Hey, I Like These Things

Maybe you will too!

Hey there. You okay?

I only ask because there’s a lot of chaos and misery going around, with the wildfires in California, political tension, snowstorms, and a possible TikTok ban looming (which deeply effects small businesses, even if it is in the interest of national security). Many horror fans are currently in mourning over late filmmaker David Lynch, the man behind such unconventional masterpieces as Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, and, my personal favorite, Lost Highway, which I wrote a two-part essay about just last year (read part one HERE and part two HERE). Incredibly, that essay got back to composer Barry Adamson, leading him to follow me on social media—a wild experience for me, seeing as I’ve been listening to his music for over thirty years. Like a lot of horror artists, I was heavily influenced by Lynch and consider him one of my favorite filmmakers. He will be greatly missed.

While there are some sad and rotten things going on in the world, that’s really nothing new. Life may change, but bad things still happen. All we can do is ride through them and try to have a few laughs along the way. I find solace and joy in the arts. As readers, I’m sure you do too.

With that in mind, I want to tell you about some things I really enjoyed in 2024. I’m a little late for a year-end round-up, but fuck it, I’m going over my favorites from last year anyway. Hopefully this will introduce you to some fresh horrors to feast upon.

My favorite movies from 2024 include:

Strange Darling. I highly recommend you go into this one as blind as possible! I loved how it subverted storyline expectations and delivered a truly tense, ultraviolent thriller. This is my top pick of the year.

The Substance. This one had huge Brian Yuzna vibes in the best possible way. A great performance by a veteran actress, eye-popping special effects, and a hearty dose of twisted humor make this body horror feature stand out.

Heretic. I loved the setup and nerve-wracking tension, as well as the exploration of religious arguments. Though I didn’t care for the conclusion, the ride getting there was compelling, and definitely worth the going.

I mostly watch cartoons (a Simpsons man to the end), so I don’t have any compelling TV series to recommend. I usually can’t get into ongoing storylines. I prefer a beginning, middle, and end to my stories rather than the soap opera approach most streaming programs have adopted, milking a decent premise until the show becomes unprofitable and is abruptly canceled without a conclusive final episode. I believe the only shows like this I ever finished were Breaking Bad (after the show was completed) and The Sopranos (over twenty years after it originally aired). Knowing they had proper series finales made me more comfortable investing my time, and in the case of The Sopranos, I was laid up with rotator cuff surgery anyway.

I also did not read a lot of new books this year. I tend to flop around between fiction and non-fiction, and enjoy unearthing old, forgotten horror works. In 2024, I read my first books by Ken Greenhall and enjoyed them both (Hellhound and Elizabeth). I believe the only book I read that was released in 2024 was What This Comedian Said Will Shock You by Bill Maher (and the Real Time writing staff), which I found hilarious and insightful, even if I didn’t always agree with the social commentary.

The last few months of 2024 found me in a deep pit of doom metal which is still going strong. I’ve been listening to doom since my teen years, with Black Sabbath and early Monster Magnet, but in 2024 I discovered many new bands in the genre and reacquainted myself with some of my old favorites. If you’re unfamiliar with doom metal, I—of course—made a playlist of some of my favorites for you, because sharing music is one of my love languages, and I love my fans. It’s best enjoyed at high volume with a lot of marijuana. Check it out here:

My favorite albums of the year include:

Bongripper – Empty

Acid Mammoth – Supersonic Megafauna Collision

Rotting Christ – Pro Xristou

Ufomammut – Hidden

All of these records are thick and heavy, with some tracks going on as long as twenty minutes. Some listeners may find them too bizarre, slow, or conceptually inaccessible. Sludgy doom is not for everyone. But I highly recommend these albums to fans of all kinds of heavy metal and encourage you to support indie musicians just as you would indie horror writers like me. Bongripper’s Empty is instrumental and has been playing a lot as I’ve worked on my upcoming novel, which deals with Satanic metal music.

When I’m writing a book, I tend to immerse myself in its world. When working on the River Man series, I listened to a great deal of old blues music and murder ballads. I’m already a survivalist, having written articles for Backwoods Survival Guide and Prepper Survival Guide, but while writing The Old Lady, I plunged deeper into books on survival techniques, weaponry, and domestic terrorism. Now that I’m working on a horror novel steeped in “devil music,” this lifelong metalhead has been headbanging daily with the stereo at top volume.

Though Antichristmas is over, I’m still soaking up the Satanism because it plays a huge role in the story I’m working on. As I’ve said before, my interest in Satan does not reflect a sincere belief in him and certainly doesn’t mean I worship him or anything else. For me, Satan is just an aesthetic thing, representing rebellion, sexual freedom, a rejection of authority, and a love for all things scary. These are all values I hold dear. So I dig The Devil the same way I do Dracula—a horror icon, not a basis for religion. As Bart Simpson once said, “All the best bands are affiliated with Satan,” but on top of all the Satanic doom metal, I’ve also been gorging on devil-themed movies and books on demonology. Some of it is research, but a lot of it just keeps me in the proper mindset to write this specific novel.

I’ve always been a big fan of the movie Warlock. I saw it in the theater when I was thirteen and it was enormously influential to me as an aspiring horror author. I even had the movie poster on my wall! I was disappointed with the sequel, but I recently revisited it for the first time in decades and found it much more enjoyable than I remembered. There’s a birthing scene that ranks right up there with Xtro when it comes to being completely fucked up, and overall the movie just has a nostalgic 90’s horror vibe to it, like watching Tales from the Crypt. Consider my opinion of it changed to glowingly positive. If you’re interested, you can stream both films on Amazon Prime right now. Rest in Peace, Julian Sands.

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As many of you know, I’ve already released my first book of 2025, a collection of my sickest, cruelest horror stories titled Pure Evil. The limited hardback is available now as a website exclusive. A paperback version will soon follow, but it too will only be available on Trianahorror, to avoid the very real risk of the book being banned. If you preordered a copy (first of all, thank you), I expect orders to go in the mail the first week of February. I appreciate your patience and unwavering support. Much love to you all.

There are still copies of the hardback left, so grab one while they last! You can make your selection below.

That’s all for now.

Until next time, keep reading, and try to be happy.

Your pal always,

Kris