Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

My 2009 Gift Guide For Horror Fanatics

Recently, Zombies and Toys did a 3 part (1, 2, 3) article on Zombie themed items for the zombie lovers in your life. On top of that Zombo’s Closet of Horror wrote up a fun post of Gifts For Horror Movie Bloggers
(And Movie Loving Fans, Too!) which stressed how little most horror fanatics truly want movies. We buy them on release of get them from companies to review as is. So aside from the books listed here what are some unique ideas for the horror lovers? I wanted to come up with a few lesser known or unique places you could shop at that might just be creative enough for you to buy from.

Dexter Coasters

A set of four Dexter coasters for the fan of everyone’s favorite serial killer. These coasters come in a hand crafted wooden box with golden hardware, as well as a slotted interior to display each coaster. Each of these coasters are imprinted with a bloody Dexter logo and the entire set is designed to keep in mind the box that Dexter holds his own blood slide trophies in.

These are available from Showtime

Tru Blood

Maybe serial killers don’t do it for you and the fanged undead are more your thing? As long as that’s not Twilight I’m OK with that, so is Tru Blood as they have a ton of products, from shirts to jewelry for fans of the show. The main draw has to be though the drink that they have crated whose packing is based off of the actual Tru Blood from the series itself. Who doesn’t have what will look like a prop right off the set?

Available at HBO

‘Rough Night’ Bloody Handprint Throw Pillow

Maybe you want something for around the house but coasters aren’t your thing? How about a shop that specializes in everything you can have laying around the house? From pillows to lampshades, clocks to lampshades, candles to wall art- there IS a one stop shop that can take care of all of your horror needs.

Interested? Check out Horror Decor today!

Threadless Shirts

Don’t want something that will be laying around the house collecting dust and would rather have something you can take around with you? How about WEAR around with you? I’ve always been a huge fan of the collective art turned apparel that Threadless turns out weekly. The bonus? There have been a lot of horror themed shirts over the years, almost all of which of the highest of quality.

So looking for some horror shirts? Check Threadless today!

Fright Rags

Maybe shirts are the way you want to go but Threadless is a bit tame for your taste? How about something just a bit more enticing? For the fan of classic horror movies everywhere Fright Rags is the way to go. From all original art inspired by some of the classic horror movies of all time to vintage box art, they really have it all and are a must see for anyone looking for a new take on classic horror!

So if that’s what you need head over to Fright Rags today!

Zombie Liquorice

Well of course I also have to offer you not just creative and fun horror shirts to classic re-imaging, you also need your original violence. While there is obviously a strong undead undertone to the designs found here there is plenty of original horror to go along with it. From shirts, to hoodies, to prints they have you covered on original, violent, gory, beautiful horror!

Clearly Zombie Liquorice has you in mind for original horror.

Zombie Head

Now if you really want to go original you need something unique and hand crafted. Etsy is a great place to find this and was the birthplace of one of the more interesting zombie products on the market- Zombie Head. These are hand crafted tiny zombie heads that are created either as a custom product of just made in general for sale. You know with this order you are going to get something 100% unique and sculpted just for whoever you are buying for!

So if you want something original check out Zombie Head today!

Dark Etsy

Speaking of Etsy and Original Horror there is one perfect place that has a whole lot of horror loving in one spot. I’ve been linking a lot of their work for years now on Buy Zombie, yet even with everything I’ve shown off it barely scratches the surface of what these horror crafting fanatics are able to make. I’m constantly surprised by the statues, toys, jewelry, art, hell everything that they are able to produce. There is a lot of talent here and if nothing else above has had something you wanted this is truly where you can find something original.

Head over to Etsy’s Dark Side to find links to all of the artists and what they have for sale!

And there you have it, a nice list of original horror that anyone who loves the macabre can love. From things to put around the house, to on the wall, to even wear this list should let you get something original or that’s fitting for anyone’s needs.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Free Screening of The Landlord in Chicago

On Sunday, December 13th at 5pm there will be a free 21+ showing of The Landlord at The Bottom Lounge. In celebration of the event there will be 2 drink specialss named “The Rabisu” and “The Landlord.” I know one of the actors and co-producers of the film, Dan Kiggins, so absolutely suggest you check this out if you have the opportunity! So many events in Chicago, I really need to make more time to get to them all!

What’s It About?

The Landlord is the story of Tyler, the unfortunate young owner of a demon-haunted apartment building. While finding tenants has never been a problem for Tyler, keeping them alive long enough to pay rent is. No matter how nicely Tyler asks, he cannot keep the demons from eating the renters (nor even persuade them to wait a month or two). The demons never listen. And why should they? They have an all-you-can-eat buffet of delicious human flesh and Tyler as their pet monkey. But all that might change when Tyler takes a liking to the newest tenant, a desperate young woman running from demons of her own.

Filmed in Chicago on nights and weekends, with a shoestring budget and a volunteer cast and crew, The Landlord exceeds the usual no-budget expectations thanks to a smart screenplay, surprisingly good CG effects, and impressive performances from some of Chicago’s top stage actors. With its mix of gore and dark, deadpan humor, comparisons to Shaun of the Dead and The Frighteners are inevitable. By turns hilarious and disturbing, The Landlord is a quirky standout in an independent horror scene glutted with backyard zombie flicks and cookie-cutter slashers.

You can find directions to the screening at The Bottom Lounge’s Website!
[via: Shu-Izmz.]

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Who Says You Can’t Have Horror In December?

Horror Society once again has a horror themed event for anyone (assuming you are 21+) in the Chicagoland area! While I’m not sure if I’m free next Thursday night yet- if I am I’ll be there!

Hosted by:
Horror Society and Adam Black

DJ Performances by: (So out of the music scene I know not who they are!)

Dominatrix Girls: (Wait.. what? Sweet!)

Special Appearance By: (The Man, The Myth, The Zombie)

Join us for an unholy night of Holiday Debauchery and Cheer at BLACK XMAS!

We’ll be playing horror themed holiday movies on the flat screens and offering ridiculous food and drink specials all night in addition to FREE admission to the event all night long!

Amazing music will be provided by Adam Black’s legendary group of industrial DJs so make sure you wear your dancing shoes and if you dare, wear an ugly holiday sweater and enter our contest to win exclusive prizes from Lionsgate Studios who will be at the event promoting their new Vampire movie, DAYBREAKERS!

As always, Mistresses Lilith and Lydia will have all of their favorite bondage toys with them and will exclusively be deciding who has been naughty and who has been nice this year!

Event Details:

You can find out more, confirm you are going to help keep track of a head count, and get any updated details over on Black X-Mas’s Facebook page

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Oh the weather outside is frightful…

…and it’s not because of snow or cold (though I could really do without both of these)- it’s because people are morons. So it’s that time of the year where the weather drops and snow descends upon the city I call home. While it was actually yesterday morning I had to live through this fun event (I’ll get to today in a bit) I was too busy at work to write about it and too frustrated with how the day turned out to rant as I clearly only wanted to entertain myself and get my mind off the day. I’m pretty sure that was clear from the mindless ranting in my support of eating babies and more appreciated one about what happens to children who are ‘left behind.’ Hell, since I’m writing a second post in a row that’s bitching I’m clearly still in an annoyed mood.

So the weather has kicked in and it snowed Sunday night. What does this mean to me driving into work Monday? Sure there was snow on the ground but it wasn’t STILL snowing. Clearly this shouldn’t be a problem for Chicago residents who have to deal with snow EVERY SINGLE YEAR at around the same time, am I right? Of course not because it took me an hour and a forty five minutes to get into work in the morning. Fortunately I decided to leave quite a bit earlier then usual or instead of ten minutes late I would have probably ended up being there an hour after I was supposed to clock in.

Each and every year it doesn’t cease to amaze me how my fellow residents of the area can time and time again forget how to drive in this weather. The best part was though that it wasn’t even still snowing. There was a little left on the ground and because of that people had forgotten how their cars work. Driving a little slower? I can get that, but unless there is a blizzard out there is no excuse for you to be going under 50 on the highway.

Seriously people, why is this so hard? Now TODAY it was snowing on the way to work. My eye is still twitching. I love Chicago but how can so many people forget how to drive year after year. It makes no sense to me and I’m only happy yesterday’s trial run at least snapped a few people out of it since it wasn’t THAT bad- only an hour. In all honesty, it’s kind of bad when it takes an hour for me to get into work and that isn’t something to complain about.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

I Don’t Have A Twisted Sense Of Humor

I’ve had a kind of off day so I figured I needed some alcohol and a bit of randomness to relax before passing out. What is random enough to take my mind off it? Well even if I wasn’t an almost guaranteed lifelong bachelor I have no doubt that my twisted sense of humor would have fun with all of the following. I mean anyone whose slightly off has to be able to fully enjoy the madness concerning children or babies that is about to ensue in image format before your eyes. Either that or I really have lost it, whose to say?

On Babies

First up is this amazing shirt designed by Warren Ellis for his T-Shirt of the Week. I greatly regret that I will not be able to purchase this shirt due to a combination of the holiday season as well as knowing I will never have a reason to wear it. Still though: “I ate the baby that was in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast forgive me it was so delicious and so cold..” Warren Ellis truly is a genius and has such a great sense of disturbed humor that I don’t know how you can’t enjoy his weekly creations. While I’ve only purchased one to date I’ve enjoyed every single design he’s come up with. True masterpieces even if they are nothing but jokes he has with friends.

Or On Unattended Children

Earlier today while I was at work my friend Joe showed me Passive Progressive Notes and from it I found this post that shows what will happen to attended children. Personally I think it’s absolutely hilarious on how these establishments are ‘punishing’ parents who leave their children alone. Of course the alternative is foster care and I hear that breeds rapists, serial killers, and people who molest farm animals. This being the case, are these really ‘that’ bad of ideas?

So there you have it. Take a moment to sit back, relax, and enjoy the madness. *Takes a sip of cider* I know I will! At least, I will until they lock me up.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Mashup Trailer For Holiday Of Horrors

As I mentioned last week I’m going to Horror Society’s Holiday of Horrors. as much fun as just knowing that is, wouldn’t it be better if you could see a fun little trailer mashup of the movies that will be playing? Of course it will! December 12th will be a good day.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

(Lyrics by Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked – Cage The Elephant and image were both used because as you will quickly see I’ve been busy planning out a lot of projects I’ve had on the back burner that I’m going to try to finally push forward into completion. I’ve actually put off a LOT of my regular media intake the last couple weeks planning things out, making new contacts, and harassing current ones.)

Projects:
So to start with, yes all of my time as of late I’ve been putting into working on projects. I know I claim to be playing Modern Warfare 2 all of the time but honestly I have a lot going on I just don’t like to talk about things until there is a sliver of a ray of hope that I can show something off on them in the near future. I finally have a skeleton rough draft of the code for the new Buy Zombie and am working with my friend on Eric on having it move to completion. SO CLOSE! So.. very.. painfully close. But wait.. there’s more!

I’ve had another side idea I’ve been toying with for quite some time now. Due to circumstances (lack of time, artists, etc) it was kind of on the back burner for quite awhile now. However, recently I lucked out and was able to start speaking with Byron of idrawzombies.com and The Daily Zombie and believe we might be on to something. More information on that soon, hopefully next ‘big’ update.

On the same zombie theme (still no word on my overall horror site) I have been working on another project that is almost done I just need to play with a color scheme for it. It’ll be a quick and easy resource for all of the zombie fanatics out there who are annoyed when I don’t put up every little piece of zombie news under the sun. Well this should make them happy!

Finally with the extra free time I have been moving a bit closer to a few non-horror projects I’ve had on the back burner that are all almost nearly in place and just started contacting a few logo designers to get some visual finishing touches on them. Finally making a ton of progress in all directions and it’s kind of nice to say there will be results soon

Life:

Of course I haven’t JUST been sitting on my ass in front of a computer as of late. Other things have been going on to point out as well. The highlights? Well to start with I was able to meet up with Rex for some Texas De Brazil, 4 hours of gorging later I swear I gained 10 pounds. It’s always a good time hanging out with Rex and as always it’s a shame our schedules and locations don’t match up.

I ended up being a complete douchebag and not hanging out with Rob on his birthday due to a family party (not Thanksgiving though that was another night that just ended up wiping me out.) Aside from that I hung out with Leah for dinner and drinks a few nights and catching a couple movies. Oh how I feel as if I’m behind on movies.

I also attended Zombie Outbreak w/BJC, which was a ‘few’ hours of zombie movies and good times talking with friends. Speaking of hanging out with BJC, we also ended up seeing The Addams Family Musical together as my original plans with Rose fell through due to us having a small disagreement after she came over one night and played through MW2.

Ahh Modern Warfare 2. While I haven’t been playing it as consistently as most of my friends I have been able to finally prestige in it AND am about half way through my second one. Neil keyed me into his plan on how to prestige quickly and it seems to be working pretty well.

How does sleep fit into all of this? I’m FINALLY off of my off hour support. Speaking of work on top of that I actually have a normal schedule now. It’s.. strange.

Movies

Speaking of movies, look how short this list is. Amazing isn’t it?

When I first saw the previews for The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard I groaned. All I could think was that this was another failed attempt at a comedy that I would never force myself to watch and if I did be completely unentertained by it. Soooo I did end up watching it. What can I say aside from romcom’s I never really get enough of movies in general, even the bad ones. However, and I’m weary to admit it, I actually got quite a few laughs out of The Goods. I don’t know if it was Jeremy Piven’s timing on lines or Ving Rhames absolute mockery of his usual tough guy character but throughout the entire movie it was one joke after another I couldn’t help but enjoy.

Apparently I was in the mood for comedies as the next movie up was Funny People. Adam Sandler AND Seth Rogen in a movie together? Poking fun of Sandler’s career during the entire first half of the movie? Clearly this has to be comic gold. While I actually did enjoy a lot of it my attention wasn’t held all the way through. I’m pretty sure The Goods was the funnier of the two movies and would say it’s worth a rent at the very least. Two comedies in 1 month. I don’t think that’s happened in years.

2012, while still not my usual horror filled fare was directly about being the end of the world so it’s a step in the right direction. Another movie I was very weary on watching and hate to admit completely enjoying. While it doesn’t have the deepest or realistic plot in the world it does deliver payoff after payoff in over the top views of the destruction of the world. Roland Emmerich really has outdone all of his past disaster movies in a visual masterpiece of epic proportions that show how the end of the world would look like. He has topped all of his past works in a way that makes even thinking about anyone doing another disaster movie really just a waste of time. If you want a decently paced movie that shows an unrealistic view on how the world will come to an end in 3 years check this one out immediately!

The forth and *gasps* final movie on my life update that I’ve seen is Pontypool. It’s another infection movie based on the style of an outbreak that look like zombies (aka 28 * Later) that really has nothing to do with the undead. While you can read up my full review on Horror Society I will say that any horror, outbreak, or zombie lover should enjoy this film. It’s a unique take on the spreading of infection between people by actually having the spoken word be what triggers the outbreak. It turns people into vicious killers that have to suicide themselves after taking out as many victims as possible. These murders and suicides completely feel as if they are in place in any zombie film and it was a fun and interesting take on the genre.

Books
Hollywood Monster by Robert Englund provides a memoir of his experiences as an actor- both how he first got interested in acting and how it shapes his life. Mr. Freddy Krueger himself tells a wonderful tale about how he got where he is today, weaving in nightmares he has had throughout his life (gee that wasn’t a sure sell for fans of the series in the slightest.) Being cynical with that last comment aside it was an enjoyable read if you are at all a fan of the horror genre and I definitely suggest picking up a copy.

I also recently had a chance to read Age of Desire from The Book of Blood Volume 4 by Clive Barker. While not a full novel and just a short it was VERY enjoyable of a read (well.. of course it is Clive..) and the entire idea of a world where a true aphrodisiac has been created that will keep whoever is under it’s influence in a permanent state of arousal shows exactly how bad of an idea that this really is. I hate writing on just a single short story from a compilation but this one really brought up a lot to think about in a society where the idea of sex and ways to improve it are being so commonly sold.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Thank You Zombies And Toys

Well with Buy Zombie I not only promote products mixed with with the news and reviews- I also promote sites and contests. Sometimes I will even go so far as th promote *gasps* the competition! Zombies and Toys is a perfect example of the competition that I will endorse! A site that constantly runs contests that I love to inform my readers on (as I am a broke, sponsor-less bastard who cannot run such contests myself.)

So how cool is it when your ‘competition’ not only sees and recognizes that you are promoting them but wants to thank you for it? You get awesome free swag that includes an ornament, a couple magnets, a couple buttons, and a thank you note that puts a smile on your face. At least that’s what happened to me and I have to say- Thank you for the thank you (and of course you’re welcome for the links / sending readers your way!)

[Note: 'competition' jokes aside I've always gotten along with the other major zombie themed news and websites out there. Each and every one of you are fun and cool people to speak with on both a personal and professional level.]

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

What’s Great About Chicago? Pre-Broadway Shows!

I do have to admit that one of my favorite parts about Chicago is how often we have pre-Broadway musicals and plays tested here. While I’ve been a bit lax in the past year on getting to the theater, when ‘horror’ meets comedy on the stage I just couldn’t help but attend. Due to unforeseen circumstances, my original guest for the show had to be replaced at the last minute. Fortunately though I was able to find arm candy on short notice with the ever horror loving BJ-C of Day of the Woman. With attendance problems solved I was able to get there with no hitches on enjoying the show.

While I will pre-face this by saying it wasn’t the ‘best’ musical or play I have seen- that does not make it bad though. It was very entertaining and I had a great time. (I suppose with the last one’s I’ve seen being Wicked and Spamalot I kind of have higher expectations right now.) Still it was fun and to start with the “Grandmother” completely stole every scene she was in. Her lines had the most comedic impact and had me laughing nearly every time. For the most part they did keep true to The Addams Family tradition in the view of being in a horror setting and having a huge focus on family and love. The amount of sexual innuendos that were added in was a huge increase over what had been done with the family in the past but fit perfectly. For those who are planning on seeing it, the musical did tend to lean more towards the comics then the TV series and films but there were tributes to everything found within.

I did have two main complaints. The first of which is that sadly Nathan Lane as Gomez didn’t happen. His understudy Merwin Foard took the spot. This wasn’t really sad say performance wise as Merwin did an absolutely amazing job I just kind of wanted to see Nathan Lane pull off a Broadway performance. (Fun fact: He actually had a role in The Addams Family Values movie from ‘93, funny how that works out.) So while that was a complaint only in the form that I wanted to see him there- Merwin Foard really did an amazing job and I have to say I had no issues there at all. Now onto Morticia- Bebe Neuwith had both the look and voice down, I just wasn’t sure I agreed with how she sang her parts. I sadly don’t know the proper phrasing as I am not so much of a musical junkie to be able to express it here but it just didn’t work for me. About half of it fit perfectly, the other half just didn’t sound right to me. Of course expectations can ruin what you see and hear if you were thinking it’d be different. Outside of this everyone else hit their roles spot on.

The set was a fun mix of the house, the surrounding woods, and various monsters that also dwell within- including the giant squid. Actually I was very impressed with how they did the tentacles to the giant squid in her most memorable of scenes near the end. Another part of the set that stuck out was when a monster took Pugsley’s bed off scene, while they set was being changed. There were a LOT of throwbacks to the show that were in visuals and not directly mentioned- from Thing to Cousin Itt as well as Morticia’s over sized rodent eating plant. Not quite the man eating plant it is in the series it is still used effectively when she is making a point to Wednesday. Speaking of Wednesday her role of playing having mixed feeling on her usual morbid lifestyle when it meets love with someone who by all means is normal is amazingly well done. Oh, and of course Fester’s lightbulb trick makes an appearance as well.

I really did have a good time watching this. As I mentioned previously my expectations for a pre-Broadway play were a bit higher then this could fill but it IS a good musical, it IS enjoyable to watch, and if you enjoy the world of The Addams Family, a well put together show, and a little dark and innuendo filled humor you should love this one.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

This Week’s Top 5 Blog Posts – Ms. Horror Blogosphere 2009 Edition

So The Vault of Horror is currently running Ms. Horror Blogosphere 2009 – a competition to show off a variety of female horror bloggers across the net. While this is clearly a sexist and exploitative contest, *rolls eyes* I felt that I would help support the 5 who I felt had the best blog post from the last week. So.. here they are!

1. The Best Food Related Deaths! by: Brittney-Jade Colangelo of Day of the Woman
I’m sure it’s a HUGE surprise to anyone who reads my site that my first pick, who I voted for, is by someone I actually know out there in that scary place known as “the real world” and always is able to make an article humorous. The always entertaining BJ-C had a great write up of the top food related deaths, it being the season of the turkey that so aptly celebrates gluttony at it’s finest one cannot wonder why I picked this as my favorite post of the week. [note: my vote is based on the fact that I do enjoy her writing style, not that we're friends.]

2. Exclusive Interview With David Richmond-Peck From ‘V’ by: Alison of Screamstress
While I haven’t been rambling incessantly about the reboot of the TV series known as V that recently has occurred it’s only because I have yet to start watching it. I am a HUGE fan of the early 80’s original that was released and this interview with one of the main characters in the reboot was both entertaining and informative. If I wasn’t good friends with BJ-C (and enjoyed her writing style), Alison probably would have been the receiver of my vote as she is well written and we’ve talked quite a few times now online.

3. Thanksgiving Horror Movies by: Nicki of Hey! Look Behind You!
Again back to it being the Season of the Turkey (I’m really enjoying typing that for some reason) with a full on post about the wonders of eating.. people. Full of cannibals, man eating plants, and the most important of all others- zombies. It’s a great list of movies, put a smile on my face, and.. made me a little hungry!

4. Karloff’s Career, As Told Through Tiny Paintings [Boris Karloff Blogathon] by: Kate of Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire
I really tried to skim over the Boris Karloff posts from a Blogathon that is going on celebrating his life’s work right now as they are all so full of classic horror moments. Some of my past Friday 5’s though clearly show how much I love other forms of media meeting horror and Karloff’s film career through paintings? C’mon I just couldn’t resist!

5. Ever Wonder How Twilight Works? by: Monster Scholar of Monster Land.
A quick explanation and formula of why Twilight works that I would not have seen otherwise. Seriously I think I was laughing about it for about 5 minutes, which at work is a long time for me! I do have to have my humor on Fridays.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Happy Thanksgiving

(Image from My Extra Life.)

While originally celebrated by the Pilgrims for giving thanks to God for having enough food to survive- today it has come to be a day of celebrating being thankful to the things in your life. Now as many of my close friends know I have had a lot to be thankful for over the years. I have been blessed with an odd kind of luck where, aside from my ever hectic love life, where even the bad things just find a way to happen to work themselves out to my advantage.

I don’t want to do the ever so cliche list, yet there isn’t much of a way to say thanks without bringing up details. I am a rock star at being vague (much to the annoyance of many in my life,) there are a few specifics I’d like to touch on.

First off I am thankful for my family. While we have an odd family dynamic compared to everyone I know it works for us. Everyone is close combined with a distance between us but not one that is ever there if someone in the family is in need. While I haven’t been in need this year I know a few in the family have been in one form or another and I have been happy to be there for them as I know they would be for me if situations were reversed and hope that I was able to help.

Second off I am thankful for my friends, both old and new. Being an only child I have always put a LOT of effort into being able to have a core group of friends that I could think of as an offshoot of my personal family. For the first time in years I don’t have that group. It’s really odd, and while I have a few smaller groups I do spend time with it’s been different not having a central group these days. However, I do have close friends and they mean the world to me. From going out for drinks to sitting around bullshitting to watching horror movies to staying up ridiculously late online to just figuring things out- each of you matter to me.

I’ve had my eyes opened to a few things recently about my life. What matters. What I am doing. What I want to be doing. Where I want to go with my life. Some of it I’m still trying to figure out. Some of it I need to figure out how to act on. All in all though I am grateful to everyone in my life who has helped me get to where I am today, who is able to put a constant smile on my face, who challenge me to be a better person, and who help me to continue to live life on my terms while having fun along the way. Thank you.

Sappiness aside I am off to gorge on turkey and stuffing. All. Day. Long.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Daybreakers PSA

So I know I like to harp on vampires in general as of late if I’m talking to anyone about horror. Daybreakers though just has a plot and cast that has me enthralled. Ethan Hawk and Willem Dafoe in a movie that takes place in the future where vampires cover the Earth and we are nothing more but food- AND nearly extinct? Of course I’m interested. Not the usual fair of science fiction meets horror that I would go for (space marines… where is a new Aliens styled movie?) yet I’m completely wanting to see this.

Please don’t disappoint me.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Horror Society’s Holiday Of Horrors

So far there are only 4 confirmed movies and not much on the guests or vendors for Horror Society’s Holiday of Horrors. However with the horror enthusiast crowd that WILL be there and these choice holiday horror flicks, yes I’ll be there.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Terror In The Aisles 3

Movies:
THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (10th Anniversary!)
with director Eduardo Sanchez in person!
[Honestly I'm kind of meh about seeing The Blair Witch Project again but I'm sure it can still prove entertaining with the right audience.]

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (director’s cut)
with director FRED DEKKER in Person!
[A classic I have yet to see on the big screen!]

[REC] 2 (Midwest premiere!)
Sequel to the Spanish horror hit! One of the first US screenings!
[YES YES YES YES! This is why I'm going]

Special Guest:
WENDY ROBIE (star of People Under The Stairs & Twin Peaks)
Reads Edgar Allan Poe for Poe’s Bicentennial Birthday Celebration!

Short films:
TREEVENGE (A Chilling Tale of Christmas Gone Wrong!)

Bands:
My Damn Butterfly- http://www.mydamnbutterfly.com/
Modern Day Rippers- http://www.myspace.com/moderndayrippers

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Sometimes – I Hate My Cell Phone

Warning: This Post Is Me Bitching And No Way Worth Your Time

I know that I’ve complained to most of my friends about this but I believe it has to be said again – I hate talking on the phone. Text messages, e-mail, instant messages- I can do these all day long for communication. It wasn’t even this bad 3-4 months ago it’s just been getting progressively worse.

What a lot of people don’t understand though is I talk on the phone at work for probably 6 hours of the day. A couple minutes to catch up and make plans are even semi-tolerable. Hours and hours of conversation though about nothing make my head twitch. I know a lot of people in customer service and technical support can relate to this. When you are not tied to your phone at work you don’t want to be tied to talking on your phone at all.

OK, done bitching… for now.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Zombies In Chicago Are Always A Good Time

An 8 hour zombie film fest in Chicago with most of my horror friends and fanatics in attendance- you know I was going to show up. The usuals were all there, aside from the obvious (Mitch, his wife, and Kristin from Horror Society) I was also able to meet up with Bryan, Dan, Rick, as well as Erin and Rus. What could possibly be better? Well having the ever scrumptious BJC of Day of the Woman as my arm candy probably helped.

The line up
It started off with a short entitled, The Basement. An absolutely hilarious flick with some unexpected and over the top humor that I couldn’t help but enjoy. For those who have seen it I ask you- the next time you run into a rat problem are you planning on buying a gun to deal with it? I know I am!

Fleshbeast was the second film that was up. It was also 30 minutes of my life that I will never be able to get back. Ever. You can’t just say it was one part or another that I couldn’t enjoy in the film, it really was everything. The most depressing part? The way it STARTED actually made it look like it could be interesting. Had they kept the off look that they had throughout the entire film to just the introduction it could have been an interesting dream sequence way to film it. As they kept the look throughout the entire film- combined with bad audio and even worse acting? Ouch. Just ouch. I really hope Mitch picked it just to screw with the audience. Mitch, why? WHY?!

Another short was next, this one entitled- Chemical 12-D. I actually recently received access to view this for review up at Buy Zombie, but knowing I’d have a chance to see it on the big screen I’ve been putting it off. I’m going to say I cannot wait until these guys are able to put something together that is a full length feature. While being a short there wasn’t much time to properly do character development the combination of special effects, great plot, and a shock ending- it was well worth seeing. I’m sure I’ll be able to get a few review up this coming week and really hope they get credit for doing such an amazing film.

Colin, just as the first time I had seen it was an amazing little zombie film. I did end up missing about half of it this time around as when I went out for a drink I got a little sidetracked by Bryan with some side conversations on horror and him enlightening me that Mondays at Music Box were now showing movies on the cheap. (Sadly I got distracted and missed being able to see House of the Devil on the big screen with him and Dan yesterday.)

Pathogen is a zombie film that was created, written, and directed by a 12 year old. While parts of the movie may have fallen apart or been nitpicked usually, keeping that in mind this really is an amazing work of art. It actually did have a solid plot with a great way to introduce how the zombie outbreak occurs. There is a little ’spiritual’ twist in the forms of dreams and a patient zero symptom that was done to perfection. If you’re looking for something highly polished this isn’t a film for you. If you’re looking for the first film by a director to watch how she grows in talent? This is clearly worth checking out. We have someone here who can possibly become a great horror director if she keeps interested and sticks to it.

Zombie Girl: The Documentary was… actually missed. Brittney and I were out talking to Bryan, Dan, and a few other people and we apparently missed the movie call. Had no idea that time had flown by so much until what must have been 40 minutes in so… Missed seeing that on the big screen. However seeing it already probably made that to be not too big of a deal.

The night ended up with what the majority of us were there for, a large screen showing of the classic itself- Return of the Living dead. I’ve been such a fan of this movie for so many years that being able to see it, on the big screen, in the company of 100’s of horror fanatics who all wanted to see it just as much was really just one of those great experiences that happen in Chicago. I had an absolute blast and can’t wait until the next Horror Society fest this December!

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

(Lyrics from Audience of One – Rise Against. I’ve got bout 12 tracks right now that I am just not getting bored with and this is one of the ones that stand out. Probably for this line in particular. It’s kind of funny that this is a line that I would have applied to a few people I know and have been happily surprised that it is no longer the case. The picture is of course from LOLCats and just seems fitting both for using DOOM in it as well as how I feel towards work today.)

Once again too much time has passed since one of these updates. It’s one of those things that are just bound to happen though as I’ve been fully distracted as of late. Work, social life, projects, Modern Warfare 2- all of this and more are keeping me writing up what exactly I’ve been up to on a consistent basis!

Life:
Well for starters there was a small little convention that took place in Chicago since my last update- Flashback Weekend. I have to admit getting Neil out to one of the horror events in Chicago was a nice change, and I think made it easier for me to sell him on going to more in the future. (Figured it would only take event to get him to want to hit up more.) Continuing with the horror theme, my coder fell through for Buy Zombie. After all of the work getting it going it fell apart at the end. The upside? He at least sent over the .psd and I was able to hire someone on the cheap to convert it to a Wordpress theme! I just have a few last touches to iron out and a new site will FINALLY be live!

Speaking of being alive, say in the world of 2009, it is hard to imagine that any of my friends had yet to see Iron Man. Therefor it was disappointing that Leah had not yet seen it. OK not really since I was able to enjoy someone else’s first time reactions to such a fun movie again and that’s always a nice change.

Rose decided she wanted a blog she could rant on. I’ll give you one guess who got talked into setting it up (not that I know anything about setting up Wordpress blogs.) So Tiny Cynic was born. (I clearly had nothing to do with the name.) If it wasn’t for some CSS issues with how the theme was setup by default it would have taken I believe a whole 5 minutes to setup. (So yea it ended up taking about an hour…)

Finally I bought a couple of new toys. A new digital camera as well as the Prestige Edition of Modern Warfare 2. To be completely honest they both game in on the same day so I have yet to open my shiny new Canon PowerShot SD780IS with it’s shiny 12.1 MP and 3x optical zoom. Apparently it also can do video. It’s a bold new world! Having not opened it yet I was clearly preoccupied with playing Call of Duty 6. I was so preoccupied I have yet to obtain batteries for the night vision goggles that came with the Prestige Edition! (Yes. I now have a digital camera and night vision goggles, I could run around at night and be that creepy guy you want to avoid at all costs. Score.) MW2 is everything I loved about Call of Duty 4 and MORE. I won’t start typing about the game as I could rant for the rest of the post on how great it is.

I know I’m missing things that happened. However, I am on too little sleep (nothing to do with staying up late playing Modern Warfare 2.)

Movies:
Dark Country had to be one of the more interestingly filmed horror movies that I’ve seen lately. It mixed ‘reality’ for the most part with certain scenes looking as if they had a 3D layer added over to them. Basically a newly met and newly wed couple are traveling from Las Vegas and stumble upon a body. The body ends up not being dead and as they offer him a ride the movie starts to get interesting. While in some movies this would annoy the hell out of me as Dark Country ended up with a dream like state to large aspects of the film it fit perfectly. The male lead did a stellar performance and after having seen him as the lead in both this and The Mist I want to see him continue on in the horror genre. Bonus points for Ron Perlman in his role as a deputy in the film.

The Public Enemies that I am referring too is obviously the gangster period piece starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. Of course those two weren’t the true stars of the movie, it was in fact Stephen Dorff’s performance that stole the show. Yes I’m kidding but I do wish Dorff would get to play an asshole in more movies with how well he does it. While I would have preferred a real chunk of direct interaction between Depp and Bale they did demonstrate how the two were matched against each other extremely well and how confident he could get away with everything that Dillinger was.

The remake of Taking of Pelham 123 had a lot of ups and downs throughout the film. Again a movie that has two stars pitted against one another (John Travolta and Denzel Washington) this one at least had them get a good chunk of face time with each other near the end of the movie. I have to admit I enjoyed the fact that Denzel didn’t play his normal role and mixed things up a little. While a train robbery movie is always fun in and of itself it was in fact what Travolta’s character was really trying to pull off that made the film more of a hit. They could have left out that entire subplot, still had the movie out, and it wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

State of Play brings Russell Crowe as a reporter investigating the death of his friend’s (Ben Affleck) lover. With Ben’s character being both married and in politics it is messy right off the bat. When you add in the fact that it is also involved with the regulatory commission that his character is on and has something to do with a multi-billion dollar company that is trying to influence government decisions to increase it’s contracts and influence? NOW it’s messy. Political thrillers that can keep my attention are few and far between as most of them really aren’t written properly. This one would have been a miss as well if it weren’t for the amazing acting on both Crowe’s and Affleck’s parts. (Both of whom are actors I haven’t really dug in a movie for awhile.) If you are into political thrillers at all you may want to check this one out.

Child’s Play. The birth of another horror series that after 3 movies should have stopped. Also a horror franchise that is being rebooted soon. While I did enjoy the first 3 movies the last 2 hurt my brain when I watched them originally. So Child’s Play is of course the origin of how a serial killer ended up transferring his soul into the ‘body’ of a toy while trying to cheat death. From here he has to find someone he can transfer himself into but that of course never works out so easily. I don’t know if it’s because I saw this when I was younger, because it really is well written, or because it takes place in Chicago but I’ve always loved the first 3, OK, 2 and a half movies in this series.

Child’s Play 2 starts up shortly after Child’s Play came to a close. Chucky is dead. Andy, the child from the first movie, is in a foster home having been taken from his “lunatic mother” due to her insistence that a doll tried to kill her son. Kudos for using the same child in both of the first two films. The plastic mess that Chucky had been burned down two of course on a corporate level cannot be wasted so is melted down and used in creating a new Chucky doll. I’ll give you one guess as to where this goes. Yes Chucky comes back and goes to chase after Andy once again.

Child’s Play 3 brings us a new actor playing Andy as well as a new concept on how Chucky came back to life. Only one of those two statements are true. If you know Hollywood you will of course know that it was a new actor! Andy is now in military school learning how to be a man and not a sniveling little boy who is afraid of dolls. That of course works ‘great’ but he is able to stand up to Chucky’s madness on a military base which actually worked out pretty well for a setting. Some of the slight changes he made around the base to add his fun in into the mix was actually entertaining. While it wasn’t as good as the first two it still lived up to my expectations of a Child’s Play movie.

Bride of Chucky was the beginning of the end of the series. With ‘rebranding’ the title to just have Chucky in it and no longer be called Child’s Play to removing Andy to adding in a female ’sidekick/love interest’ for Chucky. It honestly just went to hell. It did have a bit of fun horror movie trivia at the beginning where Chucky (who oddly wasn’t completely torn up as opposed to what we saw happen at the end of Child Play 3) was warehoused in a police building that also included a ton of fun horror memorabilia. An ex-lover of Chucky’s human days brings him back to life but soon finds herself at the short end of his anger and is herself transferred into another doll and they together go on a rampage while trying to find new bodies. The one thing the movie DOES have going for it though is how many tributes to other horror movies all around it has within.

Seed of Chucky, the first time I saw it made me cringe. This second showing actually wasn’t as bad but I knew how bad the film was going to be in advance so that probably softened the blow. Chucky and his bride from the previous movie apparently had a child and this child is able to bring them both back to life from a voodoo amulet shown in the same film. With their lives returned they are found to be on a set where they are filming a movie about Chucky’s killing spree which is all an urban legend as far as the general populace is concerned. The best part? Jennifer Tilly (voice of Chucky’s wife) is an actress on the film being made which results in countless bad jokes within the movie I couldn’t help but smirk at.

How to be a Serial Killer was a fun infomercial styled view trying to sell it’s watchers on all of the benefits to your life in turning yourself into a serial killer. I’ll be brief as I have a full review up over at Horror Society of the film. Pretty much the infomercial is what is running in the serial killer’s mind and he spends the entire film both killing people as well as training an apprentice on how to literally get away with murder. Throughout the entire film though we aren’t made aware that the infomercial is actually running in his mind until the very end.

It really was a good month of horror movies for me. I don’t know how I missed watching this gem previously but The Descent is hands down one of the better horror films I’ve seen in awhile. While I’ve never had a fear of the dark or being claustrophobic I could feel the dread brought out by both of these fears in this film. When a woman’s family dies in a car accident her friends, who have explored caves together previously, stumble onto a new one to explore. While they are used to crawling through caves in near pitch black it quickly becomes obvious that this unexplored one has more then they bargained for in both not being safe as well as being full of a mutant offshoot of humanity that is blind and has lived underground their entire lives- who don’t mind eating humans. While the description I just gave is kind of weak it doesn’t give the full experience of seeing what they go through to survive and I can’t stress enough of how much of great flick this one was.

Assassination of a High School President is a noir styled detective story that actually takes place in a high school. With Bruce Willis as the school’s principal and one of the school paper’s reporters as the ‘detective’ it focuses on the theft of the SAT answers. While he becomes both famous and popular from discovering who stole them he quickly learns that he has reported on a frame up and is on a race against time to determine who the real thief is and the motive behind the theft is not as clear cut as it would appear.

While I may have won my copy of The Children of the Corn remake it doesn’t change that fact that it really was a painful watch. It cannot compare to the creepiness of the original and the interaction between the two adults who first came into the situation did not seem genuine in the slightest. The children just weren’t as scary and the movie seemed to take an action over suspense tone that did not mesh well with the source material. While I did enjoy how they changed the end of it, if you want to watch Children of the Corn do yourself a favor and get the original.

So this one was a surprise but Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li wasn’t “horrible.” Don’t get me wrong it was by no means great but I went into it expecting myself to hate every aspect of the film. While they of course took liberties with the overall storyline and barely touched on the Street Fighter universe (it was an origin story for Chun Li) it did have quite a few great special effects and martial arts scenes. It is an entertaining watch as long as you do go into it knowing it won’t do much justice to Street Fighter mythos or have an in-depth plot in general.

What’s this? A SECOND horror series I’ve watched? Well I just couldn’t help myself as it’s been so long since I’ve had a chance to watch the Lovecraft masterpiece of Re-Animator. This is the tale of a mad scientist named Herbert West who has discovered a way to bring the dead back to life. A satire on the Frankenstein story it tells how Herbert keeps trying to improve his ability to bring the dead back to life- with unintended side effects. The series can’t quite decide if it’s horror or comedy but meshes the two together rather well.

Bride of the Re-Animator continues the tale told in the first as Herbert tries to have his assistant in the original, who is on the run from the law with him, assist his experiments once again. While it wasn’t an easy sell all he had to do was show that he had the heart of his assistant’s dead girlfriend who instantly wants to bring her back. Now to interject wouldn’t he need the brain as well? Aside from that though it felt true to the original and was entertaining all the way through.

Beyond Re-Animator takes a turn away from having his normal assistant. West is put into prison nearly at the offset for murder. A child in the area where he was arrested had seen the effects of West’s chemical and grew up with the sole intent of becoming a doctor to carry on his work. He is able to apply at the prison that West is being held and quickly brings him in as a ‘helper’ while he is actually assisting in the recreation of the cure for death. While locked in solitary West has found a way to improve on his formula that will not only reanimate the death but restore them to their original cognitive abilities. Full re-animation is now possible. Of course anything with this series is never as simple as it seems and everything begins to fall apart on keeping this ‘normal’ rather quickly.

Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror is a tribute to the Creep Show. An anthology of short horror tales that are all linked together by Snoop’s character narrating them all. This is another movie that surprised me with how bad it could have been and actually being rather watchable. While a few of the stories were painful in implementation each one had something going for it. While if I had to see any anthology horror movie get made into a series it would of course be Trick ‘R Treat, but if this one were too I wouldn’t have any real complaints. As long as they could get a bit more actual horror movie star power in the next one.

When this little science fiction movie Moon started I had no idea where it was going. It wasn’t until about 20-30 minutes in where things began to progress to the point that made the movie actually seem to be going somewhere. Once it did though I was hooked. Sam Rockwell played his character to perfection and Kevin Spacey voicing the robot who was his assistant was a blast. With Earth’s power sources winding down we have begun to harvest helium-3 from the moon as a new power source. (Fun fact: Helium-3 is a real element found on the moon which could provide another source of power for our planet.) While I can’t go into details on how this progresses too far without giving away spoilers let me just say that if you are into a science fiction movie, that likes to take pot shots at humanity, cloning, corporate greed, and has an overall good if slow story- pick this up immediately.

With all of the horror movies that I have seen as of late I do have to say that the introduction to UP takes the cake as one of the saddest and most depressing introductions of overtime. I’m clearly talking emotion here not quality as UP once again proves that Pixar is an animated movie house with power and talent. They have yet to fail to deliver a good animated movie and once more have made it increasingly more adult orientated compared to the standard kiddie fair you would expect from an animated movie. Not that there isn’t room for the children to see this as well as it really is a movie that can be appreciated by all ages. For those who have seen the movie all I can say is one thing.. SQUIRREL!

Black Dynamite is the funniest movie I’ve seen this year. While some may argue that Zombieland was, and I agreed until I had seen this, you really need to watch it before you make that judgment call. Both emulating and making fun of the 70’s blacksploitation films, Black Dynamite had me in pain from laughter. Not only was it written well but it was FILMED looking to be a 70’s film from the outfits, the sets, and the colors on the film itself everything fit perfectly. If you are at all a fan of 70’s blacksploitation films or kung fu movies and haven’t seen this yet you are doing yourself a huge disservice and need to get this immediately.

House of the Devil makes it two for two on films that LOOK as if they had been filmed years ago. While this would be early to mid 80’s horror instead of the 70’s it still has the same feel of not being a recent movie. Again, dialogue, sets, props, acting, visually, it’s an 80’s horror movie. I’m not talking the late 80’s horror movies either that were typical slasher flicks or cheesy but the GOOD horror with proper suspense built into the plot. I cannot wait to see what else this director pulls off and pray that he stays in the horror genre. If he does we have an easy building of a dynasty of quality horror movies on our hands since he knows what works and is able to implement it.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

I Am Again Throwing Myself To The Wolves

Ok, so I am about half way done with a ‘life update’ post with all of the movies I’ve watched lately / etc. To be completely honest I don’t have enough time in the next 10 minutes to finish it and when I go home I will likely not do a single thing aside from play Modern Warfare 2.

Knowing I will not finish my post and that I missed one yesterday I am choosing the cheap cop out post. A video. Not just any video but a sexist video in the style of classic sexist public service announcements. This will provide humor to most of my friends and annoyance from some of my female friends. I am ok with this. I’m willing to take the heat!

(Maybe tomorrow I can fit in both a Friday 5 which has had 0 research done for it so far AND my life update post. Only time will tell.)

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Things Aren’t What They Appear To Be

Today makes the 40th year that Sesame Street has been able to hold it’s sway over the children of our world- WITH EVIL! While for years the show has been displayed as a friendly place to live that supports the teaching of morals to children it was only a matter of time before the truth came out. While it came to light a few years ago that Bert is evil, the masses choose to ignore this. Most believed it was a cruel hoax aimed at twisted humor and defacing a positive family brand. If you choose to ignore the fact that the mastermind of the horrors that were inflicted upon the world by Hitler, Bin Laden, Saddam, and the assassination of JFK for starters you only need to delve a little further.

To start with doesn’t it strike you funny that there are so many monsters on the show? Sure they act cute and cuddly for the audience but things that go bump in the night are NOT known to be child friendly. Would YOU trust a group of monsters to hang out with your children regardless of how friendly they acted? I don’t think so. The entire place is a breeding ground for evil! People there are REASONS children worry about monsters under the bed or in their closet, they don’t want to be eaten! However, the evil of just a multitude of monsters doesn’t stop here though- it gets worse from one of the key characters on the show.

Aside from the sparkly happy go lucky wanna be vampires that have sprung up in Twilight as of late when have you ever heard of these examples of the undead to be a positive influence on anyone, kids aside? Keeping in mind that “good” vampires are new why would trust the children with a vamp whose name is The Count? Hello? Dracula? The accepted oldest badass of the fanged nation has always had a way of appearing smooth in a noble way, do you think that just went away? Clearly this has become a ploy for him to get ‘fresh’ blood in the purest form possible. What can taste sweeter to a vampire over the blood of an innocent? A child is the perfect example of innocence which leads me to the ultimate deal with the devil that the Sesame Street franchise has made to date.

While some would think that Elmo is a source of evil for the masses this picture is proof that he is only a puppet for a far greater evil. One that has been known both in Hollywood and a demon who used the mythos to exist in our world. A bringer of nightmares who uses them to consume his pray. What better joke on the innocent children he loves to kill then to use a program beloved by all to spread his message of terror onto Elm Streets everywhere? What better character to use to inflict the hearts and minds of these Children but Elmo- the one they have all come to love and adore?

Yes that’s right ladies and gentlemen, in order to secure their place in history as the breeding ground of horror, Sesame Street has welcomed Freddy Kruger into their home. While Bert could have been thought of as pure evil for his past plans no one could have expected him to willing offer the ‘family show’ he runs to be the new gateway for a serial killing demon to jump into our world. Now Freddy has the ability to inflect nightmare not just on every Elm Street in the land but to every child who has been a fan of this ‘moral’ and ‘educational’ show over the years. TV programming at it’s finest when the all mighty dollar is used to spread terror and death to the innocent.

I beseech you one and all when you want to find quality programming for your children, research what they are going to be watching. Do you really want this form of corruption and murder to reach into their hearts and minds? Are they really prepared to be able to handle Bert’s maniacal influence over the world? Hide from the horde of monsters who are constantly searching for them? Have the strength of will to reduce the seduction of an ancient vampire? Have the ability to properly protect themselves in their dreams from one of the ultimate forms of evil? When you are deciding on what they can watch, please, think of the children before you turn on Sesame Street for them.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

Blind Guardian – Giving Nightmares To Children

Honestly with how much the clown looks like IT I just couldn’t help but crack up at how great this video is. If this happened to me as a child, aside from the whole being traumatized for life, I don’t think I could sleep again. Wait.. maybe an IT meets Freddy crossover is in order…

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

For The Spork Enthusiast In The Wild!

Now if you’ve known me for any length of time outside of my blog (you know say… real life or one of the people who fall into the category of online friends) you may know that I have an unhealthy obsession with sporks. I greatly try to not let this bleed over into anything I write because it’s just weird. I have no explanation if it’s the word itself, the concept of the spork, but I just find them extremely entertaining. (OK entertaining to threaten people with..)

When I saw this I could do nothing but show it off. I’m half tempted to buy it to add to my ‘collection’ of sporks! (Which really only consists of my Titanium Spork (from Think Geek.) Still, it humors me nonetheless!

So yes.. this is a real product and if blowing $34 on it (not including S&H) if your thing head over to T.A.D. Gear and snag one today. I am REALLY trying to find a way to justify buying one of these…

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

This Week’s Top 5 Blog Posts

While not always in the top spots if you at all follow my Friday 5’s there are two blogs that keep hitting them constantly. I think I’m going to have to try to put a ban on The Vault and Day of the Woman just so some other sites can make it on here! Stealing the spotlight, at least part of it, week after week. It’s really just not fair!

1. Eight Do-or-Die Tips for Micro-Budget Horror Moguls by: Stacie Ponder on Horror Hacker.
A guide on how to shoot a horror movie on a lower budget? This one is a guaranteed bookmark for later. Not that I’d ever have interest in making a movie down the line or anything along those lines… Who am I kidding trying that would be a lot of fun so this one is something I may look into again in the future. (See: List of projects I want to work on that is about 10 miles long at this point.)

2. Visceral Visionaries: Rachel Sims by: Brian Solomon of The Vault of Horror.
Brian recently did an interview with Rachel Sims. While you may not know the name off the top of your head any of the crafting readers who follow Buy Zombie will probably recognize her work as I have featured it there a few times now. One of the many crafters I’ve been in touch with through the site she loves working her art into the realm of the undead and it’s a good read for anyone who loves original artwork (with a zombie theme.)

3. Interview with Robert Englund by: Rick Romanowskiof of Paradise of Horror.
So being a small fan of the Freddy franchise I can’t help but being a fan of Mr. Englund. Being 3/4th of the way through his biography right now probably doesn’t hurt things either on seeing any extra interviews with the man who terrorizes children in their sleep (at least through the third movie.) He truly is an interesting guy and while the interview is unfortunately not fully in quote format is still a fun read nonetheless.

4. Greatest Fashion Statements in Exploitation Cinema History by: Tenebrous Kate of Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire.
Perception is everything, and what else is perception initially based off of over your first look at a person? Kate takes us through some of the more.. interesting.. choices in exploitation movies on a huge variety of fun outfits characters have worn. From quality to ridiculous there is quite a bit covered here.

5. DAY OF THE WOMAN’S HEART BREAKS OVER I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE REMAKE by: Brittney-Jade Colangelo of Day of the Woman.
Poor Brittney. The film she loves above all others (and the very one her blog is named after) is being remade. Remakes 90% of the time just make any fans of the original want to pound their head into a wall repeatedly. While this isn’t always the case, any movie buff will tell you the same. So what happens when any horror blogger discovers their favorite movie is being remade? Rant about it at length!

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

How To Kill… A Day!

Zombie Outbreak is an 8 hour zombie themed movie fest that’s happening on the 14th in Chicago. Here is a mini-trailer that includes clips from some of the movies that’ll be showing! I of course plan to attend. My friends over at Horror Society (disclaimer: who I do occasionally write for) got this going and who am I, a zombie/horror fanatic to not attend? Exactly. There’s no excuse so the day has already been requested off of work and a good time is to be had.

What’s Being Shown
Chemical 12-D
The Basement
Fleshbeast
Colin
Pathogen
Zombie Girl the Movie
Tales from the Script Promo
Sub Hub Trailer
The Return of the Living Dead – 35mm

For all of the details head over to Horror Society’s Official Page and check it out!

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

AKA – I Find The Greatest Things Ever

So Warren Ellis, a comic guru and author, has decided to release a weekly shirt to the public. Yes each of his designs are available for one week only and while one might think I enjoy his second week’s (I Want Human Bacon) over this one- honestly no the first shirt is just a classic.

LOVE means never having to tell the authorities where I buried you. It’s funny, dark, and all around just a great shirt. I couldn’t stop cracking up when I saw this and knew it had to be mine… so it’s sitting in the laungry waiting to be washed prior to it’s first wearing. Thank you Warren Ellis, for greatness in comics, novels, and now shirts.

Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.

That’s right sweetheart…

Thank you James for sending this over to add to my collection of images to piss off the women in my life! Every time I post or share an image like this I know I’m about to be hit with a shit storm from a few of my friends yet just can’t help myself.. ENJOY!