The A.V. Club | Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.

Horrors Week

For nearly 50 years, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies have made a meal out of raw panic

With Run The Series, The A.V. Club examines film franchises, studying how they change and evolve with each new installment.

Katie Rife

AVQ&A

What is the scariest book you’ve ever read?

The staff of The A.V. Club recalls all the times they were freaked out by Dean Koontz, The Exorcist, House Of Leaves, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, and other literary terrors

Baraka Kaseko,

Gwen Ihnat,

Randall Colburn,

and 5 more

Illustration for 10 episodes that show how iThe Walking Dead/i turned into a cultural juggernaut

TV Club 10

10 episodes that show how The Walking Dead turned into a cultural juggernaut

Alex McLevy

Illustration for Ray Fisher gets specific with allegations of racism during Joss Whedons iJustice League /ireshoots

Newswire

Ray Fisher gets specific with allegations of racism during Joss Whedon's Justice League reshoots

William Hughes

Illustration for The creators of iSouth Park/i launched an entire deepfake studio to make iSassy Justice/i

Great Job Internet

The creators of South Park launched an entire deepfake studio to make Sassy Justice

Randall Colburn

Illustration for Whats the better werewolf movie, iThe Howling/i or iAn American Werewolf in London/i?

Podcasts

What's the better werewolf movie, The Howling or An American Werewolf in London?

A.A. Dowd

and Katie Rife

Best Deals Of The DayG/O Media may get a commission

Best Deals of the Day

Unexpected nightmares: The scariest enemies in un-scary games

Horror—on-purpose horror, leastways—was a late arrival to the world of video games. Sure, there were opening salvos (Infocom’s The Lurking Horror in 1987, Sweet Home on the Famicom in ’89, the first Clock Tower game on the Super Famicom a few years…

William Hughes

and Sam Barsanti

Illustration for The iNightmare On Elm Street/i remake is better than the angry mob insisted

For Our Consideration

The Nightmare On Elm Street remake is better than the angry mob insisted

A.A. Dowd

Podmass

6 scary podcasts for Halloween listening

Comedy Bang! Bang! always slays with its Halloween specials, where the humor can best be described as Vincent Price pushed to perverted extremes.

Marnie Shure,

Dan Caffrey,

Jose Nateras,

and 3 more

Recommends

These clever mobile horror games seek to emulate the real world's nastiness—misogyny and all

Sara Is Missing, Sentenced, and I Am Innocent try to emulate realistic looking phone screens for faux true crime thrills. But they also import the genre's obsession with dead white girls.

Shannon Miller

Video

How do the best horror scores scare the crap out of us with just a few notes?

What does dread sound like? It’s not always easy to put into words, but the right music cues can conjure the feeling almost immediately. It only takes a few ominous chords of John Williams’ Jaws score—dun-dun, dun-dun—to convince you to stay out of…

Cameron Scheetz

Illustration for Every iMasters Of Horror/i episode, ranked

Best Of

Every Masters Of Horror episode, ranked

Danette Chavez,

A.A. Dowd,

Alex McLevy,

and 1 more

Illustration for iThe Craft’/is Rachel True on Rochelle’s evolution and the little white lie she kept on set

Interview

The Craft’s Rachel True on Rochelle’s evolution and the little white lie she kept on set

Shannon Miller

Home Video Hell

This Halloween, why not watch a horror movie drop the ball?

Alex McLevy

Videos

Show allShow all videos

We asked Daily Show correspondents: Are we all Charlie Brown with a football right now?

Mark Strong on a life playing spies, villains, and morally compromised doctors

Illustration for We asked <i>Daily Show</i> correspondents: Are we all Charlie Brown with a football right now?

We asked Daily Show correspondents: Are we all Charlie Brown with a football right now?

Illustration for How <i>The Craft: Legacy </i>cast members channel their witchy energy

How The Craft: Legacy cast members channel their witchy energy

Illustration for Michael and friends reunite on an emotional iStar Trek: Discovery/i

TV Reviews

Michael and friends reunite on an emotional Star Trek: Discovery

Hey, remember Lost? Pretty good show, right? Yeah, I have fond memories—and one of the things I remember most readily is how much the show liked putting in emotional beats whenever characters were reunited with each other. It didn’t matter if they’d…

Zack Handlen

Illustration for iThe A.V. Club/i unmasks iThe Masked Singer/i season 4

Newswire

UPDATE: The A.V. Club unmasks The Masked Singer season 4

Angelica Cataldo

B-

Illustration for A great season of iArcher /icoasts to a disappointing end

TV Reviews

A great season of Archer coasts to a disappointing end

William Hughes

Illustration for COVID-19 is COVID-23 in the trailer for iSongbird/i, Michael Bays trashy pandemic thriller

Clips

COVID-19 is COVID-23 in the trailer for Songbird, Michael Bay's trashy pandemic thriller

Randall Colburn

B+

Illustration for iThis Is Us/i’ season 5 premiere embraces our new pandemic reality

TV Reviews

This Is Us’ season 5 premiere embraces our new pandemic reality

Caroline Siede

What's On Tonight

Illustration for Baby Yoda is iback/i, baby!

What's On Tonight

Baby Yoda is back, baby!

Allison Shoemaker

Best Of

The best horror movies on Netflix

The A.V. Club

Best Of

The best horror movies on Hulu

The A.V. Club

Best Of

The best horror movies on Amazon Prime

The A.V. Club

From The Archives

Inventory

Ninja-demon Batman: 8 character ripoffs in ’80s Japanese games

John Teti,

Anthony John Agnello,

Joe Keiser,

and 1 more

Illustration for 10 episodes of iFrasier /ifor when you hear the blues a-callin’

TV Club 10

10 episodes of Frasier for when you hear the blues a-callin’

Danette Chavez

Video

A former Obama staffer on what most politicians get wrong about using Twitter

Baraka Kaseko

and Marah Eakin

Inventory

“Kramer, meet Feldman”: 19 TV Bizarros

Drew Toal,

Caroline Framke,

Erik Adams,

Rowan Kaiser,

and 3 more

Inventory

Scarier than fiction: 9 genuinely frightening documentaries

As anyone alive right now can attest, real life is often as terrifying as any movie. Leatherface is scary, sure, but can his buzzing (and entirely imaginary) chainsaw really compete with the actual horrors lurking beyond your front door? For those…

A.A. Dowd,

Katie Rife,

Alex McLevy,

Randall Colburn,

and 2 more

Illustration for Asylum seekers face horrors supernatural and not in the Netflix chiller iHis House/i

Reviews

Asylum seekers face horrors supernatural and not in the Netflix chiller His House

Anya Stanley

Illustration for If Steven Spielberg directed iThe Babadook/i, it would play a lot like iCome Play/i

Reviews

If Steven Spielberg directed The Babadook, it would play a lot like Come Play

A.A. Dowd

Illustration for Its Béla Lugosi versus Boris Karloff in a very loose take on Poe’s iThe Black Cat/i

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It's Béla Lugosi versus Boris Karloff in a very loose take on Poe’s The Black Cat

Jason Shawhan

For Our Consideration

Family separation haunts recent takes on the La Llorona myth

Danette Chavez

ICYMI

Illustration for Hellboy faces off against iThe/i emSeven Wives Club/em in this exclusive preview

Newswire

Hellboy faces off against The Seven Wives Club in this exclusive preview

Oliver Sava

Newswire

Kim Kardashian would like to introduce you to her dead dad's hologram

William Hughes

Recommends

5 new releases we love: Elvis Costello gets eclectic, and Andrew Bird toasts yuletide

The A.V. Club

For Our Consideration

Doom scrolling: The scariest horror stories on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

Randall Colburn

Illustration for iLittle Hope /iis a crappy horror movie, but a strangely satisfying game

Reviews

Little Hope is a crappy horror movie, but a strangely satisfying game

William Hughes

and Alex McLevy

Illustration for Hey, thats Anthony Michael Halls Tommy Doyle in the new iHalloween Kills/i teaser

Clips

Hey, that's Anthony Michael Hall's Tommy Doyle in the new Halloween Kills teaser

Randall Colburn

Podcasts

The best horror movies of 2020: Streaming, festival, and VOD edition

Patrick Gomez

Great Job Internet

Man's Halloween decorations so good that the cops keep getting called to his house

Reid McCarter

Illustration for Clive Barker grants his spooky blessing to HBOs iHellraiser /ishow

Newswire

Clive Barker grants his spooky blessing to HBO's Hellraiser show

As anyone who’s familiar with his bibliography—which includes plays, screenplays, and some shockingly successful YA novels—knows, Clive Barker is not just “the Hellraiser guy.” But also: Clive Barker is totally the Hellraiser guy, and so it’s…

William Hughes

Newswire

Dakota Johnson and Riley Keough are goin' cult hunting

William Hughes

Newswire

Deadwood's W. Earl Brown is being very cute about his time on The Mandalorian

One of the strange things about Star Wars—Star Wars in the modern era, specifically—is that pretty much anyone who works on it these days has a better-than-average chance of being a Star Wars fan. After all, even veteran actors were teenagers once,…

William Hughes

Newswire

Chappelle's Show is coming to Netflix on November 1

Can you feel that? There it is, right there, on the edge of perception, a distant flickering of intermingled joy and worry. If you were alive and conscious back in 2003, you might recognize it: It’s the feeling of a million billion white college…

William Hughes

Great Job Internet

The crossover we’ve all been waiting for: Classic WB teen dramas collide!

Will no one stop Greg Berlanti? His realm keeps growing and growing, devouring network after network, genre after genre. His latest conquest adds to the carnage: he’s joined the Zoom fundraiser fray, joining fellow producer Ben Blacker (Thrilling…

Allison Shoemaker

Illustration for This is 2020: Kirstie Alley attacks CNN, CNN attacks iVeronicas Closet/i

Great Job Internet

This is 2020: Kirstie Alley attacks CNN, CNN attacks Veronica's Closet

Randall Colburn

Illustration for Helen Mirren’s Billy Bush joins Sarah Cooper in bringing the iAccess Hollywood/i tape to life

Great Job Internet

Helen Mirren’s Billy Bush joins Sarah Cooper in bringing the Access Hollywood tape to life

Allison Shoemaker

Newswire

Lori Loughlin began her 2-month prison sentence today

Shannon Miller

Recommends

5 new releases we love: Elvis Costello gets eclectic, and Andrew Bird toasts yuletide

There’s a lot of music out there. To help you cut through all the noise, every week The A.V. Club is rounding up A-Sides, five recent releases we think are worth your time. You can listen to these and more on our Spotify playlist, and if you like…

The A.V. Club

Illustration for 5 new releases we love: Stevie Wonder releases his first new music in years, and more

Recommends

For nearly 50 years, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies have made a meal out of raw panic

What is the scariest book you’ve ever read?

10 episodes that show how The Walking Dead turned into a cultural juggernaut

Ray Fisher gets specific with allegations of racism during Joss Whedon's Justice League reshoots

The creators of South Park launched an entire deepfake studio to make Sassy Justice

What's the better werewolf movie, The Howling or An American Werewolf in London?

The 10 Best Deals of October 30, 2020

Use the Force and/or Money To Reel in All This Fun, Goofy Baby Yoda Merch

AirPods, MacBooks, and iPads (Oh My!): Today’s Best Apple Deals

Unexpected nightmares: The scariest enemies in un-scary games

The Nightmare On Elm Street remake is better than the angry mob insisted

6 scary podcasts for Halloween listening

These clever mobile horror games seek to emulate the real world's nastiness—misogyny and all

How do the best horror scores scare the crap out of us with just a few notes?

Every Masters Of Horror episode, ranked

The Craft’s Rachel True on Rochelle’s evolution and the little white lie she kept on set

This Halloween, why not watch a horror movie drop the ball?

We asked Daily Show correspondents: Are we all Charlie Brown with a football right now?

Mark Strong on a life playing spies, villains, and morally compromised doctors

We asked Daily Show correspondents: Are we all Charlie Brown with a football right now?

How The Craft: Legacy cast members channel their witchy energy

Michael and friends reunite on an emotional Star Trek: Discovery

UPDATE: The A.V. Club unmasks The Masked Singer season 4

A great season of Archer coasts to a disappointing end

COVID-19 is COVID-23 in the trailer for Songbird, Michael Bay's trashy pandemic thriller

This Is Us’ season 5 premiere embraces our new pandemic reality

Baby Yoda is back, baby!

The best horror movies on Netflix

The best horror movies on Hulu

The best horror movies on Amazon Prime

Ninja-demon Batman: 8 character ripoffs in ’80s Japanese games

10 episodes of Frasier for when you hear the blues a-callin’

A former Obama staffer on what most politicians get wrong about using Twitter

“Kramer, meet Feldman”: 19 TV Bizarros

Scarier than fiction: 9 genuinely frightening documentaries

Asylum seekers face horrors supernatural and not in the Netflix chiller His House

If Steven Spielberg directed The Babadook, it would play a lot like Come Play

It's Béla Lugosi versus Boris Karloff in a very loose take on Poe’s The Black Cat

Family separation haunts recent takes on the La Llorona myth

Hellboy faces off against The Seven Wives Club in this exclusive preview

Kim Kardashian would like to introduce you to her dead dad's hologram

5 new releases we love: Elvis Costello gets eclectic, and Andrew Bird toasts yuletide

Doom scrolling: The scariest horror stories on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

Little Hope is a crappy horror movie, but a strangely satisfying game

Hey, that's Anthony Michael Hall's Tommy Doyle in the new Halloween Kills teaser

The best horror movies of 2020: Streaming, festival, and VOD edition

Man's Halloween decorations so good that the cops keep getting called to his house

Clive Barker grants his spooky blessing to HBO's Hellraiser show

Dakota Johnson and Riley Keough are goin' cult hunting

Deadwood's W. Earl Brown is being very cute about his time on The Mandalorian

Chappelle's Show is coming to Netflix on November 1

The crossover we’ve all been waiting for: Classic WB teen dramas collide!

This is 2020: Kirstie Alley attacks CNN, CNN attacks Veronica's Closet

Helen Mirren’s Billy Bush joins Sarah Cooper in bringing the Access Hollywood tape to life

Lori Loughlin began her 2-month prison sentence today

Heartstopper Volume 2 finds joy in the quiet moments of teen romance

Solutions And Other Problems offers a sympathetic, funny follow up to Hyperbole And A Half

What are you reading in October?

The lights go out in Don DeLillo’s familiar yet slight The Silence

Batman: Three Jokers is a jumbled mess that borders on parody

Marilynne Robinson finds transcendence in the stunning, soul-searching Jack

5 new releases we love: Elvis Costello gets eclectic, and Andrew Bird toasts yuletide

5 new releases we love: Stevie Wonder releases his first new music in years, and more

Letter To You is one of the finest achievements of Bruce Springsteen’s career

5 new releases we love: The Mountain Goats deliver, and No Thank You achieves indie-rock greatness

Livin’ on the edge: Janet Jackson’s love of rock in one electrifying hour