Let's Talk About Horror Fiction and Film

[RJDiogenes]

We just got MeTV recently here, too (used to be RetroTV or something). They've got a great lineup, but unfortunately the local affiliate still pads their programming with a ton of infomercials so we're not getting everything. No Svengoolie (or Love, American Style for that matter, but that's kind of off-topic ). I'm hoping they expand their coverage as time goes on.

[Gov Kodos]

Love, American Style, I miss that silly show.

[RJDiogenes]

Same here. I used to watch it faithfully back in the day. Sadly, only the first season has been released on DVD.

[Spaceman Spiff]

When checking your listings for Svengoolie, be sure to check for movies on Saturday night. My listings never list the show as "Svengoolie," they always list whatever movie he's showing. I wouldn't have found him if I hadn't stumbled across the random showing of House of Frankenstein.

[RJDiogenes]

Yeah, they just go off the air at 10pm every night, come back on for a couple of hours in the middle of the night, then go off again until mid morning. I checked their schedule on their website, so I know what's supposed to be on, but so far there's been nothing but infomercials. I usually tape the Sciffy movie anyway, but I'd like to be able to see Svengoolie every so often. I like the whole Horror Host tradition. We actually have a local one around here who is shown on one of our cable access stations, by the name of Penny Dreadful. My mother works part-time at the station that serves as her home base, but has not yet actually done any work for that show.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Svengoolie continues to be great; literally everything I've been wanting in a horror host. I really wish you got him out there. I have no doubt you'd enjoy him.

I've placed my order for The Whisperer in Darkness Blu-ray, since the HPLHS is now taking orders. I threw in a tentacle pint glass for good measure.

Other than those purchases, I've been kind of neglecting my horror needs lately, aside from Svengoolie. I need to remedy that. I've been feeling the urge to have a great time with a horror flick in the theater, and I hope The Cabin in the Woods will deliver that. I've also been hearing good things about the African zombie movie, The Dead, so I'll check that out.

Anyone here seen it?

[RJDiogenes]

I think I remember reading about The Dead in a Horror magazine a few months ago-- it must have been Famous Monsters.

In the last couple of months, I've read quite a bit of classic Horror (among other things) that I've gotten cheaply for my Nook. Manly Wade Wellman, Algernon Blackwood, Clark Ashton Smith et cetera. Great stuff.

Also, Chris Mihm's latest movie, coming out in May, is an homage to William Castle. I'm looking forward to that.

Still no sign of Svengoolie on the local affiliate, though.

[Spaceman Spiff]

They've just started listing Svengoolie on another local affiliate, funnily enough, just as "Svengoolie." On one channel, they list just the movie title with no hint of the horror host, and on the other, just the host with no hint of the movie he's playing. I've set both to record, just in case they're not the same. Supposedly, his ratings keep going up, so it may not be long before you get to see him.

This week's was Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, which is, of course, good viewing.

I still haven't read any horror in a while, but here are some spooky little guys I picked up.

Frankie, Bride, and Mummy.

London Vamp, Invisible Man, and Nosferatu.

They only made six of those stylized horror guys, but I wish they made more. A Wolf Man would have been great. Also, Frankie isn't obscene; that's a key around his neck that goes to a lock on the Bride's chest.

I've also been collecting these little zombies that they sell at Walgreens.

I did a warm-up sketch a few weeks ago based somewhat on the astrozombie.

Fun little guys!

[RJDiogenes]

Spaceman Spiff wrote:

---

They've just started listing Svengoolie on another local affiliate, funnily enough, just as "Svengoolie." On one channel, they list just the movie title with no hint of the horror host, and on the other, just the host with no hint of the movie he's playing. I've set both to record, just in case they're not the same. Supposedly, his ratings keep going up, so it may not be long before you get to see him.

Maybe he's got a listing of affiliates on his website. I'll take a look. Or I'll check the digital listings, but I don't think they go that far ahead.

I still haven't read any horror in a while, but here are some spooky little guys I picked up.

Frankie, Bride, and Mummy.

London Vamp, Invisible Man, and Nosferatu.

They only made six of those stylized horror guys, but I wish they made more. A Wolf Man would have been great. Also, Frankie isn't obscene; that's a key around his neck that goes to a lock on the Bride's chest.

Very nice, especially the Mummy. Maybe they'll make more, but it's odd that Wolf Man wasn't among the first batch. Wolf Man don't get no respect.

I've also been collecting these little zombies that they sell at Walgreens.

Hey, they're like green army men for horror geeks. Something to play with when you're home sick from school.

I did a warm-up sketch a few weeks ago based somewhat on the astrozombie.

Nice. And speaking of warm-up sketches, I ordered a graphics tablet-- also a new laptop, since my old one died a few weeks ago. I can't wait to try it out.

[Spaceman Spiff]

What kind of graphics tablet? Planning any spooky drawings?

I did a more zombie-ish take on The Purple Smurf with a tablet here, along with a Ghost Rider.

(I don't usually post my stuff on here, but what the hell.)

Lately I've been doing lots of warm-up doodles of zombies sketched and inked, as well as the occasional weirdos.

I also broke in a new sketchbook with renditions of a couple of those toys.

[RJDiogenes]

It's a Wacom Bamboo Capture Graphics Tablet. I got it for 82 bucks at Overstock; hopefully it will be here by the weekend.

Oh, yeah, spooky drawings are in the future; that's always a recurring theme in my writing and art. Actually, I'll be teaming up the graphics tablet with Comic Life and doing a few more comic book style stories like the ones I've done on Halloween the last several years, and when I get enough together I'll publish a comic through Lulu.

[Spaceman Spiff]

You can't go wrong with Wacom, really. I've been pretty pleased with every product I've purchased from them. I used to use an Intuos, then around September I finally shelled out the cash for a Cintiq. It was pricey, but worth it. I do all kinds of stuff on it now, including the more finished-looking ones up there.

[RJDiogenes]

I'm glad to hear you endorse Wacom; I've been crossing my fingers that it's going to be good. I was originally going to get something more pricey, but then my laptop died its final death (and I wanted to get a replacement that I'm sure if powerful enough to run Moviestorm, which is something else that I've been wanting to experiment with).

I love the way your finished pictures look-- the lines really look like brush strokes. In fact, it was your earlier work that made me want to get the tablet. My problem is that all my life I focused on my writing over my art, so not only am I somewhat unskilled, but drawing something takes freakin' forever. It's one thing to devote that much effort to a single drawing, but a comic strip takes many drawings-- if you've looked at any of them, you'll see that the art is much simpler than in my single drawings and that I abuse the concept of copy and paste as much as possible. I'm hoping the tablet makes it all much easier for me.

By the way, Ghost Rider is my favorite.

[Pingfah]

Your stuff is great Spiff, I didn't realise you were a good artist!

[RJDiogenes]

He's great. He's got an effortless, quirky style and a gentle, yet macabre, sense of humor. Like a few people I've met online (including yourself), he deserves to be doing his thing professionally.