My Favorite Horror Movie
Published by Black Vortex Cinema, 2018. 223 pages.
Edited by Christian Ackerman

I had picked a copy of this up some a little while ago, but like a lot of the books I have, sometimes they get filed away and I forget about them. But after a little discussion with a friend about it, and that I’m working on a similar project myself, I decided to dive into it. For those looking for a quick and fun read, look no further.

This is a collection of 48 essays by people in the horror business, either actors, makeup artists, producers, writers, bloggers, or countless other positions, that were given the task to write an essay about their favorite horror film. Some of these people you might have heard of, some not, while some you might have heard of some of the projects they have worked on. The best part of this volume is it is all about passion, no matter who they are. With every single film being discussed, you can feel the author’s passion and love just seeping through the pages. There are plenty of childhood memories of being scared (in a good way) for life, with many of them having their destiny being changed at that very moment.

There are a lot of the usual suspects when it comes to the titles, such as Halloween, The Thing, Creepshow, some even being written about a couple of different times. But it still comes down to telling the reader why this film has effected them as much as it did. That is something that every single horror fan out there can relate to, and have their own stories as well. I think that is what I liked the most about the book is not that it is filled with passion, but also very personal.

I have to give a little shout out to Frank Merle and his essay because it was the only film covered in this book that I had never even heard of, a low budget film called The Sighting (2016). I’m still a little uncertain how a film that he saw a film convention back in 2008 could be his immediate favorite horror film of all time. However, because of his gushing on about it, it made me seek it out. Now, I wouldn’t consider it in my top ten, but it was pretty entertaining and well made, and definitely worth seeking out. That is what I liked about his essay, is that, once again, it was coming from the heart and with love. So kudos to him, and this book.

There are already two sequels to this volume, My Favorite Horror Movie 2: The New Blood and My Favorite Horror Movie 3: Scream Warriors, which I believe I will be adding to my library at some point in the near future.