Twisted Imaginings

Directed by Werner Herzog, and starring Klaus Kinski and Bruno Ganz, this German horror film from 1979 is also known as Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht ("Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night") and is based on Bram Stokers book Dracula. It is available in the original German language and English. Set mainly in Wismar and Transylvania, the film is considered a remake of the 1922 film Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, which stars Max Schreck as Count Orlock. Jonathan Harker ( Ganz ) is sent to Transylvania by his boss, Renfield ( who is maniacally played by Roland Topor ) to complete the sale of property with Count Dracula. Leaving his wife Lucy, he arrives in Transylvania, only to be received by locals who are highly suspicious of The Count and plead with him to not visit the castle. On arrival at the castle, Jonathan is met by a grim, sinister looking Dracula. The deal is completed after Dracula becomes entranced by a picture of Lucy. Jonathan is plagued by nightmarish dreams in ...

Read  Zombies - An Overview  the first part in the series. The English word "zombie" is first recorded in 1819, in a history of Brazil by the poet Robert Southey, as "zombi", really alluding to the Afro-Brazilian renegade pioneer named Zumbi and the historical underpinnings of his name in "nzambi". The Oxford English Dictionarygives the cause of the word as West African and analyzes it to the Kongo words "nzambi" (god) and "zumbi" (fixation).  In Haitian legends, a zombie (Haitian French: zombi, Haitian Creole: zonbi) is an animated corpse raised by mystical means, such as witchcraft.  The idea has been famously connected with the religion of voodoo, however it has no impact in that confidence's formal practices.  How the animals in contemporary zombie films came to be classified "zombies" isn't completely clear. The film Night of the Living Dead made no talked reference to its undead opponents as "zombies", ...

Click here to see lots of zombie pictures on the Twisted Imaginings Facebook Page! Zombies. One of the best known, recurring characters in horror film. From George Romero's shuffling corpses in his 'Dead' franchise to the infected, nightmarish crazies of "28 Days Later", everyone has a favourite type of zombie too. This is the first in a series of articles which delves into the origins of the once dead and traces how a zombie turned ( pun intended ) into a staple of the horror genre. A zombie (Haitian French: zombi, Haitian Creole: zonbi) is a fictional undead being made through the restoration of a human corpse. Zombies are most normally discovered in horror and fantasy genre works.  The term comes from Haitian old stories, where a zombie is a dead body vivified through different strategies, generally commonly magic. Present day portrayals of the revival of the dead don't really include enchantment yet frequently invoke science fictional methods such as carri...

Horror has played a significant role in my life. At the age of five I enjoyed the first of many visits to The London Dungeon and while other boys my age played with their Action Men I had a Frankenstein and Wolfman figure to enjoy. In many ways I was that strange kid! So why do I spend so much time engrossed in the creepy, gory and macabre? For various reasons fear played a huge part in my life as a kid and a shy awkward teen. So much so that, on watching my first horror film ( Lon Chaney's 'Wolfman' ) it seemed perfectly normal to be scared. In fact I didn't find it scary at all. I was hypnotised by the events unfolding on the screen and trying to figure out how they transformed Lon into a lycanthrope. I also immersed myself in the mythology as I was introduced to Dracula via Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff as Frankenstein. But what really began my rather warped obsession with all things depraved was returning home late one night, aged about nine, and watching the Goat O...

Visit The Meet The Author Page I'm a horror fan and have been since I was a child. In fact, I'm a  total creep, with a penchant for all things morbid, gruesome and bloodthirsty. My creepy life began at The London Dungeon as a child and soon after I had a collection of horror dolls, such as Frankenstein and The Wolfman.  My first film memories were of Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Vincent Price and Hammer films, as things that go bump in the night became my idea of a fun couple of hours. By my teens, the 'video nasties' were in the news and I'd developed from an odd hobby into an obsession with the dark and disturbing. It's not all about film as, through the terrifying tales of Stephen King, Clive Barker, James Herbert, and other notable authors, I found myself drawn into nightmarish journeys that fascinated me. Of course, no horror fan worth their Zombie Apocalypse would be without an interest in Gothic architecture and I love that sort of thing, along with a lo...

I was at work, sifting through emails, when I heard the crash. It was a window at the opposite end of the corridor from my office, so by the time myself and other confused staff got there whatever had strewn glass and left a viscous looking trail of slime was gone. Those nearest began to panic, so I turned and made for the stairs. I'm noted for my calm under pressure but sprinting down four flights of stairs to the sound of what can only be described as utter chaos from my floor and the outside world marked a point where my nerves were severely tested. The scene outside pushed me a little closer to the edge. There were people and vehicles everywhere, as though a hurricane had visited! Those that could stand were mostly staring in the direction of the city centre, wide eyed and open mouthed. It appears the a series of what were thought to be small rocks, possibly meteorites,  had landed. We were soon to discover they were some sort of pod from which some sort of creatures had emerge...

Mesmerizing dots of light, unleashing a prism of light from the dank, grotty streetlights, along the slabs of warped and broken paving. A cloud filled sky brewing with ire for the ground below, its viscous drizzle cloying and heavy, as it hangs in the air, as if some cloak of marrow freezing poison. Against symmetrical shapes of identical buildings erupt the skeletal trees, their empty branches jagged and violent against the blur of brick. But!.....Underfoot, what draws closer with each grimly determined step? Pulsing, throbbing until quiet, with the lacerating, semi regular spray of water? For it calls, the humdrum and dazzling neon of busier paths, a bristling mixture of muted and violent, struggling to make themselves known. As the furnace of that noisy vein, it's life slicing across murkier depths, rushing in opposite courses. It's lurid neon streaks, against a blackened sky, bursting in eruptions of liquid. Too much, until gone from whence, the dark envelopes once more. Th...

Click here to read Jack The Ripper - Part One There are five murders, also known as the "canonical five", which are attributed to Jack The Ripper. That said the large number of attacks against women in London's East End during this time period means there's a lot of uncertainty as to the exact amount. From April 1888 to February 1891 London's Metropolitan Police recorded eleven murders, also known as "The Whitechapel Murders", which were at one time thought to be Jack's work. There is much speculation and debate about that. Most experts point to deep throat slashes, abdominal and genital-area mutilation, removal of internal organs, and progressive facial mutilations as the distinctive features of the Ripper's modus operandi. The first two cases in the Whitechapel murders file, those of Emma Elizabeth Smith and Martha Tabram, are not included in the canonical five. The canonical five Ripper victims are Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth St...

Just imagine. It's late 19th century London, an unpleasant enough time to be in anyway, but somewhere in the shadows a murderous stranger lurks.  He could be any one of thousands of random strangers you see, the time and location completely random.  So, who is Jack The Ripper? Jack The Ripper is the most commonly known name given to London's infamous serial killer of the late nineteenth century. To this day his true identity is unknown and the subject of intense speculation. He is also thought to have been one of the first known serial killers. In 1888 Jack is believed to be responsible for the slaughter of at least five prostitutes in Whitechapel, an area in the east end of London, although at one point as many as eleven were thought to be connected.  All of the victims had their throats cut and abdomens mutilated, with three having internal organs removed. This gave rise to the popular theory that the killer had some surgical or anatomical knowledge. What is most fright...