By: Jill Owens,
on 7/20/2012
John Brandon's debut novel, Arkansas, is a blackly funny chronicle of the lawless world of a couple of drug runners in the Southeast. His second, Citrus County, is a coming-of-age/love story between 14-year-old Toby and 13-year-old Shelby — even though Toby kidnaps Shelby's little sister (unbeknownst to Shelby) and is keeping her in a bunker [...]
By: John,
on 6/24/2012
A collection of horror movie titling/logos. Via Christian Annyas of the Movie Title Stills Collection.
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By: alethea aka frootjoos,
on 6/2/2012
Pearl is a sixteen-year-old vampire... fond of blood, allergic to sunlight, and mostly evil... until the night a sparkly unicorn stabs her through the heart with his horn. Oops.
Her family thinks she was attacked by a vampire hunter (because, obviously, unicorns don't exist), and they're shocked she survived. They're even more shocked when Pearl discovers she can now withstand the sun. But they quickly find a way to make use of her new talent. The Vampire King of New England has chosen Pearl's family to host his feast. If Pearl enrolls in high school, she can make lots of human friends and lure them to the King's feast -- as the entrees.
The only problem? Pearl's starting to feel the twi6 Comments on Drink Slay Love - Review, last added: 6/3/2012Display Comments Add a Comment
By: Jon Steele,
on 6/1/2012
So this is it. The end of a day of sitting on this bench next to Lake Geneva, thinking about stuff and remembering. And just now, I was thinking about sleep. I don't know about you, but this is how I go to sleep... I lay there, imagining places I've been in my life. If [...]
By: Beth,
on 6/1/2012
As the school year winds down for me, it’s easy to get caught up in the last minute whirlwind of final exams, papers, coercing materials returns, and talking my wonderful faculty off the proverbial ledge.
But when I’m really on my game, I begin thinking about the first couple of months of the next school year and cataloging what, if anything, I need to do to lay a foundation for successful programming. Teen Read Week is always an event that sneaks up on me (and I’m on the committee, for goodness sake!) since it usually happens mid to late October and I’m in full project swing by then.
After over a decade of being a school librarian, I can chalk up my success to that much-overused word, collaboration. For me, collaboration just means using the network of relationships I already have with my teachers and students and searching for any new relationships in my community that will help me do my job which, in the case of Teen Read Week, is promoting recreational reading.
My Library Advisory Board and I have already tackled some preliminary brainstorming. Teachers have already been approached for posing with their favorite horror books and these will advertise our offerings and be showcased on the school website. We are going to have a community poll with various horror movies listed and the top two winners will be a “Creature Double Feature” complete with popcorn and blankets to make our own picnic style movie night.
We are also going to produce a short library video (showcased on the library website and the school website, and shown during an assembly to promote our programming that week) interviewing two of our English teachers who teach related classes, Science and Society and Novel to Film, about the meaning and importance of the horror genre. My LAB came up with the idea of also interviewing dedicated gamers who can speak about what they find so appealing about the recent trends in zombie or other horror games. A few book covers and promotion snippets about programming and we’ll have an interesting vehicle for TRW.
When we had our amazingly successful Hunger Games movie premiere party, the most popular stations were the ones where student volunteers taught flame nail polish effects and did Capitol-style makeup on participants. With that in mind, we will be offering a session prior to our horror movie double feature instructing students in horror movie makeup, complete with faux vampire bites, zombie face makeup and gory wounds. My theater faculty have friends in the local community and university theaters who are proficient in these areas and have expressed an eagerness to come and instruct. I imagine we are going to get some great pictures from this instruction!
If you can, begin talking up possible connections with teachers and students so everyone will be ready to leap into the fray of the school year. Join the Teen Read Week 2012 Ning and peruse the ALA Store items with them to help with brainstorming. You can be sure that in October it will be something great that “Came from Your Library!”
– Courtney Lewis, Director of Libraries, Wyomin
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By: Jon Steele,
on 5/31/2012
There are a lot of memories seeping up through the hidden folds of my neocortex (the most highly evolved part of the human brain where consciousness dwells) and going, "Boo!" or "Howdy!" I'm obsessed with memories. Not mine, so much. It's the concept of memories. What the hell are they? We may contemplate memories and [...]
By: Jon Steele,
on 5/30/2012
More thoughts from the bench... Sometimes, this one flashes through my eyes so clearly I think I'm there again. It's the first memory I have of my life. Looking back, I'm pretty sure I was three years old. It's funny. Like setting the WAYBAC Machine (from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show) to 1953, the furthest [...]
By: Jon Steele,
on 5/29/2012
Sometimes you can sit next to the lake and see the strangest things. Actually, it's what you can't see. Sometimes fog swallows the entire lake and the mountains on the far shore and all the sky. There's nothing beyond the shore but a swirling mass of etheral looking stuff where the world used to be. [...]
By: Mayra Calvani,
on 5/26/2012
Now, ten years later, our witty protagonist Tiki Tinklemeyer is put in the same camp by her parents, who want their daughter to become more social and outgoing. But Tiki couldn't hate the situation more. She feels awkward and out of place, to say the least. She's not into fashion, makeup and boys, like the other girls in the camp. Worst of all, she's never done cheerleading in her life! How could her parents have been so cruel? How will she possibly fit in? Thank God, one of her roommates, Rubi, turns out to be rather nice.
By: Jennifer Wylie,
on 4/27/2012
Let’s talk fears.
Seriously. Fears. Phobias.
I’ve always enjoyed fears, but it wasn’t until January of this year did I realize just how cool they could be. Those who know me know that I am always writing, always picking up new projects, working on old projects, and doing anything that I can to expand myself and my company. I was watching one of my favorite shows on SyFy and they had an episode where they went to Linda Vista hospital and on the walls were fears written. Each person had to pick a fear without knowing what it was until they picked it. Something about seeing that wall just made my eyes go wide. I gave my wife ‘the look’ – and no, it wasn’t the same look that yielded us two, zombie loving boys – but rather the look that meant a new idea had been born.
I realize that to take on a fears based project alone would be hard, considering my schedule, but I couldn’t let it go. I mean, how cool would it be to have a horror series based on fears? More so, I wanted to take those fears and twist them, turn them, make them my own. But I needed help. It didn’t take me long to come up with the perfect writer to team up with (and no, it’s not because we talk every day…). If you don’t know who Rebecca Besser is, learn. Skip your $10 Starbucks tomorrow morning and grab a copy of her book, Undead Drive-Thru.
I talked to Becca about the project and as fate would have it, she fell in love with it too. She was game… and better yet, we already had a story going. We collaborated little by little last year, so we took an old project and revamped it. We had this story about a glass factory that explodes, killing all the workers. There’s something in the water that makes the glass that brings the dead back. We quickly realized that we had a book for ‘crystallophobia’ which is the fear of glass. This is the way we are designing the fears series… the fear is in the book, somehow.
Our next book is the fear of technology and features a man who grew up Amish and is trying to adjust to a different life after getting engaged. His fiancée gives him a cell phone and that’s where his troubles begin… because the technology seems to be coming to life, and has a mind of its own…
It’s been fun writing with Becca and the more we talk about the fears, the more ideas we come up with. So far our list has some of the common things like fear of heights all the way to the strange such as fear of beautiful women… all the way to the extreme like fear of trees.
Right now, Crystallophobia is for sale on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with some great reviews coming in. We’ve even had the honor of Bram Stroker winning author, Joe McKinney writing a review for the book, saying “Crystallophobia is a tightly written anatomy of a terrifying disaster. Jim Bronyaur and Rebecca Besser have really twisted the thumbscrews down on the little town of Streinersburg, Ohio, and their zombies, emerging as they do from the smoke and wreckage of an earth-shaking explosion, glass shards protruding from their mangled faces, are as frightening as any creature I’ve seen since Clive Barker’s Pinhead. You’ve got to read this. Your nightmares will never be the same.”
The second book in the Series of Fears is due out in May 2012.
From the minds of Jim Bronyaur and Rebecca Besser comes a new series that explores some of our darkest – and strangest fears.Book #1 – Crystallophobia (fear of glass)
In the small town of Streinersburg, Ohio a normal Tuesday morning begins, but it doesn’t stay that way. As the workers of Wa
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By: Heidi MacDonald,
on 4/19/2012
For those who want to go all the way on looking ghastly, a newly announced show on The Nerdist YouTube channel should provide all the fashion tips you need. BLOOD AND GUTS will star Anthrax founder and horror expert Scott Ian on a gruesome journey as he learns the secrets of special FX makeup from masters such as Greg (The Walking Dead) Nicotero. The show is a joint venture between Nerdist and Fangoria, the venerable horror magazine.
BLOOD AND GUTS will show Ian learning how face wounds, ripped off arms and zombie pallor are created from the best in the makeup FX business. “I’ve been neck-deep in blood and guts for the last 30 years playing in Anthrax,” Ian said in a statement, “so I couldn’t be more excited to be hosting a show called ‘Blood & Guts’ for you horror and metal fans.” He also recently went under the latex himself to play a zombie on a Walking Dead webisode, above.
The show is yet another example of how new media is shortening the production gap says Chris Hardwick, the Nerdist himself. “A week ago we sat down with Fangoria and talked about doing something horror related,” he told The Beat. “They showed us a test run of a makeup effects show, and I said, ‘Scott Ian might want to do this,’ and we asked and he said, ‘Sure!’
“From the time we came up with the idea for the thing to having a thing was three days,” he continued. “That’s what’s so great about new media—there’s no speed bumps, and no corporate infrastructure to get in the way.”
Ian is well known as a horror fanatic—and a sometimes comics fan as his LOBO miniseries showed—but he met Hardwick through yet another medium. “He’s also a comedy nerd. We met from hanging out in LA in, weirdly, the comedy scene.”
The Nerdist Channel launched on April 2, 2012, with a slate of YouTube programming from Hardwick, Neil Patrick Harris, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Rob Zombie, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Harry Knowles, Comic Book Club, and, our favorite, “Weird Sh*t from Japan” which features Finnish thrillseekers The Dudesons testing different toilets and so on.
By: Nate Ashley,
on 2/16/2012
Although he was prolific and could write a mean horror novel, Richard Laymon was most popular outside of the United States. He could grab you by the end of the first page and take you on one wild ride 'til the end of the book. In the Dark is a great example of his twisted sense of [...]
By: fishgirl182,
on 10/3/2011
By: Mark Miller,
on 10/4/2011
Over the next several months, you are going to see me talking a lot about some other authors I am affiliated with through Trestle Press.
These authors come from many different genres, but they all have one thing in common: We want you to read and enjoy what you are reading!
I think what I'll do is give you a nice overview of several authors here. Then for the rest of the week, I will get in depth through some of my different social sites.
Without further ado:
Robert Ford is the author of The World of Hek, a supernatural series, and Curse of the Translucent Monster.
Wenona Hulsey offers paranormal YA with Burden of Blood.
Sam Lang, another horror author, has the Reprisal series and looks to be starting a zombie collaboration called Severed.
S. L. Schmitz breathes new life into Bram Stoker's Dracula with Mina's Daughter, a steampunk series.
These are the authors and that was only a sampling of what they offer. Watch for more posts and tidbits all week.
By: Read Now Sleep Later,
on 10/6/2011
By: fishgirl182,
on 10/16/2011
By: Rebecca Ryals Russell,
on 10/17/2011
Today’s Guest Post is by Karina Fabian about her newest release: Neeta Lyffe
I was not interested in writing your usual zombie novel, so when I was asked to write Neeta Lyffe, Zombie Exterminator, I gave myself permission to go a little nuts and try out some new things. I knew it was going to center around a reality TV show, so I thought I’d add in all the things networks are doing nowadays to promote their shows: weblogs (where the characters diss each other and promote themselves), forums (complete with trolls) and even a documentary that explained the whole zombie phenomenon.
I don’t think it would work for most books, but I had a lot of fun with this. It let me go behind the scenes without worrying about head-hopping. It spared me a lot of having to describe landscapes and backgrounds and such–I could cut right to the jokes. The documentary let me add in a couple of flash stories that are much better for having the context of the entire novel. Many reviewers enjoyed the fresh style, which did keep the novel moving.
It also helped me learn to work with a huge cast of characters, something I’d not done before. That proved invaluable when I wrote my next book, a serious science fiction novel involving a crew that finds an alien device that shows them the weakness of their souls.
Now, however, I’m working on Neeta Lyffe II, and I’m finding that without the reality TV show angle (this one is at a convention), I’m not as free as I was in Neeta I. I can’t make a forum fit. The weblogs are more news-oriented. There is a new documentary, however. I really like being able to tell a separate but related story without flashback or characters just talking about it.
Experimenting with new formats is a great way to free up your imagination.
Byline: The Zombie Apocalypse Meets Reality TV!
Blurb:
By the 2040s, the shambling dead have become and international problem. While governments and special interest groups vie for the most environmentally-friendly way to rid the world of zombies, a new breed of exterminator has risen: The Zombie Exterminator. When zombie exterminator Neeta Lyffe gets sued because a zombie she set afire stumbles onto a lawyer’s back porch, she needs money, fast. So she agrees to train apprentice exterminators in a reality TV show that makes Survivor look like a game of tag. But that’s nothing compared to having to deal with crazy directors, bickering contestants and paparazzi. Can she keep her ratings up, her bills paid and her apprentices alive and still keep her sanity?
Excerpt:
The workout room had a weights set and an elliptical in one corner, but Neeta ignored them. She needed more vigorous exercise than that if she wanted to burn off her emotional funk.
None of the plebes had done the routine she’d just set for herself. It didn’t really reflect the reality of zombie movements, either. Although the crew had designed the targets to look much like actual undead, they moved too quickly, changed direction too suddenly, lunged and retreated in ways zombies couldn’t imitate. They zigged and zaggged, dropped from the ceiling to zoom back up, flung themselves from the ground to trip the unwary. For once, this wasn’t about train
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By: Jennifer Wylie,
on 10/27/2011
Horror is a strange genre, for it makes us face our worst fears. It brings us eye to eye with terror, death and bloodshed, whether it be physical, psychological or pure mania, horror touches us all. Yet at the same time, there is something intrinsically comedic about a great many horror movies and stories.
Take a look at the Evil Dead movie franchise. These are legendary horror productions, yet have obvious comedic undertones or cast a glance at the world of fiction with the wicked mind of Stephen King. Undoubtedly a master of the Horror genre, his Magnus Opus ‘The Dark Tower’ series has possible the most dryly comic ending I have ever read. To go so far and to lose everything he did only to find …well I won’t spoil it for you, but trust me. Once you reach the end of that seventh book you will chuckle.
Why is this? What is it about horror that makes us want to throw in comic moments?
I feel the answer is two-fold and in both cases done for simple reasons and when used to good effect can actually generate even more terror.
Everybody likes to laugh, it relaxes us, makes us feel at ease. In short it is the perfect state of mind for a fright or horrific event to have the maximum impact. To catch us unawares just as we thought things would settle down. It is a break that allows us to calm down and recover from what has happened before the next ‘round’ of prose comes along and sends us back into the darkest corners of our mind in search of a sofa to hide behind. When used well, comedy allows the writer to relief the tension in the reader and that ultimately makes the next scare or creepy moment all the more real.
The second reason I believe horror and comedy go so well together without overpowering the other is because comedy is a common human response to difficult situations. I have not been to many funerals, but that I have attended, while sad were filled with moments of laughter. Happy memories being shared of the departed, anecdotes and tales passed around with whimsical reflectance. Comedy helps us grieve; it helps us cope with the stresses and strains of life, and so is ideally suited to help guide us through the scary moments in both film and fiction.
Comedy and Horror are both about introducing moments into life that are unexpected, that are at time hard to believe and under ordinary circumstances could not happen. It is only logical that that these two polar opposites come together as often as they do, they are drawn by an undeniable attraction that cannot be resisted.
Of course this does not mean that all horror has or needs comedy in it, nor am I saying that it is always pulled off. Because it’s not. However, when it is, the result is often a scarier read.
Author Bio:
Horror writer Alex Laybourne was born in the UK but relocated to The Netherlands to be with his wife. Together they have three wonderful children who despite their young age are showing all the signs of following in their father’s creative footsteps.
Alex’s debut novel Highway to Hell is a 96.000 word horror novel and the first in a trilogy that will take readers on a journey not just into hell, but through it.
Highway to Hell can be found on Amazon.com,
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By: Karen Cioffi,
on 10/28/2011
By: Julie,
on 10/28/2011
|
Title: Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb Author: MJA Ware Publisher: CG Press LTD ISBN: B005LDJDHM |
May Contain Spoilers
From Amazon:
| When life gives you lemons, kill zombies — turns out lemon juice neutralizes the undead. |
Review:
When I was first contacted to review this book, I have to admit that I wasn’t exactly jumping with anticipation. The cover convinced me to at least look at the book, but again, small publishers and their books aren’t really my thing. I tossed the book into my luggage when I went on vacation, and I started reading it while sitting around the fairgrounds at a recent horse show. I found it surprisingly fun, and polished it off in just over one sitting.
The humor is what really caught my attention when I started reading SZJMB, and the action kept me engaged to the end. Nate and Misty are best buds, and after getting in trouble when caught making an ill-advised late-night run to Dairy Queen, they decide to run away. That lasts about a day, but on their trek back home, they notice that things are a little too quiet. Things are clearly not right, especially after the mayor attacks them. Being fairly clueless, it takes both of them a while to realize that the mayor wasn’t drunk; he’s the victim of a zombie infection! The entire town is crawling with zombies, and Nate and Misty seem to be the only non-zombies left in their small town.
The fast-pacing guarantees that the pages will turn rapidly as Nate and Misty run and fight for their lives. They hole up at the local Wal-Mart, setting up their HQ in the vision center while attempting to decide what to do next. Their strategy sessions are a lot of fun, and prove that watching lots of TV will help get you through a zombie apocalypse. Despite their terror, they both settle down for a long siege by the zombies. A lucky coincidence gives them a powerful weapon to use against the hordes of undead lumbering through town, and after they save a young genius from being zombie chow, it looks like they might actually survive their undead nightmare.
I really liked the young protagonists, especially Misty. She doesn’t sit back and cringe helplessly as the mob of undead attempt to gobble her brains. No! She takes an active part in the zombie battles, and it is very clear that without her help, Nate isn’t going to escape from having his own brains quickly consumed. Nate is appealing, too. He makes mistakes, and while he usually learns from
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By: April Henry,
on 11/1/2011
Last year, I encountered the blog of Mrs. Q, a teacher who ate school lunch every day for a year and blogged about it (and worried about being fired.)
Then I read this truly horrifying post about a Happy Meal that has sat in woman's office untouched, for a year. It never rotted or got moldy or smelled, the way you would expect to. In fact, it basically looks the same, one year later.
Something is very wrong with the way many children eat in America.
And now Mrs. Q (who is really Mrs. Wu) has a book out called Fed Up with Lunch: The School Lunch Project: How One Anonymous Teacher Revealed the Truth About School Lunches --And How We Can Change Them!
By: Read Now Sleep Later,
on 11/11/2011
|
| Find more reviews by Kimberly at The Windy Pages |
By: Jennifer Wylie,
on 12/2/2011
It’s that time of year again! If you’re looking for a fun (ie scary!) xmas read…check out this recently released anthology!
A Very Scary Christmas
Christmas is usually the time for cheer, but it can also be the time for fear, spirits and those things that go bump in the night. This year the scribes of Scriborium Guild came together to create a collection of short stories with a horror or supernatural angle and a Christmas twist. A strange and challenging creative venture to be sure, but one that brought together a brave group of writers and authors determined to spin tales for the festive season that gave more than one meaning to the idea of the spirit of Christmas.
This collection of short stories is the result and it is amazing how each author has found a different theme to explore, yet the stories within fit together well and prove that even with a tight deadline writers will write and rise to any challenge. Some of these stories are shorter than others, some are scarier than others. Whether or not these tales will frighten or unnerve you all depends on your own background and point of view, but each one makes for an entertaining read. So curl up by the fire and devour this anthology in one sitting or enjoy one story each evening during the holidays.
The Scriborium Guild is a new writers’ guild, each of its members helping each other promote their works, perfect their trade, and genuinely provide support to those who truly love one of the most solitary passions in any day and age.
Authors and their stories include:
Mark Sheldon- You did it Again
William Topek -That Holiday Spirit
Rosie Reay- Christmas Reunion at Villa El Figueral
Sean Hayden- The Ghost of Christmas Last
Athol Foden- Windy Lights
David Govett- The Christmas Card
Kyra Dawson- I’ll be Home for Christmas
Check it out at Amazon and at Foden Press!
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Sometime you write something, never realizing that you might have started a new writing trend for yourself.
I've always read horror. Love it. And the recent craze with zombies, got me thinking, so I wrote a short story, THE KILLER VALENTINE BALL, never realizing I'd embarked on a topic that would hold my interest for a while.
That story, where a girl goes on a "killer" date and experiences a night she'll never forget was a fun foray into light horror with a touch of humor.
Then, last year lightning struck again when I came up with a new story about a teen girl turning zombie with some different situations and again, some humor. I mean, zombies are kind of funny. (Watch Zombieland and see if you don't laugh.) That story wouldn't let go and turned into a full novel, which I've been sending around.
The main thing I learned in all this:
* you never know where stories are going to come from.
* Write your reading interests. I like mysteries but horror was easier and more fun to write.
* Have fun writing. If you don't enjoy it, why bother?
* What's your tip?
OK me being a veggie girl that meat is gross, but I love the review would have never thought this books looked good I mean I love Vampires and the idea of throwing a unicorn in? So I loved this and will be adding this to my good reads list!!! Thanks
Sorry, veggie girl! I promise to only post vampiric looking veggies in future :) I'm certain it can be done. I think you'll enjoy the book :D
EWW, that just looks nasty! I would rather have read about it than actually have seen it! And I am a meat eater!
I think it all looks good but then again I do like my meat very rare ;).
That ice cream looks delicious. I've been wanting to read this one for awhile. Glad you liked.
OMG I'm so hungry now!! AAH!! I've had this on my Kobo fofr ever I should really get to it soon! Awesome review!