Weird fiction is a horror subgenre that was first recognised in the early 20th century, but whose roots (or tentacles?) stretch back to the late 19th. Compared to the gothic horror genre that preceded it (think Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw) which often relied on unearthly creatures, ghosts and other supernatural antagonists to inspire dread, weird fiction stories are known for creating an atmosphere of uncanny, unexplainable horror which trades on our fear of the unknown.
H.P. Lovecraft, perhaps the most well-known weird fiction author, cited Edgar Allan Poe as the genre’s founding father. Poe’s macabre stories like The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, and poems like The Raven are often told from the perspective of characters descending into madness. Other infamous weird fiction authors include M.R. James and Thomas Ligotti – more on them below – who have the incredible gift of evoking dread through atmosphere and suggestion.
Because Weird Fiction stories lean so much on the internal, subjective experience and non-specific threats, they have proven notoriously difficult to adapt to film, making them rare finds in horror cinema. But that hasn’t stopped the occasional intrepid filmmakers from trying.
Whether you’re already a weird fiction fan or a new initiate to the genre, these are the top five known – and lesser-known – films based on weird fiction authors:
1. The Tell-Tale Heart – Ted Parmelee based on Edgar Allan Poe
This might be the only animated film on the list, but it’s no less terrifying. Narrated by James Mason, and adapted from the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name, this film beautifully portrays the internal experience of a madman who (like all madmen) thinks he’s sane.
Poe’s ability to elicit emotions, not only through his language but through the pace, rhythm, and structure of sentences, means readers – and now viewers – gain firsthand insight into the obsessive mind of its protagonist.
Perhaps most unsettling is how relatable and understandable the narrator’s behaviour starts to seem. The tap, tap, tapping might drive you mad too…
Watch the short on Daily Motion – with caution.
2. Night Of The Demon – Jacques Tourneur based on M. R. James
Directed by Jacques Tourneur, Night Of The Demon is adapted from the M. R. James story Casting the Runes (1911) in which a professor investigates a mysterious satanic cult and finds himself on the receiving end of a demonic curse.
A master of the ghost story, M.R. James is known for creating dread by suggestion and letting the reader’s imagination fill in the blanks. Jacques Tourneur enjoys a similar reputation for a “less-is-more” approach to suspense. Indeed he famously clashed with the film’s producer over how much of the titular demon to show onscreen. (Tourneur’s intention was not to show it at all.)
With this pair teamed up with screenwriter (and Hitchcock collaborator) Charles Bennett, the result is a classic of weird fiction cinema.
Watch for free on DailyMotion.
3. In a Foreign Town – Michael Shlain based on Thomas Ligotti
Created by Michael Shlain and based on the stories of acclaimed author Thomas Ligotti, In a Foreign Town is a proof-of-concept short prequel for an anthology TV series that is now in active development.
Featuring Yuri Lowenthal (Spider-man Ps4, Love, Death + Robots) and Strange Dave (The Smiling Man), In a Foreign Town tells the story of a man haunted by visions of a horrifying apparition years after a harrowing childhood experience in a strange town.
The short transports you to a surreal nightmare where memories, dreams, and reality are impossibly intertwined and where the monster may just be deep inside yourself. Ligotti is renowned for depicting desolate, crumbling environments that mirror their protagonists’ distressed inner worlds, suggesting that consciousness itself is the ultimate nightmare. Michael Shlain’s film manages to bring this atmosphere of existential dread to beautiful cinematic life.
You can watch the short for free on Gunpowder & Sky’s horror platform ALTER while we wait with bated breath for the anthology series to follow.
4. The Outsider – Ludvig Gür based on HP Lovecraft
Another short that must be included in this list – and can also be found on ALTER – is The Outsider, directed by Ludvig Gür and based on the short story by H.P. Lovecraft.
Told from the first-person perspective of a mysterious narrator, Lovecraft’s story deals with the pain of isolation, loneliness, and separation from society. And in a twist that we won’t spoil, the fear that our own perception of ourselves is not how we’re seen by the world.
In this beautifully realised short, Kola Krauze (Outlander) plays a desperate loner, isolated under mysterious circumstances who finally has a chance to escape into civilisation. Ludwig Gür takes on the formidable challenge of adapting Lovecraft’s subjective narrative and the result is an inventive and trippy character portrait that questions our sense of self-perception.
5. Annihilation – Alex Garland based on Jeff VanderMeer
Last, but certainly not least, we look at Alex Garland’s Annihilation, which is based on the novel by Jeff VanderMeer.
In the early 2000s, author M. John Harrison coined the term “New Weird” to describe the work of a new crop of writers who were mixing in elements of science fiction and fantasy into their surreal world building. In 2008 Jeff and Ann VandeMeer’s anthology “The New Weird” further defined the literary movement as stories “allied with the supernatural that may achieve the same effect without a supernatural element.” Annihilation is a superb example of creating a supernatural-level of strangeness and horror through a sci-fi lens.
The film takes viewers on a psychedelic journey into the world of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach books. Lena, played by Natalie Portman, goes on an expedition into an anomalous zone known as the “Shimmer” which has been transformed by an alien presence and where reality is inexorably altered.
Alex Garland also wrote and directed the hit film Ex Machina, and his ability to excite all your senses doesn’t falter with Annihilation. Jeff VanderMeer’s award-winning books tell the stories of intelligent people reacting rationally to irrational problems – and like all great weird fiction challenge our assumptions about identity and perception.
Prepare to bend your mind by watching it on Netflix UK.
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