Fall 2025 In Fandom

[darkrosaleen]

It's the spookiest time of the year, and I have a fandom update.

Media Consumed

I Was a Teenage Slasher - Stephen Graham Jones

Funny meta horror about a bullied eighties teenager stuck as the slasher in a horror movie. I read this in less than ideal circumstances, 5-10 pages at a time over three months, and that made the book drag more than I think it deserves. Tolly's narration was really absorbing, and I loved the eventual reveal of the fated dance between slasher and final girl, even if it felt like it took way too long to manifest. I'm curious to read more of this author, once I have more reading time in my schedule.

Saw, Saw II

Most of the franchise was free on Tubi in September, and I got through the first two before they left the platform. These are really fun, twisty mysteries with complex characters and satisfying amounts of gruesome gore. I didn't expect the escape room logic puzzle elements, and those were easily the best part of the movies. I'll keep an eye out for the rest on streaming.

Him

This got absolutely trashed in reviews and I don't really understand it. It was a stylish, sexy, creepy dive into the trauma football inflicts on the body and the lengths people will go to achieve sports excellence. The ending goes a bit off the rails, but I enjoyed the performances and visuals and had a good time.

Frankenstein (2025)

I was lucky enough to see this in theaters Halloween weekend, and it was gorgeous and powerful on the big screen, but I haven't rewatched it on Netflix since. I think this movie has amazing performances and design, and it's very good at conveying its thesis, but that thesis is pretty simplistic: humans are the real monsters, and monsters are innocent (which differs pretty strongly from the original novel). If you like grotesquely beautiful Del Torro movies with tragic fuckable monsters and the alienated women who love them, you'll enjoy this one. I think I liked Eggers' Nosferatu better, the themes and subtext left more for me to chew on.

Fics Posted/Gifts Received

The only exchange I did was Trick or Treat, where I wrote and received two fics each.

My gifts, both for An American Werewolf in London:

Hungry Like The... by Missy - David Kessler/Alex Price. Alex wakes up beside a living, breathing David. They talk about the future, and Alex feels the drumbeat hunger of the wolf in her veins.

fate up against your will by hearthouses - Jack Goodman/David Kessler. David and Jack both make it off the moors.

My works, one pinch hit and one treat:

reach out and touch faith - The Locked Tomb Series, Gideon Nav/Harrowhark Nonagesimus. The corpse of Gideon Nav wanders the Mithraeum and yearns.

Mama's Boy - Scream, Billy Loomis/Stu Macher. It's a normal night for Stu Macher, watching Psycho and talking about murder and wanting to fuck his best friend.

In Progress/Upcoming

I'm neck deep in Stranger Things right now, and will probably write some fic or post some thoughts soon. I also had a fun doing an all horror Trick or Treat and thought it might be fun to do the same thing for Candy Hearts.

Comments

[snickfic]

The reception to Him was absolute fucking nonsense. It had issues, particularly with pacing IMO (no movie needs that many needle drop montages, especially not in a row like that), but it had style and vision, and that is more than I can say for many many movies I saw this year with much better reviews.

I agree about Frankenstein; I go to Del Toro for the visuals, but I've long since given up on getting any kind of emotional meat from his stuff. And I agree with the Eggers comparison, because I kept thinking that we would not have gotten the Frankenstein we got without Eggers, but also yeah, I've already seen Nosferatu twice and have been thinking it's time for a rewatch, and I don't know that I'll ever need to see Frankenstein again.

[darkrosaleen]

Him wasn't the best movie I saw this year, but it was a fun time! I don't get it! I enjoy a lot of universally trashed movies and I can usually understand why people hate them, but this one just baffles me.

I had a similar response to Poor Things as I did to GDT Frankenstein: I really enjoyed the experience of watching it in a theater, but didn't feel the need to rewatch it or talk about it because I understood the basic themes completely from one watch (the recent Frankenstein adaptation I've rewatched the most is Lisa Frankenstein, which isn't trying to have complex themes and symbolism). It did make me want to reread the book, which I remember being a bit more morally grey.

[snickfic]

Same re: Poor Things. It just felt very obvious, and then it continued to be very obvious for the entire 2+ hours. But like Frankenstein, it really ran on the strength of its visuals.