- Part 2

Unleashing Saint Christopher

One thing I’ve learned, and I’ve learned it all too well, is the capriciousness of the publishing industry. Once upon a time, back when I decided I wanted to make my living as a writer, I believed, I honestly did, that all that was necessary for success was for one to write a good book….

The OTHER Wolf Man

Before Universal released their classic THE WOLFMAN (nee THE WOLF MAN) in 1941, there was another. No, I’m not talking about WEREWOLF OF LONDON, which was Universal’s first werewolf movie. There was actually another film also titled THE WOLF MAN. It was released in 1924, a silent film. Sadly it is considered a lost film,…

Is THE WOLFMAN a Christmas Movie?

DIE HARD is a Christmas movie. It wasn’t released at Christmas. It was released in the summer of 1988. (Ah, I remember it so well!) But the movie is set at Christmas. Ergo, it’s a Christmas movie. THE WOLFMAN (at the time titled the not-quite-grammatically correct THE WOLF MAN) is *not* set during the holidays….

THE HUNT: Author’s Note

By choosing to put this story out there, I feel it necessary to provide a little commentary to go with it, some sugar to help the cough syrup go down. And if I don’t point out the, ahem, problems with it, somebody else is liable to, don’t you think? This one is as far from…

THE HUNT: EPILOGUE

The rain that had fallen all afternoon had diminished to a fine drizzle by nightfall, but it had left standing water in the parking lot; the lights from the truck stop—OPEN 24 HOURS, DINER, and a half-dozen blinking beer signs—shimmered against the black asphalt, the colors all bleeding together. Saint didn’t see the car at…

THE HUNT: Finale

Maka’kahu attacked. He, it, struck one of the trees as it passed, tearing loose a strand of blinking lights. It leapt into the air. Saint got off a shot but missed by a country mile. Maka’kahu hit him. Saint forced the breath out of his lungs as he went down, otherwise the impact when he…

Your Weekly Dose of Stupidity

I could make this a weekly thing, actually. If I really wanted to, I could make it a daily thing. There is an abundance of stupidity in the world today, that’s for dang sure, and the Internet helps to find it. The Internet, truth be told, helps to foster it. It makes it easier for…

American Bestiary

A friend brought this to my attention. It’s a “[s]et of 50 illustrations for a modern-day illustrated bestiary with the America’s most celebrated mythical beasts, commissioned by NeoMam Studios. All illustrations were inspired by the The Aberdeen Bestiary and were created in Affinity Designer for iPad Pro, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop with Wacom Cintiq….

CONJURING 3 Has An Official Title

THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT. I like it. It’s snazzy. Maybe a tad long for a mainstream studio picture, but evocative. And fitting, considering the movie’s subject matter. According to the official synopsis: “THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT reveals a chilling story of terror, murder and unknown evil that shocked even…

A Look Beneath ASHBURN WATERS

I saw that it was described as a “creature feature.” That was all it took to snag my attention. That’s all it ever takes. What *kind* of creature feature is ASHBURN WATERS, though? Here is the official spiel: “When his friends are murdered one by one at Ashburn Waters Campgrounds by an unseen killer, Brett…

THE HUNT Part 25

“Do you see there,” Songbird said, “where the upper branches of the trees reach across to each other, intertwining over the path, yet the trunks of the trees below are limbless and the path itself is free of undergrowth? Does it not have the appearance of a tunnel? If you follow this pathway, it will…

THE HUNT Part 24

It surprised Joe Clark, the ease with which he had accepted the impossible as reality. Sasquatch did exist. Including one that could talk (and liked to talk) and sing, too, in a beautiful lilting tenor. Parallel universes existed, and there were portals into and out of them. A man who had been dead could come…

The Satanic Christmas Display

Look, I can’t speak for all of them. That should be obvious. But I think it is accurate to describe them in a general way. The people who belong to the Satanic Temple don’t really believe in Satan. They’re atheists. They don’t really want to see Satan praised or worshipped. They have, rather, adopted the…

Continuations of KRAMPUS

Tonight, for the third consecutive year (fourth if you count the original theatrical release of the film), my wife and I celebrated one of our newly-minted annual Christmas traditions: we watched Michael Dougherty’s KRAMPUS. With Krampusnacht (Krampus Night) only a couple of days away (as I am writing this) it seemed proper timing. This movie…

Lovecraftian Muscle Men

Any of you all old enough and cool enough to remember M.U.S.C.L.E.? They were these little pink rubber action figures. They started out in the late 70s in Japan as superhero figures but as the 80s progressed and the “Rock-n-Wrestling” mania took off, the M.U.S.C.L.E. men transitioned into professional wrestlers. It was an easy shift,…

In Memoriam: Gene Warren, Jr.

Makeup artist extraordinaire Gene Warren, Jr. has left us at the age of 77. The news came to us via his friend and collaborator Bart Mixon, who posted this tribute on Facebook: “Gene WAS Fantasy II Film Effects [his company name—ED]—supervising the visual effects for SO many classics of the ’80’s. Gene gave me my…

Fiend-ish Gold

I love it when my fanboy worlds come crashing together. Longtime readers of this site will already know this, but bear with me for the sake of any newcomers as I go a bit autobiographical. Growing up, I had three great loves, great passions. Professional wrestling, Horror movies, and comic books. Back then the three…

Movie Review: ANIMAL AMONG US

There’s something in the woods, killing people at a remote camp. Is it Bigfoot? Is it a werewolf? Is it something else? The fact that you don’t really know till towards the end of the movie is one of its top selling points. ANIMAL AMONG US serves as a mystery as much as a Horror…

THE HUNT Part 23

Which brings us, then, to the crux of the story, the central theme upon which everything else revolves. Plot; characterization; foreshadowing; rising and falling action; denouement; these are all spokes on the wheel, but the hub supporting them and into which they all connect is this: not death, or Death, and not Resurrection, but Redemption….

THE HUNT Part 22

Arly couldn’t stop crying. “Honey,” Pete said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “he’s not worth this.” “Not now, Pete!” she snapped. “I hate to see you hurting, but the man was a cold-blooded killer, Arly.” “You didn’t know him like I did!” “Arly, we read it together, this guy’s record. All those names of…

What is Krampusnacht?

Somebody else has already done the heavy lifting on this one, so rather than merely parroting their article I will instead link to it. Here I will provide only a cursory exploration of the yearly celebration. Krampusnacht, or Krampus Night, occurs on December 5th each year. Why December 5th? Because December 6th is the date…

#MeToo kills AWIL? Apparently Not.

In case you don’t recognize the initials, AWIL stands for AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON. You may recall that Max Landis, son of John Landis, the writer and director of the film, was working on a remake. I never had decided just how I felt about it, but now I really don’t know. Max Landis has…

Discriminatin’ Against Krampus

It is still Halloween season as I sit typing these words. (Halloween season runs from October 1st until Thanksgiving Day.) For that reason I’m putting off writing about Krampus until it is actually the Christmas season. Mostly. The horned holiday enforcer keeps popping up in my newsfeed—it seems that not Santa Claus alone is the…

A PUMPKINHEAD Reboot?

Let’s not and say we did, okay? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Don’t mess with perfection. Peter Block, executive producer on all the SAW movies and the dude behind FROZEN (the excellent survival Horror flick and NOT the Disney cartoon) and currently the vampire movie THE SHED (read about that one here), is…

Robo-Wolves Return!

Well, not yet. But we’re just one small step away from it. And as is the case with any sequel worth its salt, the stakes are higher here, the threat and/or the monsters bigger—and the budget too! You may remember me reporting on the robotic wolves of Japan, the “Super Monster Wolf” built to take…