The Final Girl Support Group is written in the first person and has as the protagonist, you guessed it, a Final Girl named Lynette. Those familiar with the slasher sub-genre will know precisely what constitutes such a character, but for those who are not here’s the simplest definition: a Final Girl is a woman who, usually during her teen years, goes to the trauma of not only barely escaping death but also seeing several of her friends and/or family murdered by a psychotic killer.

People are like houses, a strange concept I know but hear me out.

When we see a house, we make preconceived judgements based on first appearances. The front door, windows, garden, are the neighbours welcoming you with smiles or glares? Is there a sweet elderly cat lounging in the sun by the window or are all the curtains shut for fear of outsiders getting a glimpse as to what is behind the bricks and glass? 

We might think we know everything we need to know about a person from first impressions, however just like a house once the door is open not everything is necessarily as it seems.

The premise of Howling Village appears at first to be somewhat standard J-Horror. A hidden village on the outskirts of town holds a dark secret, a family is haunted by the sins of their ancestors – when it comes to these themes, the precedent has long been set.

Riding the recent wave of stories set in the ’80s, complete with a dope new wave techno soundtrack, comes Vicious Fun. Directed by Cody Calahan and written by Calahan and James Villeneuve, Vicious Fun plays the meta card from its surface to its core without making it too predictable for the audience. 

The Frighteners has been on my wishlist since it was released and the two-year wait to read it was completely worth it. Although, when it arrived I cringed once I saw the Reverend before the author’s name, somehow I had failed to notice this before buying it. Well, Reverend Peter made me see how ridiculous my religious prejudice had been and I won’t lie, I felt incredibly ashamed of my hasty judgment.