Aric Cushing

Early life

A native of California, Aric grew up in the town of Boulder Creek. As a child he performed in numerous local productions such as This One Thing I Do, The Wizard of Oz, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Thurber Carnival. A recipient of numerous speech awards, he received a college grant from Hewlett-Packard, attended both the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and the London Court Theater in England, and afterwards toured the Pacific Northwest in a 2-person travelling theater company.

The Fear and Fantasy Film Festival

The co-founder of the Los Angeles Fear and Fantasy Film Festival. The festival began in 2012 and was established by director Logan Thomas and Aric Cushing. Festival awards include Best Actor, Best Picture, Best Actress, and others, as well as a screenwriting competition. The festival was first held in Burbank, California.

Best of the Festival for 2012 was awarded to "Le Lac Noir" (The Black Lake), a French/Swiss co-production, and for 2013, "The Girl", a short film from Ireland, directed by John Hayes. Best Actor award was given to Lance Henriksen, for his performance in Scooter Downey's film (It's in the Blood). Best Actress award was given to Jacinta John, for her performance in Martyn Park's film iSOLATE. The Achievement Award (for work in the Fear and Fantasy genre) was given to Veronica Cartwright. In 2013, Russell Mulcahy received the Achievement Award. The festival also released a Horror Shorts Vol. 1 DVD with selections from the festival of fear and fantasy short films from around the world. In 2014, the achievement award was given to Harry Dean Stanton. The Best Performance by an Ensemble cast was given to "Zombie Dream" (a tie), directed by Blair Murphy, and starring Eric Roberts, Butch Patrick, and Stan Lee.

Aric Cushing and Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Aric Cushing is the co-writer of The Yellow Wallpaper feature film (ISBN 978-0615-769639), with Logan Thomas. Much controversy surrounds the feature film because it does not adhere exactly to the original story plot. He also wrote a corresponding collection of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's work, titled "The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories: The Complete Gothic Collection" (ISBN 978-0-615-56839-3). Previously, Charlotte Perkins Gilman's work as a novelist, short story writer, poet, and public speaker was mostly regarded from the feminist viewpoint, especially when her feminist work was used as a platform in the 1960s feminist movement. The introduction contends that before Gilman launched into her socialist themes, and during the time she wrote 'The Yellow Wall-paper" story, she focused on Gothic stories for a short period of time (mostly between 1890–1895). The story is sometimes polarized between people who believe it to be only a Gothic story and those that only believe it to be a women's rights tale. Aric Cushing is the first to discover two previously 'lost' works that surrounded her short and brief period writing Gothic and ghost fiction, which are included in the compilation, and were never re-published after their original publication dates in the 1890s. The stories are "The Unwatched Door" and "Clifford's Tower". In 2014, Aric edited and published "Lost Essays" (ISBN 978-1-929-73000-1), a collection of Gilman's commentaries.

Stagework