My Favorite Things with Claire C. Holland

They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with Claire C. Holland, who is the author of the horror poetry collection, I Am Not Your Final Girl.

What does Claire love when she’s not crafting cadences to creep you out? Spoiler alert: dirty computers, zombie comedy, Millennial nightmares, and a cute way to kill campers. Wait, what? Read on to find out!

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I’m so happy to be here today to discuss some of my most recent obsessions and fixations! Spoiler alert: There’s a lot of horror ahead.

Album: Dirty Computer, Janelle Monae. I knew I was going to love Janelle Monae’s new album as soon as I heard the first single, “Pynk.” Or rather, heard the song and watched the music video — featuring Monae and a host of dancers cavorting around in what can only be described as bright pink vagina pants. Monae makes sure you know from the outset: this is an unapologetically woman-powered album, made entirely on Monae’s terms. And thank goodness for that, because this album is just about perfect. What makes it even more effective, though, is the “emotion picture” Monae made to go along with the album. Much like Beyonce’s visual album for Lemonade, except Monae’s features a scifi twist: In a dystopian world, nonconforming individuals, or “dirty computers,” are put through a process to wipe their memories and make them as uniform as everyone else. The film is about Monae’s character looking back on her life and struggling to remain herself. It’s beautiful, powerful, and life affirming.

TV Show: The Santa Clarita Diet. I have to bring this show up as often as possible because I almost never hear anyone talking about it, and I really don’t want it to be cancelled. I will concede that it takes a few episodes for the show to find its footing, but once it does, it is pure body horror comedy joy. Barrymore is a wife and mother who is bitten by a zombie and begins to transform into one herself, complete with a gradually rotting body and a hunger for human flesh. Olyphant plays her put-upon but loving husband, just trying to make his marriage work — and together they make a goofy, surprisingly sweet pair. Their caustic, grounded teenage daughter (Liv Hewson) rounds out the group, providing the sarcastic bon mots and much-needed reality checks. Just trust me on this one — if you like zombies and comedy, it’s a fun show worth checking out.

Movie: Tragedy Girls. Is it obvious how much I like horror yet? I think I’ve seen this movie four times now, and I can see it’s on its way to becoming a classic Comfort Horror Movie for me, much like Scream or Urban Legend (two other teen screams I unabashedly love). While it’s not quite as perfect a satire as Scream, it still hits all the right notes, keeping you seesawing between laughter and horror throughout. Both Alexandra Shipp and Brianna Hildebrand (most recently seen playing Negasonic Teenage Warhead in Deadpool) are excellent as the lead “tragedy girls” — two Millennial nightmares (who also happen to be wonderfully charming) so obsessed with social media and serial killers that they’re willing to do some killing of their own if it’ll drive traffic to their Twitter page. Above all, though, this is a movie about friendship — the twisted, crazy, devoted friendship between the two girls. It’s heartwarming, assuming your heart is as black as mine.

Game: Friday the 13th Killer Puzzle. My husband has gotten me into gaming lately (mostly — surprise — horror video games), but my favorite game these days has been this cute little iPhone app featuring Jason from the beloved franchise. It’s a simple enough puzzle game (the object: kill all the campers, duh), but I adore how much thought and love was clearly put into the design. Each level you reach unlocks new costumes and settings for Jason, from classic Crystal Lake Jason to post-apocalypse Mad Max Jason to Outer Space Uber Jason. The kills are inventive and varied, and you can unlock all kinds of weapons, too — everything from a standard machete or ax to much more novel arms like coffee pots and a dead fish (that came with Aqua Jason, of course). It’s irresistibly cute, and I like that it gives me a reason to solve a puzzle at least once a day.

Movie: Suspiria (2018). Okay, so this extra speculative of me, as I haven’t actually seen the Suspiria remake (it’s not out until this fall), but the trailer just came out today and I couldn’t possibly be more hyped about it. As an enormous fan of the original Dario Argento movie, I’m a bit possessive of the property, but everything I’ve heard regarding the remake thus far has made me feel confident that this could be a great new film. From the director (Luca Guadagnino of recent Call Me By Your Name fame), to the cast (all I need to know is that Tilda Swinton is in it and I’m on board), to reports out of CinemaCon that a small preview of the film’s first scene left people “traumatized,” this has all the trappings of a legendary horror. It’s been an incredible few years for the horror genre, and I’m just reveling in it.

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Claire C. Holland is a poet and writer from Philadelphia, currently living in Los Angeles. When she’s not writing, Claire can usually be found reading or binge-watching horror movies with her husband, Corey, and Wheaten Terrier, Chief Brody. She is also a feminist, a tattoo collector, and interested in all forms of art strange and subversive. Her book of feminist horror poetry, I Am Not Your Final Girl, is available now from Amazon.

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