HOLLYWOOD

OH, THE HORROR!

From the very first scary movie I watched, with the TV screen flickering like a candle inside of a jack-o’lantern, my lifelong love affair with horror began. The film in question was 1958’s The Blob, which my mom had me watch at 4 years old, as she was a huge fan of sci-fi and horror movies of the 1950s. Being a preschooler, I asked her if we could watch The Fudge Monster — as I called it — again as soon as it was over. I was smitten, like a kitten.

And from that point on, I sought out any and all monster-related offerings as a kid and gladly feasted my eyes on the number of frights that the 1980s cineplexes had to offer, whether they were good or bad. Yes, I paid to watch the craptastic C.H.U.D., but back then movies were a dollar on Tuesday nights at the local AMC. OK?

My taste for scares changed as I grew older, but my appetite for the genre remains insatiable. Luckily, there are always a wealth of movies and TV shows that fall into the category of being creepy AF! And with the gay holiday known as Halloween, there are sure to be some fun-size entertainment tricks and treats to gobble up, and they’re sugar free, so there’s that bonus. What’s heading our way for the witching season.

THEY’RE QUEEEER!

Shudder’s four-part docuseriesQueer for Fear: The History of Queer Horrortakes a deep dive into the bloody waters of the horror genre, with examinations of its literary origins and queer authors like Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley. The doc also explores Hollywood’s depictions of things that go bump in the night, from the metaphoric monsters in the closet during the 1930s through modern-day chills, blood spills and all macabre points in-between.

The examination of films that feature our community in horror movies, coupled with the relationship between us and the scary movie genre, is produced by out writer/producer Bryan Fuller (Hannibal), which gives it street cred and is airing now on the streamer.

The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula: Titans, will be on Shudder beginning on October 25, with the 10-episode spin-off series featuring previous contestants from the horror-inspired drag competition show, where the kreepy kweens strut their stuff on the dark side of the runway.

HBO Max’s Los Espookysis currently airing its second season. The show follows a group of friends who start a business that caters to producing spooky experiences for their clients and features queer comedians Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega, who also co-created the series. A quien vas llamar? Not Ghostbusters, but you better add Los Espookys to your phone’s contacts!

Two of late author Anne Rice’s works, Interview with the Vampire and Mayfair Witches, arebeing produced for AMC, with the former debuting on October 2 and the latter coming later this year.

This version of Interview with the Vampire will differ from the 1994 film adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, in that it actually — heaven forfend — depicts the gay subtext that was in the original novel. This time around, Sam Reid plays the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, Jacob Anderson (Game of Thrones) portrays his very longtime companion Louis de Pointe du Lac.

Here’s the deets on Mayfair Witches. The series stars Alexandra Daddario and Harry Hamlin — say a la Lisa Rinna on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. In it — and faster than you can say “witch, please!” — neurosurgeon Dr. Rowan Fielding (Daddario) discovers she is the unlikely heir to a family of witches. As she grapples with her newfound powers, she must contend with a sinister presence that has haunted her family for generations. Who hasn’t been there before, am I riiiight? I call that scenario a typical Thursday.

Chuckyis also back for a sophomore season on both SYFY and the USA Network. For a show about a killer doll, the inaugural season sure represented! There’s gay teen Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) and his love interest Devon Evans (Björgvin Arnarson). Plus, this year will also reintroduce Chucky’s gender-fluid child Glen/Glenda into the mix and features a Boundreunion with Gina Gershon joining Jennifer Tilly onscreen for the first time since the 1996 lesbian thriller. Oh, and Tilly’s sister Meg (Psycho II) has been added to the cast — girl, where have you been hiding? October 5.

Hellraiseris Hulu’s new take on Clive Barker’s The Hellbound Heart novel and is not a remake of the 1987 horror classic. Rather, it’s a new story in the Hellraiser universe with Pinhead being played by trans actor Jamie Clayton, as well as two gay TV heartthrobs Brandon Flynn (Ratched) and Adam Faison (Everything’s Gonna Be Okay) in unspecified roles . . . maybe as Cenosucks, because they would know to watch their teeth and not Cenobite. Nudge, wink. October 7.

What card-carrying homo doesn’t love a strong female character that has survived multiple attacks by a butcher knife wielding killer, spanning seven films and 44 years? It’s hard to type with one hand raised. With the possibly misleading title of Halloween Ends, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) takes on Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney and Nick Castle) for a final showdown on Samhain. In theatres and on Peacock on October 14.

The Menu created by chef Ralph Fiennes for Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult, and other invitees on a remote island, is served with a side dish of shocking surprises. I mean, if the titular menu has Soylent Green as the main course, that’s kinda on you. November 18.

Timothée Chalamet reunites with his Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino for Bones & All. The tale of Maren (Taylor Russell) and Lee (Chalamet), two outsiders in love with each other, highlights their odyssey across Ronald Reagan’s America. Sounds normal enough, right? Well, the kicker is that they are cannibals and when Lee picks up a man, it insinuates that he’s bisexual or pansexual. Um, hello he could have just been hungry and wanted a Manwich! It’s more than a meal, after all. Also, this would have been a great project to reunite Guadagnino and Chalamet with disgraced actor — and alleged cannibal — Armie Hammer! November 23.

MURPHY’S LAW

Ryan Murphy’s first project for the spooky season sees him sticking his finger in the Stephen King pie. He’s producing Netflix’s Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, based on the novella from If It Bleeds — not a sequel to Carrie — in which young Craig (It’s Jaeden Martell) befriends Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland), who becomes unalive — that’s the PC term for dead. And when Craig slips the aforementioned phone inside the coffin, he’s able to communicate with his deceased friend. I wonder what the roaming fees for that type of call would be. October 5.

Another Ryan Murphy project, following hot on the heels of the recently released Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix - which you should not watch anywhere close to mealtime— is American Horror Story: New York City.

The 11th season of the Fall TV tradition has Zachary Quinto set to return to the franchise for the first time since season two (Asylum). Former Scream Queens Billie Lourd and Emma Roberts are also slated to appear, as is comedy legend Sandra Bernhard, Broadway icons Joe Mantello and Patti LuPone and hunky gay actors Russell Tovey, Charlie Carver and Isaac Cole Powell. Here’s hoping a three-way is somehow worked into the plot, which is still under wraps. But, according to FX Chairman John Landgraf this season will differ from Season 10’s two-story approach with a singular storyline, adding: “It actually takes place in different timelines but it’s one subject, one story, with a beginning, middle and an end, like many of the prior stories.” Missing from this go-round is Sarah Paulson, who explained to Variety in August that she’s taking a break from the franchise, as she put it “let someone else scream and run and cry for a second. Other people can do that too!” Um, not as good as you, bish!

Netflix’sWendell & Wildfeatures a demon duo (voiced by Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key), who have literal Hell to pay in taking on their archnemesis Sister Helly (Angela Bassett), in a stop motion animated flick directed by Henry Selick (The Night Before Christmas). October 28.

The Munsters will be released in tandem on DVD and Netflix. Given that the trailer was kind of meh, save for Daniel Roebuck’s uncanny take on Grandpa, I’m taking a wait-and-see approach to the film adaptation of one of my favorite TV shows. And surprisingly for a gay man, I will not judge it until I lay my eyes on it. So there!

However, I’m relieved that director Rob Zombie didn’t turn Lily into a stripper, since she’s being played by his wife Sheri Moon Zombie, and that’s what he did for her turn as Michael Myers’s mom in his dreadful Halloween remake. But this PG-rated film looks at the Transylvania-set courtship between Lily and Herman Munster (Jeff Daniel Phillips) and will feature appearances by original cast members Butch Patrick and Pat Priest. September 27.

And a certain creepy, kooky, mysterious and ooky family is also slated to debut on Netflix with Tim Burton’s The Addams Family spin-off Wednesday. It’s making it feel like 1964 all over again, because that’s when the original incarnations made their TV debuts. No, I didn’t watch them during their original run, only in reruns, and how dare you imply that I am older than 29! Rude!

Anyhoo, this incarnation has Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) attending Nevermore Academy to hone her psychic abilities and delve into a mystery that entangled her parents (Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman) there years before. The series also explores the mother/ daughter relationship between Morticia and Wednesday, and her torture of brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez). Ortega may have gotten some pointers on how to play the part from the penultimate Wednesday, Christina Ricci, who was added to the cast in an “undisclosed role.” November 23

Hocus Pocus 2is the sequel to some movie from 1993 about three witch sisters. It had these actors Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and the one with three names, Sally Jessy Raphael — I think — all of whom are unfamiliar to gay audience. On opposite day!

Anyhoo, the Sanderson Sisters will again be running amuck, amuck, amuck in the follow-up to the Halloween cult classic on Disney+. When three teenage girls (Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo and Lilia Buckingham) accidentally summon the sistas, they set about releasing “a new kind of havoc on Salem” before midnight on the most spooktacular night of the year.September 30.

Two filmmakers that have the fright stuff — insert groan here — are Mike Flanagan and Guillermo del Toro, who are unleashing their brand of scare tactics on Netflix on October 7 and October 25, respectively.

Flanagan, the visionary writer/director behind The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Midnight Mass,uses Christopher Pike’s young adult novel The Midnight Club as the source material to weave new tales of terror, courtesy of a group of seven young adults who gather nightly in their hospice facility to try to scare the brown expletive out of each other. Meanwhile, del Toro flings the doors open on a Cabinet of Curiosities, an anthology series that will “challenge our traditional notions of horror,” will drop two new episodes nightly through October 28.

CUT. PRINT. THAT’S A WRAP!

Oh, I almost forgot to include my two-syllable review for the missed opportunity that was Peacock’s They/Them . . . aw-ful! The premise of a killer stalking a gay conversion therapy camp had promise written all over it. But the, ahem, execution left something to be desired.

The scariest part was the teens all singing Pink’s “F**kin’ Perfect.” Chilling! However, I do applaud the casting of all LGBTQ actors as the campers. I really wanted it to be good, as I have lamented for years about the lack of gay characters in horror movies. Alas, it wasn’t. Boo!

Until next time, that’s all the news that’s fit to print.