Meet the Writers!
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Matt Konopka The editor/owner of Killer Horror Critic and a wannabe werewolf, Matt began this site in 2018 as a way to bring more support to the horror genre, as well as create a community of our own. Indoctrinated into the horror genre at the ripe old age of 3 while watching nothing but John Carpenter's Christine on repeat, Matt fell in love with film and horror. He unfortunately attended Columbia College of Chicago with a focus in screenwriting, and has since spent the last ten years pitching movies in offices designed like strip clubs and working in the glamorous world of sleazy reality TV shows. Matt also has a horror podcast called Killer Horror Critic, which he does with his amazing wife, Kriss. He'd like to personally thank all of the writers below for all of their excellent hard work. They're all talented, good people, and KHC wouldn't exist without them. |
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Amylou Ahava Amylou Ahava is a 3rd year PhD candidate and resident punk rocker. She has studied, taught, and annoyed landlords on three continents and hopes to add a fourth in the future. The childhood dream of being a horror host stemmed into a lifetime love of everything scary and now has led to a focus on disability studies in American horror literature. She is currently in her 11th year of teaching and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. She is a pet parent of 6 and hobbies include horror movies, waffles, and books. (Enjoy Amylou's writing? Help support her by tipping her here through Ko-fi!) |
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Craig Ranallo Craig is a lifelong horror hound who grew up on a healthy diet of monsters, demons, and phantom killers. As part of a large family that celebrated stories and storytelling in all its myriad forms, he developed a special fascination for horror stories at a young age. He took a class on Horror Film in undergrad but his obsession and knowledge of the genre is mostly self-taught, beginning with long, meandering walks through the horror aisle at Blockbuster (RIP) and continuing by reading all the lists, articles, essays, and books about horror he could get his hands on. Craig finds horror to be the most formulaic yet most creative of genres, filled with comfortable constants but with hidden gems always waiting to be uncovered. He likes thinking about how horror allows us to explore our rage, work through societal repressions, and confront "the Other." You can find more of his reviews at splatter-chatter.com or check out his podcast, Splatter Chatter, where he discusses all things horror, haunted, and Halloween-y. |
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Jeffrey W. Hollingsworth Hello, horror friends and fans! I hope everyone is enjoying the content that Matt has given us the platform to play on. There aren’t too many constants in my life, but writing, film and writing about film have been a consistent passion for many many years. My mother introduced me to a variety of films and art at an early age and I naturally took to it. The one film that made an extraordinary impression on me was James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day, (1991). The scope, scale and powerful narrative impact of that film awoke something inside me that has since refused to rest. It was such a tour de force of a film and I quickly discovered other science fiction and horror heavyweights of earlier years such as Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979). These films gave an understanding of the powerful impact films can have. After many years of film consumption, I grew into the obsessive, sometimes snooty, film nerd that I am today Discussing film through the medium of writing always felt like the one thing I had to offer this world. I’ve often heard people crudely say that anyone can tell you if they thought a movie was good or bad. That’s correct, but it takes someone with a very specific set of analytical tools in their head to tell you why a movie is good or bad. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with a creative writing degree at the University of Arkansas In 2016. In addition to writing film reviews here at Killerhorrorctitic.com, I spend my time working on my science fiction novel series. Im also an avid gamer and share my reviews and thoughts on Twitter @Umbrella_Ops. |
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Justin Drabek Justin Drabek is a writer/producer who currently lives in Portland, Oregon. His love of the occult and things that go bump in the night led him to write his first ghost story at the age of 6 with his grandpa, which was entitled "The Ghost Book". In 2019 he founded Ghost Book Productions in memory of his late grandfather. Ghost Book Productions has three films on slate for release in 2020. He also is hard at work (scrolling through Twitter) on his first novel Foxburg, PA which is an exploration of spiritualists in Pennsylvania. (Like Justin's writing? Help support him by tipping him here through Cash App!) |
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Katelyn Nelson Katelyn has been writing stories since roughly the age of five and doesn’t quite know how to do anything else nearly as well. She is an aspiring fiction author and feverishly excitable film addict, and through her explorations into horror, feminism, and disability study has taken to identifying herself rather proudly as her own favorite disabled Final Girl. She is most passionate about fairy tales, Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock, and accessibility and representation of all kinds—and cannot seem to keep personal experience out of her writing. Constantly on the hunt for new ideas and inspirations, the easiest place to find her is buried in a book, or possibly covered in paint. She also writes at Medium.com about everything from banned books to the importance of more disabled representation on screen. (Like Katelyn's writing? Help support her by tipping her here through Ko-fi!) |
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Mark Gonzales Mark Gonzales is a life-long fan of Made For TV Horror films. As a child, he found the low stakes thrills, mediocre acting, and frequent commercial breaks just safe enough for him to not run from the room screaming. Sometime in his 20s, Mark started being less of a coward (as far as his film tastes were concerned) and graduated to real, honest to God horror films. His favorite thing about the genre is that it acts as a metaphor for the horrors exigent in the real world. Alien is a metaphor for sexual abuse. Day of the Dead shows us the terrors of rampant consumerism. And The Thing reminds us of the horrors of fucked up shit. If you like Mark’s reviews and opinions, you can listen to him talk about Made For TV Movies every Monday with his best friend and podcast partner at https://soundcloud.com/tvmovienightpodcast |
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Mary Kay McBrayer Mary Kay McBrayer has her first full-length work of true crime nonfiction, America's First Female Serial Killer: Jane Toppan and the Making of a Monster, now available for pre-order, and will release in May 2020 (y'all go on and save the date. We gon' party). She's a contributing editor for North America's biggest independent editorial site, Book Riot, where she writes the weekly horror newsletter, The Fright Stuff. The podcast she co-founded and co-hosts with two of her best friends, Everything Trying to Kill You, analyzes and makes fun of all your favorite scary movies. You can follow Mary Kay and her bullshit on Instagram @marykaymcbrayer or Twitter @mkmcbrayer! |
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