A package arrived in the mail on Halloween day from my good friend Lewis D'Aubin. Lewis is better known as Professor Milo T. Pinkerton, the lead singer of the band THE C.O.G. (Consortium of Genius). Lewis had run across a CD at a local Halloween store and knew I’d want a copy – it is a CD of children’s scary stories called SHIVERS – Weird and Creepy Tales.

Now ordinarily I wouldn’t be all that interested in this CD, but there was one thing that made this one a bit different – or I should say, some one. The narrator of this CD is none other than legendary horror host John Zacherley! Zach introduces each story with little skits and narration, and returns at the end of each story to wrap it up. The stories are definitely geared for younger kids, very much in the Goosebumps mode, and kind of corny. But Zach’s bits make this pretty fun. I wound up scanning through the CD to Zach’s bits and skipping the stories.

I have never seen this CD before. It was made back in 1999 and apparently they made at least 3 different ones, although I’m not sure if he narrated them all. I’m going to track the others down on the internet – if you’d like a copy of this CD, you can find it here:
http://www.oldies.com/product-view/14781G.html
at good ole Oldies.com. Be sure to tell em’ Doc Gangrene sent you.

And to find out more about The C.O.G. go to:
http://www.consortiumofgenius.com/
They are a trio of musicians and mad scientists who have been cranking out music for the better part of a decade now. They’re based in New Orleans, and are very much fans of sci-fi and horror. You can find them on Myspace and Facebook, and at the website above, too.

Rondo Awards - Best DVD Company - Alpha Video

The 7th annual Rondo Awards are just around the corner, so I thought I'd spend the next few days going over some of my personal endorsements for this year's awards. First up I'll take a look at Best DVD Company.

In the DVD Company of the Year category, my personal selection is, and has been for several years now, ALPHA VIDEO. Alpha Video is best known for low priced public domain movies. They typically have no (or very few) extras on the discs. Why, you might ask, would I vote for a DVD company like Alpha for best video company when they don't even have extras on their discs? Well, let me tell you...

Alpha Video has done more to keep classic horror alive than most video companies out there. People who are willing purchase expensive films from companies such as Criterion, for instance, are genre fans – they would buy these movies regardless of the price. It’s the non-genre fans who are paid the biggest service from Alpha Video, and that is exactly the way in which Alpha is helping keep classic horror alive.

Now don’t get me wrong – I LOVE many of the films that companies like Criterion put out. They have a really terrific selection of DVDs. I just am not going to spend 30-40 dollars on movies like THE BLOB, or FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, as fond as I am of those movies (and believe me, I really, really like both of them). As much as I might like to buy these, I am a father of three boys, and my discretionary income for DVD purchases is severely limited. I won’t buy a $40 DVD, but I might just pick up a 5 or 6 dollar print of something like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, SHOCK with Vincent Price, REEFER MADNESS, or any of a number of the fun films from their catalog. And I know there are many people out there just like me, folks who might otherwise not even think about buying an old horror movie, but for five bucks, why not?

Alpha has a terrific selection of movies in a variety of categories: Horror, Sci-fi, Exploitation, Serials, Silent Movies, old Television series, and more. Plus they’ve started distributing some newer material such as Mark Redfield’s terrific DR.JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, (which I highly recommend). Their covers are really top notch, and really make these DVDs stand out on the shelves.

So for these reasons I’m voting for Alpha Video for DVD Company of the Year in the Rondo Awards again this year. Good luck Alpha, and I hope all of you out there vote in the Rondo Awards this year.

Rondo Awards - BEST DVD COMPANY

With the Rondos just around the corner I thought it a good time to discuss them.

In the DVD Company of the Year category, my personal selection is, and has been for several years now, ALPHA VIDEO. Alpha Video is best known for low priced public domain movies. They typically have no (or very few) extras on the discs. Why, you might ask, would I vote for a DVD company like Alpha for best video company when they don't even have extras on their discs? Well, let me tell you...

Alpha Video has done more to keep classic horror alive than most video companies out there. People who are willing purchase expensive films from companies such as Criterion, for instance, are genre fans – they would buy these movies regardless of the price. It’s the non-genre fans who are paid the biggest service from Alpha Video, and that is exactly the way in which Alpha is helping keep classic horror alive.

Now don’t get me wrong – I LOVE many of the films that Criterion puts out. They have a really terrific selection of DVDs. I just am not going to spend 30-40 dollars on movies like THE BLOB, or FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, as fond as I am of those movies (and believe me, I really, really like both of them). As much as I might like to buy these, I am a father of three boys, and my discretionary income for DVD purchases is severely limited. I won’t buy a $40 DVD, but I might just pick up a 5 or 6 dollar print of something like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, SHOCK with Vincent Price, REEFER MADNESS, or any of a number of the fun films from their catalog. And I know there are many people out there just like me, folks who might otherwise not even think about buying an old horror movie, but for five bucks, why not?

Alpha has a terrific selection of movies in a variety of categories: Horror, Sci-fi, Exploitation, Serials, Silent Movies, old Television series, and more. Plus they’ve started distributing some newer material such as Mark Redfield’s terrific DR.JEKYLL & MR. HYDE, (which I highly recommend). Their covers are really top notch, and really make these DVDs stand out on the shelves.

So for these reasons I’m voting for Alpha Video for DVD Company of the Year in the Rondo Awards again this year. Good luck Alpha, and I hope all of you out there vote in the Rondo Awards this year.

And by the way, if anyone wants to get me THE BLOB or FIEND WITHOUT A FACE for Christmas, feel free!!