Editorials
How To Start Getting Into Horror Part 4: Supernatural
The How To Start Getting Into Horror series has been going for a few weeks now and I’m hoping that it’s helping you get your friends and loved ones to appreciate the genre! We’ve looked at what we feel is the best way to ease your non-horror loving acquaintance into becoming interested, followed by some basics. Then we spoke about the Universal Movie Monsters, because no horror education is complete without the original baddies! But now we’re going to dive into something a little more cerebral, a little more unsettling… Today we dive into the supernatural.
For me, a good supernatural movie can be absolutely terrifying. When physical rules go out the window, it allows for all sorts of possibilities that we can’t expect nor anticipate. It’s because many Earthly cardinal rules lose their significance and basis that these films feel so dangerous and uncertain. It’s absolutely delightful!
But throwing The Changeling at a newcomer isn’t the best way to handle things. Rather, as always mentioned throughout this series, they need to be eased into the genre to see why it’s so much fun, why it’s so exhilarating.
That’s why I recommend beginning with fun films like Ghostbusters and House on Haunted Hill (the original, of course). The former combines quirky, lovable characters with some actually unsettling moments. As a small boy, the opening of the old woman in the library absolutely terrified me. To be honest, it still unsettles me to this day. But it’s how much fun this movie is that we can form the foundation of “supernatural films can be a good time”.
The latter showcases that delightful cheesiness that was present in the films of the 50’s and 60’s. Firstly, you have Vincent Price, who is an essential part of any horror fan’s education. Secondly, there’s a great deal of atmosphere in the “haunted mansion”. Thirdly, there are some genuinely creepy moments throughout. This movie has charm and spooks, which makes for a great entry. Also, it begins the road down the films of William Castle, which is an exciting path in and of itself!
With those two films watched, how about we keep the charm, quirkiness, and wonder going by popping in Beetlejuice? In my opinion, this may very well be the best film Tim Burton has ever directed. Non-horror fans love this movie, even though it’s completely rooted in the genre, overflowing with ghosts, scares, atmosphere, and surreal visions. Plus, that score by Danny Elfman! Astonishing!!!
Once you create that foundation that ghosts can be fun and exciting, that’s when it’s time to start diving into the truly terrifying films. That’s when you pop on The Conjuring, Insidious, The Changeling, The Ring, The Others, The Sixth Sense, etc…
There’s something to be said about feeling like something is lurking right over your shoulder, even though you can’t see it. Now it’s time to share that sensation.
The trailer for Ti West’s upcoming adaptation of A Christmas Carol raised a lot of eyebrows when it dropped earlier this week. While plenty of folks initially dismissed Ebenezer as a derivative project meant to cash in on the recent wave of unnecessary prequels that expand the backstory of beloved characters (such as 2023’s Wonka), Charles Dickens’ original novel already made a point of exploring Ebenezer Scrooge’s origins in detail – meaning that this new film is likely just a particularly faithful adaptation of the source material under a different name.
Couple that with the fact that the movie is being helmed by a genuine horror auteur and I think it’s safe to say that the latest iteration of the first modern ghost story is in good hands.
That being said, one detail that immediately jumped out at me during the brief teaser (other than a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it nod to Johnny Depp’s iconic bedroom death scene from the original A Nightmare on Elm Street) is the fact that many of Ebenezer’s ghosts appear to have been directly lifted from the iconic John Leech illustrations that accompanied the first edition of Dickens’ novel.
Here are a couple of stills from the trailer compared to the original artwork:
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
The Phantoms in ‘A Christmas Carol’ and ‘Ebenezer’
Marley’s Ghost in ‘Ebenezer’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’
Mainly working with old-school wood and steel engravings that would later be transferred to print, Leech was instrumental in crafting the iconic look of history’s most influential phantoms – especially since Dickens is said to have been deeply involved with the creation of these so-called “comic illustrations.”
And since the novel is commonly said to have popularized spiritualism in Victorian England, much of the ghostly iconography that we still see in genre media to this very day (including some of Ti West’s previous films) can be traced back to the author’s partnership with Leech.
Ebenezer won’t be the first A Christmas Carol adaptation to borrow heavily from these designs, but I can appreciate how Ti West is incorporating an important part of horror history into his latest film.
Ebenezer will be available in theaters starting November 13.
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