Talking with the trio behind What Sleeps Beneath, an online magazine for horror criticism, it quickly becomes evident you’re in the presence of true fans. The site — this year’s winner for Best Blog in our Best Of PGH readers’ poll — was born on Friday 13th. Five years ago, founding contributors and friends Destiny King, Ande Thomas, and Theresa Baughman got together for a movie night — a triple feature of The Witch, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, and First Reformed — when things “devolved.”
Thomas, whom the group identifies as the biggest diehard, brought notebooks to record everyone’s thoughts after watching.
What ensued was a wide-ranging debate, touching on “the church as a driving force in horror, the history of monsters, and the cinematography of sickness and blood on screen,” according to the blog.
“It was just kind of a fun event,” Thomas remembers. “But it worked out so well that we decided that we should make it not only a regular thing, but publish our thoughts on the internet,” he tells Pittsburgh City Paper with a laugh.
Today, What Sleeps Beneath is a repository for horror movie and book reviews, interviews, and original academic research. Over the last 18 months, they’ve brought on regular contributors, and will soon move from volunteer to paid work.
The writing runs the gamut of sub-genres, encompassing psychological horror, slasher films, and body horror to name a few, with recent entries like “Childbearing Horror Films for Mother’s Day.” King is currently cataloging bear attacks (true and fictional) in horror cinema. She tells City Paper her favorite horror movie is Jaws, giving a sense of the blog’s range, as you might not think of the quintessential summer blockbuster as an animal horror film.
Rather than a niche project, says Baughman, they intend for What Sleeps Beneath to be outward-looking and expansive, exploring horror as an important cultural touchstone and barometer for social anxieties.
“At any point in time, when there is some kind of social, economic, [or] political upheaval, there's always a direct reflection [of that in] the horror community,” Baughman says.
What Sleeps Beneath also arose amidst a resurgence of original horror movies, like those put out by indie arthouse producer A24.
“[We’re] really trying to focus our efforts on elevating the horror genre as an actual, genuine academic pursuit, in addition to being something that’s really fun … so, including everybody,” Baughman tells CP.
Though the blog draws visitors nationwide, “we’re all very much Pittsburgh people,” says Thomas, “so it's important to us to make that part of our identity.”
What Sleeps Beneath recently collaborated with the Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival’s Thriller Picture Show and the Pittsburgh-based George A. Romero Foundation.
Looking toward the future, “we really do want to hone in on those relationships and just get more involved with the communities that are [already] here,” adds King.
“Because Pittsburgh has such a vast history with horror, it's kind of intrinsic to our nature,” Thomas says.
