Odds and Dead Ends: hokusai’s ghost story paintings

The creator of one of the most famous paintings in the world, 19^th century artist Katsushika Hokusai certainly left his mark not only on the art world but on world culture as a whole. As part of his series entitled Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji, his famous print, The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, depicts a great Prussian-blue wave tossing boats around in the frothing ocean, with Fuji visible in the background. Carved as a woodblock print back in 1831, when the master was in his seventies, this piece of artwork not only showed the mountain in all its glory, but has been analysed since as representing a threat from overseas from other nations, threatening to overwhelm the Japanese way of life and drown its spiritual monument, the mountain itself, which had long been a site of religious and spiritual reflection, and continues to be to this day.

            The Great Wave may well be his masterpiece, reprinted possibly billions of times by now, but this wasn’t all the artist completed. Another of his series was entitled Hyaku Monogatari (One Hundred Ghost Stories), created in around 1830. Despite the name, it somehow only managed to get to five pieces, which is a shame, because they’re a wonderfully disturbing few images of spooky madness from nearly 200 years ago. Any horror fan worth their salt would do a lot worse than to spend some time admiring them.

            The first of the five prints is entitled ‘The Mansion of the Plates’, and draws its inspiration from one of the same stories that inspired Koji Suzuki’s novel Ring, that of the story of the ten plates and the ghost of Okiku. A maid accidentally breaks one of a set of plates belonging to her master, who in a rage, kills her and throws her down a well. Later she returns from the well as a spirit to wreak her revenge. Versions of this story have Okiku as completely innocent, with both her master (or would-be suiter) hiding the plate and then blaming her, or his wife hiding the plate. In all of these cases, it doesn’t end well for poor Okiku. Interestingly enough, a species of bug discovered in the late 1700s was known as ‘Okiku Mushi’, or the Okiku bug, named after the maid who was killed.

Koji Suzuki would take the ‘bug’ into technological realms when Sadako becomes the ghostly-tech hybrid infection of the ‘Ring virus’ in Spiral and Loop, the second and third books in the Ring series respectively. In his painting over 150 years prior, Hokusai’s painting of the story is beautifully bizarre, with Okiku’s neck stretching from out of the broken well like a great worm, the plates forming her neck show her fusing with that which caused her misery all that time ago.

            In The Laughing Hannya, one might recognise the kind of face which would become popular to oversees audiences through the mask in the 1960 film Onibaba. A horned demon laughing with blood around its face, the child’s head in its clawed hand, blood dripping from the crown, is immensely disturbing. What a beautiful job Hokusai had done with the woodblock, however, managing to carve in a way to so much detail into the hair, so many tiny strands, set apart from the relatively plain face of the demon-transformed woman (or ‘hannya’, hence the title), save for the speckling of blood on its maw. The skeletal hands really set it aside as something horrific and monstrous, cannibalistic and unholy.

            Stories of spurned lovers continue to haunt horror films from Asia even now, and their imbuing themselves with physical items as a form of their manifestation gives them an additional sense of dread. Marley’s ghost might have been transfiguring door knockers over in England, but years before that there was a samurai’s wife thrown away after his new lover’s friends give her a face cream that poisons and disfigures her. Hokusai shows the spirit of Oiwa in the painting of the same name, possessing and disfiguring a paper lantern in a print of the same name, usually seen as a sign of good luck and happiness to guide spirits to the afterlife, to claim her revenge, twisting good into bad. Using the lantern’s sections to break apart the spirit’s face, like a snake unhinging its jaw, eyes red and raw, the whole image presents such an uncanny intrusion of the bizarre into the normal that it’s almost impossible not to be transfixed by its awfulness.

            Back before a century ago, a swastika was seen as a sign of good luck and hopefulness in many cultures, including Buddhism. It is therefore fitting that an oroborous-like snake, symbol of eternity and never-ending emotion, surrounds it in the print Obsession, which also depicts a memorial tablet and offerings on a Buddhist altar. An emotion that could go beyond even the realms of death, that such a powerful feeling would be represented by a snake (seen as evil in many cultures, not just Christianity and the Indiana Jones films) gives the painting a worthwhile feeling of ugliness. It’s not a scene anyone would want to come across, and whilst perhaps not as visually striking as the others in the series, it’s much more symbolic and universal in its depiction of the ghostly retention of ideas after departure.

            The final print in the series, Kohada Koheiji, touches upon a real-world incident. The eponymous man of the title, an actor believed to have lived in the later Edo period, is murdered by his wife her lover. Returning, mosquito-like, he rises in a mix of skeletal hands and insectoid fronds to peer over the mosquito net of his wife’s bed. The story had already been novelised and adapted into several kabuki theatre plays by the time Hokusai got around to his version, so he had to do something different to stand out. It’s therefore not surprising that this one is the most gruesome of the paintings, even beyond The Laughing Hannya, with Hokusai depicting a cracked skull, fleshless and leering jaws, and once again the pupils in the top of the sockets, looking up. Doing this with all his faces (aside from Hannya) gives the spirits not only a sense of uniformity, adding to their identity as part of a woodblock series, but makes them just that little more strange. We’re used to looking straight on at things, and spirits looking to the tops of their heads makes them seem a little more deathly, as if the eyes that rolled to the heavens upon their passing have been locked in place. The two tones of blue, lighter for the net and darker for the sky beyond, gives the print just a little extra surreal strangeness.

            The sequence is a great little series of prints from back in the day, especially before photography. Although magic lanterns had been shown in Japan for a few decades, thanks to the introduction by the Dutch (the only country they annually traded with for over a century), woodblock prints were much more the norm for visual art, becoming more and more common for the average individual to possess works of art in their homes as time went on throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Bringing these prints to story telling groups, where candles would be extinguished one after another until, with the final one gone, a ghost would appear, would also help get one in the right mood for terror. In today’s world, they’re obviously much overlooked by Hokusai’s other artistic achievements, but they nonetheless remain a wonderful window into spooky, horrific media nearly two hundred years old.

Historian of Horror: Monogram Horror Movies 1940-1941

 

Moving along down Poverty Row, we find Monogram Pictures. Founded in the early 1930s specifically to make and distribute low-budget pictures, Monogram’s early output was heavy on mysteries, some with a Scooby-Doo twist. No real supernatural or outright horrific content, but with names like The Phantom Broadcast (1933, murder during a radio show); The Sphinx (also 1933, with horror stalwart Lionel Atwill); House of Mystery (1934); and Haunted House (1940), you’d think they were horror movies. You’d be mistaken, but not by much.

Monogram also had distribution deals with British producers, so they were able to offer the American public pictures like The Human Monster (1939, AKA The Dark Eyes of London) and Chamber of Horrors (1940 AKA The Door with Seven Locks), both based on novels by Edgar Wallace, who had been instrumental in the creation of a certain giant ape. Wallace deserves a long look in this space one of these days, so we’ll discuss those films at that time.

Monogram’s first actual horror film was a typical mad-scientist-doing-good-by-being-bad effort, the sort of role Boris Karloff had let himself get typecast in during this period. The Ape (1940) has him donning a gorilla skin to harvest spinal fluid from unwilling donors in order to find a cure for polio. Should have just waited for Dr. Salk and Dr. Sabin to work their wonders.

Although Bela Lugosi was the star of the abovementioned British film The Human Monster, it doesn’t count as one of the legendary Monogram Nine, a nonet of horror flicks he made at the studio during the following few years, due to it being an import. Invisible Ghost from 1941 is the first of that set. Lugosi is a doctor who is triggered to fall into a homicidal trance whenever he sees his ‘late’ wife wandering the grounds. Sounds like some marriage counseling might be in order.

King of the Zombies (1941) is an oddity, a Grade Z horror flick that actually got some attention from the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dick Purcell, who three years later would become the first Marvel Cinematic Universe hero when he put on the tights and cowl for Republic Picture’s Captain America serial, gets stranded on a remote island with his African-American valet, played by Mantan Moreland in the cringe-worthy style typical of the period, and a fellow passenger played by John Archer, who would later lend his voice to The Shadow on the radio. They take refuge in the home of a mad doctor who is attempting to use voodoo to wrest American military secrets from a captured admiral. A ruckus ensues, and everything turns out just as expected.

Except for one thing. The score for King of the Zombies was nominated for an Oscar. I cannot think of a single other Grade Z horror movie of the period nominated for any award, in any category. There was Fredric March’s Best Actor co-win with Wallace Beery (The Champ) for Paramount’s 1931 production of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde, and that film’s nominations for Best Adaptation Writing and Best Cinematography, and a few others for similarly classy pictures, but nothing for anything else down on Poverty Row.

I just took a listen and I’m honestly not sure why it was nominated, unless it was just to round out the slate of nominees. It was up against some seriously stiff competition, including Best Picture winner How Green Was My Valley, the actual Best Picture (of all time) Citizen Kane, Gary Cooper biopic Sergeant York and MGM’s remake of Dr. Jekyll and Mister Hyde starring Spencer Tracy. The Academy Award did go to a horror movie, RKO’s The Devil and Daniel Webster, but again, that was an A-Picture, not the bottom-of-the-barrel spookiness coming out of Monogram. Still, it is a curiosity of the genre, and one worthy of being noted.

I should point out that Mr. Purcell’s performance as Captain America had nothing to do with the character portrayed in more recent films, other than the costume. Instead of fighting against the Nazis in Europe as an American soldier, he is a ‘fighting district attorney’ going up against The Scarab, a standard Republic villain of their chapterplays. Without his shield, which is a bit of a disappointment. It does feature Frankenstein and Dracula alumnus Edward Van Sloan in a small role, as well as the skipper of the ship in King Kong and Song of Kong, Frank Reicher. It’s fun, but don’t expect it to tie into the Infinity War in any respect.    

 Come back around in a fortnight to look at the black and white comics magazines from Warren’s most successful competitor, Skywald Publications. You’ll be glad you did. Until then, I bid you to always, in every circumstance, be afraid…

            Be very afraid.

Book Birthday: The Wickeds: A Wicked Women Writers Anthology

HorrorAddicts.net presents thirteen horror tales from up-and-coming women writers. This diverse collection of revenge, torture, and macabre is sure to quench any horror addict’s thirst for blood. Between these covers reside werewolves, demons, ghosts, vampires, a voodoo priestess, headless horseman, Bloody Mary, and human monsters that are perhaps the most disturbing. With an exclusive interview of The Wickeds by Sapphire Neal. Lock your doors, bar your windows, and enjoy stories from: H. E. Roulo, Jeri Unselt, Linda Ciletti ,Emerian Rich, Marie Green Hollie Snider, Jennifer Rahn, Michele Roger, R. E. Chambliss, Arlene Radasky ,Kimberly Steele, Laurel Anne Hill, Rhonda R. Carpenter.  All proceeds will be donated to LitWorld, a non-profit organization that uses the power of story to cultivate literacy leaders around the globe.

https://www.amazon.com/Wickeds-Wicked-Women-Writers-Anthology/dp/1463612702

HorrorAddicts.net Press

Free Fiction Audio: The Tale of Terror: A Study of the Gothic Romance by Edith Birkhead

The Tale of Terror: A Study of the Gothic Romance

Edith Birkhead (1889 – 1951)

A seminal essay on the development of horror as a genre, highly influential on later writers. – Summary by Timothy Ferguson

Genre(s): *Non-fiction, Literary Criticism

Language: English

https://librivox.org/the-tale-of-terror-a-study-of-the-gothic-romance-by-edith-birkhead/

Firehouse by Jesse Orr

Cecilia moved through the night with what appeared to be a small bundle of rags held against her chest. Only a keen observer would catch the subtle movements it made. The sounds coming from it were so small they were easy to miss against the nighttime sound of the city. The young woman stopped at a street, mindful of the red DON’T WALK signs. She waited, shifting her burden from one arm to the other. It moved again and made noise.

“Shut up,” she hissed, knowing it was useless to speak and doing it anyway. “Shut up or you’ll get us both killed.”

The bundle was silent. The light changed and Cecilia scurried forward after again looking left, then right. She was breathing hard already and her body was sore. She hadn’t showered properly in some time, had not been able to do more than just sit in a tub of hot water in weeks. Once this was over, she looked forward to a proper scrubbing and sleep for the first time in nearly nine months.

A siren split the night and instinctively she jumped, clutching the bundle closer to her. A second siren joined the first, then a third until the night was filled with howling noise and flashing red lights. In the distance, she could see fire trucks pulling out of the station. She hastened her steps, now that the end was in sight. Soon it would be over. Soon she would be free.

Craig Jones sat at the front desk of Station 451, listening to the receding screaming of the sirens. A beeping from the front desk’s microwave reminded him that stuck in the station or not, he had dinner to eat. Swiveling his chair, he opened the microwave beside the desk and reached for his plate. It was hot, too hot, and he nearly scalded himself getting it out of the microwave. He set it down on the table with an oath, blowing on his scorched fingers. Hearing the front door open, he raised his eyes.

A girl stood before him, no more than fifteen, wrapped in a large brown coat that hung to her knees. Her eyes were huge and afraid above large dark circles framed by her matted hair. In her arms she carried what appeared to be a small bundle of rags.

“Hi, can I help you?” Craig asked, rising to his feet behind the desk.

“Can I leave this baby here?” the girl whispered. She held out the bundle of rags, one of them falling aside to reveal the face of a newborn, still clotted with drying blood and slime. As the cool air touched its face, it let out a cry.

Craig nodded and came around the desk. “You sure can. I’ll take it.” He held his arms out.

The relief that spilled over her face was enormous. “Thank you,” she said, her voice quavery. “I’ve been walking so long; I think my arms are asleep.”

“No problem,” said Craig. He positioned his arms beneath hers in a cradle shape against the baby’s back. “Just let go. I’ve got it.”

The baby made another sound as it slipped from her grasp and Craig caught it, bringing it in to hold it against his chest securely. “I’ve got it ma’am.”

“Thank you,” she said again, already moving toward the door. “I’m sorry, I just…can’t…” she trailed off, still moving to the door. She shrugged at him, slipped through the glass door and was gone into the darkness.

Craig stood in the brightly lit fire station lobby, looking after the girl, wondering if it had really happened. But yes, the lobby floor, usually kept so neat, now had dirty footprints leading in and out. And there was the baby, held against him, stirring slightly in its rags. The music played, a tribal drum beat complementing the strings.

“Just a minute, little one,” said Craig to the bundle. “I’ve got somewhere nice and warm for you.”

Walking into the fire station’s empty cavernous garage, Craig looked with envy out the windows of the garage door through which the fire trucks had vanished. He would have much preferred to be in one of the vehicles but this was also part of being a fireman. Some guys enjoyed it but he never had.

All the way in the far right corner of the garage was a what looked like a mail drop with a sliding receptacle and a large silver handle. Juggling the baby in his arms, Craig freed his right hand and grabbed the handle, pulling it down and sliding the door open. He placed the baby inside where it fit neatly. He pulled the handle halfway up, shutting the door and sealing the baby inside. He could hear it beginning to cry, its sound amplified in the metal drawer. Better hurry before it really gets loud, Craig thought, and banged a hand down on the large red button to the side of the receptacle, the one marked INCINERATOR.

It was only a few moments before the green light above the button lit up, indicating the incinerator was up to the appropriate temperature. Craig pulled the handle silver handle all the way up. There was a grinding, sliding noise as the interior compartment rotated. Behind the wall, the wailing stopped. He could hear a whomp as the bundle of rags was consumed.

Craig waited for the federally mandated ten minutes before pulling the incinerator button out again. The sound of flames faded and died. The hiss of the incinerator wound down slowly until the only sound in the cavernous garage was the tick of its cooling grates behind the wall.

Picking up the log, Craig flipped to the day’s page and entered his name, the time and the number of beings he had incinerated. That done, he banged the log shut with a snap and returned to the front office. By now, he thought, last night’s barbeque would be just the right temperature.

THE BIGFOOT FILES/Chapter Seventy-One: Hunting Bigfoot

Hunting Bigfoot by North Carolina author Eric S. Brown is a good old-fashioned creature feature packed with enough cryptid action to make Arnold Schwarzenegger say, “Run! Go! Get to the chopper!” Of course, Schwarzenegger isn’t in Hunting Bigfoot, but Brown’s book oozes the 1980s vibes of movies like Predator – breathlessly paced with plenty of intense action scenes.

Released in February and published by Severed Press, Hunting Bigfoot is vintage Brown, who’s written well over 100 books in the action-horror genre about all kinds of creatures but mostly Bigfoot.

Hunting Bigfoot starts quick and bloody as a boy’s father and brother are slaughtered by a Bigfoot right before his eyes. The boy named Danny survives but no one believes his account. 

And that’s your backstory. If Brown was a movie director, this is where he’d say, “Cut! Now let’s get to the real action.” 

The next scene shows Danny as a grown man and military soldier waking up from a nightmare in his hometown of Clinton, North Carolina. He’s returned for revenge on the beast that killed his family. And he won’t be alone. Four of his military friends are joining him on the hunt. 

That’s the tip of the iceberg, though, because Sheriff Stanton is on the scene of a couple of campers who were butchered – a scene surrounded by strange footprints. Now, the sheriff’s gathering his deputies for a hunt. 

Oh, and there’s Danny’s former high school sweetheart, Hannah, who’s guiding a group of amateur filmmakers into the woods so they can shoot a documentary about the “Clinton Monster.” 

All three groups enter the forest of Bigfoot, and all three will find themselves in desperate situations at every turn as that 1980s action vibe I mentioned earlier kicks into full gear. Even Schwarzenegger would have a tough time surviving this one. 

After finishing the 109-page novella, my first thought was: “Nobody is safe in an Eric S. Brown book.” 

In an exclusive interview with The Bigfoot Files, Brown discusses his process, explains why he writes cryptid fiction, and shares his opinion on the “real” Bigfoot phenomenon.

Eric S. Brown

I asked Brown how he determines who lives and dies in his books. 

“For most of my books, I don’t outline,” he says. “I just go with the flow and let the characters themselves sort of decide who lives and dies. And yes, it is very true that no character is safe in my books. I’ve been known to kill someone who appears to be the main character and switch off to someone else more than once. A good number of my books end like the 2004 Dawn of the Dead with everyone dying as I personally enjoy that style of ending. But in later years, I’ve started trying to keep someone alive a bit more. 

“As to a process, I get an idea, then come up with the characters as I start writing it. And then like I said, I let them lead me to where I want to go in the book. When I was younger, I was pretty fearless just throwing words onto a page, hoping something stuck, and knowing I could fix everything in edits if it didn’t. That was how I have been able to write so many books over the years. Now, as I approach the end of my forties, I have slowed down some and think about each sentence a lot more. We’ll see if that’s a good thing or not, I guess.” 

As I read Hunting Bigfoot, I thought the “man versus nature” aspect of the story included themes relating to man’s arrogance about their intellectual superiority and how revenge can ruin lives. Brown says themes like that are incidental to his storytelling. 

“I have never thought of myself as an artist,” Brown says. “Entertainer is likely a great term for me. I grew up loving horror, military sci-fi, and B movies. For me, I am just creating the things I would have loved to see as a fan myself. I am sure on an unconscious level some of my own beliefs are likely slipping into my work but overall, they’re just meant to be fun, gory, and scary. My biggest hope is that my work will be an experience like sitting down with a big bowl of chips, a nice drink, and watching a creature feature on the TV. There aren’t enough true monster movies these days, and my books are hopefully a way of finding that type of horror again.” 

Brown’s earliest works are out of print, including his 2005 debut novel Cobble. His first mass-market release was 2010’s The War of the Worlds, Plus Blood, Guts, and Zombies, published by Gallery Books, a Simon & Schuster imprint. His latest title, Stomping Ground, was released April 13. 

Brown’s first Bigfoot book was 2010’s Bigfoot War, which was later adapted into the 2014 film Bigfoot Wars. 

“I’ve been writing Bigfoot horror ever since,” he says. 

Childhood nightmares sparked Brown’s journey into Bigfoot fiction. 

“Growing up in the rural South and loving horror films, I had a lot of nightmares about Bigfoot,” Brown says. “They scared the crap out of me. At a certain point in my career when I had been writing about zombies for a long, long time, I decided to use those nightmares and childhood fears to write Bigfoot War, and thus my career in cryptid horror began. I’ve written a lot of Bigfoot books over the years, including the novelization of the 2010 Boggy Creek film, but I’d say that the original Bigfoot War and Manhunt are my best two. And you’re right on the ’80s action vibe. I grew up reading David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers and David Robbins’ Endworld series. Reading action giants like those two, I couldn’t help but put a lot of action into my own work.” 

Brown has also written books about killer crocodiles, lycanthropes, the Loch Ness Monster, megalodon, kaiju, and witches. Surprisingly, Bigfoot is not his favorite monster. 

“I do love Bigfoot but honestly, vampires are my favorite monsters,” he says. “I took a stab at writing them with a trilogy called The Dark War. The first book in that series, Psi-Mechs, Inc., is my personal favorite thing I have ever written.” 

As for his best-known work Bigfoot War, Brown expressed disappointment in the 2014 film adaptation, which featured actors Judd Nelson and C. Thomas Howell. 

“In the beginning, it was great,” Brown says. “The check for the rights was amazing, and there was press about it happening everywhere. I was living the dream right up until the moment the movie came out, then everything went sideways. I hated the movie. Couldn’t stand it. Somehow my female sheriff, the main character, had morphed into a bald guy. My dormant zombie virus in the Sasquatch blood was replaced by a voodoo curse, and the movie even opened with cliché Friday the 13^th teens-in-the-woods-style scenes.” 

Finally, I asked Brown why Bigfoot remains so popular in American pop culture. 

“Bigfoot is a mystery and people like mysteries,” he says. “Also, Bigfoot is or at least can be a monster. A really, really bloody scary one, too. Combine those two things and you’ve certainly got something with lasting appeal.” 

Does he believe Bigfoot is real? 

“As a kid, having brutal nightmares about Bigfoot tearing into my house to kill me, I one hundred percent did,” Brown says. “As an adult, I’d say the odds are greatly in favor of it, but not having a personal experience in real life myself, I couldn’t say for sure.” 

AUTHOR LINK: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Eric-S.-Brown/author/B004G6XP7E?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

NEXT UP: Chapter Seventy-Two: Faith of Dawn. I review the 2024 novel by Kristin Dearborn.

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THE BIGFOOT FILES

Logbook of Terror: Frozen Hands

Still shaking off the weirdness of the Valentine Wolfe show, Anna ambled into the dealer’s room in a haze. Thankfully, she knew where she was going: straight to the table of Jonathan Fortin, her favorite horror comic artist. She was hoping to score some signed comic books from him, including his newest, Requiem in Frost, originally a novella that told the tale of a black metal band whose members are ghosts that take human form. 

When Anna arrived at the table, the writer was seated on a black throne with burgundy velvet on the armrests, back, and seat. A tall, black top hat was pulled down snugly on his head. His long, dark hair spilled out of the hat and down his shoulders, over his gray Victorian jacket. As Anna approached, a wry grin crossed his lips. 

“We’ve been waiting for you,” the writer said in a low, menacing register. 

“Uh, thank you?” Anna replied.

“Don’t worry, he’s been saying that to everyone,” said a familiar voice beside her.

Anna’s eyes widened and a smile lit up her face. “Dad?”

“You enjoying the con so far?” He asked.

“How are you here?”

“Me? I’m surprised that you’re here considering, well, you know.”

“I thought of skipping out this year but then I felt that you’d want me to be here. I have so many good memories of us here together.”

“Yeah, this was always our place.” 

Anna’s eyes swelled with tears. “I miss you, dad.” 

“I miss you too, kid. I’m sorry I had to leave so soon.”

“It’s not your fault that you had a rare and unexplainable cardiac event on your way home from work.”

“That tree didn’t help things either.” 

Anna and her dad broke into a fit of laughter. A lone tear trickled down her cheek. 

From behind the table, Mr. Fortin glanced up to see Anna apparently sharing an inside joke with herself. Having been privy to more than his fair share of the weird, he shrugged, opened up his paperback copy of Haunts and Hellions, leaned back, and began reading. 

As Anna’s laughter subsided, a young goth girl beside her plucked a copy of Requiem in Frost off the table and opened it to the first page. 

The goth woman shrieked in terror as ice formed on her hands, her flesh turned blue, and the pages froze to her skin. 

“Dear God!” Jonathan Fortin shouted. “Someone, please, call the convention shaman!”

   A clockwork girl beside the table screamed, “Shaman!”

Seconds later, the convention’s shaman/witch doctor/horror historian, Mark Orr, appeared out of a ten-foot-high puff of smoke. 

   The multi-faceted medicine man assessed the situation. He turned to Jonathan. “Have your comics ever attacked anyone before?” 

  “No sir, never, and they’re always up to code!” Jonathan answered. 

“Please, help me!” The goth girl shrieked. 

Mark’s forehead creased and his eyebrows knitted. “It appears that your comics are possessed, Mr. Fortin.”

“Drat!” The artist screamed. 

“Only one other case of comic book possession has ever been reported.”

“How did they get rid of the possessing thingies?”

“I can’t remember, but I’ll do what I can!!” 

The shaman pulled a bottle of purple powder out of his long coat and sprinkled it on the girl’s frozen hands. The demons squealed and jumped out. Cursing unnecessarily, they flew over to the artist.

The demons screeched at Jonathan, “We did what you asked and made your comic book scary, now pay us so we may return to our dimension. And hurry up, we hate it here!” 

“But you hurt that poor goth girl!” Jonathan said.

“You were not specific enough in your request! It is not our fault that her frail human skin felt momentary discomfort!” The demons reasoned. 

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. He scratched his chin in the universal gesture that implies, “I’m thinking.” After a moment, he said, “Very well. I suppose you are right; I should have been more specific in my definition of ‘scary’. One moment, please.” 

World-renowned and beloved horror comic artist Jonathan Fortin rummaged in a tattered leather messenger bag and retrieved a tiny, rustic wooden box. He sat the box on the table. “There is your payment,” he said. “One thousand freeze-dried boll weevil eyes, as you required.” 

“Yaaaaay!” The demons cried. 

The small box floated off the table as if being carried away by invisible hands. 

“Goodbye, Mr. Fortin. Please feel free to summon us for any other evil endeavors for which you may require our services. And receive a twenty-five percent discount on any future orders by referring us to a new client!” 

Static and crackling filled the air and the tiny box disappeared with a pop. 

The artist turned to the goth girl. “Please accept my deepest and most sincere apologies, along with a free copy of each one of my many, many comic books.” 

The goth girl smiled and replied, “Thank you, but, all the comics are gone.”

“What?!” Jonathan shouted. 

“I said, ‘All the comics are gone’”.

“How??”

Mark Orr stepped in. “I deduce that they were accidentally sucked into the portal that the demons traveled through, or the demons stole them, which is probably the case, judging by this crudely written note on this cocktail napkin which reads: ‘We stole your comics. Haha, sucker!’ Signed, The Demons.” 

Jonathan Fortin sighed. “I’m going to the bar.”

Anna watched the much beloved and critically lauded writer shuffle away and told herself to remember to never hire demons to do a poltergeist’s job. She checked her convention program. It was almost time for the Asian Poets panel. With quick steps, she made her way to the Magenta room, hoping to see her dad along the way.

Movie Review: My Favorite Horror Movie: A Nightmare on Elm Street by PS King

My Favorite Horror Movie: A Nightmare on Elm Street

By PS King

This was a tough assignment, because it was hard to pick an absolute favorite out of every horror movie I’ve ever watched. But I finally decided that I would go with the movie I’ve watched the most, which is A Nightmare on Elm Street. Perhaps a fairly conventional pick, but, hey, I’m an 80’s and 90’s kid. Freddy, Michael, and Jason are kind of the holy trinity of bad guys for my generation.

I have no idea when I first saw the flick. I know that Halloween 1988, when my mom let me rent my first (officially sanctioned) horror movie, the video store was out of the first movie. So, I rented part two. I would have been eight at the time, and after that my mom was pretty liberal about my watching horror movies, so I’m sure I was either eight or nine when I finally saw the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie. It’s impossible to count the number of times I’ve seen the movie since. Whenever I watch Friday the 13th, it’s in preparation to watch the entire series. But I can watch Nightmare by itself without feeling the need to watch the rest of the franchise. It stands on its own. Hell, it might have been better on its own.

From the opening credits we see Freddy Krueger as this incredibly menacing figure. We watch as he builds his now-iconic glove, with knives attached to every finger but the thumb. This is not the goofy, wisecracking Freddy Krueger of later sequels, which is why he remains mostly in the shadows for the first act. He is burned, a satanic figure, very archetypal, yet unique in his particulars. He is someone you can really believe is going to invade your dreams, turning them into nightmares.

Nightmare sequences in live-action movies are a tricky thing. Dreams are such surreal things that interpreting them using real people and real-world scenery can often diminish their dreamlike quality. Director Wes Craven is able to sidestep this by setting some of the dream sequences in a boiler room, a space that is surreal, dark, and menacing enough that it transports us to some primal space in our minds. It’s the technique of using reality to separate us from reality. But there are other dreamlike touches. For instance, there’s the liquid nature of solid objects. Like when Freddy puts his head through a wall, bending it in an impossibly rubbery way, as if it were bubblegum.

It’s such a primal thing, this need for sleep and the way the body reacts without it. You can actually physically feel Nancy struggling against it. Sleep is often associated with comfort, safety even, but when it involves the possibility of literal death, it is something to be avoided, even though avoiding it is ultimately impossible.

It’s a genuinely emotional experience, brought to us by a master horror director. Besides
his ability to get us to feel whatever he wants, the move is also perfectly paced. There’s never a
dull minute. And there’s so many iconic scenes. There’s the glove coming Jaws-like toward Nancy as she takes a bath, there’s Johnny Depp’s character exploding into a volcano of blood that pours from his bed to his ceiling, Freddy cutting off his own finger, and so much more.

Speaking of Johnny Depp, Nightmare was his first screen performance, but you’d never know it. He already seems like a seasoned pro. Heck, all of the actors playing the teenagers are good, which is a miracle when you consider the acting quality in the typical 80’s teen slasher. Heather Langenkamp, who plays the main character Nancy, is a little on the melodramatic side, and actually probably the weakest performer of the bunch, but it’s not distracting enough to take you out of the film.

Part of what makes Nightmare so compelling is that Wes Craven is the anti-Spielberg. Whereas Spielberg romanticizes suburbia, for Craven suburbia is a place that hides terrible secrets underneath a civilized veneer. While the secrets hidden away in a typical suburban neighborhood don’t always involve the murder and immolation of a pedophile, the point is made: darkness lurks underneath. As well, Craven points out that the sins of the parents are often paid for by their children.

It’s the combination of all these things that makes A Nightmare on Elm Street so special. It’s surreal while being grounded. It’s a little weird and has important things to say about the nature of suburban American life in the 1980’s. And unlike later sequels, it has genuinely scary moments, with an actual scary antagonist. It deserves its reputation as a horror classic.

---

Pat King has had short stories, essays, and a novel published in various places online and in print. As P.S. King, he’s had two short film scripts produced. He’s also directed a handful of short documentaries and experimental films. Pat writes or has written film reviews and interviews for Dread Central, Brainwavestalk.com, The Daily Grindhouse, CC2Konline.com, TheRetroSet.com, Battleroyalewithcheese.com and Mugwumpcorporation.com. He is a former film section editor at Cultured Vultures.

Book Review: Estate Sale by Mia Dalia

Estate Sale by Mia Dalia

There’s an allure to estate sales. A curiosity to see what treasures might be found rummaging through other people’s belongings. The chance discovery of an object bought for pennies and later discovered to be worth thousands of dollars. But do we ever stop and consider the history of the items we bring home? What if what we brought home was imbued with dark magic? Emerging horror author Mia Dalia explores this scenario in her book Estate Sale.

I like to think of the book as a wheel. At the center is the estate sale held at the home of the mysterious Anastasia Koshmaroff. The spokes are the characters whose lives are impacted by the items they bought at the sale. A writer who bought a chair. A young artist who comes to possess a quill and inkwell. There is a story of another writer who receives a typewriter. All the objects seem innocent initially, but then darkness spreads as the book unfolds.

The saga of Anastasia Koshmaroff and her husband Pavel weaves in and out of the other stories. It starts when Anastasia is a young teen and ends with her death many decades later. Their lifelong journey spans the globe, from Russia to the rise of Nazism in Germany and Ellis Island in New York. Along the way, Pavel’s interest in spiritualistic magic and mysticism leads them to meet several occultists, including Aleister Crowley. As global events force them to leave home after home, Pavel’s interest in the occult culminates in the unbelievable becoming a reality. It proves that not even death can separate us from those we love the most.

When I first read the summary of Estate Sale, the premise intrigued me. As the daughter of an antique dealer, my mother was always bringing home things with unknown pasts. I scared myself more than once, dreaming up backstories for a toy stove or whatever else came through our door. And as much as Estate Sale had moments that creeped me out, I am looking forward to finding out what Dalia has planned, given that the book ends with “the end?”.

HorrorAddicts.net 232, Horror Comic Throwdown

HorrorAddicts.net Season 19
#HorrorCon * Episode# 231
Horror Hostess: Emerian Rich
Intro Music by: Valentine Wolfe

************************************

232 | Horror Comic Bok Throwdown | Delusive Relics |
GUESTS: Mark Orr, J. Malcolm Stewart, Jay Hartlove

Find all articles and interviews at: http://www.horroraddicts.net

179  days till Halloween

Theme: #HorrorComics #HorrorComicBooks

Music: “Fairy Ring” #DelusiveRelics

Catchup: #DanShaurette #HERoulo #EstateSale #WinchesterMysteryHouseComicbook #Winchester #SarahWinchester #Ghosts 

Historian of Horror: #MarkOrr #MysteriosoPizzicato #SoundCues #SneakyMusic 

NEWS: 

#MontaatOdds “Forget About You”

#BookReview #TalesofEvil #AngelLeighMcCoy #AlisonJMackenzie

#LionelRayGreen #BigFootFiles #BigfootRidge #CEOsborn

#MarkOrr #AbbottandCostello #HauntedHouse #BelaLugosi

#JesseOrr #FictionSeries  #LayerbyLayer

#RussellHolbrook #LogbookofTerror #WelcometotheShow #Julien #NightsKnights

#KieranJudge #CaptainKronos #HammersComicJem

#BookBirthday #DarkDivination #ClockworkWonderland #OnceUponaScream

#LionelRayGreen #DarkRomance

#VeronicaMcCollum #FreeFiction #DakrStories #RoberEHoward

#HorrorCurated

https://horroraddictspress.etsy.com

#Interview #SynicalBand

~~End of News~~ 

Nightmare Fuel: #DJPitsiladis #TheBlackShuck

DeadMail: 

STEVEN: #NightsKnights #JulienTitan #Julien #Jespa #Severina #GreenDruid 

http://www.nightskinghts.wordpress.com

LARRY: #WhatchaStreming #WhatHaveYouBeenWatching #Fallout #BrandNewCherryFlavor  #ThrowningUpKittens #BodyHorror 

DENISE: #Werewolves #WerewolfClothing #WhereDoTheClothesGo

Write in to us! horroraddicts@gmail.com

HORROR COMIC THROWDOWN

GUESTS: 

Mark Orr #TalesFromtheCrypt

J. Malcolm Stewart #TombofDracula

Jay Hartlove #Hellblazer

VOTE NOW! https://forms.gle/gALDGKfwxMDo7GzW7

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Write in re: ideas, questions, opinions, horror cartoons, favorite movies, etc… Also, send show theme ideas! horroraddicts@gmail.com

h o s t e s s – Emerian Rich
b l o g  e d i t o r – Veronica McCollum
r e v i e w  c o o r d i n a t o r – Daphne Strasert
s t a f f –Jesse Orr, Lionel Green, Kieran Judge, Mark Orr, DJ Pitsiladis, Russell Holbrook, Megan Starrak, Michael Charboneau, Brian McKinley, Crystal Connor,  CM “Spookas” Lucas, JS O’Connor, Nightshade

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Episode 232 Theme: Horror Comic Books

Our guests for Episode 232 are going to have a Horror Comic Throwdown!

*Note: No comic books were harmed in the taping of this show.*

Mark Orr was born during the year that the first issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine was published, the year that Steve McQueen vanquished The Blob, and the year that Christopher Lee first donned Dracula’s cape and nuzzled the neck of a voluptuous British actress. In the intervening six decades plus, he has acquired a wife, three daughters, four grandchildren, a series of cats currently numbering two, a couple of dozen short story sales to various online and small press magazines and anthologies, the publication of two novels, and thousands of horror-related books, magazines, films, television and radio programs, songs, symphonies and operas, along with a wide variety of other spooky artifacts. And a university degree in history, which he intends to use to entertain, educate, and enlighten the denizens herein regarding the storied past of their favorite genre.

Jason Malcolm Stewart is an author, journalist and media professional who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. The author of dozens published short stories and novels, his non-fiction collection of horror film essays, Look Back in Horror is his personal memoir of horror cinema’s impact on his life.

Jay Hartlove is the award-winning author of the Goddess Rising Trilogy (endorsed by Stoker Award winning author John Shirley). He wrote The Insane God (endorsed by Hugo Award winning author David Brin). He wrote, produced and directed The Mirror’s Revenge, the musical sequel to Snow White. He was selected for 50 Authors You Should Be Reading by The Authors Show. www.jaywrites.com.

Listen to the guys battle out which comic is best in episode #232, coming May 4th, 2024!

Terror Trax #232: Delusive Relics

Book Birthday: Once Upon a Scream

This book is edited by Dan Shaurette and it takes the classic fairy tales that you grew up with and gives them a horror twist.

Once Upon a Scream

…there was a tradition of telling tales with elements of the fantastic along with the frightful. Adults and children alike took heed not to go into the deep, dark woods, treat a stranger poorly, or make a deal with someone-or something-without regard for the consequences. Be careful of what you wish for, you just might get it.

From wish-granting trolls, to plague curses, and evil enchantresses, these tales will have you hiding under the covers in hopes they don’t find you. So lock your doors, shutter your windows, and get ready to SCREAM.

A return to darker foreboding fairy tales not for children.
Not everyone lives happily ever after.

Stories include:

“The Black Undeath” by Shannon Lawrence: There was a plague no one speaks about, one much worse than the Black Death. “The Black Undeath” combines the ravages of the plague and leprosy with the tale of Rumpelstiltskin.

Shannon Lawrence is  a fan of all things fantastical and frightening, Shannon Lawrence writes primarily horror and fantasy,  You can find her at thewarriormuse.com

“Melody of Bones” by Nickie Jamison:  This is a delightful mashup of the German tales of the “Singing Bone” and “The Pied Piper of Hamlin.” Death can make beautiful music.

Nickie Jamison’s erotic fiction has been published in the Coming Together Among the Stars and the Coming Together Outside the Box anthologies.

“The Godmother’s Bargain” by Alison McBain: This story is based on Cinderella but instead of relying on a fairy godmother, Cinderella makes a deal with the devil.

Alison McBain  has over thirty publications in magazines and anthologies. You can read her blog at alisonmcbain.com

“Leila” by Dan Shaurette: This is a story about vampires and an old witch that lives in a haunted forest in a far away land.

Dan Shaurette is a goth-geek from Phoenix, AZ and he is the writer of Black Magic and
Black Jack.

“Nothing to Worry About” by Charles Frierman: Nothing killed Old Smelty, don’t let it kill you too.

Charles Frierman is  works as a children’s storyteller at the local library, but writing has always been
his passion.

“The Cursed Child” by C.S. Kane: Witches do what they must to save a child.

C.S. Kane’s debut horror novella, Shattered.

“The Healer’s Gift” by Lynn McSweeney: A pale boy with a whiff of the uncanny begs admission to a wounded healer’s cottage just before sunrise, conjuring her darkest fears of who – or what – he may be.

Lynn McSweeney writes mostly horror, fantasy, and science-fiction, or a blend of them, with an occasional foray into erotica.

“Briar” by K.L. Wallis: “Briar” is the story of a man who is lost deep in a mythical Black Forest, where he stumbles upon an abandoned fairy-tale palace with a forgotten sleeping beauty

K.L. Wallis writes gothic fiction, high fantasy, mythological fiction, and
contemporary folk-lore.

“Curse of the Elves” by Sara E. Lundberg: This story gives a horrifying spin on the old tale “The Shoemaker and the Elves.” What if the elves were grotesque murderers and you wanted them to go away.

Sara E. Lundberg writes and edits primarily fantasy and horror. She is also an editor and contributor for the Confabulator Cafe.

“Lake Tiveden” by MD Maurice: The modern retelling of the legend of Tiveden and the epic encounter between a fisherman, his daughter and the fearsome Nokken.

MD Maurice has been writing and publishing erotic, Dark Fantasy and mainstream fiction since early 2001. She has been previously published in several print anthologies

“Wax Shadow” by Emerian Rich: Horror fairytale modern retelling of “The Shadow” by Hans Christian Andersen.

Emerian Rich is the author of the vampire book series, Night’s Knights, and Artistic License. You can find her at: http://emzbox.com/

“Without Family Ties” by Chantal Boudreau: This is a modern horror tale based on the story of Pinocchio.

Chantal Boudreau is a  member of the Horror Writers Association, she writes and illustrates horror, dark fantasy and fantasy. You can find her at: http://chantellyb.wordpress.com

“Commanding the Stones” by Laurel Anne Hill: A murder, a troubled marriage, a mysterious benefactor and a Russian fairy tale add up to terror and redemption in the sewers of Paris.

Laurel Anne Hill’s award-winning novel, Heroes Arise, was published by KOMENAR in 2007. You can find her at: http://www.laurelannehill.com/

“Gollewon Ellee” by DJ Tyrer: Two young girls follow the Gollewon Ellee, Fairy Lights, and discover that not only are the Fair Folk real, they are stranger and more sinister than they imagined.

DJ Tyrer is the person behind Atlantean Publishing and has been widely published in anthologies and magazines in the UK, USA and elsewhere His website is: http://djtyrer.blogspot.co.uk/

“Mr. Shingles” by J. Malcolm Stewart: Bay Area boys meeting with a certain rhyming troll who may or may not still be living under the Carquinez Bridge.

J. Malcolm Stewart is a Northern California-based author, journalist and marketing professional. He is the author of several novels and short story collections. http://about.me/jaymal

“The Boy and His Teeth” by V. E. Battaglia: A cautionary tale against deceiving the Tooth Fairy.

V. E. Battaglia is primarily writes Science Fiction and Horror. His work can be found in the Zen of the Dead anthology from Popcorn Press and in the SNAFU: Hunters anthology.

“The Other Daughter” by Adam L. Bealby: It’s nice to see Hannah looking her old self, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The problem is Hannah – the real Hannah – with her black nails and even blacker attitude, she’s already upstairs…

Adam L. Bealby writes weird fiction leaning heavily into fantasy, horror and arch satire. He dabbles in stories for children too. His short stories and comic work have been published in numerous anthologies. Find him at: @adamskilad

“Old and in the Way” by Wayne Faust: Atmospheric tale about an old man who can no longer do his duty.

Wayne Faust has been a full time music and comedy performer for over 40 years. While on the road performing he also writes fiction. You can find him at: www.waynefaust.com

HorrorAddicts.net Press

Band Interview: Synical

What horror-related themes have you found to be the most inspiring for your music?

A common theme that Synical gravitates towards is science accidents and war. The horror of nuclear radiation and concentration camps was featured in the video for the title album track “This Will All Happen Again” filmed in Germany. Nothing Hollywood has created could ever match the horrors that humans have done to each other.

What horror movie/TV show would you re-score if given the chance?

Synical founder Brian Haught has two answers to that question! Steven Kings Salem’s Lot from 1975 and the British TV show Space 1999.

What non-musical things inspire your music?

Great question! Synical’s music is the soundtrack to the downfall of civilization but in a goth dance club format. The sad state of world affairs, natural disasters, and man-made accidents all leave an impression musically.

What film/TV horror-related character would you most identify with? Why?

Brian Haught the singer of Synical relates mostly to Barnabas Collins from the TV series Dark Shadows. He is a 100+ year old creepy vampire who is still looking for his lost love while being a monster in the present modern day. You can love him, fear him, or hate him but it’s impossible to ignore him!

How do you handle fear as an artist?

The biggest fear in music is not being able to pull off the live concerts according to plan. The future’s uncertain and not everything is in the bands control. Live shows can really be scary but also very rewarding if successful.

What are your favorite horror movies?

Synical the band loves all the Phantasm movies, the original John Carpenters Halloween, The Fog, and The Thing, I Spit On Your Grave, most of the Hammer films from England, the Shining, Dawn of the Dead, and the Hellraiser movies.

What was the scariest night of your life?

Long ago in Macon, Georgia the band snuck into Rose Hill cemetery at night to find the dead Allman Brother’s graves. Everything was going great until the night watchman ran after us with a flashlight and shovel. We almost made it out by running across the railroad tracks when out of nowhere a speeding train came and almost killed us. It was terrifying.

If you could bring back greats who have passed on, who would be your undead opening band?

The band would consist of Stiv Bators from the Dead Boys on vocals, Dwayne Goettel from Skinny Puppy and James Wooley from NIN on keyboards, Randy Castillo from Red Square Black on drums, Andy Rourke from the Smiths on bass, and Keith Levene from the Clash/P.I.L. on guitar.

Final thoughts / Anything you want to tell the Horror Addicts?

Horror is in the eye of the beholder but it’s an interesting and fascinating pathway that perfectly blends with the goth and darkwave music of Synical. As horror movie and TV fans ourselves, Synical is excited to be interviewed and involved in this community.

(Fan contacts…)

Website/Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Bandcamp?

You can check out our videos on our amazing record label Cleopatra Records you tube channel https://www.youtube.com/@CleopatraRecords

https://www.facebook.com/SYNICALFOREVER

https://twitter.com/SynicalBand   https://www.instagram.com/synicalmusic

Insert one of your video YouTube links:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vVj9lheNSE

Nightmare Fuel Ep. 232: The Black Schuck

Hello Addicts,

They say that a dog is man’s best friend. They are cute, cuddly, protective, and sometimes scary. The latter description fits the topic of this week’s Nightmare Fuel: The Black Shuck.

There is a black shaggy dog that is a long time native of East Anglia in the British Isles, with legends from as far back as the 12th Century. It ranges in size from simply a larger dog to one the size of a calf. Some say it has a single glowing red eye in the middle of its head, some with a pair of glowing red eyes. It has been referred to as a hell hound, a devil dog, and even an omen of death. Legends say it is a killer, with some scant tales of the dog being friendly.

One of the more famous stories of The Black Shuck, or Old Shuck as he’s sometimes called, is from 1577. It happened at the Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh during a terrible thunderstorm. It entered the church with a clap of thunder, stalked past the congregation in attendance to attack a man and a boy. The devil dog then caused the church steeple to collapse through the roof before exiting. To this day, there is a mark on the church’s north door, they say, came from Old Shuck.

The tale of The Black Shuck shows itself in all manners of storytelling over the centuries. Incarnations of the beast appear in the worlds of Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes, movies, video games, and been a focus in music. There was even an ancient spirit form in the television series ‘Teen Wolf’ that called itself Shuck. It’s amazing how strong of an influence this devil dog holds after almost a thousand years.

So, the next time you’re out on the British coast or countryside, watch for a shape darker than the night or eyes burning brighter than coal embers. It might be a dog or a big cat with a bright eye-shine. Then again, you just might be in the presence of The Black Shuck.

Until next time, Addicts,

D.J.

P.S. — If you like this, check out my previous post about The Mothman.

Odds and Dead Ends: Captain Kronos – Hammer’s Comic Gem

Any true horror afficionado knows the name of Hammer. Surprisingly only a third of Hammer’s output was in the horror genre, but it is the blood-curdling tales of gothic horror from the 50s and 60s which have become the stuff of legend. Their anthology series, Hammer House of Horror, is more a brand for the entire company than just one 12 episode show. With Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing getting their starring roles off the ground with the films of Terrence Fisher such as Curse of Frankenstein and Dracula, Hammer films spawned legends that are still fondly remembered today. Their 21^st century revival has also given such gems as The Woman in Black and Wake Wood, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Timothy Spall respectively.

  Yet towards the 70s their power was beginning to wane in their initial run. New thrills were being made, the blood and gore that they had become known for was more commonplace, and although later influential successes like Plague of the Zombies (1967) and their Carmilla trilogy would prove they could strike a chord, Hammer started to lose their foothold. Their radical, daring, shocking pictures were beginning to look dated. They stopped production for many years in 1978, after they remade Hitchcock’s film The Lady Vanishes.

     One of their more interesting (and entertaining) attempts to keep relevant in the early 70s was to play up genre ideas. They brought Dracula to the 20^th century in Dracula AD 1972, and notably for this article, tried to kickstart a new franchise in Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter in 1974. Directed by Brian Clemens, known for his work on British TV series The Avengers (nothing to do with Marvel), the film tried to combine gothic horror with swashbuckling swordplay. Featuring Horst Janson as Kronos (with Julian Holloway voicing him), John Cater as sidekick Prof Hieronymus Grost, and Caroline Munro as Carla, the film was well received and is now a cult classic. A comic sequel was serialised over three issues of The House of Hammer magazine, with a new threat being fought and Kronos fighting to defeat vampires and save Carla. But this was the last tale we got of Kronos. Hammer adapted the film for a comic version in the 20^th edition of the magazine, and it was novelised in 2011, but no new tales were told.

     Then, as part of their experimentation years in the Simon Oakes revival period, following the lacklustre showings of The Quiet Ones (2014) and Woman in Black: Angel of Death (2015), Hammer brought out two new comics. One was a fresh five-part Mummy story, and the second was a sequel to Captain Kronos and its comic sequel. Finally, the swashbuckler was there to slay vampires once again.

     Released in partnership with Titan Comics, the four-issue story was written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Tom Mandrake, colours by Sam Mandrake. Taking place a while after the previous comic sequel, Carla is now on the team, new but quickly gaining her place. After fighting off one vampire at the beginning, they are brought to the large town of Serechurch, a town that has suffered from a vampire nest in the slums for many years which they want Kronos and his companions to deal with.

     The comic is a strong contender for being the best thing Hammer has done since it’s revival in 2007, in any medium (though I admittedly didn’t see The Soulless Ones, their theatre production, but considering it also seems to have faded from the history books without a trace, and had mixed reviews at the time, I’ll take my chances that their theatre foray doesn’t top the charts.) The story here is strong and fun, keeping the fast-paced action of the film with the returning characters to keep continuity. It is very much a sequel rather than a remake, but it puts much of the narration on Carla’s voice, giving it largely her perspective on things as an apprentice. In this way, she is our eyes and ears throughout the narrative, and anyone new to the Captain Kronos world finds an easy way in for the first time.

     As much as they have tried to maintain continuity from the first film and the original comic sequel, Carla’s role has been radically updated for the four decades that have passed since the first stories. By comparison, Kronos is pretty much the same, and Grost has had his hunchback removed (rightfully so). As for Carla, things are very much different. Although Caroline Munro managed to help out in parts in the first film, though she wasn’t all-out Wonder Woman, she was free-spirited and helpful, with grit and a will to get stuck in and learn. The original three-part comic reduced her to not much more than a stereotypical damsel in distress, lusting after Kronos at every opportunity. The one moment she manages to help out, by throwing a torch at the evil Count Balderstein, is done as a result of seeing Kronos in trouble. It’s not to say that this isn’t a noble or courageous gesture, but it’s tainted with the forced romantic element that somehow writers and producers felt needed to be there.

     Dan Abnett’s sequel rightfully puts Carla as confident in her swordplay and use of firearms, vocalises her opinions, and stands up for herself. She talks back to those who tell Kronos to ‘“get your woman in line”’, puts down lecherous soldiers, and makes quick logical reasonings that her previous incarnations wouldn’t have. There is a possible reading that she’s now the stereotypical ‘badass’, complete with corset, which runs a very fine line between being liberal and modern and being sexualised, but that’s very much dependent on who you talk to, and it’s certainly a vast improvement on her previous comic counterpart, which was in turn a step down from the original film’s portrayal. Bear in mind that halfway through the two comic stories, the film and TV adaptations of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer were released, and it’s virtually impossible to have a young, female vampire killer without at least bouncing off that franchise, if only to choose what to change and disregard.

     What really makes the comics shine, however, is the artwork. There’s a continuous layer of mist and smoke that surrounds everything, giving it that gothic atmosphere that is needed for a proper historical horror story. Combined with the colour work, which keeps everything nice and muted in greys and dull blues to make the bloody red and orange fires explode in your face, it is a sumptuous feast for the eyes. How nice it is to see that not all of the artwork is polished. You can see where the markers have quickly slashed across the page, where linework is started and finished. It feels both of high quality, and incredibly personal at the same time, hands on, made with pen and paper and ink and sweat and tears and craft. It’s new-school aesthetics with old-school techniques.

     All this combines to make it fun, engaging, and the vampires bigger and more vicious than ever before. These fiends, especially big bad Slake, look and feel more like ravenous beasts than the sexual, lavish gothic figures of other texts, including, in parts, the original. Slake indeed feels more like a hulking, hairless werewolf than a vampire, big and imposing and a genuine threat. Playing around with genre tropes as to what can harm this horde of vampires, and what is ineffective, is in keeping with the last few decades of re-evaluation for vampiric tropes, beginning with I Am Legend and continuing on even to films like the recently released Abigail (2024). So in the end, the characters are great, the vampires are a proper menace, and the whole thing feels like proper rural folk gothic. And there’s sword-fighting action and bits of introspection thrown in when we need a page or two of downtime. It’s the complete package.

     Added to all that are the little things. Each issue ends with a page or two from historian Marcus Hearn detailing the history of the making of the original film, and there are alternate covers to be had for each one. It’s the small touches that make something beautiful.

     Is it going to change horror comics? Certainly not. It seems to have gone pretty much overlooked by the entirety of the horror community, and with John Gore’s reworking of Hammer Films, it’s unlikely that we’ll get more comics in the near future unless he has a massive expansion plan into other media hidden in the works. Still, we can content ourselves with knowing that Captain Kronos is still out there and that there are more adventures to be had in the future, however, whenever, and in whatever medium they might be.

Historian of Horror: OTR – Abbott & Costello 19480505 Bela Lugosi’s Haunted House

Gettin’ Spooky on the Airwaves

 

As you may recall, the last time I wrote one of these missives about Old Time Radio, I made a passing reference to The Abbott and Costello Show. Comedy buffs are no doubt familiar with their classic “Who’s on First” routine, which you should definitely check out on YouTube. It’s hilarious.

Long-time horror fans will likely know them best as the protagonists of a series of horror-comedies beginning with Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, which was released on June 15, 1948. It co-starred Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man, Glenn Strange as Frankenstein’s Monster, a brief cameo at the end by Vincent Price as the Invisible Man, and Bela Lugosi starring as Dracula for the second and last time in a major motion picture. It also virtually saved Universal Pictures from bankruptcy, which had been a serious concern for more than a decade.

One of the functions of programs like The Abbott & Costello Show was to slip in the occasional publicity bit for the theatrical releases of their associated studios, so on May 5th, 1948, the boys ventured via radio into the haunted house of none other than Bela Lugosi.

Lugosi had mentioned in some of the publicity material assembled for his 1935 movie Murder By Television that he didn’t much care for radio, and indeed he never was a major player in the medium. Not on the scale that Karloff, Price, Basil Rathbone, or Lorre were, certainly, although it is estimated that he did appear as a guest on roughly two hundred broadcasts. But he never went so far as to host his own anthology series or take on a regular recurring role, as other horror icons did.

Despite his expressed disdain for the medium, Lugosi was always willing to participate in publicity for his pictures. And so it was that two months before Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein debuted, he invited America’s most popular comedy duo, and the rest of America, into his haunted house.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello have taken on the task of overseeing law enforcement in Encino, California. Bud’s wife stops by the sheriff’s office to be insulted by Lou, her primary function on the show, and to report on weird noises and arcane activities in the house next door. That domicile’s resident ghoul, Bela Lugosi, stops by to be interrogated. It’s never specified why, except that it was in the script. Bud and Lou determine that Lugosi’s house must be searched at midnight. Why? Yep, it’s in the script.

Lugosi doesn’t object, other than to make numerous pun-laden threats and confess to various murders. The boys find several deceased residents, including the prerequisite beautiful female vampire for Lou to flirt with. She puts the bite on him and gives him her hand to kiss. Which he finds disconcerting when she leaves it behind after she departs.

The upcoming movie is never mentioned by name, but vague foreshadowing is as good a form of publicity as any, and fans of Bud and Lou likely knew something was in the works.

Abbott and Costello had initially teamed up in Vaudeville in 1935, and began appearing as guests on the radio three years later. They got their own program as a summer replacement for Fred Allen’s show in 1940, and went full-time in 1942. The boys took their act to television for two seasons from 1952 to 1954, and ‘met’ several other monsters in Universal pictures, including the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Mummy.

His one picture with Bud and Lou staved off the slow descent of Lugosi’s film career for a moment, but it was pretty much downhill after that. He did return to stage as Dracula, and made several television appearances, including a Suspense! adaptation of “A Cask of Amontillado”. While shooting some stock footage for the Ed Wood movie Plan 9 from Outer Space in 1956, he died of a heart attack.

It was also a cardiac arrest that took Lou Costello away in 1959. Bud Abbott, whom Groucho Marx called the greatest straight man who ever lived, succumbed to cancer in 1974.

But their films and television shows, and their delightfully chaotic radio program, survive on the internet. Do check them out on YouTube, the Internet Archive, and elsewhere. You’ll be glad you did.

Friend Bela returns in our next action-packed episode, when we’ll take a gander at the first batch of horror movies made by the Poverty Row outfit, Monogram Pictures. Not a real classic in the bunch, but some Grade Z fun, including the first of Lugosi’s run for the studio known as the Monogram Nine, along with the worst movie ever nominated for an Academy Award. See you in two weeks. Until then, don’t forget to be afraid…

Be very afraid.            

Book birthday: Clockwork Wonderland

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Clockwork Wonderland contains stories from authors that see Wonderland as a place of horror where anything can happen, and time runs amok. In this book you’ll find tales of murderous clockworks, insane creations, serial killers, zombies, and a bloodthirsty jabberclocky. Prepare to see Wonderland as a place where all your worst nightmares come true. You may never look at classic children’s literature the same way again.

Edited by Emerian Rich
Cover by Carmen Masloski

With Foreword by David Watson

Hatter’s Warning by Emerian Rich

Starting off with a poem from the Mad Hatter who warns us, our time is running out and Alice the queen of Wonderland is after our heads and our souls.

Jabberclocky by Jonathan Fortin

A drunken clock repair shop owner and his abused son receive a visit form the Mad Hatter who has an evil plan to bring a murderous Jaberclock to life. Only the Cheshire Cat can save the day or is he as mad as the Hatter?

Hands of Time by Stephanie Ellis

The Queen of Heart’s executioner and timekeeper are looking for an apprentice and a new set of hands to kill and kill again to run the queen’s clock.

Clockwork Justice by Trinity Adler

With only one day and two clues, a bloody torn card and carrot tarts, Alice fights to prove she’s innocent and avoid losing her head to the Red Queen’s executioner.

My Clockwork Valentine by Sumiko Saulson

Unlike the White Rabbit, Blanche Lapin does not carry her timepiece in her pocket, but in her chest. It’s a Victorian-era clockwork pacemaker and if it’s not wound every forty-eight hours, she will die. When the key is stolen, the thief who has it will let her die if she doesn’t declare her love and stay with him forever.

Blood will Have Blood by James Pyne

There are many Wonderlands and a young woman is trapped in one where she is expected to be the new Alice. It’s a place where the rivers are filled with corpses and that’s not even the worst of it. The only way out is by wearing a clock necklace that needs blood for fuel, but what happens if it runs out?

Midnight Dance by Emerian Rich

Wonderland is being overrun by zombies. Mr. Marsh and The Mad Hatter are in a race against time to jam up the clockmaker’s clock and stop the undead apocalypse. If they can’t the apocalypse will start over and over as the clock strikes one.

A Room for Alice by Ezra Barany

When Alice is locked in a blood-splattered room and poisoned by D, she must behead the Queen of Spades within fifteen minutes in order to get the antidote. Can Tweedle help, or is he part of the problem?

Frayed Ears by H.E. Roulo

Caught in a child’s fever-fueled dream, The White Rabbit, The Scarecrow, and other storybook characters soon discover that story time is coming to an end and maybe so are they.

King of Hearts by Dustin Coffman

A prequel story to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this tale explains how the Queen became mad, and why she hates the name Alice so much, though it has nothing to do with the real one.

Riddle by N. McGuire

A steampunk take on the infamous tea party, with a killer twist.

Tick Tock by Jaap Boekestein

To hear him tell it, a heroic wild card fights against the usurper Alice and puts Mary—the true Queen Of Hearts—on Watch World’s throne. Is that what’s really going on?

Gone a’ Hunting by Laurel Anne Hill

Alease goes rabbit hunting, but she’s the one caught in a place where she will have plenty of time to think about what she’s done.

The Note by Jeremy Megargee

Cheshire Cat tells a story about the changing, horrifying world of Wonderland and why he has to leave it.

Half Past by K.L. Wallis

A woman follows a mysterious man though the subway and travels back in time to the late 1800s, where she finds that instead of the patriarchal norms of the past, she is in a Wonderland where women are the superior sex and moral boundaries cease to exist.

Ticking Heart by Michele Roger

A woman on a train goes to visit Alice in a war-torn steampunk Wonderland, which is very different than the one we know.

To read the full story and more Clock-inspired, Alice Horror, check out Clockwork Wonderland.

Free Fiction Audio: Weird Tales Presents: Dark Stories of Stark, Unreasoning Terror by Robert E. Howard

Weird Tales Presents: Dark Stories of Stark, Unreasoning Terror

Robert E. Howard (1906 – 1936)

Grandmaster of weird fiction Robert E. Howard is perhaps most well-known as the forefather of dark fantasy via creations like Conan the Barbarian and Solomon Kane. While not as well-known but no less strange and mesmerizing are his tales of agonizing horror found in Weird Tales Magazine, many of which take places in the grim and stark swamp lands and forests of the American South, showing us terrifying visions of the ghastly and grisly that may lurk, not in faraway lands of magic and mystery, but just around the corner. Join Mr. Howard on a journey through what may be his most heart-stopping, pulse-pounding stories of horror in this thrilling collection ripped from the pages of Weird Tales! – Summary by Ben Tucker

Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction

Language: English

LibriVox

Layer by Layer by Jesse Orr

Alyssa hated Brussels sprouts. Simply hated them. Her first memory of them was the noxious cloud they spread in the kitchen as her mother opened the pot lid to the steam of their boiled horror. She could not believe it when her mother expected her to actually eat the hateful things. She could not understand further why her mother continued serving them to her as she progressed in years, her reaction firm and unyielding in its convictions. Brussels sprouts were pure evil.

Therefore, she had no idea why she was eating this one, layer by layer, and with such careful precision. She started at the bottom, carefully nibbling away the fibers connecting the outer layer to the stalk, then peeling at the layer with her teeth, tearing it away in small shreds and rags. With every bite, she felt she was doing something inexorable, something that wasn’t right. She couldn’t think of what it could be, and chalked it up to simply eating a food she despised. Come to think of it, why was she eating this confounded thing? And why couldn’t she stop? This last she asked herself as the outer layer was finally consumed, leaving its successor in its place, just a little greener than its predecessor. Without bothering to answer the question of why, she immediately set to work separating this new green barrier from its stalk and shredding it, just as before. Layer by layer.

The problem was that she hated cabbage, and wasn’t a Brussels sprout just a tiny and intensely concentrated cabbage? Right down to the layers. Until it was cooked, anyway. Alyssa rather liked the smell of corned beef and cabbage, though she could never stand the taste of the cooked stuff. However, when her mother cooked Brussels sprouts, the entire house filled with a ghastly stench that refused to dissipate for hours, sometimes days, though her mother insisted Alyssa was guilty of being a drama queen. At any rate, as she finished the next layer and moved ever inward, the taste was the same. So why was she eating it? Layer by layer.

She couldn’t even remember how she had come to be nibbling anything, let alone one of her least favorite foods of all time. It was as though she had come to find herself snacking on handfuls of caviar or munching on a beef tongue with no will to stop. Although, she reflected, a little sprout was certainly preferable to fish eggs or a cow’s tongue. Still, it nagged. Why was she eating it? Why? Dimly, she could hear her mother’s voice. It hooked into her ear, pulling her upwards out of her dream like a fishing lure hauling a snagged stick to the surface.

“ALYSSA!”

Her eyes flew open. Her head jerked around, her mouth still working at the sprout even as her heart jumped into it at the volume of her mother’s scream. She tried to speak, but her mouth was full. Her mother was standing at the door with a ghastly look on her paper-white face, her hands over her mouth, eyes bulging. Alyssa blinked, squeezing her eyes tight together and opening them again. The world seemed clearer. Her mouth tasted coppery, not like Brussels sprouts at all.

“What have you done?”

Her mother’s voice was a whisper, but carried more than enough volume to convey more horror than Alyssa thought one person could feel.

Until she removed her thumb from her mouth and saw it had been eaten down to the bone.

Layer by layer.

Until she removed her thumb from her mouth and saw it had been eaten down to the bone. Layer by layer.

Book Birthday: Dark Divinations

HorrorAddicts.net Press Presents:

Dark Divinations edited by Naching T. Kassa

Available now on Kindle!

It’s the height of Queen Victoria’s rule. Fog swirls in the gas-lit streets, while in the parlor, hands are linked. Pale and expectant faces gaze upon a woman, her eyes closed and shoulders slumped. The medium speaks, her tone hollow and inhuman. The séance has begun.

Can the reading of tea leaves influence the future? Can dreams keep a soldier from death in the Crimea? Can a pocket watch foretell a deadly family curse? From entrail reading and fortune-telling machines to prophetic spiders and voodoo spells, sometimes the future is better left unknown.

Choose your fate.

Choose your DARK DIVINATION.

Join us as we explore fourteen frightening tales of Victorian horror, each centered around a method of divination.

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“Power and Shadow” by Hannah Hulbert / A young woman, with the power to manipulate the future using tea leaves, teaches her friend a lesson at her mother’s behest.

“Copper and Cordite” by Ash Hartwell / On the eve of her fiance’s departure for the Crimea, a young Englishwoman discovers the power which lies in dreams. Can she use it to save him?

“Damnation in Venice” by Joe L. Murr / When a roguish fortuneteller counsels an aging writer, he ends up in danger of damning his own soul.

“The Pocket Watch” by Emerian Rich / When a young American bride returns to her husband’s English estate, she receives a present from his deceased mother that can foretell a deadly family curse.

“They Wound Like Worms” by Naching T. Kassa / A man writes his sister concerning a method of divination which reveals his true love. But, as his obsession grows, the method grows bloodier.

“Miroir de Vaugnac” by Michael Fassbender / A widowed seer, augmenting her skills through an antique scrying bowl,  faces grim choices when she learns she is not fully in control of its power.

“The Bell” by Jon O’Bergh / A physical medium, who earned his fortune faking necromancy, finds he’s buried in a coffin and must call upon his powers to save himself.

“Romany Rose” by Stephanie Ellis / A penny gaff mysteriously appears outside a London shop, awaking a spirit with a terrible agenda.

“Miss Mae’s Prayers” by H.R.R. Gorman / A preacher seeks to rebuke an Appalachian witch for her use of the Bible to divine the future, but ignoring her warnings leads to dire consequences

“Broken Crystal” by Rie Sheridan Rose / A young, Irish fortuneteller discovers her true fate when she reads for a dangerous man who won’t accept her prophecy.

“Breaking Bread” by R.L. Merrill / A wife, suspecting her husband of infidelity, tests him with a magic loaf of bread, but her quest for knowledge might be more trouble than she asked for.

“The Ghost of St. John Lane” by Daphne Strasert / While conducting a seance to contact her dead husband, a woman discovers a girl with strange gifts and provokes a man who seeks to destroy her.

“The Moat House Cob” by Alan Fisher / In a tower of fortune-telling animals, a spider spins a web over London. What ominous force may be headed their way?

“Of Blood and Bones” by Jeremy Megargee / When a woman throws the bones in search of her sister’s murderer, she finds an unimaginable evil. Will she avenge her sister’s death? Or share her fate?

Available now at Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087LBPBNS

THE BIGFOOT FILES/Chapter Seventy: Bigfoot Ridge

Bigfoot Ridge by New Jersey author C.E. Osborn is driven by the dogged determination of cryptid researcher Autumn Hunter, who marches headlong into a risky investigation at Olympic National Park in Washington.

Autumn’s resolve is challenged by her family who wonders how much longer she plans to continue cryptid hunting. Autumn replies, “Until I either find scientific proof of Bigfoot that can’t be disproven or otherwise explained, or until I just get too old to go out into the forest anymore.”

You go, girl! Autumn will not be discouraged (but what can you expect from a woman who names her cat Squatch). Her upcoming trip to the Evergreen State will only add fuel to the fire of her beliefs. 

Released in February, Bigfoot Ridge is a 162-page novella detailing a hot spot of cryptid activity in and around an abandoned 400-acre site called the Bobcat Lake Research Project. It’s the fifth book featuring Autumn and her boyfriend Zach Larson, who films the reality TV show Creature Hunt. 

Since Zach’s off revisiting a series of locations for his show, Autumn is front-and-center as the main character in Bigfoot Ridge – and she more than holds her own … barely. With an unexpected two-week furlough from her real job, Autumn phones a couple of her Bigfoot friends staying at a resort near Bobcat Lake and agrees to join them at their cabin. Autumn hopes to get material for a book that she and Zach are planning to write on cryptozoology. 

While at the resort and while hiking, Autumn and her friends hear mysterious stories from others about sightings of Bigfoot, the flying Batsquatch, and the dogman. Most of the activity happens in the vicinity of the abandoned Bobcat Lake Research Project site. Don’t worry, though, it’s not one of those kinds of research projects. The Bobcat Lake Research Project was manned by a group of geologists, botanists, and biologists hired to observe natural resources in the area. While there, they did have to request security from park rangers after getting spooked by something in the forest. 

While Autumn is the star of Bigfoot Ridge, a host of other characters are introduced, including a park ranger scarred by the strange death of his father; the new resort owners who bought it from another couple “anxious to sell” the property; the project manager at the research site when it shut down; another couple collecting information on the sightings; a resourceful librarian; and a pair of siblings who witness what appears to be a wolf standing on its hind legs stalking an injured cougar. All the characters play a part, providing pieces of the puzzle for Autumn and her friends. 

I like how the book spends time to show the research techniques used by Autumn to locate the best area to look for Bigfoot. She peruses the Bigfoot Online Group, interviews locals, and hits the library for background information. It all leads to the group narrowing down the most likely spot to find a Bigfoot. Of course, Bigfoot may not be the only creature in the woods with credible rumors of a Batsquatch and dogman swirling. 

Bigfoot Ridge is fun, fast-paced cryptid fiction, showcasing a sometimes reckless but always passionate heroine that you can’t help but root for. Plus, there’s plenty of Bigfoot action. 

In an exclusive interview with The Bigfoot Files, Osborn explains what inspired her passion for cryptids, sheds light on Autumn’s motivation, and shares her opinion on the real Bigfoot phenomenon.

Osborn is a native of Washington who now lives in New Jersey, both states with popular cryptid histories.

“Although I heard some tales about Bigfoot and would see statues and books in places back in Washington, I wasn’t really interested in Bigfoot and other cryptids until I started watching the show MonsterQuest, which is where I got the idea for Zach and Creature Hunt,” Osborn says. “I’d say that show, plus reading the books of cryptid researchers such as Linda S. Godfrey and Lyle Blackburn, really got me interested in centering stories around cryptids.” 

Her library job helps Osborn scout for cryptid films to view. 

“I am a media cataloger, which means movies about cryptids, both nonfiction and fiction, come through my workflow,” Osborn says. “Sometimes I’ll seek out and watch the movies that I’ve cataloged, or I’ll read the description and wonder if it’s going to be too ‘out there’ even for me. I wouldn’t necessarily say that the actual job has helped me in my research, but it’s certainly shown me that cryptids are a popular subject.” 

Bigfoot Ridge’s main character Autumn is a library assistant with a passion for cryptids. 

“I think her passion comes from the fact that early on in her life she found escape from her problems at school by going to the library and reading stories about Bigfoot,” Osborn says. “It was cemented by the friendships that she formed from the online forums mentioned in the book, and by watching shows like Creature Hunt, which is how she met Zach. Although she is intent on getting proof, she often does try to be careful, but sometimes her impulsive nature takes over and she ends up in dangerous situations. She simply wants to be believed in her stories about Bigfoot and other cryptids, which is why she’s setting out down a path to write her own book about them.” 

Bigfoot Ridge also mentions sightings of a Batsquatch and a dogman in the area. 

“I think the cryptid I’m most fascinated by, and the one that makes me shiver to think about, is the dogman,” Osborn says. “The descriptions I’ve read in books make it sound like it would be actively thinking and plotting something evil. It just seems so contrary to anything that should exist, even more so than Bigfoot.”

Bigfoot Ridge also addresses hoaxes. 

“I think most sightings of actual live creatures are real, although occasionally they may be real animals that are misidentified,” Osborn says. “I don’t believe that there are a lot of hoaxers just waiting around a forest in an ape costume waiting for someone to come along a trail at some point. Footprints and such are probably more easily hoaxed, but I do believe that most sightings of those are real, too.” 

I asked Osborn why Bigfoot remains so prevalent in pop culture today and if she believes it’s real. 

“I think Bigfoot is popular because stories about the creature can be viewed in so many different ways, whether a person believes in the legends or laughs them off as being fake,” Osborn says. “The creature has many regional names and variations, and people can make it seem as human or as monstrous as they wish in their retelling of sightings. Even people who don’t believe that Bigfoot exists will often enjoy a fictional movie about the creature, or a chilling story of a creepy encounter being told around the campfire. 

“I do believe Bigfoot is real, and that it is a large ape-like creature as so many reports have described. I have never seen one, or thought I’ve seen one, and no one I know has told me that they thought they may have seen Bigfoot. I just believe they’re out there, roaming the forest or whatever terrain they’re comfortable in, just trying to survive.” 

AUTHOR LINK: https://ceosborn.wordpress.com/

NEXT UP: Chapter Seventy-One: Hunting Bigfoot. I review the 2024 novella by Eric S. Brown.

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More from The Bigfoot Files …

THE BIGFOOT FILES

Logbook of Terror: Welcome to the Show

“Welcome to the Show”

Anna Bell had been waiting all year. The Horror Addicts Spooky Society Weekend of Horrors was finally here, her utopia where she could be surrounded by her tribe and celebrate her love for all things dark, spooky, and wonderful. As she entered the massive hotel that hosted the event each year, her heart raced with excitement and anticipation. But as Anna made her way through the crowds of cosplayers and fans, amid the joy and wonder, deep down, something didn’t feel quite right. 

A cosplayer dressed as Julien from Night’s Knights brushed past her, blending seamlessly into the sea of black t-shirts and costumes. A towering Bigfoot stomped through the lobby, most likely there for Lionel Ray Green’s panel. But something about that Sasquatch seemed too… real. And what about those vampire cosplayers lurking in the hallway coming up from the basement parking deck? They weren’t leering at her hungrily, were they? 

Pushing her paranoid thoughts aside, Anna checked her program and realized that Valentine Wolfe was set to perform in just fifteen minutes. With butterflies in her stomach and adrenaline in her veins, she rushed to the South Ballroom to see her favorite band take the stage.

As Anna Bell found a seat in the third row, the ballroom filled with spooky creatures. Then, the lights dimmed and a witch’s cackle echoed from the massive speakers on each side of the stage. Suddenly, the band appeared through a thick bank of fog, as if they had materialized out of the mist. Sarah, the lead singer, raised her right hand in a horned salute and Braxton, the bassist, drew his bow across the strings and began to play an eerie intro.

The drums kicked in, the band launched into Anna’s namesake song, “Annabel Lee”, and the audience roared excitedly. Anna clapped her hands over her ears. This was the loudest Valentine Wolfe crowd she’d ever seen, and the most intense; the energy in the room verged on hysterical. 

Anna glanced around. She saw something unsettling – two zombie nuns were attacking each other. What the…? Are they goofing around? 

She tried to focus on the stage, but even their things seemed off. Braxton’s eyes glowed red as he furiously drew the bow back and forth over his bass strings. Sarah’s feet rose off the stage as she hit an impossibly high note. The fans to Anna’s left cried out in pain and blood spewed from their ears. Chairs flew through the air and crashed against the walls. Screams and wails of agony and pleasure cut through the pulsing chamber metal music.

And then, Sarah’s eyes were on her, glowing bright yellow. 

Sarah reached out her hand towards Anna, pulling her closer to the stage. In the singer’s thrall, unable to resist, Anna reached out to her. Sarah smiled, revealing gleaming white fangs. Anna wanted to be near her. She had to be! She was so close. If she could just stretch a little bit more… 

The final note rang out. 

Anna’s eyes snapped open. She found herself back in her seat, struggling to catch her breath. Was it all that just a hallucination? She looked around to see if anyone else had experienced what she had, but everyone seemed to still be eagerly awaiting the show to begin, not shaken or disturbed in the least. A second later, the lights went down, and a witch’s cackle echoed through the ballroom. Cold chills crawled up Anna’s spine as thick fog floated across the stage. A deep dread pushed Anna’s excitement aside. She couldn’t help but feel that something sinister was lurking beneath the surface of what to her was the happiest place on earth. 

The HorrorAddicts.net Dark Romance Top 12 – First Quarter 2024

I’m excited to introduce a new quarterly feature called The HorrorAddicts.net Dark Romance Top 12. It’s a chart that highlights a dozen of the most popular dark romance books released during each of the four quarters of the year. This debut chart covers releases from January 1 to March 31. The goal here is simply to spotlight authors and their more recent releases, hopefully offering a few fresh options for your reading pleasure.

1. The Wallflower by J.L. Beck

Book 1 in the Oakmont Elite series is about a jock who can have anyone he wants except a shy girl named Maybel whose disgust for him fuels his obsession to own her completely.

2. Shattered Crown by Monica Kayne 

Book 4 in the Kozlov Empire series is billed as a dark mafia age-gap romance about a young woman seduced by a dangerous billionaire who seeks vengeance for the role he played in her aunt’s death.

3. Honed in Havoc by Albany Walker

The third and final book in the Corrupt Credence series is a dark college romance about a girl who must deal with her tyrannical grandparents in need of an heir.

4. Paved in Fire by Sonja Grey

The fifth and final book in the Melnikov Bratva series is billed as a dark mafia romance about a woman ripped away from her lifelong crush who’ll burn the world down to save her.

5. Moonlit Thorns by P. Rayne

Book 1 in the Midnight Manor series is a dark contemporary Beauty and the Beast reimagining about a woman who makes a desperate bargain with a brooding billionaire much older than her to live in his gothic manor, igniting an attraction that threatens to destroy them.

6. Virtuous Vows by T.L. Smith and Kia Carrington-Russell

Book 2 in the Lethal Vows series is about a woman who manages to escape her father’s rule as king of the underworld only to wind up in the arms of a man who sells desire for a living.

7. King of Ruin by Sasha Leone and Jade Rowe 

Book One in the Soulless Empire series is a dark mafia enemies-to-lovers, age-gap, forced-marriage novel about a woman who sleeps with the leader of the Russian mafia in Chicago, only learning afterwards that once you’ve slept with a Bratva boss, you’re his forever.

8. Mafia Kings: Lars by Olivia Thorn 

Book 4 in the Dark Mafia Romance Series is about the dangerously complicated love affair between a female British intelligence agent and a Special Forces soldier deployed in Afghanistan. When she is tasked to destroy the people who took him in as family, the couple realize they might have to kill each other.

9. Vengeful Gods by Elliott Rose

Unable to escape the curse of her bloodline, a woman is locked away in a hidden a fortress by a secret society of wealthy, power-hungry men who use her as their payment for the vengeance they’ve been denied. Vengeful Gods is a reverse harem dark revenge romance recommended for readers ages 18 and older.

10. Pregnant Bratva Possession by Veda Rose

Book 3 in the Vadim Bratva series is billed as a surprise pregnancy mafia romance about a woman whose virginity is won at a poker game by a much older man and gets pregnant. Torn between her submissive desires and his lack of commitment, she wonders if he’ll betray her when all hell breaks loose.

11. Mark Me by Eve Newton and SE Traynor

Book 1 in the Royals of Knightsgate series is a dark college reverse harem romance about a woman forced to live with the most popular guys at the academy after her student house is ruined by fire. As she’s pulled into their rich, powerful circle, she can’t tell if they’re friends or something darker because secrets are everywhere.

12. Daeos by Hattie Jacks 

Book 4 in the Fated Mates of the Sarkarnii series is an alien warrior romance about a goody-two-shoes human woman dropped in the middle of an alien prison maze who finds herself pursued by a damaged dragon shifter warrior, both needing each other to heal the hidden wounds of their hearts.

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HOW THE CHART WORKS

The HorrorAddicts.net Dark Romance Top 12 chart is compiled by staff writer Lionel Ray Green and only includes releases from each three-month quarter of the year using the Amazon Kindle release date. His chart is independent and subjective but partly based on a personally developed point system using a combination of factors, including media buzz, reviews, ratings, and recognitions.

Book Review: Tales of Evil Edited by Angel Leigh McCoy & Alison J. McKenzie

 

Tales of Evil Reviewed by Emerian Rich

Although the main theme is evil, I found there was also a secondary theme of serial killer or stalker involved. Not being a huge fan of that trope, I won’t go into those, but if you are a fan of such stories, there are enough in here to justify the price.

My favorites in this anthology were—and this won’t come as a shock to those of you who know my tastes—the ones that interested me from word one, had a lot of great description, and really made me feel like I was inside the tale, not just an observer.

My favorite story of the whole bunch was Alison J. McKenzie’s “Rabbit.” There is so much to love in this tale. The inherited house was a great setting. All the rooms still filled with stuff that you get to explore? Yes, please. Sign me up. Something skittering around inside the house with you when you thought you were alone? Maybe not so much. Alison’s description and the way she fed in little bits of terror, slowly, just when you were getting comfortable, was pure magic. 

The funnest story (and you know how I love fun evil!) was “Devil in Her Heart” by Loren Rhoads. I loved this great time-period steeped tale cast with The Beatles and a sexy seductress who I would love to hang out with. From the moment she appears, you aren’t quite sure who she is or what she wants, but you know you want to find out. I’m not a die-hard Beatles fan, but this story made me feel like I was living in the house with them, yeah, yeah, yeah.

“Cookies for Gio” by Angel Leigh McCoy was such a well-told, but disturbing story. I really have to give props to the author for addressing such a heavy topic. As the mom of a teenage child with disabilities myself, this one rocked me to the core. Set in a near-future world where religious fanatics have taken over government and started deporting anyone who doesn’t fit into their mindset, physically disabled teen Gio and his mother attend a protest where things get way out of hand. This was one of those stories that I am happy I experienced, but that I will probably never read again because it was so real…it felt like it could happen tomorrow and to my own son. The way our world could easily become this horror was too real for me. I know I will be thinking about this story for years to come as a call to action, reminding myself to vote even when it’s hard and speak out before we are shut down. 

A few more I’ll mention briefly that I enjoyed were:

“Craving” by Yvonne Navarro.  Two accident junkies meet on the sidelines of a terrible crash and become involved. Their love—if you can call it that—is built on their mutual enjoyment of gawking at disasters. This is one of those stories that creeps up on you. Somehow the author makes you feel for them and their horrifying preoccupation. Seeing everything through Andre’s eyes makes the hobby almost normal…until it isn’t.

“A Message From Mommy” by Jennifer Brozek. The queen of tech horror does another excellent job of terrorizing us through the use of technology in this short, simple (but effective) story told through voicemail messages. 

“How Father Bryant Saw the Light” by Alan Baxter. This one gets the prize for the best monster. I mean, a tall, pale man who sucks out people’s eyes? This dude is the creepiest monster I’ve read about in a long while. Combined with a priest and possible possession, this one was right up my alley.

Overall, I enjoyed this anthology. A few of the stories weren’t for me, but that is the best thing about this sort of book. Although the writers are all part of the same group, their styles and viewpoints are so wildly different, that you are sure to find a handful of them that interest you. Those stories that don’t speak to you, you can pass and try out the next. This sort of anthology gives you a great way to test out new authors you haven’t heard of and maybe find a new well of fiction to read.

If you like these types of books, there are several others out there to enjoy. You can check out my review of another one here: https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2023/03/26/book-review-tales-of-nightmares-edited-by-loren-rhoads/

HorrorAddicts.net 231, Annabel Lee

HorrorAddicts.net Season 19
#HorrorCon * Episode# 231
Horror Hostess: Emerian Rich
Intro Music by: Valentine Wolfe

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231 | Annabel Lee | Emerian Rich | Valentine Wolfe

Find all articles and interviews at: http://www.horroraddicts.net

193 days till Halloween

Theme: #AnnabelLee #Poe #EdgarAllanPoe

Music: “Annabel Lee” #ValentineWolfe

http://www.valentinewolfe.com

Catchup: Welcome back! #CemeteryJob #HorrorCon #HorrorComics #NottheManga #PoeMode #PoeAlAMode 

Historian of Horror: #MarkOrr #AnnabelLee #JosephHolbrooke #MelitzaTorres 

NEWS: 

#Attrition “The Promise” #TheBlackMaria

#BookReview #DJPitsladis #TheCollapse #AliceBSullivan

#LionelRayGreen #BigFootFiles #BogBeast #BrianGatto

#MarkOrr #TotalEclipseoftheHeart #DanceoftheVampires

#JesseOrr #FictionSeries  #TotheDepths

#KieranJudge #WilliamWilson #Poe

#MeganStarrak #WyomingDeathShip

#BrianMcKinley #Vampire #Tropes #Staked

#LionelRayGreen #SplatterWestern

#VeronicaMcCollum #ListenFree #Librivox #AnnabelLee

#HorrorCurated

https://horroraddictspress.etsy.com

~~End of News~~ 

Nightmare Fuel: #DJPitsiladis #Leyak #Vampire 

DeadMail: 

SARA: #HorrorAddicts #Season19 #Theme #HorrorCon

JEFF: #AIwriting #Fiction #TheAIProblem #ReviewChanges

MARTIN: #HorrorTravel #HorrorBnB 

https://youtu.be/JMr8SNWXM6k?si=XVvN7uMQqUaaMo7Y

#BambieThug #DoomsdayBlue

Feat Author: #EmerianRich #MyAnnabel #QuoththeRaven

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Episode 231 Theme: Annabel Lee

Our guest for Episode 231 is Emerian Rich who will be reading her “Annabel Lee”-inspired story, “My Annabel.”

My favorite Poe poem is “Annabel Lee,” so when I saw the call for reimagined Poe stories, I had to take a stab at reworking it. Since it’s a poem, I wanted to write something different, a short story, in the modern age, but with the same feel of Poe’s work. I gave the characters modern jobs and brought to light humans fear today…the zombie apocalypse. As surgeons, the characters come in contact with a zombie virus and are unable to avoid the chaos that follows. “My Annabel” is my version of how Poe’s poem would play out if it happened today.

Emerian Rich is the author of the vampire book series, Night’s Knights, and writes romance under the name Emmy Z. Madrigal. She’s been published in a handful of anthologies by publishers such as Dragon Moon Press, Hazardous Press, and White Wolf Press. She is the copyeditor of SEARCH Magazine, the Editor-in-Chief of Horror Curated Magazine, and the podcast Horror Hostess of HorrorAddicts.net. You can connect with her at: emzbox.com.

“My Annabel” was published in the anthology Quoth the Raven.

If you’d like to read a full review of the book, you can check out our blog post here: 
https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2019/04/21/book-review-quoth-the-raven-edited-by-lyn-worthen/

 

Terror Trax #231: Valentine Wolfe

Wyoming Death Ship by Megan Starrak

Wyoming Death Ship

It was the fall of 1862, and a trapper named Leon Webber was working along the banks of the North Platte River in Wyoming. At some point, he looked up from his work and noticed a thick fog across the water. According to his later testimony, Webber picked up a stone and hurled it into the undulating murk. Upon doing so, the mass solidified into a large ship with white frost covering its mast and sails. As he observed this icy ship, Webber saw several crew members standing around something on the deck. Slowly, they drew apart, and to his horror, Webber saw the body of his fiancée lying at their feet. As he stood there frozen in fear, the behemoth apparition evaporated into thin air. It was only when he got home that Webber reached the end of his part in this ghostly tale when he heard that his fiancée had died the same night as the ghost ship appeared.

But that wasn’t the only time the aptly named “Death Ship” was seen. Its next sighting was 25 years after Webber’s encounter in 1887. Cattleman Gene Wilson was gathering his herd by the river when he saw the same ship with its ghostly crew gathered on deck. Wilson reportedly saw the body of his wife when the crew moved aside. It is said that he raced home and found his home burned to the ground and his wife’s body near the charred ruins.

There was one other sighting 25 years later, in 1903. However, the witness this time, Victor Hiebe, didn’t have the same experience as Webber and Wilson did. Hiebe witnessed the fog, the appearance of an ice-covered ship, and the apparitions on the deck, but the body he saw was not lying on the deck. The body he saw was hanging from gallows located on the forward deck. He recognized the hanged man as a friend of his who had been convicted of murder and had escaped from prison. But the conclusion of the story was the same as the first two. Hiebe later found out that his friend had been captured and hung on the very same day Hiebe saw the ship.

There have been no more official sightings of the ship since 1903. I have two theories about why this might be. First, no one was around where the boat appeared to witness it. Second, perhaps it was witnessed, but whoever was there saw themselves crumpled on the deck and died before they could tell their story. Whatever the case, the Wyoming Death Ship is an intriguing story, and I believe it will be seen again at some point in the future, it’s only a matter of when.

12 Splatter Westerns worth a shot

2020 was the Year of the Splatter Western with Death’s Head Press leading the way and releasing eight titles. Half of those titles received Splatterpunk Awards nominations, and one earned the win for Best Novel. Since 2020, Death’s Head has continued to release books blending extreme horror with a nineteenth-century American West setting, injecting the subgenre with new life.

April’s theme at HorrorAddicts.net is Ghost Towns and Wild West Horror, so I decided to compile a list of the Top 12 Splatter Westerns from Death’s Head, chiefly based on ratings, reviews, and recognitions. That’s enough books to pack the cylinders of two Colt Peacemakers, one hanging on each hip. Let’s fire away, and please take a moment to admire the killer cover art on these releases.

1. The Magpie Coffin by Wile E. Young

Winner for Best Novel at the 2021 Splatterpunk Awards, The Magpie Coffin is about an outlaw nicknamed the Black Magpie who vows vengeance on the people who murdered his Comanche shaman mentor.

2. Hunger on the Chisolm Trail by M. Ennenbach

An ancient, hungry creature lurks in the untamed West, threatening the first cattle drive of the season along with residents of a sleepy town along the way … and only one man stands a chance against it.

3. Red Station by Kenzie Jennings

Nominated for Best Novella at the 2021 Splatterpunk Awards, Red Station is a tale of secrets unleashed after four stagecoach passengers take refuge for the night at a house known to welcome passengers with hot meals and soft beds … but that’s only how it seems.

4. The Night Silver River Run Red by Christine Morgan

Another nominee for Best Novella at the 2021 Splatterpunk Awards, The Night Silver River Run Red is about what happens after a traveling show advertising oddities, marvels, and grotesqueries sets up outside of town, enticing a young boy to sneak out with friends … only to discover something far worse than an ordinary traveling show.

5. The Thirteenth Koyote by Kristopher Triana

A two-time Splatterpunk Awards winner, Triana delivers a werewolf Western where a stolen piece from an unearthed corpse summons a vicious company of outlaws headed by a power-hungry leader … with only a handful of unlikely heroes standing in their way.

6. Dust by Chris Miller 

Nominated for Best Novel at the 2021 Splatterpunk Awards, Dust is about a man who’s dispatched by the Others on a cosmic quest through time to find the elusive town of Dust and destroy a powerfully evil relic. However, a villain is in hot pursuit with the idea of harnessing the power for his own designs.

7. Starving Zoe by C. Derick Miller

A tale of revenge about an Arizonan who returns home after the American Civil War only to find that his desert homecoming marks the end to everything he once knew. 

8. A Savage Breed by Patrick C. Harrison III

An escaped band of outlaws, a mountain man seeking justice for his family’s murder, and an adventure-seeking teenager converge among the eerie and dangerous crevices of the Wichita Mountains. 

9. Human-Shaped Fiends by Chandler Morrison

A Splatter Western with a bold meta twist, Human-Shaped Fiends is about a band of ruthless teenage outlaws and the troubled sheriff tasked to bring them to justice. However, the author also inserts himself into the book with interludes about the struggles of writing a Western in the style expected of him, adding some levity to the violent tale.

10. The Devoured and the Dead by Kristopher Rufty

A nominee for Best Novel at the 2022 Splatterpunk Awards, The Devoured and the Dead follows three families traveling through North Carolina to claim their share of the gold rush when they become stranded in the frigid forest and resort to a desperate and depraved act to survive … an act so depraved it unleashes a deadly curse. 

11. Last of the Ravagers by Bryan Smith

Nominated for Best Novel at the 2023 Spatterpunk Awards, Last of the Ravagers is about the sleepy town of Snakebite and how a band of its citizens must make a last stand when the town finds itself under siege by monsters and the dead as a renegade wizard seeks greater power … and the source of that power is in the heart of Snakebite. 

12. Shadow of the Vulture by Regina Garza Mitchell

Americans moving west toward their manifest destiny clash with witchcraft and the supernatural in the small town of Soledad, including with a witch who tries to protect the land and a former soldier accompanied by her dead friend who will do whatever it takes to make the American invaders pay. 

Nightmare Fuel Ep. 231: The Leyak

Hello Addicts,

If I said the word ‘vampire’ you would probably think of human looking ones with arms and legs. There is one out there that has none of those, but can still move about and gorge itself on blood. For this week’s Nightmare Fuel, we look at the leyak.

In Bali legend, a leyak is a black magic using human with cannibalistic behavior. By day, they look like you or I, but at night, their heads, complete with fangs and unusually long tongues, leave the body carrying their heart, lungs, and liver with it. This terrifying being floats through the air hunting for pregnant women. Their preferred meal is an infant, or it’s blood, but they are also said to haunt graveyards where they feast on corpses. Much like their more famous cousins, these vampires can change into other animals, including pigs.

A Rangda, also called a ‘queen of leyak’, not only controls these horrendous creatures but also has a hand in creating them. These women are the widow-witches who play an important part in their village’s rituals. They can control not only the leyak, but demons as well. It is her mask that is kept in the village’s temples of the dead until a ceremony requires them to parade it around. Their power and status are the only protections from the families of those turned into leyaks, but not from the spirits themselves.

Be wary if you see a floating head with dangling entrails for it may find the taste of your blood quite satisfying. And if you’re dying to watch a movie about the leyak, then check out ‘Mystics in Bali’ from 1981.

Until next time, Addicts,

D.J.

Odds and Dead Ends: William Wilson – Poe’s Overlooked Doppelganger Chiller

For a writer as revered as Edgar Allan Poe, there are lots of his stories which end up being forgotten. Everyone knows ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’ almost by heart, and everyone has the first stanza of The Raven committed to memory. ‘The Masque of the Red Death’, ‘The Black Cat’, ‘The Cask of Amontillado’: all of these tales crop up time and time again, not least in Netflix’s Wednesday series. Yet some lay dormant. The Oval Portrait, one of Poe’s shortest stories, is a forgotten gem, as is his eerie tale of doubles and identity crises, ‘William Wilson’.

     For those who haven’t read the story, it is advised to go and read it ahead of time, because this article will be discussing it in depth, and like a number of stories written at this time, sent off to the magazines and the penny dreadfuls, there’s a kicker ending. With that said, a refresher of the plot.

     The narrator is William Wilson. He grew up a small English town, learning at the hands of the local Deacon, spending most of his time in a large, rambling, Elizabethan boarding schoolhouse. In all regards, he is superior to his schoolfellows, save for one, another student named William Wilson. The two share the same birthday, and although they have disputes, and the narrator feels hatred for having the same name as he, can just about get along with him.

     However, over the years, the second Wilson begins to copy the narrator’s gate and general manner, and stealing to his chambers one night, the narrator sees Wilson the same as he, but not the same, at the same time. This bizarre, supernatural strangeness follows the narrator as he progresses through life, the second Wilson cropping up at various moments, before a final, fateful confrontation at a party in Rome. The narrator rushes and stabs the second Wilson, only to find himself confronted with a mirror, himself bleeding, and the second Wilson’s dying words of “In me didst thou exist – and, in my death, see by this image, which is thine own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself.”

     Aside from the general principle of your childhood foil following you your whole life in your image and name and mannerism, which is a generally disturbing concept, lots of small details give William Wilson a little extra kick.

     Although there isn’t your typical gothic darkness and gloom pervading the text, the story does begin in a small rural English town (based on Stoke Newington, where Poe spent his youthful years), in a boarding school (based on Manor House School, that Poe attended for several years). The small town has now been amalgamated into London, and is certainly no longer the strange, folk-horror style image we might have in our mind, but the church mentioned nearby does sit in a ‘dusky atmosphere in which the fretted Gothic steeple lay imbedded and asleep’. The schoolhouse is ‘old and irregular’, with ‘a high and solid brick wall, topped with a bed of mortar and broken glass…’ Anyone familiar with ‘House of Usher’ will recall the ‘vacant eye-like windows’, which was published the month before ‘William Wilson’.

     Poe is therefore still very much in the gothic trend of his other stories. Indeed, the house itself seems to reflect a splitting, or doubling, of Wilson’s personality, perhaps prefiguring psychoanalytical thought which would come to be discussed in the next century. Not only is the house maze-like in its construction, ‘There was really no end to its windings – to its incomprehensible subdivisions,’ but Poe follows this up by saying that ‘It was difficult, at any given time, to say with certainty upon which of its two stories one happened to be.’ Knowing that the story is about doubting identity, it’s not hard to see the importance of these lines. The house is a maze when one is stuck behind the ‘solid brick wall’ of the self, where numerous identities might be lurking. In a way, it is much a reflection of the self as the hedge maze is in The Shining. The narrator also says that during his time there, ‘I was never able to ascertain… in what remote locality lay the little sleeping apartment assigned to myself…’ In other words, in childhood, he never managed to establish a distinct identity, a place where he was sure where he was in two identical plains of reality; the two floors represent the two Wilsons of the story.

     It is therefore not surprising that it is only a good page following this description of the location about confusion and a world split in two, that the second Wilson is introduced into the story. He is the perfect thwart to the ambitions of the narrator; ‘…destitute alike of the ambition which urged… me to excel.’ His spookiness is aided by his inability to raise his voice, therefore meaning everything he says is said in ‘a very low whisper.’ He is the uncanny split spirit inside the narrator.

     Added to this, the second normal Wilson is not normal. Whether we read the story as a precursor to Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde, that the second Wilson seems a strange part of the narrator’s inner psyche seems almost certain. It is through the strange inner depths of the boarding school, a ‘wilderness of narrow passages’ that definitely feels cave-like and ancient, that the narrator travels by lamplight to find Wilson. This is a Wilson which, in the previous passage, has given the narrator, briefly, ‘…the belief of my having been acquainted with the being who stood before me, at some epoch long ago…’. One thinks again to Mr Hyde’s being a manifestation of an ancient evil that exists inside all mankind, and to H. G. Wells’s ‘The Red Room’, where the sinister old people who own the castle are ‘atavistic’, the narrator of that story showing his fear of age, and as a result, ghosts, immortally connected to the past. The past intrudes on the present as the uncanny intrudes on reality.

     Wilson, then, is seemingly not of this world. He is not just an individual. This much is doubly reinforced when the narrator glimpses him asleep:

‘Were these – these the lineaments of William Wilson? I saw, indeed, that they were his, but I shook as if with a fit of the auge, in fancying they were not. What was there about them to confound me in this manner? I gazed; – while my brain reeled with a multitude of incoherent thoughts. Not thus he appeared – assuredly not thus – in the vivacity of his waking hours. …Was it, in truth, within the bounds of human possibility, that what I now saw was the result, merely, of the habitual practice of this sarcastic imitation?’

Poe, like his student, H. P. Lovecraft, doesn’t exactly spell out what the issue is, but it is clear that there is a play between Wilson being exactly like the narrator, but some strangeness in not being like them. One wonders which part scares the narrator more. Would a perfect replication be better than something very slightly monstrous in the mirror before him?

     Years later, a stranger demands to talk to the narrator. The second Wilson (we assume the stranger is he), takes the narrator by the arm and only whispers ‘“William Wilson”’ before disappearing. This sequence reinforces the idea that, despite the appearance of the man upsetting the narrator, it is the speech, ‘…the character, the tone, the key, of those few, simple, and familiar, yet whispered syllables…’ which scares him. As language is an inherent part of how human beings navigate the world, and understand it, that this should be the weapon of destabilising the narrator’s world is chilling.

Iago does much the same thing to Othello in Shakespeare’s play. Othello, a character built upon his storytelling prowess and ability with words (he claims in a big speech in Act 1 Scene 3 that his storytelling of his bold exploits is how he won over Desdemona), is brought into sputtering, broken syllables by Iago’s storytelling abilities and manipulation of language. Othello’s identity is constructed through language, and as soon as that weapon is used against him, he crumbles (see Othello: Language and Writing, by Laurie Maguire, for an excellent deep dive into this idea).

It isn’t exactly the same with Poe’s story, but you can clearly see in both easily how important language, and names, are for establishing identity. As identity, and a distortion thereof, is the point of the narrative of ‘William Wilson’, this moment is crucial to the strange atmosphere of the piece, the attempt to destroy the narrator’s surety as to his own identity.

     Despite the second Wilson not normally appearing in the dark (he spent several years at school, after all), he does in his penultimate appearance, where after cheating a significant sum of money at cards, the narrator is exposed by Wilson appearing, apparition-like, in a flurry. He doesn’t even seem to appear. Indeed, the candles after he (presumably) opens the door are extinguished, and the narrator says that ‘…we could only feel that he was standing in our midst.’ Even so, he still speaks in the ‘never-to-be-forgotten whisper…’, identifying it as the second Wilson. Once more, his identity is marked by speech, by language, even more so than the impossible knowledge of the narrator having the cheated cards hidden in the cuff linings of his left sleeve. This exposure drives the story, but the way it is revealed, through a linguistic identity crisis, drives the chill factor.

     As an added note, it is also interesting to remember the nighttime visit by the narrator to the second Wilson’s bedside earlier in the story. Both times in the night, are seemingly when the doppelganger seems at his most ethereal. His most bizarre and inhuman. In the first instance, his form is unusual, and in this cheating-exposure sequence, he is almost a disembodied voice, not seen, but glimpsed and felt. Spooky and strange things happen in the black, where Poe’s writing is at its best.

     This is all before we get to the very end of the tale. At a masquerade in Rome (one and a half years before ‘The Masque of the Red Death’ is published), Wilson appears in ‘a costume altogether similar to my own…’. Thinking once more of Stevenson’s tale, it is interesting in this final confrontational swordfight between the doppelgangers how the roles are reversed. The second Wilson ‘with a slight sigh, drew in silence,’ and the narrator ‘plunged my sword, with brute ferocity, repeatedly through and through his bosom.’ This is seemingly the opposite in characteristic to the characters of Jekyll and Hyde, Jekyll the good man of science, and Hyde the brutal, evil side of mankind. Our narrator is the violent one, our antagonist calm. In other words, the complete opposite of what we would usually expect.

     But in the end, who is who in the tale? Everything gets confused, blurs into one, when for a moment we have the following:

‘The brief moment in which I averted my eyes had been sufficient to produce, apparently, a material change in the arrangements at the upper or farther end of the room. A large mirror; – so at first it seemed to me in my confusion – now stood where none had been perceptible before; and as I stepped up to it in extremity of terror, mine own image, but with features all pale and dabbles in blood, advanced to meet me with a feeble and tottering gait.’

Which level of the old boarding school are we on? Because later, although the narrator says ‘it was Wilson, who then stood before me,’ he speaks in the narrator’s voice, ‘no longer in a whisper, and I could have fancied that I myself was speaking…’. Is the narrator looking into a mirror that he hadn’t noticed? Has the mirror appeared? Is he looking at the second Wilson, or himself? Was he the second Wilson all along? We can’t work out where we are, and who we are.

     It is impossible to tell who is who in the finale. Perhaps it is impossible to say which Wilson was the real one, if either, if both. Were there two real ones? Perhaps, much like in Jordan Peele’s film Us, there has been a switch, which might explain the strangeness in the temperaments of the two figures at the end of the story. That the narrator survives to tell the tale might suggest that the roles reverse, the psyches change bodies. After all, despite his apparent mortal stabbing and the second Wilson claiming that he has ‘murdered thyself,’ someone is narrating the tale. That there is some reality to the second Wilson is suggested by numerous other characters seeming to interact in some way with him. But how much? How much is projection, the impossible, the pure fancy? Was he a normal person that happened to have the same name, with jealousy from our narrator accentuating similarities to create an impossible story of being a doppelganger to justify the murder?

     Perhaps it is all of this confusion which gives the feeling of unease to the tale. The inability to see more than that there is some internal projection onto the real world at play, a kind of Fight Club wish fulfilment gone horribly wrong. Its psychoanalytic implication are well ahead of its time, and the eerie nature of the relationship between the Wilson’s is worthy of Poe’s best. For now it is overlooked by other doubling stories of the 1800s such as The Portrait of Dorian Gray and Jekyll & Hyde, stories which Sarah Annes Brown compares to ‘William Wilson’ in her book, A Familiar Compound Ghost: Allusion and the Uncanny. One can only hope that this particular little tale might be better known, and will chill a great many more readers in our modern world, filled naturally with split identities and ghostly gangers in the dark.

Article by Kieran Judge

Historian of Horror: Music – Total Eclipse of the Heart

 

B-B-B-Bonnie and the Vamps

 

            We took a family Christmas cruise to the Bahamas this past December with too many small children and too few adults — bad idea. Lots of seasickness and intestinal distress ensued, as well as accommodations for the grandchildren that it would be generous to describe as rudimentary. We found a general lack of organization and urgency in the dining rooms, and unreasonable restrictions in the recreational areas. We usually have good experiences on cruises, but this one was a horror tale of its own.

On the plus side, I did get to spend some quality time with my new favorite bartender in Nassau and saw a show on the ship that reminded me that I needed to turn my laser focus on what has now become the subject of this post. It was an over-the-top production of power ballads from the 70s and 80s, with bright lights, exaggerated dance routines, ridiculous costumes and some pretty good singing. Fun! And one of the songs performed…

            Don’t want to get ahead of myself. How about we throw this puppy into reverse and start from the beginning?

            Sometime back in the dark and abyss of time that was the 1970s, record producer Jim Steinman was working on a musical based on the classic German Expressionist silent film, Nosferatu. I assume you’ve heard of it. One song he wrote for it before turning his attention to making records with Meat Loaf was called “Vampire in Love”. It went into inventory and was sort of forgotten.

            Fast forward to the early 80s, when Welsh songstress Bonnie Tyler saw Meat Loaf on TV and decided that it was that guy’s producer whom she wanted to bring her next album to fruition. She met with Steinman, and during their initial negotiations he recalled that vampire song he wrote for the lost musical.

            Thinking her raspy voice, the result of an operation to remove some vocal cord nodules in the 70s, was perfect for the piece, he pitched “Vampire in Love” to her. She jumped on it like a loose ball in the end zone, and musical history was made. Steinman tweaked it a bit, changed the title, and put it on Tyler’s fifth album, Faster Than the Speed of Night.

            The album was released in April of 1983 in the United Kingdom, and in September of that year in America. It went to No. 1 on the charts immediately on both sides of the Big Pond, as did the single based on Steinman’s vampire love song, which became Billboard’s Number Six song of the year.

I have to confess that, having never learned about this context, I had no idea until a year or so ago that Tyler’s big hit, which was now called Total Eclipse of the Heart, had that vampire connection. But, come on. “Forever’s gonna start tonight”? All those references to shadows and night and love in the dark? How could it be about anything other than the living dead?

Steinman did eventually include a version of the song in a musical, retitling it “Totale Finsternis” (“Total Darkness” in English). His 1997 stage production Tanz der Vampire was based on Dance of the Vampires, a 1967 Roman Polansky movie known as The Fearless Vampire Killers in the United States. A Berlin performance from 2011 is on YouTube, in German with English subtitles. I recommend it highly. A better-quality print of a 2010 performance from Antwerp, Belgium is also on YouTube, but there are no subtitles. Alas, my Flemish is about as bad as my German, but it’s worth a look.

Tanz der Vampire has rarely to my knowledge been staged in America, mostly being mounted in Europe. But who knows? Maybe we’ll all get lucky and it will be performed in an opera house close by one of these days… or nights.

And depending on how you feel about Roman Polansky, you might want to check out the aforementioned film he directed, which co-starred his wife Sharon Tate two years before she was so horribly slaughtered by the Manson Family. The movie is a comedy, but knowing what was going to happen on August 9, 1969, overshadows the humor with a layer of melancholy. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Next time, we’re going to consider why one of the most distinctive voices in American film history did so little work on the radio and highlight what might be his most important effort in that medium. Why not step into my parlor in a couple of weeks to learn who I’m referring to, and which legendary duo comes to call on him in his very own haunted house? I look forward to your visit.

Until then, ye connoisseurs of creepiness, I bid you all to be afraid…

Be very afraid.

 

 

 

           

           

 

 

           

 

Free Fiction Audio: Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe

Personal Poe Collection Compiled by EliseDee and Cavaet

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849)

We present here ten stories and poems from the master of horror, Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. They are our personal favorites. We hope you enjoy them as much as we enjoy presenting them to you. – Summary by cavaet

Genre(s): Horror & Supernatural Fiction, Literary Collections

Language: English

If you would like to listen to Annabel Lee:

#7 Annabel Lee

LibriVox

To the Depths by Jesse Orr

1000 PSI left.

That may sound like a lot. But when each breath of air takes 3-5 PSI of the oxygen strapped to your back and you’re breathing at over 30 breaths per minute…

You do the math.

You’re over two hundred feet beneath the surface, and this far down, nothing is the same.

Not even you.

Your best friend came up with this idea and you’ve both been planning this cave dive for months. Regulators, lifelines, tanks, depth gauges, underwater lights, cameras, and even infrared video, should it come to that. The entire never-before-seen underwater cave is to be yours, your legacy, passed on to the world. For a price.

You know the risks. Nitrogen narcosis. The bends. Running out of air. Stalactites. Stalagmites. Rockfalls. Cave-ins. An extra oxygen tank hanging on the safety line every 50 feet. Synchronized depth gauges. Carefully consulted dive tables. Neither of you have ingested anything but light food and some water for well over 36 hours, flushing any impurities from your blood.

As you descend into the blackness, cathedrals built by the earth itself open up before you, lit in bobbing sections by brilliant Hollywood lights. While you’re lowering them, you don’t really think about the splendor awaiting you while you’re trying so hard to maneuver gear through tight spaces and around spikes with hardly enough room to let you squeeze by, let alone the equipment you’re lugging. It requires concentration, and when the lights are set, your first priority is to make the surface, not follow them down, because at that point you don’t have enough breaths left to make it down and back. So later, when you get to the bottom of your safety line again and the lights down deep and really take a look around…

Wow.

750PSI.

You’re operating the camera while your best friend goes first. Explaining the sights to everyone watching at home, voice punctuated by bubbles. He’s right to be amazed. The fruit in his voice isn’t plastic. It is real, organic, fascination at this unreached corner of nature. This part of the world that next to no one will ever see in person. The excitement is contagious, and your world shrinks to the camera frame, and keeping your friend centered in it. You can almost hear the dollar signs in his voice and you allow yourself to believe in them.

By this time, his world has shrunk to the camera lens and the untold millions at home, while yours has shrunk to the view finder. As you get more comfortable in the space and the nitrogen in your blood builds, you both begin exploring. Even exceeding the reach of the movie mounted lights and having to switch to flashlights and the video camera spotlight doesn’t bother you.

500PSI.

You don’t have to worry now. The rest of your life is mapped out for you. You will take perhaps 100 more breaths. After that, you’ll suck on the vacuum in your best friend’s tank as long as you can, before everything goes black down here, lost, separated from daylight, warmth, air, and life.

You won’t be panicking. You and your best friend have already done that when you realized where you were, and that you had no idea how to get out. You claw at the tons of rock wall, continuing to dig through clouds of your own blood. You dig through your fingernails, then your fingertips. Eventually, you can see the bones peeking out. But finally, you both realize, if rock beats scissors, fingers don’t have a chance.

That is when you stop being friends and become obstacles.

All you know, is this prick and his delusions of grandeur led you both out of the light, away from the safety line, and this is his fucking fault.

You mention how you don’t have much air left, probably from lugging that damn camera around down here.

He counters with the fact that you are relatively new to cave diving [his experience ecliPSIng yours by all of three months] and that you should have controlled your breathing.

You point out this entire expedition and the decision not to have anybody above water was his fucking idea, and if he didn’t want to share the credit, he shouldn’t mind taking the blame.

He lunges at you, grabbing at your mask and regulator, attempting to wrest it from your mouth in order to supplement his own dwindling supply of oxygen. You struggle, attempting to break free before you see a flash of bright steel in one hand and really realize your best friend is trying to kill you.

You feel him seize your throat and attempt to stab you. You grab the wrist of the hand holding the knife and kick out, catching him in the groin. He drops the knife and your throat, his eyes wide, precious air bursting from his mouth as he howls in pain. Like a flash, you catch the knife bury it in his chest.

150PSI in my best friend’s tank.

My air tank is long empty, discarded on the bottom. For the hundredth time, I push my former dive buddy out of the way as his body bobs in front of me. His eyes are still open.

135PSI.

You can’t help but wonder who you’d rather be. Your best friend, floating and sightless, or you – doomed to live only another handful of moments on the air you took from your best friend whom you murdered, after he tried to kill you.

Eventually, these lights will all go out, and you’ll all be dead, down here in this cavern. Perhaps one day you’ll be discovered. Maybe you’ll rot before then. Or maybe you’ll have only rotted halfway the next time anyone sees your sightless eyes when they turn their own movie lights on and venture down into this cavern from hell.

85PSI.

70.

55.

35.

Faster as it gets closer.

20.

5.

.

THE BIGFOOT FILES/Chapter Sixty-Nine: Bog Beast

“The terror was in the legends.” 

From that opening line – “The terror was in the legends,” Bog Beast by Massachusetts author Brian Gatto displays a nostalgic respect and knowledge of cryptids that saturates the 161-page book. Plus it’s just plain fun.

Released in February by Raven Tale Publishing, the novella features at least one legendary beast and a father-son relationship complicated by past tragedy. Much of the fun from reading Bog Beast is discovering if the creature is a vengeful grizzly bear, a Nandi bear, a Bigfoot, or a legendary Arkansas aquatic reptile known as the Arking. Or something else. 

The main characters in the book are the woodsy hermit Moe and his son Jake who’s studying cryptozoology in college. The story starts fast when Jake receives a frantic call from his estranged father saying, “I think it’s back.” When Jake asks what, Moe replies, “The thing that killed your mom and brother.” 

Jake quickly assembles a crew to journey to Moe’s isolated farm in Arkansas and investigate. The crew includes his friend Phillip, their cryptozoology professor Albert, and Albert’s sexy daughter Eva. There is some melodrama amongst the characters with ex-girlfriends, the professor’s obsession with the pliosaur, and the father-son dynamic. 

However, the looming shadow of the beast is what propels the story forward fueled by Jake’s painful ties to the creature via the death of his family members years ago. Evidence like a dead hog crammed in a tree, mangled dog pens, and a buck’s torn head illustrate the power of the elusive beast. All of it leads to an action-packed finale that veers wildly– and I mean wildly — into extreme horror territory by the end.

The author Gatto loves writing creature features and has penned books about crocodiles, giant crabs, and deep-sea predators. Croc Attack, Croc Attack 2, Limbs, and Extant are among his most popular books. 

In an exclusive interview with The Bigfoot Files, Gatto discusses Bog Beast and shares his passion for cryptids and what he thinks about the real-world Bigfoot phenomenon. The interview includes spoilers for Bog Beast. 

Brian Gatto

“I grew up with the Sci-Fi channel,” Gatto says. “Back in the day before it became Syfy, the old school network era was king of my television. I probably watched movies I shouldn’t have at that age, but it shaped who I became and my passion for creature horror. I love Bigfoot because he scares me. The idea of being toyed with, chased, and then killed frightens me to my core. The Loch Ness Monster and El Chupacabra are fun to think about too. In all honesty, I want to see more cryptid-based horror, especially in the film industry. There are plenty of books out there to adapt.” 

Gatto created his own cryptids for Bog Beast, including the titular creature and another called the Arking. 

“Bog beast is an original creature closer to a Nandi bear than a Bigfoot but still somewhere in between,” Gatto says. “Arking was something I made up. It is a name that combines the words Arkansas and King. It may or may not appear in some form or another in the future.” 

The climactic finish of Bog Beast is a shocker, and I asked Gatto if that was the original ending. 

“As is the case with most books I write, and I assume a lot of authors deal with this too, the ending was different originally,” Gatto says. “Originally a certain character was to die much earlier on, but I saved their demise for a much more savage climax.” 

Gatto’s first completed book Wildman was about a Bigfoot creature, and he hopes to rewrite that one along with his other two self-published books, Chomp and Rattack. Bog Beast began as the rewrite for Wildman, but Gatto “wanted to make Wildman a much larger scale story and was in the mood for a more straightforward approach” with Bog Beast. 

“There will be a sequel,” Gatto says of Bog Beast. “The cliffhanger at the end was not fully set up beyond a want for revenge. The ideas left to toy with in a sequel are too good to pass up. I hope to start a sequel soon. I have other projects I am focusing on at the moment.” 

I asked Gatto why Bigfoot remains so prevalent in pop culture today and if he believes it’s real. 

“People love to discover things that are possibly fictional and internal,” Gatto says. “They want to make a name for themselves and be remembered in their lifetime beyond just mere existing. It’s a feeling of self-satisfaction. It’s not a bad thing at all. I myself strive to be thought of by the public long after I am gone. That being said, Bigfoot is a mysterious beast in their entirety. From the very idea of them to the way in which it is assumed they behave. I think diehard Bigfoot fans want to connect with this creature in this way. No need for Bigfoot to show off. That is what makes them so infamous. It may also be why people find interest in them. That and they are really interesting specimens. The ultimate hide-and-seek champions. There are plenty of things in the wilderness that could be construed as Bigfoot. I do believe there is something out there, but, as for the creatures themselves, it’s a coin toss for me. I want to believe.”

AUTHOR LINK: https://www.facebook.com/brian.gatto.5

NEXT UP: Chapter Seventy: Bigfoot Ridge. I review the 2024 novella by C.E. Osborn.

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More from The Bigfoot Files …

THE BIGFOOT FILES

5 Vampire Tropes That Need to Be Staked by Brian McKinley

As a writer and avid reader of vampire fiction, I’ve seen a lot of different themes, styles, and clichés come in and out of popularity over the years. We call these things tropes, which is a more neutral term that has come to mean any sort of regularly occurring metaphor, symbol, or literary device. With that in mind, I decided to come up with a personal list of what I think are the top 5 vampire-related tropes that have become over-used recently and need to be put to rest.

5. Monsters, Monsters Everywhere!
This is the current vogue in Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance that owes its popularity to authors like Laurel K. Hamilton, Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, and others. The logic goes that, if vampires are real, so is every other damn mythological creature, horror archetype, folktale monster, and nursery rhyme character! Seriously, aside from comedic value, what do all of these creatures bring? Ask yourself if your series really needs the entire monster menagerie before you throw them in because “everyone else is doing it.” I’ve gotten to the point where I find it refreshing to read a story about vampires that doesn’t feel the need to include every other type of monster, too.

4. Putting on the Game Face
This is the idea that vampires alone aren’t scary enough, so they have to have a special “monster face” that they bring out for feeding or whenever they want to surprise someone into screaming and running away. A serial killer with super-human powers isn’t enough? I’m a bit of a nit-picker, I admit, so the idea that muscles re-arrange themselves in the vampire’s face all for the purpose of giving them a wicked Halloween look just doesn’t make any sense to me. Movies do it because their special effects guys get bored, but there’s no excuse for it in a novel. The reason vampires are fascinating and frightening is because they are the monster with the human face.

3. Playing with Your Food
A bunch of vampires get some humans together for dinner and, before you know it, there’s vampires laughing with blood smeared all over their faces, vampires tearing open jugular veins with gleeful abandon and spraying blood all over the wall, and vampires wearing entrails like Mardi Gras beads! Seriously, when’s the last time you and a bunch of friends had dinner and poured the soup down the front of your party clothes? Laughed and poured gravy all over your face? Scooped up half your mashed potatoes and threw them against the wall before shoving your face to the plate to lick up the rest? Even evil people can have table manners! When blood is your food supply, why slop it around like a three-year-old?

2. Romeo and Juliet … Again … and Again …
The first thought that comes to mind is Twilight, but this formula has been going far longer than She Who Must Not Be Named has been writing. Vampire Romeo and Human Juliet, Werewolf Romeo and Vampire Juliet, Werewolf Romeo and Human Juliet, Vampire Romeo and Vampire Juliet—it’s all been done. Several times. Now, I’m not saying get rid of romance in a vampire story, because that would kill an entire genre, but let’s try to do something just a little new! Elevate your star-crossed lovers above the stereotype with strong characterization and throw in some twists! Here’s another idea: Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, and many other Shakespeare plots are out there just waiting for a clever supernatural riff. Let Romeo and Juliet rest in peace for a while.

P.S. Does EVERY female heroine in EVERY paranormal series have to be loved/lusted after by EVERY male creature she encounters? Furthermore, do we have to put up with the same damn “love triangle” over and over again?

1. I’m Too Sexy to Be a Monster
Okay, here’s my least favorite trope in recent fiction: vampires who have been neutered so much for romance purposes that they hardly bear any resemblance to vampires anymore! We’ve all seen this, I’m sure: the super-rich, super sexy, super powerful vampire romance god who maybe has a problem with sunlight (but sometimes not even that) and really only needs, say, a wine glass’ worth of blood a night. Really? How convenient! He’s always a fantastic and considerate lover, just dark and mysterious enough to be attractive, but otherwise completely harmless. This is not a vampire. This is a male model with a blood fetish! The vampire should be given his due and there should always be real danger present or else you’re just contributing to the slow sterilization of the vampire genre. Let’s keep our vampires deserving of the name, okay?

So, that’s the list. I hope you enjoyed it. I’d love to hear any reactions or your personal
additions to the list in the comments! Stay thirsty, my friends!

---

Brian McKinley is a reader, a role-player, and a dreamer who lives in New Jersey. A fan and student of vampire lore, he’s the author of three vampire novels: Ancient Blood: A Novel of the Hegemony, its sequel Ancient Enemies, and Drawing Dead: A Faolan O’Connor Novel.

Book Review: ‘The Collapse’ by Alice B. Sullivan

Hello Addicts,

One of my favorite dystopian story types is zombie apocalypse. Seeing how fragile our society is when faced with rabid creatures trying to kill you while wearing the face of someone you love. You know they can’t control themselves, that they aren’t the person you remember, and your brain finds it difficult to process their change. Not all zombie apocalypse stories show a definitive reason the plague started, but ‘The Collapse’ by Alice B. Sullivan does so in a believable fashion.

The story opens with a scientist smuggling some of his work home to do testing he’s not permitted to do in his lab. A rat startles him and he drops the case holding experimental viruses. He misses one while gathering them up and runs over it with his car without knowing it, allowing the rat to become a carrier for a man made chimera virus. It isn’t long before more rats become covered in the virus and spread it out. By the time the scientist realizes what he’s lost, the virus has already started spreading amongst the rats. It takes a single bite to an unsuspecting busboy at a restaurant for the modern day plague to begin.

A second story takes place while the zombie infection is taking hold. The parents of a young girl conceived via an experimental procedure are watching as reports of a mystery illness spread. They soon realize that it may have some connection to the people involved with the experimental procedure that blessed them with their child. Tension between the couple increases as the doctor involved assures them that everything is under control when it clearly isn’t. The scientists push a vaccination they had on hand, but rather than protect them from illness, it makes them sick and change quicker. When her husband becomes one of the reanimated dead, the wife takes their daughter away to safety.

I really enjoyed this book. It was an intriguing take on how the zombie apocalypse began from one tiny incident, which becomes a good precursor for the stories to come. The story also shows the lengths one family will go to have a child and the methods others will use to protect their secrets. I look forward to reading more in the series.

You can find ‘The Collapse’ by Alice B. Sullivan on her website or Amazon.

Until next time, Addicts.

D.J. Pitsiladis

Book Birthday: Horror Addicts Guide to Life

 

 

Horror Addicts Guide to Life

Cover art by: Masloski Carmen

Editor: David Watson

Do you love the horror genre? Do you look at horror as a lifestyle? Do the “norms” not understand your love of the macabre?

Despair no longer, my friend, for within your grasp is a book written by those who look at horror as a way of life, just like you. This is your guide to living a horrifying existence. Featuring interviews with Midnight Syndicate, Valentine Wolfe, and The Gothic Tea Society.

Authors: Kristin Battestella, Mimielle, Emerian Rich, Dan Shaurette, Steven Rose Jr., Garth von Buchholz, H.E. Roulo, Sparky Lee Anderson, Mary Abshire, Chantal Boudreau, Jeff Carlson, Catt Dahman, Dean Farnell, Sandra Harris, Willo Hausman, Laurel Anne Hill, Sapphire Neal, James Newman, Loren Rhoads, Chris Ringler, Jessica Robinson, Eden Royce, Sumiko Saulson, Patricia Santos Marcantonio, J. Malcolm Stewart, Stoneslide Corrective, Mimi A.Williams, and Ron Vitale. With art by Carmen Masloski and Lnoir.

https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Addicts-Guide-Life-Emerian-ebook/dp/B00XNZGLSY

April Theme: Ghost Towns / Wild West Horror

April – Ghost Towns / Wild West Horror. Getty-up partners! Inspired by a recent ghost town trip? Wanna tell us about that 1850s cemetery next door? Or the ghost of gold rush fever? Send us your reviews, ghost town trips, and rascally ranger write-ups!

Submit your articles to: https://forms.gle/te9AHqKZ4sjLjfiV6

Band Interview: Elektrikill

 

1. What horror-related themes have you found to be the most inspiring for your music?

Pino Donaggio’s music for Tourist Trap has always inspired me because of the non-musical elements he incorporated into the score. Angelo Badalamenti’s soundtrack for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is deeply dark and unsettling.

2. What horror movie/TV show would you re-score if given the chance?

Probably something made in the 70’s that was supposed to be depicting the future but the technology at the time wasn’t quite there yet for a “futuristic” sound. Logan’s Run would be a fun one to re-score.

 

3. What non-musical things inspire your music?

Machines, especially ones that operate in some kind of rhythm. The new album has all kinds of non-musical sounds in it including a creaky metal gate, Aztec Death Whistles, a squealing pig, phone static and more. I feel like the true nature of industrial music is using found sounds in a musical way.

 

4. What film/TV horror-related character would you most identify with? Why?

Michael in Phantasm. I would totally get killed because I would be just as curious about the Tall Man’s funeral parlor. Plus Michael thinks outside the box, which I also do.

 

5. How do you handle fear as an artist?

Fear honestly doesn’t occur to me. It really doesn’t. I don’t usually panic about my music until the album is completely finished and it’s too late to do anything about it anyway. Until then, I have all the confidence of a 5 year-old in a Batman costume.

 

6. What are your favorite horror movies?

My all-time favorite horror film is Tourist Trap. I’ve probably seen it over 100 times. I also love Squirm, The Fourth Kind, Santa Sangre, Eraserhead, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Tusk, Phantasm and The Seventh Sign.

 

7. What was the scariest night of your life?

I was attacked by dogs once. That was pretty terrifying. Had to get rabies shots and everything.

 

8. If you could bring back greats who have passed on, who would be your undead opening band?

Freddie Mercury and David Bowie with Andrew Fletcher on keyboards. But I would absolutely be opening for them.

 

9. Final thoughts / Anything you want to tell the Horror Addicts?

There’s nothing scarier than the monster that’s already inside of you.

 

(Fan contacts…)

Elektrikill.bandcamp.com

https://www.instagram.com/svilelektrikill/

https://www.facebook.com/steven.vil.921

 

Insert one of your video YouTube links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5L2uJxK1qM

 

 

Book Review: Survivors by T.C. Weber

Survivors by T.C. Weber and reviewed by Megan Starrak

Survivors by T.C. Weber is a don’t hold back post-apocalyptic novella. It is bleaker and darker than anything I’ve ever read before. But looking back on it, I realized that wasn’t a bad thing. Let me explain.

I’ve been a fan of post-apocalyptic books, movies, and television shows for a long time. And there’s always some seed of hope through all the death and trauma. For most of The Survivors, there is very little of that. In the beginning, readers are introduced to a woman named Lucy. Lucy and her two children are part of a group forced to do anything to survive. Lucy is obsessed with those who came before, called The Vanished Ones. She highly admires their ability to build such vast roads and cities. She dreams of a return to that world so her children can have an easier life. The hope she has in this idea propels her forward. It also leads to her making some bad decisions.

The story is also filled with scenes of cannibalism that made me uncomfortable. One scene graphically describes Lucy’s group making dried meat from those they have killed. But looking back on the story, I realized I’ve never experienced a world like that depicted in The Survivors, and very few have. I was reminded of the Donner Party that tried to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains and got trapped when winter set in. Like the characters in The Survivors, the members of the Donner Party were faced with two choices: eat the dead or starve. It made me face the question none of us would ever want to. If I were in the situation in The Survivors, would I ever eat another person? As long as there were plants and animals around, no. But if those food sources disappeared. I honestly don’t know. The will to survive is so primal and strong in all of us.

So, while The Survivors wasn’t quite to my taste (sorry, I had to do it), I always embrace opportunities where writers push me out of my comfort zone. And I admire Weber’s ability to create such vividly written scenes. And although some of his choices made me sit back and go, “Why would she do that?” overall, I’m glad I got the chance to read it, and I encourage others to do the same.

Historian of Horror: Republic Horror Movies 1935-1945

 

            As I related last year, Republic Pictures was primarily founded to make serials and westerns. Sixty-six chapterplays were made by the studio, from Darkest Africa in 1936 to 1955’s King of the Carnival. I’ve seen better than half of them, and a lot of the westerns, and they’re consistently enjoyable. Not at all deep, but lots of fun, with vim and vigor and plenty of action and suspense.

            I wish I could say the same of the studio’s horror output.

            By the way, I won’t be covering any of the serials in this missive. As noted previously, a few do have genre-adjacent aspects, but horror was never really the point.

            Released in the first year of Republic’s existence, 1935’s The Crime of Dr. Crespi starred Erich von Stroheim and Dwight Frye, both of whom should have known better. Loosely based on “The Premature Burial” by Edgar Allan Poe, it does not redound to the credit of anyone involved. My recommendation is to skip ahead a few decades and instead enjoy the 1962 Roger Corman film starring Ray Milland. You’ll thank me the longest day of your life.

Apparently having learned their lesson, Republic waited nine years to produce the infinitely better 1944 offering, The Lady and the Monster, also starring Erich von Stroheim, albeit in much improved form, and Richard Arlen, whose horror film pedigree includes The Island of Lost Souls from 1932. Alas, it is saddled with the presence of the unfortunate Vera Hruba Ralston, generally considered the worst actress ever imported to the United States from Czechoslovakia. Despite her desperate but doomed attempt to impersonate a thespian, this adaptation of Curt Siodmak’s 1942 novel, Donovan’s Brain, is the best I’ve seen. Future first lady Nancy Davis Reagan is not much better than poor Vera Hruba in the 1953 version, but that one isn’t totally without merit. It’s just not as good, in my humble opinion, as the first adaptation of the tale of the preserved brain of a wealthy and power-hungry man who exerts undue influence upon the mad scientist who put it into a jar and hooked it up to a variety of electronic doohickeys. A third version, made in Germany in 1962 under the title of The Brain, introduces an element of revenge not in the original story. As Dr. Samuel Johnson once said of a play he was being paid to review, it’s worth seeing but not worth going to see.

Arlen returned in the next year’s The Phantom Speaks, in which an executed killer’s spirit possesses his doctor. I’m beginning to detect a trend, here. The medico, against his will, proceeds to eliminate anyone and everyone who assisted in sending the murderer to the electric chair. It does not end well for him, which is really too bad. But there it is.

Republic had two more offerings in 1945. The Vampire’s Ghost was loosely based on “The Vampyre” by John Polidori, about which more later on in the upcoming podcast season. Relocated from England and Greece to somewhere in Africa, John Abbott stars as a nightclub owner whose clientele and employees occasionally suffer from terminal exsanguination.

Finally, The Woman Who Came Back foreshadows the 1962 cult classic Carnival of Souls in that the heroine is the only survivor of a bus crash, in this case as it is returning her to her hometown. She is the last descendant of an ancestor who had burned accused witches back in the bad old days, something that never actually occurred in America. An old woman claiming to be the revenant of one of his victims haunts the young lady, who apparently never herself personally burned anyone at the stake, but the nature of vengeance is not often to be reasonable. A curse involving the possession of the nearest available female by the spirit of the witch’s apparition frightens the local populace into attacking the poor girl before the truth is finally revealed.

What was this obsession with possession out there in Studio City? One does wonder.

Republic only produced a handful of other horror films over the next dozen years or so, which we’ll take a look at next time the studio’s slot on the lazy susan of horror topics comes around. No diamonds, in the rough or otherwise, but there are a couple of semi-precious stones in the mix.

Stay tuned!

            When next we descend together into the catacombs below for another tale from the history of the horrific, we’ll hear a yarn about the biggest hit ever on the Billboard charts that was about vampirism. Something few listeners even suspected for several decades. Come along for that little trip into the realm of moldy oldies, won’t you? Until then, I bid you, effendis of eeriness, to be afraid…

            Be very afraid.

Author Interview: Nick Roberts/Mean Spirited

What is your name and what are you known for?

My name is Nick Roberts, and I’m known for my horror novels, Anathema, The Exorcist’s House, Mean Spirited, and my short story collection, It Haunts the Mind and Other Stories. Anathema won the Horror Author’s Guild Award for Debut Novel of the Year, and The Exorcist’s House won the 2023 Books of Horror Indie Author Brawl and was on the Preliminary Ballot for the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards.

 

Tell us about one of your works and why we should read it.

Mean Spirited, available everywhere March 15th, is my latest release. After I wrote Anathema and The Exorcist’s House—both of which contain dogs—I realized how much certain readers were affected by fictional dogs. They would say that reading about horrible things happening to humans (even children) doesn’t bother them, but if something happened to a dog, they would be so triggered that they couldn’t handle it. As a father and an animal lover, this intrigued me. Meanwhile, I had no idea what I wanted my third novel to be about. I don’t outline my work. Normally, I just start with a creepy prologue and watch where it goes. My goal with the Mean Spirited prologue was to write a blend of The Strangers and Stolen Tongues. I figured if I could tap into the fear of a home invasion and tie it in with the supernatural creepiness that Felix Blackwell did perfectly in Stolen Tongues, I would be off to a good start. As soon as I started writing about this young lady who gets a mysterious midnight doorbell ring and her dog that started barking, something clicked, and I realized this was my chance to write a book that would take those “stay away from the dog!” readers on a philosophical journey that hopefully has them looking twice at the sweet rescue pup in the corner.

What places or things inspire your writing?

All of my novels thus far have taken place in my home state of West Virginia. I love describing the scenery and juxtaposing it with whatever horrors my mind conjures. Plus, when I write about the rural parts of the state, having isolated characters with no cell phone service comes in quite handy. Family dynamics also inspire my writing. I like to dig into the nuances of the relationships my characters have and make them as complex as possible. I want my readers to actually care about the fate of the characters.

What music do you listen to while creating?

I listen to movie soundtracks when I write. These are horror film scores for the most part. Some of my favorites include It Follows, 28 Days Later, Beetlejuice, The Devil’s Rejects, The Village, and Requiem for a Dream. I had this weird ritual when writing Mean Spirited where I would play the Requiem for a Dream soundtrack from beginning to end, but I had to stop when it was over. This made me write faster to make sure I hit my 1,000-word daily minimum and heightened the pacing of the narrative.

What is your favorite horror aesthetic?

I love a good, isolated chamber piece. If it involves the occult or folk horror, even better. Something about the power of belief in humans and what they’ll do in the name of it gets under my skin. It all ties back to that fear of being an outsider or that everyone is in on the joke but you.

Who is your favorite horror icon?

Leatherface from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre will always be my favorite horror icon. He has the best costume by far, and the chainsaw is my horror movie weapon of choice. I will say this, though, we are currently in the age of a new horror icon emerging, Art the Clown. What Damien Leone is doing with his Terrifier films is inspired, unapologetic lunacy, and I love it.

What was the scariest thing you’ve witnessed?

The scariest thing I ever witnessed was seeing my grandfather on my dad’s side of the family in his hospital bed at the end of his battle with Alzheimer’s disease. I was a little kid, and I remember being prepped in the hospital hall outside his room, being told that we were going in there to say our goodbyes. This setup had me freaked the fuck out before my dad even opened the door. I remember timidly walking in there and seeing his feet poking out from behind a curtain and dreading what he’d possibly look like. As my siblings and I all slowly packed into the small room, I caught a glimpse of his frozen face. That look has never left me. His eyes were fixed and staring through the ceiling at something none of us could see, and his jaw hung agape. I had to turn away because it made my stomach turn to knots. I somewhat revisited this scenario in my short story, “Grandma Ruth.”

If invited to dinner with your favorite (living or dead) horror creator, who would it be and what would you bring?

If I got to share a meal with any horror creator, it would be Alfred Hitchcock. First of all, the man is arguably the best technical filmmaker ever. Throw in the fact that he used his superpowers to shock and horrify, and you end up with classics like Psycho, Rear Window, The Birds, and Vertigo. I would pick his brain for as long as he’d let me, and it would probably take a few courses because dude talks slowwwww. To combat this in the interest of efficiency, I would bring some illicit stimulant with which to spike his brandy.

What’s a horror gem you think most horror addicts don’t know about? (book, movie, musician?)

With the ability to stream basically anything you want, hidden gems are becoming more difficult to find. Everyone seems to have seen or at least have heard about everything. I’ll take it back to my days of roaming the aisles of Blockbuster Video and say that if you haven’t seen the anthology horror film, Campfire Tales, you need to correct that egregious error ASAP. It’s a grown-up version of Are You Afraid of the Dark?, and it has a great cast of then-unknowns.

Have you ever been haunted or seen a ghost?

I don’t believe in anything paranormal, so no. It’s fun to engage in that and suspend disbelief, but so is pretending Santa Claus is real. The closest thing to ghosts that I could believe in would be aliens, and even then, it’s a stretch. I want to believe, but the skeptic in me simply won’t permit it.

What are some books that you feel should be in the library of every horror addict?

Every horror addict should have a vast Stephen King collection, and at least one book from the following authors: Edgar Allan Poe, Clive Barker, Bret Easton Ellis, William Peter Blatty, R.L. Stine, Shirley Jackson, Stephen Graham Jones, Richard Matheson, Catriona Ward, Grady Hendrix, Jack Ketchum, Dan Simmons, and Paul Tremblay.

What are you working on now?

I am currently writing a sequel/prequel hybrid called The Exorcist’s House: Genesis, which will be released by Crystal Lake Publishing in September of this year. I’m also wrapping up my Patreon-exclusive, serialized novella, Dead End Tunnel. It should be finished by April and available to the masses in June. I’m contracted to write the sequel, Anathema: Legacy and plan to start writing that in May with the goal of releasing it in early 2025. I’ll then get to work on my next novel, one that’s sure to be my darkest yet, My Corpse Has a Heartbeat, but that has no expected release date. It does, however, already have a wicked cover by Dusty Ray.

Where can readers find your work? (URL #1 place for them to go.)

Readers can find my work and links to my socials on my website: www.nickrobertsauthor.com.

Band Interview: Tragic Visions

What horror-related themes have you found to be the most inspiring for your music?

Jess Gibbs: The band itself and our name is a concept of media and influence. We try to portray how easily even a TV can influence, persuade or even convince people to do or think unbelievable things (especially in the 90s when the band name was created). Media control is our overall theme usually centered around the TV.

David Buyense: In our live performances we like to include gore and disturbing imagery. Our most recent live shows have included a life size crucified body with the head replaced by a television that plays synchronized video with our musical set and includes some clips of some classic horror scenes including psycho, reanimator, redneck zombies and dead alive amongst other things like eyeball surgeries and hypnosis wheels. I disembowel the thing midway through the show we have red painted noose in there some random organs and blood.

What horror movie/TV show would you re-score if given the chance?

Jess: Videodrome, not sure it’s legitimately a horror film, but the scenes and metaphors fit our ideas and sound so perfectly.

David: I agree with that, Videodrome would be a cool one to do. Not the question but I’d like to mention how much I love goblin’s music for Suspiria .

What non-musical things inspire your music?

Jess: Media influence/control and hive mind mentalities. We like to push people’s fears with lyrics about and images of blood, medical procedures, needles, psychotherapy procedures and corporal punishment.

What film/TV horror-related character would you most identify with? Why?

Jess: Lionel Cosgrove from Braindead (Dead Alive), he was a carefree innocent guy just trying to go about his life while the horrors are piling up. He eventually saves the world by taking care of his problems and doubts, mostly by killing his mom. I should probably call my therapist now. Besides he gets to mow down tons of zombies with a lawnmower.

How do you handle fear as an artist?

Jess: We shove it in your face and cause you to think on it. The things that scare you most you haven’t been exposed to yet or didn’t know you were exposed to currently.

What are your favorite horror movies?

Jess: I love all things Troma, the more shocking and gorier the better. Lloyd Kaufman is sadly not holding up well with newer generations. I’ve been infatuated with zombies my whole life so anything by George Romero especially Night and Dawn of the Living Dead. Not Romero but Return of the Living Dead is great, and my all-time favorite as made obvious above is Braindead (Dead Alive). I love the classics most Psycho, Suspiria, Nosferatu, The Shining, The Exorcist… I could go on and on. For our live sets we tend to have TVs playing images from several of these. The bloodier the better.

David: I mostly enjoy classics Vincent Price movies are my favorite, Alfred Hitchcock, Night of the living dead, Dracula and some other Bela Lugosi, Suspiria , Christopher Lee movies.

What was the scariest night of your life?

David-a home invasion at gunpoint

Jess: Well this is kind of an embarrassing story mostly because it was stupid of me on many levels, but we as kind of a band were out at a local dive bar in our home town one New Years Eve kinda waiting for the whole midnight celebration and I started talking the Doors with some clearly very wasted (in I’m sure more ways than 1 fan) and he wanted to buy me a drink. Of course, I say yeah, you’re buying I’m in. So, we walk up to the bar and it’s crazy packed and he asks if I want to go to the gas station across the street, sure why not. We get to the gas station and of course can’t drink there so he says he has a hotel which I declined immediately, but stupidly I was convinced with good conversation and what not. As soon as I got to this guy’s hotel room he immediately asks if I want to see something cool and points a loaded gun at my head. I calmly and reflexively pushed it away and said that wasn’t cool and asked if I could check it out. Around that time David calls me and asks where I am, and I came up with fake phone conversation about him having girls and meeting him out front while he has this weird wtf conversation on the otherwise of the line. Then I just hung up the phone threw the gun and ran like a MFer haha.

If you could bring back greats who have passed on, who would be your undead opening band?

David: go way back and bring Bach and Beethoven. Stiv Bators

Jess: Bill Reiflin , Jim Morrison, David Brockie

Final thoughts / Anything you want to tell the Horror Addicts?

David: We’ve got a new album coming this spring follow us on Instagram to keep an eye out for it

http://www.instagram.com/tragic_visions99

http://tragicvisions.bandcamp.com

Insert one of your video YouTube links:

https://youtu.be/NoCRUi6EtQA?si=Mwe3Aji-Xu-kdT5r

 

 

 

 

Book Birthday : #NGHW Editor’s Pick: New Publication and Blog Tour

HorrorAddicts.net continues our Horror Bites series with a bundle of new fiction by our Next Great Horror Writer Contestants.

Featuring work by:

Jonathan Fortin
Naching T. Kassa
Daphne Strasert
Jess Landry
Harry Husbands
Sumiko Saulson
Adele Marie Park
Feind Gottes
JC Martínez
Cat Voleur
Abi Kirk-Thomas
Timothy G. Huguenin
Riley Pierce
Quentin Norris

With an introduction by Emerian Rich.

HorrorAddicts.net is proud to present our top 14 contestants in the Next Great Horror Writer Contest. The included stories, scripts, and poems are the result of the hard work and dedication these fine writers put forth to win a book contract. Some learned they loved writing and want to pursue it as a career for the rest of their lives. Some discovered they should change careers either to a different genre of writing or to a new career entirely. Whatever lessons came along the way, they each learned something about themselves and grew as writers. We hope you enjoy the writing as much as we did.

Just 99 cents at Amazon.com

 HorrorAddicts.net

for Horror Addicts, by Horror Addicts

Listen to the HorrorAddicts.net podcast for the latest in horror news, reviews, music, and fiction.

HorrorAddicts.net Press

www.horroraddicts.net

The Mystery of the Spinning Statue by Megan Starrak

At the Manchester Museum in Manchester, England, there is an Egyptian statue that is ten inches high, made of serpentine stone, and is almost 4000 years old. The statue did nothing but sit quietly in its case for 80 years as thousands of tourists passed by. Then, in 2013, the statue started to spin slowly.

Museum curator Campbell Price was the first to spot that the object had moved. While the other statues that occupied the same case were facing forward, he would find the statue in question facing in different directions. Now, it wasn’t spinning like a figure skater. It was more subtle. It happened over the course of the day hours and could only be seen by speeding security footage. And that’s another strange thing: it would only spin during the day.

So, what was behind this movement? Was it the vibration of all the tourists walking around it during the day? Was it the movement of traffic outside? Or was there a more paranormal cause? Price brought up the possibility of a curse. In an interview, he mentioned that the statue was put in the tomb as a spirit holder for the entombed mummy. If something happened to the physical remains of the mummy, its spirit would inhabit the statue. Could the statue be possessed?

Brian Cox, a physics professor at the University of Manchester, explained that the structure of the statue’s base is concave and susceptible to the vibrations of tourists inside and traffic outside. The theory behind his thinking is called differential friction. The serpentine stone that the statue is made of and the glass shelf on which it sits create a subtle vibration that causes the statue to turn.

Whatever the cause, the mystery of the spinning statue has yet to be definitively solved. Yes, Cox’s explanation about vibrations making the statue move makes some sense, but it doesn’t address one question. Why did the statue only recently start spinning after sitting motionless for 80 years? That’s where the mystery lies for me.

Historian of Horror: In Memoriam

In Memoriam

 

            It’s been a good while since I’ve done one of these. I had intended to only offer a single obituary on a single subject, but since my last missive to the populace, that mean ol’ Grim Reaper has managed to absquatulate with a couple more of the significant contributors to Our Genre. Ergo, this tripart offering. I hope y’all approve.

 

            In a letter to Robert Hooke in 1675, Sir Isaac Newton wrote, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.” And so it is with David J. Skal of Ohio.

I can’t swear to it, but I believe I first became aware of him from a documentary included in one of the Universal Monster DVDs, those sets with all the Frankenstein or Mummy or Dracula pictures from the 1930s and 1940s that Walmart drags out of the back room every year in the weeks leading up to Halloween. The insights and information he presented in his calm, measured tones and sardonically dry wit were never to be taken as mere trivia.

It was only later that I learned Skal had written numerous essays and reviews for The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, The New York Review of Science Fiction, and other magazines, as well as no fewer than seven scholarly works on a variety of monstrous topics, beginning with Hollywood Gothic: The Tangled Web of Dracula from Novel to Stage to Screen in 1990. He also penned a biography of Bram Stoker, in addition to three novels and a batch of short stories, and edited an anthology of vampire tales. A full list is available on his page at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.

I have since then tracked down and devoured a fair amount of his oeuvre, which has on more than one occasion provided various tidbits and factoids which I have included in my endeavors on your behalf. Don’t thank me. Thank him.

In fact, it was, in large part, his yeoman labors in articulating the history of Our Genre that inspired me to take on the mantle of your very own personal historian of horror. Whether that redounds to his credit or to his blame I leave to others to decide, but in my estimation, Skal was one of the giants, and therefore he deserves respect, regardless.

On January 1, 2024, the car in which he and his partner, Robert Postawko, were riding was struck by another vehicle. Postawko lingered for several weeks before succumbing to his injuries. David J. Skal died at the scene at the much too young age of 71.

Thanks for letting me stand on your shoulders, Mr. Skal.

 

If I recall correctly, the first book published by Arkham House that I ever acquired, from the long-gone and much-lamented Davis-Kidd Booksellers in Nashville, was the short story collection The Caller of the Black by the prolific author, Brian Lumley. Born in County Durham, England in 1937, he spent some years as a military policeman before retiring from the British Army to become a full-time writer. He was known for his many Cthulhu Mythos stories, a fair number of which featured his own character Titus Crow. He also scribed a handful of tales set in Lovecraft’s Dreamlands. Lumley’s heroes were more likely to fight back against the eldritch horrors they faced than the standard mythos characters, who typically resorted to fainting as their default reaction.

Lumley began his long-running Necroscope series in 1986, featuring Harry Keogh, who had the unique ability to hold friendly chats with deceased persons. Harry and others spent eighteen novels contending against a strain of vampire Lumley called Wamphyri.

Lumley received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Horror Writers Association and the World Fantasy Convention. He died on the second of January, at 86.

 

Argentine artist Jose Delbo drew myriad comic books during his more than sixty year career, which began in his native land when he was only sixteen and continued well into the 21st Century. After fleeing the political unrest in Argentina, he fetched up in the United States and began producing stories included in Gold Key’s horror titles The Twilight Zone, Ripley’s Believe it or Not! and Boris Karloff Tales of Mystery; Charlton’s Ghostly Tales and The Many Ghosts of Dr. Graves; and The Spectre, House of Secrets, House of Mystery and The Witching Hour for DC. The Grand Comics Database lists nearly a thousand credited pieces for him. He passed away on the fifth of February of this year. He was 90. Not a bad run.

 

 

Next time, we’ll take a look at the first decade of horror output from Republic Pictures, a name you might recognize from my Rampaging Robots column of last year. Until then, I bid you to be afraid…

Be very afraid.

 

The 5 Vampire Novels Every Aspiring Vampire Author Should Read

 

REQUIRED READING
The 5 Vampire Novels Every
Aspiring Vampire Author Should Read

There are many forms of vampire novels now, from steamy paranormal romances to old-school bloody horror and so the would-be vampire author has a nearly unlimited supply of reading material to choose from. Chances are, it’s because you love reading certain authors and their takes on vampires that you want to write one yourself. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of 5 vampire novels that, in my opinion, represent the basic building blocks.

The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice – How could I compile a list like this and not include the
queen of modern vampire fiction? Rice weaves a fascinating, tragic, triumphant, and compelling
tale. No one does vivid, sprawling vampire biographies like Rice in her prime and this novel is
still the benchmark any historical/biographical vampire novel should be measured against.

The Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice – Why would you read Lestat and not finish the
story? With Lestat’s history out of the way, this sequel lets the Queen of Vampires take center
stage, dragging Lestat around on a globe-spanning spree of destruction, ecstasy, and a glimpse
into the very origins of their race. If Lestat was a bit light on the action, then this volume more
than makes up for it. This remains the super-powered vampire showdown to end them all and
Rice’s unique vampire mythology again set the standard for all that have followed.

The Hunger by Whitley Streiber – Streiber’s subtle, creepy, bisexual Miriam Blaylock is the
ultimate vampire femme fatale. A disturbing and unique take on the vampire legend, Steiber’s
creatures are a separate species rather than undead corpses, capable of the full range of emotion.
This is a vampire novel for adults, not because of any graphic content, but because the complex
emotional territory Streiber journeys into is best appreciated by those who have lived and loved
and lost.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson – The grand-daddy of vampire apocalypse novels, and
maybe even zombie apocalypse stories, this grim, slow burning novel bears no resemblance to
the various movie adaptations that have been based on it (with the exception of Vincent Price’s
The Last Man on Earth, which comes close). Fans of The Walking Dead and similar fare will
appreciate the bleak atmosphere, but what will truly surprise readers is the profound
philosophical questions Matheson raises with masterful understatement.

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher – Butcher has created a fully-realized and consistent fantasy world composed of everything you’ve ever heard of in a fairytale. The thing to read Butcher for is how approachable and sensible he makes the fantastic seem. The reason this series fits this list is because Butcher’s vampires have different “courts” each with distinct powers and weaknesses, which allows him to get mileage out of all the various vampire archetypes. The sustained quality and sales also prove that Butcher is doing something right and that’s always worth studying. What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments below!

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Brian McKinley is a reader, a role-player, and a dreamer who lives in New Jersey. A fan and student of vampire lore, he’s the author of three vampire novels: Ancient Blood: A Novel of the Hegemony, its sequel Ancient Enemies, and Drawing Dead: A Faolan O’Connor Novel.

Author Interview: John Boden/The Bedmakers

What is your name and what are you known for?

John Boden, probably sad and strange stories.

Tell us about one of your works and why we should read it.

I’ll go with the most recent, SNARL. I think while the story is one that has been told before, I hopefully present some new angles and unexpected takes.

What places or things inspire your writing?

Mostly places I’ve been and people I’ve met. I just stow it away somewhere inside and recall bits and pieces when I start an idea.

What music do you listen to while creating?

Usually old country (1930-1990s) and heavy metal (most varieties)

What is your favorite horror aesthetic?

Weird and kinda quiet.

Who is your favorite horror icon?

Creature From The Black Lagoon

What was the scariest thing you’ve witnessed?

My father’s passing, which was also strangely beautiful on a spiritual level if that makes any sense.

If invited to dinner with your favorite (living or dead) horror creator, who would it be and what would you bring?

Ray Bradbury and I’d bring chicken salad sandwiches and my toy dinosaurs and robots.

What’s a horror gem you think most horror addicts don’t know about? (book, movie, musician?)

There are so many. I think Joan Samson’s THE AUCTIONEER has been cruelly ignored for many years but was recently reprinted so maybe that’s a remedy. It’s a brilliant slice of folk horror that is not what you think of usually.

Have you ever been haunted or seen a ghost?

Our house is haunted by a beautician named Darlene. When we moved in, we found old style bobby pins on the floor for a few weeks and stuff was relocated or missing only to reappear after a few days. Once we settled in those sorts of things stopped but we still see movement and shapes peripherally and the rug under the antique rocker in the basement rec room is always bunched up in the morning, so she must rock in the night.

What are some books that you feel should be in the library of every horror addict?

The Auctioneer by Joan Samson, Nocturnes by John Connolly, Tomato Cain by Nigel Kneale, Dark Demons by Kurt Newton…I could go for days.

What are you working on now?

A horror western called OUTEN THE LIGHT and what I hope will be my first novel.

Where can readers find your work? (URL #1 place for them to go.)

I don’t currently have a website but I’m a loiterer on most of the social platforms. Facebook is probably the easiest place to find me. 

  https://www.facebook.com/john.boden.33