The Reel Ghoul: the Diary of a Cinephile by Ustumallagam

The Reel Ghoul is a book of movie reviews, primarily horror, but also including some action and sci-fi films.  Written by life-long horror fan, Ustumallagam, over a roughly three year period, the author had initially intended to publish them in an old-fashioned 'zine form, but found himself with too much material for that smaller size publication and instead opted to publish them in book form through Feral Books.

Front cover

Ustumallagam is also known as the vocalist for the Danish band Denial of God, which has been releasing music since the early '90s.  To date, the band has three full-length albums, numerous EPs, and a couple of demos to its credit.  Much of the discography would be tough to track down, as is pretty common with metal bands in general due to things going out of print and labels going out of business, not to mention the very international nature of the music.

 

Back cover

The reviews in this book are fairly short and to the point.  He typically gives a brief summary of what the movie is about followed by his thoughts about the whole thing.  He also exhibits a healthy sense of humor, as I have found many funny lines in various reviews, making the book a very fun read.  Whether I agree with his opinions or not, I have enjoyed each of the reviews I have read in the book.  More often than not though, I do find that I agree with where he is coming from and his opinion of a given movie.  This book is clearly the result of somebody who just really enjoys movies in general, but more specifically, horror.  Too often, in my opinion, a book of movie reviews comes off like the words of somebody who just wanted to get the whole thing over with.  This book is just something he felt like doing and enjoyed doing.  That enjoyment, for me, translates over to the reading experience.

Put simply, this is great book for the Halloween season, or really any time of the year for a horror fan.  Since it is composed of various reviews for different movies, it is a book one can just pick up for a few minutes while waiting at the doctor's office or anything like that, but one could also just sit there and read it for a good while at home in your spare time.  

Klabautermanden, one of Denial of God's numerous EPs

And it you like black metal, then also be sure you check out his band, Denial of God, which is also excellent.  The full-length albums are the easiest to track down and are probably all still available from Hell's Headbangers.  The newest album, The Hallow Mass, is definitely a great album in general, but especially for the Halloween season, even featuring the song "Hallowmas", which is about the holiday itself.  So crank The Hallow Mass and read The Reel Ghoul with a jack-o-lantern or two lit to get the season going properly.

Front cover of 2019's The Hallow Mass


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