Ben Mangelsdorf | Scary Studies

Ben Mangelsdorf is a writer living in Boulder, Colorado. He enjoys horror films, writing poetry, rock climbing, and the Beach Boys. He enjoys taking an analytical look at pop culture and believes that even the most mundane art has value.

Scary Movies

The Shining Bear Suit and Kubrick’s Endless Conspiracies

The Shining is a film infamous for its puzzles. Rather than sticking to the plan laid out in Stephen King’s 1977 novel, Stanley ...

By Ben MangelsdorfMay 8, 20220

Horror TV

Treehouse Tropes: Mind Control and Evil Hair in “Hell Toupee”

“Treehouse of Horror” loves to introduce unexpected elements into The Simpsons. The Halloween-themed series of episodes always takes the most familiar aspects of ...

By Ben MangelsdorfApril 29, 20220

Scary Movies

The Wolf House Explained: A Hallucinatory Dive into Chile’s Dark Past

Despite its reputation among outsiders for tired tropes and repeated story lines, horror is constantly reinventing itself. For every new iteration of Scream ...

By Ben MangelsdorfApril 21, 20220

Scary Art

Pixel Art, Horror’s New (and Old) Artistic Medium

For the most part, horror is a very visual genre. It’s the images that stick with us: a man approaching behind the shower ...

By Ben MangelsdorfMarch 16, 20220

Bartificial Intelligence from Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

Horror TV

Treehouse Tropes: Sci-Fi Horror in “B.I. Bartificial Intelligence”

It’s said that The Simpsons has predicted pretty much everything. Terrorist attacks, autocorrect, Trump’s presidency; you name it, The Simpsons made an episode ...

By Ben MangelsdorfMarch 6, 20220