Monthly Archives: April 2012

Apr 9 2012

Pictures from the Stratford Showcase of Crafts

From left to right: Writers Stacey Longo, Rob Watts, Jason Harris, Kristi Petersen Schoonover, Nathan Wrann, and Kimberly Dalton at the Stratford Showcase of Crafts in Stratford, Connecticut. Photo by William Rockwell.

Authors Stacey Longo and Kristi Petersen Schoonover. Photo by Jason Harris.

One of the NEHW tables at the Stratford Showcase of Crafts. Photo by Jason Harris.

Authors Kimberly Dalton and Nathan Wrann. Photo by Jason Harris.

Stacey Longo and Kristi Petersen Schoonover relaxing behind the NEHW table. Photo by Jason Harris.

Author Kimberly Dalton holding her children's book. Photo by Jason Harris.

Author Kristi Petersen Schoonover watching Stephen King's Children of the Corn. Photo by Jason Harris.

Author Stacey Longo looking out at the visitors of the craft fair. Photo by Jason Harris.

Busy authors behind the NEHW table. Photo by Jason Harris.

 

 

Apr 9 2012

Director Talks about ‘Detention’

Director Talks about ‘Detention’

by Jason Harris

Director Joshua Khan. Photo by Meghan Swan.

Music video and film director Joseph Kahn is making the kind of movies he would want to watch and his current movie, Detention, comes out this Friday.

He describes Detention, which he co-wrote with Mark Palermo as a multi-genre movie that contains elements of horror, science fiction, time traveling, high school comedy, and kung-fu. Horror starts it out, but there are big chunks of the movie that have nothing to do with horror, he said.

Kahn says his film is “a high school movie for the kids today.” Detention can be enjoyed not only by kids, but by older people too.

“It’s not a movie about movies. It’s a movie about pop culture.”

His agenda was “to make a high school movie that felt like high school today” and how teens literally see the world.

“I don’t think being a kid is all that negative that Hollywood portrays it to be,” Kahn said. “I feel like when you are youthful there is optimism. The world is open and the older you get that kind of fades a little bit so it was a nice sort of moment to try and get in there and try to capture that.”

He knows that some negativity has to come into the picture to bring out the drama.

When he and Palermo started writing the movie, they thought about writing a slasher film, but it morphed into something else because of how he sees things, Kahn said.

Kahn made his first movie, Torque, which came out in 2004. He considers himself picky when choosing projects to do. One reason is because movie making is “a big time consuming effort.” It took him five years to create Detention, he said.

“I don’t believe I need to make 20, 30 movies in my lifetime. I feel like if I only make a handful of movies then each one counts.”

Before directing movies, Kahn was creating music videos for musicians like Britney Spears, U2, and the Backstreet Boys.

“I have always been, from a very early age, tied into music and pop culture. I’m like an old guy that still understands what everyone else has because I sell it. I’m a music video director for the most part.”

Kahn went to New York University to study film directing and “grew up watching a ton of movies.”

He thinks it’s better for a potential movie director to have been a waiter than a music video director.

“It just seems like a lot of people discount music videos as a negative towards feature film making,” Kahn said.

He considers himself to be an experienced filmmaker since he has shot 500 music videos. It’s about the process an individual person learns from the experience, he said.

“It’s really strange to me for the last 20 years all I have been doing every day is shooting and editing and learning and processing.”

Kahn paid for Detention with a combination of his personal funds and taking out loans. The best part of doing the movie was spending his own money and being able to do whatever he wanted on the movie, he said.

He enjoyed the freedom of bankrolling his own movie since he had no one looking over his shoulder like he did on Torque.

“On Torque, every time I set up something some script supervisor would say, ‘Ok Joseph Kahn is putting the camera in a weird place and we have to report this to the studio because it won’t cut together.’ I would get those types of things every day.”

There is one recognizable actor in Detention. Dane Cook portrays Principal Verge.

The director knew Cook ever since he cast him in a cameo role in Torque, which was Cook’s first movie.

“The studio fought me on it because they didn’t know who he was at the time,” Kahn said about casting Cook in Torque.

Kahn told the studio Cook was funny, would be great for the role and had a lot of fans, he said.

Cook liked the Detention script, but was resistant to doing the movie because “it was low-budget and he was in a weird place in his life,” Kahn said. He also didn’t want to play a high school principal because it would date him and it was so out of character for him.

“He plays the cool guy who has sex with a lot of girls,” Kahn said about Cook’s usual roles, but eventually he decided to portray the principal.

Cook’s character is a guy that has been crushed by life who resents and hates all the kids, Kahn said.

“It’s so against his imaging and I think its fun to see him in that role.”

He has some ideas for future projects, but since they would be expensive he would need studio backing to get them made.

“You can’t make a $100 million dollar movie without having to answer to somebody.”

Kahn doesn’t know what the future holds for him, but he does know what he wants to do.

“I just want to make movies. I just look at it one film at a time.”

Apr 6 2012

Filmmaker to Appear at NEHW Table at Craft Showcase

Filmmaker and writer Nathan Wrann, whose second book in the young adult paranormal thriller series, Dark Matter Heart, came out in January, will be appearing at the Stratford Spring Showcase of Crafts this Saturday.

The second book in the Dark Matter Heart trilogy, From Out of Chaos, continues the story of the Cor Griffin Bloodsuckers. Cor, Taylor and Caitlyn have put an end to The Creeper’s reign of terror, but at what cost? The teens’ lives are thrust deeper into turmoil as Detectives Tolliver and Orlovsky keep Cor under surveillance; Caitlyn copes with her transformation, and Taylor sets off a cataclysmic chain of events that will tragically change their lives forever.

About the Dark Matter Heart trilogy: “A new town. A new school. A new beginning. Seventeen year-old Cordell Griffin, and his mother, moved from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest to deal with his “Sun allergies,” and bizarrely restrictive “human blood diet”. Cor has one goal: To blend in and be invisible. Unfortunately for him, no matter how far he goes, danger and tragedy lurk around every corner. Realizing that he and his friends, Taylor, Caitlyn, and Diana, can never lead normal lives, his goal changes to simply survive the experience. Armed with knowledge gleaned from antique books and artwork, Cor and his new friends set out to uncover the truth behind the myths, legends and scary stories that keep us awake late at night.”

Both books are available as e-books too.

Wrann will be signing and selling copies of his books. He will also have on hand his two movies Hunting Season and Burning Inside.

The Stratford Spring Showcase of Crafts happens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will take place at the Stratford Hotel & Conference Center, located at 225 Lordship Blvd. in Stratford, Connecticut.

Apr 5 2012

Joe Viglione’s Upcoming Schedule on Visual Radio

Joe Viglione’s VISUAL RADIO GUESTS

April 5   Rebecca Davis  – author of Alan Wilson of Canned Heat – biography. Alan Wilson’s sister may also call in. Richie Sarno, co-host

April 12   Gary DeCarlo – in studio – STEAM, Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye 1:30 or 2 p.m. for broadcast at 8 p.m.  http://www.wincam.org

April 19   State Rep. Paul Donato

April 26    Phil Greene of the band, Sparrow, engineer Beaver Brown, New Kids on Block

May 3      Skip Williamson, comic book artist

UPCOMING GUESTS

Filmmaker Robert Newton
Steve Hunter of Lou Reed/Alice Cooper
Musician Seitu

Joe Viglione’s show can be watched here, http://wincam.org/Channel8Stream/Channel8Stream/ and the archives can be found here: http://visual-radio.net/.

Apr 4 2012

The NEHW Appearing at Stratford ‘Showcase of Crafts’

NEHW members will be signing their books at the Stratford Spring Showcase of Crafts this Saturday.

Authors Stacey Longo, Kristi Petersen Schoonover and Rob Watts, who are NEHW members, will be selling and signing their books. The books on hand include Bram Stoker Nominated Epitaphs, the first NEHW anthology, Skeletons in the Swimmin’ Hole – Tales from Haunted Disney World, and Huldufólk.

The Stratford Spring Showcase of Crafts happens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will take place at the Stratford Hotel & Conference Center, located at 225 Lordship Blvd. in Stratford, Connecticut.

Apr 3 2012

FILM ON SUSHI MASTER TO PLAY IN GLOUCESTER THIS WEEKEND

Press Release

FILM ON SUSHI MASTER TO PLAY IN GLOUCESTER THIS WEEKEND

Special screening Sunday to benefit Cape Ann’s food pantry, The Open Door

Gloucester, MA – The Cape Ann Community Cinema at 21 Main Street in Gloucester continues its monthly “Dinner And A Movie” series this Sunday, April 8 at 5:00 p.m. with a special benefit screening of the acclaimed documentary, Jiro Dreams Of Sushi.

The film tells the story of 85-year-old Jiro Ono, considered by many to be the world’s greatest sushi chef. He is the proprietor of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant auspiciously located in a Tokyo subway station. Despite its humble appearances, it is the first restaurant of its kind to be awarded a prestigious 3-star Michelin review, and sushi lovers from around the globe make repeated pilgrimage, calling months in advance and shelling out top dollar for a coveted seat at Jiro’s sushi bar. At the heart of this story is Jiro’s relationship with his eldest son Yoshikazu, the worthy heir to Jiro’s legacy, who is unable to live up to his full potential in his loving father’s shadow.

The film is rated PG, for mild thematic elements and brief smoking. Tickets for this one-night-only event are $9.50 adults, $8.00 for students & seniors (60+) and $6.50 for Cinema Members, available at the Cinema or online at www.CapeAnnCinema.com. Sushi from Latitude 43 will be available for purchase for prices ranging from $10 to $16, and will be served during intermission at around 6:00pm.

The Cape Ann Community Cinema will donate a portion of every ticket and sushi sale to Cape Ann’s food pantry, The Open Door (www.FoodPantry.org).

Apr 2 2012

The Epitaph, Issue 18 (March 2012)

Issue #18 (March 2012)

The Epitaph

Journal of the New England Horror Writers (NEHW)

The NEHW Committee:

Tracy L. Carbone – Co-Chair
Stacey Longo – Co-Chair
Dan Keohane – Treasurer
Jason Harris – Director of Publicity/Webmaster
K. Allen Wood – Director of Publications
Scott Goudsward – Director of Events
Danny Evarts – Art Director
Tim Deal (alternate)
T.J. May (alternate)

NEHW SIGNINGS AND READINGS:

Stratford Spring Showcase of Crafts

The NEHW will have a table at the Stratford Spring Showcase of Crafts in Stratford, CT, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 7. Participation will cost $15. Contact Jason at dudley228@gmail.com if you want to participate.

Foxboro Jaycees Spring Fair

The NEHW will have two spaces at the Foxboro Jaycees Spring Fair on May 19 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Participation will cost $15. Contact Jason at dudley228@gmail.com.

NECON 32

The NEHW will have a table at NECON. Participation costs $10. Members will be responsible to man the table for a couple hours if you choose to sell books. Contact Scott Goudsward at screaming602@gmail.com.

Rhode Island Comic Con

The NEHW will be at the Rhode Island Comic Con on November 3 and 4. The cost will be $25 per member to participate. Contact Jason at dudley228@gmail.com to be at the table.

NEHW ANNOUNCEMENT

The Bram Stoker Awards happened last night, March 31, at 11 p.m. (Eastern Time). The NEHW finally found out if our first anthology, Epitaphs, was going to stay a Bram Stoker nominee or become a Bram Stoker winner. Unfortunately, it was the latter. John Skipp’s Demons: Encounters with the Devil and His Minions, Fallen Angels, and the Possessed won the award in the category, Superior Achievement in an Anthology. The NEHW congratulates John Skipp on his achievement!

NEHW WRITING/ART OPPORTUNITIES

From Hollie Snider:

Snider is the Executive Editor at Hidden Thoughts Press, which is a non-fiction press focusing on mental wellness. They currently have two open submission calls. One is for essays concerning phobias and how people live with them, or live with people who suffer from them. The other is on suicide prevention.

Submission call information can be found on our website at www.hiddenthoughtspress.com. The website is currently under construction, but the tab links do work. If potential submitters have questions, they can email Hollie at holliesnider@hiddenthoughtspress.com. The direct link to the phobia call is

http://hiddenthoughtspress.com/submissions-2/open-calls/real-people-real-phobias/ and the direct link to the suicide prevention call is

http://hiddenthoughtspress.com/submissions-2/open-calls/suicide-prevention-anthology/.

From Charles Day:

Now’s your chance to join our EJP editors David Hayes & Henry Snider as they carefully select the stories that will either keep you from ever stepping foot in an amusement park again, or have you bouncing over those waiting in line to catch all the terrifying fun! Welcome to my newest happy place, welcome to…Carnival of the Damned http://eviljesterpress.com/main/2012/03/16/evil-jester-press-an-open-call-for-carnival-of-the-damned/ Everything you could imagine from traveling entertainment – food, games of chance, sideshows, dancing girls, funhouses, fortune tellers, rides…and the seeds for nightmarish realities made flesh. Give us tales of monstrosities underneath boardwalks, circuses in the middle of nowhere, whatever your mind can conjure!

From Robert Heske:

Dear Comic Book Creators,

Studio 407, the publisher of my new book, The Night Projectionist, is running a very cool art contest, providing creator exposure and giving away some cool stuff on Facebook. Check out the press release, http://studio-407.blogspot.com/2012/03/win-original-art-from-night.html. Please feel free to share the link with your peers. And if you get a chance, please LIKE the FB page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Night-Projectionist/303149166415369.

NEHW MEMBER NEWS:

From Deb Eskie:

Eskie’s first collaborative film project, Mother’s Sin, written by her and Chris Lawn, is based on her short story of the same name. It will premiere on YouTube on April 13. Check out the trailer at www.youtube.com/like2productions.

From David L. Tamarin:

Tamarin has been made Associate Producer for the international horror anthology, Profane Exhibit. The film creators are striving to be the most intense and horrifying film of 2012. More information can be found at their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/theProfaneExhibit.

Recently, he attended Uwe Boll’s shoot for the film, a nasty thriller called Basement with Clint Howard and Tara Cardinal.

From Robert Heske:

Heske announces the release of his new graphic novel, The Night Projectionist, a vampire graphic novel, which will be out in comic shops and bookstores in May.

Here’s a quick premise: “On the eve of Halloween a small group of moviegoers attend the final showing in an old movie theater, not knowing it could be the last thing they ever see! All hell breaks loose when the theater is surrounded by a coven of vampires, and the only person who knows why is the mysterious night projectionist. But is he going to help these people or get them killed? Soon a bloody war rages through the theater with the body count multiplying by the minute. Don’t miss this no-holds-barred tale of bloody revenge that puts the bite back into vampire stories!”

The graphic novel is priced at $12.99 and can be pre-ordered at your local comic shop today!

Publisher Studio 407 has made it simple to pre-order the book. Simply click here, http://investcomics.com/news/studio-407-makes-it-easier-than-ever-to-pre-order-comics. To follow the Studio 407 blog covering all their comic book happenings, visit http://www.studio-407.blogspot.com/.

From Charles Day:

The Fierce and Unforgiving Muse: Twenty-six Tales from the Terrifying Mind of Gregory L. Norris by Gregory L. Norris, recently published by Evil Jester Press, includes short stories, novelettes, and novellas.

The Kindle e-book and paperback edition of Attic Toys, edited by Jeremy C. Shipp, and Evil Jester Digest Volume One is now available.

From Roxanne Dent:

Dent’s story, “Magnus the Magnificent,” is appearing in the anthology, The Call of Lovecraft by Evil Jester Press, which will be released in July, the same month NECON happens.

Two of her short stories, “The Banchee of Muddy River,” and a Young Adult one, “Forbidden Love,” are now up on Kindle.

From Steven Withrow:

Withrow’s poem, “The Mad Monologue of Doctor Chronology,” will appear in the September 2012 issue of Dreams & Nightmares: A Magazine of Fantastic Poetry, edited by David C. Kopaska-Merkel (http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.com/index.html).

From Thomas D’Agostino:

D’Agostino and his wife, Arlene, will be appearing at the Ocean State Paranormal Conference on Saturday, April 14 at the St. Ann’s Arts and Cultural Center, 84 Cumberland St., Woonsocket, RI from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. and then Saturday, April 21 at the Southcoast Paranormal and Psychic Faire, at 110 Middle St. Fairhaven, MA from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. followed by a ghost investigation of the Bridgewater Triangle hosted by Tom, Arlene and John Brightman.

On Tuesday, April 24, they will be at The Windham Restaurant in Windham, New Hampshire for the monthly Dining With The Dead series hosted by the New England Ghost Project.

Tickets for all these events are available online or at the door. Here are the links,

www.newenglandghostproject.com and www.scparanormalfaire.com.

From Alex Kimmell:

Kimmell’s new novel, The Key To Everything, is being released by Booktrope Publishing in the next couple of months.

From Kerry A. Morgan:

Morgan works in a school district that is weeding out its library. Some time ago in the New England area, someone requested books for a library that had been hit by a storm at another school. If you know who was asking for donations for the library, please contact Kerry at km@kerryamorgan.com to discuss a donation from her school. Thank you.

From Karen Dent:

Dent’s story, “A Case to Die For,” will be appearing in the anthology, Damnation & Dames. It will be launched at Swancon 37 in Australia on Easter. The anthology will be available from Ticonderoga’s online shop at www.indiebooksonline.com and at internet bookstores such as www.bookdepository.com and www.amazon.com. It will also be available in trade paperback and as an e-book in the Kindle format.

Her story, “Endless Hunger,” will appear in the Evil Jester Press anthology, The Call of Lovecraft. It will be coming out in July.

From Dale Phillips:

Phillips’ collection of short stories, Halls of Horror, is available in print: http://www.amazon.com/Halls-Horror-Ten-Story-Collection/dp/1470162318/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3

And his latest collection, Strange Tales, is out in print:

http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Tales-Five-Story-Collection/dp/1470179105/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_6. And as an e-book: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/138384.

From K. A. Laity:

Laity will be appearing at Alt.Fiction in Leicester

(www.altfiction.co.uk), talking with Graham Joyce about The Extremely Dangerous Fairy Folk, appearing on a panel about adaptations and reading some fiction.

Earlier in March, she was a featured writer at Phoenix-Con in Dublin, appearing on panels about myth and folklore, social media and the necessity of editors.

From Scott Goudsward:

Goudsward has just received a contract for the first of two anthologies, to be co-edited by him and Rachel Kenely. Both books are from Chaosium and will be due out in the second quarter of 2013. The first anthology is tentatively called Once Upon an Apocolypse: Volume 1 – Zombies. More news will follow.

From Kristi Petersen Schoonover:

Schoonover kicked off 2012 by appearing on Paranormal, Eh? Radio’s One Year Anniversary Special. You can hear this and any of her other radio interviews by visiting the dedicated page on her website: http://kristipetersenschoonover.com/radio-interviews/

Her radio show, Scary Scribes, premiered on Canada’s Paranormal, Eh? Radio Network and has been getting such real-time interest that the network is adding a call-in line so listeners can interact with guests. January featured NEHW Co-Chair Stacey Longo and a reading of her story “People Person,” February featured John Palisano and the first chapter of his new book, Nerves, published by Bad Moon Books and March featured NEHW member John Grover and his stories “3:15” and “The Tie That Binds.” If you missed them, past episodes are available on iTunes or right from the Scary Scribes website, http://scaryscribes.com/past-episodes/. Future guests will include NEHW members T.J. May, Daniel Pearlman, Kevin Lucia and Rob Watts.

She spent two glorious weeks up at the Norman Mailer Writers Colony in Provincetown, Mass., where she got lots of work done, including drafts for four more short stories.

Schoonover also joined fellow NEHW members T.J. May and Trisha Wooldridge for a successful writers’ workshop at Annie’s Book Stop in Worcester, MA.

Her poem “Today” was accepted by and published in Vagabondage Press’ anthology, Love Notes, and is available in both print and e-book. It’s sold at all major online book retailers, including Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo, as well as on the Vagabondage Press website at www.vagabondagepress.com. To purchase Love Notes in print, http://bit.ly/LoveNotesPrint or Kindle:

http://bit.ly/LoveNotesKindle

Her short story, “Growlers,” which was commissioned by Literary Mayhem, was published in February. You can read it here: http://literarymayhem.com/wordpress/kristi-petersen-schoonover-growlers/

A reprint of her short story, “Whether Girl,” was published in May-December Publications’ Wake the Witch anthology for the benefit of the Red Cross. To purchase in Print: http://bit.ly/WakeWitchPrint. To purchase for Kindle: http://bit.ly/WakeWitchKindle.

Her short story, “A Bone to Pick” took Second Place in Toasted Cheese’s Dead of Winter 2011 Contest and was published by the magazine on March 1. To read the story and check out the other winners, visit here: http://tclj.toastedcheese.com/2012/12-1/schoonover.htm.

Most recently, she was asked to write a short story, “The Thing Inside,” for the upcoming anthology, Unnatural Tales of the Jackalope.

Lastly, she and her fiancée, Nathan (Schoonover, also a NEHW member) have been planning their wedding. They would love it if any NEHW member would send them a rock as a get-well wish. The rocks will be put on display and the contributor’s names will be listed on their wedding website and in their programs. Details on that are here: http://journeytothecenteroftheearthwedding.com/2012/02/02/friends-fans-please-send-us-a-rock-for-our-wedding-day/

From J.P. Freeman:

Issue 2 of Things Better Left Unsaid will be available April 1 via print on demand at www.indyplanet.com. Issue 1 is still available.

From Miranda Doerfler:

Doerfler participated in a climate change anthology, Hot Mess, which speculates on the human effects of a changing environment. The cover was designed by Sarah Hartley, and the interior illustrations were done by Hannah Werdmuller.

A portion of proceeds will be donated by the individual authors to their preferred climate-change associated charities. To purchase on Amazon, chick here:

http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Mess-speculative-fiction-ebook/dp/B007MFDU3K

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS:

Alex Kimmell (RI)
Kim Krodel (CT)
Errick Nunnally (MA)

– Jason Harris, Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW
– Stacey Longo, Assistant Editor, the Epitaph: Journal of NEHW

Apr 1 2012

Pictures from the Last Two NEHW Events

The NEHW Table at the Heritage Craft Fair at the Keefe Technical School in Framingham, MA. Photo by Jason Harris

The other NEHW table at the Framingham event. Photo by Jason Harris

From left to right: (front row) Kristi Petersen Schoonover and Stacey Longo, (back row) Rob Watts, Jason Harris, and David Price. Photo by Kayleigh Price.

Author David Price signing his first autograph at the Keefe Technical School in Framingham. Photo by Pauline Price.

Author Morven Westfield holding her books at the Heritage Craft Fair. Photo by Pauline Price.

Author K. Allen Wood in Framingham. Photo by Pauline Price.

Author K. Allen Wood autographs a story for a fan as Sarah Gomes looks on in Framingham. Photo by Pauline Price.

Our space at the Hanover Craft Fair. Photo by Jason Harris.

A close-up view of the Hanover NEHW table. Photo by Jason Harris.