Author: Klaus Griffiths

Novel

New 2025 Splatterpunk books you should be excited to read!

There was a time when being labeled a Splatterpunk writer meant the death of any chance at literary respectability. Once dismissed as little more than trashy shock fiction, Splatterpunk was long considered a death sentence for a writing career. To the mainstream, it wasn’t art—it was pulp, cheap thrills, written by hacks. But today, Splatterpunk authors embrace the label. They have devoted followings of gore-hungry readers who celebrate and champion the genre.

Lets take a look at the most exciting and newest Splatterpunk releases we can’t wait to get our hands on…

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Direct-to-Video / Movie

Shrieker (1998): It’s like a Goosebumps episode for adults 

Why Shrieker Takes You Back: A Nostalgic Dive into a B-Movie Gem If you’re considering watching Shrieker and want a spoiler-free glimpse or just another fan’s perspective, you’re in the right place. This review highlights how Shrieker, despite its obvious budget constraints, makes up for it with a charm reminiscent of a classic ’90s Goosebumps TV episode—perhaps unintentionally. A product of the golden age of the video store, Shrieker evokes the days when horror fans scoured shelves for the coolest VHS covers. If you were browsing in the ‘90s, you’d find plenty of movies like this one—low-budget direct-to-video (DTV) gems...

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Fear Street / Novel

Fear Street Super Chiller: The New Year’s Party Review

3 reasons why you should read Fear Street Super Chiller: The New Year’s Party – and 1 why you should avoid! R. L. Stine’s New Year holiday horror Super Chiller, The New Year’s Party was released in December 1995 (for New Year’s 1996). 30 years later, it is being reviewed here on the blog! As promised, within this review there will be 3 reasons why you should bother with this particular Fear Street. Even though it’s currently January, that reason alone shouldn’t be sufficient. The first reason you should read this book is that it is structured very differently from...

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Documentary

Review: ‘Scary Stories’ A nostalgic treat full of empty calories

Being a kid in the 1990s was to live within the heyday of horror YA fiction. There was an explosion of horror book series aimed at children and teens, including; Goosebumps, Spooksville, Fear Street, Point Horror, Shivers, Creepers, Spine Chillers Mysteries, Bone Chillers… I could go on!

Looking to appeal to this same target audience was anthologies of short stories, yet little to none of these captured the public imagination like the trio of Scary Stories to Tell in The Dark (1981-1991). The Scary Stories documentary aims to delve deeper into these books…

spawn movie review

Movie

Spawn (1997): More style than substance

I remember picking up Spawn (1997) on VHS at an outdoor car boot sale when I was a kid. I can’t quite recall if that was my first introduction to the Spawn franchise or if it was when my grandmother bought me a Spawn action figure from the pound shop (that’s the dollar store for those across the pond). The figurine came with a mini comic, which I became a bit obsessed with, reading it over and over again. It was probably only 10 or 12 pages long, but the part that really stuck with me was a panel of Clown cooking a rat in an alley, singing “Hey diddle diddle, a rat on the griddle.” Then he assured us readers it wasn’t a rat, just a large field mouse.

It was just another thing, like Warhammer, I wanted to dive into as a kid but didn’t know how—or have the money—to do so. I have fond memories of watching Spawn, but I was curious how it would hold up now that I’m revisiting it as an adult.