Meet the Horror Bloggers: Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense

Many fans of horror, amateur and professional alike, have devoted themselves to blogging about the thrills, chills, and no-frills side of the genre as seen in cinema and print. In this ongoing series that highlights the writers behind the blogs, we meet the unique personalities and talents that make the online horror scene so engaging. Up close and personal. In this installment, Emily from the Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense explains how Fangoria and Chucky made her childhood.

Like many a child born in the Reagan era, Fangoria and Chucky were as integral to childhood as Crayola and Grover. My love for horror was a pleasant blend of nature and nurture, birthed in the womb courtesy of a lovely pair of parents who still make me jealous with tales of catching Night of the Living Dead at the back-end of a drive-in double feature. Sure, I have the honor of discovering how to kill an extraterrestrial klown at the age of 6, but even someone with taste as bad as mine knows that when it comes to movies, the late '80s were more fun than revolutionary. Oh. And maybe that applies to other aspects of society, but let's maintain our priorities, eh?

With unlimited rentals at a local video store and a video camera camera dying to document stuffed animal snuff films, my older siblings and I balanced Mets games and soccer practice with homemade slashers and Stuart Gordon marathons. Aside from a terrifying incident with a one-eyed baby doll and a few Good Guy starring nightmares, I like to think I grew up well-adjusted...enough.

After graduating college with a degree in Playwriting and English Literature, I took the typical career route: dog walking. When that proved to be less than inspirational to me churning out the next great American novel (although quite conducive to killer calf muscles), I turned to world travel, spending one year teaching English in South Korea and another doing the same in Moscow. Grammar skills up, photo albums full, and knowledge of how to say 'no onions' in various languages now present but still, no great personal work. The closest I came was a half filled travel journal primarily devoted to odd fusion food. Sweet potatoes on pizza? It’s positively Lynchian! So educational and adventurous? Absolutely. Writerly and poetic? Not so much.

Alone in a former Soviet apartment complex, (zombie protection=high), I soon turned to a world of film podcasts. Hearing so much intelligent discussion about everything from Leprechaun to Who Can Kill a Child helped remind me just how much I cared about genre cinema and before long, I was spending more time emailing feedback than I had writing anything creative since college.

I returned to New York about two years ago and realized pretty quickly that chatting up the latest Mill Creek pack was far less rewarding for most friends and family members. “Why don’t you just start a blog?” a pal asked politely as I compared Saw III to Bloodsucking Freaks over margaritas during girls’ night out. Sage advice. And probably a far more appropriate venue to discuss brain surgery via power drill than a Mexican bar and grill.

In a way, The Deadly Doll’s House (of Horror Nonsense) began as a personal attempt to jump-start my passion for writing. What better way to stir the creative juices than to type away about something that I have an unabashed love for? I quickly discovered that churning out witty reviews of straight-to-DVD horror films was far more rewarding than I could have predicted (and often, a wayyyyy better time than watching the movies themselves). Between the super friends network of likeminded writers and the weirdly fulfilling joy I get from receiving new comments on my posts, I’ve found a new hobby that I’m honestly quite proud of.

My blog is updated about four to five times a week, primarily with in-depth reviews of horror and the occasional sci-fi (or SyFy, as the kids are calling it), action, or post-apocalyptic picture. I shoot out a mini plot summary, list the highs and lows, extract lessons imparted by the story (thanks to Fear No Evil, we now know not to assign push-ups to the antichrist) and end with a recommendation to rent, bury, or buy the DVD. Every Friday, I write a column over at popsyndicate.com (home to many the podcasts that helped me enter the community in the first place) where I detail anything from house hunting in a horror film to great depictions of houseflies onscreen. Since starting my blog, I’ve also branched out to write for Paracinema Magazine (see Issue 8 for my wordy analysis of Battle Royale 2) and more recently, the independent film webzine Rogue Cinema.

I have a fulfilling day job, a never-ending Netflix queue, and an admitted addiction to writing about killer dolls, evil children, topless clowns, shambling meat eaters, homicidal mannequins, singing goblins, hungry beds, Clint Howard, and just about anything else that enters the no man's land that is my DVD player. To any Internet entity willing to support that, I say let’s be friends to the end. Hideeho!

Comments

[EmilyI]

Mikey, I heart you and not just cause you used the word huzzah!

THE Michael Oher? All my love to you for the kind words. You can sleep on my couch any time!

[Michael Oher]

Emily is so smart and funny and her writing cracks me up while at the same time entertaining and informing me, plus hr halloween costumes are not only creative, they are obscure enough that a good .5 percent of the population can usually identify them. Kudos to this one!

[Metal Mikey]

This origin story pretty much kicks the living tar out of Superman's and Batman's combined! Emily's good people, her blog rocks, and I enjoyed the background on it! Huzzah!

[EmilyI]

Thanks Sarah & Matt! It means a lot coming from bloggers such as yourselves.

[Matt-suzaka]

Emily is one of the best of the best in the blogosphere and the best of the best of the people that I know best! She is a true class act, with truly classy taste!

[scare sarah]

Loved Emily's blog for a while now.

Great insite in to a great lady.

[EmilyI]

Thanks again for the opportunity John, and Cortez, the kind words are much appreciated!

[Cortez the Killer]

Emily rocks my socks. A talented writer and the proprietor one of my favorite blogs on the interwebs.

Thanks for profiling her John.