Pictures by Dale T. Phillips and Stacey Longo

Once more, I got to travel to another world or a lot of them, by attending Granite State ComiCon, organized by Double Midnight Comics. I was one of two authors at the Books & Boos table. The other author at the table being Stacey Longo. We were signing books for fans, new and old.

Author Stacey Longo at the Books & Boos table.

It was an amazing time at a well-run con, with thousands of fun people enjoying themselves and sharing their special likes of comics, TV shows, books, films, graphic novels, games, and cultural icons of all sorts.

You get to see people like The New England Brethren of Pirates.

The Ghostbusters of New Hampshire

The New England garrison of the 501st Legion.
All three groups make appearances to help raise money for charities. These people put a lot of time and effort into their outfits and shows, and they deserve a big hand for what they do.

Sam Jones

You get to see celebrities, like Sam Jones (of Flash Gordon and Ted fame) and tough-guy actor William Forsythe, both of whom were

Author Stacey Longo with William Forsythe.

extremely gracious and kind to the fans. You also see the people behind the voices of your favorite animated characters such as Richard Horvitz, who voices Zim in Invader Zim, .

Richard Horvitz.

You get to meet writers such as Gordon Bean, Rob Watts, Katherine Silva, and Scott Goudsward, who are all members of the New England Horror Writers.

From left to right: Bean, Watts, Silva, and Goudsward.

From left to right: Gordon Bean, Rob Watts, Katherine Silva, and Scott Goudsward.

Author Matthew Bartlett, another NEHW member, was also signing books at the organization’s table.

Author Matthew Bartlett.

Besides the NEHW and Longo, Chris Philbrook, another author, had his own table at the convention.

Author Chris Philbrook.

During my time at the convention, I also met author John Murphy, who was recently heard on the Sci-fi Saturday Night podcast. I can’t wait to hear their interviews with the cast members of Game of Thrones.

Me (left) and John Murphy (right).

The Game of Thrones celebrities.

Speaking of which, lots of folks were Game of Thrones cosplaying to honor the cast members who were there.

Arya of Game of Thrones.

Arya of Game of Thrones.

Miltos Yeramelou (Syrio on GoT) hosted a Water Dancing class to teach beginning fencers. I watched some of it, and thought it superb– and I’ve been a fencer for over 35 years.

Miltos Yeramelou.

Groot.

You get to see about every superhero and supervillain you can think of.

Catwoman.

Robin and Batgirl.

Harley Quinn, the Joker and the Riddler.

And many other costumes. A guy who plays Mr T. emceed the huge costume contest. I sure wouldn’t want to judge that one, because there are so many cool costumes, it would be too hard to choose a winner!

Two days of fun, and we just saw a small part of it. It’s a total experience, with panels, parties, and participation.

Freddy Krueger and Jason Vorhees.

A Borg from Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Loki

Harley Quinn and the Joker.

Haunted Acres is New England’s most exciting haunted attraction, with Maniac’s Midway, live bands, a beer garden, and lots of food and ride vendors.

Frozen’s Elsa taking a trip in the Tardis.

Deadpool and Wonder Woman.

Judge Dredd.

Groot.

Artist Karen Gosselin.

Mr. T with author Stacey Longo, holding her book Secret Things.

Ralphie from A Christmas Story.

Robbie the Robot.

A Medieval Deadpool.

Me with author Rob Watts.

A ruined Stormtrooper.

Batwoman.

Star Trek’s Starfleet officer

Wreck-It Ralph.

The Dome and Kriana of Sci-fi Saturday Night.

Disney Princesses.

A Droogie.

Wonder Woman and Batman.

Guardians of the Galaxy.

Killer Queen.

A Droogie.

Brave’s Princess Merida and Silk.

Performers from Fright Kingdom.

Convention attendees.

Rikki Simons, the voice of Gir on Invader Zim.

Thor and Voltron

Aug 26 2014

Pictures from the Connecticut Horrorfest

By Jason Harris

Ryan Emerson and Joe Rubin of Vinegar Syndrome.

Ryan Emerson and Brandon Upson of Vinegar Syndrome.

Beetlejuice and Lydia.

Irone Singleton of The Walking Dead.

Alex from A Clockwork Orange.

Authors Stacey Longo and G. Elmer Munson at the Books & Boos table.

Lady Pinhead.

Jennifer Lynn Warren of American Horror Story.

Author Stacey Longo with a cosplayer.

Author F.M. Longo.

Cerina Vincent of Cabin Fever.

Theshay West and Moses Moseley of The Walking Dead.

A Clockwork Orange cosplay.

Stacey Longo with Lady Pinhead.

Aug 22 2014

Two Chances to Visit Books and Boos this Weekend

Books & Boos, which closed its physical location at the end of May, is continuing to do events like it was doing when the bookstore was still open. This weekend will give people two opportunities to visit the traveling bookstore.

The first opportunity to visit the bookstore will be Saturday at the Connecticut Horrorfest. Along with used books, people will be able to meet authors Stacey Longo and G. Elmer Munson and get them to sign one of their books. The horrorfest takes place at the Courtyard Waterbury Marriott located at 63 Grand Street in Waterbury, CT. It runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The second opportunity happens on Sunday when Books & Boos takes part in the Open Air Market and Festival at the Wadsworth Mansion in Middletown, Connecticut. This will be the bookstore’s second appearance at this event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Wadsworth Mansion is located at 421 Wadsworth St. in Middletown, CT. Longo will also be signing her books at this event as well. She is joined by authors Dan Foley, Dale T. Phillips, and Joseph Ross.

Aug 4 2014

Pictures from Southcoast Toy and Comic Show 2014

By Jason Harris

Actors Mark Dodson (Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Gremlins) and Orli Shoshan (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)

Authors Rob Watts and Susan Saunders.

Author Stacey Longo at the Books & Boos table.

A Jawa.

Actor Mark Dodson (Gremlins 2).

Deadpool.

Actress Orli Shoshan.

Wrestler Brandon Webb a.k.a. The Devils Reject.

Model Sarah Michelle.

Former WWE wrestler John Cena Sr.

Queen of the Paranormal Kadrolsha Ona.

Deathstroke.

Mark Dodson’s publicity still to me from Gremlins 2.

For more information on the Southcoast Toy and Comic Show, click here.

Jul 27 2014

The New England Authors Expo Happens July 30 in Danvers, MA.

By Jason Harris

The 2013 New England Authors Expo. Photo by Jason Harris.

The New England Authors Expo will be attended by authors, artists, booksellers, publishers, and many more guests, companies and organizations, which makes it the perfect time for readers to meet and talk to authors and others in the publishing world about books and the written word. For an entire list of who will be there, click here.

Some of the authors and artists in attendance are Stacey Longo, Rob Watts, Dale T. Phillips, Vlad V., Michele McPhee, Nicholas Conley, Eric Dimbleby, Guntis Goncarovs, Edith Maxwell, Ursula Wong, A.J. Kane, and S.L. Johnson.

The bookseller, Books & Boos, will also be in attendance selling used and new books. There will be a few authors at its table. The authors are Longo, Michael Evans, and Kurt Newton.

The Expo operates from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and takes place in the Harborview Ballroom at the Danversport Yacht Club. The yacht club is located at 161 Elliott Street (Rt. 62) in Danvers, MA. There will be a free gift bag to the first 100 visitors. This event is FREE.

You can follow the Expo on its Facebook page here or on Twitter (@neauthorexpo).

Jun 25 2014

Rock and Shock Starts Promoting Its 11th Show

Rock & Shock is getting ready to turn it up to 11! In anticipation of the 11^th anniversary of the horror and music convention that brings 3 days of monsters, music and mayhem to downtown Worcester, MA, Rock & Shock is giving the public an extra early sneak peak at this year’s attendees. While there are still plenty of big name acts yet to be divulged, Rock & Shock is pleased to announce that among this year’s guests will be Brad Dourif, John Ratzenberger, Jeffrey Combs, Nivek Ogre and Fiona Dourif. Meanwhile, King Diamond, Machine Head and Twiztid are among some of the convention’s scheduled performers.

Brad Dourif, the voice of everyone’s favorite flame-haired doll turned serial killer Chucky will be making a rare convention appearance at Rock & Shock 2014. Dourif is a legendary character actor who is best known for his appearances in Rob Zombie’s Halloween 1 & 2, The Exorcist III, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers & The Return of the King, Dune, TV’s Deadwood and his breakthrough role as Billy Bibbit in Milos Forman’s 1975 classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. To make the event a true family affair, Dourif will be joined by his real life daughter and True Blood star Fiona Dourif. Fiona’s other screen credits include Curse of Chucky, Deadwood and Paul Thomas Anderson’s Academy Award nominated film The Master.

He has danced with the stars, voiced some of your favorite cartoon characters and even fought for the Rebel Alliance and this October, Cheers‘ very own John Ratzenberger will be returning to the place where everybody knows his name. In addition to portraying Cliff Clavin, postal worker extraordinaire on the seminal Boston-based TV series Cheers, Ratzenberger has appeared in films such as Motel Hell and House 2: The Second Story, competed on Dancing With the Stars and has become the voice of Pixar. Ratzenberger is, in fact, the only actor to voice for a character in every Pixar film; most notably Hamm the Piggy Bank in the Toy Story series, The Abominable Snowman in Monsters, Inc. and Mack the Truck in the Cars.

A legend in both the horror and sci-fi communities, Jeffery Combs will be making his triumphant return to Rock & Shock this year. Combs first made his name as Herbert West, the main character in Re-Animator and it’s two subsequent sequels. He followed that up with appearances in several classic horror films including The Frighteners, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, House on Haunted Hill, FeardotCom and most recently, Would You Rather. However, science-fiction fans will best know Combs for his portrayals of several characters within the Star Trek universe, most notably the Vorta clone Weyoun on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Rounding out the early announcements is Skinny Puppy and ohGr frontman Nivek Ogre. Since forming Skinny Puppy in 1982, Ogre has wowed audiences as both a musician and an actor, appearing in films such as Repo! The Genetic Opera, 2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams and The Devil’s Carnival.

Speaking of world renowned musicians, this year’s performers are set to include: King Diamond, who will kick-off the event’s pre-party on Thursday, October 16, Machine Head, Children of Bodom, Epica and Battlecross, who will be rocking the Palladium stage on Friday, October 17 and Twiztid, back by popular demand with their Fright Fest festivities and scheduled to close out the event on Sunday, October 18. A very special guest headliner for Saturday is set to be announced in August, so let the speculation begin!

Tickets for Rock & Shock 2014 go on sale this Friday, June 27^th at 10am and may be purchased at ticketfly.com, FYE stores or at the Palladium box office. There are still plenty of celebrity guests, musical acts and events yet to be announced so make sure to follow Rock & Shock on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram and visitrockandshock.com.

Jun 12 2014

WWE’s Kane Still On Fire

By Stacey Longo

WWE Wrestler Kane a.k.a Glenn Jacobs

WWE superstar Kane was on hand at TerrorCon at the Rhode Island Convention Center on Sunday, June 8 to meet fans and participate in a Q & A session with a packed crowd in attendance. Glenn Jacobs, who is the man behind Kane’s mask, was friendly, personable, and humble as he answered questions from the audience.

The first question from the moderator was about a failed character from Jacobs’s past, the ill-fated Isaac Yankem, DDS. Notorious for not liking to discuss this past gimmick, Jacobs did admit that he felt the personality’s failure was “mostly my fault. I didn’t like [the character], and it showed.” Jacobs was next asked who his favorite opponents have been over the years. His response listed some of the most well-known faces in wrestling from the past two decades, including The Undertaker, Mick Foley, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Shawn Michaels.

One fan in the audience asked Jacobs about his reputation in the wrestling locker room as one of the “safest” opponents to face. Jacobs shrugged and explained “it’s mostly just about being a professional. You want to stay safe and keep your opponent safe.”

Jacobs was asked to reflect on his character’s evolution over the past 17 years. “Most guys go out to the ring doing the same thing night after night,” he said with a smile. “Kane’s different. He’s been able to evolve and develop as a character. I think it keeps him interesting.” He recalled different phases of Kane’s career, including a time when Kane had to use a voice box to communicate and when the Big Red Machine’s mask first came off. “It was hot under that mask,” he admitted. When asked who made the decision to unmask Kane, Jacobs said “two people: me and Vince [McMahon, WWE CEO].”

Jacobs fielded the questions from fans with good humor and grace. When one audience member asked him to comment on a current storyline about the Shield and Evolution, a storyline Kane is not involved in, he responded kindly: “I think it was a surprise, and that’s what you want, right?” Another fan asked about Kane’s experience getting Pete Rose in a Tombstone pile driver at WrestleMania 14 in 1998. “Pete Rose is like us,” Jacobs laughed. “He doesn’t take himself too seriously. I was just surprised when the crowd started cheering me.”

After the Q & A session, fans lingered to shake Jacobs’s hand and thank him for the opportunity to talk to him. “The best part about this business is you guys, the fans,” Jacobs said humbly, which is yet more evidence showing why Kane continues to be a fan favorite among wrestling patrons of all ages.