Nightmare Alley (1946) – William Lindsay Gresham

Before I see del Toro’s new film, which is an adaptation of this novel, I wanted to visit the source material, because I do love me a good noir story, and this one is a classic. And perhaps because the beats and the tropes of the noir genre are so familiar it’s easy to suss…

Authority (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer

The second book in the Southern Reach Trilogy finds its way to the Book Shelf this week as I dive further into the strange realm of Area X first introduced in the book Annihilation, which also serves as the title of the upcoming film adaptation. This sequel, released within months of the first book takes…

Annihilation (2014) – Jeff VanderMeer

Full disclosure: I had never heard of this book until I saw the trailer for this movie from the writer and director of Ex Machina, the visuals looked amazing, and the ambiguity and mystery conveyed by the short teaser drove me out to find a copy of the Southern Reach trilogy right away. Annihilation is…

Solaris (2002) – Steven Soderbergh

  My journey with the very enjoyable, and informative, Sci-Fi Chronicles book continue with this tale of exploration into the soul, heart and depth of emotions… George Clooney heads into deep space under the guidance of director by Steven Soderbergh and producer James Cameron as they take on Stanislaw Lem’s classic science fiction novel that…

Toronto After Dark: Backtrack (2015) – Michael Petroni

  Last night, the 10th Annual Toronto After Dark film festival took us Down Under for a spooky, and well-crafted ghost story starring Adrien Brody and Sam Neill. And for the first time all festival, a jump scare got me! Brody plays psychologist Peter Bower, who finds himself in strange circumstances as he still mourns…

The Sixth Sense (1999) – M. Night Shyamalan

The 101 Horror Movies list has brought me to The Sixth Sense. A film that no matter what you think of Shyamalan’s later work, still stands as a fantastic little spooky tale, undeniably a classic ghost story. Bruce Willis stars as Malcolm Crowe a psychologist who has a troubling confrontation in his home with a…