The Poisonous Whitley King

Published February 25, 2025 by biggayhorrorfan

With an ultramarine noir setting as her backdrop, the deranged Whitley King (Kim Coles) made a sadistically triumphant return to Days of our Lives this February.

Of course, the cast and crew of Body and Soul, Days‘ soap within a soap, had already been feeling King’s presence for a while. For months, poisoned cupcakes and other dangers have pockmarked their paths due to her handiwork. Poor Bonnie (Judi Evans) even landed at the bottom of an empty elevator shaft due to the former Florence Nightingale’s crazed manipulations.

But that bumpy freefall was just the starter course. Angered at what she considered the desecration of her favorite program, Whitley ultimately laced a potpourri of fake scripts with a deadly chemical, intending to off everyone involved with the show, once and for all. Talk about a special delivery!

This plot devise found everyone from charming, frequently shirtless playboy Alex (Robert Scott Wilson) to wacky diva-in-waiting Hattie (Diedre Hall) near death’s door. Thankfully, the quick-thinking Dr. Sarah Horton (Lindsey Godfrey) realized what was happening and that the hospital had an antidote to reverse the effects of King’s morbid libation.

Meanwhile, Abe (James Reynolds,) the enterprise’s executive producer, finally cottoned to the fact that it just might be his former kidnapper (see As The Stab Burns: Kim Coles) that could be behind the nefarious happenings at his workplace. Of course, once she realized that not only had her crimes been exposed, but completely thwarted, King, like many a prime villainess before her, fell into a catatonic stupor – with only another sweeps month bonanza seemingly a tonic strong enough to revive her.

Whitley can sleep peacefully for now, though, knowing that her prime objective was reached. Much to many a real-life fan’s relief, Tuesday’s (2/11/25) episode detailed the aftermath of Abe and his co-executive producer Kate (Lauren Koslow) deciding to pull the plug on their rendition of Body and Soul. Fully aware they failed to keep everyone safe, the fictional drama’s fictional drama’s headquarters will now be moving to Los Angeles, leaving many viewers, who felt this tale had long overstayed it’s welcome, very happy that their favorite program is about to move onto other, more traditionally dramatic pastures.

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

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The Supreme Reign of Batty Connie

Published July 31, 2024 by biggayhorrorfan

Nothing makes me happier than a femme identifying slasher as the primary character in some ghoul stained epic. Horror has a number of them – with Pamela Voorhees from the original Friday the 13th, naturally, leading the top of the list. More recent additions include the titular subjects in projects like Lisa Frankenstein, Abigail and MaXXXine. These cinematic vixens have been completely unafraid to shed a little blood to get exactly what they want.

Nicely, soaps have also given us a few of their own twisted ovarian baddies over the past couple years.

Currently, the legendary Colleen Zenk has been careening her way across Genoa City on The Young and the Restless. After burning down a prison and pushing a recovering alcoholic (played by talented soap hopper Brian Gaskill) into the path of a moving vehicle, her demented Aunt Jordan has wound up with a huge casualty list. On that other network, Alley Mills deservedly won an Emmy for enacting Heather Webber’s latest reign of terror on General Hospital. As the poison wielding The Hook, she carved her way through both day and contract players alike with a Michael Myers sized abandon.

Days of our Lives has not been idle either. In 2023, comedienne Kim Coles threw a dramatic twist into her resume by playing the murderously delusional Whitley King. King kidnapped the show’s longstanding hero Abe Carver (James Reynolds), nearly killing him and his beloved daughter (Sal Stowers) before she was apprehended. This summer, meanwhile, Julie Dove’s zany Connie Viniski is striking fear into the hearts of male Salemites, in and out of Horton Square. While Connie had made a couple minor appearances previously, recent surprise plot revelations have placed her squarely behind the knife that killed the suave Li (Remington Hoffman) over six months ago.

Joyfully, her reign of terror has just begun. In order to keep her dastardly secret, Viniski recently stabbed the show’s (hopefully) resilient police commissioner Rafe (Galen Gering) in the back. That this crime took place over an open grave in a cemetery only added to it’s delightful macabre intensity. Now Connie seems to also be targeting Robert Stein (Blake Berris), her wicked co-conspirator, and Gabi (Cherie Jimenez), Rafe’s manipulative businesswoman sister. Of course, Connie is sure to talk over any plans she might make with her favorite conjured entity. The ghost-like apparition of Li is now a permanent resident at her breakfast table.

Importantly, despite her often-delusionary actions, Dove has added an almost chirpy innocence to Connie’s increasingly malevolent personality here. This little something extra has certainly endeared her to audiences – even as the character cuts a swath through the heart of their favored city. In fact, if Dove continues to add this sense of quirky charm to the role, Viniski will certainly become one of the show’s most memorable modern-day villainesses.

At the very least, the weeks ahead are sure to be sparkly, bloody fun – particularly for those, like me, who relate to the subtle flourishes of insecurity that percolate throughout Viniski’s vengeful exterior!

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan!

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan

As The Stab Burns: Kim Coles

Published August 2, 2023 by biggayhorrorfan

Proving that the tears of the clown do run the deepest, comedienne Kim Coles’ (Living Single, In Living Color) recent run as Nurse Whitley on Days of our Lives was decorated with both tragedy and laughter…with a good ole dash of psychotic fury thrown in for good measure, as well.

After Abe (James Reynolds), the show’s mayor and a legacy character extraordinaire, was hospitalized, he discovered one major post-surgery complication – Coles’ overly friendly, extremely deluded healthcare practitioner. Convincing him that she was Paulina (Jackee Harry), his powerful and loving wife, Whitley kidnapped him and held him captive in her apartment – one strewn with colorful stuffed cat plushes and overly cheery paraphernalia. As the confused Abe grew ever leery of her story, Whitley conceived scheme upon scheme to keep him in the dark and by her side.

With definitive echos of Stephen King’s Misery, the increasingly desperate caregiver even began drugging Abe, eventually finding a way to convince his family that he was dead. Of course, all that begins badly generally ends happily in the world of daytime and, after one last ditch effort to erase herself & her captive from existence, Whitley was caught and brought to justice.

Besides proving that King’s tales should provide more fodder for soap opera stories, this saga gave Coles a delightful way to expand her talent palette. Alternately vibrating with tenderness, confusion and menace, she made the most of this unusual opportunity, ensuring this story was a fun…& historic ride. *

(* – This tale was one of few in the show’s many decades that revolved around and utilized a Black cast almost exclusively.)

Until the next time, SWEET love and pink GRUE, Big Gay Horror Fan

http://www.facebook.com/biggayhorrorfan