THE CAULDRON
Stirring the pot with Angeline Hawkes

There is but one step from the grotesque to the horrible.

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


Monsters in Horror: Why They Will Never Die
Part 3: Zombies


There are many types of monsters: the ones we classify as supernatural, to the human monster in the news. Monsters are with us whether we like it or not. When researching the origins of typical monsters, one can find similar creatures in nearly every culture. Sometimes used for religious purposes, sometimes for entertainment, or sometimes to take the place of scientific knowledge. Zombies, or the belief in their existence, have been recorded in various cultures since ancient times. The first written ... (more…)

THE CAULDRON
Stirring the pot with Angeline Hawkes

Artwork by George Patsouras

Men fear death as children fear to go in the dark; and as that natural fear in children is
increased with tales, so is the other.

Sir Francis Bacon, Essays [1625], "Of Death"

Monsters in Horror: Why They Will Never Die
Part 2: Vampires

There are many types of monsters: the ones we classify as supernatural, to the human monster that we read about in the news. Monsters are with us whether we like it or not. When researching the origins of typical monsters, one can find similar creatures in nearly every culture. Sometimes used for religious purposes, sometimes for entertainment, or sometimes to take the place of ... (more…)

THE CAULDRON
Stirring the pot with Angeline Hawkes


The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. - H. P. Lovecraft


Monsters in Horror: Why They Will Never Die
Part I. Dragons


Whenever the presence of monsters in horror arises in conversation, there is always that one person who declares he/she detests monsters in horror fiction. This always makes me laugh. I cannot separate monsters from horror. There are many types of monsters: the ones we classify as supernatural, to the human monster that we read about in the news. Monsters are with us whether we like it or not.

From primitive times monsters have appeared in art and ... (more…)

"How can you tell there's anything out there? The door's closed." -- Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

When requested to write a monthly column for Fear Zone, my brain immediately went into warp speed trying to come up with ideas that would be both informative and entertaining. I haven't penned a column since the days of yore [circa 1980s] when I still knew everything and cockily ran the media at my high school. That I had that much power is terrifying in itself. Interestingly enough, in my senior year, my classmates predicted that in the future I'd eventually become editor-in-chief of Guidepost magazine. I've apparently veered from my expected path.

... (more…)