Welcome once again to Must Read Horror. With Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Bonfire Night well and truly behind us, there’s only Christmas to look forward to this year. That, and four more editions of Must Read Horror. This week:

• Hellraiser – Making Beauty Out of Body Horror
• Noteworthy Performances in Horror: Piper Laurie in Carrie
• The Real Mr. Difficult, or Why Cthulhu Threatens to Destroy the Canon, Self-Interested Literary Essayists, and the Universe Itself. Finally.
• In Defense of Sam Raimi’s ‘Drag Me to Hell’
• Where in the Horror Are They Now? Crispin Glover!

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Hellraiser – Making Beauty Out of Body Horror

On the surface, Hellraiser is a film filled with more grotesque creatures than a Bieber/Cyrus duel-headline tourbus. But Clive Barker’s seminal masterpiece is so much more than that, as Wicked Horror explains.

Noteworthy Performances in Horror: Piper Laurie in Carrie

Piper Laurie’s magnificent performance as Margaret White is celebrated in the second article from Wicked Horror this week.

The Real Mr. Difficult, or Why Cthulhu Threatens to Destroy the Canon, Self-Interested Literary Essayists, and the Universe Itself. Finally.

In this article from LA Review of Books, Nick Mamatas looks at whether Lovecraft was ill-suited to the pulps in which his work often appeared, and asks why the great (and controversial) HP is often considered a difficult author to read.

In Defense of Sam Raimi’s ‘Drag Me to Hell’

Apparently there are people out there that don’t like Sam Raimi’s horror comedy, Drag Me to Hell, whereas I like nothing more than watching an elderly gypsy gum at Alison Lohman’s chin like a thirsty baby. For those still not convinced, check out this article from Bloody Disgusting.

Where in the Horror Are They Now? Crispin Glover!

Crispin Glover might be best known as dorky bag of nerves George McFly in Back to the Future, or the grotesque hair-sniffer from Charlie’s Angels, but he has also starred in a fair few horror movies. Arrow in the Head look back at some of his most memorable horror performances, and asks the very important question: where the hell is he now?

ADAM MILLARD