About

Welcome to View From the Dark!

I started my writing journey by flexing my writing muscles with reviews, recaps of Face Off and covering different genre-based events on my old blog.  It was something I did to help me fight the boredom of unemployment and the perils of stress, but it soon led me to write for professors in faraway places, being published, becoming a programmer for one of the best genre film festivals in Toronto (if I do say so myself!), a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic and a member of the African American Film Critic Association (AAFCA).

Now, I mull over characters, representation and visibility in genre film – in short, I’ve grown up.  And so I invite you to join me as I look at film in an inclusive way that might upset some of you because the rallying cry lately has been, “But what does that have to do with race?!” and I’d like to counter that by saying this, that and the other often has something to do with race and often omits both race and gender representation in genre film. Of course, I’m a horror fan first, so I’ll write about horror, but I’m also going to write from my perspective, a place where my opinion has been brewing quietly and now come to a full boil.

Another issue that needs some attention is the lack of diversity in Hollywood. There are some disheartening stats regarding women and women of color in film. If you want the cold, hard facts, The Hollywood Diversity Report is an important document created by researchers at the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies.  Have a look at the full document available here.  You can find the Canadian equivalent compiled by WIFT (Women in Film & Television Toronto) here.

Things I’ve Written or Contributed To:

In case you’re wondering what I’ve done, check out the list below:

The First Women in Horror Annual – “Don’t Call Me Crazy: The Evolution of Women’s Power and Instinct in Horror Films from Old School to Modern Times.”

The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films – Contributing Author

The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films – Contributing Author

Music Men Ruined for Me Zine – Contributing Author, “Man Jazz”

Grim Magazine – Contributor to issues No. 3, No. 4, No. 5

Rue Morgue Magazine – Various reviews in print magazineRue Morgue blog articles and reviews: Brown Girl Begins, Slender Man,, Spotlight on GraveyardshiftSisters’ Ashlee Blackwell,  Interview with Hereditary SFX Artist Steve Newburn

Cinema Axis – link here to my review catalogue

www.graveyardsisters.com – articles on the films Born in Flames, Advantageous and special events coverage.

Articles on Hollywood Suite.

My Rotten Tomatoes page

A new podcast I co-host called Reely Melanated where I talk about film with writer, producer, and educator Ashlee Blackwell.