King Vulture's Sound Attack

Reggae and Ska tonight.

Peter Tosh...Vampire

The Specials...Ghost Town

Mephiskapheles...Doomsday

Voodoo Glowskulls...Voodoo Anthem

Max Romeo...Chase The Devil

Lee Scratch Perry...Voodoo

Big Youth...Solomon A Gundy

The Independents...Insane

Let's Cast Del Toro's Justice League Dark

Just for shits and giggles, I have NO insider info whatsoever. Justice League Dark has been a great series and I've always been a huge fan of the darker side of the DC Universe, especially Swamp Thing. Del Toro recently stated that the film would focus on Constantine trying to bring this team together, but so far no one's been cast. So here's my cast wish list. I'm not just a fan of the individuals below, but I really think they'd knock the roles out of the park.

                                             Deadman/Boston Brand...Christopher Eccleston

Madame Xanadu...Asia Argento

Swamp Thing...Derek Mears

Zatanna...Daniel Harris

John Constantine...Jude Law

Black Orchid...Lauren Cohan

Frankenstein...

Kane Hodder

Etrigan The Demon...Idris Elba

A while back I'd heard the movie may be based on the Alan Moore Swamp Thing stories that make up the A Murder of Crows trade paperback. If that's true then that leaves a few roles to fill like Dr Fate, The Phantom Stranger, and The Spectre. I don't think there's an actual script yet, but this is one I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed for.

Anyone got any better suggestions?

Come On Down To Elders Keep...

Elders Keep...'Some houses are haunted...Some ground is unholy...The town of Elders Keep is something else entirely.'

Writer and friend Jeff X Martin's Elders Keep project demands your attention.
From the site; Nestled in the Foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains lies Elders Keep, a small town not too far off the beaten path. 
It has withstood the ravages of time, the elements and inhabitants. It has not lost its connection with the forest and the mysteries within. It is a place of strange rumblings, shadows and whispers. This is where The Fear lives, a place of horror, bloodshed and bad ideas.

The welcome mat is out. Consider this your engraved invitation.

Join us in Elders Keep. 

Chapters are available as they're released on Nook and Kindle for 99 cents. The second chapter, Be Sweet, was released on Valentines Day. This is very cool, fiends. Won't you join us..?

You can also follow Jeff on Twitter, @X_the_Unknown

Lord of Tears Creeps Ever Closer...

There are 6 days to go on the Lord of Tears Kickstarter campaign with some cool rewards at many different donation levels.

The trailer looks like a load of fun-a really cool, old school British fright flick steeped in folklore and Lovecraft.

2013 is going to be a pretty damn good year for horror fans!

Oh and this pretty funny...

And here's the official trailer...

My Heroes Have Always Been Monsters Part 33

Return of the Living Dead is one of those films I'll never get tired of watching. Directed by the great Dan O'Bannon (writer of Alien) who replaced Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Life Force). It takes off on an alternative timeline from Night of the Living Dead (and came out the same year as Romero's Day of the Dead). Produced by NotLD's co-creator, John Russo, Return was a hipper, fast paced zombie flick. Less gory than Romero's, but funny and with better scares.

The soundtrack was amazing as well, featuring such important punk acts as The Cramps, The Flesh Eaters, TSOL and 45 Grave.

Here's The Flesh Eaters

and a fan mixed vid for 45 Grave (NSFW)

Return's living dead are fast, can speak, and are somewhat cunning when it comes to catching the living. It's not just flesh the dead have a taste for-it's "BRAAAIIINSSS..." Also, where Romero's films have a social conscience, Return is played for laughs as much for scares. 

Return was popular enough to spawn 4 sequels. The first two are worth watching for sure.  Part 3 was directed by Brian Yuzna of the ReAnimator series and Fuast. The final two came out within the last decade and are currently collecting dust on my shelf. I am looking forward to watching them soon, though.

I've loved the zombie genre since I was probably 11 and saw Night of the Living Dead for the first time. I've seen tons of zombie flicks, less than half of them being worth mentioning, but the good ones are worth going back to over and over. As a fan I find it pretty exciting that a show like the Walking Dead can be a smash hit with compelling story telling and graphic content, but at the same time I don't like seeing zombie flicks churned out like a short cut to thinking. Return of the Living Dead is modern classic and a must see for fans who like it fast, scary, and funny as hell.

Keep watching the sky, nerds!

Lose This Skin...is LIVE!

So this is available. My first E-book, Lose This Skin, ready on all formats or you can get it direct from Smashwords right HERE. (The ISBN # is 9781301974634)
King Vulture did the cover, by the way.
This collects the best of my short work from 1994-2011, including short stories, poetry, vignettes, lyrics and articles. I split it into two parts, the first being selections from my early book-zines and a few pieces that went unpublished. The second part pulls together my work from about 1999, including  two pieces I'd written for Sponic Zine (one being published for the first time), some unreleased short stories, and one that had been published by Thug Lit back in '07.
I put it together to be a short fast read like the punk albums that originally inspired me. And it's cheap-$1.99.
I've got to say, as embarrassing as it sometimes was to go through the old books, I'm pretty excited that they have a new life. Also, as much as I love having a physical book to hold, it is pretty damn cool that I can stay indie and have my work reach a global audience with the click of a button.
I hope everyone enjoys it. I know it's far from flawless, but it's like what Minor Threat said "At least I'm fucking trying ...what the fuck have you done???" ;)

Next up for me will be my debut novel Conspiracy of Birds, which will feature this SICK cover by my wife @mrs_stephie.














Thanks, fiends! I appreciate all of you who have followed this blog and gave me a reason to keep doing it! A new chapter of My Heroes Have Always Been Monsters is coming soon...

DAMAGED!

If you're not reading Basement Screams now's a damn good time to start!

The month of March is dedicated to Punk on film and features guest bloggers covering some of their faves. So far we've been treated to reviews of Suburbia and The Fabulous Stains. And uh, yours truly has a couple in the pipeline too!

And here's the Anti-Nowhere League (NSFW) SO WHAT?!?

Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires

I'm late getting to Mario Bava's work. I've loved Italian horror through Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Lamberto Bava, and Michele Soavi (not to mention all the great Spaghetti Westerns) for years, but I never came across any of Bava's films, that I could afford at least.
In the book Broken Mirror, Broken Minds Bava comes up a lot as an early hero of Argento, so I've always been keen on getting into his films.

Planet of the Vampires wound up my choice for first of Bava's films, mainly because it was one of the films Dan O'Bannon ripped off for Alien.

From IMDB; After landing on a mysterious planet, a team of astronauts begin to turn on each other, swayed by the uncertain influence of the planet and its strange inhabitants.

Released in 1965, the film has some glaring problems stemming from cheap special effects right from the beginning. They all involve shots in space and of the ships flying. There is no getting around how supremely cheesy this looks.

Fortunately, the rest of the film doesn't suffer nearly as much. The acting is rather strong for a B-movie, there's some blood, some mild shocks. The set is creepy and atmospheric-not a far cry from some foggy British moor. The costumes are fantastic and the overall execution of the film is well done.
I don't doubt I could have picked a stronger film to start with, but I had a good time and recommend it.

3 1/2 Severed Thumbs Up

King Vulture's Sound Attack

The Great Rock N Roll Swindle-Sex Pistols (w/out Rotten)

My Way-Sid Vicious (from Swindle)

Manimal-The Germs (Decline of the Western Civilization)

I Love Livin' in the City-Fear (Decline...)

This Ain't No Picnic- The Minutemen (We Jam Econo)

Police Truck-Dead Kennedys (Live at DMPO's on Broadway)

Tear It Up-The Cramps (Urgh! A Music War)

Steppin' Stone-Minor Threat (w/some skateboarding)

LORD OF TEARS- Must See Trailer

From director Lawrie Brewster comes this new British horror/fantasy film LORD OF TEARS. Check out this stunning and tense trailer...

Lord of Tears is a startling, psychological, supernatural thriller set against the ominous backdrop of a cursed highland estate. The film features the voice of David Schofield (Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean) Lexy Hulme and Euan Douglas.

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Lord of Tears tells the story of James Findlay, a school teacher plagued by recurring nightmares of a mysterious and unsettling entity.  Suspecting that his visions are linked to a dark incident in his past, James returns to his childhood home, a notorious mansion in the Scottish Highlands, where he uncovers the disturbing truth behind his dreams, and must fight to survive the brutal consequences of his curiosity.

I'm very excited to see this! Did you see the frigging Owl Man??? Lord of Tears looks like a wonderful take on classic British spook tales (something I'm quite fond of) with solid scares and an anxiety ridden feel. 

Mr Brewster tells me the film is complete and they are now taking pre-orders through a Kickstarter campaign which will help finance an exhibition tour. Details are HERE. The team has some very nice give aways for contributors too. Also check out their Tumblr HERE. 

Get on board fiends, let's keep indie horror strong!

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