The Ways of Women: Haunted, Monstrous, Killer

Dear Weirdlings,

It was only after I hit publish on last week’s newsletter that I realized it had gone out without an introduction, which is to say pressures at my job have been sucking out my brain matter like a parasite, which is to say...

Sorry, where was I?

Oh, yes. Welcome to this week in the weird, my lovelies. Amidst new movie and gaming news, we present stories featuring monstrous, killer, and haunting women.

Movies

The Mortal Kombat Movie Trailer is Here — and It's Brutal (GamesRadar)

Promising brutal violence and gore, the new Mortal Kombat movie aligns itself with the dark, bloody humor of the video game franchise.

The 10 Best Horror Kills by Women (SyFy)

From creative use of blades, blenders, and corncobs to all out, full tilt carnage.

TV

Hulu's Monsterland Is America (Wired)

The new anthology series Monsterland draws inspiration from fairy tales and lore to relate tales about various American cities. Emma Grey Ellis notes, “Sharp-toothed mermaids swim in the oceans, demon-eyed horn players roam the French Quarter of New Orleans, shadows plot families’ destruction, a greasy pelican erupts from an oil company CEO’s body like the chestburster in Alien—but the real dread, and the real evil, usually comes from the regular people who cross these monsters’ paths.”

Solar Opposites Season 2 Arrives on Hulu March 26th (Dread Central)

From the creators of Rick and Morty, the adult animated series about a group of aliens crash landed on Earth is getting a season two, with even more humor and hijinks.

Games

Diablo II Resurrected Should Be a Great Way for Blizzard to Redeem Itself (Superjump)

Announced at Blizzcon 2021, the Diablo II remake will have redesigned graphics and fast paced action gameplay.

Literature

On the Haunted Lives of Girls and Women (Lit Hub)

Rachel Eve Moulton discusses the ways in which woman experience both literal and figurative hauntings. She notes, “Even in their most intimate stories, I heard an echo of the unspoken, the haunted house in which their stories still lived. I listened for what voices needed to be heard. The haunting resided not just in themselves, in their memories, but also in the history of a particular place—a house, an island, a mountain range where the past is so rich with hurt that it can’t help but tangle itself with the present.”

Short of the Week

Written and directed by Chelsea Lupkin, “Lucy's Tale” is an eerie coming of age story about a girl who slowly start to realize she’s not like the other teenagers in her class. This beautiful filmed and acted short is one of those that leaves me longing for a longer, feature adaptation of the story.