Hey, horror friends! I have not written a proper favorites list in a long time, and I am happy to be back with all of you, talking about horror and horror-adjacent things that happened this year. I tried my best to see Nosferatu (2024) before making this list, but, alas, I was not able to. My ticket is booked for the day that it comes out. One of my favorite horror films of all time is the original Nosferatu (1922).
My favorites from this year range from Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs to a Ghostface Chia Pet that I bought from Third Eye Comics while I was in Richmond, VA. So, please buckle up and take a brief journey with me as I recall the things I loved from 2024.
I have a strange relationship with Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs (2024). I came across a short teaser on YouTube, but did not know anything about the movie beforehand. Once the marketing for the movie ramped up, I started seeing videos on YouTube pop up about mysterious billboards with a number that you could call and hear a cryptic message from “the man downstairs.” After getting sucked down the rabbit hole of Longlegs lore, my anticipation was high, and since it is number one on my favorites list, it did not disappoint me. I even purchased the movie on 4K UHD.
There is a local comic book shop that I go to often where I live that also sells vinyls, Funko pops, figures, zines, band merch, enamel pins, 4Ks/Blu Rays/DVDs, etc. One rainy afternoon in October, I was perusing the aisles and spotted a Ghostface Chia Pet kit. Since I had not seen a Chia Pet since I was probably 8 or 9 years old, I decided to buy it and see if I could take care of it. Spoiler alert: the person who somehow accidentally killed a cactus (that person is me) has managed to keep this plant alive for three months! It currently lives on the windowsill in my office and has on a tiny Santa hat. The instructions are straightforward, and it does not take much to get the seeds to sprout – make sure to put water inside of the terra cotta almost every day. If I can do it, anyone can.
Liquid Death water came into my life because of the metal festivals and/or concerts that I attended this year. I am grateful that I was able to see Sleep Token, Bad Omens, Jinjer, Poppy, Parkway Drive, Black Veil Brides (not considered metal, I know), and Empire State Bastard. There’s really cool artwork on the back of every case of Liquid Death. The artwork reminds me of the weird animations you would see while watching Adult Swim late at night. I have collected 5 so far, and am looking into the artists so that I can support their work.
Some of my long-time friends also watch anime and suggested that I check out Tokyo Ghoul, Jujutsu Kaisen, Psycho Pass, and Cat Soup. I still need to watch the latter, but I fell so very hard for Tokyo Ghoul and Jujutsu Kaisen. So much so that I have a Ken Kaneki tattoo that me and my awesome tattooer came up with. It is on my ribs, and it hurt like hell at the time, but Tokyo Ghoul means a lot to me, and I am glad that my best friends suggested that I watch it.
Colin and Cameron Cairnes’ Late Night with the Devil was released in 2023, but I saw it in cinemas this year. The way that my humor is set up, I thought it would be funny to watch it on Easter weekend. I saw a lot of my horror friends online talking about the movie and its unique premise. I normally don’t get excited over supernatural horror movies because they aren’t scary to me, but Late Night with the Devil got under my skin. Once the plot started to fully come together around the third act, I was locked in. I also appreciated how wonky the special effects looked as if some late-night talk show from the ‘70s did them. I thought that was a nice touch.
Last, but not least, my favorite horror of 2024 is Heretic (2024) directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods. The writing was superb, but Heretic is a film that needs the performances of the actors to be on the level to work, and the actors were incredible here. Hugh Grant’s performance as Reed was super creepy, and the two actresses (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who portrayed Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton held their own as well. I don’t think that I have seen Sophie or Chloe in anything before, but I can already tell that their acting futures are bright. The film critiques many religions and religious dogma, and if that is something that doesn’t sound appealing to you, then I would suggest to any of our readers to steer clear of this one.