GNOH Interviews Nicholas Vince

My friend Jim McLeod has an interview up with Nicholas Vince, who played the Chattering Cenobite in the film adaptations of Hellraiser and has now turned his attention to writing horror stories. Jim's site, Ginger Nuts of Horror, is a must-read on a regular basis, and this interview does not disappoint. Check it out.

Darkeva's Blog

I’m always happy to recommend other horror-related blogs and websites, partly because people waiting on me to post new content can die of boredom. Today I’d like to recommend Darkeva’s Blog. Darkeva certainly has a better-designed site than I (although I can’t say that takes much), and seems to cover the gamut of horror fiction.

Darkeva also is Canadian, and one of the perplexing things is how many of the horror-related bloggers with whom I‘ve interacted hail from my country’s northern neighbor. Hopefully, these people will vouch for me when I seek political asylum there. ;-)
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THE MUMMY STALKS MY DREAMS

My friend Rabid Fox of the outstanding website Wag The Fox is hosting Monster Week in the week leading up to Halloween, and he has invited others to write about selected monsters. After surprisingly little thought, I decided on the following choice.

As a young child, I was a big fan of the classic monsters. (As an old child, I still am.) Vampires, werewolves and the like did it for me just like for anybody else, but the one that gave me nightmares was one usually far down on the scare list: The Mummy. Sure, there’s a bit of lameness about being chased by a creature with a crippled arm dragging a foot slowly behind it – just pick up your pace and you’ll get away – but there was something chilling about the Mummy’s inexorable single-mindedness about catching you and strangling you. Part of the creepiness was the silent, fixed concentration, I suppose.

The Mummy as a movie icon got its start on the Universal lot (there were earlier mummy movies, but they are dimly remembered today). In the early 1930s, Universal had enjoyed great success with Dracula and Frankenstein, and wanted a new creature for their Gothic stable. After the opening of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922, the public had been fascinated with mummies –the mummy craze became a bit of a fad in the 1920s - so a walking, reanimated mummy seemed a logical choice. Boris Karloff, who had become a star in Frankenstein was chosen for the title role (billed as “Karloff the Uncanny”) and Karl Freund, who operated the camera on Dracula, was hired to direct, and in 1932, movie audiences shuddered as The Mummy arrived at the local theater.

Those who haven’t seen the original movie before are usually surprised at how little time (only a couple of minutes) Karloff appears in makeup as the mummy Imhotep in the original film. After arising from his sarcophagus, he quickly sheds his bandages, and appears for the rest of the movie as a wrinkled old man with some evil psychic powers. You can hardly blame him for wanting to shed those dusty duds, and it must have been a relief for Karloff himself, as the application and removal of Jack Pierce’s makeup was a tedious and painful process. In truth, the plot is closer to Dracula than the shambling Mummy with which we are familiar.

Their horror movies were the cash cow that saved the studio during rough times, and Universal quickly produced sequels to their scary properties – but not the poor Mummy. He languished without heir until The Mummy’s Hand in 1940, which was more of a remake than a sequel. In The Mummy's Hand, the Mummy is now the familiar gauze-wrapped stalker we now recognize, and instead of the high priest Imhotep the mummy is now Kharis, who was more of a flunky back in the day. The mummy here is a more-or-less zombie (years before the zombie craze) covered in filthy bandages. He is also shown as something of a tool, rather than the true evil, as the mummy is controlled by a series of masters, using the new plot device, tana leaves. The Mummy Kharis was popular enough with audiences he was brought back in the sequels The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Ghost, and The Mummy’s Curse. In contrast with the higher budget Karloff’s version, these are strictly B-movies, done quickly and cheaply. Although the movies follow one another sequentially, the timeline is muddied, and if you watch them in order, you will be amused to see Kharis sink into quicksand in Massachusetts at the end of The Mummy’s Ghost, and emerge from it in Louisiana in The Mummy’s Curse. After the third sequel, the series ran out of steam, and with the exception of his appearance in Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy, that was the end of the character in Universal’s golden age. It is worth noting that while all the monsters of Universal were brought together in House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula, the poor Mummy was left out, a sort of bandaged step-child, if you will.

In the late 50s, the English studio Hammer had great success in reviving the Universal Monsters, maintaining just enough differences to avoid being sued. In 1959, they loosely remade The Mummy’s Hand as simply The Mummy, with Christopher Lee as Kharis. They would produce three more Mummy movies – The Curse of The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Shroud and Blood From The Mummy’s Tomb – in the 60s and 70s, but they were all unrelated, and for the most part, inferior.

In 1999, Universal Studios reclaimed the character, with the third film to be titled The Mummy, a throwback to the Karloff original, with the Mummy named Imhotep and, as played by Arnold Vosloo, rarely seen looking like anything but a man, just as in the Karloff version. The movie played as something like Indiana Jones Meets the Mummy, and was savaged by critics, although quite a success at the box-office, good enough to spawn two sequels of steadily declining value, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. A third sequel is said to be in the works.

So keep your pale Counts with their eyes fixed on your neck, and your hairy werewolves snarling for a meal. I hear shambling footsteps approaching down the hall, and the patter of grave-dust falling to the floor. I must go now, or else I will surely -
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Page Horrific

The indefatigable David T. Wilbanks has started a new blog of horror reviews called Page Horrific. He’s going to have a number of reviewers on board, so there should be plenty of content. Dave is one of the good guys, so please check it out.
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Wag the Fox on Charles Beaumont

Friend and fellow blogger Rabid Fox, whose blog you should read regularly anyway, just did a nice piece called "My Five: Favorite Twilight Zone Episodes by Charles Beaumont". This is worth a look, because Beaumont, who wrote a number of classic short stories and 22 episodes for Twilight Zone, is one of the great more-or-less forgotten authors. Beaumont contracted what seemed to be early-onset Alzheimer's in his early thirties, and was dead at 37. There are a lot of great stories that didn't get written because of this. Read his collection The Howling Man, if you get a chance.
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Matt Cowan's 10 Favorite Ramsey Campbell Short Stories

As you can tell if you read this blog, I like lists. I even like those that aren't my one, if they're by someone whose opinion I respect. Speaking of which, Matt Cowan, whose opinions are invaluable, especially on vintage horror, has put together a list of his ten favorite Ramsey Campbell short stories, which you can read at the Vintage Horror website. I'm also a fan of Mr. Campbell, and Mr. Cowan knows what he's talking about. I'd be hard pressed to argue with any of these selections. Check it out. Vintage Horror is also a dependably good website for those of you interested in good horror writing that predates the 21st century. Browse around it, and you might find quite a reading list for yourself.
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New Horror Blog - Little Miss Zombie

A new horror-related blog (New to me, anyway. I don't get around much) for your reading pleasure - Little Miss Zombie. As a compulsive listmaker myself, I'd like to draw your attention especially to her list of 20 Great Canadian Horror Films. Who would have thought, since they seem so nice up there. There's obviously some darkness in Tim Horton-land. Major credit also for listing the criminally underrated Ginger Snaps as her favorite on the list.

It Must Be Nice to be Talented

My friend John Hornor Jacobs is shopping around his novel This Dark Earth to publishers. It's good, as you will learn one day (although Southern Gods is the novel that will knock your socks off), but that's not what I wanted to bring to your attention. John is also a graphic artist, and he has developed an interactive map for the novel. You can read his post here, or if you're lazy, click straight to the map here. This is all kinds of awesome.

Me, if I draw a stick figure, everyone asks "What is that supposed to be?"
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The Man Eating Bookworm

I would like to invite you to check out my friend Andrew's new blog The Man Eating Bookworm, definitely an unusual title. Please overlook the spelling, he's Canadian, and you know how they butcher the President's English.

Other People Make Lists, Too

Rabid Fox over at Wag The Fox has put together a list of his Top Five Comedic Horror Movies. Since I really can't disagree with any of his choices, this saves me from doing my own. It's a good list, so check it out. And just for the record, I do feel Ghostbusters is a horror movie. its got a giant Pilsbury Dough Boy rampaging through a city. What's more horror than that? :-)
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Ginger Nuts of Horror

Everyone can come up with a better title for their blog than I can. Ginger Nuts of Horror is a relatively new blog written by my good friend Jim McLeod. Jim lives in the remote East Asian country of Scotland, so he reviews books we don't often here about here in the U.S. of A. Jim is a righteous and entertaining guy, so check out his blog. if nothing else, you can trade insults in a Scottish dialect.
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A Subtle Message

I suggested this to John Hornor Jacobs, and he's placed it on his awesome blog, but it's too good not to share:


This is located on I-65 North of Montgomery.

No, he hasn't gotten me yet, but I do increase my speed slightly every time I pass this.
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Pounding Your Head on the Desk Hurts

One of the ways the internet has ostensibly increased the pleasure of the reading experience is the amount of access and information we now have about our favorite authors. Whereas in the old days the writer was a fairly mysterious figure, this system of tubes allows us to stalk follow writers and other industry figures pretty closely.

I’m beginning to believe, however, we have reached the point of diminishing returns. I find myself increasingly more likely to be repelled by an author’s actions and views these days, and I’m feeling that a lot today, after a weekend in which one publisher basically called his readers stupid, another indicated he hated it when people actually read the books he sells, and a third showed she doesn’t have a clue what “ad hominem” means. This on the heels of recent laugh riots such as RaceFail, GenderFail, and NippleGate (no kidding).

Then I, much after the fact, learn of the depressing case of science fiction writer John C. Wright. I don’t follow science fiction any more (see RaceFail, See GenderFail, See Nipplegate), so I didn’t recognize the name, although he seems to be quite a successful author. Apparently Mr. Wright posted on his website his view of homosexuals. In his words:

“I am equating homosexuality with sadomasochism, pederasty, necrophilia, bestiality, and other sexual neuroses. While a technical distinction can be drawn between them, they share the fundamental property of being objectively disordered appetites.”

Ugh. Mr. Wright certainly has a right to his opinion, and at least he has the good sense to blame it on the Catholic Church, but wow, that is seriously warped. I’m not a politically correct extremist (I thought NippleGate was phenomenally silly), but it is surprising that an educated person in 2009 could still believe gayness to be a sexual neuroses. All this adds up to a feeling I’d be better off retreating from the web, but I’m probably too dumb to do so.

A much better summation of this can be found at my friend Matt Stagg’s website Enter The Octopus, which you ought to be reading anyway. While I am writing inane, juvenile posts concerning entertainment based around a giant radioactive mutant hamster demolishing Albuquerque, Matt deals with important issues in well reasoned fashion.

Now if you will excuse me, I need to find my Home Trepanation Kit to see if I can get rid of this headache.
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Midnight in 411

Whenever I can, I try to post a link to some free on-line fiction. This is to spread awareness of some good authors you may not be acquainted with as of yet, and also because I figure many of you are cheap by nature like I am, and need something on the computer to pass the time while you’re pretending to work. There’s only so much freecell you can do before going mad.

So here’s a nice eerie story from Matt Cowan, entitled Midnight in 411. Enjoy it, and while you’re there check out some of Matt’s articles at the Vintage Horror website. Matt does a great job hi-lighting some authors from the past (and present) that may have been overlooked by today’s readers.
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Snazzing up the Place

Many, many thanks to my friend John Hornor Jacobs for designing a new logo for this site, and some new stuff for the sidebar as well. John is a gifted artist, while I am, well, something like a squirrel trying to teach itself HTML. I am very grateful.

New Killer Story at Chop Shop Horror Show

I’ve been a little out of pocket lately, so updates have been few and far between. My apologies to both readers.

The big announcement is a new (free) story is up at Kent Gowran’s Chop Shop Horror Show. It is “Best Friend’s Girlfriend” by J.F. Gonzalez, and like the Bryan Smith story which preceded it, is of the highest quality. The Chop Shop Horror Show has become a can’t miss destination for horror fans, and you’ll hate yourself if you miss this story. So go there. Now.

John Hornor Jacobs

One of the perks that result from making connections with other people involved in this genre is occasionally getting the opportunity to read something that has yet to be published. This can be a two-edged sword, since sometimes there's a reason something hasn't been published, but by and large, it's a great opportunity to get an early glimpse at what's to come.

Recently, a friend, John Hornor Jacobs, asked me to take a look at the novel he is working on and let him know what I think. I hesitated a bit. I like John a lot, and one of my flaws is I will answer a direct question truthfully, which I think is a mental disorder (if you don't think this is a flaw, try it for a day). I've already pissed off one or two people I like by telling them I wasn't thrilled with something they wrote, and John darkly hinted at deep problems. But he assured me he wouldn't hold it against me, so I told him to send it on.

I'm not going to do a full review of the novel here. I'll save that for when it's published. I will tell you that the story (currently titled Southern Gods) is a Lovecraft-influenced blast set in the Mississippi Delta region of the early 50s, filled with rich characters, and infused with the Southern blues that would change music forever. It's a world of smokey dives, small-time radio stations, and the Tennessee Williams-style sexual humidity of the mid-20th century South, in which a man takes a journey from villain to hero.

The novel, in second draft, does have a few weak points, as anticipated, but they are correctable, and even in its current incarnation I think it falls into the top 10% of what is currently published. I don't know when it will find a publisher, the vagaries of the business being what they are, but when it does (and it will), it will make a splash. So remember the name: John Hornor Jacobs. With two "o"s.

The Chop Shop Horror Show Debuts

Awhile back, I mentioned that a friend was preparing to launch an on-line magazine specializing in old-school horror. Well, the first installment of The Chop Shop Horror Show is now on-line, and it kicks ass! The first story is by rising star (soon to be a household name) Bryan Smith. It's called "Living Dead Bitch", and as usual, Smith delivers in spades. Get thee to the site and read it immediately. You'll be glad you did.

Blog Recommendation

I'll have more details about Hypericon later, but for now, I'd like to direct you to my friend John Hornor Jacobs' blog, which is always most excellent, and contains a great deal of info about Hypericon. (Spot on about my wife, John). When he gets the Shrewsbury video posted, you have to check it out. The only author who makes you fear for your life when he gives a reading.