John Coon on Substack: "Welcome to another Macabre Monday! My oldest sister and I both have March birthdays. We are separated by 11 years, but our birthdays are a day apart. She turned 56 today and I turn 45 tomorrow. You're probably asking yourself: What do birthdays have to do with the horror gen…"

Welcome to another Macabre Monday!

My oldest sister and I both have March birthdays. We are separated by 11 years, but our birthdays are a day apart. She turned 56 today and I turn 45 tomorrow.

You're probably asking yourself: What do birthdays have to do with the horror genre? Birthdays are a celebration of life. They are also a reminder of aging and our inevitable mortality. In horror stories, birthdays can be an ironic setting for death and terror. Happy Death Day sticks the main character in a time loop and forces her to outwit a killer who murdered her on her birthday. Signs of Damien's ascent to being the antichrist in The Omen first appear at his fifth birthday party where his nanny publicly hangs herself.

What is your favorite birthday horror story? Why are birthdays an effective setting for a horror tale? Please share your thoughts.

Don't forget to check out notes and posts from the rest of the Macabre Monday crowd today! (And turn in your entry for our upcoming Wicked Writing contest by this weekend.)