Not only animals can shapeshift. Organisms and materials can mimic others as well. Slime mold are organisms that can live freely as single cells but can come together to form multicellular reproductive structures. When a mound or ball of slime mold is physically separated, it can find a way to reunite. Biologist John Bonner6 contends that slime molds are “no more than a bag of amoebae encased in a thin slime sheath yet they manage to have various behaviors that are equal to those of animals who possess muscles and nerves with ganglia—that is, simple brains.” He also states that these amoebae are the least understood by scientists so far and have a lot to be studied.
We may not have proof of werewolves among us but there are vast amounts of knowledge yet to be discovered in the animal kingdom. Through science we will be able to come to a better understanding of the life that surrounds us and perhaps be inspired to write the next horror movie based on a real-life creature.
A FINAL NOTE
Horror movies have moved us, terrified us, thrilled us, and made us question the world around us. Before I (Meg) walked by Kelly in her X-Files shirt, our love of horror often felt like a secret, a misunderstood aspect of our lives. It wasn’t until our chance meeting so many years ago that we learned how horror and fandom can bring people together.
If you share in our nostalgia of picking out VHS tapes in the video store, we hope that you never stop seeking out the spooky. And if you’re new to the genre, our hope is that this book has intrigued you to become one of us!
In an age when we can find horror at the click of a button, it is more important than ever to share in the films that made us who we are. So, rise from your graves, emerge from the darkened shadows, and show yourself—we’ll see you in the horror section!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We couldn’t have written this book if we had never met. Thank you to The X-Files for bringing us together!
Thank you to Nicole Mele and everyone at Skyhorse.
Thank you to all of the experts we interviewed.
To our Rewinders, thanks for listening to the podcast!
Thank you to our families, including our own little monsters; Campbell and Vienna, Fox and Dexter.
And to the women of horror and science who came before us, thank you for illuminating the darkness—making our path far less scary.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Kelly Florence (left) and Meg Hafdahl
Meg Hafdahl is a horror and suspense author. Her fiction has appeared in anthologies such as Eve’s Requiem: Tales of Women, Mystery, and Horror and Eclectically Criminal. Her work has been produced for audio by The Wicked Library and The Lift, and she is the author of two popular short story collections including Twisted Reveries: Thirteen Tales of the Macabre. Meg is also the author of the two novels; Daughters of Darkness and Her Dark Inheritance called “an intricate tale of betrayal, murder, and small-town intrigue” by Horror Addicts and “every bit as page turning as any King novel” by RW Magazine. Meg, also the cohost of the podcast Horror Rewind, lives in the snowy bluffs of Minnesota.
Kelly Florence is a communication instructor at Lake Superior College in Duluth, Minnesota, and is the creator and cohost of the Horror Rewind podcast as well as the producer and host of the Be a Better Communicator podcast. She received her BA in theatre at the University of Minnesota–Duluth and got her MA in communicating arts at the University of Wisconsin–Superior.
ENDNOTES
Chapter One: Halloween
1. Minutaglio, Ruth. (2018) “The Untold Story of the Real Person Who Inspired Halloween’s Michael Myers.” Esquire.
2. Hagerty, Barbara Bradley. (2017) “When Your Child Is a Psychopath.” The Atlantic.
3. Heide, Kathleen M. (1992) “Why Kids Kill Parents.” Psychology Today.
4. Goodwin, Christopher. (2011) “My Child, the Murderer.” The Guardian.
5. Allen v. United States, 150 U.S. 551 (1893)
6. Hutchinson, Stefan. (2008) Halloween: Nightdance. Devil’s Due Publishing.
Chapter Two: Child’s Play
1. “High Court Upholds New Trial in ‘Halloween II’ Murder Case.” (1989) The LA Times.
2. “James Bulger Case: Timeline of Key Quotations.” (2010) The Daily Telegraph.
Chapter Three: A Nightmare on Elm Street
1. Marks, Craig. (2014) “Freddy Lives: An Oral History of A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Vulture.
2. “Deaths of Asians in Sleep Still a Mystery.” (April 24, 1988) LA Times.
3. Madrigal, Alexis. (September 14, 2011) “The Dark Side of the Placebo Effect: When Intense Belief Kills.” The Atlantic.
4. Olunu, Esther et al. (2018) “Sleep Paralysis, a Medical Condition with a Diverse Cultural Interpretation.” International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research 8 (3), 137.
5. Hutson, Thommy. (2016) Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy: The Making of Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. Permuted Press.
Chapter Four: Psycho
1. Leigh, Janet, with Christopher Nickens. (1995) Psycho: Behind the Scenes of the Classic Thriller. Harmony Press.
2. McNally, Kieran. (Jan 2007) “Schizophrenia as Split Personality/Jekyll and Hyde: The Origins of the Informal Usage in the English Language.” Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 43 (1) 69–79.
3. Stevenson, Robert Louis. (1886) The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. New York: Black’s Readers Service Company.
Chapter Five: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
1. History.Com Editors. (2009) “Real-Life Psycho Ed Gein Dies.” History.com.
2. Biography.Com Editors. (2014) “Ed Gein-Murderer-Biography.” Biography.com.
3. Shorey, Eric. (September 2018) “Is the Texas Chainsaw Massacre Based on a True Story?” Oxygen.com.