FEO AMANTE in 2000

Feo Amante

Is my nickname and I've had it for quite a long time. Though there is some dispute and no small amount of controversy over its origins, I maintain that my wife gave it to me as a pet name (Amante Feo) while we were dating. I kept the language but gave it an English grammatical turn (Feo Amante). And yes, of course I know what it means in Spanish. Do you know what it means on the Periodic Table?

My real name is E.C. McMullen Jr. Call me by whichever one is the most exciting. If neither do it for you, then you're SOL because I don't respond to Ishmael.

Seriously though, if you can't get excited by the Periodic Table of Elements you're screwed, because that's all there is!

Okay, but why Horror?

My Pop got me into Horror movies, though at the time he didn't know it. His tastes in cinema were eclectic and he didn't expect me to focus.

I first saw PSYCHO with my Pop and when I did, Pop's idea of "Parental Guidance" was sitting behind me and, at just the right moment, grabbing my shoulders with a Shout!

Crime Horror like PSYCHO could scare my Pop, as could stylized real life horror like JAWS.

Dedicated to the cult of Body surfing, that all ended for him when he saw JAWS at the theater. I had to wait well over a decade before I could see it, and when I did (at an arthouse theater - I didn't want ugly old fashioned TV and VHS to ruin it for me), I immediately plugged into what terrified my Pop. He never went swimming in the ocean again.

Other Horror movies didn't have that effect on him. THE HILLS HAVE EYES only left him feeling brutalized, not scared.

The dividing line for my Pop and I came to Supernatural Horror vs Science Fiction Horror.

The only Science Fiction Horror that scared my Pop was COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT, THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN, and JAWS. For him, there was more than enough of the "real life" Horror in those movies to leave him chilled and give him nightmares for days after.

As for Supernatural Horror, pretty much everything except FRIDAY THE 13th would terrify my Pop. THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN reignited my Pop's interest in the church and he became a regular Sunday fixture there for years, as well as ruining my Saturdays by sending me to Sunday School (the priest thought Sunday School would work best on Saturdays to keep us kids from watching sinful Saturday morning cartoons).

From Robert Wise' THE HAUNTING to GHOST STORY, those supernatural Horrors got him all shook up. He was enjoying John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN as a crime drama, noting how resilient the killer was, until the moment where it became clear that Michael should absolutely be, if not dead, then seriously wounded and bleeding out. Once my Pop understood that a supernatural element was unexpectedly introduced, it kicked the final moments of HALLOWEEN through the goalposts into another territory for him.

Science Fiction Horror did it for me. When I was a kid it was GODZILLA to FORBIDDEN PLANET. As a young adult my Pop and I enjoyed JAWS and COLOSSUS: THE FORBIN PROJECT together, but the overarching Horror movies of my life are ALIEN and John Carpenter's THE THING.

Fast Forward: ADULTHOOD

I'm a Navy veteran, having served on shore and at sea for a total of 6 years, with two as reserve. While onboard the USS Ranger (CV-61) I worked as a Broadcast Journalist (OJT).

After I left the Navy with an Honorable Discharge, I wandered about the world; tried different things.

I had my own garage band, BLITZ LIZARD.

I was a stand-up comic, sharing the stage with fellow comics like Joey Medina.

In 1995 I became a published professional author with my first sold story, RATTLESNAKE TIE in the October issue of Biker Magazine.

In 1996, largely thanks to my boss (and wife of my bud, R.C.), Victoria McCord - who played matchmaker - I found the love of my life, Luz (also my friend Edward's sister!), got married and my life drastically changed forever.

In 1997 I began dabbling with the Internet, first at Geocities and that's where Feo Amante's Horror Thriller was born as Feo Amante's Horror Home.

The purpose of the site was to encourage fledgling writers to build up their name recognition and audience by promoting themselves on my site.

Mere bragging and pushy advertising would turn a potential audience right off, like those people who tell you to buy their book or movie in order to support "Indie".

For creatives I felt the best way to get our names out there was to write compelling news, reviews, and interviews in, on, and about Horror, Thriller, Mystery, and Suspense.

Writing book then movie reviews, then into comics and music, seemed like the best way to tell folks how we feel about Horror, what scares us and what doesn't. If the reader feels the same way, they may want to read more of what you write.

If you're interested in contributing, please read my SUBMISSION GUIDELINES.

That same year, I attended my first World Horror Convention, which took place in Atlanta, Georgia.

2000s

In 2000 I volunteered for the San Diego Comic-Con. It was excellent! I attended the San Diego Comic-Con every year for the next ten years right up until 2011. 2001 through 2002 I had my fiction and non fiction published in various books like DECADENCE ONE (edited by Monica J. O'Rourke), RANDOM ACTS OF WEIRDNESS (edited by Brian Knight), and DECADENCE TWO (edited by Monica J. O'Rourke). In the last two anthologies I also designed the book covers.

2001
INTERVIEWS

We all know what happened that year. The unexpected death of writer Richard Laymon and the U.S. terrorist attack by insane fanatics. But that's not my biography. Here are a few other things that happened in my life that year.

I wanted to do an exclusive interview with actor David Allen Brooks (MANHUNTER, THE KINDRED, JACK FROST 2, BAYLON 5: CRUSADER), so I did.
David Allen Brooks Interview

This same year, Harry Shannon wanted to do an exclusive interview with Writer Douglas Clegg (THE INFINITE, THE NECROMANCER), so he did and I published it.

Douglas Clegg Interview

Harry also wanted to do an exclusive interview with Writer Ed Gorman (THE DARK FANTASTIC)
Ed Gorman Interview

Paul V. Wargelin wanted to do an exclusive interview with Writer Craig Spector (TO BURY THE DEAD), so he did, I took the photographs and published it.
Craig Spector Interview

2002

I was offered the opportunity to interview Writer, Director, and Producer, Guillermo Del Toro (MIMIC, THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE, BLADE II, PAN'S LABYRINTH, HELLBOY [first two]) in New York City. But I was in Texas, Arizona, California at the time (I forget now). Through the friend vine I found Nicholas Braccia, who did the exclusive interview for the both of us, and I published it.
Guillermo Del Toro Interview

This same year, Wrath James White offered to do an exclusive interview with Publisher, Fiction Editor (Space and Time) and Writer Gerard Houarner (THE BEAST THAT WAS MAX, ROAD TO HELL), for feoamante.com, so he did and I published it.
Gerard Houaner Interview

That year the anthology, DECADENCE ONE, edited by Monica J. O'Rourke, was released with my short story Some People.

This is what two-time Hugo Award winning writer, John Grant, had to say in his review,

"E.C. McMullen Jr's "Some People" is likewise sf, assuming you accept cryptozoology as a science; although it's not in the slightest erotic, despite being focused almost entirely on sex, this may be the standout story in the book. Its conceit is that the krakens exist, and that their reproductive cycle involves the parasitic use of host bodies, which are devoured while still alive and functioning. The details of the sex scenes in the story are as emetic in affect as you can imagine, yet McMullen manages to convey that, while nauseating to us, these events are nevertheless pretty all-fired erotic to their participants."
- InfinityPlus

2003

Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling put out Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Sixteenth Edition. When convering Horror Thriller websites, the first one they covered was Feo Amante's Horror Thriller,
"www.feoamante.com, edited by E. C. McMullen Jr. is a flashy and informative site covering every aspect of horror including art, comics, upcoming conventions, movie and book reviews - all with attitude."

I wanted to publish Kelly Parks' exclusive interview with actor Naomie Harris (28 DAYS LATER, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST), so I did.
Naomie Harris Interview