TheHaughtyCulturist

thehaughtyculturist explores how and why we tell stories on page and screen, and is written by Ruth Bushi | About

Sliced red apple on a black background.

A Haunting in Venice: how the horror whodunnit remixes Agatha Christie’s novel

How A Haunting in Venice rings the changes to Agatha Christie’s novel, Hallowe’en Party

Half of a cracked doll's face with a piercing blue eye.

Don’t Look Now (1973): seeing is believing | Film analysis

Sex, death and symbols of second sight in Nicolas Roeg’s horror classic, Don’t Look Now

A lookout tower in the middle of a forest.

Outpost: enjoyably absurd horror debut flips the script on women in peril | Review

A traumatised woman volunteers to live in a forestry lookout tower – only to find worse horrors lurking in the wilderness

Heavily vignetted forest scene.

The Watchers: woodland Gothic horror goes at a cracking pace | Review

A.M Shine’s debut novel The Watchers is horrific for all the right reasons

Double exposure of piano keys and desolate forest.

The Piano (1993): the underwater lullaby and the dream-like ending

Decoding the many meanings of the piano in Jane Campion’s film

A solitary phone booth in murky lighting.

Phone Booth (2002): tales of the city and monstrous morality

Exploring Phone Booth’s vanished urban history, plus morality tales of the secular age