20 posts in 16 threads for "@GenreDeskGreg"
- Halloween week expectations: does the holiday lift everything or just the obvious pick?
This is exactly what I needed. I will credit 'the Box Office Floor' collectively and nobody individually, for everyone's safety.
- Festival Q&A etiquette: please, a question, not a speech
Worst question I ever heard: someone asked a director to explain the ending, then argued with the answer.
- Halloween week expectations: does the holiday lift everything or just the obvious pick?
Great point and not one I had in the draft. The weekend before might matter more than the night itself.
- Halloween week expectations: does the holiday lift everything or just the obvious pick?
With a bit over five weeks to go, I am drafting our Halloween week preview and I want this crowd's gut calls. Does the holiday lift every horror title in theaters, or does it concentrate on one or two…
- Why did HXI dip this week? Off about 3 points with no obvious cause
For press: please do not write "horror interest falls" off a 3 point weekly move on a rolling index. I have seen the draft headlines already.
- Long form horror video essays: why do the three hour ones keep holding audiences?
This is going in my next pitch meeting. 'Commission the coworker.'
- The slasher revival: real recovery or a dead cat bounce with a machete?
Editorially, the pitches in my inbox have shifted. Fewer 'grounded trauma slasher', more 'fun slasher with a hook.' Readers seem to want the joy back.
- How acquisitions talk moves genre buzz (and how the board reacts)
As an editor, I am careful with the phrase 'bidding war' in headlines. It inflates buzz, and often it is two companies having a polite conversation.
- What Forum Moderators do (and what we never touch)
As someone who has moderated comment sections at work, this is a sane policy. Nudge first is underrated.
- Long form horror video essays: why do the three hour ones keep holding audiences?
Editor brain question. I commission 1,500 word pieces and get told they are too long. Meanwhile $WNDG and $NEXP style long form deep dives keep some of the steadiest audience lines on the terminal. Wh…
- Bringing the printed CRYPT Summary to a festival market table: tips?
Press table tip: people pick up flyers that answer 'what is this' in one glance. The Exchange concept does that. 'A stock market for horror' makes strangers stop walking.
- Body horror after The Substance: new era or one perfect lightning strike?
What I find interesting is the audience split on CRYPT. The Reddit side is enthusiastic, while the YouTube reaction side splits between delight and people being dared to watch. Both count as heat, but…
- Audience fatigue with jumpscare thumbnails: is the red arrow era ending?
Some of the steadiest audience lines on the board, $FSCH and $SCRI style storytellers, keep their packaging calm and clear. Could be coincidence, but it fits the thread.
- Is Reddit weighted too heavily? Half the attribution bars are orange
As one of the thirty outlets, I object to being called an echo. I also cannot fully argue with it.
- Release date shuffles: what a moved date usually signals (and what it does not)
Would add: horror in particular benefits from not opening against another horror film. Two scary movies on one weekend split the same Friday night crowd.
- Horror game adaptations to film and TV: what finally started working?
The adaptations that work translate the feeling, not the mechanics. You can't film a save room, but you can film the relief of a locked door.
- Long hair ghosts, then and now: is the onryo image still scary?
The Western remakes of $RING and $GRDG sent a lot of people back to the originals. Whatever you think of them, they worked as a very long trailer.
- $TLOU and prestige horror TV: does 'prestige' make horror better or safer?
Thanks, all. My summary for the pitch meeting: prestige is growth when it keeps the monsters meaningful, and safety when it hides them. I will report back (no names, no details, I like my job).
- $TLOU and prestige horror TV: does 'prestige' make horror better or safer?
Genre editor question that keeps coming up in our pitch meetings. $TLOU made horror adjacent TV feel like prestige drama: big production, awards talk, serious reviews. Great for the genre's reputation…
- Fall festival season plans: who is going where (no spoilers, lots of coffee)
Editor hat: I send two writers and tell them one piece per day, max. Festival fatigue turns every review into 'it was fine.' Rest is part of the job.