Snots, Sniffles, and Conversations in the Dark

I, as in me, as in the guy that is typing this right now, is the latest guest on B-Sol’s Conversations in the Dark podcast! You can listen to us talk about horror directors that haven’t stayed relevant and why that is. It was a great conversation and I had a buh-last doing it, so head over to The Vault of Horror and listen to me and my wicked sinus infection! Thanks to B-Sol for having me as a guest and being a big listener of podcasts, it was very cool being involved with one! Hope you hoes dig it!

Reading Rainbow of Blood!

Take a look; it's in a book, Reading Rainbow! Wait a second here...what the hell is a book?! Okay, I'm just messing around when I say that, but I do say it because the physical written word has become almost extinct and taken over by things like movies, video games, pod casts, Internet porn, shit like that...and no, reading on your computer doesn't count! Same deal goes for magazines, newspapers, etc...stuff like that has been murdered by the ease of access to specific content - thanks to the machine that sits right in front of you - glowing with the warmth of knowledge and information all right there with the movement of a mouse and a left click.

I am not one to throw stones at all...that is not my purpose here. I still buy magazines, but I often find that I barely read them cover to cover, like I did even a few years ago (save for Paracinema!). I have a read a few books over the past two or three years - I would say probably about five maybe? That is not very many at all, and I hate the fact that I do not read at least one book every month or two...shit is fundamental, right? I just get wrapped up in reading a disgusting amount of movie news that is to be found on the Internet, listening to pod casts, watching movies, making baby batter, reading and writing blogs. I just do not have the time. But that is a bullshit excuse, I should make the time, because nothing is more rewarding than reading a good book, a good horror book to be exact.

I am a very nostalgic person, and I think of my youth very fondly, and a big part of my childhood that I loved most was reading a great horror novel, or short story, and letting my imagination carry me to spooky land! The Muppet Babies had their finger on their pulse of what is fun, imagination, and nothing inspires imagination quite like books. They truly do make your dreams come true.

Why the crap am I all about books right now you ask? Well, even if you didn't, I'm gonna tell ya anyways! B-Sol over at The Vault of Horror invited a group of black belt worthy bloggers to put together their top 10 list of favorite horror literature (Just in time for Chucktober!). When this was posed to me, I thought about how I have not read enough books in so many years and that my list would be a little difficult to put together. It wasn't too bad when I sat down, thought about it, and looked through my book collection, but outside of Zombie Survival Guide, I haven't read any of these books in over ten years - at least! Moreover, these are books that made my list too! I have seen all of the movies that make my top ten favorite horror films list probably once a year! That is sad to me, slightly embarrassing to be honest, and hopefully this little experiment in ultimate horror literature results in me doing a little more reading now.

The stipulations were really just that the choices had to be horror. Books, short stories, and poetry were allowed equally, and I'm fine with that. I am not a big poetry guy though, so none of that on my list...this is Chuck Norris Ate My Baby, not Jessica Tandy Ate My Rose Petals! Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

Below is my list, I really don't have full rhyme or reason to the order outside of the first five or so, but as I always do, I tried to keep it somewhat varied, while putting books that I love, or loved growing up. I also added a few honorable mentions that I didn't even send to Mr. Sol, but put them on here because they are all *this* close to making the list, but ultimately, had to be axed.

1. Bram Stoker: Dracula
2. H.P. Lovecraft: At the Mountains of Madness
3. Clive Barker: Books of Blood: Volumes One through Three
4. Mary Shelley: Frankenstein
5. Richard Matheson: I Am Legend
6. Stephen King: Pet Sematary
7. H.P. Lovecraft: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
8. Whitely Strieber: Communion
9. Clive Barker: Cabal
10. Max Brooks: Zombie Survival Guide

Honorable mentions...　
Robert Bloch: Psycho
Stephen King: Salem's Lot & Cycle of the Werewolf!
Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 (Easily would have made it, but more Sci-Fi than horror)

Six of my picks made the list, not that it's a surprise, and I am happy to see my number one pick, Dracula made its deserving position in this ultimate list too. Maybe I should read that again in honor of this revelation that I hope I am able to maintain. Now to see the results of my list and another 20 or so horror bloggers, check out "The Greatest Fright Fiction of All Time! The Cyber-Horror Elite Takes on Literature!" over at The Vault of Horror. Please comment, as comments are always welcome, I'm sure there will be some interesting dialogue about the ultimate list that was put together, but I can back it as being a proper one in my non-reading ass opinion. Any comments on my personal list, I would love to hear them, and I would love to read a book with you sometime...maybe swinging in a hammock 69 style while listening to California Dreamin'...maybe?

The Vault of Horror: The "Cyber-Horror Elite" Present: THE HORROR CANON#links#links

Some time last week, I got an e-mail from B-Sol of "The Vault of Horror" fame asking for a top ten essential horror films list. Why did he require such a list you may be wondering? So he could do some mathematical magic and come up with a sort of "Horror Canon" if you will. A list of films that any fan of horror, whether a veteran or someone new to the game, should be required to see in order to be considered a horror aficionado. Of course, I was honored to be considered for such a task, as everyone involved are the coolest of the cool when it comes to horror blogging, so being in anyway down with that crew of mofo's is very flattering indeed...I just hope they have a cool handshake like Depp and Deluise from 21 Jump Street did!

It took me a few days to shift things around and add a few/drop a few before making it an official essentials list, and to be honest, it was actually kinda hard (the list, you pig!), but here is the 10 that I came up with…

1. Halloween
2. Night of the Living Dead
3. Alien
4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
5. Hellraiser
6. The Exorcist
7. Suspiria
8. The Evil Dead
9. Psycho
10. The Fly

I really tried to mix up the movies by having different themes and/or genres. Body horror, Slasher, Social Commentary, Sci Fi, Giallo, Exploitation, etc...you get the drift.

It was tough with my pick for The Fly at number ten, as it was a back and forth between The Thing and The Fly until I ultimately went with The Fly because of the body horror aspects and also Carpenter already had my top film to represent his horror legacy. I also struggled with leaving off films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Jaws, and all of the 20's and 30's Universal Monster films probably the most, but it isn't an easy thing to do, putting a list like this together...you can't have 20 movies fit on a top 10 list!

So, the end result is my list along with a whole bunch of other horror fiends lists - resulting in the "Horror Canon," a list of 35 horror film must sees for anyone that dare call themselves a horror fan. Click on the clicky link thing below and check out the official list at The Vault of Horror. It has some interesting movies on it, and should generate a ton of great movie dialogue about what belongs and what doesn't. And isn't that what it's all about? Debating, and generally taking about horror films? Enjoy!

The Vault of Horror: The "Cyber-Horror Elite" Present: THE HORROR CANON#links#links