The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is proud to present a thrilling class for this month, In Your Face Till Your Face Comes Off: John Skipp on The History of Splatterpunk, and the Triumph of the Overt on March 14th at the Philosophical Research Society in Los Feliz.
Award winning author and filmmaker John Skipp guides audiences through the history of Splatterpunk as only someone from the inside could, shining light on the subgenre of literary horror known for its flamboyant disregard of convention and embrace of wild sex, visionary violence and rock ‘n’ roll. Looking at his own body of work alongside masters Clive Barker, David J. Schow, Joe R. Lansdale, and Craig Spector, Skipp deep dives into the sensational moment they created in the 80s that’s influenced artists till this day. More info on the class can be found HERE.
The Miskatonic Institute is a celebrated organization with branches in the US and UK that is committed to bringing academic level classes to the public that focus on the genre and themes surrounding horror, while spotlighting some of the genre world’s most renowned critical, literary and filmmaking luminaries.
The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – LA – In Your Face Till Your Face Comes Off: John Skipp on The History of Splatterpunk, and the Triumph of the Overt
Date: Marc 14th 2019
Time: 7:30pm-10:00pm
Venue: Philosophical Research Society
Address: 3910 Los Feliz Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Prices: $12 advance ($40 with book) / $15 door
Venue: Philosophical Research Society
Address: 3910 Los Feliz Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
Prices: $12 advance ($40 with book) / $15 door
In the 1980s, a handful of writers — Clive Barker, David J. Schow, Joe R. Lansdale, and John Skipp & Craig Spector — inadvertently kicked off a seismic shift in literary horror. Less a conscious revolution than a spontaneous eruption of the arts, these restless artists bucked against the constraints of conventional horror, serving up whopping doses of wildly explicit sex, visionary violence, and really loud rock ‘n’ roll, underlying an even more subversive layer of fierce cultural critique.
At the time, it was accused of “coarsening the genre”. And when the 80s horror boom crashed and burned in the 90s, there were those who held splatterpunk responsible. In the years that followed, “extreme horror” fiction paved the way to cinematic “torture porn”. And even network cop shows started showing more graphic onscreen violence than would have gotten an “R” rating a mere fifteen years before.
Best-selling novelist, award-winning book editor and filmmaker John Skipp conducts a crazy three-hour tour through a history of horror’s most hilariously-named subgenre. The forces that shaped it. And the forces it has shaped, as we enter the fresh horrors of the 21st century.
