There's something about period ghost stories that tales set in the modern era can't quite capture. The spooky corridors, the looming shadows, the creepy old buildings; these are all ingredients of the old-fashioned ghost story. The Awakening has all these things. Looking like a cross between a dozen similar films yet still feeling fresh -- at least from the trailer -- the film stars Rebecca Hall as a "ghost hunter" who travels to a countryside boarding school to investigate rumors of an apparent haunting. Just when she thinks she has debunked the ghost theory, she has a chilling spectral encounter that defies all her rational beliefs. Dominic West of The Wire ("Omar comin') also stars in director Nick Murphy's film, which hits U.K. theatres next Friday. No word on if we're getting a North American release, but The Basement's sources are actively searching out a copy.

It's hard to beat a good ghost story and, judging from the preview for writer/director Ti West's latest effort, The Innkeepers looks to deliver the goods on every level. The film, recently picked up by Magnet Releasing, is due out on VOD on Dec. 30 and hits theatres in February and we can't wait to see it. This looks like a creepy, freaky good time and West proved with House of the Devil that he knows how to scare us. "After over one hundred years of service, The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting its doors for good. The last remaining employees --Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy)—are determined to uncover proof of what many believe to be one of New England's most haunted hotels. As the Inn’s final days draw near, odd guests check in as the pair of minimum wage “ghost hunters” begin to experience strange and alarming events that may ultimately cause them to be mere footnotes in the hotel’s long unexplained history " Enjoy the trailer, an...

If you ask me, I'd say horror wunderkind Ti West is batting 1,000 with his recent offerings House of the Devil and Cabin Fever 2. And I'm pretty sure Shawn is with me on that. The writer/director has his own unique style and can walk the line between slow-burn scares and balls-out campy gore. And we're anxiously awaiting the release of his latest offering The Innkeepers, which has been making the festival rounds to mostly positive reviews. Well, our wait will soon be over now that Magnet Releasing has picked up the film for a theatrical, VOD and DVD release. What's it about? Check it: " After over one hundred years of service, The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting its doors for good. The last remaining employees --Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy)—are determined to uncover proof of what many believe to be one of New England's most haunted hotels. As the Inn’s final days draw near, odd guests check in as the pair of minimum wage “ghost hunters” begi...

News has been bouncing around the web for weeks now about the new horror flick Six Degrees of Hell, which has already proclaimed the title of Scariest Movie of 2012. We'll be the judge of that, director Joe Raffa and writer Harrison Smith. But the film does have the neat twist of actually being filmed at the Lake House Hotel of Horror in Sayorsburgh, PA, a location that is rumoured to be haunted. And it stars Corey Feldman, who is no stranger to any of us who grew up in the 1980s. Remember The Lost Boys? Feldman leads the cast as Kyle Brenner, a paranormal investigator retracing the steps of a friend and associate who has gone among the missing against the backdrop of horrific events at a creepy hotel. Jill Whelon, Brian Anthony Wilson and Susan Moses round out the cast. The still below doesn't show much other than Feldman, who hasn't aged a day since the 80s. I'd like to reach into the picture and cut off that one strand of hair though. As for the film, sound...

How about that? I didn't even know it was up for sale. Newsday reported on the weekend that the five bedroom house with one of the most notorious house in North American history was on the market for a  $1.15 million. The Dutch Colonial at 108 Ocean Avenue is where Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents and his four siblings in 1974. The shootings became the inspiration for Jay Anson's book The Amityville Horror: A True Story and, of course, the 1979 film "The Amityville Horror, its 2005 remake, and many crappy films/sequels inbetween. The home was only on the market for 70 days.