a ruin of roses deliciously dark fairytales book 1

The movie: Sure, there’s all that talk about showers and murder - Editor’s note: we know it’s not just 'talk' and Hitchcock’s Psycho is a genuine horror masterpiece - but it’s time to talk about the feathery elephant in the room.

Read more: Here's how Saw became one of the biggest names in horror What would we be willing to do to save our own miserable lives? Would we be Amanda, ready to go into a stomach to find a key, or would we sit and wait for an ultra gruesome fate? Throw in the genuine terror of ‘Billy’, Jigsaw’s painted cycling doll, and one of the most terrifying extended jump-scare sequences potentially ever, and Saw still manages to pack a barbed-wire-covered punch. Why it’s scary: Put simply, we all play Jigsaw’s game along with our heroes. Made on a shoestring budget by Leigh Whannell and James Wan, this tale of two men waking up in a bathroom, a corpse between them, is twisted but constantly intriguing. The ideas at work here are significantly more grisly in your own mind than what you see on screen. Yes, the title is about an implement that a depraved killer suggests someone takes their leg off with rather than use a key to unlock a cuff, but Saw is actually remarkably restrained. The movie: It might have reignited the so-called torture porn genre with its (mostly) truly disgusting sequels but - and this is a huge 'but' - the original Saw is nowhere near as gross-gusting as you think it is and happens to be brilliant horror. If this is what director Rob Savage can make in lockdown without actual face-to-face interaction with his cast, it’s going to be very interesting to see what he does next. Some truly innovative uses of modern tech deliver perfect 2020-era scares and brilliant performances crank the tension into unbearably terrifying territory. Thus, when this group of women lights candles and something arrives where they’re meant to be safe, we can’t help but be dragged along for the ride.

Why it’s scary: Thanks to quarantine, we all speak fluent Zoom and every interaction – every joke about parents refusing to stay in and the woes of lockdown – is painfully relatable. Host isn’t the first horror to take place on a computer screen, taking terrifying inspiration from REC, The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity, yet delivering a dangerously relevant frightmare. What follows is a short, sharp shock of found footage adrenaline in an intimidatingly lean 56 minute run time. Desperately on the hunt for something to do other than endless lockdown quizzes – we felt this at the time – a group of friends get together for an online mid-lockdown seance. The movie: We knew it was on the way, but post-pandemic horror has well and truly arrived in the shape of a Zoom call gone very, very wrong.

A ruin of roses deliciously dark fairytales book 1