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FEO NEWS FOR WINTER 2004:
APRIL

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APRIL 8

GO GO GODZILLA!
Reviewer, Kelly Parks, takes us back to a magical time when the Japanese really knew what bad film making was all about. And American distributors knew how to make a bad thing worse!

Check out the new review of the original Americanized version of, GODZILLA.


YOU ARE GONNA LOVE THIS! HOLY SHIT, YES!
Remember the highly touted, heavily marketed, saturation publicized GODZILLA movie of 1998? Remember how utterly, incredibly cool the trailers were?

Remember what a bitter disappointment the actual movie - directed by Roland Emmerich and adapted by Roland and his pal Dean Devlin - was? Remember how the moviet face="Benguiat Bk BT" size="5">AWARDS

Dark Tales Publishing has bestowed unto feoamante.com their

Dark Tales Award

Beauty In Horror Award.

CommunistVampires.com has bestowed unto feoamante.com their

Hero Of The Vampire Masses

CommunistVampires award

 

PlanetDoom.net has bestowed unto feoamante.com their

Planet Doom.net
Cool Site Award

 

ARCHIVE NEWS

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2003


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Haunted
Links:

The Chancery House

Dancing Skeletons
Sure, why not?

GoreLets
Once this site buries its hook in you, you won't want to pull it out.
Flash Enabled.

Halloween
Midis - Music - and Wavs

The Haunted Graveyard

The Haunted Playhouse

Hell2U
Hell, Michigan. It's a beautiful little place that's a helluva lot of fun to visit.

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein
I've never met a soul who remembers this whacked out show, yet Canadians Bill Strutt and Ben Kane have created this excellent tribute site.

The Monster Dance
Sigh... for those of you who really crave kitsch.

The Monster Mash
More dancing monsters. This time with lyrics.

The Moonlit
Road

MustDie
A Russian site. I don't know what they are saying, but it looks so COOL!

Necropsy
A fledgling Horror site hosted on the Louisiana State University servers. Not much there so far, but the roster of reviewers, including S.T. Joshi, is impressive.

Rather Good
Not Haunted or Horror but being this twisted, where else would he have a link?

The Ossuary In Sedlac
A massive and ornate building made of human bones.

Screams From The Abyss
Few images, mostly text. It's a 24 hour, 7 day a week Geoff Cooper Bitch-Fest!

Spectrum Of Fantasy
Is back online! A Russian site, with pages in English and/or Russian. Uses Shockwave!


APRIL

APRIL 30

HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAY TO -
Actress Kirsten Dunst (INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE, TOWER OF TERROR [TV], THE CROW: Salvation, SPIDERMAN) who is 22.

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APRIL 29


Erich V.D.

CHARIOTS OF THE ELDER GODS?
World reknown boob, Erich von Danikin, conned a lot of suckers believers into buying the theory of Ancient Astronauts back in the late 1960s and on through the 1970s (and a few pockets of numbskulls even today!) when he wrote his bestselling book CHARIOTS OF THE GODS? The book claimed, among other things, that the non-white people who lived among such marvels as the Egyptian pyramids, Mayan cities, and Easter Island statues (to name a few) were just too primitive and backward to have produced such fascinating work. It had to be the technology of far superior beings who came to earth, bred with humans, and produced people like...well...like caucasians! It only took one episode of NOVA to debunk his theories and prove that not only was Eric von Danikin a liar, but he knew he was a liar. He has since been debunked many times over. Doesn't stop the truly faithful saps Who Want To Believe. After all, where did he get those crazy ideas from, eh? All fictions are based on truth, right? For those of you who buy into the circular reasoning, I present a link to this wonderful article by Skeptic Jason Colavito, who step-by-step presents evidence to show that old von Danikin ripped off his ideas from none other than our own Howard Phillips Lovecraft (who never claimed that his stories were true).

Of course, if you are some Dale Dribble type who believes that Lovecraftian myth is also based on truth, then you have my pity. As for you fans of Horror, you'll get a kick out of reading about the real progenitor of the Ancient Ones and his continuing influence today:

Check out Charioteer of the Gods.

That said, kudos to Erich all the same. Because I love a good prank!


HAPPY HORROR BIRTHDAY TO -
The truth is, genres and fields aren't always influenced by the best and brightest. Sometimes an untalented dip blows the field wide open thanks to nothing more than their neurosis and obsessions. That pretty much wraps it up for Comedy, but film making and Horror have their people too. No, I'm not talking about Ed Wood, or even the great Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufmann - who've made an industry out of such negatives. Today I'm wishing a Happy Birthday to Sex & Horror film maker,
Ted V. Mikels (THE ASTRO-ZOMBIES, THE CORPSE GRINDERS, BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS, OPERATION OVERKILL, CITY IN TERROR, THE CORPSE GRINDERS II, MARK OF THE ASTRO ZOMBIES) who is 75.

DAYS OF DARKNESS: A CELEBRATION OF HORROR
Lots of excitement here as we get closer to our annual horror bash in the Los Angeles area, scheduled for May 22 and 23 in Burbank. Today we are putting on sale specially priced General Admission Weekend Passes for only $35, which covers the two days of the convention. See it all for this great low low price!

Visit us at: creationent.com to pick up these new tickets and see the latest details on the event you can't miss!

Thanks,
Your "horror" friends at Creation Entertainment

BURBANK, CA
Sat. & Sun. May 22 - 23, 2004
Burbank Airport Hilton
2500 Hollywood Way

SHOW HOURS: 11AM TO 6PM DAILY

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APRIL 28

TODAY IS SADDAM HUSSEIN'S BIRTHDAY!
Happy Birthday 67th Saddam! Enjoying yer retirement? Here's hoping that they give a nice piece of cheery birthday cake to Saddam in whatever spiderhole he is currently rotting in! Happy Birthdays without the sarcasm go to
Jessica Alba (IDLE HANDS, PARANOID, DARK ANGEL [TV]) who is 23 and
Kari Wuhrer (THINNER, ANACONDA, FATAL CONFLICT, EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS, HELLRAISER: Deader, KING OF THE ANTS) who is 37.


SHIT BAG EATS IT!
Long time violator of human rights and life, Fidel Castro, has long enjoyed snuggley status among those who really don't give a damn about their fellow human beings. Except, that is, among his own Cuban people. Read this tale of two nutso Cuban radio personalities out of Miami, Florida, USA and the prank that they played on Infidel Castrati! It's the laugh of the year!

yahoo.com
TheAustralian
news.yahoo.com
abc.net.au

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APRIL 27

PHOTOS OF THE WORLD HORROR CONVENTION 2004
So there I am, bartending at the Leisure Books party and making everyone happy with free drinks (courtesy of Don D'Auria and co.). An hour into it all, everyone gets together and does an impromptu Can-Can. Okay, so I made the drinks a bit strong. Nobody complained. There were a few people who looked like they were TRYING to complain, but their tongues kept getting in the way of free speech right before they were drop-kicked to the floor by gravity. It's a scientific fact that gravity is a strong attractant to alcohol sugars, as any drunk will freely attest. See you at the next convention!

"You pour a mean drink." (klunk!)
- Michael Arnzen

Thanks to Photographer John Sumakis for the photo.

Word is coming back from other folks who attended the WHC 2004 and have photos up at their sites. The first one alerting me is Horror Artist, Deena Warner.

HAPPY HORROR BIRTHDAY TO -
The on again, off again lead guitarist who will always be associated with KISS, Paul "Ace" Frehley who is 53.

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APRIL 26

From Associated Press
MEXICO IS POISONING ITS CHILDREN

We've all heard unbelievable wild-eyed conspiracy theories. B.S. claims that, under scrutiny collapse like cracker houses. But the Associated Press is reporting this story of over 100 candy companies from Mexico; that have been shipping their sweets to the U.S.A for over a decade; and the candies are swimming with toxic levels of lead.

The Full Story at cnn.com.


From William Jones
D'AMMASSA SHARES HIS DARK WISDOM

Book of Dark Wisdom Magazine has just launched the first in its interview series with authors, poets and artists of Science Fiction, Horror and Dark Fiction. The first interview is with author Don D'Ammassa, online now.

The interviews are located at the Book of Dark Wisdom website in the Relics section, and is available to all who visit the website.

From Tamara Thorne
TAMARA SLEEPS WITH DEAD SAILORS

Join Tamara at the 2004 California Ghost Hunter's Conference April 29th through May 1st. The 29th will be spent aboard the U.S.S. Hornet. Lloyd Auerbach, Troy Taylor and other ghost hunters will be participating and everyone's hoping for a very sleepless night in the racks. Tamara and Damien will be taking equipment and notes and you'll get to read about their haunted holiday at SpiritKeep.net.

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APRIL 23

From Yvonne Navarro
PEBBLES FROM THE DARKE PALACE
Yvonne Navarro (SPECIES, SPECIES II) is catching up on yer press releases now that she has made her move to Arizona.
New Navarro books on the shelves are
MIRROR ME
HELLBOY (Novelization)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: THE WICKED WILLOW TRILOGY

AFTERAGE - The Limited Edition

Yvonne will also be making appearances in Arizona this year, so if you live there or will be passing through, keep up-to-date by checking out her website at YvonneNavarro.com.

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APRIL 22

TODAY'S YER BIRTHDAY!
If it is, then you share your birthday with actors famous for both their Horror / Thriller roles, and their roles in sexually explicit movies. Jack Nicholson starred in the highly controversial Carnal Knowledge as well as The Postman Always Rings Twice and Marilyn Chambers career was mostly porn including her film, Little Shop of Erotica, spoofing Nicholson's early work.
Marilyn Chambers (SEXUAL ECSTASY OF THE MACUMBA, RABID) is 52.
Eric Mabius (THE MINUS MAN, CRUEL INTENTIONS, THE CROW: Salvation, TEMPTED, RESIDENT EVIL, JUST LIKE YOU IMAGINED) is 33.
Jack Nicholson (THE CRY BABY KILLER, LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, THE RAVEN, THE TERROR, THE SHINING, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, BATMAN, WOLF, MARS ATTACKS!) is 67 today.

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APRIL 20

From Creation Entertainment
ANNUAL HORROR CONVENTION: COOL PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE!
We hope you've made your plans to be with us in Burbank, California on May 22 and 23 for our annual horror event: DAYS OF DARKNESS: A CELEBRATION OF HORROR (produced by Creation Entertainment, the folks behind Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors events for 15 years!) .

The dates are May 22-23, and today we are announcing PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES: your chance to get your picture taken with two legends of horror: GEORGE ROMERO and ROBERT ENGLUND.

Check out all the details on the convention at: creationent.com/cal/

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APRIL 19

HORROR DOES A BODY GOOD!
The 4/17/04 book signing sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Horror Professionals to benefit Parkinson's disease research was a terrific success.

Authors F. Paul Wilson, Steven Spruill, Douglas E. Winter, Brian Keene, Elizabeth Massie, Matthew Warner, J.F. Gonzalez, L. Marie Wood and A.B. Wallace teamed with Burke Used Books of Falls Church, VA to raise $300 in just two hours for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. The authors donated $1 from each book sold, and the book store donated 20% of its sales.

This isn’t the first time authors have banded together for a good cause. All of the proceeds from the Tales From the Gorezone anthology coming this spring from Apartment 42 Publications will be donated to the National Association to Protect Children, a child-welfare organization whose supporters include the Wachowski brothers (THE MATRIX), novelist Andrew Vachss, and online horror bookseller Shocklines.com. And last September, the First Annual Matthew's Miles Walkathon, organized by horror novelist John Passarella in honor of his son Matthew, raised $15,000 for brain tumor research.

For more information, contact Matthew Warner.


LEGEND APPEARS AT DARK DELICACIES
If you don't recognize the famous face in this photo, that's okay. Lots of people don't recognize me yet and I have nightmares about when they do. I also have pipe dreams about being obscenely rich one day so I'll deal with the nightmares. And speaking of nightmares, the man sitting next to me is Ray Harryhausen.

Ray is reknown for his special technique of stop-motion photography (which anyone can do) and his applied technique of Dynamation (which only Ray could figure out). Ray brought to life varmints in movies like 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, ONE MILLION YEARS B.C., SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER, THE CLASH OF THE TITANS and more. His best friend, Ray Bradbury, calls Harryhausen's creations monsters. Ray H. calls them creatures, everyone else called them uncanny for the longest time. Because, thanks to Dynamation, the actor looks directly at the stop motion figure (filmed months later). They track and follow the SFX.

Anyone who recalls A NIGHTMARE ON ELMSTREET 3 remembers the scene of Freddy Kruger's skeleton rising out of the grave and doing battle with Dr. Gordon (Craig Wasson). Remember how bleached out, unfocused, and cruddy Dr. Gordon looked when battling Freddy's skeleton? Remember how the Dr. kept looking where the skeleton wasn't? That's what you get without Ray Harryhausen's Dynamation technique. Even with modern computer-generated imagery, the principles of Ray's Dynamation are still applied today. This is why Ray gets tributes from computer animators like having a ritzy restaurant in MONSTERS, INC. named after him.

THRILLERS IN THE TOP SPOT
The two opening movies, KILL BILL 2 and THE PUNISHER came in this weekend at number 1 and 2 respectively. Rounding out the top 5 in Horror Thriller, HELLBOY stayed firm at #4. For the kiddies, SCOOBY DOO 2 came in at #6.

At the 2004 World Horror Convention, 1980s Heavy Metal singer and 1990s Horror movie actor/producer, Dee Snider (STRANGELAND), made a comment lamenting what appeared to be a large number of Horror movie subcult "Gorehounds" going to showing after showing of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. "It's not about the gore," he said. But let's face it, how many true believers could bear to watch an hour after hour realistic re-enactment of their savior being flayed alive and brutally tortured to death? Part of the film's heat belongs to the millions of repeat viewers and that has made a movie about Jesus one of the most profitable films of the year! THE PASSION fell from #1 over the Easter weekend to #9 this week, but the U.S. grosses alone put this $25 million dollar budget movie in the $61 million dollar gross range. Pretty damn good for an independent release!

Find more info at HollywoodReporter.com


HAPPY HORROR BIRTHDAYS TO -
On Sunday
From acting bit parts in Troma films TERROR FIRMER and CITIZEN TOXIE to Actor/Writer/Producer/Director of CABIN FEVER, today's Birthday Boy, Eli Roth is out of the gate and running. Happy 32 Birthday!
Actor David Hewlett (THE DARKSIDE, PIN, DEEP SLEEP, SCANNERS II, QUIET KILLER, CUBE, UNDER PRESSURE, CYPHER, FOOLPROOF) is 36.

And on Saturday
Folks who are not fans of Horror or Thriller movies, remember Olivia Hussey as Julie in 1968's Romeo and Juliet, and wonder whatever happened to her. Fans of Horror/Thriller know her and remember her in BLACK CHRISTMAS, DEATH ON THE NILE, THE CAT AND THE CANARY, VIRUS [1980], ESCAPE 2000, DISTORTIONS, PSYCHO IV, IT, ICE CREAM MAN, THE GARDENER, EL GRITO, and ISLAND PREY. Happy 53rd birthday to Olivia Hussey!
Actor Roddy "Hot Rod" Piper (HELL COMES TO FROGTOWN, THEY LIVE, IMMORTAL COMBAT, JUNGLEGROUND, SCI-FIGHTERS, DEAD TIDES, CYBERCITY, JACK OF HEARTS) is 50.

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APRIL 16

WHERE THE WILD KEENE GOES
If you live in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., Brian Keene will be at Burke Used Books in Falls Church, VA this Saturday, April 17th. This is a group signing, sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Horror professionals. Proceeds will benefit Parkinson's Disease research. Also in attendance will be F. Paul Wilson, Douglas Winter, Elizabeth Massie, JF Gonzalez, Matthew Warner, Mary SanGiovanni, AB Wallace, L. Marie Wood and Steven Spruill.

Burke Used Books is located at
7395-F Lee Hwy,
Falls Church, VA
22042.
The signing takes place from 2pm to 4pm.

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APRIL 15

HAPPY HORROR BIRTHDAY TO -
Actor Emma Watson, who began her career with the dark tales of magic and monsters for children with the Harry Potter movies (HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS) and never left! Her next movie HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN is wrapping up in post production and this newly minted millionaire is currently filming HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE. Don't be jealous: we should all be so lucky; so wish this kid a Happy 14th birthday!

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APRIL 14

GETTING HARRY IN L.A.
Songwriter, Novel writer, and sometime feoamante.com contributor, Harry Shannon, sent us this quick note to say, "I will be signing my very first mystery MEMORIAL DAY (A Mick Callahan Novel) published by Five Star First Edition Mysteries,

Saturday, May 22nd at 1:00PM at
THE MYSTERY BOOKSTORE
(near UCLA)
1036-C Broxton
Los Angeles, CA 90024
USA

This is probably the most significant signing I've ever done, and if you can spare the time to pop in for a moment and/or buy a copy, I'd be very appreciative. Spread the word...and thanks!"


DEE SNIDER EXCLUSIVE!
Dee Snider was the frontman for the 1980s Heavy Metal hairband TWISTED SISTER. And that is not a slam because, while their music was real, they still parodied the ridiculous marketing style of Hollywood hair bands. In the 1990s, Dee tried his hand at making a horror movie and came out with STRANGELAND. Today, Dee has his own radio talk show and is preparing to take over the television airwaves with the upcoming arrival of two cable Horror channels. Check out Thomas Sipos' interview with Dee at the World Horror Convention that took place over the Easter Weekend in Phoenix, Arizona.

Check out the story at HollywoodInvestigator.


HAPPY HORROR BIRTHDAY TO -
Actor Sarah Michelle Gellar (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER [TV], I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, SCREAM 2, CRUEL INTENTIONS, SCOOBY DOO, SCOOBY DOO 2) is 27.

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APRIL 13

HAPPY HORROR BIRTHDAY TO -
Actor Ron Perlman (THE NAME OF THE ROSE, SLEEPWALKERS, CRONOS, THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN, THE LAST SUPPER, THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU, ALIEN: Resurrection, THE SHAFT, BLADE II, STAR TREK: Nemesis, RATS, HELLBOY) is 54.

And yet those trailers! Such hope! Of course those trailers weren't created by Roland and Dean. R&D are no doubt, the masters of "Make Shit and Ultra-Hype It! We'll rake it in off the suckers in the first two weeks!" school of film making. Except without Will Smith they've got nothing!

Japan got it's shot to right the wrong about a year later with GODZILLA 2000, but for American audiences, it was too late. The R&D team destroyed GODZILLA like no nuclear bomb ever could.

A few weeks ago we were told that the final Godzilla movie was about to be made. How disheartening. GODZILLA vs...someone.

Fortunately, the Japanese aren't going to take this lying down!

50 years ago, GODZILLA first came to the silver screen. 49 years ago, Americans saw Godzilla and were reminded of just how cool giant freaking monsters were. Giant monsters like King Kong and Godzilla influenced my early appreciation of Horror and Monsters. But through the years, U.S. fans of Godzilla notice the discrepency in what they were watching. The clips of American actor Raymond Burr (who played reporter Steve Martin), didn't quite gel with the rest of the movie. Steve never interacted with the main characters of the film for one. It was almost as if two films were made, one starring an all Japanese cast, and another of Raymond Burr and a few Asian actors who had no connection to the main movie.

And word leaked across the Pacific that we were right. The scenes with Raymond Burr were filmed long after the real movie was in the can. Never has any video or DVD shown the original Japanese version - UNTIL NOW!

50 years after its release, the original GODZILLA will come to the U.S. Uncensored, Uncut, and Undubbed! This Spring/Summer is the one the only and the original GODZILLA!

Check out the official website rialtopictures.com/godzilla
then check out the trailer! AppleGodzilla

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APRIL 6

HAPPY HORROR / THRILLER BIRTHDAY TO -
You probably don't know this about actor John Ratzenberger, but in addition to his long time role in the TV hit, Cheers (Hey Cliffy!), he . . . Well, yes, he was in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. But he was . . . Yes, he did have a recurring role in the first two Superman movies. But the thing is . . . yes, he is a successful voice-over actor these days: having done all five of the Pixar movies. But when he's being an actor in regular movies, he has done an awful lot of Horror/Thriller in his career! So Happy Birthday to John Ratzenberger (TWILIGHT'S LAST GLEAMING, WARLORD'S OF ATLANTIS, MOTEL HELL, OUTLAND, GOLIATH AWAITS, FIREFOX, WARLORDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY, HOUSE II, SPIRITED AWAY, MONSTERS, INC.) who is 57.

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APRIL 5

THE NOMINEES FOR THE 2003 STOKERS
he World Horror Writers Association has announced the nominees for the Bram Stoker Awards for 2003. Expected nominees in the novel category include
Stephen King (THE DARK TOWER V: Wolves of the Calla in the Novel category and HARVEY'S DREAM in the Short Fiction spot),
Peter Straub (LOST BOY LOST GIRL).

Previous Bram Stoker winners are also present including
Tom Piccirilli (A CHOIR OF ILL CHILDREN in the novel category and FUCKING LIE DOWN ALREADY in the Long Fiction category),
Brian Keene (First Novel: THE RISING),
Douglas Clegg (Long Fiction: THE NECROMANCER),
Jack Ketchum (Long Fiction: CLOSING TIME and Fiction Collection: PEACEABLE KINGDOM),
David Niall Wilson (Long Fiction: ROLL THEM BONES),
James A. Moore (Novel: SERENITY FALLS),
Joyce Carol Oates (Short Fiction: THE HAUNTING),
Ramsey Campbell (Fiction Collection: TOLD BY THE DEAD and co-editor of Anthology GATHERING THE BONES - co-edited with Dennis Etchison and Jack Dann),
Ellen Datlow (Anthology: THE DARK and THE YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR #16 - co-edited with Terry Windling),
Neil Gaimen (Illustrated Narrative: THE SANDMAN: Endless Nights and Works For Young Readers: THE WOLVES IN THE WALLS), and
Charlee Jacob (Poetry Collection: CARDINAL SINS)
, and
Michael Arnzen (Poetry: GORELETS: Unpleasant Poems and Alternative Forms: THE GORELETTER).

Previous Nominees include:
Gary A. Braunbeck (Short Fiction: "DUTY", GRAVEYARD PEOPLE: The Collected Cedar Hill Stories Vol 1, and Non Fiction: FEAR IN A HANDFUL OF DUST),
Karen Taylor (Short Fiction: FANGS AND ANGEL WINGS),
Mark McLaughlin (Poetry: PROFESSOR LaGUNGO'S EXOTIC ARTIFACTS & ASSORTED MYSTIC COLLECTIBLES), and
Elizabeth & Thomas Monteleone (Anthology: BORDERLANDS 5 and Nonfiction: THE MOTHERS AND FATHERS ITALIAN ASSOCIATION)

Newbies include:
Judi Rohrig (Nonfiction: HELLNOTES),
William D. Gagliani (First Novel: WOLF'S TRAP),
Michael Arnzen (Poetry: GORELETS: Unpleasant Poems and Alternative Forms: THE GORELETTER).

See the complete list at Horror.org.


GORY HORROR RULES - FOR NOW
Since February 25, Gory Horror movies have ruled the box office, making it well over a month of non-stop Horror at the box office. First up was the three week reign of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. Many movies have been released about Jesus and the Bible and more than a few were made and distributed by various Christian groups. Some had their successes, like THE OMEGA CODE, but none have ever acheived the blockbuster status of THE PASSION. To be sure, Mel Gibson turned a well-tuned hand toward the marketing of the movie, as well as the craft he displays in the film. But the film is almost entirely focused on the Horror that Jesus went through, and never before was the betrayal of Christ shown in such lavish, bloody, intricate flesh ripping (courtesy of two types of special effects, layered and augmented with sound effects) detail. To my knowledge, it is the only account of Jesus' life that is both rated R (for violence and gore) and accepted by Christians. It didn't leave it's place at #1 until DAWN OF THE DEAD knocked it off its perch.

Like THE PASSION, DAWN OF THE DEAD promised horrific gory images. It was very well made and very intense, but no where near as brutal, bloody, and gory, as THE PASSION. In its second week it fell to fourth place. But it fell by being knocked off the block by another movie penned by the same writer as DAWN.

SCOOBY DOO 2: Monsters Unleashed promised loads of monsters in its trailers and the kind of kiddie gore you get with clear, green, and blue slime. It wasn't gory for adults, but after five weeks of Gore and Horror, I'm guessing most parents were ready for a family film.

Then there is HELLBOY. This film straddles the line between Horror for children and Horror for adults. While no where near as gory as PASSION or DAWN, it still serves up the grue with Demonic Nazis and Lovecraftian varmints. See tomorrow's (APRIL 6) HELLBOY review for further details.

An historical war movie and an under-publicized thriller are opening this week against several flavors of coemdy. Maybe this Easter Weekend it will be time for a few laughs.


A TRUE LEGEND APPEARS!
For lovers of Horror, Science Fiction, or Fantasy movies, Ray Harryhausen is a living legend. Film maker Roberto Rodriguez took his inspiration for his SPY KIDS movies from the SINBAD films of Ray. MONSTERS, INC. even had a restaurant called Harryhausen.

On Sunday April 18th at 2:00p.m. Dark Delicacies will be hosting a signing with legendary special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen who will be signing the new coffeetable book Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life. Tickets are required for this event as there are a limited amount of books. Tickets are free and are obtained when a copy of the book is purchased at Dark Delicacies.
Dark Delicacies is located at
4213 West Burbank Blvd,
Burbank, CA, USA
and can be reached for further information at darkdel.com.


From Delirium Books
NEW DARK VOICES ANNOUNCED
Delirium Books continues its rich history in discovering the talents of tomorrow. New Dark Voices is an anthology series (to be published once a year) that focuses on publishing the best new voices in the horror field before they become the masters of the genre. The first anthology features 3 talented horror authors (Michael Oliveri, Gene O'Neill, and John Urbancik) with 3 brand new novellas!

BENEATH MIDNIGHT by John Urbancik
TO TRAVEL AMONG MEN by Michael Oliveri
WHITE TRIBE by Gene O'Neill

This new anthology will be limited to only 300 copies, signed by all contributors. Cover artwork is by Mike Bohatch.

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APRIL 2

THE MIKE & MIKE SHOW ANNOUNCES SALE OF FIRST NOVEL COLLABORATION
It started as a lark at last year's World Horror Convention, but then a buddy of Mike's dared him to make it reality. Mike & Mike joked about it, and soon things elevated to the triple-dog-dare stage and we just had to do it. After sixty-eight days of passing .doc files back and forth during late summer and fall, we found ourselves with a complete 108,000-word manuscript entitled TERTIARY BURN.

It's a sort of Lovecraft-meets-Heinlein piece set in a far future where technology has peaked and fallen into decline following a period of anarchy due to wars and other problems related to humanity
spreading too far too fast and being unable to govern itself, and a dark force unleashed by an ancient cult is spreading its wings from the decaying remnants of our solar system.

Surprisingly pleased with the first few chapters, we finished it and showed it to our wives and some of our geekier friends, who enjoyed it. When Brett Schroder of UTI Literary Agency contacted Mike about his current representation, we figured "what the hell" and sent it to him. He dug it and compared it to the best of Golden Age space opera, only without the sequin capes, goofy headgear and lightning bolt-shaped belt buckles.

We're please to announce Baen has picked up the rights and will be publishing the book in mass market paperback next Spring under the pseudonym M.M. Frazier. We will, of course, post the cover and any updates on our website as they become available.

Take care,
Mike & Mike
mikeoliveri.com
nukegumby.com

So. About that novel thing. You see, it's like this:

APRIL FOOLS!

(Yer a day late, chuckleheads. - Feo)

Unfortunately. Be nice if we did write a sci-fi epic and made some bank on it, but not this year. Some of you fell for it, some of you didn't, but either way, we hope you had fun with it. :)


From Brian Knight
BROKEN ANGEL - My First Christian Fiction Novel!
I'm happy to finally be able to share this. I've struggled so long with my own religiosity, that it came as a bit of a surprise when my novel, BROKEN ANGEL, took a serious and definite turn toward faith.

And as a good faith effort to combat the destructive nature of the publishing industry, and particularly the small press in which I've worked, I've decided to print and sell copies of this new novel on my own. If you're interested in getting off the fast track to hell, send me an email and order a copy of BROKEN ANGEL.

I don't know how my fans will react to my new style / genre of writing, but I've decided I don't need to worry about that anymore. God likes it. If you don't, you will probably go to hell anyway.

God bless,

Brian Knight

 

April Fools :D

Brian

(Yer a day late, knucklehead. - Feo)


HAPPY HORROR / THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO:
In both TV and movies, Actor Lindy Booth has largely directed her career toward work in the Horror / Thriller / Mystery / Suspense genres (EERIE INDIANA [TV], TEENAGE SPACE VAMPIRES, THE SKULLS II, AMERICAN PSYCHO 2, ODYSSEY 5, WRONG TURN, DAWN OF THE DEAD [2004]) and is 25 today.
Actor Dabbs Greer hasn't turned his sights on our favorite genres in any specific way, yet he has been in some Horror classics - both good and cheesy - that are hard to ignore! (HOUSE OF WAX [1953], INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS [ 1956], THE VAMPIRE [1957], IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE, EVIL TOWN, PACIFIC HEIGHTS, SUNDOWN: THE VAMPIRE IN RETREAT, HOUSE IV, THE GREEN MILE). Dabbs is 87.

TASTY TIMES FOR DARK DELICACIES
On Saturday April, 17th Dark Delicacies will host a signing with editor Stephen Jones for his horror anthology The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories. Scheduled to join Stephen are authors Nancy Holder, Dennis Etchison, David J. Schow, and Richard Christian Matheson.
Dark Delicacies is located at
4213 West Burbank Blvd,
Burbank, CA, USA
and can be reached for further information at darkdel.com.

From Tamara Thorne
GRIMM ACRES DEBUTS ON COMPUTERS EVERYWHERE!

April 1, 2004 marks the premier of GrimmAcres.com, sister site to TamaraThorne.com! Join writers Tamara Thorne and Melanie Billings and their fellow ghosthunters as they report on a recent ghost hunt at La Purisima Mission in Lompoc, California. Apparitions, poltergeists, and cold
spots, oh my! They're all there, folks, all true, and they're waiting for you.

You'll also get to read columns by some of your old favorites, like yours truly, Coastal Eddie, and some new folks, like Wanda the Psychic. Melanie's strange but true Weird Files, a big hit on allaboutghosts.com, will soon be found in the pages of Grimm Acres! In coming months, you'll get to read all about the people and places you've read about in Tamara's books, as well as reports on Tamara and Melanie's ghost hunting adventures in more familiar lands.

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APRIL 1

From Yvonne Navarro
APRIL AT TWILIGHT TALES

It doesn't matter where you are now. What matters is, you gonna be in Chicago in April? Huh? Are ya, punk? Because this is what Twilight Tales has going on for the month of Fools and Taxes. And let's face it, nothing is so inescapable as Fools and Taxes!

APRIL 5:
Open Mic - Everyone and every genre welcome! Sign up at the door! First come; first served. 20-minute time limit (10 minutes for poetry) STRICTLY enforced!

APRIL 12:
Tom Keevers - "Music Across the Wall"
PI Mike Duncavan - ex-cop, ex-lawyer, ex-husband - uncovers an occult mystery during an already disturbing murder investigation.

Richard Babcok - "Bow's Boy"
Friendship and heroism in small-town America at the start of the Vietnam War.

APRIL 19:
Dave Schwartz - Three Tales of Magical Surrealism
Get swept up in a maelstrom of mind-bending fiction!

David Kemper - "Sisyphus in Khaki"
And other hilarious and disturbing tales...

APRIL 26:
Authors in the Hot Seat - Horror/Dark Fantasy
Watch three brave authors as they face a professional panel of editors and published authors who provide insight and feedback to their stories. Please see below if you are interested in participating. Panelists include Jay Bonansinga, Robert Weinberg, and more...

Held every Monday night upstairs at the
Red Lion Restaurant & Pub
2446 N. Lincoln Ave. across the street from the Biograph Theater
7:30 PM
Chicago, Illinois, USA


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Contributors to feoamante.com are going places!
See below!


THE BREED

Starring Adrian Paul (THE HIGHLANDER),
Bokeem Woodbine, and Ling Bai (THE CROW), This Alternate History movie is part Horror, Part crime, part S.F. and all Vampires.
From the screenplay by our own
Christos N. Gage and Ruth Fletcher Gage.

  Feo Amante's Horror Home Page and feoamante.com are owned and copyright 1997 - 2003 by E.C.McMullen Jr.
All images and text belong to E.C.McMullen Jr. unless otherwise noted.
All fiction stories belong to their individual authors. All artwork in The Gallery belongs to the individual artists.