RUE MORGUE Issue 198 January/February 2021

I’m often asked if the Rue Morgue Manor is haunted and I’m sure it is, to some degree. The acoustics are weird. There are hot and cold spots. One time, I was alone in the office and I was sure I saw someone sitting in my desk chair. Before I worked here, someone told me that Guillermo del Toro toured the Manor and flat out refused to go downstairs to the basement due to an overwhelming sense of foreboding juju. That’s really all the evidence I need to reply that yes, the Rue Morgue Manor is quite haunted in fact; behold my second-hand A-lister anecdote and be sure to hit the gift shop on your way out. The truth is, I’m just not very sensitive to what we would call supernatural…

COMMENTS QUESTIONS CRITICISM WEEKLY “THANK YOU” goes out to the best glossy mag in the industry… Rue Morgue helmed by the amazing Andrea Subissati. Thank you for keeping us sane during these COVID Quarantine Blues… JC GREENING, VIA FACEBOOK FINALLY GONNA START making my way through that @RueMorgue’s “movies you missed” list [RM#196]. (At least until the Mario Bava collection drops on @Shudder, then I’m gonna be balls-deep in Bay of Blood.) Starting with 2001’s Wendigo! @ZOMBIEBUTCH, VIA TWITTER WHAT A GROOVY ghoulish day: RM#197 arrives in our mailbox, then we go out to our first movie since lockdown day one! My kind of magic, for sure. DAVID CISCO – DELAND, FLORIDA OKAY, RUE MORGUE MAGAZINE. I read your “50 Horror Films You Didn’t See.” You and I need to have a talk. This movie Found you recommended…? I…

ISSUE # 198 The language used by the witches in Robert Eggers’ The Witch is mainly Enochian. Six men, including five hitmen, were charged with intentional homicide in China after each attempted to subcontract the killing to another. None of the six defendants carried out the deed and all were eventually acquitted. When acclaimed ghost story writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu died of a heart attack in his native Dublin on 7 February 1873, it was believed he “literally died of fright.” Saint Lawrence Agency in Altamonte Springs, Florida, has sold 6000 alien abduction insurance policies for a one-off fee of $24.95, worth over $10 million in compensation. The company’s fine print stipulates a payout of $1 per year over a 10- to 20-million-year period. People who suffer from allodoxaphobia fear other people’s opinions. A global…

1 RAVEN WAITING LIGHT $69.99 USD Edgar Allan Poe wasn’t a fan of ravens back in 1845, but electricity hadn’t been invented yet! Nowadays, we can light up our poetry corners with this beautiful resin corvid light fixture, available in black or white, with an E12 bulb included, and a cord measuring 6.5 feet. Darkness, nevermore! Ravenlights.com 2 JAWS STAINLESS STEEL BOTTLE OPENER $24.95 USD Just when you thought it was safe to go into the beer fridge – crack a cold one with your pal Bruce! This 6-inchlong bottle opener is cast in polished stainless steel and comes in a slide-out box, so you can drink like a sailor. Here’s to swimmin’ with bowlegged women! Factoryent.com 3 THE LOST BOYS TUBBZ DUCK COLLECTIBLES $12.99 USD One thing we could never stomach about Santa Carla is all the damn rubber…

Inspired by true crime and the ghastly taxidermy of Norman Bates, Buffalo Bill, and Thomas Brown Hewitt (a.k.a. Leatherface), Kayla Arena’s line of Ed Gein-inspired items is sure to shake you up. From wallets to lampshades, hats and neckties – even journals, presumably so you can pen your very own Necronomicon – these eerily lifelike skins are made from latex and silicone and cast from living human beings. Hailing from Queensland in Australia, Arena started working as a prosthetic special FX artist in film and television from the tender age of eighteen. As both a horror fan and an animal lover, she designed her work to provoke a reaction, and maybe some contemplation as well. “The real-life horror of humanity and what we do to this planet is scarier than any movie…

Arguably the most popular entry in the Friday the 13th franchise, Friday the 13th Part III is significant for several reasons: it’s the film that introduced Jason Voorhees’ trademark hockey mask to audiences; the first and only Friday film to be filmed in 3-D; and also the first in the series to be merchandised, with both a compilation soundtrack LP and a tie-in novelization released in 1982. Written by veteran author Michael Avallone, the book follows the proceedings of the film closely but deviates in key ways – most notably using the film’s original, alternate ending. Avallone also attempts to imbue a bit more characterization into the mostly silent Jason by having him laugh with delight after committing his murderous deeds. Featuring unique cover artwork of a bloodied hockey mask with blue…