On its 40th anniversary, this remains one of the only documents to date of Jason Voorhees’ other parent…

Today’s entry is an example of putting the cart before the horse. Before he went on to do novel adaptations of the first three FRIDAY THE 13th films, Simon Hawke was drafted to pen one for the fifth sequel (and overwhelming fan favorite), FRIDAY THE 13th PART VI: JASON LIVES. 

In my humble opinion, Hawke got it right on the first try. The writing in this release seems more engaging and adept than anything found in the trilogy he and publisher Signet subsequently released in the late 1980s. To match director Tom McLoughlin’s snarky tone, there’s some nice humor to be found here, as well. Probably my favorite bit is when he refers to Crystal Lake’s new name of ‘Forest Green’, which was never mentioned again after this installment, as sounding like a “goddamn crayon”. 

Diehard fans also know that, other than a few pieces of storyboard art drawn up during the sequel’s production, Hawke’s film tie-in novel is the only place we’re ever given evidence of Jason Voorhees’ father. In the original ending of McLoughlin’s screenplay, a shadowy Mr. Voorhees visits his son’s grave, ensuring Martin the Caretaker is indeed looking after it properly. Quite frankly, I was jazzed to read this ending back upon the book’s original release in the summer of 1986, and am both surprised and disappointed that the scenario was never properly introduced in any of the films that followed. 

Amongst the rarest and best of the FRIDAY novels, Simon Hawke’s FRIDAY THE 13th PART VI: JASON LIVES belongs on every camp counselor’s bookshelf, right between the Boy Scouts Field Guide and James Dickey’s “Deliverance”. 

#boundhorror #fridaythe13thpartvijasonlives #simonhawke #tommcloughlin #signetbooks #crystallake #forestgreen #jasonvoorhees #mrvoorhees #boyscoutsfieldguide #jamesdickey #deliverance 

I’m totally bummed out to hear of the passing of HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE star, Caitlin O’Heaney. The film’s director, Armand Mastroianni, recently confirmed her passing on Facebook. O’Heaney reportedly died in Westchester County, New York on May 18th. She was 72 years old.

Born Kathleen Heaney in the Milwaukee suburb of Whitefish Bay, O’Heaney studied at Julliard before going on to have quite the varied resume, which ran the gamut from Woody Allen films to soap operas and Broadway theater. Horror fans will remember her best from her starring role in HE KNOWS YOU’RE ALONE (1980), which also served as the screen debut of a young Tom Hanks, and she additionally appeared in WOLFEN (1981) and the obscure genre offering, SAVAGE WEEKEND (1979).

O’Heaney was no stranger to the small screen, either, making a great impression as Sarah in the adventure series, TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY, before going on to star as Snow White in the wonderful-but-ill-fated ABC offering, THE CHARMINGS. For my money, I would say her best performance was as poet Briget O’Donnell in an episode of the CBS hit, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.

Later in life, O’Heaney became an advocate of animal rights and human welfare causes, and even created her own perfume. She led a very interesting life, both in and out of the public eye, and will certainly be missed by fans worldwide.

#grimgoodbyes #caitlinoheaney #kathleenheaney #heknowsyourealone #armandmastroianni #wolfen #savageweekend #talesofthegoldmonkey #thecharmings #beautyandthebeast #julliard #woodyallen #tomhanks #lindahamilton #ronperlman #newyork #milwaukee #whitefishbay #wisconsin

After five decades of being a horror fanatic, it takes a LOT to get me interested. For far too long now, Hollywood has been awash in superhero adaptations, sequels, and reboots in an effort to get post-COVID audiences back into cinemas.

Just when you thought IP couldn’t be stretched any further, something like BACKROOMS comes along like a breath of fresh air. This is one of the reasons I love the horror genre so much–sure, you have to wade through a lot of shit, but ultimately something innovative and disturbing pops up like a well-orchestrated jump scare.

BACKROOMS all started years ago on an imageboard website called 4chan. For fun, users of the site’s paranormal forums would circulate creepy images, one of which was of an empty, dimly-lit Hobby Town store under renovation in Wisconsin. The image went viral and, in 2022, a fledgling teen filmmaker by the name of Kane Parsons (or “Kane Pixels” professionally) uploaded the first short film that attempted to explain and explore the origins of this disquieting liminal space.

In anticipation of Parson’s forthcoming full-length film adaptation from A24, I went online the other night to watch the original short films he uploaded between 2022 and 2025. A casual viewer could easily dismiss these shorts as low-fi boredom, but look closer and you’ll find there is a whole world to get wrapped up in after only an hour of hammering through Parson’s YouTube playlist. I won’t ruin the surprises for the uninitiated, just know that there is something very sinister hiding in these shadowy corridors…corridors that may or may not go on forever.

Those dark BACKROOMS will open wide on May 29th, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

#horrorhappenings #backrooms #kaneparsons #kanepixels #4chan #creepypasta #youtube #a24 #webseries #hobbytown

Imagine, if you can, a time when Stephen King only had one novel. No nightmarish clowns. No murderous self-driving cars. No Captain Trips. Just a simple novel about a bullied teen girl and her telekinetic revenge.

“Carrie” was originally released by Doubleday in the spring of 1974. It became a breakout hit and set King on his path to fame and fortune. He initially celebrated by buying his wife, Tabitha, a hair dryer, which has to be one of the dearest little stories the horror author has ever shared.

The novel’s rights were eventually snapped up by United Artists, with the film adaptation directed by Brian De Palma, who had recently scrambled many a moviegoer’s brain with PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE (1974).

Today we have a neat little ad from an L.A.-area television showing back around 1987. Fifty years on, the Oscar-nominated film continues to influence the horror genre, and was even selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry.

#fearflashbacks #carrie #stephenking #briandepalma #unitedartists #phantomoftheparadise #doubleday #libraryofcongress #nationalfilmregistry

Alright, horror fans, I can’t be everywhere all the time! Sometimes, things fall through the cracks and I am the last person to know about it.

Case in point: VALENTINE BLUFFS, a 2023 fan film, which is based on the original MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981). It’s true! The plot of director Tom ‘Smitty’ Smith’s tribute concerns characters T.J. and Sarah (originally portrayed in the OG by Paul Kelman and Lori Hallier) as they return to the titular town, which has thankfully moved on from its blood-spattered past…that is, until the sleepy burg’s first Valentine’s Day dance in 40 years brings out a new murder dressed in Harry Warden’s old mining outfit.

You can check out the trailer over at YouTube and then click the link in its description to watch the whole damn movie–whooo! Happy Valentine’s Day, you demented fuckers.

#terrifyingtrailers #valentinebluffs #mybloodyvalentine #tomsmittysmith #harrywarden #fanfilm

Oh man, you’d never believe it now, but the USA Network was the shit back in the 1980s! It was the craziest amalgamation of programming imaginable: professional wrestling, game shows, music video stuff, and, most importantly, horror movies and anthology series reruns! The nutty thing is that sometimes the censors would fall asleep (probably coming down from an ’80s cocaine and Mountain Dew high) and would leave the gore intact. It was wild, folks, and we young horror hounds would love to plop ourselves down on the couch for another edition of USA’s “Saturday Nightmares”!

To commemorate this bygone era, we have here a TV Guide advert from around early 1987 when the network was showing each of the first three “Friday the 13th” movies over three consecutive weekends. All you had to do was grab a frozen pizza, crack open a Jolt Cola, and it was Saturday night heaven.

#fearflashbacks #fridaythe13th #usanetwork #saturdaynightmares #tvguide #cocaine #mountaindew #joltcola

A lot of fans cite A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987) as Freddy Krueger’s commercial and artistic peak, but later sequels still showed a lot of imagination, especially when it came to offing a continual stream of teenage victims. Case in point is today’s entry: the “motorcycle transformation” from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD!

Taken from Fangoria Poster Magazine #5 (1990)

#onesheetwonders #anightmareonelmstreet5thedreamchild #freddykrueger #motorcycle #fangoria

Whether you saw its twist coming or not, “Goodnight Mommy” is keen to brutalize both your nerves and your expectations.

Arthouse theaters are a blessing sometimes. Sure, I’ll take in a STAR WARS movie or get dragged along to some “event” blockbuster once in a blue moon, but for the most part I don’t want to deal with inflated prices or the noisy, smartphone-obsessed sheep so eager to pay them. Therefore, smaller venues are my weapons of choice.

I spent a good chunk of my formative years in L.A. grindhouses, but let’s gets classy today instead. Well, at least as classy as we can be when we’re reviewing a movie centering around  torturing people with Super Glue and cockroaches.

Twin boys, Lukas and Elias, have a problem: they’re fairly sure the bandaged woman who recently returned home from plastic surgery is not their mother. With only one way to find out, they begin a heinous attack on their “mom” in an effort to find out the truth. All of this is carefully orchestrated by the interesting Austrian aunt/nephew duo of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. I say ‘carefully orchestrated’ because the payoff of the film isn’t really about the identity of the mother. 

Some moviegoers say they figured out the film’s famous twist early on in the proceedings, and I imagine a number of them are familiar with the German tongue. (The flick’s native title is “Ich Seh, Ich Seh” meaning “I See, I See”). From a personal standpoint, I was kind of amused that GOODNIGHT MOMMY’s twist queued up somewhat with the ending to my own first novel, “Woof”, which was released just months later. A second viewing of the film will make you slap your forehead that you didn’t catch the huge clue Franz and Fiala throw at you in the first five minutes. However, I’ve watched this at least three times now and each time I’m allowed to better soak up its more subtle, scary details. Without the need to figure out the “puzzle” of its plot, it almost seems to become a more enjoyable experience, which is weird to admit considering the film is ultimately an exposé of regret and blame.  

Regardless of the twist, the film is meticulously constructed and quite effective. Though Franz and Fiala’s touted follow-up, THE LODGE, didn’t quite hit the bullseye for me, the talent of this pair is undeniable. I’m looking forward to taking in their latest release, THE DEVIL’S BATH, in the near future.

#letsallgotothelobbytogetourselvessomemeat #goodnightmommy #ichsehichseh #veronikafranz #severinfiala #thelodge #thedevilsbath #twistending #austria

Coming clean: 2025 has been a tough year, and so I’ll be reducing the output of unboundhorrorblog.com in 2026. This will entail periodic posts rather than regular ones as life has become very different for me. I wish you all the brightest of holidays, and I’ll be back again soon.