So, Douglas E. Wright,...mind if I call you Dougie? No, I can tell by that mean look you'd rather I didn't. Okay. I'm ashamed to admit that upon first meeting you on the online message board The Haunt, I mistook you for Douglas Winter that wrote all those nonfiction books about Stephen King. Has that happened to you before? (Please say yes and save me from dying of embarrassment.)


No. Not even my sister calls me Dougie. As for the Douglas Winter comment. Another great big, NO! LOL No, I can't say it ever happened before. However, I have been mistaken for screenwriter Doug Wright. Hence, the 'E' now in my name. No reason to be embarrassed. I liked it.


You're one of those exotic ... (more…)

USA, 2009, IRON KODEX RECORDS

Ever since the release of their self-titled debut album in the mid-90s, San Francisco-based classic metallers SLOUGH FEG have been one of the most astonishing and unique sounding hard rockers around. Honestly, I love this band to death and I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that there has hardly been another underground metal band in the last two decades that can keep pace with singer/guitarist Mike Skalzi and his crazy gang in terms of creativity, playfulness and sheer musical genius. You don't believe me? Well, then why don't you just buy the band's new album "Ape Uprising" and listen for yourself?

Cause SLOUGH FEG's seventh full-length output does once ... (more…)

When I first met Nick Cato (briefly) back in 2005 at the World Horror Convention in New York City, little did I know that this guy would become one of my closest friends. I'm amazed how much we have in common - from a lifelong love of horror, comedy, movies and music (especially punk rock), to a current fascination with the emerging bizarro genre. Nick is also the editor of the long-running fanzine THE HORROR FICTION REVIEW, which has been reviewing horror books for years, and he is the kingpin behind NOVELLO PUBLISHERS, which has been doing a great job keeping the humorous horror genre front and center. Nick and I even co-edited an anthology of funny horror stories called DARK JESTERS, ... (more…)

It's the last Tuesday in June, the 30th, and it's getting to be that time of year, when schools are out and I have to spend a lot of extra time on the porch, yelling at those damned kids to get offa my lawn! But, before I put on my robe and slippers and head out there, how about we take a look at what hits horror DVD today?

In the mood for a little summer fun by the water? Well, Genius Products will try to discourage that with SEA BEAST. A sea captain and a marine biologist wage war against something that lives under the water and has acquired a taste for human flesh. It's like Jaws, only with more cgi and less Roy Scheider.

HIDE from MTI Home Video is said to be a modern day Bonnie and ... (more…)

"Library of Horror Press" is extremely proud to announce the release of award winning author Scott A. Johnson's CITY OF DEMONS. The novel is a "horror noir" that is incredibly suspenseful and wonderfully creepy.

When a series of gruesome murders begin occurring in Houston, Texas, a burned-out cop who is on psychological leave sees eerie similarities to killings that happened before. Cursed with the ability to relive the last few moments of victims' lives, he races to stop the butchery before the city's gutters are flooded with blood.

Noted author Gary Braunbeck wrote this concerning CITY OF DEMONS:

"What you hold in your hands is, in my opinion, an almost perfect horror novel; and ... (more…)

There is a kindred spirit in horror and noir fiction. Stories of moral ambiguity and monstrous nature of human beings are their bread and butter. Tom Piccirilli made his name in horror before shifting his skill set into the literary noir of his recent novels like Midnight Run and Cold Shot. Stephen King cites such authors as Jim Thompson and James M. Cain as critical favourites.

One author who I think fits as a link between horror and noir that does not get enough attention is Nelson Algren (1909-1981). Best known for the movie adaptation of his novel The Man with the Golden Arm (which won Frank Sinatra the Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of a junkie jazz musician), Algren's work is ... (more…)

Two-time Bram Stoker Award nominated author Nate Kenyon's thir novel, THE BONE FACTORY, will be available as a Leisure mass market paperback next week. Here's a preview. When you've finished, check out Nate Kenyon's website.

THE BONE FACTORY
By Nate Kenyon


And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With old odd ends, stol'n forth of holy writ;
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil.

--William Shakespeare, King Richard the Third


PROLOGUE: BLOOD

Winter's frozen fingers caressed Joe Thibideau's face, his breath twisting in great clouds of steam to ice his eyelashes. The moon was bright as he moved as quickly as possible across the three inches of fresh snow that softened the ground. Little 8 ... (more…)

Let's start with your career as a film journalist. You started out at Rue Morgue--I believe you were at Fangoria for a while - and now you're writing quite a bit for RM again.


Well, I'm not technically "at" either magazine; they are the publications I've primarily written for, but I'm not part of either magazine's staff. I have a standing professional agreement with both that I don't write competing pieces, but apart from that I'm just a humble freelancer as far as that's concerned. I consider myself closer in spirit to Rue Morgue because the staff there are all friends of mine.

I started writing for Rue Morgue waaay back in 1998, issue four or five; my first piece was a review of ... (more…)

Philippine cinema has always had a love-hate relationship with horror. The genre has always attracted some of the country's most popular talents, which has resulted in some remarkably affecting, at the same time spine tingling cinema. But for every good horror film, there are five more that did not deserve to see the light of day. I asked film critics Erwin Romulo and Noel Vera and film archivist Jo Atienza for some of their choice picks of horror movies from the last three decades.

The 80's was an interesting time for the genre. The SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL franchise (there are now 10, most of them bad) was just beginning, the cinematic trilogy attracting veteran directors whose short films ... (more…)

EDITOR'S NOTE: This concludes our serialization of Lee Thomas's DAMAGE. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have, and I thank Lee for allowing us to run it. All previous chapters are archived for a limited time only. Please visit the author at http://www.leethomasauthor

38

The snow fell, and the children stood at the windows watching the feathery flakes drop from the sky, all hoping that the next day of school would be canceled. Frank tapped the top of the music stand with his baton to get his students' attention, but it was a half-assed attempt at best. He smiled, rested the baton on the lip of the stand and joined the kids at the window.

He looked out at the stables, the ... (more…)