ABSOLUTE EVIL (1918) – This longish short story was written by Julian Hawthorne, son of Nathaniel. The tale features Julian’s tragically overlooked supernatural adventuress Martha Klemm.
For those not familiar with her, she’s the wealthy descendant of Salem witches and, though in her twenties, proudly calls herself “a spinster” because she has no desire to marry any of her throng of suitors. Martha is independent, iconoclastic, athletic and a sure shot with her pistol. Ms. Klemm is like a proto-flapper, though not “proto” by much obviously, given the year. She appeared in two other stories by Julian Hawthorne.
Absolute Evil deals with a werewolf at large on a sandy island near Hatteras. Martha Klemm is among the well-to-do guests on a large yacht owned by the Pleasances, rich Quakers from Philadelphia. The couple and their guests head for Thirteen-Mile Beach, the aforementioned island where they plan to stay a few days and nights.
This collection of the idyl rich spends their time in the expected ways with the bonus activity of seeing if the island really is haunted by a long-ago murderer like the legends say. Continue reading
THE VIDEO DEAD (1987) – This gory low-budget zombie movie plays like an unused segment of Creepshow expanded to feature length. Long before The Ring, this production presented creepy zombies from an old black & white horror flick climbing out of a tv set and slaughtering anyone and everyone.
COLMA, CALIFORNIA – It’s called the City of the Dead, the City that Always Sleeps, etc. There are roughly one point five million people buried in the many cemeteries which make up Colma. 
Colma is near San Francisco. Fresh graves in San Francisco cemeteries in the 1800s expanded those graveyards so much that around the turn of the century the city banned any additional cemetery space. The overflow began filling what is now Colma. 
As Halloween Month rolls along, I will take a movie-by-movie look at the opening season of Elvira’s show Movie Macabre (1981-1986). Her massive success kicked off an even greater proliferation of Movie Hosts and Hostesses in the 1980s. I covered 
GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE (1972) – Psychotronic icons Michael Pataki and William Smith starred in this twisted flick about a vampire (Pataki) who rapes a woman (Lyn Peters) who subsequently gives birth to an abnormal infant. The baby will drink only blood and grows up to be James Eastman (Smith). James goes on a quest to kill his father for the pain he brought into his mother’s life. Ultimately he does, but becomes a full vampire himself. (Just go with it.) Aired Sep 26th, 1981.
THE ROOM IN THE TOWER (1912) – This story was written by E.F. Benson. The British narrator has a recurring nightmare in which he visits his friend John Clinton at his family manor. The other family members, including his mother Mrs. Stone, are cold and grim toward him. 
STRANGE HARVEST (2025) – Halloween Month continues with this review of a movie which got previewed in 2024 before its official release in August 2025. Because Balladeer’s Blog covers everything from mild Silent-Era horror films to extreme horror from recent decades I will post my courtesy warning for Strange Harvest:
However, his murders seemed unrelated until detective work recently found the obscure link connecting them. I will go into details about the grotesque murders below. Oddly, despite the grisly nature of the slayings, Strange Harvest otherwise starts out with a slow burn approach reminiscent of Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist and other films. 
Anne Coleman was a feared witch in Lanesboro, MA in the 1780s. She was suspected of causing storms that sank ships, bringing on diseases that killed cattle, making food go bad and other malevolent deeds. 
PETER RUGG, THE MISSING MAN (1824) – This short story was written by author William Austin. A ghostly post-chaise horsedrawn carriage is often sighted and/or encountered up and down the East Coast. The carriage is pursued by a supernatural storm and is driven by a man named Peter Rugg with his daughter Jenny as his passenger. 
