#alyse wax

[the-october-country]

Rumour hath it that these things (or at least lookalikes of the orange/green/white series) are coming back for this year. I have yet to work out if these ever were a thing or will be a thing outside US McDonalds locations, but if you know more than I do, please reply!

[asdcats]

1, 2, 11, and 14 for the reading ask game!

1)Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Boys Don't Cry by Malorie Blackman

The Mammoth Book of Body Horror by Marie O'Regan

2) Creepy Bitches by Alyse Wax & Rebekah McKendry

My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell

11) I use thestorygraph to track my reading (my acount names itstoniy if you want to follow, I even have my own reading challenge on there The Unseelieelibrarys Read Your TBR Challenge)

14) I'm going to read some I already own, and I may have to buy some. But I plan on borrowing whenever posible

[newsaza]

10 Best References To Classic Horror Movies

10 Best References To Classic Horror Movies

Content Warning: This article discusses violence, eating disorders, and sexual assault.Prime Video just released My Best Friend’s Exorcism, the film adaptation of the Grady Hendrix book by the same name. Thus far, reviews have been mixed, but all agree that the plot was completely submerged in 80s references, with Alyse Wax describing it as “if John Hughes directed a horror movie.” This element…

[brokehorrorfan]

Creepy Bitches: Essays on Horror from Women in Horror is available now via ‎ BearManor Media. The 204-page paperback is edited by genre journalists Alyse Wax (The World of IT) and Rebekah McKendry (All the Creatures Were Stirring).

Contributors include Rhianne Paz Bergado, Meredith Borders, Kaydee Cage, BJ Colangelo, Zena Dixon, Paula Haifley, Heather Hendershot, Heidi Honeycutt, Sandy King, Shannon McGrew, Carly Lane-Perry, Sonia Lupher, Erin Maxwell, Stacie Ponder, Debbie Rochon, Amy Searles, Chelsea Stardust, Sarah Stubbs, and Jenn Wexler.

Karen McKenna designed the cover art. The synopsis is below.

For far too long, horror has been considered a male genre, made by men, marketed to men, and enjoyed by men. But in the last decade, we have seen an emergence of women as horror filmmakers, academics, and fans, all making sure their voices were heard! Editors Alyse Wax and Rebekah McKendry, PhD have gathered some of the greatest minds in horror film theory—all women—to discuss their love of the genre.

The scope of Creepy Bitches covers all areas of the horror genre, film industry, and fandom – from the Cronenbergian experience of giving birth to how The X-Files plays in the #MeToo moment; from growing up at Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion to growing up in a video store. The book explores gender roles in The Creature From the Black Lagoon trilogy and Mexican horror cinema, as well as the bisexual energy of I Know What You Did Last Summer. It covers the therapeutic benefits of watching horror and how to love home invasion movies again after experiencing real-life trauma. But the book’s overarching purpose is to celebrate new voices and increase our understanding of women in the horror realm, celebrating that horror does not only scare us, but helps us understand the world around us, providing a lens through which to view and explore our own selves.

Order Creepy Bitches from Amazon.

[wanna-rock-n-roll-in80s]

psst, wanna see Penny without snap filter?

From “The World of IT“ (2019)

[beverlymarshisabadass]

[yourgothicredrose]

I was meant to post these earlier but things got in the way of things. So here we are this amazing The World of IT book by Alyse Wax arrived in the post last week. I just love it.

[dravencrow127]

The World of IT 🎈

[curlyhairedbibliophile]

A Look Inside | The World of IT by Alyse Wax

An official behind-the-scenes companion to New Line Cinema’s IT and IT CHAPTER TWO, the globally popular blockbusters

Collecting the best artwork produced during the making of both of these sophisticated and visually enthralling films—including concept art, sketches, storyboards, and behind-the-scenes photography—The World of IT explores the films’ singular aesthetic and meticulous world-building. This compendium includes commentary from director Andy Muschietti; producer Barbara Muschietti; the acclaimed ensemble cast; and other creative players who helped bring a new, disturbing vision of King’s perennial bestseller to life.

Release date | Sept 6, 2019

[stevenvenn]

pronoun - I Wanna Die But I Can’t (Cuz I Gotta Keep Living) (from OMG I Made It) John played this tune again on the Morning Show on KEXP and it’s one of those singles that I keep hearing and finally thought “I need to know more about that.” Looking forward to her new album out on June 10th!

[sigritandtheelves]

Thanks for putting together the fanzine ... but what can we expect in vol.2? Maybe I haven’t been looking in the right place/not followed the right blogs, but I haven’t seen any hints/blurbs of what’s in vol. 2?

GREAT question! Here are the contents of the zine:

“Low Observables” (fanfic) - teethnbone

“Twelve Days” (fanfic) - Scullywolf

“Equanimity” (art) - RainKnight

"To My Daughter, With Love" (fanfic) - Kyouryoku Senshi

Knit Fox (fabric art) - Charnette

Fanfic Writers Roundtable - Edited/Compiled by Alyse Wax

Untitled (art) - Tanya (@patientxphile)

“Summer Reading” (fanfic) leiascully

“Women in The X-Files” (meta) - @fantasticmrfoxfiles 

“Coming Home” (fanfic) - Frangipanidownunder

“Answers” (art) - Lunenn

"Away From the Darkness" (fanfic) - Baroness Blixen

“Faith” (art) - msrafterdark

“A Bubble Bath in Maine” (fanfic) - isadub

"Open" (fanfic) - arboreta

“Crisis on Infinite Truths, or, Why I Don't Believe in Canon (And Neither Should You)" (meta) - Darla Black

“Alive” (fanfic) - MonikaFileFan

"All Things" (art) - gemikanxiii

“Dana Scully and the Exceptional Morality of Suffering" (meta) - o6666666

“Cause and Effect” (fanfic) - Green3lf

"Fire" and "Beyond the Sea" (art) - Audrey Loub

"Cross to Bear" (fanfic) - Admirality

"Sherry Baby!" (fic classic) - wtfmulder

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

So I got £100 for my birthday but because I don’t have a job, I’m scared to spend it but... I kind of bought a Richie Tozier pop funko and then this book called The World of IT by Alyse Wax, and I need reassurance that I’m allowed to do that because I still have like a whole £1000 in my bank account and it’s not like I’m doing anything that would require me to spend money (like dance classes or shit), so...yeah.

I’m hoping I can get a new job soon. It’s been a whole month since I resigned from my last one, and I’m scared I’m not going to get another one.

[wanna-rock-n-roll-in80s]

From “The World of IT“ (2019)

[fridaythe13ththeseries]

The small but special Friday the 13th: The Series collection I have built up over 30 years.

Included are the three DVD sets for all the seasons; the soundtrack CD; Alyse Wax’s amazing book about the show; a poster from Fangoria, I think; three shooting scripts; and lastly, a letter and card sent to me by Louise Robey from France, after my daughter wrote to her and told her what a big fan I was of her and the show.

Not a huge collection, but mine, and very special.

[citizen-undead]

10 Years of Cloverfield: Part One

By Jay Truant

Over the fourth of July weekend in 2007, audiences lined up at the box office for the first live action Transformers movie from director Michael Bay. The film was a huge success, grossing over $700mil at the worldwide box office, and has subsequently spawned four sequels over the last decade. Online discussion about the film, however, took a backseat to a mysterious teaser trailer for a nameless film depicting an attack on New York that aired in theaters before Transformers. Filmed on a handheld camera from the point of view of one of the film’s main characters, the only information the trailer revealed was a production credit for LOST co-creator JJ Abrams, and a release date of January 18, 2008 (1-18-08). 

A year before the trailer debuted, the producers of LOST launched The Lost Experience, an online Alternate Reality Game (ARG) designed to engage fans and expand the storyline of the hit science fiction drama during the hiatus between seasons two and three. Cryptic websites related to the ARG were soon discovered by fans, and an in-game novel related to the ARG was even released in stores. It didn’t take long for fans to realize that a similar viral marketing campaign would be employed for Abrams’ new film and, by adding a dot com to the end of the film’s release date, the first website was soon discovered.

Screenshot of the now defunct 1-18-08.com

1-18-08.com was the first in-game website discovered by fans. It contained a stack of photographs of the going-away party featured in the trailer, as well as several photographs from the ensuing attack. Fans were also able to flip two of the photographs over, the second of which revealed a hand-written note from one of the party-goers:

Lascano, Platt and Robbie - Jan 2008: “Robbie, Here, use this photo to send a message of my hotness far and wide!!! I’m gonna miss the hell out of ya!! Love, Jamie”

Fans began scouring the Internet for Jamie Lascano, and a MySpace profile that appeared to be in-game was soon discovered. Jamie’s friend list also included Hudson Platt, Rob and Jason Hawkins, Lily Ford, Marlena Diamond and Beth McIntyre, characters that appeared in the film’s trailer. During the ARG, the profiles were active with blog posts and comments between the friends, and fans were also able to establish a correspondence with the characters by sending them private messages. One key blog post also revealed that the reason for the going away party was because Rob was leaving New York to work as vice president for Slusho in Japan.

Screenshot of slusho.jp, the second in-game website discovered by Cloverfield fans.

Eagle-eyed fans soon discovered another clue in the film’s trailer that would further advance the ARG’s storyline: Jason Hawkins was wearing a t-shirt adorned with a logo for Slusho, a fictional soft drink that debuted in an episode of JJ Abrams’ Alias. A quick Google search yielded the discovery of slusho.jp, the second in-game website.

The flash-based Slusho website contained a number of bizarre pages such as Happy Talk, where a large mouth would open to reveal a Slusho character hidden inside of it. A thought bubble appeared next to one of the characters with the text “am I a whale?” written inside of it, leading to speculation that the monster in the film would be a giant mutated whale. There was also a link to a webstore where fans could purchase a number of Slusho branded clothing items, including hats and t-shirts. During the ARG, Slusho also released an official commercial.

Jamie Lascano opened JamieAndTeddy.com as a way to communicate with her boyfriend remotely.

Following the discovery of the characters’ MySpace pages, Jamie wrote a blog where she talked about Teddy Hanssen, her boyfriend who was away on a secret mission. This blog post led to the discovery of JamieAndTeddy.com, a password protected website containing video messages from Jamie to Teddy. At first, the videos seemed harmless enough; Jamie missed Teddy and was recording these videos as a way to correspond with him while he was out of town. However, the videos soon took a rather dark turn.

In the fifth video, Jamie opened a package from Teddy that contained a Slusho hat, a piece of food wrapped in aluminum foil, and a tape player with a recorded message from Teddy:

Jamie, listen to me, alright this is not a joke. If you’re hearing this before we’ve spoken, then it means that I’ve been captured by the company called Tagruato. Ok, TAG-RU-ATO. Now listen. You, this is important. Don’t call the authorities. It’ll screw everything up. Just sit tight and wait to hear from Randy. He knows to call you. We’re on their station ok, and it’s like they’ve found something, or they’re making something, but the point is, I can’t, I’m not going to be calling you again. You’re not gonna hear from me again. I just want you to wait for Randy.. he will explain.

After stopping the tape, Jamie became furious, believing that this message was Teddy’s way of breaking up with her. She soon unwrapped the aluminum foil and ate the contents inside (later revealed to be Seabed’s Nectar, a highly addictive key ingredient in Slusho that appears to affect the human mind if eaten in its raw form), which lead to her mood and behavior becoming increasingly erratic.

Tagruato’s official website circa 2007.

In September 2007, 1-18-08.com was updated with a picture of a chef pulling something that resembled a pizza out of a freezer. Flipping the picture over revealed a list of ingredients in Japanese that was quickly translated by fans. Among the ingredients was "Kaitei no mitsu” which translates to “deep sea nectar/honey”. A Google search for the mysterious ingredient yielded only one result: a restaurant review by “deliciousmacdoob” on Menuism.com. The reviewer made reference to the ingredient, which he referred to as “Seabed’s Nectar”,  and revealed that it came from a company in Honshu, Japan called Tagruato, which lead to the discovery of the next in-game website.

Tagruato is a Japanese mining company with oil rigs in the Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, and Indian oceans using what the company calls “groundbreaking deep-sea drilling technology”. Tagruato’s CEO is Ganu Yoshida, who was previously mentioned on the history page of Slusho.jp. Along with Slusho, Tagruato owns subsidiaries that deal in deep-sea genetic research (Yoshida Medical Research), advancing technology (Bold Futura), and paraffin wax byproducts from their Petroleum reservoir (ParafFun! Wax Distributors).

Tagruato’s website was hacked in November 2007 by an organization called T.I.D.O. Wave, an eco-group that despises Tagruato for mining oil from the Earth’s oceans. The T.I.D.O. Wave website is a front for an environmental activist group called Les Guerriers de Mère-Terre (The Warriors of Mother Earth). LGMT was founded by notorious conservationist Les Bandit Vert (The Green Bandit). Teddy’s friend Randy works for T.I.D.O. Wave and was in charge of authoring the website’s blog posts. Several posts made reference to an ‘event’ which was later revealed to be a raid on the Chuai Station, a Tagruato owned and operated deep-sea drilling station located in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Chuai Station moments before it collapsed.

Videos of the destruction of the Chuai Station were soon released on the video sharing website LiveLeak. The videos were framed as reports from German, Italian, Spanish, French, English, Russian, and Japanese news  stations. At one point in the video, several members of the station’s crew are seen fleeing the wreckage on a raft. The roar of the monster can be heard, followed by a shower of debris falling down upon the crew. These videos heavily insinuated that Tagruato’s drilling was what awoke the monster. 

Around this time, orders from the Slusho web store began arriving with handwritten notes from “The Whistle Blower”. Among these notes were printouts of sonar images that revealed the monster’s presence in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Tagruato’s discovery of the Cloverfield monster on the ocean floor.

In November 2007, the second trailer for the previously untitled film was released and the title of Cloverfield was revealed. The Matt Reeves directed monster flick opened on January 18, 2008 to critical and commercial success, recouping its budget of $25mil during its opening weekend. The film would eventually gross over $170mil worldwide and Paramount was said to have ordered a sequel from Bad Robot over opening weekend. However, it would be nearly a decade before another Cloverfield movie debuted in theaters.

The ARG continued on through the release of Cloverfield on home video. Teddy Hanssen’s sister Alyse opened a blog called Missing Teddy Hanssen which was first discovered by the appearance of a missing poster on the main 1-18-08 website, as well as a comment on one of T.I.D.O. Wave’s posts. On her blog, Alyse makes reference to USGX8810B467233PX, a password protected website that supposedly contained information related to Teddy’s whereabouts. Fans who bought Cloverfield on DVD and Blu-Ray were able to login to the website by entering the numbers found on the home video’s sticker. The pictures on the website revealed the discovery of the Cloverfield monster and its parasites by Tagruato submarines, deep on the ocean floor, near the Chuai Oil Drilling Station. 

In press interviews for Cloverfield, JJ Abrams revealed that the monster had laid dormant in the Atlantic Ocean for thousands of years. Through information that fans were given over the course of the Cloverfield ARG, it can be decided that Tagruato’s deep sea drilling led to the monster’s awakening and subsequent destruction of New York City. Ten years after the film’s debut, however, Netflix’s The Cloverfield Paradox now has fans questioning everything they thought they knew about the ‘Cloververse’.

Check back later in the week for parts two and three.