Author and NEHW member Erin Thorne.
Books on the Shock Totem table.
Authors Jack Haringa and Bracken MacLeod on the Writer’s Studio panel.
The Fat Foot Films booth.
Authors Stacey Longo, Erin Thorne, and Tracy Carbone at the New England Horror Writer booth.
The Shock Totem team K. Allen Wood (editor-in-chief), Robert Duperre (writer), and Jessie Young (artist).
The Fat Foot Films 2014 calendar.
Scott Wilson of The Walking Dead.
Jimmy Duval of Donnie Darko.
Another Rock & Shock has come and gone, the 10th one to be exact. It was another good one with even more vendors this year. The one thing that was lacking was attendees in costume. There just wasn’t a lot of people in costume. Here are pictures from the event.
Lew Temple from The Walking Dead.
From right to left: authors Robert Duperre, Kurt Newton, and Stacey Longo at the Sideshow Press and Shock Totem tables.
Dark Man and Elvira.
Robert Patrick from Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
Author Joe Knetter at the Writer’s Studio panel.
The Morbid Vision Films table.
Sharknado director Andrew C. Ferrante.
Actor Joey Kern (Cabin Fever).
Musician and actor Dee Snider.
Author K. Allen Wood and artist Jessie Young behind the Shock Totem table.
Actor Jason Mewes (Clerks).
Items on the Morbid Vision Films table.
TL Smokeshop.
Jennifer Jostyn (The Brothers McMullen).
Actor Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) with two fans.
Author Gordon Bean holding his book, Dawn of Broken Glass, at the New England Horror Writers booth.
Authors Scott Goudsward, Joe Knetter, Jack Ketchum, Jack Haringa, and Bracken MacLeod on the Writer’s Studio panel.
Actor Jordan Ladd (Cabin Fever).
Actors Gunnar Hanson, Tony Moran, Robert Englund, and Kane Hodder on the 40 Years of Our Worst Nightmares panel.
Actor Brian O’Halloran (Clerks 2).
Items on the TL Smokeshop table.
Books on the Sideshow Press table.
The 10th anniversary of Rock & Shock seems to have been the year for booksellers having a presence at the convention. In previous years, there were only Shock Totem, Sideshow Press, and the New England Horror Writers at the event. Only the NEHW has been consistently representing its members there year after year for more than five years.
This year saw the NEHW joined by the returning representatives of Sideshow Press and Shock Totem, who both haven’t been at the convention in a couple years. The new booksellers at the event were Fenham Publishing and Living Dead Press. Click here to read a previous article on Fenham Publishing. There were also two authors, Jack Ketchum and Joe Knetter, in the celebrity area of Rock and Shock selling their books.
The New England Horror Writers (NEHW). Photo by Jason Harris.
Sideshow Press. Photo by Jason Harris.
Shock Totem. Photo by Jason Harris.
Living Dead Press. Photo by Jason Harris.
Fenham Publishing. Photo by Jason Harris.
Author Jack Ketchum. Photo by Jason Harris.
Author Joe Knetter. Photo by Jason Harris.
Lew Temple. photo by Jason Harris
Lew Temple’s time on The Walking Dead has ended, but he’s still proud of the work he did on the series, even though he thinks his character Axel had more to do in the show.
“I was obviously disappointed,” Lew Temple said. “I thought he was going to be serviceable to the group.”
Temple was given the news three weeks in advance that his character was going to die. He was in denial at first, but after some time he had to commit to it, he said.
“My intent is to always serve the story and that was my job. I wanted to do the best job possible.”
Temple did feel “disappointed for Axel,” though. As an actor, he will go on and work, but Axel is gone forever, he said.
The character of Axel will live on in The Walking Dead comic books and in reruns.
Temple did use the comic book character of Axel as a blueprint. Since comic books are one-dimensional, he had to make the character three-dimensional.
“I’m certain that we were able to use some of Robert [Kirkman’s] characteristics of Axel, but also brought some of my own to it as well.”
The producers on the zombie series knew of Temple before he came on in season three since he had been in to see them for the pilot.
“They looked at me for the role of Merle, originally, and then after that they hired Michael Rooker. Then they needed Merle’s brother, Daryl, who at that time was not even named.”
Temple auditioned for Daryl by reading Merle’s lines differently, which he was asked to do by the producers.
“Thankfully, they hired Norman Reedus. So when Axel came around they came to me and we were able to make that work.”
Temple was aware of the popularity of The Walking Dead, but not of the cross-cultural phenomenon it has become.
“I would say it hasn’t hurt me,” Temple said about Hollywood recognizing him from the popular series. “I would say prior to The Walking Dead I had a certain body of work Hollywood was aware of, and I was working prior to The Walking Dead …”
He admits that the series has elevated his visibility, which has helped him. He doesn’t know if his time on the series has defined him, which only “time will tell.”
“I like to do diverse stuff. I’m certainly proud of the work I did on The Walking Dead and to be part of that show. It’s been such an incredible hit.”
Temple has worked with writer and director Rob Zombie on Halloween and The Devil’s Rejects. He has “a really great relationship beyond a working relationship” with Zombie.
“I adore working with him because he knows what he wants and wants what he knows so there’s not a lot of grey area in-between. He is an absolute perfectionist and he does whatever it takes to make the day work, and if that means he needs to provide something on set, he does so.”
He does expect to work with Zombie again because he thinks they work well together. He just doesn’t know when that will happen.
“I think that I bring something to his story that he appreciates. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Lew Temple in a Rob Zombie production yet again.”
Along with acting, Temple is “an incredible baseball fan.” He adores the game and it has been his first passion since he was a little boy. He’s even played it all the way up until the minor leagues with the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros. When he couldn’t play the game, he worked as a baseball scout for the New York Mets. Now he roots for the Atlanta Braves.
“I would say I’m excited for the Red Sox, but rooting for the [Detroit] Tigers.”
Temple also writes music.
“I think that I am a pretty interesting songwriter. I think that I am able to spin a tune, at least in my head.”
He has a record deal with Universal through the Rob Zombie production, Banjo and Sullivan.
Hello readers,
I spent the weekend in Worcester, MA. at the 10th Anniversary of Rock and Shock. It was a great time and in the next couple of weeks, there will be pictures, interviews, and articles from the convention.
Massachusetts prepares for the 10th anniversary of the Rock and Shock Horror and Music convention series this weekend (October 18th – 20th) with a lineup of sinister guests, musical acts and events that cannot be missed!
This year’s celebrity guests include Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger of Nightmare on Elm Street), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2, The X-Files), Gunnar Hansen (Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Michael Rooker, Scott Wilson, Lew Temple and IronE Singleton (of The Walking Dead), cast and crew from Sharknado, the cast of Holliston and many more!
Rock and Shock’s show floor offers so much more than awesome celebrity guests and isle after isle of incredible vendors.
Tickets are available now at http://rockandshock.com/tickets/ with options from VIP to show attendee.
This 1960s work paints a chilling portrait of what life might have been like if Germany and Japan had been victorious in World War II, and it remains one of the pinnacles of the Alternative History sub-genre for a very good reason. Simply put, I found the book stellar, with resonant characters and interesting and disturbing philosophical questions about Nazism and Japanese fascism if they had been allowed to play out across the globe unrestrained.
In this book, the Allies lost the war, and the Axis powers have divided the world up. The Japanese rule the west coast of the United States, the Germans rule the east coast, and the two powerless remnants of what was once America eek out an existence in the middle. In many ways the Japanese are a power unto themselves, but there is no doubt that the Germans are the stronger of the two. While not exactly subservient to the Germans, the empires still chafe against one another, for the racial identity that drives Nazi culture looks down all non-Aryan races, a fact that is not lost on the Japanese.
The story takes place in what was once California, leveraging the friction between the two empires into a potent story element; the political might of government officials and secret police loom over the characters en masse. A simpering arts dealer, an anxious and estranged wife, a slick Gestapo assassin, and a jewelry designer who lives by the commands of an oracle are pulled into a multi-pronged conspiracy as the two empires seek leverage on one another.
In the background, an award-winning novelist has written a book that infuriates the Nazi regime and ended up on a hit list. That book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, is a fictional account of what would’ve happened if the Allies won the war, providing an interesting mirror as the alternative reality portrayed in The Man in the High Castle reflects the true reality that we’ve all come to know.
The drama in The Man in the High Castle lies not in chase scenes or explosions (although there are some fascinating Science Fiction elements), but rather in a simmering, intellectual sort of political and ideological tension that hooked me throughout and built to a boil in the final pages. The book reaches an intriguing crescendo, and it becomes easy to understand why so many have dubbed The Man in the High Castle one of the great Alternative History novels.
It took me a couple of minutes to comprehend what I had just read when I finished the story. When it finally sank it, I leaned back and thought, “Whoa. That was heavy.” Such is often the mark of a great book.
Genre: Science Fiction/Alternative History.
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars.
Vlad Vaslyn is the author of Brachman’s Underworld, Yorick and The Button. He has been a guest performer at multi-artist events such as Cool Roots and Rooted, and has appeared in places such as Open Book Society, Yahoo! Shine, Indie Author News, Strange Amusements, and Digital Journal. He is an active member of the New England Horror Writers, and his background as a newspaper correspondent has earned him dozens of publishing credits as well.
We encourage you to view his work at: www.TheVlad.net.
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BE THE FIRST TO OWN IT ON DIGITAL HD NOVEMBER 26, 2013
BRING HOME THE BLU-RAY™ COMBO PACK DECEMBER 10, 2013
INCLUDING BLU-RAY™, DVD & DIGITAL HD WITH ULTRAVIOLET
GET THREE ALL-NEW MINION MINI MOVIES NOT SEEN IN THEATERS WHEN YOU BUY THE BLU-RAY
The holiday season just got even brighter with the news that Despicable Me 2, the $872 million worldwide box office phenomenon and the year’s #1 comedy, arrives onBlu-ray™ and Blu-ray 3D™ Combo Packs, DVD and Digital HD including UltraViolet™ on December 10, 2013, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. The film will also be available on Digital HD November 26, 2013, just in time for families to watch on the go as they gear up for holiday travel. In addition to more than 45 minutes of hilarious and insightful bonus features, Blu-ray Combo Packs will include, from the makers of Despicable Me, three all-new mini-movies starring the film series’ breakout stars, the mischievous but lovable Minions. For a sneak peek of these mini-movies, and other great weekly offers from Despicable Me 2, call Gru at **DM2 (**362) from your mobile phone.*
“Despicable Me 2 is the top box-office comedy of the year and is poised for spectacular success on home entertainment this holiday season,” said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “This adored franchise, with its iconic lovable Minions, stands apart from all others and is sure to be at the top of everyone’s wish list this December.”
In this follow-up to the 2010worldwide blockbuster, Steve Carell (The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) returns to play Gru, the newly reformed master criminal now trying to live life as a normal dad to his three adopted daughters. Carell leads a voice cast of comedic powerhouses that includes Kristin Wiig (Bridesmaids,Saturday Night Live), Benjamin Bratt (Miss Congeniality, Snitch), Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly, Despicable Me), Russell Brand (Get Him to the Greek, Hop), Steve Coogan (Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief,Tropic Thunder), Ken Jeong (The Hangover, Turbo), Elsie Fisher (Despicable Me, Raising Hope), Dana Gaier (Despicable Me) and Moisés Arias (Ender’s Game, Hannah Montana). Despicable Me 2 is hailed as “Brilliant! One of the funniest, laugh-out-loud, most enjoyable movies ever” by MovieGuide.
This Thanksgiving, Manhattan will share a memorable moment of Minion Madness with the world whena brand new Despicable Me 2 float joins the 87th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in celebration of the home entertainment release. Despicable Me 2 will roll out a deliciously decorated cupcake parlor inspired by the hilarious and heartwarming film and featuring Gru, the reformed master criminal turned devoted dad, and a gaggle of his unpredictable helpers, the Minions — including a surprise new character — to keep things lively and entertaining for the film’s millions of fans, both young and old. The 86th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airs nationwide on NBC-TV, on Thursday, November 28, 2013 from 9:00 AM – 12:00 PM in all time zones.
The Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack include a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD with UltraViolet.
Bonus Features Exclusive to Blu-ray Combo Pack & Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack.
o Puppy
o Panic in the Mailroom
o Training Wheels
Bonus Features on Blu-ray & DVD
SYNOPSIS
Gru, his adorable girls, and the mischievous Minions are back with a cast of unforgettable new characters in the blockbuster sequel to the worldwide phenomenon. Just as Gru has given up being super-bad to be a super-dad, the Anti-Villain League recruits him to track down a new criminal mastermind and save the world. Partnered with secret agent Lucy Wilde, Gru, along with the wildly unpredictable Minions, must figure out how to keep his cover while also keeping up with his duties as a father. Assemble the Minions for laugh-out-loud comedy in “one of the funniest, most enjoyable movies ever!” (MovieGuide®)
CAST AND FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Steve Carell, Kristin Wiig,Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, Ken Jeong, Elsie Fisher, Dana Gaier, Moisés Arias
Directed by: Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin
Screenplay by: Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio
Character Designers: Carter Goodrich, Eric Guillon
Producers: Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy
Production Designer: Yarrow Cheney, Eric Guillon
Editor: Gregory Perler, A.C.E.
Original Songs and Themes by: Pharrell Williams
TECHNICAL INFORMATION –BLU-RAY 3D
Street Date: December 10, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Selection Numbers:61127723 (U.S.) 61128861 (CDN)
Running Time: 1 hour 38 minutes
Layers: BD-50
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1
Rating: PG for “Rude Humor and Mild Action.”
Technical Info: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/DVS DD 2.0 (English); DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (Spanish and French)
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
TECHNICAL INFORMATION – BLU-RAY
Street Date: December 10, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Selection Numbers: 61120670 (U.S.), 61125036 (CDN)
Running Time: 1 hour 38 minutes
Layers: BD-50
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1
Rating: PG for “Rude Humor and Mild Action”
Technical Info: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1/DVS DD 2.0 (English); DTS Digital Surround 5.1 (Spanish and French)
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
TECHNICAL INFORMATION – DVD
Street Date: December 10, 2013
Copyright: 2013 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
Selection Numbers:61120669 (U.S.), 61125037 (CDN)
Running Time: 1 hour 38 minutes
Layers: Dual Layer
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:85:1
Rating: PG for “Rude Humor and Mild Action”
Technical Info: Dolby Digital 5.1/DVS DD 2.0 (English); Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish and French)
Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish
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Jason Mewes and Brian O’Halloran to Host Panel & Autograph Session at Rock & Shock Rock & Shock may be less than two weeks away but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still a few surprises in store! And speaking of stores, one of those surprises includes the addition of Clerks stars Jason Mewes and Brian O’Halloran to the convention’s long list of special guests! The actors will not only be signing autographs but will host a panel entitled “I’m Not Even Supposed to Be Here” on Saturday at Worcester’s newly renovated DCU Center. Mewes will also be joining actor/writer/director Kevin Smith on stage at the Worcester Palladium on the convention’s opening night, Friday, October 18. The twosome will bring their famed characters, Jay and Silent Bob, to Rock & Shock with a viewing of their new animated film – Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie. Having brought the characters to life in several of Smith’s renowned films such as Clerks, Mallrats and Dogma, the legendary best buds from Jersey are back on the big screen to dispense weed and wisdom, this time in cartoon form. Audiences will have the opportunity to watch the new movie with its stars and then participate in rip-roaring Q&A and podcast recording afterwards. A special early screening of Smith’s Westboro Baptist Church-inspired horror flick Red State will precede the featured presentation. |
