M.J. Pack

“I am just going to puke out every single thing coming as crazy as it all sounds. Hopefully you will know if any of it is even possible. It is just absolutely insane…there is so much, I don’t even know where to begin.”

“So, this just reminds me of a game. The reason I feel like I’m seeing that is because it IS a game. What is happening right now is players playing a game.”

Here’s your badge of honor, “It Follows.” You won over a horror-hater.

Who among us haven’t wanted to throw a lightsaber-fit at some unsuspecting console when things don’t go our way? Plus, tantrums mean you get to pet that hair of his and tell him everything’s going to be okay.

It’s no secret that my favorite television show is “American Horror Story.” While the quality and theme of every season differs, there are always at least a few moments that make my jaw drop. (SPOILERS!)

“It’s not a lie! I couldn’t leave Jingles outside!” My daughter’s wide brown eyes are filling with tears now. Great, meltdown mode. “He was tapping and he was cold and he said he’d give me a present and now he’s GONE!”

Tap-tap-tap-tap. On one window, the one on the porch. Then I heard it in the kitchen, too. And towards the back of the house, in the mudroom.Tapping on all the windows. There were more this time.

I will work hard and try to ignore the sounds of the screams.

In June of 2015, a threatening post was shared on the joint Facebook account of Dee Dee and Gypsy Blancharde. It read “That bitch is dead!”

Imagine my surprise when I find out that the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders ACTUALLY HAPPENED. This inspired me to dive down the proverbial rabbit hole and find a few more grotesque serial killers hiding in the shadows of history. Let’s begin with…

Here they are, just for you: the spookiest, most blood-curdling short stories I’ve ever read. Turn down the lights, grab one of these tales, and prepare to be scared.

It’s his stupid games but now they’re worse because he’s angry and now he has more power.

Forget an apple a day, a horror movie a day is what’s REALLY good for you.

That’s how we ended up with our Westie boarded at a kennel, two overnight bags, and a keycard to room 240 at the Hotel Alexandria.

It was supposed to take people to the train tracks by the river. That’s one of the only things I know for sure.

Inspired by a nightmare director David Robert Mitchell had — wherein he was being chased by a slow but unstoppable force — “It Follows” captures the terror of inescapable doom. Obviously, whatever IT is, the monster is spooky in more ways than one. But is that all? Is the monster — the IT — the scariest part of the movie?

I fondly remember spending my summers on the deck by our pool, reading about Derry and Christine and the Overlook Hotel. A lot of the material went over my head — rereading The Shining at age 27 VS age 9 was quite an experience — but the King of Horror had firmly planted the seed for me to wildly enjoy both reading and scary stuff.

June, 1977. Tent number 6. That’s where I was. Until I heard the noise outside.