Persephone's (Gothic) Insights
The horror blog about metal, videogames, and sex.

Year: 2018

The Hateful Eight (2015): Review, part 1

The Hateful Eight (2015): Review, part 1

Here is part one of my three-part review of The Hateful Eight (2015). Read part two, here; part three, here. "The Eighth film by Quentin Tarantino" is a hybrid of sorts, but a…
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Halloween 4 (1988): Review, part 1

Halloween 4 (1988): Review, part 1

I’m currently watching the older Halloween movies in anticipation of the latest one, coming out in October. I already watched II (1981), and saw III (1983), years ago. So I…
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Halloween 4 (1988): Review, part 2

Halloween 4 (1988): Review, part 2

Here is part two of my review of Halloween IV: The Return of Michael Myers (1988); read part one, here. SPOILERS! Rachel has her arc, and Loomis has his. As…
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Halloween 2 (1981): Review, part 1

Halloween 2 (1981): Review, part 1

I’ve decided to sit down and watch all of the Halloween movies, from II (1981) all the way to Resurrection (2002). I could review the original (and probably will at…
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Halloween 2 (1981): Review, part 3

Halloween 2 (1981): Review, part 3

Here is part three of my three-part review of  Halloween II (1981), where I close the review by looking at more of the good stuff the movie has to offer. In part…
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Halloween 2 (1981): Review, part 2

Halloween 2 (1981): Review, part 2

Here is part two of my three-part review of  Halloween II (1981), where I’ll examine what I disliked about the movie. In part one, I looked at what I liked, larger themes, and…
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My name's Persephone van der Waard; I have my MA in Gothic English literature and independent PhD in Gothic poetics and ludo-Gothic BDSM (focusing partially on Metroidvania), and I am the author of the multi-volume, non-profit book series, Sex Positivity vs Sex Coercion, or Gothic Communism—its art director, sole invigilator, illustrator and primary editor (the other co-writer/co-editor being Bay Ryan). A rape survivor/granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor and Dutch Resistance memberand someone anti-war (as a business), anti-Zionist and anti-racist/anti-white-supremacist who specializes in tokenism (e.g., TERFs, SWERFs, and fascist feminism)I'm a MtF trans woman, Tolkien and Amazon enthusiast, former YouTuberanti-fascist, loud critic of Marxist-Leninism/state vampirism, atheist and Satanist, poly/pan kinkster with multiple partners, erotic artist/pornographer and anarcho-Communist; i.e., under my brand of Gothic (gay-anarcho) Communism as a holistic, intersectional discipline: one devised in 2022-2023, and which my friends and I currently achieve together. / Originally this blog explored my love of movies when I was cis-het; now I use it to write about the Gothic—horror, but also sex, heavy metal, and videogames in a queer way (especially Metroidvania).

I take donations for my work (which goes towards helping sex workers, trans people and other minorities). I currently take payment on PayPal, Patreon, and CashApp, etc; all links are available on my Linktr.ee. Every bit helps!

Regarding Formatting Issues for Blogposts (Older than October 2025): Recently Josey Howarth helped transfer my old blog from Blogger to WordPress, which—while vital for security reasons—altered their formatting. On a phone screen, the posts are mostly readable, but look slightly "jank" on computer screens. Many also contain outdated "About the Author" sections—meaning inside the posts-in-question, alongside the blog website "footer" (as added by Josey after the transfer). Such things are temporary. Eventually we plan to overhaul their visual design, remodeling my blog and website (thus fixing the issues in the question)!

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