What Sleeps Beneath is an online magazine that explores the horror genre as one of the most important cultural vehicles of our time. It is a home for all horror-loving nerds, and a space to investigate what the genre tells us about ourselves. We write book and movie reviews, conduct interviews, and write original academic research.
Browse the full archive, or search for a specific article. Not sure where to start? Use the drop-down to browse by topic, format, or subgenre.
Archive
- B-Movies & Cult Classics
- Body Horror
- Books & Literature
- Classic Horror Films
- Cosmic Horror
- Cults & Religious Horror
- Essays
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- Found Footage & Mockumentary
- Gendered & Queer Horror
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- Survival & Environmental Horror
- TV
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- Werewolves & Transformations
- Women in Horror
- Zombies
CONSTRAINT AND LICENSE IN ‘CAT PEOPLE’: 1942 and 1982
Never graphically violent, [Cat People] is nonetheless shocking, especially in the stalking and pool scenes. Never graphic sexually—not the barest inch of customarily hidden skin is exposed—it’s nonetheless erotic. The heart of the film is the fear of female sexuality, the sense that, if women were to give in to their carefully repressed urges, they would throw society itself into chaos.
The Critics are Wrong: Long Live ‘The Bride!’ [Movie Review]
This wasn’t going to be a rehashed tale of Frankenstein and Pretorius joining forces, inexplicably transplanted into 20th century America. This was beginning to look like Sid & Nancy. This was Bonnie and Clyde. Or more accurately—this is Nancy. This is Bonnie. This is The Bride!
Where It Sleeps: Vinegar Syndrome
Stop in to Pittsburgh’s Vinegar Syndrome - the best place to grab your horror, thriller, smut, and hard to find films on DVD and VHS.
‘Jaws’ 50th Anniversary: There’s Still Blood in the Water
“You’re going to need a bigger boat,” Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) trembles, having seen the great white shark Quint (Robert Shaw) and Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) have been collectively searching for—hunting for—for the first time since the people of Amity Island started being consumed by the eating machine.
Private Traps: Transphobia, Psychosis, and Grief in ‘Psycho’
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho continues to be tumultuous ground for trans authors and viewers. In Private Traps, Dave Riser posits questions around the transphobic and ableist histories that force us to contend with this beloved classic film.
The Tragedy of Jason Voorhees: How 3 Sequels to a Low Budget Slasher Film Created an All-Time Great Film Trilogy
Cinematic trilogies are common, but few tell the epic anti-hero story as well as the Friday The 13th films. These beloved movies capture one of the most iconic horror characters of all time: Jason Voorhees.
Top Ten British Horror Films of All Time
Great Britain has, of course, a strong pedigree when it comes to classic horror films, so it's nearly impossible to narrow down to the ten best, but we gave it a shot.
“The Night He Came Home!”: Michael Myers as a Revenant of (and Against) Capitalism
In John Carpenter's Halloween, there is a thematic throughline of Michael Myers as the Boogeyman, and also as revenant.
The Shining’s Final Girl: Wendy Torrance & Vulnerability
The real horror behind The Shining is the emotional labor of Wendy Torrance. Wendy Torrance is the ultimate Final Girl and the heroine we didn’t know we needed.
Female Antagonists in Horror: Annie Wilkes
Marking Women in Horror Month, we dive into the maternal and monstrous of Annie Wilkes in Misery.
‘Scanners’, 40 Years Later
In this 40th anniversary review, Ande revisits one of the most iconic scenes in body horror in Scanners, the film that brought David Cronenberg international attention.
Movie Review: Psycho (1960)
Just over 60 years after its original release, Psycho truly held up, focusing on the film’s cinematography, use of orchestra, and Hitchcock’s desire for secrecy.
Christmas Ghost Stories: Looking at Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
We look at how Charles Dickens’ classic tale, A Christmas Carol, has been repeatedly adapted, but continues to teach us the same lesson.
Looking Back: 25 Years After ‘The Prophecy’
Twenty-five years after release, The Prophecy both remains a cult fixture in the film landscape and a compelling take on religious horror.
Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Nobuo Nakagawa’s ‘Jigoku’ (1960)
What it may lack, for some viewers, in pacing, it more than makes up for in creativity.
Creepshow (2019) [TV Review]
It’s abundantly clear from the outset that a lot of love and dedication went into the reboot, and so much of the craft that went into making the show came directly from the people who worked on Romero’s movie, or grew up inspired by it.