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Derek Austin Johnson
Derek Austin Johnson

233 Followers

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Dec 5, 2022

Other Worlds Austin 2022: It Gets Dark So I Can See the Stars

If I had to choose one word that describes the Other Worlds Austin 2022 film festival, it would be “melancholy.” I do not believe this was by intention. Even when it began its run nine years ago, an attendee often found themes accreting to the movies and shorts presented. If…

Science Fiction

7 min read

Other Worlds Austin 2022: It Gets Dark So I Can See the Stars
Other Worlds Austin 2022: It Gets Dark So I Can See the Stars
Science Fiction

7 min read


Sep 26, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 24

Why have I not yet talked about David Cronenberg? Cronenberg is one of the few directors working in our out of horror that regularly visits the theme of body horror, which is exactly what it sounds like: stories finding horror within the body, often serving as a metaphor for anything…

Horror

1 min read

Horror

1 min read


Sep 26, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 23

A number of writers have shaped no only my aesthetic taste but also my own desire to write fiction, but few have had the impact of Harlan Ellison. It’s hard to look at any genre and not see Ellison’s footprint: from mystery to science fiction, he has written masterpieces of…

Horror

2 min read

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 23
ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 23
Horror

2 min read


Sep 26, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 22

I was a teenager when George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead appeared on MTV one Halloween. To say it was life-changing is an understatement. Night of the Living Dead’s reputation precedes it. It is the first zombie movie to feature what we think of as zombies today: the flesh-eaters…

Horror

1 min read

Horror

1 min read


Sep 24, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 21

Summer is behind us, which means I probably shouldn’t include Jaws among this series’ entries. And yet, if we’re talking about why I am the horror writer and fan I am, we have to talk about it. The real brilliance of Jaws is in how many genres it touches. Of…

Horror

2 min read

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 21
ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 21
Horror

2 min read


Sep 22, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 20

Shockingly, I have not discussed Ray Bradbury at all during this series. So let’s talk about him. Readers tend to associate Bradbury with science fiction, and it’s easy to see why. It’s hard to divorce Bradbury’s name from either The Martian Chronicles or Fahrenheit 451, his story collection The Illustrated…

Horror

2 min read

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 20
ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 20
Horror

2 min read


Sep 22, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 19

Today is September 21. Stephen King’s birthday. So we are perhaps obligated to talk about our favorite King work, or in this case, our first King work. I wrote about both the book and movie versions of The Shining in an earlier post. At the time I read the book…

Horror

2 min read

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 19
ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 19
Horror

2 min read


Sep 22, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 18

A few quick words about my favorite werewolf movie, An American Werewolf in London. I tend to like werewolf stories enormously. Their core idea — the beast and darkness living within us all — is captivating. …

Horror

2 min read

Horror

2 min read


Sep 20, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 17

There are a lot of great alien invasion movies, but few match the paranoia of Philip Kaufman’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Based on Jack Finney’s novel, this adaptation was released in 1978, but I didn’t see it until 1980 or 1981, when I caught it on a cable channel…

Horror

2 min read

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 17
ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 17
Horror

2 min read


Sep 20, 2022

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 16

If you’ve followed this series up to this point, you probably understand that I tend to like a sense of the otherworldly in my horror. I love the fantasy elements, which means I tend to gravitate to horror infused with surrealism. This can include anything in David Lynch’s filmography, works…

Horror

2 min read

ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 16
ORIGINS OF MY LOVE OF HORROR 16
Horror

2 min read

Derek Austin Johnson

Derek Austin Johnson

233 Followers

Horror writer. Cat wrangler.

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