Screenwriter John August has an interesting little post on cell phones in the movies. It includes a great little montage of movie clips showing phones not working, getting smashed, etc. Why on earth do I care? Brian Keene has this very problem in Urban Gothic. In an era where it seems everyone has a …

Brian Keene’s recently released Urban Gothic brought to mind the myth of the Minotaur. A group of teens is thrown into a labyrinthine house whose twists and turns extend far below the ground in a neglected neighborhood. Their first encounter is with a hulking, deformed creature whose strength seems …

What is the “night journey” in the context of Stephen King? First, Winter shows how all of King’s works deal with some sort of journey. The idea of story as a journey is not new. Joseph Campbell is well known for his “Hero’s Journey”, and I’ve often encountered the aphorism that “the main character …