it on your Christmas or Chanukah wish list – it’s one not to be missed!
This next entry is the biggest no-brainer of the bunch. When it comes to horror DVDs and Blu-rays that were released this year, what’s the first distributor name that comes to mind? If you didn’t say, “Of course it’s Scream Factory, you moron,” then you’ve been living under a rock and need to come out more often for a bit of sunshine. No company provided as much sunshine to horror fans as Scream Factory did in 2014, and 2015 looks to be even better! If we started listing their releases, we’d be here all day so just do yourself a favor and visit the Scream Factory website to see what you might’ve missed and what’s yet to come.
We wrap things up with another rather obvious choice, but it’s one that bears repeating over and over again: horror on TV. We are seriously living in a golden age when it comes to the variety horror fans currently enjoy on television, and that’s not likely to change in the foreseeable future. To obvious juggernauts “The Walking Dead,” “Hannibal,” “Supernatural,” “American Horror Story,” and “Sleepy Hollow,” we’ll add some of our own staff picks like “Salem,” “Bates Motel,” “The Strain,” “The Originals,” “Penny Dreadful,” “The Dead Files,” “Ghost Adventures,” and “Grimm” (sorry, “Vampire Diaries” – even though last week’s episode was awesome, you’ve been off your game lately). Hell, I’ll even throw Syfy’s “Z Nation” out there – it’s loads of fun, full of over-the-top gore gags, and never takes itself too seriously. Just about any day of the week you can find at least two, if not more, genre-themed shows to choose from… and more are being announced all the time! So count your blessings, Dreadies, and let us know what your favorites are.
Before closing, we do have one other notable thing to be thankful for, and that’s EACH OTHER. Sure, we spar and scuffle like you’ll be doing with your siblings tomorrow as you each reach for that last piece of pumpkin pie, but we do it with love, and none of us would be anywhere without each other. Our strength is our numbers (and purchasing power), and as long as Hollywood keeps churning out crappy remakes and shitty sequels, we’ll keep shunning them and seeking out those few and far between gems like the ones found above.
So there you have our Top 5. What did we miss? Chime in with your choices below, and Happy Thanksgiving to us all!
