Blogs and Writing - EthanNorris.com

20th Century Studios and Zach Cregger give horror fans a treat with the new film, Barbarian. Full of suspense, dread, and wonderfully horrid creature design, Barbarian sends audiences on a rollercoaster of confusion equal to the characters who find themselves lost in the film’s dark tunnels. (Read the FULL article here)

Are Winter Ties Worth the Investment?

Winter is coming, along with all of the harsh snow and ice in the Midwest!

Driving in Chicago is already tricky during rush hour, and the last thing you want to worry about is if your car can handle the commute on snowy roads.

Which probably has you wondering if switching to winter tires is the right choice or if you should rely on all-season tires instead. (Read the FULL article here)

Try Predator Pool Cues at Emerald!

We don’t deal in demos – try the real Predator Cues today!

Other billiards showrooms may offer a demo testing of Predator pool cues for customers to try, but you would usually have to order them ahead of time and come back at a later date to pick up your cue.

At Emerald this isn’t the case! (Read the FULL article here)

Top 5 Pets in Horror Movies

Dogs and cats are some of the best companions a human can have. They also play vital roles in many of our favorite horror movies. Sometimes they help save the day, and other times they exist just to make the hero’s life harder. Either way, furry friends often steal the show in whatever movie they’re in. Here are the five best pets that have ever appeared on the silver screen for horror. (Read the FULL article here)

Why the Killer Klowns are Back, and Why Now

When Stephen Chiodo released his directorial debut, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the world of horror B-movies changed forever. He proved that films don’t need to have big budgets to succeed. With a $1.8 million budget (which is tiny compared to Child’s Play’s $9 million), Chiodo created one of the biggest titles in cult-classic horror history and still makes its way into modern pop culture. (Read the FULL article here)

Unrequited Love: The Most Overlooked Scene in Citizen Kane

Since its release in 1941, Orson Welles’ masterpiece, Citizen Kane, has been the most dissected film in the history of film studies. Millions of words have been written solely on the question of what Rosebud represents. For many, talking about Citizen Kane is a subject in film discourse that’s more nauseating than the POV shots in Cloverfield. Seemingly everything about the film that needs to be said, has been already. However, there is one scene that’s gone overlooked for decades. The most important scene in the entirety of Citizen Kane’s 119-minute runtime. (Read the FULL article here)

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey Gets its Gory First Trailer

The film world erupted today with the first trailer for Rhy Frake-Waterfield’s Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey.

The rights behind A.A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood and the lovable animals who call it home entered the public domain on January 1, 2022. Disney exclusively owned the rights to Winnie the Pooh and his friends for years but not anymore. Waterfield took advantage of this and announced a horrific take on the story only five months later. Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey’s first trailer promises non-stop gore and slasher fun sure to ruin once-beloved childhood memories. (Read the FULL article here)

Top 10 Horror Movies and Shows You Can’t Miss This Halloween

Halloween is rapidly approaching, and with the change of season comes a variety of shows and movies that are certain to get you into the pumpkin-carving mood. This autumn is packed with exciting new releases you won’t want to miss. Here are the top ten most anticipated releases in the next two months. (Read the FULL article here)

The Scariest Monster in Horror History

A fun thing about monster movies is the variety in creature design. Lizards the size of skyscrapers and grizzly, humanoid aliens have dominated the horror landscape for decades. However, those monsters rely on fear of the unknown to get under audiences’ skin. While characters like the Xenomorph from Alien, and the various slasher icons are designed to be frightening, audiences can disconnect from those movies because it’s difficult to imagine being in that situation with a clearly fictional creature. Instead, true terror is found in what is known. It’s taking a daily, mundane experience and turning it into a nightmare. (Read the FULL article here)

The Hidden, Incredible Influence of the POV

The POV, or Point of View, shot puts audiences into films by showcasing the cinematic world behind a character’s eyes. Despite being a well-known and popular camera shot, its usage is limited in most films due to the POV shot having the potential to make or break the emotion of a scene. Certain cinematic events designed for third-person viewing don’t work with for a character’s point of view, so directors must decide which scenes would excel for a first-person experience. It’s often a difficult decision because if there is too much POV, it spoils the significance of actually using that shot. POV shots are challenging camera shots to pull off for those reasons. (Read the FULL article here)

Horror in Star Wars

It’s not uncommon to think of the Star Wars franchise as nothing but a dramatic space opera of lightsaber duels and loveable, marketable creatures. These elements have helped Star Wars achieve the level of pop-culture relevance it has had since 1977. However, underneath the formulaic excitement the franchise offers, there is a level of horrific imagery in its content that’s traditionally found in the horror genre and goes unaddressed. From dystopian elements such as cybernetics that fuse flesh and metal, cross-species parasites, powers solely meant to inflict pain, and weapons of mass destruction, Star Wars is a lot more horror than it’s thought to be. (Read the FULL article here)

Tips for Flatbed Truckers: Live Better On the Road

When it comes to OTR truck driving, the difference between flatbed and dry van is significant in many ways, especially when it comes to the physical demands of the job.

Flatbed drivers move more – lifting, pulling and stretching objects to secure their loads – and generally are more active throughout the day, rather than just sitting in the driver’s seat.

But that doesn’t mean that flatbed drivers can compromise on their lifestyle and health! (Read the FULL article here)