Horror Stories

Horror Stories (2024) is an anthology horror film that combines six stories into one narrative, centred on a United Kingdom-based book club that has discovered a method to spookily enter the world of storytelling. One by one, each member of the club must touch a magical book which transports them into a unique narrative setting, each designed to scare and thrill the participant experiencing the tale, as well as the viewer. The stories all have their own aesthetic and many of them involve unexpected twists and startling performances.

The film was supposedly made with zero budget, and was written, directed and produced by one man- Lukas DiSparrow. His creation of the feature-length film was unplanned and was sparked by his production of 10 short films over several months, which he saw as having the potential to be brought together into one singular, multifaceted narrative.

Creating a feature-length film without any budget is a remarkable achievement, and often when restricted by monetary boundaries, filmmakers’ creativity can blossom marvellously, and Horror Stories is a particularly excellent example of how successful a restricted project can be. Despite the limited crew and set, DiSparrow was able to incorporate lighting, music, and various other design strategies to ensure each of the stories has its own unique aesthetic. Each world stands out both visually and narratively, whilst all maintain a lightly comedic but overarching sinister and bizarre tone so the viewer gets a clear feel that they are all from the same universe.

The strength of the short horror stories’ substance of course varies throughout. For instance, the opening segment involves an off-beat clown performance followed by an unconvincingly gory massacre, lacking in fear factor partly through the ridiculousness of what takes place, but also lighting is a major factor, as whilst the scenes take place outdoors in daylight, the lighting appears artificial which removes any sentiment of realism and therefore fear. Meanwhile, there are some strongly memorable, original concepts which are executed here. Most notably, She Lives In Me, the film’s closing story involves a shocking revelation and brings to light the horrors that some individuals face who are uncomfortable in their own bodies, haunted by a different kind of past than that expected of a ghost story.

The film’s budget of zero inevitably required a limited and unprofessional cast, which required the re-use of actors from the book club in the fantastical horror worlds. Skilfully, the narrative smoothly justifies the presence of faces seen before by viewers, meaning there is no jarring confusion, there is an intriguing sense of blending between reality and fantasy. As well as this, despite the actors all being unprofessional and largely inexperienced, viewers will find themselves startled by some of the genuinely menacing performances here. A notable highlight is during the Devil’s Feast segment involving a satanist older woman played by Jan Olivia Hewitt, who shines in her role. Her menace and insanity as a convincing devil-worshipper is stunningly fearful.

Unfortunately, many of the short stories suffer from poor lighting making some of them difficult to engage with. As mentioned, some of the stories are also less narratively compelling, whilst some, particularly She Lives In Me, are cleverly conveyed masterful pieces of storytelling. The varying quality between the different stories is at times insulting to the short form, as many of the segments shine fantastically on their own, meaning viewers can’t help but question if it was necessary to combine them into a feature film.

Overall, there is certainly a lot of credit due to DiSparrow’s creativity and the commitment from all the cast to creating a unique, bizarre, zero-budget horror film which will be enjoyable for many viewers.