2022 Year-End Report Card: Top 20 Horror Movies & Albums
A rundown of my personal favorite works of art from the year.
I am emotionally exhausted. The last almost-three years of my life are a whirlwind. I’m not even sure anything actually happened. As the FriGay the 13th Horror Podcast recently reminded me, time is a manmade construct. It doesn’t exist. With everything that’s happened in the world since the first wave of lockdowns, I’ve found myself latching onto art that has an emotional core, something that rings true not just in the moment but forever. It needs to have a timeless feel, and that’s difficult to do in the streaming age. I admit my attention span is shit these days. So, my bandwidth is far narrower than it has been in recent years. I just don’t have the capacity to consume more, more, more.
With my anxiety and depression reaching all-time highs, I’ve needed to both escape and feel every single emotion coursing in my veins. So, my picks across Americana/Country/Folk Albums, Pop Albums, and Horror Movies reflect that; some entries are nothing more than frivolous fun, while others helped me process the world and confront parts of myself. I’ve been able to heal through these visual and auditory experiences. And that’s what art should always be, an experience. Whatever that might be, it should say something.
I typically do full blurb-style rundowns of my picks, but let’s be honest, I just didn’t have time. Time, that pesky little thing that seems to control every facet of our lives. As such, I decided to share my Top 20 picks in every category, accompanied with a handy-dandy playlist for my music choices. Dive in, and I hope you enjoy and find something good to listen to or watch.
Americana, Country, & Folk Albums
1. Adeem the Artist – White Trash Revelry
3. Emily Scott Robinson – Built on Bones EP
4. Nikki Lane – Denim & Diamonds
5. Miko Marks & the Resurrectors – Feel Like Going Home
6. John Calvin Abney – Tourist
7. Kris Angelis – Damn Shame Waste
8. Caroline Spence – True North
9. Plains – I Walked with You a Ways
10. Crystal Bowersox – HitchHiker
11. Melissa Carper – Ramblin’ Soul
12. Lainey Wilson – Bell Bottom Country
13. Billy Woodward – The Boy from the Bay
14. Melissa Bel – Alone Time EP
15. LeAnn Rimes – god’s work
16. Jenny Tolman – Married in a Honky Tonk
17. The Whitmore Sisters – Ghost Stories
18. Jason Scott & the High Heat – Castle Rock
19. Justin Hiltner – 1992
20. Ruthie Foster – Healing Time
Honorable Mention: Vandolier’s rowdy self-titled
Pop Albums
1. Sasha Alex Sloan – I Blame the World
2. Rina Sawayama – Hold the Girl
6. Noah Cyrus – The Hardest Part
7. Demi Lovato – Holy Fvck
9. Leah Kate – Alive and Unwell
10. Bronze Avery – SOFTMETAL
11. Bryce Bowyn – A Rosy Retrospect EP
12. Ethel Cain – Preacher’s Daughter
13. MUNA – Self-Titled
14. Darren Hayes – Homosexual
15. Rose Betts – White Orchids
16. Elise Davis – Soft
17. Tom Aspaul – Life in Plastic
18. Lizzo – Special
19. Sleeping Lion – Most Improved EP
20. Taylor Swift – Midnights
Honorable Mentions: AlexZone’s Pop Tart & Mandy Moore’s In Real Life
Horror Movies
1. Alone with You
2. X
3. Watcher
4. Children of Sin
5. Terrifier 2
6. Bodies Bodies Bodies
7. So Vam
8. Resurrection
9. Something in the Dirt
10. They/Them
11. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
12. Run Sweetheart Run
13. Mad God
14. Halloween Ends
15. Masking Threshold
16. Deadstream
17. Scream
18. Offseason
19. Gatlopp: Hell of a Game
20. What Josiah Saw
Honorable Mention: A Wounded Fawn & Men
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