JUNE
JUNE
29, 2001
Report by Judi
Rohrig
MOJO JOE ON TOP WITH THE BOTTOMS!
After walking away with the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award for
THE BOTTOMS (Mysterious Press), Joe
R. Lansdale now finds the same kickass tale has been nominated
for the 2001 Anthony Award.
Members of
the upcoming Bouchercon, the oldest and largest annual convention of mystery
readers, have handed out these awards recognizing outstanding achievement
in the mystery field since 1986. They'll be doing it all over again when
they come together November 1-4, 2001, for the 32nd World Mystery Convention
to be held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Crystal City, VA.
According
to Hellnotes,
Publishers Weekly is reporting that Lansdale is moving from Mysterious
Press to Alfred A. Knopf publishers in a "mid six-figure deal." Sounds
like mojo money! The agreement calls for U.S. and Canadian rights to Lansdale's
next two novels, the first of which appears to be a thriller set during
the Depression set in - where else? - East Texas! SUNSET AND SAWDUST will
be about a "woman who kills her abusive sheriff husband in self-defense,
then takes over his job and finds herself faced with a murder that points
to her."
Lastly, FOR
A FEW STORIES MORE, to be published later this year by Subterranean
Press as the fourth and final book in the Lost Lansdale
series, is nearing completion. This book contains "early stories and experiments,
some published, none of them collected previously, many appearing here
for the first time, along with Lansdale's frank commentary on growing
as a writer." Viewed as the sequel to THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE INDIFFERENT,
the collection will also contain a full-length unpublished Ray Slater
private eye novel, THE LONG FALL.
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JUNE
28, 2001
ALICE
"NICE GUY" COOPER
Alice Cooper may be no more than an immoral slob to those who know nothing
more than the hype they read and the little they understand, but the original
king of dark metal donated $75,000 to his local hometown youth center
in the hopes that he can "change lives" for the better.
The
donation was announced ealier this month by the Solid Rock Foundation
which Cooper created. The 8 acre two-million dollar center is being built
by a Christian non-profit organization, Neighborhood Ministries. Alice
is throwing a Christmas Concert later in the year with other musicians
to raise more money for the Solid Rock Foundation. So far the organization
has raised over $450,000+ dollars for charities over the past two years.
Alice
remains the real one.
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JUNE
20
THE
HORROR ANTHOLOGY IS BACK !!!
NIGHT VISIONS IS COMING - JULY 12TH ONLY ON FOX !!!
Fox prepares to launch its eagerly anticipated horror anthology series,
"NIGHT VISIONS," on Thursday, July 12. In the tradition of such classic
shows as "The Twilight Zone" and "Night Gallery," this striking anthology
series delivers heart-pounding suspense and mind-bending twists that
will keep its viewers riveted to the screen. Remember what it was like
to be a kid, watching a scary movie with your hands up over your eyes,
daring yourself to have enough courage to keep peeking through your
fingers? Well, get ready to be terrified all over again.
Each week NIGHT VISIONS will have a new mini-movie, helmed by some of
the greatest horror movie directors and featuring some of Hollywood's
hottest actors and actresses. Some of the featured performers include:
Aidan Quinn, Bridget Fonda, Cary Elwes, Malcolm McDowell, Brian Dennehy,
Bill Pullman, Jerry O'Connell, Jay Mohr, Miguel Ferrer, Lou Diamond
Philips, Mare Winningham, Samantha Mathis, Jason London, Luke Perry,
Joshua Jackson, Natasha Lyonne, Stephen Baldwin, Marla Sokoloff, Sherilyn
Fenn, Thora Birch, Michael Rapaport, Jack Palance, David Paymer, Jamie
Kennedy, Philip Baker Hall, Randy Quaid, Chad Lowe, Pam Grier, Natasha
Gregson Wagner, Timothy Olyphant, Amanda Plummer, Gil Bellows, M. Emmett
Walsh, Jane Adams, Amy Jo Johnson, Joanna Pacula, and Shirley Knight.
Tobe
Hooper and Joe Dante lead a fantastic roster of directors, including
Ernest Dickerson, Keith Gordon, and Bill Pullman. Hosted by the controversial
author/musician Henry Rollins, each episode will feature two terrifying
tales, drawing the audience into a world of gripping suspense and frightening
surprises. "NIGHT VISIONS" delivers the latest dose of thrills and chills
from creators Dan Angel and Billy Brown. For the past 14 years, Dan
Angel and Billy Brown have partnered to bring scares to audiences young
and old. In addition to creating and executive producing "NIGHT VISIONS,"
Angel & Brown are the creators of "The Fearing Mind," a comedy-drama
from Jim Henson Television. The team are also the executive producers
on the upcoming original cable film "The Bill Porter Story," starring
Academy-Award nominated actor William H. Macy. Angel and Brown have
made their mark in several children's series, including the number-one
rated "Goosebumps," for which they won a WGA Award for "Best Episodic
Children's Script," "Animorphs," and "Brats of the Lost Nebula"
(Animorphs and Brats Of The Lost Nebula? Oh well. It has Henry Rollins
so it may be good anyway. -feo).
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JULY
16, 2001
Report by Michael McCarty
THE LAST AMERICAN BOOK SIGNING
Neil Gaiman's last American book signing for AMERICAN GODS was at the
Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Roseville, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
July 2nd,
at 7:00 p.m, dressed head to toe in black, Mr. Gaiman gave an hour reading
and discussion followed by an autograph session. The combination of local
press and being listed on neil gaiman.com drew over 300 people.
"I had this
brilliant theory," Neil said to the crowd. "I'd read at Dreamhaven (Books
& Comics in Minneapolis, at 2:00 pm) then go to Barnes & Noble,
there would be twenty or thirty people - and I would be able to get out
early.
"The last
two weeks, I've been doing signings at a city a day, sometimes up to three
or four signings a day, I'm fried. Completely fried."
"Then in
five days, I'm off to London, then after touring England, it's off to
Canada, this is my plan."
For someone
so road weary, Neil Gaiman gave a excellent reading and discussion. Overly
polite, answering everyone's questions to the fullest, even making witty
remarks, he was thoroughly entertaining and an utter delight.
Neil did
something a little different for the reading. Typically he would read
different passages from AMERICAN GODS, but for this reading, he read from
a sub-section, the first time he had done this on his tour. Each section
explains about the history of the gods coming to this new world. He read
from pages 73 - 80, this was about his character Essie Tregowan, an indentured
servant and the price she paid to be free. A chilling selection.
At the reading
he answered questions, he talked about the recent death of Douglas Adams
(the author of THE HITCH HIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY).
One of Gaiman's earliest works was a HITCHIKER companion book (DON'T
PANIC: THE OFFICIAL HITCHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY COMPANION in 1988).
He talked at great length about how generous and funny Mr. Adams was and
about how his last book was twelve years overdue.
"He (Douglas)
liked deadlines, he use to say he liked the whooshing sound they made
as they went by."
Then Neil
did a "Frequently Asked Questions" where he explained the various developments
of his works being turned into films. This included GOOD OMENS (which
he co-wrote with Terry Prachett) and how director Terry Gilliam
(TIME BANDITS, BRAZIL, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS
VEGAS) had recently completed a second draft of the script.
"He (Gilliam)
told Terry and I. "You know how hard it is to get footnotes in a
film?" He also talked about other projects including DEATH (which
he has an option to direct), SANDMAN ("each
draft is getting worse"), and STARDUST (some
renewed interest). He talked about his favorite medium, the radio
play.
"If I only
did them (the radio play telescripts) I would
have to send my children to the street for pennies" he joked. He also
talked about his upcoming children's book CORALINE coming out next year
from Avon - "Children love it, adults find it very scary." Then for the
next two hours he signed autographs, including a beat-up copy of GOOD
OMENS for me.
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JUNE
14, 2001
Its
a new day which means a new review. This time E.C.McMullen checks out
what may be the very last ride for F. Paul Wilson's "Repairman Jack".
Check out our take on HOSTS.
Then give an eye to Mikey Huyck and his view on Jack Ketchum's COVER.
Garrett Peck never stops this month with his 3rd review for June, Robert
Bloch's HELL
ON EARTH: The Lost Bloch, Volume Two, edited by David J.
Schow. Peck is a man possessed! Or possibly obssessed! But never repressed!
I digress!
Anyway,
look for still more reviews coming up this month from Mikey Huyck, Monica
O'Rourke, and of course, Garrett Peck. Plus: New reviews are coming in
almost daily from new talents and old pros. There's a whole new group
of writers that are just dying to give you a piece of their mind. So whet
your appetite and take a bite!
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JULY
13, 2001
Report by Judi
Rohrig
THE INTERNATIONAL HORROR GUILD
has named pioneer shock-rock performer ALICE COOPER as this year's Living
Legend Award winner. He is the first performer to be so honored. IHG Living
Legends are individuals who have made a meritorious and notable contribution
and/or have substantially influenced the field of horror/dark fantasy.
Previous recipients, all from the literary field, include Ray Bradbury,
Clive Barker, Hugh B. Cave, Edward W. Bryant, Richard Matheson, and Harlan
Ellison.
The International
Horror Guild's annual awards recognizing outstanding achievements in the
field of horror and dark fantasy from the year 2000 will be presented
during DragonCon, August 31-September 3, 2001 at the Hyatt Regency, Atlanta,
GA. The Awards Dinner will be on Saturday, September 1, 2001 at 7:00 PM
in the Hyatt Regency Ballroom. Master of Ceremonies for the event will
be Andy Hallett, the friendly green "host" from the WB's series "Angel."
Nominations
in recognition of achievement in the field of horror during 2000 are:
NOVEL
A Shadow on the Wall by Jonathan Aycliffe (Severn House)
Silent Children by Ramsey Campbell (Tor/Forge)
You Come When I Call You by Douglas Clegg (Cemetery Dance/Dorchester)
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale (SubterraneanPress/Mysterious Press) Declare
by Tim Powers (Subterranean Press 2000, Morrow 2001)
FIRST
NOVEL
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Pantheon)
Adam's Fall by Sean Desmond (St. Martin's Press)
Damned If You Do by Gordon Houghton (St. Martin's Press)
Raveling by Peter Moore Smith (Little, Brown & Company)
Run by Douglas E. Winter (Knopf)
LONG STORY
Mr. Dark's Carnival by Glen Hirshberg (Shadows and Silence, Ash-Tree Press)
Naming of Parts by Tim Lebbon (PS Publishing)
Riding the Bullet by Stephen King (Scribner/Philtrum Press)
Demons by John Shirley (Cemetery Dance)
The Man on the Ceiling by Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem (American Fantasy)
SHORT
STORY
No Story in It by Ramsey Campbell (Dark Terrors 5, Victor Gollancz)
The Rag-and-Bone Men by Steve Duffy (Shadows and Silence, Ash-Tree Press)
Bodywork by Christa Faust (AfterShocks: An Anthology of So-Cal Horror,
Freakpress)
Candia" by Graham Joyce (Taps and Sighs, Subterranean Press)
Down Here in the Garden" by Tia V. Travis (Horror Garage #1)
ILLUSTRATED
NARRATIVE
The House on the Borderland, adapted by Bruce Corben and Simon Revelstroke
with Lee Loughridge, from novel by William Hope Hodgson (Vertigo/DC)
Mostly White, FLINCH #9, February '00, by Bruce Jones and Dave Taylor
with Pamela Rameo (Vertigo/DC)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (6-part series) by Alan Moore (America's
Best Comics)
I Feel Sick #1-2 (2-part series) by Jhonen Vasquez (Slave Labor Graphics)
Channel Zero by Brian Wood (AIT/Planet Lar)
COLLECTION
The Death Artist by Dennis Etchison (DreamHaven)
Tales of Pain and Wonder by Caitlin R. Kiernan (Gauntlet)
Toybox by Al Sarrantonio (Cemetery Dance)
Magic Terror: Seven Tales by Peter Straub (Random House)
City Fishing by Steve Rasnic Tem (Silver Salamander)
Ghost Music and Other Tales by Thomas Tessier (Cemetery Dance)
ANTHOLOGY
October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween, Edited by Richard Chizmar
& Robert Morrish (Cemetery Dance)
Dark Terrors 5 The Gollancz Book of Horror, Edited by Stephen Jones and
David Sutton (Victor Gollancz)
Embraces:Dark Erotica, Edited by Paula Guran (Venus or Vixen)
Strange Attraction, Edited by Edward Kramer (Bereshith/Shadowlands)
Shadows and Silence, Edited by Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden (Ash-Tree)
NON-FICTION
The Horror Reader, Edited by Ken Gelder (Routledge)
Lord of a Visible World: An Autobiography in Letters by Howard Phillips
Lovecraft, Edited by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz (Ohio University
Press)
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King (Simon & Schuster)
At the Foot of the Story Tree by William Sheehan (Subterranean Press)
Horror of the 20th Century: An Illustrated History by Robert Weinberg
(Collectors Press)
PUBLICATION
All Hallows Horror Garage Prism: The Newsletter of the British Fantasy
Society
Talebones
Third Alternative
ART
John Picacio
Lisa Snellings
Jason van Hollander
Douglas Walters
Joel-Peter Witkin
FILM
American Psycho, Directed by Mary Harron, Written by Mary Harron & Guinvere
Turner, based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis (Lions Gate Films)
The Cell, Directed by Tarsem Singh, Written by Mark Protosevich (New Line
Cinema)
Pitch Black, Directed by David Twohy, Written by David Twohy and Ken and
Jim Wheat (USA Films)
Requiem for a Dream, Directed by Darren Aronofsky, Written by Hubert Selby,
Jr. and Darren Aronofsky (Artisan Entertainment)
Shadow of the Vampire, Directed by E. Elias Merihige, Written by by Steven
Katz (Lions Gate Films)
Unbreakable, Directed and Written by M. Night Shyamalan (Buena Vista Pictures)
TELEVISION
Angel (WB)
Dark Angel (Fox)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (WB)
FreakyLinks (Fox)
The Others (NBC)
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JUNE
12, 2001
THE
NEW YORK CITY CHAPTER OF THE HWA LAUNCHES ITS READING SERIES
The New York City Chapter of the Horror Writers Association, a New York
City based community of Horror writers, editors, agents, readers and those
who have a passion for Horror fiction, hosted by chapter organizer Adam
Pepper, launches their reading series with New York authors Jack Ketchum,
Gerard Houarner and Monica O'Rourke.
The evening's
master of ceremonies will be Joseph B. Mauceri, executive editor of FEARSmag.com.
Jack Ketchum is the author of the novels Off Season, Hide and Seek, Cover, The Girl
Next Door, She Wakes, Joyride, Stranglehold, Offspring, Red, Ladies' Night
and arguably, Right to Life. His short fiction is collected in The Exit
at Toledo Blade Boulevard and Broken on the Wheel of Sex. His novels have
been translated into Japanese, French, Greek, Russian, and Italian. In
1994, his story "The Box" was the winner of the Bram Stoker Award for
Superior Achievement in Short Fiction. He will be reading from his recent
novel THE LOST, released by Leisure books.
Gerard
Houarner, the only child of Breton immigrants (surely
the immigrants from Breton have produced more than one (1) child? -Feo),
was born and raised in New York City. He started his writing career at
the age of ten with one-page "novelizations" of movies such as "Gorgo"
and "War of the Worlds," which remain unsold, and moved on to twenty-page
space opera epics by the time he was twelve. He has since had a couple
of novels and nearly two hundred short stories published, some of which
were collected in Painfreak and in "I Love You And There Is Nothing
You Can Do About It". Gerard also has his story THE
DOOR, here at feoamante.com. He lives in the Bronx with
a large assortment of books, comics, action figures, videos, music, and
other delightful curiosities, including a poet. He is currently a fiction
editor for Space and Time Magazine. Contrary to popular belief, he only
works for, and does not reside in, a psychiatric facility. Houarner will
read a selection from THE BEAST THAT WAS MAX, recently published by Leisure
Books.
Monica O'Rourke's
stories have appeared in more than two dozen magazines, such as Nasty
Piece of Work, Twilight Showcase, Dark Muse, Flesh & Blood (forthcoming),
and Writer Online. She's the Assistant Editor at Black October Magazine,
an Associate Editor at Space & Time Magazine, and a book reviewer here
at Feo Amante's Story Time.
The reading
takes place Friday, June 22nd, 2001, @ 7:00 PM At
HOUSING WORKS
USED BOOK CAFÉ
126 Crosby Street
New York, NY 10012
Phone (212) 334-3324
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JUNE
8
We
have re-set the reviews to The Planet Of The Apes series.
Now
it would be trite and very hack to say "We're going Ape over
our Planet Of The Ape reviews by Kelly Parks!" Does anyone
think that looks original? Does anyone think that folks would really
get all worked up over that? Do they think that someone will look at
that god-awful statement and shout "Hooray!" in their hearts?
If anything it would make someone roll their eyes in tired disgust.
A writer must think their audience is stupid to be impressed by such
awful writing.
I
say this because I've seen other sites hype their reviews of the Ape
series in this very way. Plenty of other sites. Where the hell is their
creativity? Their style? Their ANYTHING? Such weak garbage, so
very poor. For all of you bozos who write such bland obvious hype into
your websites, don't cry when your visitor counts drop. You are lame
and you deserve it. You suck!
Instead
let me say, "We're going bananas over our Planet Of The Ape
reviews by Kelly Parks!" and with good reason!
Kelly
brings his scrutinizing Science Eye to the series and offers some keen
Science Moments. If only writers would actually use REAL science in
their movies, they would not only have deeper movies, but more action,
thrills, and entertainment! Think of the good science in FORBIDDEN PLANET,
ALIEN, ALIENS, THE TERMINATOR one and two and David Cronenberg's THE
FLY. Now think of all the horribly bad Science Fiction movies that threw
science out the window. See what I mean?
So
check out the reviews of PLANET
OF THE APES, BENEATH
THE PLANET OF THE APES, ESCAPE
FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES, CONQUEST
OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, and BATTLE
FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
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JULY
7, 2001
The following
item was sent to me by a person calling themselves, The Clown 2 The Left.
This person wished to remain anonymous due to professional conflicts.
The article doesn't appear to insult anyone. I've done my best to research
this story but take it at face value.
Report by The Clown 2 The Left
IMPORTANT FIND FOR GRISWOLD COLLECTORS
An estate auction held on Sunday, July 1, in Fort Worth, Texas yielded
a noteworthy find for one horror collector. Collector BRUCE MOBERLY, of
Dallas, went because "My brother-in-law knew the guy, said he had a complete
run of Arkham house, and I wanted to get me a copy of BEYOND THE WALL
OF SLEEP, and some others." While bidding for the Arkham titles quickly
exceeded $1,500 (some were signed Clark Ashton Smith titles, Wandrei,
Bradbury, and others), Moberly was the sole bidder on a exceedingly rare (read: damn-near non-existent) ANGUS GRISWOLD
title: GHOST IN THE LODGE OF ORPHEUS. Moberly would not discuss the sale
price but said, "Hell of a lot cheaper than that shortstop we got from
Seattle."
Griswold
was perhaps the most blasphemous of all the 18th century Gothics. Sacred
orders devoted to bestiality and the like outraged his countrymen, and
his work was largely suppressed in his native Scotland. This, however,
is one of the English Language editions - more noteworthy because most
of the surviving books are German translations. Experts estimate that
there are less than thirty surviving Griswold books - in ANY language
- in the world. In English, the estimate is in the single digits (even
after the discovery of this volume).
Mr. Moberly
apparently has quite the collection. He claims to even own a copy of SHADOW
OVER INNSMOUTH. This was Lovecraft's only publication in hardcover in
his life, predating THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS by 3 years. Moberly also claims
that he has the errata sheet and dust jacket that the publisher, Visionary
Publishing Co., sent to those that bought the book (from what he said,
these were printed at a later time).
For more
information on Griswold, visit gothic.net/~weasel/home/griswold/.
(hmmm . . . my spider sense is tingling . . . -Feo)
On a more
personal note I would just like to say:
"Darren, you nutbar! So help me if this is you . . ."
I mean, I would have given you the link anyway!
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JUNE
5, 2001
World
Fantasy Award-winning editor Stephen Jones has now delivered volume twelve
of THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF BEST NEW HORROR to Robinson Publishing in the U.K.
and Carroll & Graf in the United States. This latest edition of the multiple
award-winning anthology contains 22 stories, including a major ANNO DRACULA
novella by Kim Newman, and is set to be published this autumn on both
sides of the Atlantic.
Reflecting
the finest in contemporary horror fiction, this latest edition features
some of the most memorable short stories and novellas of supernatural
and psychological dread by today's finest authors. With the most comprehensive
overview of the year, lists of useful contact addresses, and a fascinating
necrology as a bonus, this volume also includes the following fiction:
CASTLE
IN THE DESERT by Kim Newman (from Scifi.com)
FOREVER GRAMMA by Mick Garris (from A Life in the Cinema)
IN THE WATER WORKS (Birmingham, Alabama 1888)" by Caitlín R. Kiernan (from
Tales of Pain and Wonder)
NO STRINGS by Ramsey Campbell (from Shadows and Silence)
THE GROTTO by Kathryn Ptacek (from Graven Images).
FLESH OF LEAVES by Charlee Jacob (from Brainbox: The Real Horror)
THE REPULSION by Tim Lebbon (from Extremes and As the Sun Goes Down).
XENOS BEACH by Graham Joyce (from The Third Alternative).
PAREIDOLIA by Steve Rasnic Tem (from City Fishing)
I HAVE A SPECIAL PLAN FOR THIS WORLD by Thomas Ligotti (from Horror Garage).
and
many more.
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JUNE
4, 2001
Go
to your local comic shop.
Pick
up OUT THERE #1.
Do
not pass go, do not collect $200.
This
is going to be a great series. The book's by Brian Augustyn and Humberto
Ramos, the team that brought you CRIMSON. Where CRIMSON was more like
traditional vampire horror blended with some elements of fantasy, OUT
THERE is shaping up to be some straight-up horror. It's the tale of a
town that works a deal with a demon, but now the demon is coming to collect
on his prize.
It's
got the hip teenagers-in-peril thing going, but it doesn't hamper things
so far. Definitely worth a look.
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JUNE
1
Into
the summer we go with a review of Stephen Norrington's first movie, DEATH MACHINE.
Horror Movie fans will remember Stephen as the man who directed BLADE.
This makes JUNE look like Brad Dourif month because in addition to his
role in DEATH MACHINE we have reviews up of CHILD'S
PLAY and BRIDE
OF CHUCKY. More reviews of movies old and new on the
way. Also present is the series of Universal Pictures old Creature movies CREATURE
FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, REVENGE
OF THE CREATURE, and THE
CREATURE WALKS AMONG US.
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