Matt Monagle
@monagle.bsky.social
Co-founder of Certified Forgotten (www.certifiedforgotten.com), a writer-owned horror publication. Find my work at IGN, Polygon, Inverse, Dicebreaker, and more. Rehomed Alaskan living in Philadelphia.
Friend, NOBODY does a better mashup of THE EXPANSE and bisexual lighting than you.
November 13, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Friend, NOBODY does a better mashup of THE EXPANSE and bisexual lighting than you.
eh I’m keeping my head canon
November 13, 2025 at 2:46 AM
eh I’m keeping my head canon
THE MONKEY (2025): Everyone knows that THE BLACKCOAT'S DAUGHTER is my favorite film, but I'm still delighted at how much I love this one. I can (and have) made the argument that it captures the spirit of Stephen King's small-town horrors with aplomb, but it's also just reeeeal fucking silly.
November 12, 2025 at 1:37 AM
THE MONKEY (2025): Everyone knows that THE BLACKCOAT'S DAUGHTER is my favorite film, but I'm still delighted at how much I love this one. I can (and have) made the argument that it captures the spirit of Stephen King's small-town horrors with aplomb, but it's also just reeeeal fucking silly.
Episode 6 (“Survival Is Insufficient”): A hard episode to focus on, knowing that the next episode is going to knock the emotional stuffing out of me. But also, the most conventional “post-apocalyptic” episode of the series — bandits, guns, etc. — which just goes to highlight how unessential that is.
November 11, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Episode 6 (“Survival Is Insufficient”): A hard episode to focus on, knowing that the next episode is going to knock the emotional stuffing out of me. But also, the most conventional “post-apocalyptic” episode of the series — bandits, guns, etc. — which just goes to highlight how unessential that is.
Episode 5 (“The Severn City Airport”): One of my favorite pieces of this show is the music. Dan Romer’s score seems to borrow pieces from Jon Brion’s PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE soundtrack throughout this episode, and the presence of Bobby McFerrin’s “Ave Maria” is exactly the right song selection.
November 11, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Episode 5 (“The Severn City Airport”): One of my favorite pieces of this show is the music. Dan Romer’s score seems to borrow pieces from Jon Brion’s PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE soundtrack throughout this episode, and the presence of Bobby McFerrin’s “Ave Maria” is exactly the right song selection.
Episode 4 (“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Aren't Dead"): No greater testament to the power of STATION ELEVEN than the fact that it wrings a powerful dramatic performance out of David Cross.
November 11, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Episode 4 (“Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Aren't Dead"): No greater testament to the power of STATION ELEVEN than the fact that it wrings a powerful dramatic performance out of David Cross.
Episode 3 (“Hurricane”): Hollywood cannot possibly offer enough roles to Danielle Deadwyler to account for how good she is. She could work every minute of every day for the rest of her career, and somehow, we’d be left wanting more.
November 11, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Episode 3 (“Hurricane”): Hollywood cannot possibly offer enough roles to Danielle Deadwyler to account for how good she is. She could work every minute of every day for the rest of her career, and somehow, we’d be left wanting more.
Episode 2 (“A Hawk From a Handsaw”): “I got weird texts.” Oh good, we can’t even make it two episodes into STATION ELEVEN anymore without crying. And here I’d (laughably) wondered if repeated watches of the show would diminish its emotional impact.
November 11, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Episode 2 (“A Hawk From a Handsaw”): “I got weird texts.” Oh good, we can’t even make it two episodes into STATION ELEVEN anymore without crying. And here I’d (laughably) wondered if repeated watches of the show would diminish its emotional impact.
Episode 1 (“Wheel of Fire”): People sometimes ask me if I’ve read the book, given how much I love the show — but the thing is, I cannot imagine this story without Himesh Patel, nor would I want to. My love of the show cannot be separated from my love of Patel’s performance.
November 11, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Episode 1 (“Wheel of Fire”): People sometimes ask me if I’ve read the book, given how much I love the show — but the thing is, I cannot imagine this story without Himesh Patel, nor would I want to. My love of the show cannot be separated from my love of Patel’s performance.
ARCHONS (2018): I am newly fascinated with the films of Nick Szostakiwskyj. The whole never quite surpasses the sum of the parts, but there are too many big ideas swirling about to fully ignore. Plus, ARCHONS cements that nobody shoots the Canadian outdoors like Szostakiwskyj. Beautiful stuff.
November 11, 2025 at 3:27 AM
ARCHONS (2018): I am newly fascinated with the films of Nick Szostakiwskyj. The whole never quite surpasses the sum of the parts, but there are too many big ideas swirling about to fully ignore. Plus, ARCHONS cements that nobody shoots the Canadian outdoors like Szostakiwskyj. Beautiful stuff.
I adore THE EXPANSE. ADORE it. And it's so, so funny to me that the later seasons exist because Jeff Bezos loves it too.
November 10, 2025 at 11:42 PM
I adore THE EXPANSE. ADORE it. And it's so, so funny to me that the later seasons exist because Jeff Bezos loves it too.
BLACK MOUNTAIN SIDE (2014): The obvious comparison is THE THING, but there's a whole bunch of Larry Fessenden's WENDIGO and the "Ice" episode of X-FILES in the film's DNA. The slowest of slow burns; loved the science-forward nature of the script, hated (H-A-T-E-D) the movie's lack of a score.
November 10, 2025 at 4:28 AM
BLACK MOUNTAIN SIDE (2014): The obvious comparison is THE THING, but there's a whole bunch of Larry Fessenden's WENDIGO and the "Ice" episode of X-FILES in the film's DNA. The slowest of slow burns; loved the science-forward nature of the script, hated (H-A-T-E-D) the movie's lack of a score.
BUGONIA (2025): I am not among the Yorgos Lanthimos faithful, but this might be the movie of his I like the most. Emma Stone is divine, of course, but the film really is a showcase for Jesse Plemons. Few actors oscillate between empathy and cruelty quite like him, and he's used to great effect here.
November 9, 2025 at 9:34 PM
BUGONIA (2025): I am not among the Yorgos Lanthimos faithful, but this might be the movie of his I like the most. Emma Stone is divine, of course, but the film really is a showcase for Jesse Plemons. Few actors oscillate between empathy and cruelty quite like him, and he's used to great effect here.
Just finished The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by @pfracassi.bsky.social and it’s without question the best slasher I’ve ever read. Equal parts THELMA and SCREAM. Can’t recommend it enough to horror readers out there.
November 9, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Just finished The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by @pfracassi.bsky.social and it’s without question the best slasher I’ve ever read. Equal parts THELMA and SCREAM. Can’t recommend it enough to horror readers out there.
Finally on THAT chapter of ALAN WAKE 2, and it’s exactly as much fun as expected. I don’t know how long Remedy Entertainment can keep making games like this and CONTROL before there are creative differences or financial issues, but I’m grateful for the big swings as long as they last.
November 9, 2025 at 3:45 AM
Finally on THAT chapter of ALAN WAKE 2, and it’s exactly as much fun as expected. I don’t know how long Remedy Entertainment can keep making games like this and CONTROL before there are creative differences or financial issues, but I’m grateful for the big swings as long as they last.
If there's one production aesthetic that's catnip for me, it's retrofuturism. I love films that draw their inspiration from movies like ALIEN and OUTLAND. I love big, chunky keyboards. I love text waterfalling down a screen. I love odd beeps and boops from computers and running lights everywhere.
November 8, 2025 at 3:56 AM
If there's one production aesthetic that's catnip for me, it's retrofuturism. I love films that draw their inspiration from movies like ALIEN and OUTLAND. I love big, chunky keyboards. I love text waterfalling down a screen. I love odd beeps and boops from computers and running lights everywhere.
OUTLAND (1981): Hey gorgeous, where have YOU been all my life? My absolute favorite flavor of science fiction, with outstanding analog production design and a delightful array of blue collar space trash. Connery is fine, but Frances Sternhagen absolutely owns the joint. My newest obsession.
November 8, 2025 at 3:28 AM
OUTLAND (1981): Hey gorgeous, where have YOU been all my life? My absolute favorite flavor of science fiction, with outstanding analog production design and a delightful array of blue collar space trash. Connery is fine, but Frances Sternhagen absolutely owns the joint. My newest obsession.
If you want more Yautja after PREDATOR: BADLANDS, I suggest you start with ALIEN VS PREDATOR, the 1990 Dark Horse series. In that run, a seasoned Yautja warrior brings his recruits to a Weyland-Yutani planet to hunt, only to watch his pupils dishonor themselves by massacring an outpost.
November 7, 2025 at 3:49 PM
If you want more Yautja after PREDATOR: BADLANDS, I suggest you start with ALIEN VS PREDATOR, the 1990 Dark Horse series. In that run, a seasoned Yautja warrior brings his recruits to a Weyland-Yutani planet to hunt, only to watch his pupils dishonor themselves by massacring an outpost.
I'm not a tarot person, but I have an image in my head of a tattoo of The Devil, but the image on the card is the furnace from THE BLACKCOAT'S DAUGHTER, and I think that might just happen sometime soon.
November 6, 2025 at 8:36 PM
I'm not a tarot person, but I have an image in my head of a tattoo of The Devil, but the image on the card is the furnace from THE BLACKCOAT'S DAUGHTER, and I think that might just happen sometime soon.
Oh, don’t get me wrong - I complain, and I buy them all anyways.
November 6, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Oh, don’t get me wrong - I complain, and I buy them all anyways.
The comic book shop in Germantown is donating a portion of their sales today to the local food bank, so I popped in to grab a few things that aren't on my pull list elsewhere. One of them was ALIEN VS CAPTAIN AMERICA, which I'm honor-bound to collect but quietly rather annoyed by.
November 6, 2025 at 7:24 PM
The comic book shop in Germantown is donating a portion of their sales today to the local food bank, so I popped in to grab a few things that aren't on my pull list elsewhere. One of them was ALIEN VS CAPTAIN AMERICA, which I'm honor-bound to collect but quietly rather annoyed by.
As a kid who grew up on cheap ALIEN V PREDATOR paperbacks from the used book store, it's wild to have a big-budget film like PREDATOR: BADLANDS dive deep into the culture of the Yautja. It's kind of charming when a movie franchise doubles back to include its own expanded universe lore.
November 6, 2025 at 2:11 PM
As a kid who grew up on cheap ALIEN V PREDATOR paperbacks from the used book store, it's wild to have a big-budget film like PREDATOR: BADLANDS dive deep into the culture of the Yautja. It's kind of charming when a movie franchise doubles back to include its own expanded universe lore.
PREDATOR: BADLANDS (2025): So it turns out synthetics are my favorite part of the PREDATOR franchise, too. BADLANDS is so (sometimes too) unapologetically silly, but Elle Fanning has never been more locked in. It’s just fucking fun, man. It’s fun. Plus, the Mongolian metal-inspired soundtrack? Mwah.
November 6, 2025 at 12:42 AM
PREDATOR: BADLANDS (2025): So it turns out synthetics are my favorite part of the PREDATOR franchise, too. BADLANDS is so (sometimes too) unapologetically silly, but Elle Fanning has never been more locked in. It’s just fucking fun, man. It’s fun. Plus, the Mongolian metal-inspired soundtrack? Mwah.