Posts Tagged ‘horror movies’

Holiday Horror Bingo

Posted: December 29, 2025 in horror movies
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For years, I have hosted #31DaysofHorror Bingo online. In October, players watch one horror movie a day and match one category on the board for each movie. Things like: decapitation, something behind you, summer camp, and so on. The goal is a blackout, but ultimately, there are no real rules, and it’s all for fun.

This year, at the request of the Midnight Monster Club, I adapted the game for the holiday season, replacing any horror movie with holiday or winter horror movies and coming up with festive categories.

The holiday version was MUCH HARDER than the original. When I came up with the categories, I was not sure I could capture them all with 25 different movies.

I did, however, end up pulling it off:

  • punishment: The Lodge
  • hypothermia: The Shining
  • ho ho ho: P2
  • axe: American Psycho
  • dysfunctional family: Silent Night
  • murder toys: Christmas Bloody Christmas
  • broken ornaments: The Christmas Tapes
  • bloody snow: Christmas Evil
  • hero santa: Slay Belles
  • isolation: The Sacrifice Game
  • frozen weapon: There’s Something in the Barn
  • shopping: Frankenstein (2025)
  • electrocution: Gremlins
  • gingerbread men: Krampus
  • light strangulation: Silent Night Deadly Night (2025)
  • candy cane stab: Violent Night
  • snowman: Snow Falls
  • blizzard: Black Phone 2
  • ugly sweater: Anna and the Apocalypse
  • caroling: Black Christmas (1974)
  • scary present: Child’s Play
  • bad reindeer: White Reindeer
  • evil elves: Rare Exports
  • evil santa: Terrifier 3
  • new to you: Advent Calendar

Midnight Monster Club definitely made this happen. I may not have found them all without their watching and discussing. I appreciate them testing this pilot with me.

I also learned there are WAY MORE holiday horror movies than I ever realized and that the majority are just awful.

As far as new to me this year, I really enjoyed:

  • Advent Calendar: I LOVED this movie. It had been on my list for years, and I can’t believe it took me this long to watch it (subtitles are hard while multitasking). It is creepy and clever and wonderfully psychological.
  • Silent Night Deadly Night (2025): I enjoy the original movie and watch it pretty regularly each December. I was worried that the remake was an entirely new approach. However, I think I like the new one even more than the original. It is fresh and fun.
  • Snow Falls: Like Cabin Fever but in a snowstorm. Another psychological one that I enjoyed. I love a movie that opens the door for interpretation.

Going into 2026 ready for more horror movies and fun collaborative games.

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Red Walls – When Talia’s parents go after the monsters who hurt her, they never expected real monsters.
  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Telluride Horror Show 2025

Posted: October 17, 2025 in film festivals, horror movies
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Year #9 at the Telluride Horror Show! This year, there was no traumatizing child injury, so I had a much more typical experience.

Obligatory Hike

Over the years, the Horror Show has experienced the many seasons of Telluride in October. We have seen roasting sun, crisp fall air, and heavy snow. This year, we got a lot of rain. Potentially my least favorite.

Considering the mud the weather created, we kept the hike simple. Mostly, a stroll through Telluride to the Bridal Veil Falls trailhead. We started up the road; however, time and my confusing body truncated the hike.

But the views were gorgeous, and Telluride was in full (soggy) autumnal splendor.

The Movies

Whatever the hike did to my body (I thought altitude sickness once again but now have doubts), it did limit me for the weekend. I didn’t feel up to my normal wandering and marathoning. As such, I stuck pretty close to one venue. This did, however, help me watch WAY MORE movies than last year!

Here is the rundown of my viewing and my ratings:

  • Dust Bunny 💀💀💀💀💀 A big budget, fantastical production. Basically, an R-rated kids movie. This film is hysterical and heartwarming (and honestly should not be rated R). Plus, the sets and visuals are dazzling. I cannot wait to show my children.
  • The Creep Tapes 💀💀💀💀💀 I love this franchise. The new episodes are hysterical. What I have seen of season 2 is even better than season 1.
  • It Ends 💀💀💀💀 I was underwhelmed until this movie was explained to me. It seemed so slow and vague and repetitive. However, once I viewed it through the proposed lens, it’s brilliant. I will need to watch it again knowing what I know now so it can break my heart.
  • Good Boy 💀💀💀💀 Such a clever concept with the dog. Slow but beautifully shot. Considering what happened to my family last year, I had all the feelings during the introduction. And Indy, the dog, is a very effective empathetic tool. The pace could be tightened, but I really enjoyed it.
  • The Vile 💀💀💀💀 Creepy and emotional. The story drew me in, the plight of a wife and mother when her husband unexpectedly brings home a second wife and things go so very wrong. It needed more horror, but the story is enough.
  • We Bury the Dead 💀💀💀 A very unique zombie story. The first half is fantastic; then it kind of loses its way. It has a great premise and is so creative, but it feels like they didn’t know how to wrap it up so did so too cleanly.
  • Dolly 💀💀💀 American 70s homage horror in the woods of Tennessee. The special FX in this are wild. This is very much a punch-in-the-face, make-you-uncomfortable horror; however, the story still manages to sag in the middle. Somehow, a 76-minute movie feels long.
  • Honey Bunch 💀💀 Bizarre. I didn’t hate it, but it might need a second watch to make me like it. The soundtrack, in particular, is very peculiar. I think the dynamic between the main couple is odd, and that is reflected in the rest of the movie.
  • Shelby Oaks 💀💀 This one had a lot of hype, but I was disappointed. It is like two movies shoved together, and only the first one is good. There is a threshold of how much “dumb white girl” shit I can buy, and this one far exceeded my tolerance.
  • Deathgasm 2 💀 I saw Deathgasm at Stanley Film Fest years ago, but the sequel is terrible. I need my repeated penile trauma to have a purpose in the story.

Overall, a solid year and lineup. I can’t remember much of last year, beyond my worry for my child, but I do feel like this year was better for more than just that. The schedule allowed for breathing room between showings, which also helped with line management and gave the non-movie events some space. Though there were an unfortunate number of single screenings of films, and one of my favorite parts is deciding what to see Sunday based on chatter.

The Horror Show continues to grow and, with that, does come growing pains. The lineup was released later. Less celebrities and directors attended to give Q&A after the features. Assholes found their way into the audiences and lines to misbehave. It happens as things grow and change.

All told, it was a fantastic weekend, and I can’t wait to go back for year #10.

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Red Walls – When Talia’s parents go after the monsters who hurt her, they never expected real monsters.
  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

31 Days of Horror Bingo 2025

Posted: September 29, 2025 in horror movies
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October is coming! 🎃STARTS WEDNESDAY🎃

My horror-loving friends, it is time 👻 Please join me in playing my annual #31DaysofHorror bingo! This game is one of my favorite things on the internet all year. And let’s face it, it’s hard to find stuff to love on the internet lately.

Simple rules:

  1. Each day in October watch a horror movie.
  2. For each horror movie, mark a tombstone on the bingo board.
  3. Post your progress and challenge others.
  4. Tag me to be entered to win.

1 movie a day, 1 tombstone per movie.

First to blackout “wins”. While there is no official winning (and the rules are more like guidelines), this year, I will raffle off a RED WALLS gift box for everyone who plays. Make sure to tag me so I see it and can enter you in!

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Red Walls – When Talia’s parents go after the monsters who hurt her, they never expected real monsters.
  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Colorado Festival of Horror 2025

Posted: September 18, 2025 in film festivals
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Here comes spooky season! 👻 And it may be the only life raft I have from debilitating depression right now.

Summer sprinted to an end, landing us in September. For me, spooky season starts with Colorado Festival of Horror (CoFoH). Horror may be year-round for me, but the CoFoH weekend of horror movies, celebrities, and art sets the tone for the impending October and Halloween surge.

This year’s festival was BUSY for me. My schedule was stacked. I volunteered all three days, was on four panels, and had a signing block in the dealer’s room. But I still managed to find time for the costume contest, karaoke, a screening, and a couple of other panels.

This year’s theme was monsters, and the big draw was the colonial marines from Aliens. When I was volunteering, I worked at Michael Beihn’s table. Though, honestly, my husband did all the work, and I made appearances briefly to snap pictures for the fans.

Running around to panels kept me pretty engaged.

Enter the HeTerrorTopia (part I and II): What is a heterotopia? you ask. I asked the same thing preparing for these panels! In part one, we explained the concept of a heterotopia (in very short: a world within a world) and provided examples in the horror genre. I chose Stephen King because he may very well be the king of heterotopias. Then, in part two, we used the concept to create our own heterotopia as an interactive group. We ended up selecting a quarantine wing of a hospital during pandemic. The session ended up drifting into group therapy and trauma dumping about COVID, but clearly, we all needed it. I was thrilled that people got the concept (faster than I did) and to see so much participation in the workshop.

Feminism in Horror: From femme fatales to final girls, this panel covered the good, the bad, and the future of feminism in horror. We discussed how feminism means more than female representation and concentrated on creating authentic, nuanced characters of every representation. As an author constantly labeled as “pink horror” or “girl horror”, it’s nice to talk about what that really means.

Monster Mash: This panel started by defining what a monster is in horror then examining what makes a compelling monster. However, after 10pm on day two of the con, things rapidly descended in the best way. We ended up playing rounds of Monster Smash or Pass to uproarious laughter. This was probably the most fun I’ve had on any panel. Obviously, we need a full, focused Monster Smash or Pass panel next year.

The largest development for me, as an author, was having a signing at The Slab table in the Death Dealer’s Room. After Stephen Graham Jones, no less. It was thrilling to see my name all over the program and promo material.

While I brought multiple books, my focus was obviously on the latest: Red Walls. And Red Walls SOLD. This weekend was probably the most successful I’ve seen for book sales. Between my signing table and the Horror Writers Association booth, I sold half my last order of copies!

Everyone says it’s the cover, and I can’t argue with them. I’m trying to figure out how to turn it into my next tattoo.

So, the weekend was very successful for me as an author and very fun and fulfilling as a horror fan. It has me excited for Telluride Horror Show next month and Creepaway Camp next summer. I will take all the distraction I can get!

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Red Walls – When Talia’s parents go after the monsters who hurt her, they never expected real monsters.
  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Releasing Red Walls

Posted: May 27, 2025 in red walls
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Every book release is different. For Savages, I had a new baby and a toddler. Followers came in the aftermath of COVID. Red Walls, my sixth and newest book, comes at a time of personal turmoil (and honestly, global turmoil but we’ll keep this blog in the microcosm).

The past few months have been an onslaught of traumas and complications. There’s no need to make a laundry list for sympathy. Suffice it to say, it has been enough. The Red Walls release, which I was very excited for after a few years and so much work, landed between tragedy and major stressor. Its joy was nearly eclipsed by the shadows.

I went through all the release motions. The posts, the newsletters, the giveaway. However, I didn’t get to experience and enjoy them as much as I normally would. I would have preferred to give them full attention and indulgence. But survival made demands.

Red Walls is the most beautiful physical copy of all my books, with gorgeous art, an alternate cover on the back, bloody graphics on the pages, and a hardback design. It seriously dazzled me when I finally got to hold it. That elation was a flare in the darkness before being smothered again.

I think Red Walls has also been my most successful release so far. I saw engagement and preorders and post sharing. I was able to secure a good number of ARC reviewers. I saw it out there in the world beyond me. It felt like more of the loft I have always been chasing.

And the reviews… They say to never read your own reviews, but they have been so good. People really like it! And that’s always the dream. More than sales or shares or whatever. The dream is true reader enjoyment. There is no way to gracefully articulate that feeling when a reader really sees your work and it hits with them just as intended. Bliss. Author crack. The dream.

These are all good things. These are AMAZING things. These are things I have been chasing for most of my author career. I just wish my life around me wasn’t drowning out these coveted things.

I want to focus on it; I want to wallow in it. Perhaps the clouds will clear soon enough to shine enough blazing light down to truly focus on it. If nothing else, this release will be memorable. For many reasons.

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Red Walls – When Talia’s parents go after the monsters who hurt her, they never expected real monsters.
  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Writing Seasons

Posted: March 30, 2025 in invisible girls, red walls
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Writing has a progression to it. Sometimes, in the best of circumstances. An inspiration becomes an idea. That glimmer is developed into a story. Maybe it gets scaffolded into outline, or maybe it pours out onto the page. A story starts with a draft. Then there are edits and more drafts and more edits and still more drafts and edits. Feedback comes in to polish off the rough edges. Then it is ready for querying and submitting. And if all the steps flow together harmoniously, maybe, just MAYBE, finally it sees publication (which incidentally includes more editing.)

COVID and its aftermath were my season of inspiration and writing. Undoubtedly, the best stages of the entire process. Creation and expression and riding the high of possibilities. And in this particular instance, escapism.

At the end, I had three novels and a bushel of shorts. The yield imprisoned me in over a year of edits (literal hell), followed by months of submitting and querying (hell adjacent depending on the result).

BUT, with all that behind me, I am moving into the next season: RELEASE (another pretty awesome season). The next year or so is going to see my works finally climbing out from the shadows and into the light of the world.

Red Walls

Followers was released in 2021. It has felt so long since I released a book. Four years might not be an eternity, but in publishing (and half of the rest of life), it has felt like it. I am ready to be back at it!

Red Walls is graphic, gory horror with an emotional heart, portraying family trauma as it both unites and almost destroys a family. Plus a scary house! Plus monsters!

I felt like it was time to do a real, full length monster story rather than just shorts. I also have been accused of being soft for horror, so I pulled no punches with the carnage.

Graveside Press is releasing Red Walls on May 9th, 2025, but you can preorder it now.

Horror Shorts

Spliced in with my novel flow, I always manage some short stories. I have at least a couple coming out on the horizon and can only hope more get picked up.

Find “Smolder” in the upcoming Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell coming from Tundra Swan Press in June 2025.

Find “Break a Leg” in the upcoming Twisted Horrors coming from River Gardner in summer 2025.

Invisible Girls

“Do you ever write things that aren’t horror?” Not until now! Invisible Girls is my first non-horror novel. Dystopian feminist world burning so pretty close but still.

I will officially branch into another genre when Invisible Girls is released by Hybrid Sequence Media in 2026.

I have been waiting so long for this season, reminding myself it would come on the other side of slogging through edits and submissions and rejections. And at this current point in time and history, I need a light to focus on, something that feels good. If nothing else, I want to land on the bedrock of being a creator and putting art out into the world. Fucked up as the world may be.

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Red Walls – When Talia’s parents go after the monsters who hurt her, they never expected real monsters.
  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Horror and Trauma

Posted: November 13, 2024 in horror, real life, writing
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Horror is a genre about trauma. Whether it is the fictional trauma being inflicted on the characters or the zeitgeist of fear it confronts for us.

At Colorado Festival of Horror 2024, I participated in two panels on the horror genre and trauma. Both sessions were so compelling and cathartic for me that I needed to share some thoughts here.

Horror can be a way of coping with trauma both by ingesting it and by creating it. In both cases, horror allows you to interact with or process something scary or hurtful in a “safe” environment. You are on your couch; you know the screen or the page cannot really hurt you. You can experience all those emotions knowing how it will safely end. Not unlike exposure therapy.

For me, it is definitely that, but it is also more. The awful things I see in horror help normalize how I am feeling, make me feel less alone in my pain. Horror also provides a worse-er scenario, which helps me keep my reality in perspective.

People often have “comfort horror”, stories they revisit in times of stress or pain. From the outside, it may seem odd to find solace in something terrible. However, when you unpack the movie and discover what resonates with you, you will often find it hits on something personal. Maybe it lets you control the situation. Maybe it lets you re-experience things knowing how it ends. Maybe it shows you a character like you surviving or being vindicated. But something in that horror is a salve to your wound.

For the panel, I had to think about my comfort horror movies. And why they are therapeutic to me. I came up with:

  • Scream: Aside from this being my first horror movie and introduction to the genre, Scream definitely hits something for me. When I stopped to actually consider it, I realized it is the deceit, the betrayal. Sidney’s friends lie to her, work against her, try to hurt her, but once she figures it out, she survives. And kills them all.
  • You’re Next: The same as Scream, You’re Next introduces a final girl who is being lied to and used. Yet when she fights for her life, it is her intelligence that keeps her alive.
  • Revenge: Rape revenge is pretty self-explanatory. I usually find this subgenre very triggering (Irreversible, Last House on the Left, etc.). Yet this one was different. I attribute the distinction to the female filmmaker (Coralie Fargeat). After Jen is assaulted and left for dead, she returns almost supernaturally in her vengeance.
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street: Nightmares and night terrors brought me to the horror genre. Seeing scary things outside my mind made me feel more normal. There was comfort in not being alone, in seeing what my mind mapped every night on external landscape. Watching Nancy confront her nightmares and ultimately defeat them in a way I never have soothes me.

Reading horror hits me even harder. In the past few months, I have been crying my eyes out over multiple books. American Rapture by CJ Leede, I Was a Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones, Lone Women by Victor Lavalle, The Angel of Indian Lake (the entire trilogy) by Stephen Graham Jones, The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, Maeve Fly by CJ Leede… to name a few.

More than watching or reading, more than anything, creating horror is how I deal with my trauma. I have always written about my pain from journaling to blogging to essays to stories and books. It is more effective for me than any therapy I have tried (and I have tried many). Sometimes, the trauma is the inspiration, sometimes the thread, sometimes the whole damn story.

Tour my horror library with me:

  • How to Kill Yourself Slowly: The first thing I ever published. I wrote this satirical essay for a nonfiction class in college. All my trauma packaged up into one catty rant.
  • Savages: My first and perhaps my best book. Going to Iraq as a contractor deeply affected me. It changed how I saw humanity. I worked that out in this book.
  • “The Last Christmas Dinner” in Collected Christmas: A character based on my mother and maybe what she should have done one unappreciated holiday.
  • “After the Screaming Stopped” in Graveyard Girls: My post-partum story. This one was hard to find a home for. No one wants to look at how ugly and scary those new mother emotions can be.
  • “Personas” in Colorado’s Emerging Writers nonfiction: A deep dive into the many faces and roles of me.
  • “Under the Rapids”, Ink and Sword, Issue 4: I almost drown white water rafting when I was in my 20s. This story covers what I can remember.
  • “Awake” in America’s Emerging Horror Writers: West Region: I had hip surgery to repair a torn labrum. This story confronts how helpless I felt under anesthesia and after the operation.
  • “Hairs”, 96th of October, Autumn 2023: I lost my hair to Alopecia multiple times in recent years. In this story, I start there and make it oh so much worse.
  • Followers: Questioning how safe we are on the internet. This book has roots in online stalkers and one I briefly had in Iraq.

Not included on this list are works where I borrowed other people’s traumas. Their experiences served as inspiration for me, but hopefully my resulting work can be therapy for them.

“Hairs” and “After the Screaming Stopped” are the most literal examples of me writing out my trauma (aside from maybe Savages where I put myself in a story to change my mind about the world). In both, I took the literal trauma–severe hair loss and post partum depression–as the premise. Then I stretched it, elongated it into something grotesque and horrendous.

And at the end of both (of them all), I felt better. The trauma felt processed and exorcised.

I understand that horror is not for everyone. It is full of terrible things that can be triggering or make people uncomfortable. Even people who do enjoy the genre may not interact with it the same way. However, for me, I have found a way to make it therapeutic. It speaks to my traumas in their native tongue, soothing and hushing them so that I can claim more of myself.

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Telluride Horror Show 2024

Posted: October 16, 2024 in film festivals, horror movies
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Telluride was different for me this year.

The week before the Telluride Horror Show, my dog bit my son in the face. My son was hospitalized and had surgery, and I had to surrender the dog. Then my son’s wounds got infected, and he spent the weekend in the hospital again.

I was supposed to leave for Telluride a couple days after his release, yet after coming so close to losing him, I could not travel without him so soon. So, I didn’t. I brought him with me.

The Horror Show is not family friendly, not a place for children, so my experience was a bit different. And that’s OK. It was still a great weekend. It was what it needed to be this year.

Surprise Aurora

Unbeknownst to me, the Aurora Borealis descended in the southern night skies after we arrived and got settled.

Once we knew about it, we scurried outside and then up the gondola. The lights were faint and barely visible with the naked eye, but they showed up great on smartphone camera.

Obligatory Hike

To earn our sloth-like three days bound in movie screenings, we began our weekend on a hike. This year, we went to the other side of the town and did the Jud Wiebe trail.

After all my health challenges, I was embarrassingly out of shape, and we missed fall foliage peak, but it was gorgeous and glorious. The mental health boost I needed.

Horror Education

This year, the Horror Show offered the delightful treat of the Horror Vault. Over the course of the weekend, Jon Davison screened six classic horror movies on 16mm. Additionally, there was a screening of Night of the Living Dead (1968) colorized. It was the perfect opportunity to provide some horror education. Plus, the sound of the running projector is so soothing and nostalgic.

I was lucky enough to see:

  • Blood and Black Lace (1964): Touted as the first Giallo and possibly the first slasher movie, this film is a fascinating look back at where the tropes began. Peek-a-boo killer and oops I fell and my top came off are highlights.
  • Night of the Living Dead (1968): This was the first time I have watched the classic colorized. It gains some things but loses others. I have recently been watching The Walking Dead for a writing project, and this is the granddaddy of the zombie genre.
  • The Mummy (1959): I have always loved ancient Egypt and mummy stories from Goosebumps to my bisexual awakening movie The Mummy (1999). It was fun to see how my beloved 1999 version had modernized this story. Plus the set work is exquisite.

The Movies

Eight or so fests ago, I spent every moment in the theaters and saw as many movies as possible. Age, experience, and circumstance has changed my priorities. Particularly this year, I caught less screenings. But the ones I did see were fantastic.

The new screenings I attended:

  • The Creep Tapes 💀💀💀💀 A mini series in the Creep franchise. I saw Creep 2 at Telluride and love the killer in the franchise. We watched three episodes. The first is brilliant, fifth is entertaining, and sixth is just weird. I can’t wait to watch the entire series on Shudder.
  • Trizombie 💀💀💀 A Belgian film about a zombie outbreak where people with Down’s Syndrome are immune to the virus. When I read the synopsis, I admit I cringed. However, the film is funny, gory, and ultimately quite wholesome.
  • Daddy’s Head 💀💀💀💀 A creepy meditation on grief. Packed with jump scares, this movie is exceptionally unnerving with an emotional heart. The ending, to me, is perfect.
  • Presence 💀💀💀 POV piece with a ghost. This clever take on a haunting story feels almost found footage. While a slow burn, the plot is compelling and the approach interesting.

Final Girl Support Group

Admittedly, this year, my favorite event was not a movie. Instead, it was horror author Grady Hendrix’s Final Girl Support Group presentation. Having read some of his books, I knew Hendrix is a talented author. Even better, he is also a gifted performer with humor, voices, and even singing.

For Final Girl Support Group, Hendrix toured us through the history of horror and slashers. He framed the presentation in “how to stay alive” bullet points, citing friends and school as things to avoid then listing all the horror books and movies where those things get you killed.

He then double-clicked into several topics, including the origin of transphobia in horror, the blaming of the mother in both horror and pop psychology, the urban legends that started the slasher. This goldmine of information was delivered cleverly and with razor-sharp humor.

Until the end, when he punched us in the face with feelings, drawing parallels to the faceless killers of all those books and movies to the global COVID pandemic and the inevitable death of everyone in the room.

I laughed. Then I cried. And I loved every minute of it.

Fright or Wrong Trivia

As per tradition, we participated in Fright or Wrong’s horror trivia. Despite a strong Scream round, our team was bested once again. However, my Sidney Prescott with travel-sized Ghostface did at least win the final girl/boy costume contest.

In the past eight years, the Horror Show has grown and changed and evolved. In 2020, we did a fest from home then returned post pandemic. However, this year, it seemed to be the consensus that things felt different. While none of us could really articulate the cause, the intimacy seemed lost. The pace felt rushed.

Maybe it was an off year for us all. The awkward year we expected after quarantine a few years late. Maybe these are growing pains as things continue to change around us. Maybe we’re all just a little older. Or maybe my kid almost died and everything just looked different afterward.

Nonetheless, it was a great weekend of horror in the autumn mountains. Until next year, Telluride! Find me with my kids healthy and happy at home next year 👻

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Colorado Festival of Horror 2024

Posted: September 24, 2024 in film festivals, horror, horror movies
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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Friday the 13th was made for horror festivals, and Colorado Festival of Horror (COFOH) took full advantage this year. I spent last weekend participating in all it had to offer.

COFOH is now in its fourth year. My first time was their second year, when they featured Art the Clown from Terrifier. Then I volunteered last year, sitting with the creator of Final Destination and members of the cast of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The festival definitely has been growing and evolving each year into a destination event for horror lovers.

The weekend is put on by genre lovers, and their passion shows. It is also still small enough that there is a community feel. It is welcoming and approachable, with fun events like karaoke, a cosplay contest, and a Little Shop of Horrors sing along.

This year, I participated even more by sitting on three different panels.

Meet Me in the Dark: We discussed the relationship between trauma and horror movies and how horror can be therapeutic. This conversation resonated with me both because I consume horror as therapy and also create it as an outlet. So many of my stories are my own trauma stretched and processed. We covered our favorite “comfort” horror movies, mine being ones like Scream and You’re Next where everyone lies and hurts the final girl but she emerges stronger and a survivor.

Turning Trauma into Art: This session was the workshop extension to Meet Me in the Dark. Instead of covering horror that comforts and helps us, we expanded to discuss the art and horror we create to deal with our own trauma. I discussed works like my post-partum horror short. Then we went through an exercise of word association with different feelings and crafted art from those lists.

Where is the Monster Line: Joining authors from Horror Writers Association Colorado chapter and Denver Horror Collective, we discussed our favorite monsters and villains we love to hate. Then we dove into what makes a villain sympathetic, interesting, or relatable versus what crosses the line into abhorrent.

I also volunteered with the celebrities again. My husband and I sat with Thom Mathews (Tommy Jarvis of Friday the 13th Part VI).

Befitting the theme and the weekend, other Friday the 13th people were in attendance. Tom McLoughlin (director of Friday the 13th Part VI) and Vincente DiSanti (creator/director/actor of the Never Hike Alone movies and a frequent Telluride Horror Show attendee).

We got to meet Pam Grier as she introduced a screening of Ghosts of Mars and provided new insights into the film’s merits.

And, perhaps most importantly, we sat beside the delightful Tiffany Shepis and helped her create and recruit for a spatula cult (IYKYK). The Spatulatti spread like wildfire.

The weekend was a bloody whirlwind that left me exhausted, but my black, little heart was full. I needed this time with fellow horror lovers. I felt involved and included, like I was contributing. At this point in my horror life, I probably should be!

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies

Tales from the Drive-in: Post CoFoH Podcast

Posted: October 19, 2023 in film festivals
Tags: , , , , , ,
1

Last month, I went to Colorado Festival of Horror and made some friends! Listen to us talk about the festival, horror in general, and my writing!

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

  • Followers – You never know who is on the other side of the screen. Followers is a mystery and thriller that blends women’s fiction with horror.
  • The Rest Will Come – Online dating would drive anyone to murder, especially Emma.
  • Savages – Two survivors search the ruins for the last strain of humanity. Until the discovery of a baby changes everything.
  • The Waning – Locked in a cage, Beatrix must survive to escape or be broken completely.
  • Screechers – Mutant monsters and humans collide in the apocalyptic fallout of a burned world. Co-authored with Kevin J. Kennedy.
  • Horror Anthologies
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