STRANGER WITH FRICTION IS NOW A PHYSICAL MAGAZINE AND ISSUE ONE IS OUT NOW!

"Published four times a year, Stranger With Friction is a magazine that reaches outside of St Rooster Books’ publishing orbit to artists, writers and musicians who we admire and/or are inspired by. It encompasses outsider literature, punk rock, and horror movies which have informed St Rooster Books’ mission statement from the start. Featuring essays and reviews, interviews, fiction and poetry, and artwork, Stranger With Friction is printed as an oversized, perfect bound book-zine through a print-on-demand service and available to e-readers. St Rooster Books seeks to create a unique reading experience by mixing an eclectic group of writers and artists in an entertaining and collectible riot of a combination of Slash Magazine, Rue Morgue, and the Evergreen Review."

Get your copy HERE.

Issue One features; editor/BORN IN THE WINTER

WAXWORK RECORDS’ TOP FIVE RELEASES BY MARK PIDGEON

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT/AN INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR IZZY LEE

fiction/WHAT IS LEFT BY PAUL LUBACZEWSKI

MUSIC IN HORROR: RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD BY CHRIS CAVORETTO

fiction/CRAMPS BY LAMONT A TURNER

TEXAS IS THE REASON: LOOKING BACK AT THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

AMERICAN JESUS 2020 BY ERIK STEWART

fiction/NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH BY CARTER JOHNSON

NOW LET US PRAISE NOISE; CLASSIC LURCHING DEATH OF 1984

poetry/ERIK STEWART

PUBLISHER SPOTLIGHT: WEIRDPUNK BOOKS

MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN MONSTERS: CABAL and NIGHTBREED

fiction/MACHO INSECURITY BY JEREMY LOWE

poetry/MARCELLINE BLOCK

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!