Horror Reanimated… the home of Bloody Books

Digital Wasteland #3

February 7th, 2009

Good stuff out there on the webternet these days zeddedheds. Let’s start with a free short story entitled Countdown from Jonathan Maberry, zombie maestro, whose Patient Zero is out over here in the UK in the not too distant future, (if there is a future). That’s him, over there, him with his scary well-manicured beard. Don’t know what it’s about, but you can put a pound or two on it being zedtastic, even though it’s a bit of a we’ll give you this, if you give us something in return deal with Maberry’s publishers. They don’t want your soul, just your email address… seems a good deal right? But then, so did putting all my cash, (loads of it don’t you know), in Icesave. Ice, snow, what next I ask you? Seriously though: free zed fiction? Go git it!

Horror Mall‘s a US-based horror supermarket formed by writer Shane Ryan Stanley, wherein loads of small press and independent publishers have populated a virtual mall of dark wonderfulness. ith customer service first and foremost, they’re now expanding beyond the written word into all sorts of merchandise, their latest offering is The Haunt, a Facebook for horror addicts – and bizarrely, they’ve also added Hauntwitter enabling their users to post what they’re doing right now, and now, and now. There are a whole load of writers and fans on there already, so pay them a visit, upload your profile and you might even be (un)lucky enough to meet Mathew F. Riley lurking amongst the bloodspattered undergrowth.

The awesome Zombie Reporting Center’s reporting stuff like this 12″ Lucio Fulci Zombie figure. It’s available from Monsters in Motion, and it’s worth it for the packaging alone: It comes to you in a creepy shipping crate wooden box,lined with spanish moss and hinged with brass hardware and stamped with the ZomBcoM logo,signed by the artist/sculptor of the figure, Todd Bates on the inside of the lid. Inside of box will also include a real Gris Gris VOODOO bag used in Macumba rituals for various reasons, the Black ones are usually used for revenge or all the bad things that you wish on your enemies, complete with a white head stick pin for your ritual to become real…

THIS IS A BIT SPECIAL. More free fiction is available at the inimitable Kealan Patrick Burke‘s website. He’s giving away 3 linked novellas and what superb reading they’ll make. Teling the story of Tim Quinn, a young lad haunted by, well, ghosts of course. The 3 novellas – The Turtle Boy, Hides, and Vessels follow Tim as he strives to find out the truth behind the events that befall him across the years. Hugely recommnded by yours truly, these stories are only available for a limited time. If you won’t take my word for it, then maybe telling you that these novellas were originally published by Necessary Evil Press, Cemetery Dance, and Bloodletting Books respectively, might give you an idea of the quality we’re talking about. So go download on KPB’s free fiction page! Or spend hundreds of dollars on Ebay… up to you, but I know you’re not stupid…

Those dirty Bookgeeks have an easy-peasy competition to win a signed copy of David Moody’s Hater, reviewed on HR a while back. You’ve got until the end of February to enter.

Finally, and staying with Mr. KPB. Director Mark Steensland has just posted a link to the eight-minute short movie Peekers, written for the screen by the awesome Rick Hautala, based on KPB’s short story of the same name. Watch it!

Okay, that ‘finally’ bit wasn’t strictly true. But this is what’s so special about the webternet, you could just keep on going and going if you wished… pop on over to Rick Hautala’s website and you’ll see a great trailer for his forthcoming novel, Moon Walker – something to do with zeds, potatoes and nocturnal experiments at the mortuary. So, who does pick the potatoes? Uncle Rick knows… but he’s not telling, yet.

The Professor (who definitely has more potatoes than you, boiled, mashed, new…)

Entry Filed under: Digital Wasteland - Horror Roundup