Today is my final one as Managing Editor of Shock Till You Drop.
Beginning this August, Ill be joining Shudder, AMC Networks brand new all-horror streaming service as Curator. The next step is truly a dream, and still I cant help but feel we were just getting started here. Taking over for Ryan Turek in December 2014, my immediate goal was to simply do something different. Writing about film online is increasingly difficult and generic, and my entire hope was to carve a space in which the more requisite daily news would be accompanied by unique, proper features, with writers who could dive in to whatever horror they please, thoughtfully and at length. I wanted a space where all horror is valid and worth discussing.
Fortunately, something of a dream team assembled and over the past eight months, I believe we were getting there. Im immensely proud of the reviews, essays, lists, columns and reported features that have been published on Shock since I took over. The knowledge shared by Sean Abley, Matt Barone, Ashlee Blackwell, Brian Collins, Kalyn Corrigan, Max Evry, Brett Gallman, Britt Hayes, Jacob Q. Knight, Shawn Macomber, Alison Nastasi, Priscilla Page, Spencer Perry, Matt Serafini, John Squires and Alexandra West is immense. Thats not to mention the guest posts from filmmakers like Josh Ethier, Glenn McQuaid and Graham Reznick. Its been a total gift for me to have posted and share it all with Shock readers. They are the reason I feel confident in what we built, however brief its lasted.
If youve visited Shock in these past months, thank you tremendously for reading. It means the world. The reason any of it worked is because of a smart, engaged readership looking for sharp words on the genre, from populist to the most niche. I imagine and hope youll follow the site into its new direction. I also hope youll keep up with me over at Shudder; well be doing great, great things. Most of all, I hope you seek out the cast of characters above, whether on social (their twitter handles are linked) or the various publications and sites they contribute to. Theyre full of incredible taste and insight, and Im lucky to have worked with them.
See you later,
Sam
