Category Article

Jul 27 2012

Three Reasons to Attend Necon

Three Reasons to Attend Necon

by Jason Harris

I have been going to the Northeastern Writers’ Conference (Necon) for over 13 years. I can’t believe it’s been over a decade since my first one. Since I started going in the late 90s, I haven’t missed a year. I have been going to this convention longer than I have known my wife, who I have gotten hooked on Necon as well. It’s funny that it took a friend from Florida to introduced me to Necon since this convention is based in New England; a place I have lived my entire life.

1. The first reason to become a Necon camper is to meet fellow writers or fellow readers if you are not a writer. Here are a few writers that have attended the convention in the past: Stephen King, F. Paul Wilson, Peter Straub, Rick Hautala, Christopher Golden, Neil Gaiman, Craig Shaw Gardner, Tracy L. Carbone, Stacey Longo, Dan Keohane, Wraith James White, Brian Keene, Simon Clark, James A. Moore, Weston Ochse, and Jack Ketchum.

2. The second reason is to learn about the publishing industry and upcoming trends. Every Necon, there are always panels with varying topics such as e-books, young adult horror, trends in horror, vampires, zombies, and movies to name a few that have been held at this convention. The e-book topic is fitting since Necon E-Books was announced at Necon 30. Check out the selection of e-books here.

3. The third reason is to pick up more books and have the authors sign it. On Friday night during Necon, there is a “Meet the Authors” event. This is the time where you can get books that you brought signed. Or you can buy a book direct from the author. There is no better way to potentially meet the next Stephen King. And when they do become famous, you can tell your friends that you met and talked with the author at Necon. Your friends will be very jealous.

The NEHW table at Necon’s Authors’ Night. Photo by Jason Harris.

There are more reasons to attend Necon, but the main three are found above. Once you attend, you will find out the other reasons why this convention is so great. When you decide to go, just write on the registration form that Jason Harris referred you. You won’t regret it.

Necon happens in Rhode Island every July. For more information, click here.

Jul 25 2012

Fear

Fear

by David Price

Fear. It’s the horror writer’s bread and butter because; well we’re all afraid of something, right? As horror writers, we do our best to convey our own irrational fears into our stories; hoping they strike a chord with the reader who wants to be scared. To me, it’s those phobia-type fears, the ones you just can’t explain why they freak you out so much; they make the most memorable stories. I mean, sure, death is usually going to find its way into any horror story, but that’s the easy one, isn’t it? Everyone’s afraid of death. But, it’s those little phobias that we don’t want to admit we have, which a horror writer can still use to give us the heebie- jeebies. A good horror writer will latch onto one of these “irrational” fears, probably something they have lived with themselves to some degree, and do their best to transfer that terrifying experience to the reader.

Claustrophobia’s a good one to start with. How many of you are afraid of tight spaces? I know people who can’t get an MRI without a sedative or watch movies in which someone is buried alive. Even elevators bother some people, I assume because they feel trapped for a while. Tight spaces never use to bother me at all. Growing up, I thought spelunking (cave exploring) looked like a pretty interesting hobby. When I was younger and my parents took us on vacation, I always wanted to check out the local tourist caves or mines. There was something hidden and mysterious down in those dark corners of the earth that appealed to me.

About five years ago, my wife and I took our kids to see a natural tourist attraction, the Lost River Gorge, up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. There was one rock formation called the lemon squeezer that you have to twist and maneuver your body through. Everyone with claustrophobia avoids this particular attraction like the plague. My seven-year-old daughter squirmed her way to the other side, so I decided to give it a shot. Well, you guessed it, I got stuck. I couldn’t move for about thirty seconds no matter what I tried. That’s when the panic hit me. My heart started racing. Before I completely lost my cool, I tried in my calmest voice to explain to my daughter that I was stuck. Let me tell you, immobility is the wrong time to get an adrenaline rush. I realized that I had to calm myself down, if only for my daughter’s sake. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths until I could feel my heart slowing to a more reasonable beat. When I collected my thoughts, it occurred to me that backwards was the best option. I reversed the twisting that got me there in the first place and slowly backed my way out to freedom.

For years after that, my chest tightened up every time I remembered the event. My heart raced when I watched a scene from the movie The Descent where one of the spelunkers gets stuck in an impossibly tight crevice. She panicked and so did I. Now, I used to love that movie, and the first time I saw that scene it didn’t bother me at all. After my incident with the lemon squeezer, I could barely watch it. I avoided watching another favorite of mine, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, during this time as well because of the scene where Michael Madsen buries Uma Thurman alive. I just couldn’t take it.

I’d say claustrophobia had a good grip on me for three years or so, but I’ve been better lately. Thinking about tight spaces or watching someone get caught in one, like Ryan Reynolds in Buried or James Franco in 127 Hours no longer freaks me out. It was a strange three years, though.

Before the lemon squeezer, I never truly understood what all the claustrophobic fuss was about. I get it now. I’m not sure if I’m fully over it, but I’d like to put it to the test. Maybe it’s time to head back over to the Lost River Gorge and see if I can make it through the lemon squeezer this time. What do you think? Well I managed to write that without hyperventilating, so maybe I really am better. One thing’s for sure, now that I know what it’s like; you’ll be reading about some claustrophobic situations in stories of mine sometime in the future. And if I’m any good, you’ll know what it’s like to be caught in a tiny space, unable to move, heartbeat accelerating, hyperventilating, eyes darting uncontrollably this way and that, adrenaline coursing through your veins and making you struggle more, lodging you even tighter into your narrow little prison from which you’ll never escape.

Jul 21 2012

Excitment and Craziness at ConnectiCon 2012

Excitment and Craziness at ConnectiCon 2012

by Kendra L. Saunders

ConnectiCon has all of the rush, excitement and craziness of any of the major conventions, but it also provides a few much-needed lulls.

Carlos Ferro and Kendra L. Saunders at ConnectiCon 2012.

Carlos Ferro and Kendra L. Saunders at ConnectiCon 2012.

ConnectiCon 2012 boasted some fun and impressive guests, most notably Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic and Carlos Ferro (voice actor for Assassin’s Creed, Gears of War). The panel rooms were reasonable in size and there were enough genres represented to keep anyone entertained. Some of the most popular panels at this year’s convention were the ones centered around My Little Pony (I kid you not), a panel about famous bromances and the Steampunk Sex panel.

The Vagabonds and roadie, Kendra L. Saunders. Photo by Nick Presuto.

The Vagabonds and roadie, Kendra L. Saunders. Photo by Nick Presuto.

Now, walking around in full steampunk get-up with a popular steampunk group, The Vagabonds, means you’re going to be asked once or 10 times if you’re part of the Steampunk Sex panel. We were not part of it, and in fact, The Vagabonds had a panel scheduled at the same time. The Vagabonds’ crowd was a bit smaller for that particular panel, but I, as their ‘roadie’ and not a member of the actual group, could gauge things from the floor. The audience members were all incredibly entertaining people who kept the vibe in the room fun. Who says panels can’t be like a rock concert?

The dealer room was a bit slim and I did hear several complaints about that throughout the weekend. I’d intended to buy a wig at the convention, actually, but there weren’t any of the usual wig tables. There was an impressive market for Japanese foods, candy, and drinks, however, and those booths seemed especially crowded.

Carlos Ferro’s panel on Friday night was lively and enthusiastic, both on the part of the attendees and on the part of Carlos himself. He told us a few things he wasn’t supposed to (he’ll be a voice in the new Batman game and hinted at being a famous villain for it) and made a lot of jokes about his man crush on Michael Fassbender. He also mentioned that he prefers ConnectiCon to San Diego Comic Con. Carlos DJed the rave on Saturday night.

The Nostalgia Critic was so popular at the event that his presentation on Saturday caused outrageous lines of eager fans and headaches for the staff. The line had to be cut off at some point and a second presentation scheduled for the following day, which pushed the closing ceremonies back. The Nostalgia Critic was chipper and funny in person and when I mentioned to him that my brothers and I had gotten headaches and stomach-aches from watching his videos, he just smiled and said, “Always good to know I caused physical pain!” I saw male and female cosplayers of the Nostalgia Critic roaming the halls. How’s that for surreal!

Kendra L. Saunders with cosplay gender bender Avengers.

Kendra L. Saunders with cosplay gender bender Avengers.

Speaking of cosplaying, there was a ridiculously convincing Mr. T at ConnectiCon. If you told me that it was the real Mr. T just trolling all of us, I would believe you. Other standouts included a Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, a woman dressed entirely as a piece of art, a cosplay group as most of the cast of Game of Thrones, Gumby and loads of great Doctor Who characters.

Kendra L. Saunders and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Kendra L. Saunders and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

The rave on Friday and Saturday night drew a lot of attention and went on well into the early hours of the morning. Cafeteria space for the event was plentiful (better than other conventions I’ve attended) and for the most part, I didn’t see any rudeness or bad behavior on the part of the staff, despite mumblings and mutterings I heard from other con-goers.

All in all, I suggest ConnectiCon for anyone thinking of attending a convention in the northeastern states. Make sure to book your room well in advance, though (at least 6 months prior), as rooms sell out very quickly. Bring your imagination, a sense of humor and plenty of water bottles,and I can almost assure you that you’ll have a great time.

About the author:

Kendra L. Saunders is the author of magic realism novel, Inanimate Objects, host of the quirky literary podcast, 13 1/2 Minutes, marketing coordinator for Spencer Hill Press, Jazz-Age/all things England enthusiast and sometimes-roadie for her friends, The Vagabonds. For more information about her, as well as helpful writing tips, visit www.kendralsaunders.com. The Vagabonds can be found at www.the-vagabonds.net. Nick Presuto can be found at http://pyrophotography.tumblr.com/.

Jul 19 2012

The NEHW Spend the Evening at the New England Author Expo

The NEHW Spend the Evening at the New England Author Expo

by Rob Watts

Authors Tracy L. Carbone, Rob Watts, and David Price.

The New England Horror Writers participated in this evening’s New England Author Expo held at the beautifully lush Danversport Yacht Club in Danvers, Ma. The event was generously sponsored by Pear Tree Publishing in the Harbor View Ballroom, which made for a spectacular waterfront view and a relaxed atmosphere. Although a horrific thunder and lightning spectacle, along with torrential flash flooding almost put a damper (yes, pun intended) on the evening, luck was on our side as the clouds lifted and the sun once returned in time for our 4 p.m. opening.

Participating in the event was myself, NEHW co-chair Tracy Carbone, Director of Events Scott Goudsward, Robert Heske and fellow NEHW publicity committee writer David Price. Without being bias, our table was one of the best looking and most lively in the ballroom. Our storefront ensemble was a big hit with visitors passing by and unlike many fellow authors in the room, we had each other to keep things upbeat during the lulls. Many authors who attended this event solo had only themselves and a clock to stare at to keep themselves entertained. Turnout was decent, although I’m sure the threat of more rain and flooding jeopardized any chances of a larger crowd. That didn’t keep us down though. Sales were made by everyone at our table, but the success story of the evening was Tracy Carbone, not only in books, but her jams, pickles and bears were also a big success.

NEHW members’ books at New England Author Expo. Photo by Rob Watts.

Although the room was filled with mostly authors, there were many talented illustrators, a few publishers and even a guy who makes hand-made pens, which were really well made I must say. Musical entertainment was provided by local musician Digney Fignus. Also on hand was Mark Goddard of Lost in Space fame and WRKO Boston talk show host Michelle McPhee who was promoting her new book, A Mob Story. It was a fun evening with many great participants. Weather and attendance aside, we all agreed it was great event and we’d gladly do it again. Also worth a mention is the fact that David Price left from his own family vacation in New Hampshire to attend this event with us. Great team spirit Dave, we appreciate it!

Jul 17 2012

Readercon, My Favorite Speculative Convention

Readercon, My Favorite Speculative Convention

by Bracken MacLeod

This past weekend in Burlington, Massachusetts I attended Readercon, a conference as they describe it, devoted to “imaginative literature” — literary science fiction, fantasy, horror, and the unclassifiable works often called “slipstream.”

Bracken MacLeod and Lucien Soulban at Readercon 23.

This is one of my favorite speculative cons as it is devoted (like my other favorites, Necon and Anthocon) to literature–no cosplay, no gaming, and almost no media (there’s plenty of talk about movies in panels because movies can inform prose story-telling, but no movie panels). Although the conference is usually weighted a little more toward Sci-Fi and Fantasy than horror and slipstream, there are excellent horror writers in attendance like Gemma Files, Laird Barron, Nick Mamatas, to name only a few, and the guests of honor this year were dark fiction legends, Peter Straub and Caitlin Kiernan. Sadly, I will have to defer to other NEHW contributors for a recap of Mr. Straub’s contributions to the con as his panels and readings were concurrent with other panels I attended.1 Instead, let me give you a short recap of what were the high points from the panels I attended.

The dystopian fiction panel led by NEHW member Jack Haringa, “Through a Glass Dystopianly,” was an excellent deconstruction of the recent trend in YA literature to make everything The Hunger Games. I’m not being fair. There’s a lot of good YA (and adult) dystopian fiction out there. But there’s a lot of drek too. As a genre, Leah Bobet seemed to nail the intention of YA dys fic with her deliberate oversimplification of it as the literature of mom and dad (i.e., the repressive government) won’t let me have the car or stay out late, so I’m going to escape to the forest and drink and have sex as much as I want! Or if you prefer that idea to be unpacked, the idea being, that dys fic is a reasonably fertile ground for young readers to identify their own struggles with autonomy and authority by imagining themselves as potent agents struggling under the dystopian regime. When pressed on the issue of dystopia versus utopia versus post-apocalyptic setting, Haringa threw out my third favorite bon mot of the conference: “All science fiction is optimistic because it all assumes we have a future.”

Next on the list of favorites was the panel titled “Wet Dreams and Nightmares” about weird and transgressive erotica. This panel stayed blissfully distant from paranormal romance and actually addressed real erotica and transgressive sex in a mature and unflinching way. Would you expect anything different from a panel featuring Caitlin R. Kiernan? The give and take between Gemma Files and Kiernan regarding their distinct approaches to erotic body transformations and what they individually find sexy made this panel pure gold.

The panel on horror and the social compact (another one featuring Dear Leader Haringa) presented some interesting viewpoints on the scope of horror versus science fiction, wherein it was posited that it is actually very difficult to discuss horror in the context of a Hobbesian social contract. With a few exceptions (e.g., Soylent Green—which I’d say is both sci-fi and horror), most horror is about violation of trust and/or autonomy on a personal scale as opposed to a societal one.

This panel shared an interesting deconstructive quality with one on Sunday titled “Uncanny Taxonomies,” where the conclusion was also reached that taxonomies of speculative fiction (i.e., genres) weren’t all that helpful for anyone other than book marketers and possibly consumers. It was during this panel that Kiernan gave my second favorite line of the convention: “All [novels], by definition, are fantasy; they did not happen.”2

My second favorite session of the weekend was Dr. Laura Knight’s slideshow titled “Autopsy and Postmortem Primer for Writers,” which gave the audience a basic rundown of the process of a typical autopsy and human decomposition. The con organizers grossly underestimated the appeal of a dead body slideshow to fantasy and sci-fi (and a few horror) fans and about a quarter of the attendees to the session were left sitting on the floor or standing when all the seats filled up. One poor woman who was standing in the back of the hot room (possibly with her knees locked) fainted when Dr. Knight put up the slide of decompositional bloat and a little body degloving (I am sure the heat and having to stand were also contributing factors). Sadly, that attendee missed the next slide of the two people whose little yappy dogs had partially eaten their faces. (Cat lovers take note: Dr. Knight commented that in over 2,000 autopsies, she had yet to see a feline case of filiaphagia–but those nasty little dogs… they’ll turn on you in a minute.)

Finally, at the top of my list of favorite events at Readercon (unrelated to standing in a blacked out hotel bathroom staring at disintegrating atoms in a spinthariscope—look it up—and drunken yoga in the hotel lobby) was “A Story from Scratch.”

The basic conceit of the session (in several parts over three days) was that using models from the audience and props provided by celebrity guests, Hugo-winning writers Michael Swanwick and Elizabeth Bear will crowd source a story outline and write a short story to be professionally brought to life by photographer Kyle Cassidy and illustrator Lee Moyer. On Sunday, the story would be read aloud by Swanwick and Bear accompanied by a slide show of the work that Cassidy and Moyer produced. Bear provided a very condensed version of her course on effective fiction writing and the small crowd of participants began throwing out ideas for the story. What eventually took shape was the sad tale of a Chinese restaurant owner whose wife has been taken hostage by the Yakuza (I know), and must find the ransom before her wife (it is Massachusetts after all) loses all of her fingers and her entire memory (somehow stolen with each successive finger chop).

When the call was made for volunteers to be photographed by the amazing Mr. Cassidy, of course I volunteered. Given my cuddly and welcoming appearance, I was immediately cast as one of the Yakuza gangsters. The short version of the rest of the story is that, as one could predict, this became another instance of “and then Bracken took his shirt off” at a con. Fortunately, this bout of semi-nudity led to Cassidy and Moyer making me look like the coolest fucking American Yakuza since Viggo Mortensen and Bear and Swanwick crafting a Philip K. Dick style story containing my single favorite line of the entire Con: “Tom and Bracken were evil men, but not brutal.” (As soon as the story, titled “Dismemberance,” and photos are posted online I’ll be sure to link to them.)

The bottom line is, if you have a broad taste in genre literature, you could do a lot worse than attend a Readercon, but you’re going to be hard pressed to do better.
Cheers!

1 I know. I know. Revoke my horror fan card if you must.
2  Other excellent lines came from Michael Swanwick: “Wincing equals good fiction,” and Elizabeth Bear, “The worst reaction a reader can have to your story is ‘Fuck you!’”

Jul 14 2012

Life Lessons from Southfork

Life Lessons from Southfork

by Stacey Longo

I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve watched the new Dallas series. In fact, I got a sneak peek of the first seven episodes and wrote a review of the show (read it here!) See, my sister made me watch the old Dallas when I was about nine years old, and she must have made me keep watching it up until I was 18 and it went off the air. Seeing my old friends Bobby, Lucy, Ray, Sue Ellen, and J.R. on the new show made me realize how much I’ve missed them. So many of the life lessons I abide by today came from watching Dallas. For instance …

1. If you’re going to shoot someone, make sure they’re dead when you’re finished.

2. Sure, you can use your pretty face to marry money, but deep down, you’ll always be Digger Barnes’s daughter.

3. That little old lady may look sweet, but you don’t know if she’s bludgeoned her husband to death with a frozen leg of lamb, then cooked it up and served it to the police investigating the crime. (Wait. That might be a life lesson from Alfred Hitchcock.)

4. Don’t sleep with the hired help. That hot ranch hand might turn out to be your uncle.

5. It’s probably not a good idea to start getting drunk at 8 AM. But since I’m not married to J.R. Ewing, who am I to judge?

6. Sometimes, when you think your life has turned to crap, it actually all turns out to be a bad dream.

So take it from me: tune in to the latest antics of J.R., Bobby, and Sue Ellen. You just might learn something useful!

Life lesson number seven: there’s something to be said for keeping up with your eyebrow plucking.

Editor’s Note:

This entry originally appeared on author Stacey Longo’s website.

Jul 13 2012

Upcoming Articles

Next week, there will be a review of The Dark Knight Rises on Friday. There will also be articles about Readercon 23 and ConnectiCon and pictures from Necon 32.

The following week, there will be interview articles with Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the married couple who brought audiences Little Miss Sunshine and their new movie Ruby Sparks. There will also be an interview article with Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan, the stars of Ruby Sparks. There will also be a review of the movie.

Jul 11 2012

Horror Director Talks about His First Movie

Horror Director Talks about His First Movie

by Jason Harris


Writer and director Eric England talks about Madison County, his first horror movie; his first movie ever.

England said that this is his version of “a backwoods slasher movie.”

“I wanted to do something that was faithful to all the films that had come before it, but also tries to stand on its own two feet.”

He drew inspiration from several different places, including things that had happened to him and from the local legends he was aware of in Arkansas, where he filmed Madison County.

The idea for England’s movie came to him when he was 14, he said. He wrote the script back in 2009 and the movie was released last year.

“The idea for Madison County had been sitting in my brain for years before I ever sat down to put it on paper.”

He is planning a follow-up to his $75,000 first movie, and this time he will give audiences more of prolific serial killer Damien Ewell’s history.

“I always planned for Madison County to be part of a much bigger picture. I don’t want to beat people over the head with exposition, but I’ll definitely hint at information about his origins,” England said about his movie.

His serial killer is not a supernatural being under that mask, he said.

“He’s 100 percent a human being. If you cut him, he bleeds. If you hit him with a shovel, he goes down. Under the pig head, he’s just a man.”

It took him under two years from the written word to filming. He had gone through almost 10 different producers and teams of producers before the finished product came to be.

“A lot of promises were made and never made good on, so I eventually went off and made a little experimental movie called Hostile Encounter in November of 2009.”

His experimental short inspired producer Daniel Dunn to find financing for film to make “a bigger film which was ultimately Madison County.”

There are many movies that have inspired England.

“My favorite movie of all time is Scream. I like a lot of really weird movies. Everything from The Sound of Music to Last House on the Left to American Pie. It’s hard to pinpoint where my brain gets inspiration from.”

Along with favorite movies, he has some favorite directors that include Alfred Hitchcock, Wes Craven, Quentin Tarantino, and David Fincher. He also likes Tim Burton’s older stuff.

He is currently working on a few projects, the Hitchcockian thriller Roadside and a psychological-horror-sex-thriller called Contracted. He also attached to direct a studio film, which he couldn’t talk about.

“I’m kind of a workaholic.”

Editor’s Note:
This article also appears on the DVD Snapshot website. Click here to check out other interviews, dvd reviews, and contests.

Jul 5 2012

Have You Heard of these Underrated Horror Films?

My Top Ten List of Most Underrated Horror Films

by Rob Watts

July may be a strange time of year to discuss low-budget horror films, especially when the summer blockbusters (none of which are horror films) are currently on our viewing radar. The summer months however, were always tailormade for horror treasure hunts in the video stores for my friends and I. You do remember video stores don’t you? We’d come from an afternoon at the beach with our girlfriends, straight to the video store and make a bee line home with some horrible movie such as The Evil Laughstarring one of Scott Baio’s older brothers. But not all of our impulsive rentals were disappointing. Some were in fact downright unwatchable, but many were undiscovered gems for us, especially in the days of Nightmare on Elm Street Part 36 and Jason vs. Godzilla. Wasn’t there a Chucky goes to South Central Los Angeles at one point too?

Most of my favorite films have never spawned a sequel, hardly ever had stars with marquee value and sadly, never see the light of day on cable television. I’ll continue to argue up and down with someone when they tell me that the horror films of the 70s and 80s just don’t hold up to the films of today. When you talk to me about the benefits of CGI and gore over minimal production and stellar storytelling, I’m going with minimal production and stellar storytelling any day of the week. Which is why I am inspired to write this list. These films are by no means obscure although many have been forgotten about for some time and should be viewed and appreciated once again. If the new-school horror filmmakers grew up on these films, perhaps new horror films would actually be scary again.

Alice Sweet Alice1. Alice Sweet Alice (1976) – This is the film that made me petrified of the translucent grinning mask. Set in Paterson, NJ during the early 60s, 9-year-old Karen (played by Brook Shields) gets strangled to death at her First Communion. Her jealous older sister Alice is of course at the center of suspicion although the actual killer is the last one you’d expect. This film was rather unique for its time as you hardly ever saw young children being murdered on-screen. With the exception of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 that same year, I can’t really remember many films that crossed that Hollywood taboo. This film was actually theatrically released three separate times under three different titles due to Brook Shields’ ever-growing popularity after this film was made. Communion in 1976, Alice, Sweet Alice in 1978 and Holy Terror in 1981. Alice, Sweet Alice has remained the official title since then. If you haven’t seen this classic 70s flick, check it out. It has everything, a bitchy jealous sister, a fat creepy landlord and of course the horror movie’s best friend, the Catholic Church. How can you go wrong?

2. Patrick (1978) – This creepy Australian horror flick freaked me out for months after first seeing this. Patrick, who murdered his mother and her lover in the bathtub by way of electrocution, falls into a coma and his only way of communication is by electronic typewriter via psychokinetic powers. Although he is completely written off as nothing more than a catatonic vegetable, he can still murder anyone who crosses him. The thought of Patrick lying still in that hospital bed with his eyes wide open is still enough to keep me awake tonight.

3. Magic (1978) – A movie about a man and his dummy. Ventriloquist Corky and his foul-mouth dummy Fats are onMagic the road to stardom but when Corky feels the pressure of showbiz, he retreats to the secluded Catskills where he reunites with his high school crush. Fats however does not enjoy competing for Corky’s attention and soon talks Corky into “getting rid” of the people in his life that could potentially separate them from each other. The dummy, Fats, is just unsettling in every way. This was another film that made it impossible to sleep with the lights off after viewing it for the first time.

4. He Knows You’re Alone (1980) – Let me preface this by saying that this was by no means a great film, but rather an enjoyable viewing with enough suspense and cliché scares to make it worth your while. Basically it’s Halloween (1978) set in Staten Island, NY but the killer doesn’t wear a mask and the storyline is nowhere nearly as incredible. The victims aren’t babysitters, they are brides-to-be and it features the debut appearance of a young Tom Hanks. But hey, don’t let that stop you! I will say this though; there are two things about this movie that fascinate me to this day. One, the fact that Tom Hanks is in this movie actually doesn’t ruin it for me. It’s not like I watch it and say to myself “Run Forest, Run!” as the killer approaches. Two, this movie has a made-for-TV sort of vibe to it until the last fifteen minutes where one of the female characters takes a shower and shows her goodies, thus reminding me that I am indeed watching a typical 80s horror flick.

5. Are You In The House Alone? (1978) – For a made-for-television horror film, this one wasn’t bad. A suspenseful thriller about a teenage girl who’s been receiving anonymous letters that say I’m watching you and of course phone calls where a sinister voice on the other end asks are you in the house alone? Of course she is which adds to the suspense factor and naturally any teenage girl watching this film would have been scared out of their wits back then. Unfortunately it just doesn’t hold up in today’s caller ID world so anyone under the age of 30 probably wouldn’t appreciate this as much. I would like to point out that after watching this again recently, I’ve come to realize that Dennis Quaid, who plays one of the classmates in the film, is just a strange looking dude. There’s just something not right about that guy. The other thing is Blythe Danner (Gwyneth Paltrow’s real-life mother) who plays the protagonists mother in the film, is at that point younger than Gwyneth Paltrow is today. Much better looking too if you ask me, but that’s just how my mind works when I’m watching movies. Sorry.

6. Stranger in the House (1978) – Another made-for-television gem starring Linda Blair and Lee Purcell and directed by Wes Craven. A pretty simple plot where Rachel (Blair) and her family invite Rachel’s cousin Julia (Purcell) to come live with them as Julia’s family died tragically in a car wreck. Things seem fine at first until Julia becomes jealous of Rachel, then of course strange things begin to occur in Rachel’s world. If you don’t mind simple storytelling and a rather predictable plot then you’ll probably enjoy this lost classic. Hey, it was directed by Wes Craven after all.

The Wicker Man7. The Wicker Man (1973) – By no means do I assume that I’m exposing you to films you’ve never seen before and The Wicker Man is certainly no exception. If you’ve seen this film, you absolutely know how incredible this is. Not to be confused with the horrendously bad Nicolas Cage remake, this original version blended horror, mystery, Christianity and Paganism into one dark psychedelic musical. Filmed in Scotland, a police officer from the mainland flies out to a mysterious isolated island inhabited by bizarre followers of Celtic Paganism. He’s in search of a reportedly missing young girl but he soon discovers the girl in question might not exist, prompting him to investigate just how bizarre the island’s inhabitants really are. This film is more of a psychological thriller with a lot of psychedelic influence. The cinematography is flawless as the isolated island is as much a character in the film as the actors. Speaking of actors, did I mention that Christopher Lee plays the antagonist? Enough said.

8. The Hearse (1980) – This haunted house film dangerously teeters on the “it’s as cliché as you can get” category, however, if possessed house stories tickle your fancy then you could probably do a lot worse than this. In this film, Jane, a middle-aged woman inherits a house in the county from her deceased aunt who was believed to have practiced witchcraft. Baring a striking resemblance to her aunt, Jane is looked down upon in her new community and must contend with several strange occurrences in her new home (doors slamming shut, music boxes playing on their own.) The worse occurrence is that Jane gets followed by a ghostly hearse at night on the road home. The very hearse that is believed to have carried her witchcraft practicing aunt straight into Hell. For a film, that is over 30 years old, this one still has a chill factor to it, provided you’ve never seen it before.

9. The Strangers (2008) – I know I’ve pronounced the contemporary horror movie genre dead and I’ll still stand by that, however, every once in a while something comes along that reminds me why I started watching horror films in the first place. Suspense and tension. The Strangers had plenty of those two elements. The only caveat to this film is that it’s a one-time viewing experience to gain its full shock value. After that, the scares are watered down because you know exactly what’s happening. But upon viewing this film for the first time, you’d agree with me that this is one suspenseful ride. In short, a young couple arrives at their summer home in the country very late at night. They get a strange late-night knock on the door from a girl looking for someone who doesn’t live there. She is turned away and the guy decides to take a ride to the store to run an errand for his girlfriend. While alone, the mysterious girl knocks on the door again asking for the same person. She gets turned away again but it’s revealed (to the viewers) that masked strangers have entered the home unbeknownst to the girlfriend. Even though this movie has a few moments where you ask “why would you run that way when you should go that way?” it’s loaded with suspenseful unpredictable moments that keep you on the edge of your seat. It starts off very slow-paced but it definitely builds tension leading up to the action. Remember, this film only has shock value the first time you watch it, so turn the cellphones off and don’t allow yourself to be distracted.

10. The House of the Devil (2009) – I have to hand it to director Ti West. He managed to make a horror movie look as though it was filmed in the late 70s and early 80s. Employing many elements of that era West created a gritty, suspenseful film about a female college student babysitting in a creepy old house for evasive homeowners. It falls on the evening of the lunar eclipse and the mysterious homeowners have something other than dinner and a movie on their agenda for the night. This is definitely worth watching if you’ve never seen it. The retro stylized filmmaking approach alone will make you reminisce over the scary movies we all watched on our couches back in the heyday of horror.The House of the Devil

Jun 27 2012

Book Marketing Resources and Tools for Authors

Book Marketing Resources and Tools for Authors

By  

Jim Kukral has started up a free service for fiction and non-fiction authors called the Author Marketing Club.

Author Marketing Club

Author Marketing Club is a community of authors who are going through the same pains and successes, and who want to work together to help one other learn how to promote their books.

We just recently published a Kindle edition of Internet Marketing from the Real Experts, and from that experience I can say Jim is providing really useful tools and resources for anybody interested in publishing.

One of the useful resources available is a video, How To Upload Your Book To Amazon. You should really watch that if you want to publish to the Kindle.

More details at authormarketingclub.com.

Editor’s Note:

This article originally appeared on Shawn Collins’ website.