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Won Ton Baby is nothing if not a pertinent reminder that we should never reproduce; that anyone under four feet should be shackled to a wall with a cast-iron chain and their putrescent little bodies wrapped in razor wire – The Bad Seed, carrion-eating brats, caged here in The 9th Circle of Horror Reanimated would pose less of a threat than Suzi Lorraine’s Baby Won Ton. But enough about my neighbourhood; Baby Won Ton makes the kids in my neighbourhood look like ponies! Warm milk will never pass Baby Won Ton’s lips; he is more interested in making couture out of your entrails, that is, after he has choked you with his umbilical cord.
Suzi Lorraine first came to my attention when I picked up a copy of the horror magazine Gorezone, which was, at that time only a demented little fledgling. Her column Diary of a Scream Queen was the reason I began picking it up and it has since grown in popularity with sales of up to 90,000 issues sold per month. I can’t help but feel Suzi had a large part to play in the success of this rag. With over 40 films under her belt, most of which are in the horror genre, her acting career has allowed her to travel all over the world, filming in Italy, Canada, London, Germany, Argentina, Amsterdam, and the British Virgin Islands. She also co-hosted The Gorezone Film Festival in London last October and was honoured by fans in Torino, Italy during ‘Suzi Lorraine Night’ at the Empire Theatre with several of her films being screened that night as part of a Suzi film retrospective. Some of the films Suzi appeared in are Claang: The Game, Sea of Dust and Bikini Girls on Ice. Won Ton… sees her working both in front and behind the camera.
Suzi created the story idea for (and co-produced) Won Ton Baby, collaborating with James Morgart to develop the script. Together they’ve created a fusion of comedy and horror; a riotous celebration of the perverse, the ghoulish and the zany all done in spectacular bad taste. Suzi was kind enough to brave an interview with me – she is, after all currently devising sadistic torture techniques for serial killers in Hell – and answers all my questions with great honesty. For those who want to know more, read on….
Alan Kelly: Hello Suzi, welcome to Horror Reanimated. Could you tell me a bit about what first inspired Won Ton Baby?
Suzi Lorraine: Thanks! I’m thrilled to be here at Horror Reanimated. Couldn’t think of a better place to dwell, for a spell….
The idea of “Won Ton Baby!” was conjured up by yours truly about 3 years ago, when I was working on a short horror film. I was playing a maid, and the director had decided on a whim that he wanted my character to speak with a “sexy accent”. So being a goofball, I decided to start speaking with a broken Chinese accent. It amused everyone on set, and I said to everyone, “one day I’m going to make a film where I keep a quirky Asian accent throughout the entire movie”. During the same film shoot, my stomach was rumbling during one of the takes, and we started joking around about me spawning a devil baby who is also Asian. One joke led to another, and the idea of “Won Ton Baby!” was “born”.
I further fleshed out the idea, and drew heavy inspiration from my love of 80s killer baby movies such as “It’s Alive”, “Basket Case”, and “Child’s Play”. I wanted “Won Ton Baby!” to have the same campy, tongue in cheek vibe as these movies I grew up with and loved so much. I’m a huge fan of blending horror with black comedy. I was also tired of the rampant CGI that is prevalent in so many films nowadays, and I wanted to go back to basics - rather than special effects, our sfx team created a devil baby made from silicone that could be puppeteered. We still have the handsome little devil, although he’s slightly the worse for wear after all of his adventures in the movie.
AK: I think humour in horror is absent nowadays. Earlier I read that Marilyn Manson is to star in a retro slasher flick called Splatter Sisters, which was described as “sexploitation-serial-killer-movie circa 1989″. Do you think horror has had its funny bone ripped out? I ask this because Won Ton Baby is hilariously OTT and you have a flair for comedy (ala Goldie Hawn, the dipsy, cute, sexy and smart character) - I watched The Human Centipede recently and it was so unrelentingly bleak, it actually left a nasty taste in my mouth (no pun intended) - do you believe horror needs to be less…nihilistic?
SL: I know what you mean! The vast majority of new horror movies today are straight up and serious as hell! Even more serious than Tiger Wood’s obsession with hookers. These kind of movies certainly have their place, and are the backbone of the horror industry. However, for my particular odd tastes and offbeat strangeness, there are just not enough horror films with levity. I’m so grateful to directors like Sam Raimi, who is keeping the horror/comedy torch well lit. I was quite taken by “Drag me To Hell”. I’ve always been a fan of Raimi’s, and any true horror fan knows the Evil Dead series are classics!
As an actor and as a writer, I have to say I’m most in my element when I’m writing something that is off colour and amusing. Plus, let me tell you, it’s much more fun to make a horror/comedy than to make a horror film. More jokes and humor, less blood and anguish. Thanks so much for the kind words about my character in “Won Ton Baby!”. Do you know, it took me over a week to kick that accent after filming? 
You know, I can’t believe the buzz that “Human Centipede” is getting! I heard about it only a few weeks ago from a friend who was quite taken with the err…. unusual…. premise of the film. And just a couple weeks later, you must be the 6th or 7th person that’s mentioned it to me. I have got to watch this. It goes to show you how important word of mouth is, and how quickly buzz can spread, particularly in the viral video/internet obsessed society we live in.
AK: Did the Won Ton crew face many challenges to get the film completed, where you all working to meet a specific deadline - what problems did you find yourself up against, both in pre/post production?
SL: Our biggest challenge was that Baby Won Ton kept sneaking off to smoke weed and flirt with the extras.
Besides that, the time constraints were the biggest issue. For a few of the locations, mainly the restaurants, we had a very tight period of time in which we could film. The restaurant was not available until closing each night, so we began setting up around 11pm. Our production designer Jen Morgart worked tirelessly to convert the restaurant each night from Italian to full fledged Chinese! We shot thru the night, and needed to be wrapped by mid-morning so that the restaurant could get ready to start serving lunch that day.
Once the film was completed, we were working with a firm deadline to get the film completed in time for the Gorezone International Film Festival. The film festival committee had accepted a rough cut of the film, but we still had to work quickly to get the final cut finished in time. We had an amazing team, including our editor Ken Yankee, compositor James Todd, and composer Mars who worked long hours to ensure we met the deadline.
AK: That slimy, lusty little bugger. Special effects guru Ingrid Okola created Won Ton Baby and what a monstrous little fiend he turned out to be - really hope he was only flirting and not eviscerating those extras - did you have a clear idea of how you wanted Baby Won Ton to look?
SL: I really did. I pictured baby Won Ton very vividly in my head, even before the script was complete. I knew I wanted him to be very short and squat, almost Sumo wrestler like in appearance and girth. I knew he would have wild and wooly black hair/fur, and that he should have a definitive Asian resemblance. And of course speak with a gravelly Chinese accent. I wanted his teeth and claws to be gnarly and nasty. Ingrid Okola and Paul Mafuz of Wicked EFX did a phenomenal job creating the baby from silicone and literally bringing the li’l devil to life!
AK: Those teeth are pretty nasty! Like Emily Booth’s “Movie Massacre” you have your own sidebar w/ Gorezone magazine on serial killers. Can you tell us all a wee bit about this?
SL: I actually started the serial killer project on my own dark and twisted initiative, presented it to Gorezone, and they loved the idea! I’ve always been intrigued by serial killers - far from admiration - but simply amazed by the psychology behind what makes them do what they do. Every day people may have fantasies about killing someone, but the thought of getting caught usually stops them from following thru. But for these guys, the urge is so strong, that they readily off people with complete disregard of the personal consequences.
I decided to try something new with my Gorezone “Diary of a Scream Queen” column, and write short stories/editorials about particularly disturbed serial killers, focusing primarily on the less “famous”, less notorious whackos, such as Bob Berdella, Richard Chase, and Issei Sagawa. It’s opened up a whole new angle for me as a writer, and for the readers of Gorezone, and I think this content is entirely different than what you’d find in most horror magazines.
AK: When did the Divine Debbie Rochon come onboard?
SL: That’s an excellent question. We thought of Debbie even before the script was complete! James Morgart wrote the character of Madame Won Ton with Debbie in mind, and we hoped that she would dig the character and the script and would sign on. We got in touch with her, and were thrilled when she accepted the role. I’ve been a Debbie fan for ages, and it was a treat instead of a treatment to work with her! She’s so prepared, and she brought so much life, energy, emotion, and last but not least, comedy, to the character of Madame Won Ton. 
AK: You and James Morgart both worked together to put the flesh on the bones of Won Ton Baby and you’ve both collaborated before – have you any plans for a sequel?
SL: Indeed!
Delightfully twisted visions of “Won Ton Baby! 2″ are already dancing in our heads. Since Won Ton baby’s baby mama is part Cherokee Indian, we’re going to make baby Won Ton a Native American Indian in the sequel. He will have a drinking problem, a wigwam, and will own a casino. But as is customary with all things Won Ton, the white people will be the butt of the majority of jokes. Hey, we aim for equal opportunity political incorrectness.
AK: From the beginning I consider Gorezone to be one of the only horror magazines (I’m including genre magazines and excluding online magazines) to consistently champion underground and indie filmmakers/writers/artists. Would I be correct in saying that GZ waves -and will continue to do so - the flag for the underdog while simultaneously shining the torch on mainstream horror? What I mean is GZ puts cult/mainstream on an equal footing.
SL: That’s exactly it. The goal of the magazine is to help fans discover underground cult films, just as much as it is meant to help them discover and learn about mainstream Hollywood horror films. I think independent, lesser known horror films can be very exciting, in that they can really push the envelope and take risks that just wouldn’t be allowed in mainstream studio films. Often indie films are driven by passion, rather than the desire to make a buck. They’re grittier, often darker and more experimental. Indies can also step outside of the tried and true formula; you know the “paint by numbers” predictable formula that can be spotted in many mainstream films.
Gorezone is moving in a somewhat new direction, in that there is more of a focus now on substance, rather than just gore for the sake of gore. We don’t want to get pigeonholed into being a “blood and guts” only genre magazine. So we are definitely broadening our horizons, focusing on psychological thrillers just as much as slasher films. What’s interesting to me is that you can have a movie like “The Shining” or “Misery”, which in fact has very little onscreen gore, but your imagination runs wild. The things the viewer envisions are often even scarier than if the killings occur on camera.
AK: Won Ton Baby already seems to be generating quite a buzz — do you think horror filmmaking lacks a certain artistic or creative integrity. What I mean, there seems to be a lot of sameyness in commercial horror. Whereas Won Ton Baby, albeit very tongue in cheek - is a horror film where the viewer could see the love of the subject matter come through - it rivals and pretty much beats - or if Baby Won Ton had his way, chokes - all the other Bad Seed baby monsters that have come before (I am really hoping there isn’t a pun there, though I suspect there is — you’ve corrupted me Suzi) -
SL: I’ll grab your pun and run with it! Won Ton’s Baby’s bad seed will be the impetus for “Won Ton Baby! 2″, as the poor drunk girl he impregnated gives birth to a whole new generation of baby won tons in the sequel….
I agree - I see a trend of very similar themes in indie horror lately. Some filmmakers like to “paint by numbers” - i.e. scantily clad girl/s get chased by madman wielding ax, knife, etc. and then offed one by one. It’s a formula alright, but not terribly creative. With “Won Ton Baby!”, we wanted to of course keep the elements of suspense and horror, but focus on the hilarity and insanity of the baby. And the relationships between the Won Ton family members were paramount. James Morgart did a phenomenal job fleshing out the characters in the screenplay.
The true test of a movie is whether you care about the characters. If you’re half way thru, and you don’t give a “dalmation” whether the lead characters live or die, then the movie failed. It was really important to us to make the characters very robust and even heartfelt, so that people would relate to them, and hopefully root for them.
AK: When did you first fall in love with the horror genre, was there ever a time that you can remember thinking: “this is the dark twisted avenue I’m gonna go down”?
SL: I think it all goes back to Alice Cooper. There was just something about that first time I heard “Steven” from the Welcome to My Nightmare album. My brother played it at full blast, and I remember it echoing and resonating thru the walls, particularly lines like “Steven, it’s time to come home!” and then the baritone “I’m a little boy”. “No, I’m a great big man”. It was just so creepy, and yet so enthralling at the same time. I think during that one month, I must have run back to my brother’s room 6 times asking him to play that album.
In terms of actual films, the imprinting (ahem… damage) had to have been done while watching “When a Stranger Calls”, or “Halloween”, or perhaps “Carrie” or “Psycho II”. It’s so hard to pinpoint the first horror film that I watched that really made a hard imprint. I can’t honestly remember, I just remember them always being a part of my family. My brother and father are horror fans, so I literally grew up around that stuff. I remember being about 9 years old, and being incredulous when my friends told me their parents said they can’t watch a movie. I was like “Whaatttt?? Why can’t you watch “Nightmare on Elm Street” with me? Or even worse, the friends that would say, ‘Suzi, I’m scared to watch those movies”! I honestly didn’t get it, and felt bad that they were missing out so dearly. And therefore, they had to pay!! Mwahhhh!!!!
My cousin (decidedly a non-horror fan) can tell you stories about how I terrorized her (lovingly, of course) by scaring the living hell out of her at sleepovers. I would trigger some kind of creepy horror soundtrack/song that I had recorded, and then magically it would start playing and freak her out. Or I would cut all the lights and toss stuff around, telling her it was the ghosts. Or even better, I would dress up as a ghost, and scare the living daylights out of her! (Editor’s note: HR staff found this very amusing…)
AK: Could you give me three titles from film, literature and television which you loved and why?
SL: TV: “Twilight Zone”. Brilliant sci fi/horror tales, with an impactful moral message at the end of every episode. I love the creativity and originality of the series. Riveting, and fascinating. And I love the fact that an episode could be completely creepy and/or terrifying without showing a drop of blood onscreen.
Film: “The Shining”. An example of an all around perfect horror film. You have a picturesque and oh so creepy old mansion, feelings of complete exclusion and isolation from society (and reality), and of course, the one and only Jack Nicholson, who was simply brilliant in the role, as he becomes slowly unwound and homicidal. Not to mention the ground breaking cinematography and art direction of the master Stanley Kubrick.
Literature: “Solitaire”, by Kelley Eskridge. It’s a sci-fi styled fictional account of a young woman in a post modern time who was convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, and was setenced to many decades of solitary confinement. However, in this futuristic world, the justice system has been using a technique in which prisoners are put into a catatonic style “sleep” in which hours seem like days, even years. So an 80 year sentence feels to the prisoner like 80 years, but can be completed in a year or 2. It was a really riveting account of this young girl’s struggles and the way she dealt with the insanity of being isolated for such a long period of time. The book also details her return to society, and how many demons she had to deal with as a result of her solitary imprisonment time.
AK: What are you thoughts on horror on the small-screen, you mentioned The Twilight Zone above – I’m excited about The Walking Dead and really like True Blood and Being Human.
SL: I think horror on the small screen can have tremendous potential, however there really haven’t been too many lasting series dedicated to it as of yet. Of course there are a million and one forensics/crime dramas out there like CSI and Criminal Minds, which are fantastic in their own right, however they are more psychological thriller/forensics based than actual horror.
I have also heard great things about the TV series “Dexter”, although I have yet to check it out. I recently discovered the “Chiller Channel” here in the US, and am loving the content! Speaking of good TV series, they recently played an “American Gothic” marathon on Chiller. What an intriguing show, with outstanding characters. I love that great comedic character actor, Gary Cole, and young Lucas Black (”Swingblade”) is also outstanding in the series.
AK: Thank you Suzi for taking the time to talk to me…
SL: Thanks so much for doing this interview with me Alan! It has been a lot of fun. I loved all your questions!
August 7th, 2010
Many of you will be familiar with our guest today, Johnny Mains. His mission to resurrect The Pan Book of Horror Stories has made him an instant legend in the horror community. As I said to him in a recent Facebook exchange, he is at the forefront of Horror Reanimation.
I invited Johnny to join us here in the Hell-realms of Horror Reanimated where we could interrogate him properly – a chat on Facebook never quite satisfies, does it? At least down here, where the walls drip pus-thick sulphur and our interrogation equipment never fails, we could get to know each other…more intimately. He could barely wait to get his genitals through our mini-guillotine!
Unfortunately, Johnny pressed the wrong button in the lift (B is for Blowtorch not Basement!) and got a bit of a roasting.
Joseph D’Lacey: Hi, Johnny. Thanks for riding the elevator down to Satan’s crypt – where the resident bloggers are enslaved for all eternity. You’re looking a little crispy but I’m sure we can soon excise the excess dermis. Anyway, we’re delighted to have you here – Mathew’s been blunting his razors in anticipation.
Johnny Mains: Afternoon Joseph, and in honour of my recent holiday to Portugal, I shall call you ‘Senhor Slicer Pênis Pequeno.’
And Mathew needs to use those razors on his beard, or he needs to grow it out a bit. It looks like a snail with a bad belly has been
Mathew's beard, eating his face and drinking his beer
running all over his manly jaw. But it’s good to be at HR and thanks for inviting me!
JD’L: You must have a soul-level connection with the genre to be involved with it so deeply. Were your first feelings of horror caused by something in real life or by something from the world of entertainment? What got you hooked?
JM : When I was a child I lived not too far from an area where there used to be a Roman Fort called Trimontium. But even closer to me were the remains of a Roman Marching Camp – something I didn’t find out about until I was in my twenties. So, when I was around eight years old I was ill in bed, it was a Saturday afternoon and I heard what I believed to be the sounds of a deafening Roman Legion trample through my farmhouse bedroom. Scared the absolute shit out of me. The braying of hundreds of horses, clanking of light and heavy metals; (I hid under the covers as it was scaring me) people talking in a deep raucous foreign language.
For the obvious reasons I never told my parents, and as I grew up I truly believed that the ghosts of these Romans had walked through the house. Then one Christmas I was given an Armada Ghost Book and the connection with my experience and ghosts in these stories was made. I recieved many of these books and each story in their own way reminded me of my experience in which the terror I had felt duly morphed with time into a delicious thrill. I continued to be a fan of the ghostly tale until I discovered Stephen King (Carrie) at the age of twelve and the Pan Book of Horror Stories at the age of thirteen. Then that’s when my love of horror truly began.
JD’L: Horror is often described not as a genre but as a sensation or experience. This may make it harder to categorise but it strikes me as a useful distinction. As someone who’s involved so fundamentally, what are your thoughts on defining the genre?
JM: Something I might find frightening might be laughable to someone else, and this, while amusingly ironic, is the definition of the genre. Individual perceptions make it (horror) what it is.
JD’: Why do we have horror in the first place? Surely in a sane world, people wouldn’t want to be any more frightened than they already are. What’s the use of it, do you think, and why does it endure?
JM: As a collector of ghost/horror anthologies I am truly staggered at the books I come across that were published in the years immediately and following the First and Second World Wars. You would have thought that books of this kind would be almost impossible to track down – after the aftermath of millions of soldiers butchered on the battlefields, the traumas of the blitz, the understanding of what the Final Solution meant – would you want to read a horror story when there was this terrifying legacy to deal and to live with?
It goes to show that even though we may face real life horrors – sadly as relevant today as they were back then, we still like to be thrilled with the horror we can stop at will, the terrifying that we are in complete charge of. In this regard horror will always be with us, and that we can choose to be a part of it, or not.
JD’L: Has horror changed much or are we merely seeing the same old stories told in slightly different ways? I suppose what I’m wondering is, have the archetypes of horror developed or altered in response to changes in society?
JM: There are bound to be homages, rip-offs, re-treads, call them what you will of the core ideas, myths, and legends of the genre that are out there – but on that flip side there are startling new voices and even people who are firmly established – like say for instance Nicholas Royle who is always there with his new exciting spins on the genre. Stories for instance like Unfollow (marvellous Twitter inspired short story), The Children (a very creepy take on the package holiday) and others continue to prove that he is on top of his game.
JD’L: Film, literature, art, music and video games are all viable media for presenting Horror. There are probably many others I haven’t thought of. Which do you think has the greatest potential to scare people?
JM: I think literature, for me is the one that is scariest. Sitting on your own, late at night, reading a suitably creepy short story or novel…and the house starts settling down, making it’s noises, creaks and groans… something outside makes a noise, a twig snaps…
Most of all I miss being a kid and telling the most goriest stories while being on overnight excursions or hearing stories from other countries while on exchange. Each storyteller would try to outballs the latter one.
So yeah, Literature first, spoken word second, music third.
JD’L: Can you tell us a little about what prompted you to bring back The Pan Books of Horror Stories?
JM: I’ve been a fan of it since I was 13 years old and a few years ago I was looking for information on one of the authors to my favourite short story from the Pans and couldn’t find anything on him at all! So I started a research kick, with the aims of bringing out a history book of the Pan Horrors. I got sidetracked by several of the authors I got in touch with saying they had nice new unpublished stories. The book is now an anthology with a bit of history in it – I’ve been the first person to seriously look into the world of Herbert van Thal, the series’ original editor. He didn’t disappoint!
JD’L: What kind of experience has that turned out to be?
JM: Tiring, exhilarating, mindblowing. I’ve been in touch with around 40 odd authors, can now call quite a few of them friends, as a fan it’s been great because I now have every book from 4 – 30 signed! But it all culminated at the World Horror Convention with the Pan Horror panel which I fronted, a moment I will treasure for the rest of my life. And it’s ongoing, still uncovering facts, secrets and new (old) authors!
JD’L: Well, I and many others thank you for your perseverance and hard work, Johnny. I mean that very sincerely.
I recently read an article about Cory Doctorow’s approach to marketing his fiction. He’s big into making his work available for free on the internet as well as selling hardcopy. What are your thoughts about the future of publishing – particularly Horror publishing – with regard to the online/dead-tree split?
JM: Publishers are rightly shitting themselves, books can be produced cheaper now than they ever were. Of course, you have to wade through more crap to find the nuggets more than ever, but I think the small press (to a certain degree – see below) is in a healthy place. I think if you can afford to give out your stuff for free on the internet – then good for you, but why would I want to pay for something that you’ve already given me yesterday for nothing? You’re not a drug dealer, you’ve not got me hooked – I’ll just find someone else who is punting out free stuff and go and read them.
JD’L: In the UK, Horror literature appeared to go through a long slump between the 80’s and the turn of the millennium. Now, however, fans and authors alike are hopeful of a renaissance in the popularity and quality of horror fiction. Recent novels such as The Birthing House, Let the Right One in, Apartment 16 and The Leaping seem to point the way. Do you think such hopes are well-founded?
JM: Out there in mainstream land, I’m very happy with what’s happening – currently reading Tom Fletcher’s excellent THE LEAPING, love Lindqvist’s stuff and eagerly awaiting his third, I’m project editor on the Pan Horror 1959 re-issue which is going to be brilliant in terms of getting more anthologies out there, and I’ve also finished STORIES, edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sorontonio – a knock out anthology which really took my breath away with how brilliant it is.
JD’L: What’s next for Johnny Mains? Will you always be a compiler and editor or do you have more personal creative projects lined up?
JM: I want to create books which will make people glad they put their hands in their pocket to buy them. Quality anthologies, quality collections with established authors, new discoveries and hopefully be able to be given the chance to write a few short stories myself.
JD’L: Visitors to Horror Reanimated are always encouraged to make two awards: The Sword of the Ultimate Darkness goes to the work of Horror in any medium which you consider to be a timeless classic. You may also banish to the Plague Pits the most astounding flop in Horror history. Go for it, sir!
JM: Right, the Sword shall go to…Dawn of the Dead – THE greatest film I’ve ever had the pleasure to see. Now have it on bluray – and my god it’s like watching it for the first time. I think the messages and themes weaved into a ‘shoot ‘em in the head’ movie are still as valid and as urgent as they were back then.
The Plague Pits…any of the SAW films after the first instalment. Or Pet Sematary 2. That stank.
JD’L: Worthy choices!
Johnny, it’s been an enlightening experience to have you strapped to a rusty iron chair while we show you how all our instruments work. You’ve been a real gentlemen about it. While we’ve been talking, Mathew has had your manly bits encased in Perspex as a Horror Reanimated souvenir for you. I hope you’ll display them prominently on the mantelpiece of your living room.
In the meantime, we wish you the very best of good fortune with all your dark endeavours!
JM: Much obliged, it’s been a pleasure and I’ve really enjoyed my time with you. Now give me my bits back. I have a buyer for them!
July 6th, 2010
I first discovered today’s featured artist when I stumbled across his blog. I’d been Googling my short story ‘The Food of Love’ to see if its ghost remained online. Instead, I found Nick’s site and his detailed explanation of an illustration titled ‘Brainburgers’. Nick had been commissioned to provide art for my story in an anthology now titled Darc Karnivale. His image of zombies queuing for ‘Brainburgers’ in a fast food joint appears in the book, as do many other fine examples of Nick’s work.
As you’ll glean from his frank responses to our questions, Nick has survived a lot to get where he is today.
Joseph D’Lacey: Welcome to Horror Reanimated, Nick. I’m glad you could make it all the way out to our quaint little corner of Hell.
Nick Rose: Joseph, I am very honoured. You know you’re Madison’s and my favourite writer, and you’re a wonderful man on top of that. Illustrating “The Food of Love” was probably my favourite assignment to date. And guess what? – This time next month everyone will be able to have a print or T-shirt with “Brainburgers” on it. And don’t worry, brother, if we sell a good many of these, we’ll send some money your way! After all, you gave me the idea…
Actually, this will be the very first time that fans and friends can buy prints of Nick Rose art. I really hope that I get the chance to work on more of your stories in the future.
JD’L: Thanks, Nick! It doesn’t matter about the money – you can buy me a beer next time I come to the USA!
Now, I see a lot of news about you on Facebook these days but I’m very curious about your past. How long have you been a professional artist and what kind of journey has it been?
NR: Well, actually I have been around for a long time.
My first published piece was for a fanzine called “Stellar Gas” way back around 1980. It was a Star Trek fan magazine. The picture I did was of Mr. Spock. From there I was published regularly in a Magazine called “Lost World”. Around 1990 my pro career started with a piece published in Dragon Magazine #203. I also had landed a few commercial accounts as well.
Publishing is great as far as building a fan base, but it pays very little considering the time you spend on it. Commercial art on the other hand is boring most of the time, but the pay-checks are awesome.
Now through all of this, I also was a carpet installer. It was the only way I could make ends meet. This went on until 1995. At the time computers were coming in strong and you could do an assignment in a 10th of the time. But two things were going on with me at the time.
One: I was against using computers to produce art. Two: I was growing sick of doing commercial work. I wanted to paint Dragons and Monsters, so out of frustration, I quit drawing and painting again. From 1995 to 2000 I gave up art. I packed up the studio and put it in storage.
Those 5 years where hell. I started drinking and smoking very heavy and I just didn’t want to live to be honest. I was killing myself.
Then in 2000, I got a computer for my then step-son, and he started showing me all the cool things like publishers websites. (Before this, you either had to mail your work into the publisher and pray that you would get it back, or you had to have an agent knocking on doors for you.) But now with the internet, all of that had changed. So I became inspired again, and unpacked my studio and got to work.
Everywhere I sent samples, I was getting work. This was mainly small press, but I was loving it. I was constantly getting magazines and books in the mail that either had a cover by me, or interiors. It was very exciting. I muddled along doing this until 2005 when a Master Artist offered to train me – Master Daniel Horne, and shortly after that fantasy legend Todd Lockwood decided to help me as well.
Sammy Unmasked - Based on the movie Trick 'r' Treat
As a young man, I could not afford to pay my way through an art school. After the Army, I went to a local community college where I took commercial art for a year. The sad thing is, everything I learned from the community college is totally useless these days. The computer has changed the world as we know it. So having Daniel and Todd train me was and is a dream come true. Daniel really opened my eyes to art and I started seeing it in a whole different light, and Todd really introduced me to contrast and perspective. He had me go down town twice a week and practice drawing buildings from all different points of views. I did that for about 5 months, and I remember mumbling every time I was sitting on a bench drawing and a wino would come up to me asking me for money. But after a while I started to get it and understood why he had me doing that. It really opened my eyes to how important it was to making a good picture. I haven’t used much of that knowledge yet but I will soon.
Through the years I installed carpet to get by, but there were some years I decided to try to go full time as an artist. Financially, those where tough times, but they were also a lot of fun. I don’t even remember how I got by, but I did. For some reason when I was young I thought I would get rich painting, but the truth is, you’re lucky just to get by. Being an artist is an act of love. Now don’t get me wrong, I know a few artists that are well off, mostly because they had a spouse with good business sense, like Elli Frazetta. She built the Frazetta empire by cutting out the middle man.
I know other artists who make $20,000 per painting, but those are few and far between. In my case, 2 of those a year and I would be living better that I ever have.
These days I paint because I love to, and last year people started noticing me on Facebook, and with in a year’s time I had 4600 friends, 2 fan clubs – one with 4800 fans, and the second one with 2000 fans, and my blog has 900 known followers. That’s about 12,000 fans in less than a year. It’s mind boggling if you think about it, me just being an artist. So I guess I’m doing pretty well these days.
JD’L: It seems that very few of those who set out to become authors are ever able to support themselves through their writing. How true is this of artists, do you think? I ask because I know several and only a couple of them make a living by their creativity.
NR: Good question Joseph, and you are right. A small percentage of artists like me can make a living doing this, but I have help. I have a health problem that I get money for, and Madison works a regular job, so all of that helps.
A couple of weeks from now we will start selling prints and other merchandise, and hopefully that will get Madison out of her job so she can write full time. But even the big names I know struggle. If their wives weren’t working, I don’t think they could make it either. Now there are a few that do, but they live modestly. For the first 50 years of my life, I installed carpet 37 of those years, and was able to retire from that at 50 years old. But the sad truth is that 80 percent of the artists you see in the field right now, will be memories in 3 years. Life pressures get to them, or raising a family, or they lack the 3 things it takes to be an artist which are Talent, Heart, and Soul, and/or they are in it for the wrong reason, like they want to be famous. If you want to be famous, you’d best learn how to play music or act.
JD’L: In your case has it always been the bizarre side of imagery that has drawn you or do you also enjoy what people might refer to as mainstream art?
NR: Now that is the first time I have ever been asked that, and I will do my best to answer it.
I didn’t take art seriously until I was in the army, but in the 4th grade, around the time “One Million Years BC” came out, I started drawing dinosaurs. I had always loved dinosaurs and had a big box of the plastic ones like army men that I used to play with. You heard it here first folks, Nick Rose used to play with toy soldiers and dinosaurs! Anyway, after I saw that movie, I started drawing dinosaurs in school. If I’d gone to a Junior high school that had an art program, I would have pursued art at a much earlier age. But we lived in Bigfoot country, so the best I could get was creative writing.
In high school I became a huge comic book fan and I loved Spiderman. So in the army, when I started to draw again, I was really into comics. After the Army, I went to a local community college to take some art classes, after that I found a book by Frank Frazetta and I knew then and there that I wanted to learn to paint like that man. So I moved into doing fantasy art.
But through the road of life, dark and evil things and people have been part of my existence. Not by choice, but imposed on me by certain step-family members. For instance my step father used to beat me and my mother senseless, and I don’t care how old you get, you never get over that. I had an asshole artist tell me the other day that he was friends with my ex Stepfather, and I remember thinking that this fool was proud to be friends with a man that would do that to a woman and a child.
He also allowed his younger bother to molest me. He was told about it but never did anything about it, except call me a “faggot”. This same artist told me that I was not allowed to come to my ex step fathers funeral when it happened. I would be physically removed if I did. I’ve got news for them: I am going to visit his grave often to pay my respects, if you know what I mean. So this artist is proud to be friends with him. I think that says volumes about his character.
But because I have had to live with these memories through the years, my work has become darker and darker, and I see them getting Darker as I go. There is no cure for what was done to me, talking about it just makes me angry, so in some way, painting these images has helped me slowly but surely.
In my early years I did try to do some mainstream art because family members would tell me “why don’t you paint something people will like, like barns or cowboys?” I did try, but it was like taking a pair of pliers and pulling the skin off of my face. So I went back to being the loser artist that everyone thought was weird.
JD’L: It’s very clear that you’re no kind of loser, Nick. Certainly not to survive such treatment and come out with so much positive spirit. What fascinating about what you’ve told me – apart from your honesty and candour – is that the darkness of your work has given you comfort. Horror has many functions!
Tell me, what is your preferred medium? Do you ever work outside of it?
NR: Joseph, I work in all mediums, including digital. I believe if you’re going to make a living doing this, you need to be able to do as much as possible. My favourites are pencil, oils, and Corel painter. I used to work in pen and inks a lot, but I don’t get much call 
for it anymore.
JD’L: I’m fascinated by the working practices of other ‘creatives’ – How does a typical Nick Rose work day go?
NR: Normally, I get up at 7:15 am, make a pot of coffee and head to the dungeon (studio) to go through my mail and Facebook. That takes from 1 to 3 hours, drinking coffee throughout. After that, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I head to the gym for 90 minutes, come home, shower and get to work. The other 4 days of the week, I shower after checking e-mail and start work immediately. Somewhere along the way I grab a bowl of oatmeal. I work to at least 7pm, sometimes as late as 9pm. It depends on the day. Then I pick out a good movie and enjoy that, have a snack and hit the hay ready to start all over at 7:15 the next morning.
Starting this week I am going to be redesigning the studio, buying new equipment and supplies. I am really looking forward to that. Right now a good portion of the floor is taken up by my movie collection. I am going to buy book cases to put them in and that will clear a lot of the floor. Then I will have space for a table where I can put together packages ready to be mailed or to matte my prints. I am also buying another drawing table, a medium size easel for Madison’s daughter to work on, and a light box for her. The dungeon is large and wide open, so I can do what ever I want down here.
Another thing is that I listen to music all day long, so I have about 11,000 c.d.’s most of them are on my iMac. I listen to every kind of music you could think of.
JD’L: Do you feel there’s a gap between your ideas and your ability to bring them into being? Arthur Machen once wrote: ‘One dreams in fire and works in clay.’ He also talked about ‘the horrid gulf that yawns between the conception and the execution’. Admittedly he was an author, not an artist. Nonetheless, what’s your personal view?
NR: At one time I would say that would have been true, mostly because my skills were not strong enough to paint what my mind sees. Now, it is the other way around, my hands can surpass what my mind sees, and improve upon it. I get excited now every time I do a new piece because I know that it will be so much more than what my mind sees. I have to ask myself, what is next, and that is a big part of why I love to paint.
JD’L: Is it only art that gets you out of bed in the morning – or, indeed, at any other time – or do you have other passions?
NR: Oh my, to be honest, there was a time I didn’t want to get out of bed several years ago at all. As a matter of fact I overdosed on pain pills, and somehow lived through that. After the Dark Angels disbanded and I realised my best friend had betrayed and stabbed me in the back, and my Step Father said he never wanted to have anything to do with me ever again, I was going to commit suicide, but as a last resort I went to the VA hospital and told them what I was going to do. They locked me in the Mental Health ward for 3 weeks, during Christmas, and worked with me to help me cope with what happened. When I went home, the girl I had been dating took almost everything I owned and vanished off the face of the earth.
I just existed at that point. I didn’t care anymore. I just drank and smoked all I could smoke in a day. Then a friend offered to move me up here to Michigan, where my home is now, and my life changed 100%. The first thing was I met Madison. We fell in love, and all of a sudden I wanted to live again. It has been a rough year. I quit smoking, drinking and started working out again. I found out I have COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) because of the smoking, and this last year I’ve had pneumonia 5 times. But each day I get stronger, and my will to live is amazing. Nothing gets me down anymore. I work all the time and spend time with Madison and the kids.
My career has gone through the roof and keeps going up everyday. This is the 9th interview I have done since Christmas, Joseph. I was on a world wide radio show last week and am going to be a regular on there – talking live a couple times a year – and they will be giving away prints of my work and promoting my name almost every week. You can’t beat that.
JD’L: If you had the time, money and support to do only your own work, which deeply-held, as yet unrealised idea, would you bring into the world? I suppose I’m asking, what is the piece or series Nick Rose was born to create?
NR: Actually that is coming very soon now. I am at the point where I can do what I want and turn down what I don’t want to do. I have two projects I will be starting as soon as I finish remodelling the studio this coming week. One is a series of oil paintings of my dear friend and scream queen, Ms. Suzi Lorraine. We will be selling prints, calendars, t-shits, and whatever with her image. Another is a series of books called “The book of Rose” which I am already working on. I can’t say anything about that now, because of all the thieves out there, and this is a one of a kind thing. It will have a role playing game and video game based around it, all done through my company. And on top of that, I will be painting my paintings, writing how-to book, and a book about my life including all the 
creeps and monsters I have met on my journey, names and all.
JD’L: Beyond that, what’s next for you, Nick? I have a sense there’s a lot of work in the pipeline. Is there anything you can tell us about without giving away too many secrets?
NR: Well, between now and January I have 20 covers to do, so that’s gonna keep me busy and it will get my work out there to a much larger audience. I hope by this time next year that the number will double and we will have our own market of buyers who are fans of my work.
JD’L: I hope so too, Nick. It’s been a pleasure to talk to you and share some of your artwork here at Horror Reanimated. Thanks for joining us and good luck for the future!
NR: Joseph, it has been my pleasure. You know Madison and I are two of your biggest fans, and it has been a thrill for me to do this interview with you. To my fans, “May the Darkness Comfort You.”
June 17th, 2010
Thanks to Pan MacMillan we have five copies of one of the most important horror novels to be published in the UK in years, Apartment 16, by Adam Nevill.
(Read Mathew F. Riley’s review here).
Some doors are better left closed…
In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
A young American woman, Apryl, arrives at Barrington House. She’s been left an apartment by her mysterious Great Aunt Lillian who died in strange circumstances. Rumours claim Lillian was mad. But her diary suggests she was implicated in a horrific and inexplicable event decades ago.
Determined to learn something of this eccentric woman, Apryl begins to unravel the hidden story of Barrington House. She discovers that a transforming, evil force still inhabits the building. And the doorway to Apartment 16 is a gateway to something altogether more terrifying…
To win a copy, tell us the title of the book that Adam would like to be buried with and email us via the contact form with your answer!
Closing date 31 May 2010. Sorry - UK entrants only.
May 11th, 2010
Here’s a beautiful little shadow to darken your day…
The brand new Dark Arts horror anthology ‘When the Night Comes Down’ is now available for pre-order. There are five twilight tales from me and plenty more from legends of the genre Bev Vincent, Robert E. Weinberg and Nate Kenyon.
From start to finish it’s been a genuine pleasure to be involved in this collection. The Dark Arts team: Bill Breedlove, John Everson and Martel Sardina are innovative publishers, absolutely dedicated to publishing top quality horror – even if I say so myself.
We’ll be launching this officially at WHC 2010 in Brighton but for those who can’t wait here’s where to find out more or grab an early copy:
http://www.darkartsbooks.com/?page_id=710
I hope you enjoy every word of this unique book…
March 1st, 2010
So far, I have stories appearing in four anthologies this year.
Here’s a little inside information about each book, its publisher and editor, as well as what my contribution amounts to in each case.
First off is When the Night Comes Down released by Dark Arts. 
This is an approach to horror collections I hadn’t come across before. The four contributors to the anthology provide four or five stories totalling 20-25,000 words each. The other writers in this volume are Nate Kenyon, Bev Vincent and Robert Weinberg. Editing the collection is Bill Breedlove, closely assisted by John Everson and Martel Sardina. I’ve come to like Bill very much just through our email communications. He is a wise and free-thinking editor and I’ve welcomed his comments on my work. Happily, I’ll be meeting Bill, some of the contributors and the rest of the DA staff at WHC 2010 in Brighton – When the Night Comes Down will launch on Friday 27th March in Bar Rogue between 10pm and midnight. I’ve contributed five stories to this collection.
Longer in the making but probably to be released well before WTNCD is Darc Karnivale published by The Evil Nerd Empire. The editors, David Byron and Corey R. Scales have put a great deal of time and effort into collecting and organising the stories for the anthology. The artwork has been provided by the talented Nick Rose. The image he’s created for my story ‘The Food of Love’ is superb. Other contributors include Paul Kane, Ralan Conley and Jeremy C. Shipp. With luck the anthology will be available at WHC 2010 in the dealer room, but failing that, it will be stocked by all the usual online suspects.
Next up is Holy Horrors. To give you an idea of how long this anthology has been in the pipeline, I submitted my tale ‘The Germ of His Ideas’ to Matt Cardin and T. M. Wright on 8th September ’06. It was accepted about ten months later. Since then, watching the ups and downs has been quite disturbing. At times, I was convinced – and so were the editors, I think – that the book would never be published. However, we’re finally on course for Holy Horrors to be released in two volumes by Ash Tree Press. Volume 1 in spring and Volume 2 before the end of the year.
I include both TOCs because they excite me so much
VOLUME 1
1) “Sanctuary.” Jim Rockhill.
2) “The Dreams of Cardinal Vittorini.” Reggie Oliver. Reprint.
3) “Bavel II.” Jens Rushing.
4) “Saviour.” Gary Braunbeck.
5) “Vom-Beist.” Mike Norris.
6) “Magog and I.” Craig Holt.
7) “Darshan.” William R. Eakin.
8 ) “Ezekiel Remembers.” Kurt Dinan.
9) “And You Shall Be Adored.” Regina Mitchell.
10) “Sicarii.” Andrew Tisbert.
11) “Porta Nigra.” Darren Speegle.
12) “The Dead Must Die.” Ramsey Campbell. Reprint.
13) “At the Feet of the Forest Primeval.” Randy Chandler.
14) “The Editor.” Pamela K. Taylor.
15) “Behind the Bathroom Door.” Sara Joan Berniker.
16) “The Hands of God.” Michael McBride.
17) “Cold to the Touch.” Simon Strantzas.
18) “Anubis Has Left the Building.” Tim Waggoner. Reprint.
19) “On This Day of Reckoning.” Joseph Nassise.
20) “Rapture.” Robert Morrish and Harry Shannon.
VOLUME 2
1) “Abandon.” Adam Browne.
2) “In the Name of God.” Stuart Young.
3) “The Sect of the Idiot.” Thomas Ligotti. Reprint.
4) “The Shaft.” Brian Hodges.
5) “Waters Dark as a Raven’s Wing, Flames Bright as a Dove’s Breast.” Dru Pagliassotti.
6) “Uncaged.” Paul Finch.
7) “Intentions.” William Freedman.
8 ) “The Tattoo Artista.” Eric S. Smith.
9) “Redemption.” David Niall Wilson.
10) “The Bishop Receives a Visitor.” Marion Pitman.
11) “A Prayer for Captain La Hire.” Patrice E. Sarath. Reprint.
12) “Purifying Vows.” Kim Paffenroth.
13) “The Temple.” Quentin S. Crisp. Reprint.
14) “The Monsters We Defy.” Karen Williams.
15) “The Wound of Her Making.” Gerard Houarner. Reprint.
16) “Bad Religion.” Douglas M. Chapman.
17) “The Germ of His Ideas.” Joseph D’Lacey.
18) “Darkness.” Jude Wright.
Finally – but only for the moment, of course – Mark Deniz of Morrigan Books asked me for a story to complete a pet project of his. Scenes From the Second Storey was The God Machine’s debut album. Released in 1993, it has been hailed as one of the best albums of that decade. It’s one of Mark’s favourites of all time, so the collection bears the same name. Each of the stories in the anthology takes the title of, and is inspired by, one of the songs. Mine was track eleven: Seven. It was a pleasure to write and I’m happy to note that Mark will be giving himself the book for his 40th birthday present! Other authors include Carole Johnstone and Gary McMahon.
For those of you who’d like to see a free JD’L horror tale right now, the gruesome ‘Read my Lips’ is in Ecelcticism #9.
January 15th, 2010
Some months ago I posted a free story here on HR titled ‘Lights out’. I wanted some art to accompany the tale and after trawling Google images I found exactly what I was looking for. The discovery made me very interested in Allison Theus, the creator of the image. I don’t believe in coincidences, so I spent some time looking at her other work, on her website and at deviant art. I knew I had to get her for an HR interview and here, after months of chasing this very busy and successful artist, is the result:
Joseph D’Lacey: Hi, Allison. And welcome to the cramped, dripping corridors of Horror Reanimated. After waiting all this time to interview you, it’s a real treat to finally have you here.
There are reasons why you’ve been otherwise occupied, though. Tell us what you’ve been doing since I first contacted you regarding ‘Face’…
Allison Theus: Hey Joseph, quite a bit has been going on. At the time you contacted me I was just finishing up grad school in Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University, in their Entertainment Technology program. Immediately afterward I went to work at a start-up videogame company called Divide by Zero Games located in Seattle, WA. I spent a little over a year there doing concept art, illustration, texturing, UI design and some 2D and 3D animation on several projects. About 3 months ago I decided to strike out on my own to try a little freelancing, where I picked up work doing monster miniature concepts for Rackham Games and monster miniature schematics for Fantasy Flight Games as part of their Arkham Horror project. I’m currently working on illustrations for a children’s book and involved in a gig with Warner Bros. which, though not as fantastic as some of the monster stuff, is still really cool. Add to that the usual queue of private fantasy and sci-fi commissions, and it’s been pretty hectic!
JD’L: I have a theory that artists and musicians tend to know what they were destined to do from a very early age, whereas writers often don’t find out until later. Was that true of you?
AT: It was. Art had been a big part of my life from a very early age, and as the years went by it evolved and took over everything. It’s difficult to imagine what I would do without it.
JD’L: And were the themes you find attractive always in the realms of the fantastic?
AT: I suppose so. I found there to be a great deal of freedom in the fantastic, and that freedom allowed me to explore themes that were both of the fantastic and non-fantastic variety.
JD’L: Are you self-taught in the main or have you done a lot of formal study?
AT: I’m a pretty even mix of both. I’ve taken art classes throughout school (hell, I majored in Fine Art in undergrad), and for several years very early on I studied with a local painter, but the most important things that I have learned have been outside the classroom. I would spend hours playing with concepts and materials, figuring out new techniques, and learning what worked and what didn’t. While the classes were good, I believe I owe most of my progress to my own experimentation.
JD’L: If I were a creator of visual art, it would be my instinct to reinvent the world rather than show it as it is. After all, the real world is one no one can see, isn’t it – reality a drab cover for something astonishingly beautiful? Like everyone who creates art for a living, I know you’re tied to certain contractual commitments but if it was up to you how and what you created, what would you say the driving force is behind your gift? What do you want to see and what do you want us to see?
AT: It really depends. I’ve always possessed a strong feeling that my art was for something; that it would serve some sort of higher purpose (which is not to say I believe my art is the grandest thing since sliced bread, or that this purpose will ever reveal itself during my lifetime). It simply exists and provides a continuous urge to create. Simultaneously, my art has always been intertwined with my life. Think of it as one giant ongoing dialogue with yourself, where everything you’ve ever done or felt or learned has been recorded, IS being recorded and considered and at times disputed. A constant self-assessment, if you will.
I think what I really want to see in my art is some sort of resolution – perhaps the complete evolution of the self into something greater then what I am. For my audience, it’s less about what is seen and more about what is felt. At least for personal pieces, if someone can look at a piece and glean what I felt while making it (which is often the ‘why’ I made it), then that’s good stuff. It’s an odd way to share experiences, but I find it particularly rewarding.
JD’L: The first time I talked to you about this interview, you felt there wasn’t a great deal of horror in your work. When I look at it, I see both horror and fantasy. I didn’t mean that you set out to frighten in your work, merely that what you depict is unsettling and a spark to the dark imagination. Horror is, perhaps, more a sensation than a genre and if it was up to me, I wouldn’t hesitate to commission you for some cover art for one of my novels. I guess what I want to know is: What’s more important; how you see your work or how others see it?
AT: How I see my work, definitely. You’ve got to like it, or at least semi-like what you do to really want to do it all the time. The more involved you are, the better you will be able to convey your message(s). Besides, everybody’s different; I know and expect that people will interpret my work differently. That’s part of the fun!
JD’L: Who are your artist heroes, past and present?
AT: My very first artist hero was Robert Bakker, a well-known Paleontologist (I distinctly remember watching him explain the way sound travels through a Parasaurolophus’s nasal passageways as he was sketching the head of the creature on a TV program many, many years ago); his ability to be both scientist and artist was extremely inspiring. When I hit my wildlife stage I was very fond of Carl Brenders and Robert Bateman, one for his extreme realism and the other for his dramatic portrayals of nature. From there I forayed into the realm of sci-fi clutching Wayne Barlowe’s ‘Expedition,’ and picked up some inspiration later on down the line from Terryl Whitlatch and Iain McCaig. Currently, my present, and perhaps most influential hero to date is Zdzisław Beksiński, whose work manages not only to depict most of my long-standing nightmares but to do it in such a way that is both immensely beautiful and utterly terrifying.
JD’L: If you could pick your next employer, what would be your ideal paid project?
AT: I would absolutely love to get a chance to work inside Stan Winston Studios and make monsters come to life. That would be a dream come true for me, no joke. I would also be happy working for a variety of game companies, especially Blizzard.
JD’L: What is your favourite work of art?
AT: There are too many great artists and great works of art to choose from! I don’t know that I could ever settle on just one.
JD’L: Allison, it’s been a delight to finally have this time looking into your mind. Thank you for sharing your visions with us. All of us here at Horror Reanimated wish you great success for the future.
AT: Thank you!
December 8th, 2009
There’s something afoot this side of Christmas: dark skies over real-world book retailing, and a black vein of change for UK genre magazines.
Maybe this change can be referred to as evolution, or as some might say, a devolution. But would anyone go so far as to think of the developing situation as an opportunity?
The future of the Borders book chain is looking less than rosy. This affects me on both a professional and a personal level. I for one will miss that particular quirky retail experience. There was always the possibility of finding something new and interesting on the genre shelves, and the magazine section, well, I’d regularly hotfoot it down to pick up the latest issues of HorrorHound, Fangoria, The Darkside, Rue Morgue and Death Ray, have a flick through Interzone (as I’m a horror boy and subscribe to Black Static), and generally nose about the imported titles until I sniffed out something new. That small high street pleasure is denied to me now, (and I’m sure there are others out there like me).
Will Waterstones start stocking imported magazines? I think not. Although, in some stores that I’ve visited, (Exeter and Kingston), there are encouraging stocks of imported genre books.
How will we obtain copies of Canada’s excellent Rue Morgue now? There’s the subscription option, which is actually great value, but the delivery has always been plagued by delays in my experience, with some titles arriving three months late. Maybe that has changed now. I hope so as I need my RM fix on a monthly basis.
HorrorHound is another favourite, a fanboygeek collector’s magazine of all things horror merchandise, plus some great articles on the 80s video invasion, classic films, and the like - a thoroughly modern magazine with a nostalgic editorial bent. No delivery issues here at all as far as I remember.
I stopped subscribing to these magazines a year or so ago - not because I had lost faith in them, far from it - but because I wanted to pop into a shop to buy them, (despite the high import prices). I enjoy that experience and Borders could pretty much guarantee they’d be there, all in one place.
There are other options for us paper-collecting genre geeks, at least in London. Forbidden Planet stocks all these titles, but not consistently as far as I can tell, and you can’t purchase magazines on their website. The Cinema Store stocks these titles and loads of others too. Outside London? Fab Press’ website stocks issues of Rue Morgue, but again it’s unlikely you’ll be able to pick up the latest RM there, as they have to wait to receive them, just like the rest of us. Although looking at their website today, they’re up to date with the November 2009 issue.
I think it might be time to return to the subscription option. But, will there be any (UK) magazines left for us to subscribe to?
Shivers died a year or so ago, and the inevitable demise of Borders has coincided with what are most likely to be the final death-throes of several magazines: The Darkside has not been seen since September. A wiki entry states it might return. Let’s hope so. A thread on the Frightfest Forum has a little more information. Although maligned by some, the magazine appealed to the pulp in me. In its lastest editorial Gorezone rather tastelessly claims some credit for the end of The Darkside, but as the discussion on Monster Kids Classic Horror Forum shows, other non-genre titles are dropping like flies too.
Black Fish, the publisher of Death Ray and newly-launched sister title, Filmstar, appears to be in trouble as both titles are on hold by the looks of things:
As some of you may have heard, and others who popped along the shops to pick up the latest issue of Filmstar may have feared, Blackfish’s two magazines, Filmstar and Death Ray, are currently ‘on hold’. What this means is that there will not be another issue of either of them along for a number of weeks – or, likely, months. Indeed, whether there will ever be another issue of either is a moot point, and at this moment in time impossible to answer. But we hope so.
Quite what the future holds for Filmstar, Death Ray – and, indeed, Blackfish – remains unclear, but we hope to have more definite news over the next week or so. Keep watching this space, because as of now quite literally anything (or nothing) could happen.
Who’s to say what the future holds for genre magazines in the UK, but I think there’s always been an element of uncertainty hovering around such titles, as finding the niche audience on the high street can be challenging regardless of which shop you can get yourself in.
What reassures me about this situation, and the worlds of genre in general, is that the brains behind these magazines have it in their blood, they must give life to their visions, and I genuinely hope they are able to resurrect their titles in one form or another in 2010.
And as John Gilbert’s comment on The Great White Space states, there might well be life in an old dog yet…
December 1st, 2009
Those of you with your fingers on the Horror Reanimated pulse – er, I mean flatline – will know I rarely review books. However, every now and again something truly unique comes along. Mendal Johnson’s Let’s Go Play at the Adams’ is one of those books.
It’s difficult to attract attention to a novel without ruining its mystique but that’s my aim with this post. This is an unmissable read.
1974 was a good year for horror. Carrie was published and so was this little frightener. One of the authors went on to greater works, greater wealth and greater fame. The other was dead within two years. Interestingly, both men had trouble with alcohol. In Johnson’s case it was the death of him; he succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver. And, whereas King is wonderfully prolific, Johnson died leaving only three unfinished manuscripts. He was 48.
The plot: Bobby and Cindy’s parents go on holiday for a week, leaving a pretty babysitter named Barbara in charge. Along with their friends John, Dianne and Paul, the kids call themselves Freedom Five. They’ve been playing games together for years. The day after the parents leave, Freedom Five ‘capture’ Barbara and a new game begins.
I don’t want to say too much about the story. If you have a genuine interest in dark fiction, you should read the book. Here, in glorious black on white, is torture porn from thirty-five years ago. I expected it to be badly handled and poorly written. Neither was the case. Mendal Johnson wrote in tight, measured prose which is, on occasion, beautiful to read. This wasn’t just a book of vicarious thrills either – though, believe me, they are there if you want them – it was an examination of the psychology of children, and therefore, of our own. Each character is fully and tragically realised; their logic and the logic of the novel itself, though twisted, is always rightly fulfilled. The pace and plotting is near to flawless, tension rising all the time. The moment you put the book down, you want to pick it up again and, if you have the time, it’s one of those you could read in a sitting – if you can handle it.
I’m not saying LGPATA is an accurate appraisal of your average child’s mind. Freedom Five are a little isolated. They are a little odd. A situation arises in which their earlier games together can be explored further. One thing leads to another and group ‘morality’ overcomes the morality of the individual. But what I’m also not saying is that these things never happen. They do and it’s well documented. Cases occurred before the book was written and many more have occurred since. And that, perhaps, is what makes the book so utterly chilling. Whether victim or perpetrator, it could be your child. It could have been you. Maybe it was. Who is really prepared to speak of the questionable things we did in our ‘innocent’ youth?
This author, for one, is.
For a truly in depth look at the life of Mendal Johnson and more background about the novel – read it first, if you don’t want it spoiled – there’s a brilliant 3-part blog covering it all right here.
November 12th, 2009
I SELL THE DEAD (2008)
Written and directed by
Glenn McQuaid
“I Sell the Dead” is the latest film from Larry Fessenden’s Glass Eye Pix and Scareflix production companies and, like most films from Larry, “I Sell the Dead” REALLY delivers!! Starring Dominic “Lost” Monaghan, Ron “Hellboy” Perlman, Angus “Phantasm” Scrimm and Fessenden himself, the film revolves around a pair of 18th-century graverobbers, Arthur Blake (Monaghan) and Willie Grimes (Fessenden), as they TRY to make a (dis) honest living but are constantly running a-foul of sinister doctors, murderous competitors and, of course, the law.
The film has a wonderful vintage look to it, lots of fog and leafless trees, and I was really impressed when I realized that “I Sell the Dead” was shot entirely in New York State. The production design really captured 18th-century Ireland and the actors had their Irish/Cockney/British accents down. There were also some great humorous set pieces, mostly between Monaghan and Fessenden – with their chemistry, they could well be the 21st-century’s answer to Abbott and Costello – and even Perlman and Scrimm had their moments. And not always necessarily on-screen.
The story unfolds as young Arthur Blake is recounting his years of graverobbing to a priest, Father Duffy (Perlman), before he goes to the guillotine as Grimes has just (hilariously) done. Starting young, Blake (Daniel Manche plays the young Blake) is introduced to the dead in all their gruesomeness and beauty. But when the sinister Dr. Vernon Quint (Scrimm) starts applying some serious pressure on our protagonists to bring him “FRESHER!!” bodies so that he might “work”on them, the two graverobbers start digging up…things…even they can’t quite explain. When they come across a female vampire, one of my favorite “corpses”, hilarity ensues as well as revenge.
Besides Dr. Quint and the law, our boys must also deal with a sinister rival grave robbing clan, the House of Murphy, run by the menacing Cornelius Murphy (John Speredakos), the masked-because-her-face-is-so-disfigured-that-she-kills-with-it Valentine Murphy (Heather Bullock), Bulger (Alisdair Stewart) who has a mouth of razor sharp teeth and the never-seen-except-in-silhouette head of the clan, Murphy Senior.
This movie is just SO much FUN!! Zombies, vampires, body parts, Blake and Grimes themselves and their peculiar adventures as well as the Hammer Film look to the movie all add up to another great movie for Halloween (add “Trick ‘r Treat” to this for a great double feature on All Hallow’s Eve).
The DVD, which comes out in the UK on November 2 from Anchor Bay on both DVD (£15.99) and Blu-ray (£24.99) has extras which include two commentaries: one with producer/actor Larry Fessenden and actor Dominic Monaghan and the other with writer/director Glenn McQuaid. There is also an hour-long “Making of” featurette and a 10-minute visual effects Behind the Scenes. The DVD should also come with a full-color comic book (we think!!!).
DON’T MISS THIS MOVIE!!!
Review by Elaine Lamkin 2009
October 30th, 2009
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