Rob Zombie in Concert

I traveled with my 12 yr old son Luke last night to Louisville and saw Rob Zombie in concert. Man, what a FANTASTIC show - easily one of the top ten shows I've ever seen (and I've seen a LOT of concerts in my time, believe me)!

Before the show there was a soundtrack of horror music and clips from Universal horror films - definitely set the mood.

There were two bands opening - Captain Clegg and the Night Creatures and the Necromantics. Captain Clegg were featured in the Rob Zombie film Halloween 2 (which I still haven't seen yet - I need to watch that soon) and they were terrific. They have a steel guitar player in the band and a cool country vibe with a rockabilly sensibility to them. Their singer has a great voice and is very charismatic. They definitely wave that horror flag high and I love their costumes - kind of a groovy undertaker look. Good stuff, and a great live show. You should catch them if you get a chance. 

AND they even came out to the merchandise table afterwards and met their fans, signing autographs and cds and shaking lots and lots of hands. I saw this fat toothless woman come up and have them sign her belly - talk about a horror show - hahaha!

Necromantics were next and they were really good, too. They brought their Psychobilly horror set to the crowd there and really rocked the place. They're playing in Nashville in a week along with Blitzkid and Hillbilly Casino (a KICK-ASS Nashville-based band) and I am planning on catching them again there. They're a 3-piece band with a female drummer - she rocks! 

 Rob Zombie finally hit the stage and man, it was amazing. An absolute barrage of light, video, and sound that was almost overwhelming. Rob had a giant screen behind the stage that played clips from horror movies, animation and more throughout the entire show. There were two more led screens onstage that played different video clips and animation, again from horror movies. I saw everything from Universal monsters to Nosferatu, Witchcraft Through the Ages to El Superbeasto. Amazing. Rob is a real monster kid, let me tell ya.

 The music was so tight it was ridiculuous and the band sounded great. Rob was in top form, dancing and running around stage. He even came out into the audience with a giant flashlight he shined in the crowd, and he stopped and stood on the seats right in front of me and gave me a high five, nodded at my son and headed on around the stadium, working the crowd while his guitarist absolutely shredded the guitar with a smoking solo.

 It was, again, a great show. Rob is touring in support of an upcoming cd, "Hellbilly Deluxe 2" that is coming out in Feburary. If he tours again, make plans NOW to go see him. You won't regreat it!

Alien Resurrection Reviewed

I have avoided watching Alien Resurrection for years – twelve years, to be exact...now I know why. This movie, to quote my 11 year old son, "is terrible."

There are gonna be spoilers in this review – if you've not seen the Alien movies, be warned.

In Alien 3 we discovered Ripley has an alien growing inside her body. She takes the Nestea plunge into a fiery vat just as the alien erupts from her chest. Thus ends the tortured life of Ellen Ripley.

But not so fast – the powers that be apparently thought you couldn't have an Alien movie without Sigourney Weaver, so they concocted an explanation for her inclusion in Alien 4 – cloning. Thank god they didn't use the other obvious answer, time travel. That would have been even more ridiculous than this sequel…but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Alien Resurrection takes place 200 years in the future from Alien 3, onboard a spaceship called the Auriga. On it, a team of scientists have successfully cloned a new Ripley from a blood sample recovered on the prison colony where she became Shake and Bake in the last film. This time around the scientists aren't part of The Company as in previous installments – no, in the past 200 years the Company was bought up by Walmart (no lie) and no longer exists. These scientists are part of the military, and are interested in studying the aliens for weapon research

Enter the first unbelievable plot device, and it's the crux of the entire film. Not only did they clone Ripley, but somehow that drop of blood also contained the DNA of the alien parasite inside her. So when they cloned her they also got the alien as well. You know, I'm no expert on cloning, but I think if someone had a parasite like, say, a tick or a tapeworm, and they were cloned from a sample of their DNA, that parasite wouldn't be included in that clone. But in this film that is exactly what happens. AND not only that, but somehow the DNA from both parasite and host intermingled in the cloning process, resulting in an alien with some human characteristics (more on that later) and a human with alien characteristics.

As a result of this intermingling of DNA Ripley gains a host of new abilities, including lightning reflexes, enhanced strength, advanced fighting abilities, and acid blood to name a few (including shooting basketball like an NBA star). AND best of all, she is able to somehow regain a lifetime of learning within 4 days!! This is another gift from the Xenomorph blood now coursing through her body.

Much like the magic plot device of Batman's utility belt or MacGyver's handyman-itude, cloning is the catch-all for any plot problems in this movie. Why does Ripley have superhuman abilities? Cloning. How can she suddenly learn a lifetime of abilities and processes (from basics like walking, talking, thinking, and processing emotions to regaining full-blown memories of Ripley's former life) within days? Cloning. How does Ripley have an empathic link with the Aliens enabling her to sense where they are, what they are doing, and even smell if someone has a parasitic chest-burster growing inside them? Oh yeah, cloning.

In this film Ripley becomes a cartoon character, a bad comic book superhero with little resemblance to the Dan O'Bannon creation of the original film. Makes me wonder why they even needed her if they just wanted to change her so much. Why not use a less contrived storyline, one that didn't struggle so obviously to find a hokey method of resurrecting Ripley. There are a whole host of ways you could include her and still be true to her character - have the characters watch recorded messages of Ripley from the past, or listen to ship's logs, or use flashbacks – hell, a creative script writer could have come up with tons of great ideas. But. alas, that was not to be.

As we learned in Alien 3 (a whole other set of problems there), the alien inside Ripley wasn't just any alien – it was a queen alien. So the scientists on the Auriga have themselves a queen that they keep trapped in an isolation chamber for study. It quickly grows to giant size and begins laying eggs.

This is where the plot gets confusing time-wise. Ripley’s parasite was removed and she regained her memories and full capacities within 4 days. But by that time the queen is fully grown as well, plus there are also other fully grown aliens running around too. Thirteen of them, we later learn.


From here I can just imagine the script writer's next thoughts - Okay, so we've resurrected Ripley – brought the aliens onboard - what next? Oh yeah, a cyborg. That was cool in the first two movies. We need to have that. Except this time the twist will be it'll be a woman cyborg – cool!

This time around the cyborg is played by Wynona Ryder (whose character is named Call). She lands onto the Auriga with a crew of mercenaries onboard a space ship named The Betty. They are delivering cargo (humans, actually, who are in cryosleep). Turns out these folks are to be human hosts for the eggs the queen has laid. It isn't clear whether these humans are the same ones that become a meat-house for what ultimately grows into the 13 rampant aliens previously mentioned, or are in addition to those, but it doesn't matter – The aliens are onboard and replicating, that's all that is important. Here there be aliens.

Okay, from here you can probably guess what happens – the aliens escape, start killing humans, and it's up to the mercenaries and Ripley to defeat the aliens.

The twist is that the Mother alien, as I mentioned before, has gained new abilities from Ripley too, and she not only lays eggs but actually gives birth to an alien/human hybrid through a human-type womb.

What I love about this scene is how they add a commentary to keep the viewer up to date on just what the heck is happening. There is a conscious human, one of the lead scientists on the ship, in some sort of cocoon along the wall, very similar to what we see at the end of the first movie. There are several other humans in cocoons spread about there as well.

This lead scientist for some reason has taken on a sort of symbiosis with the mother – unlike similarly cocooned humans in previous movies who screamed in terror, this dude is really, really into it. He is in tune with the queen alien and keeps prattling on about how beautiful everything is, and gives a nice convenient running commentary explaining what's happening. Honestly it is a good thing he is there, because otherwise the audience would have no fucking clue what is happening. Basic storytelling 101 says show, don't tell – but when you have a turd of a script like this, you have to tell.

Well, the baby tears its way out of a skin sack, which is connected to mama's belly. Her offspring turns out to be a pink, fleshy alien with somewhat human facial characteristics. It is unintentionally hilarious looking, and when this thing appeared onscreen my son laughed out loud. It spots Ripley, who has conveniently fallen into the pit with the mamma alien just as it gives birth to this hybrid, and turns toward her. It advances and stops inches from her face (now where have I seen this scene before?). It then begins to rub its face over hers, licking and caressing her.

We are told by our boy in the cocoon that the baby has now accepted Ripley as its mother. Still dripping with embryonic ooze, this baby then turns on mamma alien and kills it. The queen was a badass in Aliens, but in this film the newborn baby easily and quickly dispatches her.

Ripley runs away and she and the surviving mercenaries board the Betty and launch into space, away from the larger ship, which is on a collision course with a desolate part of Earth. But, and I know you'll find this to be a surprise, guess what? The alien baby snuck onboard and there is a fight to the finish between it and Ripley and the android, Call (again, where have I seen this scene before?).

In what I have to admit is the single coolest scene in the entire movie, the alien is defeated by being sucked through a hole in the ship's window. It is ripped into shreds of meat and ejected into space in pieces. The ship conveniently gains Earth's atmosphere just in time to save Ripley and Call from a similar fate, and we see the larger military vessel, the Auriga, crash into Earth and explode. The Betty lands on Earth and we see it is a wasteland, in complete ruins. Earth has been destroyed and apparently abandoned.

I have to admit I am a fan of the Alien franchise. The first film was a masterpiece, blending science fiction and horror and creating one of the scariest movie monsters ever. The second is more of an action film, true, but it still maintains the spirit of the original and expands the storyline in an interesting direction. The third has problems – the biggest of which is the arbitrary extermination of Hicks and Newt (who survived in Aliens). An early draft of this script called for Hicks to be the main character, with Ripley as a support character, (plans were for her to return in the 4th installment as the lead character). What a great movie that could have been. Despite its flaws Alien 3 still has one consistent element – Ripley. She is still the same Ripley, right to the end where she sacrifices herself to destroy the alien inside her.

This 4th installment pisses all over the previous alien films. There are silly plot points, (such as the mercenary who, hands up at gun point, ricochets a bullet off a ceiling - bouncing twice, no less - to hit his captor in the head and escape), that would be more at home in a B-western. Cliché one liners from Ripley ("Who do I have to fuck to get off this boat?" or "There's a monster in you, and I'm its mother" or in answer to "I thought you were dead" – "I get that a lot") that sound like they're straight from a corny Schwarzenegger action flick.

Not only did the filmmakers wreck Ripley's character (insisting on including her yet changing her – what's the point?), dismantle The Company (the real villain behind all three previous Alien movies), and reinvent the aliens (which were the coolest movie monster ever and didn't need reinventing), they also did away with the entire population of Earth.

Writer Joss Whedon is the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer – which pretty much explains a lot of the cartoon silliness that, while it worked perfectly in that series, has no place in an Alien movie. Director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is a Frenchman, which explains why the ruins of the Eiffel Tower are seen among the ruins of the city in the final shot. Looks like Jean-Paul was paving the way for a possible future sequel with super-hero Ripley and her cyborg sidekick Call in a post-apocalyptic France. That might make for an interesting movie, but it doesn't have any place in the Alien franchise. I hope that movie never gets made. Far as I am concerned, Ripley died in Alien 3 and that is the end of her character.

In retrospect, perhaps time travel would be better than this cartoon monster flick.

What I've been up to...

I've been busy.

Haven't blogged much over on this side of the blogspot, my personal Larry side, this 11th Tier site. But that isn't because nothing is going on - pretty much it's exactly the opposite.

Where to start... the good and the bad. I'll start with the bad. Whenever I am asked that question I always choose to hear the worst first - that way I can get it out of the way and absorb it, move on to better news. Kind of my approach to art projects too - if I have a stack of projects in front of me I like to tackle the biggest one first, get it out of the way. That way I'm not dreading it the entire time I'm working on the other, smaller projects.
But I digress...

The bad. I lost two pets over the past month. First, and hardest, was my beloved dalmation, Kelly. This is the finest pet a man could ask for. Best dog I ever had - best dog in the world. She was old, blind, deaf and losing her bowel control. We put her down and it was the hardest thing I've ever done.

Second, was my cat Sara. Sara was a male who we named mistakenly until a vet trip for spaying revealed to us that, no, Sara can't be spayed because HE has to be neutered. Gulp. Too late - the name stuck. They called him Mr. Sara at the vet. Well Mr. Sara passed away this past week. Went missing for several days, we feared the worst. I came home from work last Friday and knew immediately that he was in the house - somewhere. I searched, and finally found him behind my son's dresser where he had crawled to die. I just saw the tip of his orange tail sticking out of the back of the dresser. He was old, and frail and his time had come.

So I buried both pets at my mother's house, which is out in the country a bit. They have a nice little pet cemetery going. Morbid as it is, the Ramones song did pop to mind afterwards. Both pets are missed, but particularly Kelly. She will always be my baby girl and I think about her every day.

I missed Wonderfest this year. I was unable to attend and really hated not being there. I missed the show but most of all I missed all the great friends I have who I only get to see once a year at Wonderfest – friends like Bob Burns, J. Sorrels, Frank Dietz, Dave Conover, Donnie Waddell, Dave Colton, Eileen Colton, Tim Lucas, Donna Lucas, Kathy Burns, Gary Prange, Joe Busam, Harry Hatter, Jim Clatterbaugh, Marian Clatterbaugh, Kerry Gammill, and so many more that there is no way I could possibly list everyone, as well as all my friends from down this way who attend annually. It's like a big family get together and I really missed it.

Now on to the good...

Missing Wonderfest was necessary because at that time I was at my son's high school graduation! Actually, we had multiple graduations to celebrate - my wife graduated from college and my oldest son graduated from High school. I am SO proud of them both. My wife graduated magna cum laude, and we went to both their graduation ceremonies this past month, as well as an elementary graduation ceremony for my youngest son. Three graduations in a month! Huzzah!

Another fun offshoot of the Wonderfest weekend was the winning of a Rondo Award! Myself, Cameron McCasland, and Linda Wylie (Nurse Moan-eek) were all given Rondo awards for the series of PSAs we did last year in our "Go Green with Dr. Gangrene" campaign. It's just such a great honor to be recognized by our peers for the work we do, and I want to say thank you again to everyone who voted for us, and to David Colton and everyone at the Rondo Awards for the nomination. Cameron collected my statue for me and it now resides on the shelf next to my other Rondo (for Best Website).

I've been reading quite a bit. I read four complete collections of EC Comics: The Crypt of Terror (Vol. 1 of Tales from the Crypt), The Vault of Horror Vol. 1 & 2, and Haunt of Fear Vol. 1. These collections of EC books from the 50s are awesome. I LOVE EC comics. GREAT stuff.

I also read a biography on the Ramones called "Hey Ho Let's Go The Story of the Ramones" by Everett True. Great background on the history of the punk pioneers.

I've watched a BUNCH of movies - first I was on a western kick, and watched several Sergio Leone Eastwood movies - Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and the Good the Bad and the Ugly. I seen all these multiple times, but they were just as good this time around and I saw them in letterbox form off dvd, so they were really enjoyable.

Then I somehow got onto a Dario Argento kick, and watched several of his films: Tenebrae, Phenomena, Do You Like Hitchcock and Trauma. I still have one more that I plan to watch soon – The Card Player. I like all these movies, but my favorite of the bunch still has to be Phenomena.

I also re-watched ZOMBIE, the Lucio Fulci classic, just because I was in the mood for it.

And now lately I have become hooked on the TV show LOST. I was recently loaned the first season, and it sat on my vcr for about a month before I finally popped in the first disc. Now we're hooked, and my wife and youngest son and I all sit and watch two or three episodes a night. GREAT series and I can't wait to see where they're going with it!!

I saw Wolverine, Star Trek and A Night at the Museum 2 at the theater. I really enjoyed them all, but surprisingly liked Star Trek best of the three. I wasn't expecting to like it, honestly. But I went in open minded and other than a bit of a hang up about the time travel method I was okay with this reboot. They managed to reset the series without totally invalidating the original adventures, which was important. These are the same characters but set upon a new path with totally new set of circumstances, familiar yet different. Ought to be a fun franchise to watch – Gene Roddenbury would be proud, which is probably the best compliment I could give it.

I started a new video project. It is a series for youtube that I'm calling the Recommended Movie of the Week - not really a review but more of me as Dr. Gangrene highlighting a movie each week that I like and highly recommend. You can find them over at both my Gangrene blog and my youtube channel. I've done 6 so far as well as one other video showing off some of the goodies folks have given me over the years. Got a couple more of these coming up too.

I did a cameo for the new George Demick zombie movie DEAD START - George asked me if I wanted a part in his movie, and I told him I would under one condition... I wanted to be a reporter on the scene talking about the zombie epidemic, as an homage to horror host Chilly Billy Cardille who did the same role in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead. So he agreed, and in fact really liked the idea. I even named my character Russ Bramming, an amalgamation of names of both of Nashville's former horror hosts Ken Bramming (Dr. Lucifur) and Russ McCown (Sir Cecil Creape). Makes me smile to think of that, and I hope someone out there catches that when it comes out on dvd. There was a tremendous turnout that day - 500 people showed up to be zombies. 500 people! and they took names to prove it. Was quite a sight. I got killed by a mob of zombies led by a zombie belly dancer - yeah! There is a clip on youtube of my scene that was shot and posted by fellow horror host Dr. Pureblood who was a zombie extra in this movie. Good stuff! More on this movie as it gets closer to release...

And last but certainly not least, I have started a band. This is a project that I've directed a lot of energy toward the past couple of months, but which I'm REALLY enjoying. The band is called SPOOKHAND. The name comes from a nightmare my oldest boy had one night when he was about two or three. When we got him calmed down and asked him what was the matter he said, "There's a spookhand waving at me from the closet." Creepy! When we were searching for names for the band I remembered that story, and threw that name out there. It stuck, and here's the logo for the band.

It is a horror punk band, kind of Ramones-ish in flavor. All the songs are, of course, about monsters and horror movies and assorted fun. What else? There are five members: Steve Die on Guitar, Grim Jim Vegas on drums, Roamin D. Graveyard on guitar, J. Ghouls on bass, and me, Scary Larry on vocals. We practice once a week at a GREAT practice space in Nashville called Rockin Rande's Garage (if anyone in the Nashville area needs a great practice area drop me an email and I'll get you his info) and we recently played our first show at my friend Troy Guinn's (of the Exotic Ones) Birthday Bash. Went over well and everyone really seemed to like it. We added a new song just this week, which brings our total of originals to ten, I think. We have a show coming up at The End next month on the 17th.

This is something I've always flirted with but never pursued. After the Ramones/Misfits cover set I did last year (with Jeano of the Creeping Cruds as the Coffin Burys at last year's Horror Hootenanny show) I got the bug and really wanted to pursue it more. I figured hey, if I don't do this now, I probably never will. So I posted a Craigslist ad, got a few guys who responded, and ran with it from there. So far it's been a ton of fun and we do have a myspace page with songs up now – you can find it by typing simply www.spookhand.com

And besides all that I have a couple of other projects in the works that I'll talk more about in the near future... so yeah, I've been busy. But you know what? It's been a fun couple of months, and I look forward to an equally fun summer.

He wouldn't even hurt a fly...

I finally sat down and read Psycho.

I've wanted to read this 1959 Robert Bloch novel for quite a while, but never made time for it. I should have. Psycho was just as entertaining as I had hoped, and I see why Hitchcock chose to adapt it to the big screen.

The Universal film is actually very, very close to the source material. There are a few differences, of course, but the majority of what you see on the screen is straight from the book.

One of the major differences is the character of Norman Bates himself. In the book he's a middle-aged, overweight bookworm - a recluse who still lives at home with his mother while running a shabby motel located at the bottom of the hill below their house.

In the movie the part is played by Anthony Perkins, who is much younger (and leaner) than the character described in the book. Bloch was asked what he thought about this change in the screen version of the character. Here's what he had to say in an interview with Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier when asked what he thought of the movie adaptation (you can read the entire interview at: http://mgpfeff.home.sprynet.com/lofficier_interview1.html)

"I was absolutely delighted. You know, it's generally the case that they take a title and the book and change it radically. But, in this case, it was about ninety percent from my book. He made only two drastic changes. He downgraded the age of Norman Bates, which was necessary visually. If they had presented a middle-aged man on the screen at that time, you'd automatically suspect that he must be the villain. So, that was a brilliant stroke on his part. The other thing he did was take a large segment of scenes that were in the book, but didn't describe fully. But the rest of it, the characters, the setting, various devices, all came from the book, right down to the last line."

There are several theories of where the character of Norman Bates might have originated, and one of these lies with real life serial killer Ed Gein. The Gein murders happened just a few miles from the small Wisconsin town where Bloch lived, and it certainly played a part in influencing the development of the character. But it was more of an inspiration, a kicking off-point, than a blueprint. Bloch also addressed this in interviews and mentioned the ideas of the murders themselves being influential to Psycho, but not so much the man Ed Gein himself.

Another very interesting theory is that Bates was based on real life magazine publisher Calvin Beck, best known for his ground breaking magazine CASTLE OF FRANKENSTEIN. Science Fiction writer Tom Weaver explored this connection in an article that is reprinted on the terrific B-Monster website .
Like Bates, Beck also lived with his mother and was dominated by her overbearing personality. Bloch knew Beck, and the idea that he based Norman Bates on Calvin Beck is more than plausible. Give that article a good read - it is fascinating and is just another example of the fine research that Tom Weaver has done over the years.

I wondered how well the book would hold up, given the fame of the movie adaptation. Psycho met all my expectations, and is a really good read. Of course, I expected no less from one of Bloch's lineage – he comes from the Weird Tales line of writers. Anyone who had work published alongside the likes of Robert Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, Henry Kuttner, Ray Bradbury and Clark Ashton Smith is in the company of the finest horror writers of all time, and indeed is rightly considered one himself.

The 7th Annual Rondo Awards have begun!

It's official - the Rondo awards have begun - the ballot was announced last night, and Dr. Gangrene was nominated for 2 Rondos -

Best Horrorhost
and
Best Fan Event
(for the Wonderfest Live Show)

It is an honor to be nominated, and I'd just like to say thanks to Dave Colton for putting these awards together. This is the 7th annual Rondo Award season, and there are some new categories this year such as Best Blog - so take some time and visit the websites and blogs - there are some really cool ones nominated.

I will put the entire ballot below - make your selections and mail them to taraco@aol.com.

HERE IS THE OFFICIAL BALLOT

FOR THE

SEVENTH ANNUAL RONDO HATTON

CLASSIC HORROR AWARDS

This year's awards are dedicated to the memory and legacy of Forrest J Ackerman,

the World's No. 1 Monster Fan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Best Movie of 2008 (Pick one)

-- CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN
-- CLOVERFIELD
-- THE DARK KNIGHT
-- THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL
-- DIARY OF THE DEAD
-- THE EYE
-- THE HAPPENING
-- HELLBOY: THE GOLDEN ARMY
-- INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
-- IRON MAN
-- JUMPER
-- LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
-- THE RUINS
-- THE SIGNAL
-- TWILIGHT
-- WALL-E
-- X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE

-- Or write in another choice:

2. Best Television Presentation

-- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?' Sci-Fi Channel, 5.16.08. Adama and fleet consider an alliance with Cylon rebels. 'The one human flaw, mortality, is the one thing that makes you whole.'

-- DOCTOR WHO, 'Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead,' BBC, 5.31.08-6.6.08. A 51st Century library has every book ever written. 'Look at me, I'm old and thick, head's too full of stuff. I need a bigger head.'

-- FRINGE, 'The Arrival,' Fox, 9.30.08. A large cylinder, and an Observer, emerge from beneath the streets of New York City. 'You still think just because someone's dead, they're gone?'

-- HEROES, 'The Eclipse, Parts 1 and 2,' NBC, 11.24.08-12.1.08. Solar mayhem causes heroes and villains to lose their powers. 'I never thought I'd be able to hurt again. It sucks but it's wonderful.'

-- LOST, 'There's No Place Like Home, Parts 1 and 2,' ABC, 5.15.08-5.29.08. Time twists as six escape and Ben 'moves' the island. 'We have to go back.'

-- SUPERNATURAL, 'In the Beginning,' WB, 10.2.08. Dean goes back in time to warn his mother of death in her future. 'No matter what you hear or see, promise me you won't get out of bed.'

-- TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, Fox, 3.3.08. Birthdays and family complicate the battle to stop the future. 'You fool yourself. Then you remember what this place'll look like when it's on fire.'

-- TORCHWOOD, 'Exit Wounds,' BBC, 4.4.08. Death and time travel as the team saves the city. 'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't keep bloody screaming.'

-- TRUE BLOOD, 'Cold Ground,' HBO, 10.12.08. Escape from the blood proves elusive. “Our killer seems to be targeting women who have associated with vampires.'

-- Or write in another choice:

3. Best Classic DVD

-- THE HAUNTED CASTLE (Murnau; Alpha version)
-- THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH (Hammer)
-- THE MUMMY (75th Anniversary)
-- PHASE IV (Saul Bass insect fear)
-- THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
-- PSYCHO SPECIAL EDITION

-- RODAN/WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (U.S. and Japanese)
-- 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD (DVD and Blu-Ray)
-- STANLEY (Special edition)
-- VAMPYR (Criterion)
-- WORLD WITHOUT END/SATELLITE IN THE SKY

-- Or write in another choice:

4. Best Classic DVD Collection

-- ABBOTT & COSTELLO: COMPLETE UNIVERSAL PICTURES COLLECTION
-- CHARLIE CHAN COLLECTION Vol. 4 and 5 (Sidney Toler era)
-- FOX HORROR CLASSICS Vol. 2 (Chandu the Magician, Dragonwyck, Dr. Renault's Secret)
-- HOUDINI THE MOVIE STAR (Kino collection of films and serials)
-- ICONS OF ADVENTURE: Stranglers of Bombay, Terror of Tongs, Pirates of Blood River, Devil- Ship Pirates
-- ICONS OF HORROR: THE HAMMER COLLECTION: Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll, Scream of Fear, The Gorgon, Curse of Mummy's Tomb
-- MAGIC OF MELIES (Kino collection of his films)
-- PLANET OF THE APES (First five films, Blu-Ray set)
-- RAY HARRYHAUSEN COLLECTIBLE DVD GIFT SET (Colorized and B/W of It Came from Beneath the Sea, Earth vs. Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles to Earth)

-- Or write in another selection:

5. Best DVD TV Collection

-- DOCTOR WHO: The Complete Fourth Series
-- HILARIOUS HOUSE OF FRIGHTENSTEIN: Gory Gory Transylvania. Vol. 2 (nine more episodes)
-- THE INVADERS (Season One)
-- MUNSTERS: THE COMPLETE SERIES

-- NIGHT GALLERY: Season Two (Rod Serling's classic)
-- OUTER LIMITS: ORIGINAL SERIES COMPLETE (all 49 episodes)
-- THE STARLOST (Rare 1973 series with Keir Dullea)
-- SUSPENSE: THE LOST EPISODES (Vol. 1 of early TV anthology)
-- TORCHWOOD: Complete Second Season.

-- Or write in another selection:

6. Best Restoration (or video upgrade)

-- CHANDU THE MAGICIAN (Bright and detailed, Fox Horror Classics Vol. 2)
-- CONQUEST OF PLANET OF THE APES (Director's cut)
-- DEAD MEN TELL (Much improved version in Charlie Chan set, Vol. 5)
-- THE GREEN ARCHER (Restored Serials version)
-- HOUDINI: THE MAN FROM BEYOND (Restored Serials version, also on Blu-Ray)

-- THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (Technicolor sequences sparkle, splices gone)
-- RODAN (Japanese version)
-- THE SKULL (finally widescreen)
-- 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (DVD and Blu-Ray)
-- TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL (uncensored)
-- VAMPYR (Criterion)
-- WORLD WITHOUT END (Cinemascope)

-- Or write in another choice:

7. Best DVD Extra

-- ADVENTURES IN SPACE: Space Patrol's Ralston Rocket Giveaway promotional film from 1954.
-- CHARLIE CHAN COLLECTION Vol. 4: Chan's Killer Actress: Feature on Kay Linaker.
-- THE MUMMY (1932): 'He Who made Monsters,' documentary on Jack Pierce.
-- NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 40th Anniversary Edition: 'One for the Fire' documentary brings cast members back to cemetery.
-- PSYCHO SPECIAL EDITION: Episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents: 'Lamb to the Slaughter.'
-- 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD: 'Remembering the 7th Voyage of Sinbad,' Harryhausen talks about the special effects.

-- STANLEY: 'The Dark Side of Eden: The Making of Stanley.' Includes new interviews, behind-scenes footage.

-- Or write in another choice:

8. Best DVD Commentary

-- Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Bob Burns, Steve Haberman, Brent Armstrong, THE MUMMY (1932)
-- Bill Condon, Michael Murphy, Dan Shor, STRANGE BEHAVIOR Special Edition.
-- Ray Harryhausen, Phil Tippett, Steven Smith, Arnold Kunert, Randall Cook, 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD
-- Angela Lansbury with Steve Haberman, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
-- Gregory Mank, CHANDU THE MAGICIAN
-- John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg, and Nick Redman on Bernard Herrmann, DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (Blu-Ray)

-- Jeff Miller, HOLD THAT GHOST (Universal box set)
-- Tony Rayns, VAMPYR (Criterion)
-- Stephen Rebello, PSYCHO SPECIAL EDITION
-- James K. Shea, Fred Olen Ray, three animators, PLANET OF DINOSAURS 30th Anniversary Edition
-- Tom Weaver, Richard Scrivani, ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (Universal box set)

-- Or write in another choice:

9. Best Independent Production (film, documentary or short)

- BLIND DATE OF COFFIN JOE (Ray Castile uncannily channels the unholy one in search of the superior woman)
-- CARTOON ADVENTURES OF MAJOR MARS (Bob Burns' cartoon series as it might have been)
-- THE DUNGEON OF DR. DRECK (Horror hosts abound in this fun look at a TV station takeover).
-- EDGAR ALLAN POE'S THE RAVEN (Christopher Walken reads, Gustave Dore decorates in this Len Hart animated short)
-- FANEX FILES: SAMUEL Z. ARKOFF (Documentary and interview with AIP's no-nonsense vice president)

-- SPINE-TINGLER: THE WILLIAM CASTLE STORY (Feature-length documentary about the maestro of ballyhoo)
-- TERROR IN THE PHAROAH'S TOMB (Latest sendup of public domain footage by Sue Svehla)
-- THIRTY SECOND DOOM (Short parody of sci-fi serials, Rocketman and all)
-- TRAIL OF THE SCREAMING FOREHEAD (Sci-fi lunacy from Larry Blamire, Dan Roebuck and gang)
-- WATCH HORROR FILMS: Keep America Strong (Documentary about San Francisco's Creature Features)
-- ZOMBIE HUNTERS: CITY OF THE DEAD (Crispy online episodes)

-- Or write in another choice:

10. Best Book of 2008

-- THE BOOK OF LISTS: HORROR, edited by Amy Wallace, Del Howison and Scott Bradley. Notables including Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Tim Lucas and others pick bests and worsts.

-- THE CINEMA OF TOD BROWNING, edited by Bernd Herzogenrath. Scholars dissect the director's work.

-- CLAUDE RAINS: An Actor's Voice, by David J. Skal with Jessica Rains. Based on unrevealed interviews and a daughter's recollections, a look at one of horror's finest.

-- THE GREAT MONSTER MAGAZINES, by 'Bobb' Cotter. A look at the black-and-white monster and comic magazines of the 50s, 60s, 70s.

-- HOMEMADE HOLLYWOOD: Fans Behind the Camera, by Clive Young. From fake Little Rascals in the 20s to backyard Batman, a look at the tribute film craze.

-- HORROR 101, edited by Aaron Christensen. The essentials and more outlined by 78 writers.

-- I TALKED WITH A ZOMBIE, by Tom Weaver. Interviews with 23 horror and science fiction personalities, including Ann Carter, Eric Braeden and Lee Meriwether.

-- THE MONSTER HUNTER IN MODERN POPULAR CULTURE, Heather L. Duda. From Van Helsing to Buffy, a look at those who fight back.

-- 100 EUROPEAN HORROR FILMS, by Stephen Jay Schneider. A screen guide for films from Caligari to today.

-- RAY HARRYHAUSEN: MASTER OF THE MAJICKS, Volume 2: The American Films, by Mike Hankin. From Mighty Joe to the Cyclops.

-- SHADOWS OVER NEW ENGLAND by David and Scott T. Goudsward. A guide to the locales of the region's scariest legends, Dark Shadows included.

-- TWILIGHT ZONE: Unlocking The Door to a Television Classic, by Martin Grams. Through interviews and production notes, every episode submitted for your approval.

-- VIDEODROME, by Tim Lucas. Finding the secrets hidden behind the knobs of David Cronenberg's classic.

-- YOU'RE NEXT: Loss of Identity in the Horror Film, edited by Anthony Ambrogio. From alien takeovers to brain-swaps, who's next?

-- Or write in another choice:

11. Best Magazine of 2008

-- Famous Monsters of Filmland
-- Filmfax
-- G-FAN
-- Horror Hound
-- Little Shoppe of Horrors
-- Mad Scientist
-- Monster Bash
-- Monsters from the Vault
-- Phantom of the Movies' VideoScope
-- Rue Morgue
-- Scarlet
-- Scary Monsters
-- Screem
-- Shock Cinema
-- Starlog
-- Video Watchdog

-- Or write in another choice:

12. Best Article of 2008 (PLEASE PICK TWO)

-- 'Amy and Her Friends: The Ann Carter Interview,' by Tom Weaver, VIDEO WATCHDOG #137. A career retrospective with the young star of a Val Lewton classic.

-- 'Beverly Washburn: from Superman to Spider Baby,' by Donald Vaughan, VIDEOSCOPE #68. Interview with actress who appeared with George Reeves, Old Yeller, Lon Chaney and Captain Kirk.

-- 'Bewitching Hazel,' by David Del Valle, VIDEO WATCHDOG #140. Remembrance of late Hammer star Hazel Court.

-- 'California Gothic: The Corman/Haller Collaboration,' roundtable with Roger Corman, Daniel Haller, Joe Dante, moderated by Lawrence French, VIDEO WATCHDOG #138. Tales from the sets of the Poe films and more.

-- 'Cinematographer Gary Graver: The Man Who Shot Everything,' by Gary Graves, PENNY BLOOD #11 (online). One of last interviews with man behind the lens of Dracula vs. Frankenstein and Naschy films.

-- 'Coffin Joe Resurrected.' by Scott Gabbey and Jovanka Vuckovic, RUE MORGUE #85. Career retrospective on notorious Brazilian filmmaker Jose Mojica Marins.

-- 'Color Them Monsters,' by Mark Thompsen, STARLOG #370. Four pages of colorized Universal stills, from the Phantom to the Creature.

-- 'The Curse of the Cat People: A Production Diary,' by Greg Mank, MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #25. Everything about the haunting Robert Wise classic.

-- 'El Vampiro Speaks,' by Bryan Senn, Richard Sheffield and Jim Clatterbaugh, MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #24. Rare interview with Mexican horror star German Robles.

-- 'A Eulogy for Charles B. Griffith,' by Justin Humphreys, VIDEO WATCHDOG #141. A friend remembers the touching final days of the eccentric writer behind AIP classics.

-- 'Harry Redmond Jr.: Last Survivor of Skull Island,' by Mark F. Berry, VIDEO WATCHDOG #146. Interview and revelations from last remaining production member of Willis O'Brien's films.

-- 'Head Scratchers Explained,' by Prof. Anton Griffin, SCARY MONSTERS #66. Filling in some of the monstrous plot holes in Universal's classic films.

-- 'Intruding on William Shatner,' by Dan Lybarger, FILMFAX #117. Insights into the controversial 1962 Roger Corman film.

-- 'Jamie Lee Curtis and the Virginity Myth,' by Mark Allan Gunnells, MIDNIGHT MARQUEE #76 (online). Retracing Curtis' gritty heroines in Halloween, The Fog and other films.

-- 'Lost Nightmare: The Mystery of the Missing Spider Pit Sequence,' by Gary Vehar. FILMFAX #118-119. Rounding up everything known about King Kong's lost scene.

-- 'Manly P. Hall: Dracula and the Complexities of the Classic Horror Film Sequel,' by Gary Don Rhodes, MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #25. How the sequel to Dracula might have been very different.

-- 'Of Dogs and Monsters,' by Deborah Painter, SCARY MONSTERS #65. Sniffing out the hounds of hell and heroism in the monster movies.

-- 'The Prisoner: A New Order,' by Tim Lucas, VIDEO WATCHDOG #142. Making new sense of the village by reshuffling the episodes.

-- 'Remembering John Brahm,' by Marty Baumann, MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #24. Director's daughter recalls his work on The Lodger, Outer Limits and more.

-- 'Scare News,' by John Skerchock, SCARY MONSTERS. Fandom's insider column, appearing regularly.

-- 'Scream and Scream Again: The Uncensored History of Amicus Productions,' by Philip Nutman, LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #20. Deep examination of the studio that emerged from Hammer's shadows.

-- 'Special Effects Wizard John P. Fulton,' by daughter Joanne Fulton Schaeffer as told to Tom Weaver, MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #24. Growing up with the genius behind Universal's horrors.

-- 'Spine Tingler,' by Greg Goodsell, SCREEM #16. A ghost-viewer look at William Castle's career through the new documentary.

-- 'Stan Winston Remembered,' by Scott Essman, FANGORIA #276. Tribute to the late makeup master.

-- 'Sullivan's Travels in Hollywood,' by Paul and Donna Parla, additional material by Anthony DiSalvo and Lawrence Fultz Jr., SCARY MONSTERS #67. Career retrospective on the man who tamed the Gila Monster.

-- 'Suspense: The Lost Episodes,' reviewed by Kim Newman, VIDEO WATCHDOG #140. Episodes from dawn of TV described in kinoscopic detail.

-- 'The Ubiquitous Dabbs Greer,' by M.J. Simpson, VIDEO WATCHDOG #144. The character actor interviewed about House of Wax, body snatchers and more.

-- 'Video Invasion,' by Matt Moore, HORROR HOUND #12-14. Reconstructing the gory-movie VHS boom of the 80s, clamshell boxes and all.

-- -- 'Who Saved Hitler's Brain: The Making and Re-Making of Madman of Mandoras,' by Brian Albright, FILMFAX #118. Proof that every picture has a backstory.

-- Or write in another choice:

Remember, please pick TWO articles from the list above. One will win.

13. Best Magazine Cover

FILMFAX #119 By Harley Brown	G-FAN #85 By Matt Harris
HORROR HOUND #12 By Ed Repka	LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #20 Alternate cover by Bruce Timm
MAD SCIENTIST #18 By Don Marquez	MONSTER BASH #8 By Lorraine Bush
MONSTERS FROM THE VAULT #25 By Daniel Horne	RUE MORGUE #83 By Basil Gogos
SCARLET #1 By Michael Wilk	SCARY MONSTERS #65 By Terry Beatty
SCREEM #16 By Bill Chancellor	VIDEOSCOPE #68 By Kevin Hein
VIDEO WATCHDOG #137 By Charles Largent	Or write in another cover choice:

14. Best Website (Online magazine, message board or tribute site)

Classic Horror Film Board, sponsor of Rondos, is not eligible

-- Atomicmonsters.com (Fun look at 50s scifi)

-- Creepy Classics (Monster Bash and latest product news)

-- Deadbooks.com (A rich multimedia serial based on the sci-fi series)

-- Eccentric-cinema (One of earliest cult sites)

-- E-gor's Chamber of TV Horror Hosts (amazing)

-- Film Noir Foundation (For fans of long inky shadows)

-- Gallery of Monster Toys (The source)

-- Horrorhosts.com (Home of horror host rebirth)

-- Latarnia: Fantastique International (all things Euro and more)

-- Lugosiphilia Yahoo Group (Just Bela)

-- The Many Faces of the Frankenstein Monster (like it says)

-- Midnight Marquee (online magazine)

-- Monster Kid Online Magazine

-- Monster-Mania Forum (monster conventions)

-- Serialsquadron.com (Cliffhangers, restored serials and talk)

-- Shriekfreak Quarterly (online magazine)

-- Themonsterclub.com (Still excited about monsters and thrills)

-- Thethunderchild.com (Online magazine)

-- Trailers from Hell (Joe Dante, pros comment on trailers)

-- Universal Monster Army (Toys, masks and more)

-- Witch's Dungeon (Home of the monstrous Hollywood tributes)

-- Or write in another website:

15. Best Horror Blog

-- Blogue Macabre (Strange musings with Gary D.)

-- Cinema Dave (Quick-footed movie blog)

-- Cinema-suicide (Smart look at modern films; soundtracks, too)

-- The Drunken Severed Head (Max Cheney's unique blog about it all)

-- Final Girl (A voice that must be heard)

-- Frankensteinia (If it didn't exist it would have to be invented)

-- Gary's Blog (Gary Svelha's cinema musings at midmar.com)

-- The Good, the Bad, and Godzilla (August Ragone's G-blog)

-- Gorillamen.com (Blog goes ape)

-- Groovy Age of Horror (Not for faint-hearted)

-- HorrorHostGraveyard.com (All host news, all the time)

-- The Horrors of it All (Horror in the comics and more)

-- Monsterama.blogspot.com (Friendly creeps from Jay Stevens)

-- Monstermoviemusic.blogspot.com (Music is just the start)

-- Obscure Hollow (The look of horror)

-- Secret Fun Blog (childhood reveries from creator of Flip!)

-- Vault of Horror (Blog for every era of horror)

-- Video Watchblog (Tim Lucas goes deeper than even his magazine dares)

-- Zombos' Closet of Horror Blog (John Cozzoli's generation next)

-- Or write in another blog of your choice:

16. Best Convention of 2008

-- B-MOVIE CELEBRATION (Franklin, Ind.)
-- CHICAGO FILM FESTIVAL
-- CHILLER (Meadowlands)
-- CINEMA WASTELAND (Cleveland)
-- CLASSIC MOVIE MONSTER CON (Kingsport, Tenn.)
-- DRAGONCON (Atlanta)
-- FANGORIA WEEKEND OF HORRORS (Meadowlands)
-- G-FEST (Chicago)
-- HORROR-FIND (Baltimore)

-- HORROR HOUND WEEKEND (Indianapolis)
-- IT'S ALIVE ZOMBIE FEST (Pittsburgh)
-- MONSTER BASH (Pittsburgh)
-- MONSTER FEST (Chesapeake, Va.)
-- MONSTER-MANIA (Cherry Hill, N.J.)
-- RUE MORGUE'S FESTIVAL OF FEAR (Canada)
-- SERIAL FEST (Pennsylvania)

-- SCHLOCKTOBER (NYC film fest)
-- SCREAMFEST (Orlando)

-- SPOOKY MOVIE: International Horror Film Festival (Washington, D.C.)
-- WONDERFEST (Louisville)

-- Or write in another choice:

17. Best Fan Event

-- Addams Family Meets the Munsters: Q&A with Lisa Loring, Pat Priest, Felix Silla and surprise visit from Grandpa Munster (Ron Chamberlain), at Monster Bash.

-- Blob panic reenactment of moviegoers fleeing, held at actual theater where movie was filmed in Phoenixville, Pa. (Blobfest)

-- Dr. Gangrene's Chiller Theater Live! at WonderFest features midnight madness with Bob Burns, John Goodwin, Frank Dietz and Nurse Moan-Eek!

-- Godzilla-suit actor Haruo Nakajima receives 'Mangled Skyscraper Award' at G-FEST XV.

-- Klaatu Barada Ohio: Patricia Neal speaks at 25th Annual Ohio Sci-Fi Film Festival, a 24-hour marathon held outside Columbus.

-- Paul's Brain Trust charity event at Dark Delicacies in L.A., featuring Blade Runner reunion with Ridley Scott to benefit producer and video store legend Prischman.

-- Spellbound: Reunion of Ray Bradbury's 'The Jar' on Alfred Hitchcock Presents with director Norman Lloyd, cast members and Bradbury by phone at the University of Northern Alabama. Hosted by Terry Pace.

-- Universal Monster Army monster toy exhibit, including rare toys from 50s and 60s, at WonderFest.

-- Witches' Dungeon Classic Movie Museum. Startling recreations of full-sized classic monsters, open at Halloween in Bristol, Conn.

-- World Zombie Day included zombie walks and charity events in Monroeville, Pa., Grand Rapids, Mich., and 40 cities.

-- Or write in another choice:

18. Favorite Horror Host of 2008

Who is following in the tradition of Vampira and Zacherley? It is of course impossible to list them all, but here are ghostly hosts to choose from. If your favorite is missing, please write them in.

-- A. GHASTLEE GHOUL (Ohio and Internet radio)
-- THE BONE JANGLER. (Illinois, afternoons too)
-- KARLOS BORLOFF (Suburban Washington, D.C.)
-- COUNT GORE DE VOL (Washington, D.C. area)
-- DR. GANGRENE (Nashville)
-- DR. PUREBLOOD (Smyrna, Tenn.)
-- GHOUL A GO GO (NYC area)
-- GRAVELY MacCABRE and GRIZELDA. (Pennsylvania, West Virginia)

-- MR. LOBO (California)
-- ORMON GRIMSBY (North Carolina)
-- PENNY DREADFUL (New England)
-- PROFESSOR EMCEE SQUARE (Pittsburgh)
-- REMO D (California)

-- SINISTER MINISTER (Las Vegas)
-- SON OF GHOUL (Ohio)
-- SVENGOOLIE (Rich Koz; Chicago)

-- There are plenty of others, so if your favorite isn't listed, write in another choice:

19. Best Audio Horror Site or Podcast (Web only)

-- Cult Radio a Go-Go. Talk, reviews, interviews.
-- Deadpit.com: Bloody talk.
-- The Monster Club's Old Time Horror Radio: Horror stories and more.
-- Monster Movie Music 1950-1969 (A blog, too)
-- Old Time Radio Network at Podshow
-- RadioHorrorHosts.com: Guide to the spooky voices of the past.

-- Rotting Flesh Radio: The Haunt Industry's Top Podcast
-- Rue Morgue Radio. Latest from the splatter world.
-- Science Monster Radio Library. Being rebuilt, but a prime resource.
-- Uncanny Radio, talk for the paranormal.

-- Universal Horror Sounds. Essentials are here.
-- Voices-in-the-Dark: Devoted to audio from Price, Lorre, Karloff, Lugosi and others.
-- Without Your Head Horror Radio: genre talk shows and more.

-- Or dial in another choice:

20. Best CD (Soundtrack, novelty or band)

-- THE BLOB (and other scifi), score by Ralph Carmichael, production by David Schecter. (Monstrous Movie Music)
-- CREEPING CRUDS: Tennessee Bloodbath (horror rock)
-- THE DEAD MATTER: Cemetery Gates (Sounds of horror, based on film)
-- DEATHMOBILE: Deathmobile (horror rock)
-- DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN, William Lava score (Elysee)
-- THE HORRORPOPS: Kiss Kiss Kill Kill (Horror rock)
-- GHOULTOWN: Life After Sundown (western/horror rock)
-- THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD by Miklos Rozsa (Prometheus)

-- LITTLE STEVEN'S UNDERGROUND GARAGE PRESENT HALLOWEEN A GO GO (Compilation)
-- MAD DOCTOR OF BLOOD ISLAND, original 1969 tapes by Tito Arevalo. (Elysee Productions)
-- THE MOON-RAYS, 'Swingin' at the Seance' (horror rock)
-- NIGHTMARE REVISITED, tribute to 'Nightmare Before Christmas'
-- THE OUTER LIMITS, by Dominic Frontiere, 3-CD set from La-La Land
-- SHE, Max Steiner soundtrack by John Morgan, William Stromberg, Anna Bonn (Tribute)

-- Or write in another choice:

21. Best Horror Comic Book

-- ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS (Collecting stories by Steve Conley)
-- ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN. Robert Kirkman.
-- CITY OF OTHERS. Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson.
-- THE GOON. Eric Powell.
-- GRAPHIC CLASSICS: AMBROSE BIERCE. Revised with 70 new pages.
-- HELLBOY: In the Chapel of Moloch, by Mike Mignola.

-- LOCKE AND KEY: WELCOME TO LOVECRAFT (Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez)
-- THE TRAP-DOOR MAKER (Collecting Peter Bregman Phantom prequel; new cover by Gogos).
-- WULF AND BATSY (Bryan Baugh)

-- Or write in another choice:

22. Best Toy, Model or Collectible
Nominees developed with help from the Universal Monster Army!

Hitchcock's 'The Birds' Barbie (Mattel) Creature Premium Format (Sideshow)
The Exorcist, Regan spider-walk (NECA) Big Frankie' (Moebius)
Invasion of the Saucer Men (Ultratumba) Rondo Hatton 12-inch collectible figure (Amok Time)

-- Or write in another choice:

23. Count Alucard's Controversy of the Year

-- Is classic horror Blu? Classic monsters and science fiction are missing in the excitement over the new Blu-Ray format.

-- London After Midnight, or on the LAM? An L.A. fan claims to have held the missing Chaney classic in his hands, igniting a firestorm that would have made MGM proud.

-- Too many Famous Monsters? Legal battles multiply as two publishers insist they own the Famous Monsters trademark.

-- Can monster mags survive? Chain stores closing, mags go online, Diamond Distributors cuts back.

-- What would Jason do? Endless remakes draw big receipts but ...

-- Or add your own dispute:

WRITE-IN CATEGORIES:

24. Classic Most in Need of Restoration

Which classic horror film, either released or unreleased, do you think most deserves a restoration?

25. Writer of the Year (for 2008)

Who do you think did the best published (or online) work in 2008 to advance the state of classic horror research?

26. Artist of the Year (for 2008)

Not your favorite all-time artist (although they might be the same), but which painter, illustrator, sculptor, model-maker or designer did the best published (or online), work in 2008?

27. Favorite DVD reviewer

A new category. Which DVD reviewers are most engaging, most reliable? This is a way to honor some of the genre's critical heroes. Who is your favorite?

28. Monster Kid of the Year

Who deserves to be named 'Monster Kid of the Year' for efforts beyond the call of duty to build a better world of gods and monsters?

29. Monster Kid Hall of Fame

Who should be this year's inductees into the Monster Kid Hall of Fame?

Past inductees: Bob and Kathy Burns, Forrest J Ackerman and James Warren, Zacherley and Vampira, Ray Harryhausen, Ray Bradbury, Alex and Richard Gordon, William K. Everson, Rick Baker, Basil Gogos, Roger Corman, Dick Klemensen, Gary and Sue Svehla, James Bama, Bobby 'Boris' Pickett, Paul and Jackie Blaisdell, Joe Dante, Don Glut, Jack Davis, German Robles and Frank Frazetta. And last year: Bernie Wrightson, Ben Chapman, Cortlandt Hull and Dennis Vincent, Ed 'Big Daddy Roth, Archie Goodwin and Ghoulardi.

Tell us your suggestions. We'll pick six more.

Whew! That's it!!!

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VOTING IS NOW OPEN

TO VOTE: Simply cut-and-paste, check or highlight your picks, or type out your

selections to taraco@aol.com

You do not have to vote on everything. And one vote per monster. Thanks everyone!

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And remember, even the Creeper himself can't stop Rondo VII!

Want more information about the Rondos?

Email david colton at taraco@aol.com

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's day everyone - hope you're all having a good one. I went to the grocery store this morning and was amused at the crowd of men all buying last minute items for their sweeties. I had to push my way through the floral section and there had to be at least ten guys in there.

Got a couple of pics from last night's Friday the 13th part 4 showing at the Belcourt. Thanks to Belcourt photographer Frank Keesee for sending me these shots!!

Me and Robin and Bryan Pelfrey before the show started.



Sparing no expense, the Belcourt even had
the star of the movie on hand!

Werewolf of Paris

I recently watched the 1961 Hammer film CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF with my youngest son, Luke, and we had a good time with it. I've always liked this movie, and since Luke is such a fan of the Universal Wolfman movie, I figured he'd enjoy this movie, too, and I was right. He thought it was pretty good and that the werewolf looked "cool".

I had never really paid attention to the opening credits, but this time one particular credit caught my eye…”Based on the novel THE WEREWOLF OF PARIS by Guy Endore”.


Interesting! I was curious how close to the source material the movie was, so I tracked down a copy at the Nashville Public Library. After a little investigation it turns out Endore also wrote the screenplays for MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, MAD LOVE, and THE DEVIL DOLL. I am a big fan of MAD LOVE, which stars Peter Lorre, so I became that much more anxious to read this novel.

The Werewolf of Paris was written in 1933, and tells the tragic story of Bertrand Caillet, who was born with the curse of lycanthropy. His werewolfism is the culmination of a variety of events... His mother was raped by a priest who came from a twisted family with a tainted bloodline (brought on by decades of decadent and immoral behavior). Bertrand was born on Christmas Day, at the hour of Christ’s birth. He was a blasphemy and born with this dread curse. Tragedy, if not death, eventually befall all who come in contact with Bertrand.

The Hammer film actually follows the source material fairly faithfully, at first, but leaves out many details, and alters several others. The ending definitely strays from the book, but the bare bones of the story are taken directly from Endore's novel. I have to say in my mind's eye Bertrand (in the book) looked exactly like Oliver Reed.


It's a good book and at times I couldn't believe it was penned in 1933. Compared to the cinema of the day, it is much more shocking, with equal amounts of sex, violence and gore to go around.

The following is a quick excerpt from a scene where Bertrand, under the spell of lycanthropy, attacks and murders his childhood friend…

"Though a moment before Bertrand's hands had itched to be at the man's throat, they made no move to seize and hold his prey. The tension was not in his limbs but in his face, in the masseter muscles of his jaws. His mouth had opened wide. His teeth had dug through cloth and flesh. His face was inundated with a warm fountain, which he licked at greedily..."

Endore explores both the disease of werewolfism and the conflicted nature of poor Bertrand, who fights a losing battle against his malady. It is as much of a social commentary on the wolves of society and man's violent nature as it is a story about the mystical monster, all set within the backdrop of a war entrenched France. For anyone who enjoys classic horror literature, this is one not to be overlooked.

Here's the trailer for CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF:

American Scary

The terror-ific new documentary American Scary by filmmakers John Hudgens and Sandy Clark is officially being released today! The American Scary website can be found HERE

American Scary is a look at the nation's tradition of horror hosting, from Zacherley to A. Ghastlee Ghoul.

It features interviews and footage from hosts from the 1950s to the present, such as Zacherley, Vampira, Ghoulardi and others (like, ahem, DR GANGRENE), along with memories from celebrities and fans who were influenced by these hosts.

American Scary has been in production for a number of years - John and Sandy flew from coast to coast conducting interviews and gathering information. This is the most extensive look at the art of hosting horror movies ever put to film, and it is really an entertaining DVD. Highly recommended!

Here is the trailer for American Scary:



And a section on Nashville Horror hosts:

Friday the 13th Part IV

While I'm on the subject of the Belcourt Theater, the Belcourt is showing Friday the 13th Part IV... It's being shown both Friday and Saturday at Midnight - It's part of the Belcourt's Midnight Movie series, which is always a really fun time. They usually have some kind of themed events wrapped aound the movies, and attendance is usually really good. I am going to try and catch it on the 13th.

So if you're in the Nashville area put this on your schedule of things to do this weekend.

Fri & Sat, Feb 13 & 14 @ Midnight - FRIDAY THE 13 IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER -Come early to get your pictures with Jason in the lobby, it's like Santa, but not.