Deep within the bowels of Gruesome Magazine headquarters, an elusive ghostly creature lurks. The Grue Crew can’t put their finger on what it is. Some say it’s a Batman style superhero lurking for justice in the corners. Others say it’s a vampire with massive fangs using the evasiveness to further draw you in. Plenty of others just say it’s Doc roaming the halls to the fridge at night. Regardless, this indefinable creature is something many try to figure out. Little do they know that that creature metamorphosizes from week to week. Yes, you the fan choose the form of this creature and The Grue Crew spend the last moments of Horror News Radio  trying to guess what it is. All of you forge the…  Phantom Factor! Here are the rules:

1. I’ll put up a call to action post like this one announcing a topic.
2. This topic (The  Phantom Factor, as it were)  will be based around a favorite horror/genre character, actor, director or even film.
3. The listeners will post suggestions in the comments of social media or this very post.
4. I will pick three suggestions from those listed.
5. On Horror News Radio, I will have list three facts about each mysterious figure that the other Grue Crew members will try to guess. Each fact is in descending order of vagueness.
6. Those who guess from the first fact — the vaguest one — will receive three points. Then two points at the second fact. One point at the final. If no one guesses by that point, no one receives any points

This Week’s Topic

The major subject of Horror News Radio is something wild and crazy AF, y’all. Mom and Dad  features  Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair as parents who – after a bout of mass hysteria that transforms all the parents into stark raving mad lunatics – are out for the blood of their children. It’s a real family picture, obviously. Of course, Nicolas Cage is bound to deliver a crazy performance in a film directed by one half of the  Crank  directors Brian Taylor. So, our topic is Most Over the Top Performance in a Horror Film.  Submit your answer in either the comments below or on any social media post for this article by January 22nd at 8:30 pm EST and you may hear your name called as we try to guess The  Phantom Factor.

Thomas Mariani

Thomas Mariani is a born geek, with a bit of nerd mixed in here & there. A native of the (less) swampy parts of Florida, Thomas has always been a fan of films, television & other sources of media ever since he was a child, having been raised on Jim Henson, Star Wars and the basic cable cartoons of the ’90s & ’00s.

Some of his favorite horror films include Evil Dead II, Poltergeist and An American Werewolf in London. He already has experience writing and podcasting about pop culture, which you can read/listen to on sites like www.oneofus.net, www.horrornews.net or even on twitter as @NotTheWhosTommy.