Speaking of things Lovecraft, this'll brighten your day:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd5gWGfnK5M[/yt]
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd5gWGfnK5M[/yt]
Let's Talk About Horror Fiction and Film
- Thread starter Spaceman Spiff
- Start date
Oh, yeah! More from HPLHS. 
That's great. As you know, I've got their silent Cthulhu and all their "Radio Shows," and they've never failed yet to get things right. These are people who understand and respect the subject matter. I suppose "October 1931" means this coming October, which means another painfully long wait-- but I have no doubt that it will be worth it. 
And I did get Frostbite, but it's going to have to wait until I read The Long Man; I've been waiting thirty years for another novel by Steve Englehart.
That's great. As you know, I've got their silent Cthulhu and all their "Radio Shows," and they've never failed yet to get things right. These are people who understand and respect the subject matter. I suppose "October 1931" means this coming October, which means another painfully long wait-- but I have no doubt that it will be worth it. And I did get Frostbite, but it's going to have to wait until I read The Long Man; I've been waiting thirty years for another novel by Steve Englehart.
Well, I read Frostbite. Strange kind of Werewolf story, very surreal. Most of it takes place in a weird dreamlike frozen landscape far up North in Canada; some of it in the forest, some in a bizarre abandoned mining town. Part of it takes place in flashback, circa World War I. Very little is set in anything resembling a familiar setting, adding to the nightmarish feel. As someone who finds anything below 70 degrees cold, it was an uncomfortable read as the Werewolf characters frequently find themselves running around naked in these frozen landscapes. I shivered the whole time. The strange moral ambiguity of the story also left me feeling uncomfortable, which was intentional; we were left with no characters to really root for, just a bunch of people doing what they need to survive and sacrificing their Humanity in the process. It was very well done, I thought; more unsettling than horrifying.
The strange moral ambiguity of the story also left me feeling uncomfortable, which was intentional; we were left with no characters to really root for, just a bunch of people doing what they need to survive and sacrificing their Humanity in the process. It was very well done, I thought; more unsettling than horrifying.
Sweet. I'll definitely get that. I'd love to see what happens to these characters next-- hopefully a relocation to a tropical island.
Have you read his zombie books?
Have you read his zombie books?
My most recent read was DWELLER by Jeff Strand. I tore through it in about two days while on vacation. It's a "boy and his best friend the monster" story, the twist being that it basically chronicles the two characters' lives together, spanning decades.
In a way, it's right up your alley. Here's a pretty good review.
It's a sweet story in its way, but just bear in mind it's definitely a horror story.
I also picked up CURSE OF THE FULL MOON. They're churning out these werewolf anthologies faster than I can read them! It was a blind buy based on some of the names in it (Campbell, Ellison, Gaiman, Lansdale, Le Guin, Moorcock, etc.). It didn't look like it had any duplicates from other recent werewolf books.
Right now I'm counteracting TWILIGHT mania by reading David Wellington's 13 BULLETS, the first in his vampire series. Pretty quick-paced read so far.
I haven't made too many movie purchases lately, but one that caught my eye in an ad between movies on TCM was the UNIVERSAL CULT HORROR COLLECTION. It's a little pricey at $50, but it's exclusive to the site, and it's a nice little package of B-horror flicks. The standout for me so far has been MURDERS IN THE ZOO. Great little pre-Code Lionel Atwill flick.
In a way, it's right up your alley. Here's a pretty good review.
It's a sweet story in its way, but just bear in mind it's definitely a horror story.
I also picked up CURSE OF THE FULL MOON. They're churning out these werewolf anthologies faster than I can read them! It was a blind buy based on some of the names in it (Campbell, Ellison, Gaiman, Lansdale, Le Guin, Moorcock, etc.). It didn't look like it had any duplicates from other recent werewolf books.
Right now I'm counteracting TWILIGHT mania by reading David Wellington's 13 BULLETS, the first in his vampire series. Pretty quick-paced read so far.
I haven't made too many movie purchases lately, but one that caught my eye in an ad between movies on TCM was the UNIVERSAL CULT HORROR COLLECTION. It's a little pricey at $50, but it's exclusive to the site, and it's a nice little package of B-horror flicks. The standout for me so far has been MURDERS IN THE ZOO. Great little pre-Code Lionel Atwill flick.
^^ Ah, I saw Murders In The Zoo when they ran it. That was a good one.
I picked up the first Season of True Blood. I found out that it has Werewolves as well as Vampires and I had a Wal-Mart gift card sitting around since Christmas and there's a Wal-Mart near my dentist, so there you go. I haven't looked at it yet, since I'm still devouring my new Tales Of The Gold Monkey set.
That sounds great. I love stories with that kind of range. This sounds like a Horror pastiche of Lio or "Puff the Magic Dragon."My most recent read was DWELLER by Jeff Strand. I tore through it in about two days while on vacation. It's a "boy and his best friend the monster" story, the twist being that it basically chronicles the two characters' lives together, spanning decades.
In a way, it's right up your alley. Here's a pretty good review.
It's a sweet story in its way, but just bear in mind it's definitely a horror story.
I'll add that to my list as well.
I picked up the first Season of True Blood. I found out that it has Werewolves as well as Vampires and I had a Wal-Mart gift card sitting around since Christmas and there's a Wal-Mart near my dentist, so there you go. I haven't looked at it yet, since I'm still devouring my new Tales Of The Gold Monkey set.
Today I got an email notice that HOUSE OF THE WOLF MAN is available for pre-order on Amazon.
Here's hoping it's worth the wait!
Here's hoping it's worth the wait!
Me, too. It would suck to be disappointed after all this.
But I just pre-ordered it, along with Curse of the Full Moon, and if it ships on time we'll have it for Halloween.
But I just pre-ordered it, along with Curse of the Full Moon, and if it ships on time we'll have it for Halloween.
There was some sad news last week about Dorchester Publishing, which produces the Leisure Horror line, including the bulk of paperbacks by Brian Keene and reprints of Richard Laymon's work. Paperback sales are down 25%, so in order to stay afloat, they're switching to an all-digital and print-on-demand model. I suppose it's good that these modern publishing options allow them to stay in business, but I'll miss seeing their paperbacks in stores. They've been around since '71.
As for recent horror readings and purchases, Wellington's 13 BULLETS was a great little read, and a good antidote to the sparkly vampire craze. His vampires are some mean bastards, looking more like Count Orlock than they do Robert Pattinson.
I got the new LIO collection in the mail, complete with that awesome Calvin & Hobbes spoof cover. Even the author photo and text poke a bit of fun at Watterson. Great stuff, as always.
I had a coupon at Borders the other day, and as I was looking through the horror section, I spotted BLOODSUCKERS: THE VAMPIRE ARCHIVES. I rolled my eyes as I picked it up, expecting a TWILIGHT knock-off (for whatever reason), and I was surprised to see it's a cool little paperback collection of vampire stories from throughout the history of the genre, in the vein (hur) of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF WOLF MEN. Some Bradbury, Manly Wade Wellman, Dan Simmons, Stephen King, etc. A lot of the stories are available elsewhere (they had to sneak "Dracula's Guest" in there, as usual), but it's nice to have them in a portable little paperback for my commute reading.
There are two more volumes in the pipeline, called FANGS and COFFINS. It looks like the three volumes are split-up versions of THE VAMPIRE ARCHIVES, which I've admired in the store a few times (great cover!), but the thing's a whopping 1,056 pages and pretty unwieldy. I kept hoping they'd publish a Kindle version, but the paperbacks will do nicely.
Lastly, I took a recent trip to Michaels crafts, and I guess they start putting up their Hallowe'en stuff this early in the year. They had the usual stuff, including the Lemax SpookyTown additions for 2010. They made some really cool ones this year. I couldn't resist snatching up a few items.
As for recent horror readings and purchases, Wellington's 13 BULLETS was a great little read, and a good antidote to the sparkly vampire craze. His vampires are some mean bastards, looking more like Count Orlock than they do Robert Pattinson.
I got the new LIO collection in the mail, complete with that awesome Calvin & Hobbes spoof cover. Even the author photo and text poke a bit of fun at Watterson. Great stuff, as always.
I had a coupon at Borders the other day, and as I was looking through the horror section, I spotted BLOODSUCKERS: THE VAMPIRE ARCHIVES. I rolled my eyes as I picked it up, expecting a TWILIGHT knock-off (for whatever reason), and I was surprised to see it's a cool little paperback collection of vampire stories from throughout the history of the genre, in the vein (hur) of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF WOLF MEN. Some Bradbury, Manly Wade Wellman, Dan Simmons, Stephen King, etc. A lot of the stories are available elsewhere (they had to sneak "Dracula's Guest" in there, as usual), but it's nice to have them in a portable little paperback for my commute reading.
There are two more volumes in the pipeline, called FANGS and COFFINS. It looks like the three volumes are split-up versions of THE VAMPIRE ARCHIVES, which I've admired in the store a few times (great cover!), but the thing's a whopping 1,056 pages and pretty unwieldy. I kept hoping they'd publish a Kindle version, but the paperbacks will do nicely.
Lastly, I took a recent trip to Michaels crafts, and I guess they start putting up their Hallowe'en stuff this early in the year. They had the usual stuff, including the Lemax SpookyTown additions for 2010. They made some really cool ones this year. I couldn't resist snatching up a few items.
I hope they can survive. Times are always tough for small publishers, and our little economic meltdown is only making things worse.
I'll have to get that immediately. Amazon's recommendation feature has failed me; I didn't even know this was out.
Speaking of vampires, Marvel is releasing Tomb Of Dracula in a series of color TPBs. I just got the first volume for my Niece (she's been reading Twilight). If you haven't read this series, you should go for it; it's a classic. The first 50 or so issues, anyway.
I love the animated graveyards.
And they have an Indiana Jones-style character now, too.
Good news for Larry Blamire fans: The Lost Skeleton Returns Again and Dark And Stormy Night are now available; my copies shipped this morning. I hope I have time to watch both this weekend. 
I have no idea why Trail Of The Screaming Forehead is not on DVD yet.
I have no idea why Trail Of The Screaming Forehead is not on DVD yet.
Be sure to give us your official reviews, there. I have The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, but I haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. Maybe in the next couple of weeks. I'll have to get that Tomb of Dracula.
Right now I'm reading King's DANSE MACABRE for the first time. I'm enjoying it so far. Between this and ON WRITING, I've really enjoyed his non-fiction work.
As for new purchases, here's my only real recent score. I read a tidbit about these Universal Horror novelizations from the '70s--that while all six books were credited to the "Carl Dreadstone" pseudonym, three were written by Ramsey Campbell. The combination of Universal and Campbell piqued my curiosity and I looked them up. His WOLF MAN is going for a good chunk, and DRACULA'S DAUGHTER can get pretty pricey, too. BRIDE can get up there, but a seller claimed to have it in "like new" condition for $10, so I had to go for it. It's obviously yellowed, being printed in 1977, but it's in remarkable shape. And from the teaser text, it looks to be a fun read.
That's about all I've got for this round. I'm making my way through the Pod of Horror podcast, which is a fun little show for horror lit. The focus is on new stuff, but everyone involved seems to know their stuff, and the host gets some good guests. Yesterday I listened to his interview with Peter Straub. Good stuff.
Right now I'm reading King's DANSE MACABRE for the first time. I'm enjoying it so far. Between this and ON WRITING, I've really enjoyed his non-fiction work.
As for new purchases, here's my only real recent score. I read a tidbit about these Universal Horror novelizations from the '70s--that while all six books were credited to the "Carl Dreadstone" pseudonym, three were written by Ramsey Campbell. The combination of Universal and Campbell piqued my curiosity and I looked them up. His WOLF MAN is going for a good chunk, and DRACULA'S DAUGHTER can get pretty pricey, too. BRIDE can get up there, but a seller claimed to have it in "like new" condition for $10, so I had to go for it. It's obviously yellowed, being printed in 1977, but it's in remarkable shape. And from the teaser text, it looks to be a fun read.
That's about all I've got for this round. I'm making my way through the Pod of Horror podcast, which is a fun little show for horror lit. The focus is on new stuff, but everyone involved seems to know their stuff, and the host gets some good guests. Yesterday I listened to his interview with Peter Straub. Good stuff.
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Wow, I never heard of those Universal novelizations; those would definitely be nice to own.
I read Danse Macabre when it first came out. There's a lot of interesting information in there. King is very opinionated, and can be pretentious, but I guess he's entitled; let's just say I didn't always agree with him, though.
You should definitely take a look at Lost Skeleton. It's a funny and good-natured satire. Blamire also does an amusing series on YouTube called Tales From The Pub that spoofs genre anthologies; it has kind of a One Step Beyond vibe.
I'll Post my thoughts on the new DVDs as soon as I can.
I read Danse Macabre when it first came out. There's a lot of interesting information in there. King is very opinionated, and can be pretentious, but I guess he's entitled; let's just say I didn't always agree with him, though.
You should definitely take a look at Lost Skeleton. It's a funny and good-natured satire. Blamire also does an amusing series on YouTube called Tales From The Pub that spoofs genre anthologies; it has kind of a One Step Beyond vibe.
I'll Post my thoughts on the new DVDs as soon as I can.
The other three Universal horror novelizations credited to Dreadstone are THE MUMMY, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and THE WEREWOLF OF LONDON. Cool-looking little books, but Campbell says he didn't write them. I could see why he wouldn't want to write WEREWOLF OF LONDON after writing WOLF MAN.
The collector in me wants to try to get all of them, but Campbell's the tipping point. I'll probably try to get my hands on his other two entries, at least. The others, I'm not so sure. Campbell said he's not even sure who they got to write the others. And the CREATURE one is getting up there in price, like all things Gill-man related.
The collector in me wants to try to get all of them, but Campbell's the tipping point. I'll probably try to get my hands on his other two entries, at least. The others, I'm not so sure. Campbell said he's not even sure who they got to write the others. And the CREATURE one is getting up there in price, like all things Gill-man related.
The prices are a little bit better at Alibris, for copies in "Very Good" condition. And if you've got an extra $500 lying around, they have a complete set, autographed by Ramsey Campbell.
My DVDs came today. Now I just have to stay home this weekend, tell everyone I'm sick and take the phone off the hook.
My DVDs came today. Now I just have to stay home this weekend, tell everyone I'm sick and take the phone off the hook.
It's almost time to rename the thread again. Time just seems to go by more quickly. 
I got my notification today that House of the Wolf Man has shipped.
As for reading, I'm two-thirds through the second entry in David Wellington's vampire series, 99 Coffins. This guy writes some fun horror with a breakneck pace. He's also pretty good at writing female protagonists.
Lastly, Elvira made her big return to TV on Saturday, playing Night of the Living Dead on the first episode of her relaunched Elvira's Movie Macabre. She was a lot of fun, with her framing shtick centered on cleaning out her old basement and prepping it for the new show.
Here's the new intro and local listings.
I got my notification today that House of the Wolf Man has shipped.
As for reading, I'm two-thirds through the second entry in David Wellington's vampire series, 99 Coffins. This guy writes some fun horror with a breakneck pace. He's also pretty good at writing female protagonists.
Lastly, Elvira made her big return to TV on Saturday, playing Night of the Living Dead on the first episode of her relaunched Elvira's Movie Macabre. She was a lot of fun, with her framing shtick centered on cleaning out her old basement and prepping it for the new show.
Here's the new intro and local listings.
Wow, I had no idea that Elvira was back. She's syndicated in Boston, so I should be able to check her out this weekend. It ought to be interesting-- she's ten years older than I am.
Apparently my House Of Wolf Man has not shipped yet. Which may be a good thing. I doubt if I could resist watching it before Halloween if I get it too soon.
Speaking of David Wellington, Overwinter arrived a few days ago, so I'll have that for Halloween. Actually I'll probably start it as soon as I finish what I'm reading now.
Apparently my House Of Wolf Man has not shipped yet. Which may be a good thing. I doubt if I could resist watching it before Halloween if I get it too soon.
Speaking of David Wellington, Overwinter arrived a few days ago, so I'll have that for Halloween. Actually I'll probably start it as soon as I finish what I'm reading now.
I'm glad someone necro'd this thread. (And what better thread to necro? 
)
I recently picked up the Val Lewton Horror collection, and was very impressed--especially by those films that starred Boris Karloff: The Body Snatcher, Isle of the Dead, and Bedlam. I'd never thought of him as a serious actor, but he gave a top-notch performance in each film.
I'm not sure if a modern viewer would find these movies very scary, but they were all top-notch B&W movies--especially considering how low-budget they were. They were all very stylishly made, and like their film-noir contemporaries, took very good advantage of their black-and-white photography.
I would definitely recommend them to fans of horror movies and classic movies alike.
)I recently picked up the Val Lewton Horror collection, and was very impressed--especially by those films that starred Boris Karloff: The Body Snatcher, Isle of the Dead, and Bedlam. I'd never thought of him as a serious actor, but he gave a top-notch performance in each film.
I'm not sure if a modern viewer would find these movies very scary, but they were all top-notch B&W movies--especially considering how low-budget they were. They were all very stylishly made, and like their film-noir contemporaries, took very good advantage of their black-and-white photography.
I would definitely recommend them to fans of horror movies and classic movies alike.
Man, I could not agree more. That Val Lewton set is one of my favorites. Did you get the one that includes Val Lewton - The Man in the Shadows? I got my set pretty early on, so I had to buy it separately. It's a great documentary about Lewton and his movies.
I think The Body Snatcher is one of Karloff's best performances. He's just so evil in it, with nearly every line delivered with a smile. TCM showed it a couple of weeks ago and I intended to just give it a quick peek, but I wound up finishing the movie. It pulls me right in every time.
And while it's not really scary, it's got its share of chilling moments. A great example is when the singer's voice is cut off in mid-note. Yikes.
I think The Body Snatcher is one of Karloff's best performances. He's just so evil in it, with nearly every line delivered with a smile. TCM showed it a couple of weeks ago and I intended to just give it a quick peek, but I wound up finishing the movie.
It pulls me right in every time.And while it's not really scary, it's got its share of chilling moments. A great example is when the singer's voice is cut off in mid-note. Yikes.
