Sketch comedy is always something that has brought me joy. While I was introduced to Saturday Night Live and Monty Python’s Flying Circus at a young age, I don’t think I would trade my engagement with the current sketch comedy scene for a dead parrot or samurai delicatessen (hilarious though they may be). As far back as I can remember, I would watch one sketch show after the next: All That in my earliest years, Chapelle’s Show during high school, and Whitest Kids U Know, as well as the more risqué Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! throughout college. Then in 2013, I was introduced to Kroll Show and taken for a rather wild ride. The show certainly does not have the most insane premises I have seen in a sketch comedy show (see Tim and Eric), but it does pack enough charming, playful irreverence to be polarizing.

The show stars Nick Kroll, a L.A. based comedian, most well-known for his interesting array of characters. Most viewers might recognize Kroll from the hit series The League, where he plays the pompous, obsessive-compulsive lawyer, Rodney Ruxin. However, before I knew him in that role, I had the pleasure of listening to his fantastic characters on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast. Fabrice Fabrice, Bobby Bottleservice, and Gil Faizon are just a few of the characters that Kroll has has put a televised face to through his show. That being said, Season 3 is the show’s last, and while it is a little sad for me to see it go, I eagerly await Kroll’s next big project. My love for this show (as well as Kroll’s comedy) stems from his infectious sense of humor, as well as an amazing ability to maintain consistent comedy through each interweaving sketch.

The mere mention of Hammer Studios brings to mind bloody terror to the legions of monster fans who grew up on a steady drive-in staple diet of the studio's iconic monster movies. The studio picked up where Universal left off in the 1950's and delivered a new run of the classic monsters we had been introduced to in black and white. Hammer brought these creatures to life in living ... or is that living dead … color. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Werewolf, and The Mummy were all resurrected for a new cycle of films from the British studio. The place earned its often-used nickname of The House of Horror.

But Hammer wasn't always known as a horror factory. The company actually began in the 1930's, creating decidedly British versions of film noir. In the 1950's and 60's when the horror phase began, Hammer was also putting out other fare for a hungry public. These films often embraced some chilling elements but didn't rely on monsters for many of the scares. The films were often even crime dramas or supernatural in nature. These films often were the training grounds for some of their staple talent over the years. In this collection Mill Creek has compiled some of these both classic monsters and psychological thrillers from the House of Horror.