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Cullen Wade

@cullenwade.bsky.social
535 followers 698 following 522 posts

Author, S(p)lasher Flicks: The Swimming Pool in Horror Cinema (McFarland, 2025) | words @ Paste mag, Night Tide mag, Horror Homeroom, HorrorGeekLife, et al. | charlottesville, va, usa | autistic he/him | 🇵🇸BLM🏳️‍🌈ACAB🏳️‍⚧️FDT linktr.ee/cullenwade

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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 23h
A calendar with today’s date of October 7th & the caption:

“Today’s a great day for a story about someone who was tormented past the brink of despair by dehumanizing religious extremism & a culture determined to make them a second-class citizen, demeaned & told they didn’t belong until they lashed out & were instantly labeled the bad guy.
Happy release day for Mike Flanagan’s CARRIE!”
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
On the program for my first academic conference as an independent scholar. Gonna be speaking at #pcasacas on that devil shit. #horrorscholar #horrorsky #southerngothic #pcas #acas
Saturday, Session 14
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
S 14.1 Milford Jeremiah Award: Featured Speaker [Fleur de Lis A] - AV
Chair: KarylAnne Fischer, PCAS/ACAS President
● “From the Plantation to the Chicago Tribune: the Gothic as Narrative Strategy.” -- John W. Byers,
University of Mississippi
S 14.2 Vampires and Horror Adaptation [Fleur de Lis B] - AV
Chair: U Melissa Anyiwo, University of Scranton
● " Predator and Prey: Sexual Peril and the Vampiric Possibility in Charlotte Lamb's Vampire Lover --
Abigail Cordwell, University of Mississippi
● Last Girls and Lost Girls: Black Women, Vampirism, and the South's Unfinished Histories -- U
Melissa Anyiwo, University of Scranton
S 14.3 Southern Gothic 13: Contemporary Southern Gothic Culture [Regal Suite] - AV
Chair: Bethany Weston, University of North Texas
● Mud, Myth, and Method: Cracker Aesthetics and the Peripheral Genius of the Rural American South
-- William (Bill) E. Hill, Jacksonville University
● “Deep Into the Woods”: Occult Memphis Rap and the West Memphis Three Murders -- Cullen
Wade, Independent Scholar
● “I Wrote My Own Script”: Colliding Southern Gothic Dialogues in Suzannah Hebert’s Natchez --
Bethany Weston, University of North Texas
S 14.4 Video Games and Gaming [Fleur de Lis C] - AV
Chair: Susan Bergeron, Coastal Carolina University
● Finding Treasure, Catching Frogs, and Writing Haiku: Video game side quests and building
immersive spatial narratives -- Susan Bergeron, Coastal Carolina University
● The Players’ Right-Hand Man: Leon Kennedy’s Link to the Shifting Ideologies of Survival Horror
and the Players Who Control Him -- Ryon Byrne, University of Texas at Dallas
● “They’ve done it in complete s2026 Conference
THE POPULAR CULTURE ASSOCIATION
IN THE SOUTH
and
THE AMERICAN CULTURE
ASSOCIATION
IN THE SOUTH
October 15-17, 2026
The Royal Sonesta
New Orleans, LA
KarylAnne Fischer
President
Heather M. Porter
Sherry Ginn
Program Chairs
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Oh jeez somehow I missed this! I got a spotlight! (I should write more fiction)
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Got my contributor copies of @crossroadsfolk.bsky.social issue 2! (Plus a few more to trade for chewing gum if you’re holding) Can’t wait to dig in! #horrorsky #booksky #zinesky #zine #folkhorror #hiphop #cassetteculture
Three copies of “Crossroads: Folk Horror in the United States” issue 2
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Feeling in excellent company with this late-alphabet bunch of degenerates!
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Pre-order issue 2 of Crossroads: Folk Horror in the United States now! I’m hype to see everybody else’s contributions!
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
I just realized how close the word “arugula” is to being a palindrome & I suddenly find myself wishing for rhotacistic paralambdacism.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Schoᵍenᵉʳᵃᵗᶦᵒⁿᵃˡbʳᵘⁿ
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Seated (finally) for Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. & I remembered to bring my hanky.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Rest in peace to the last cultural figure that everybody was allowed to like. With Dolly died the era of the “unpolarizing” celebrity.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Coming up on the 1-year anniversary of my contract with @mcfarland.bsky.social for this humble addition to the horror studies shelf. Perfect 5 on Goodreads! (Easy to do when there’s 3 ratings, I’d love a lower average tbh)
The cover of Cullen Wade’s S(p)lasher Flicks
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
#fdos Year 13 but wait…there’s more… I’m piloting HORROR STUDIES this year! Don’t know of many who are teaching multi-modal horror studies at the secondary level. Any other horror educators interested in updates as I start this journey?
A first-day-of-school photo of me holding up a “Year 13” sign. Below, a photo of my new Horror Studies syllabus (inbox me for a copy!)
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Ummm…am I the only one who noticed something about a couple people’s names in the mailbag segment? #svengoolie
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Don't forget to check out @eeriechristine.bsky.social's gracious review of #SplasherFlicks at Articles of Horror! articlesofhorror.com/book-review-... #booksky #filmsky #horrorsky #booksaboutmovies
articlesofhorror.com
Book Review for S(p)lasher Flicks: The Swimming Pool in Horror Cinema – Articles of Horror
Read the book review for 'S(p)lasher Flicks: The Swimming Pool in Horror Cinema' by Cullen Wade as he analyzes its place in horror films.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
For some reason the fact that this man has made 3 different movies about boxes is ALMOST enough to make me watch them. boxd.it/BJDX
boxd.it
Films directed by Joseph Mazzaferro
Films directed by Joseph Mazzaferro
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
@eeriechristine.bsky.social had some very nice things to say about #splasherflicks! Grateful!
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
because it's fun, here's a list of 10 horror movies i deeply love that i feel are still underappreciated (excluding ones I’ve written about) -The First Purge -Body Snatchers 1993 -Sole Survivor -The Gift 2015 -10 Cloverfield Lane -Climax -Uncle Peckerhead -Deranged 1987 -Come True -Apartment 7A
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Ok I know from context clues it’s a person with a broom & …custodian hat? But I’m not the only one who sees horns & a pitchfork, right?
A sign from an Amtrak train bathroom with a pictograph of a custodian & the message “Be considerate of the next passenger, and clean up.”
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Reposted by Cullen Wade
Horror DNA @horrordna.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
@smcclurg.bsky.social dives into @cullenwade.bsky.social's S(P)LASHER FLICKS: THE SWIMMING POOL IN HORROR CINEMA, now out from McFarland. Stephen says by the end, "...it becomes difficult to look at swimming facilities in quite the same way." #amreading #booksky www.horrordna.com/books/splash...
horrordna.com
S(p)lasher Flicks: The Swimming Pool in Horror Cinema
S(p)lasher Flicks makes a compelling case that the swimming pool belongs alongside the haunted house, the Gothic castle, and the dark forest as one of horr
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Missed it a couple days ago but @smcclurg.bsky.social penned a very kind review of #SplasherFlicks for @horrordna.bsky.social. Blessings up! www.horrordna.com/books/splash... @mcfarland.bsky.social #booksky #horrorsky
horrordna.com
S(p)lasher Flicks: The Swimming Pool in Horror Cinema
S(p)lasher Flicks makes a compelling case that the swimming pool belongs alongside the haunted house, the Gothic castle, and the dark forest as one of horr
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Hockney gone right at the start of pool season 🥺
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
I never deign to tell people that they’re watching movies wrong or that I know better (unwise strat for a critic? put a pin in that) but I watched them back to back last night and I genuinely don’t understand how anyone could maintain that Pulp Fiction is a better film than Jackie Brown.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Watch it on the biggest phone possible, preferably the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra with its generous 6.9” dynamic AMOLED display at QHD+ resolution. Use the promo code in my bio!
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
One teacher appreciation gesture that would truly make me feel appreciated is if you would refrain from sending me AI images to infest my nightmares. WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE FACES
An ai-generated image listing teacher appreciation week raffle winners with some bizarre haunting faces in the backgroundAn ai-generated image listing teacher appreciation week raffle winners with some bizarre haunting faces in the backgroundAn ai-generated image listing teacher appreciation week raffle winners with some bizarre haunting faces in the backgroundAn ai-generated image listing teacher appreciation week raffle winners with some bizarre haunting faces in the background
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Reposted by Cullen Wade
Eden Royce @edenroyce.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Hollow Tongue my Southern Gothic novella from @rdspress.bsky.social, is part of a choose-your-price-point StoryBundle of Shirley Jackson Award @sjacksonawards.bsky.social winning and nominated novellas! Get 3 ePUB books for $5 minimum or for $30 get all 17! storybundle.com/award?utm_so...
Cover of HOLLOW TONGUE on a beige background. The book has a brown cover with a golden frame in the middle. Inside the frame are a variety of butterflies in a skull-shaped pattern.  

Above the cover is text in brick red: Shirley Jackson Award Winner and below the image is a picture of Shirley's trademark cat eye frames in black.Collage of all book overs in the Shirley Jackson Award book bundle: 

•         To the Woman in the Pink Hat by LaToya Jordan
  
•         I Will Find You Even in the Dark by Jessica Landry

•         Hollow Tongue by Eden Royce, edited by RJ Joseph

•         The Convexity of Our Youth by Kurt Fawver

•         Pwdre Ser by Kurt Fawver

•         The Thirteen Ways We Turned Darryl Datson Into a Monster by Kurt Fawver

•         Azeman or, the Testament of Quincey Morris by Lisa Moore-Smith

•         Red Skies in the Morning by Nadia Bulkin

•         The Nga'phandileh Whisperer by Eugen Bacon

•         NOVIC by Eugen Bacon

•         The Attic Tragedy by J. Ashley Smith   

•      Pomegranates by Priya Sharma

•         The Bone Lantern by Angela Slatter

•         A Voice Calling by Christopher Barzak

•         His Unburned Heart by David Sandner, edited by RJ Joseph

•         Stay On the Line by Clay McLeod Chapman

•         Green Fuse Burning by Tiffany Morris 
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
I would like to be an ABBA enjoyer (if only because for most of my adolescence it seemed like a very uncool thing to be) but I can’t get past the “what if disco but without all the gayness & Blackness” lab leak vibes
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
I’ve been sick for a few days & missed my newest heat dropping. Join me as I pick apart how the “cult of compulsory childbirth” collides with the “antinatalist abject” to create a new horror vocabulary! Thanks to @momoshaty.bsky.social for publishing this at the risk of pissing off, well, everybody.
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Reposted by Cullen Wade
Mo Moshaty @momoshaty.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Childless by choice. Culturally suspect. Increasingly at the center of modern horror. @cullenwade.bsky.social examines how fertility anxiety, reproductive politics, and horror cinema collided in 2025. 👻📽️ nighttidemag.com/2026/04/27/m...
nighttidemag.com
“HE MADE ME MOMMY”: FERTILITY AND FEAR IN THE HORROR FILMS OF 2025
Cullen Wade explores being childless by choice in an era when horror films and political rhetoric alike have turned reproductive autonomy into a cultural battleground.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
I wanna wish everybody a beautiful weekend except teachers who encourage students to use chatgpt I hope yall get sunburn or sum
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Respect to Michelle, but “they go low, we go high” is the most devastating thought bomb to hit liberals since “legal, safe, & rare.” Is today the day VA finally signals we’d prefer a working democracy to the empty moral victory of “not stooping to their level?” Play a lil dirty for fucks sake.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
By the way, what is the deadline for proposals?
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I've been putting this off, because it's the last, so let me just say that these have been a joy! More importantly, the print zine (with a bonus review & bonus writeup cut from S(p)lasher Flicks for space!) is on my Ko-Fi shop. #horrorsky #booksky #filmsky #openhouse #poolreviews #splasherflicks
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 103: Open House (1987)
This is a gorgeous lagoon-style pool that blends in with the grounds, with a lovely waterfall feature. I have a feeling that some of the rocks are fake, in a mini-golf course kind of way, which would cost it major points in terms of being fun to swim in. Aesthetically, though, this is a triumph.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Yessss all my music x horror heads activate! (It’s not like I’ve spent the last 2 weeks hyperfocused on Americana music & horror related writing projects or anything. Nope, couldn’t be me.)
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Yessss been waiting
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
—When someone’s kid is ripping & running & being rambunctious, you are obligated to proclaim, “They’re gonna sleep well tonight!”
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Unwritten but ironclad rules for talking to other people about their children: —When someone tells you how old their kid is, no matter the age, you must respond, “That’s such a fun age.” —When someone’s kid got into college, no matter the college, you are required to say, “That’s a good school!”
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Damn, have I really not posted a pool review in 5 days? It's a good thing we're almost done, because I guess I'm *close* to overstaying my welcome. Only one more left! #poolreviews #colossal #splasherflicks #horrorsky #filmsky #booksky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 102: Colossal (2016)
I don't think I need to repeat how unsafe it is to jump into a pool so leaf-covered you can't see what's in there, but my admonition against having a pool you can leap into from an upper story probably does bear repeating.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
We're getting to the end of this journey, scary swim team. Only 2 pools left. Say hello to Detroit again, then say goodbye. #dontbreathe2 #poolreviews #horrorsky #splasherflicks #filmsky #booksky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 101: Don't Breathe 2 (2021)
This is another case where, if you can see past its condition, there's a very nice pool to discover. I'm pretty sure the sign at the deep end indicates a depth of 22', which gives it a major advantage over most residential pools. Re-mount that springboard, break out the mop, & you're in business.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
It's on just the tip of my tongue, but the cockamamie thing is so hard to grasp it's driving me nuts. #poolreviews #poisonivy3 #splasherflicks #horrorsky #filmsky #booksky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 100: Poison Ivy: The New Seduction (1997)
There's something suggestive about the shape of this pool, but I can't quite wrap my hand around it.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
“The Behemoth“ towering over an suv from the movie The Mist
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
If a motel in a horror movie has a pool, it definitely isn't somewhere you want to stay. #poolreviews #splasherflicks #badthings #horrorsky #filmsky #booksky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 99: Bad Things (2023)
The indoor pool could use some opening up. I don't think dark-colored wall tiles are a good idea when the space already feels kind of cramped. The outdoor pool has some nice sky blue accents, but really should be covered in the winter.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Bruuuuuuh did the trees in this poster always say “feed”? Is this new? How the hell did I miss that?
Poster for the 2020 film Gretel & Hansel
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Welcome back, scary swim team. Seems like pool fences in horror movies are kind of a feast or famine thing. #feverdream #horrorsky #filmsky #booksky #poolreviews #splasherflicks
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 98: Fever Dream (2021)
This is about as minimalist as you can get, & not in a sleek modern way. As in The Stepford Wives, I'm not sure how you can avoid getting your grass clippings in the pool. Amanda is right to worry about the kid falling in, because there's literally nothing to stop that from happening. The phrase "concrete pond" has never been more apt.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Cat People movies are 0 for 2 when it comes to pools I'd want to swim in. #poolreviews #catpeople #remake #splasherflicks #horrorsky #booksky #filmsky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 97: Cat People (1982)
Not as bad as the one in the original film, but that is a very low bar. At least this one has...a window? & a higher ceiling but still, a pool should not feel claustrophobic. The brown tile work, especially around the edge, is really nice though.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
One thing I (Cullen Wade) have never done in my life is hop a fence at night to trespass into somebody's pool. Yes I feel like a fraud, but you know what? You're never too old & summer is almost here. Anybody wanna come with me? #poolreviews #piranha #splasherflicks #horrorsky #filmsky #booksky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 96: Piranha (1978)
It's hard to assess this as a swimming pool since, by daylight, it's clearly more of an industrial holding tank. On closer inspection though, it was probably converted from a pool, so those poor kids can be forgiven.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
What's up scary swim team? Modern architecture leaving you cold? Loosen things up with a humble pool. #splasherflicks #theglasshouse #poolreviews #horrorsky #filmsky #booksky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 95: The Glass House (2001)
Minus the flat-edge coping on two sides, this pool is more traditional than you'd expect from the ultra-modern look of the rest of the house. The warm color of the decking & the modest furniture make it downright homey.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I just realized that's not the diving board side. Oh well, it still shouldn't be there. #poolreviews #poltergeist3 #splasherflicks #horrorsky #booksky #filmsky
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 94: Poltergeist III (1988)
This one is all about the view. Very few pools are so dire that they couldn't be redeemed by that vista--which is good, because there's some kind of weird spigot-looking trip hazard where the diving board should be.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
I heard they outed Banksy. Not gonna look it up. I prefer not to know. Y'all fucked up.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
I'm one of those weirdos who thinks Shyamalan's Lady in the Water is a horror film but Trap is not. #poolreviews #splasherflicks #filmsky #horrorsky #booksky #ladyinthewater #mnightshyamalan
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 93: Lady in the Water (2006)
When a pool suggests a heart shape without actually being heart-shaped. Kind of a melted guitar pick. You know I'm not the biggest fan of cantilevered coping, but that can be forgiven. My only note is it seems a tad small for an apartment complex of this size.
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Cullen Wade @cullenwade.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
And with that, we've reached the last of the movies people keep asking me about. It's mostly deep cuts from here on in, folks! #filmsky #booksky #horrorsky #lettherightonein #poolreviews #splasherflicks
S(p)lasher Flicks Pool Reviews
Day 92: Let the Right One In (2008)
I promise this is the last time I'll mention this: we in North America should be taking notes from the Scandinavians on proper lighting for a public swimming pool. The pastel colors on the bleacher fronts also help to make this a cheerful environment.
The water level could be higher, but that's a design choice, not neglect.
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