MARCH
MARCH 31, 2001
HORRORFIND
WEEKEND,
also called the Baltimore Weekend of Terrors. Judging by the
number of reservations already made and the amount of interest expressed
by dealers and celebrities, the organizers fully expect this event to
be one of the largest and most widely attended horror conventions of
2001.
Sponsored by Horrorfind.Com
and Fright Vision, along with special contributors Rue Morgue magazine
and Haunted Attraction magazine, this convention will be a one-of-a-kind
event, comprising all the different aspects of the horror genre: Horror
Movies, Horror Books, Horror Amusements, Halloween Haunt Industry, Haunted
House Industry, and the Real-Life Supernatural will all be represented.
Horror Movie Celebrity
Guests include: Bruce Campbell (star of Evil Dead I & II, Army of Darkness),
Doug Bradley (Hellraiser’s Pinhead), Tom
Savini (special effects wizard for Creepshow, Dawn of
the Dead, From Dusk Till Dawn), Dick Warlock (Halloween’s ‘Michael Myers’),
Tom Morga (Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees), Ben Chapman (Creature
From the Black Lagoon), Linnea Quigley (Pumpkinhead II, Nightmare on
Elm Street IV), Brinke Stevens (Haunting Fear, Nightmare Sisters), Count
Gore De Vol (Host of TV’s Creature Feature) and many more to be announced.
Horror Writer Celebrity
Guests include: Douglas
Clegg (Mischief, Halloween Man,) Jack Passarella (Wither,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Barry Hoffman (Born Bad, Hungry Eyes, editor
of Gauntlet Press), Karen Taylor (author of the Vampire Legacy series
from Pinnacle Books), Mark McLaughlin (Shoggoth Cacciatore, editor of The Urbanite), Gerard Houarner
(I Love You And There’s Nothing You Can Do About It, The Beast That
Was Max), Brian
Keene (No Rest For The Wicked, editor of Jobs In Hell),
Mason Winfield (occult investigator, author of A Ghosthunter’s Journal),
JF Gonzalez (Clickers, Shapeshifter), Weston Ochse (Natural Selection,
Scary Rednecks and Other Inbred Horrors), Holly
Newstein and Ralph W. Bieber (Out Of The Light) and many
more to be announced.
Richard
Laymon, who passed away on Valentine’s Day, was to have
been a Celebrity Guest. A special presentation of different authors
reading selections of his work in his memory is planned.
Events include a
massive dealer’s room, live midnight séance, celebrity Q & A sessions,
author readings, stand-up horror comedy, horror movie room, walk-through
Haunted House, real ghost stories, mass celebrity and author autograph
signing event, individual autograph sessions, music, nightly parties,
and much more.
Celebrity panels
during the weekend will cover such topics as starting your own magazine,
writing horror, building horror webzines, getting started in the haunted
house business, comedy in horror, vampires, censorship, haunted house
industry methods and scares, real-life violence and the genre, dark
poetry, getting published, and much more.
The Horrorfind Weekend
takes place August 24th, 25th and 26th, 2001 at the BWI Airport Marriott
in Baltimore, Maryland.
Advance ticket purchases
made before April 15th, 2001 are only $20 for the entire weekend. After
April 15th, tickets will be $25 for the entire weekend. There will be
no admission without a ticket. To purchase advance tickets, make your
check payable to and mail to:
HORRORFIND.COM LLC
9722 Groffs Mill Drive PMB 109
Owings Mills, MD 21117
Advance tickets
can also be purchased online via Paypal, by visiting the Horrorfind
Weekend website: horrorfind.com/show.
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MARCH
29, 2001
Report by Judi
Rohrig
MARCHING OUT WITH PENS IN HAND Saturday, March 31, in Asheville, NC, from 2-4 p.m. (EST), a panel discussion
on Suspense and Imagination is being sponsored by the Barnes & Noble store.
Authors include
Robin Spriggs (WONDEROUS STRANGE),
Steve Eller (BRAINBOX Anthology),
James Newman (HOLY ROLLERS),
Scott Nicholson (THANK YOU FOR THE FLOWERS), and
James Warren (EVIL IN ASHEVILLE). More information is available
here: hauntedcomputer.com/b&npanel.htm
And on Monday,
April 2, to help usher in month, Twilight Tales (twilighttales.com)
will offer its OPEN MIKE night. Writers of all genres are welcome to share
their works upstairs at the Red Lion Restaurant & Pub (just across the
street from the Biograph Theater). Readings begin at 7:30 p.m. There is
an admission charge of $4 per person.
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MARCH 28, 2001
Report by Stealth Press
March releases
JOHN SHIRLEY - DARKNESS DIVIDED: Stealth's first original-publication
short fiction collection! Of Shirley's earlier, award-winning collection
BLACK BUTTERFLIES (a 1998 Book of the Year), Publishers Weekly wrote:
"[F]ew writers-if any-handle SF, dark fantasy and psychological horror
alike with as much panache as Shirley. But there's depth beneath the
scintillating surface, as Shirley plumbs not just the mind but also
the soul..." DARKNESS DIVIDED's 22 dark tales of new noir, science fiction,
fantasy, and crime, demonstrate humankind's evolution from where we
were and where we are, to where we have yet to be.
F. PAUL WILSON
- AN ENEMY OF THE STATE: The heart and cradle of F. Paul Wilson's
LaNague series -- the story of the apocalyptic birth of the LaNague
Federation and Peter LaNague's unique revolution that spawned it. A
book that literally changed people's lives. Long unavailable -- except
to those willing to pay a hefty price for a used book -- An Enemy of
the State is another SF classic given new life by Stealth Press. The
Stealth edition includes a new preface by the author and two related
LaNague Federation short stories: "Ratman" - the author's first professional
sale as well as the very first LaNague Federation story - and "Lipidleggin'"
- a 1978 story featuring a certain ancestor Peter LaNague is trying
to trace in Enemy.
CHELSEA QUINN
YARBRO - THE PALACE: The sensual and mysterious legend of Saint-Germain
lives on in Book Two of Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's superb series. Peopled
by such unforgettable real-life figures as the de Medicis and Sandro
Botticelli, The Palace evokes Renaissance Italy in all its dangerous
glory, as it weaves a darkly erotic spell of love, power, obsession
and seduction.
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MARCH 27, 2001
Report by Judi
Rohrig
MARCHING OUT WITH PENS
IN HAND Saturday, March 31, in Asheville, NC, from 2-4 p.m. (EST),
a panel discussion on Suspense and Imagination is being sponsored by
the Barnes & Noble store. Authors include
Robin Spriggs (WONDEROUS STRANGE),
Steve Eller (BRAINBOX Anthology),
James Newman (HOLY ROLLERS),
Scott Nicholson (THANK YOU FOR THE FLOWERS), and
James Warren (EVIL IN ASHEVILLE). More information is available
here: hauntedcomputer.com/b&npanel.htm
And on Monday, April
2, to help usher in month, Twilight Tales (twilighttales.com) will
offer its OPEN MIKE night. Writers of all genres are welcome to share
their works upstairs at the Red Lion Restaurant & Pub (just across the
street from the Biograph Theater). Readings begin at 7:30 p.m. There
is an admission charge of $4 per person.
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MARCH 26, 2001
Report by Stealth Press
Saturday, March 31, 2-5 PM -
DARK DELICACIES bookstore (4213 W. Burbank Blvd. in Burbank,
California, 91505) will host a STEALTH PRESS POWER SIGNING, featuring
six of its authors:
Dennis Etchison (TALKING IN THE DARK), Noel Hynd (THE
SANDLER INQUIRY, FLOWERS FROM BERLIN),
Craig Spector (TO BURY THE DEAD and, with John Skipp, LIGHT AT
THE END),
John Shirley (DARKNESS DIVIDED), and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (THE PALACE, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA).
Info: toll -free
phone: 1-888-DARKDEL
local phone: (818) 556-6660 darkdel@darkdel.com
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MARCH
26, 2001
Report by Barry
Hoffmann
DARK CARNIVAL TO INCLUDE 5 ADDITIONAL STORIES
Gauntlet Press announces that Ray Bradbury has agreed to allow the inclusion
of five additional short stories to the definitive edition of the DARK
CARNIVAL to be released in October. These are stories that did not appear
in the original, with most all but impossible to get a hold of. All were
originally published in Weird Tales and were at one time considered for
publication in the original version of DARK CARNIVAL. Four stories will
appear in the book itself. The fifth will be a chapbook, given free to
those purchasing DARK CARNIVAL from Gauntlet Press. The four stories that
will appear in the book are "The Watchers" Bradbury's first anthology
sale in Rue Morgue which he sold at the the age of 25. There is also "The
Poems" "Bang, You're Dead" and "The Seashells." The story for the chapbook
is "Time Intervening" which will feature an illustration by William F.
Nolan, drawn for the story's first appearance.
For more
information, contact Gauntlett
Press
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MARCH 25, 2001
Report
by Kevin
Lindemuth
WE'RE BAD! WE'RE NATIONWIDE!
John Bowker's THE EVILMAKER will be available for rental, nationally,
at Blockbuster Video by June 2001. This will be followed by other Brimstone
titles in the following months.
Look
for the interview with Eric Red in the new issue of FANGORIA (page 10,
issue #201). The director of BAD MOON, COHEN AND TATE and BODY PARTS
discusses his new vampire movie NIGHT LIFE, which has the same grittiness
as his earlier screenplays, THE HITCHER and NEAR DARK. It will be a
kick-ass vampire movie.
My
new book on filmmaking, THE INDEPENDENT FILM EXPERIENCE will be published
by McFarland
Books in the Fall of 2001.
Two new screenplays are being written co-written with Stephen C. Seward.
They are DEADISH, a tale of ghouls, and BLOODPLANK, a haunted pirate
movie. Both scripts will be complete by May 2001.
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MARCH 24, 2001
Report by Barry Hoffmann
DARK CARNIVAL TO INCLUDE 5 ADDITIONAL STORIES
Gauntlet Press announces that Ray Bradbury has agreed to allow the inclusion
of five additional short stories to the definitive edition of the DARK
CARNIVAL to be released in October. These are stories that did not appear
in the original, with most all but impossible to get a hold of. All
were originally published in Weird Tales and were at one time considered
for publication in the original version of DARK CARNIVAL. Four stories
will appear in the book itself. The fifth will be a chapbook, given
free to those purchasing DARK CARNIVAL from Gauntlet Press. The four
stories that will appear in the book are "The Watchers" Bradbury's first
anthology sale in Rue Morgue which he sold at the the age of 25. There
is also "The Poems" "Bang, You're Dead" and "The Seashells." The story
for the chapbook is "Time Intervening" which will feature an illustration
by William F. Nolan, drawn for the story's first appearance.
For more information,
contact Gauntlett
Press
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MARCH 23, 2001
Andy Fairclough's HORROR WORLD
formally launches this weekend with a live chat session on Sunday 25th
March at 20:30 UK time which is 14:30 Eastern Time. This is Masters
Of Terror's new incarnation and will in time be based more on the history
of modern horror rather than the latest news and releases. I'm delighted
to welcome back some of horror's best authors with personal message
boards namely Tom Piccirilli, Ed Gorman, Robert Devereaux, Michael Marano,
Rhys Hughes, Barry Hoffman, John Pelan, Brian Hodge and Yvonne Navarro.
Also Horror's original uncensored board - 'The Cellar' is back, and
for the first time a new board called 'Hot Topic' which discusses a
theme for a limited period of time. First up is worldwide megastar shock
rocker Marilyn Manson. Some other material from MOT may return along
with lots of new stuff and I look forward to seeing everyone at Horror
World.
Finally I would
like to thank Feo Amante for helping to spread the word and for this
kind offer of promotion at his website! http://www.horrorworld.cjb.net
Report by Judi
Rohrig
HORRORFIND WEEKEND ON THE HORIZON
Even though August 25-27 seems a bit off, thoughts of HorrorFind's Weekend
of Horror in Baltimore during those dates should already be heavy on
your mind. Why? Because tickets for the celebrity-heavy event jump from
$20 a person (for the entire weekend) to $25 after April 1, 2001. And
that's five bucks that could be spent on a book, CD, or movie ticket!
Festivities will be held at the BWI Airport Marriott, and some people
attending include Bram Stoker winner Douglas
Clegg, Evil Dead star Bruce
Campbell, Pinhead himself - Doug Bradley, Gauntlet
Press publisher and author Barry Hoffman, Screamqueens Brinke
Stevens and Linea Quigley, Actor/Make-up Artist Tom
Savini, Brian Keene, Dick
Warlock (HALLOWEEN's Michael Myers), Weston Ochse, Tom Morga
(FRIDAY THE 13th's Jason Voorhees), Gerard Daniel Houarner (Author of
ROAD TO HELL and PAINFREAK), Paranormal Investigator Mason Winfield,
our own Feo Amante, and many of the Feo Amante Crew! A complete celebrity
list is available at the website.
horrorfind.com/show/horrorfind-weekend.html.
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MARCH 22, 2001
Report by Judi
Rohrig
NEW NAMES ON THE DOORS
The Horror Writers Association has named British writer Tim Lebbon as
its new Vice-president. Lebbon slips into the spot vacated by David
Niall Wilson who took the reins as President following the sudden death
of Richard Laymon. DarkTales Publishing has added two new staff members to its stable. Nicholas Kaufmann,
an assistant editor with Chiaroscuro and a freelance writer, will be taking charge of sales and promotion
while Christine I. Speakman, a freelance reviewer, has been named Assistant
Editor. Demontia magazine has added Sheri White as Assistant
Editor of the print magazine. Donn Gash is the new Non-Fiction Editor
at Deviant Minds. Chief Goblin Carole Nomarhas has announced
that Sandra Kasturi is the new Associate Editor, and Christine I. Speakman
has been named Official Reviewer.
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MARCH 21, 2001
R. CHETWYND HAYES
IS DEAD
Horror writer R. Chetwynd-Hayes, once described as "Britain's Prince
Of Chill", died at the age of 81, of bronchial pneumonia.
Ronald Henry Glynn
Chetwynd-Hayes was born on May 30, 1919, in Isleworth, West London.
For over 30 years, R. Chetwynd-Hayes published more than 200 Short Stories,
8 novels, and over 20 Collections - as well as editing 24 anthologies
including many of the Fontana Ghost Stories series of anthos.
In 1989, R. Chetwynd-Hayes
received the Life Achievement Awards of the British Fantasy Society
and the Horror Writers of America (HWA). He was guest of honor at FantasyCon
XVII in 1992 and at the 1997 World Fantasy Convention in London.
ALPHA WOLF UPDATE
Publisher/Writer Brian A. Hopkins continues being treated for Non-Hodgkins
Lymphoma. His journal, "Waking Up with the Crab" has been updated with
both the January 29 entry and several special links: a poem by Kristy
Dark; a letter from James Morrow; and pictures of cards and gifts from
friends and fans. Check it out: bahwolf.com Bah will be attending the World Horror Convention (WHC2001.org)
in Seattle, WA, May 25-28.
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MARCH
20, 2001
Report by Judi
Rohrig
Aurora Van Belkoms!
The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association may want to change
the name of their awards this year from the Auroras to the Edo Van Belkom
Awards. The Canadian writer and editor's "Coming of Age" (Star Colonies,
DAW) is nominated in the Short-Form Work in English category, but he
has three - count them! THREE - works nominated in the Best Work in
English (Other) category:
NORTHERN HORROR, an anthology;
BE AFRAID! another anthology aimed at young adults; and
WRITING HORROR, the first in a series of "How To" books. Van Belkom's
not the only horror writer with works nominated. Robert J. Sawyer's CALCULATING GOD has been nominated in the Long-Form category
while his The Shoulders of Giants is a contender for Short-Form
Work in English category. Awards will be presented during Canvention
21, held in conjunction with V-Con 26 (v-con.org/),
May 4 to 6, 2001 in Burnaby, British Columbia.
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MARCH 19, 2001
Report by Jack
Adrian
The
Independent (London)
March 19 2001
THE HORROR
writer Richard Laymon was a prophet almost entirely without honour in
his own country. An American working in what is almost purely an American
tradition - that of the "stalk-and-slash" and "splatter" genres - for
most of his life he could only get published in the United Kingdom,
where his fan following was impressive, highly appreciative and very
vocal. This despite the fact that his first published novel The Cellar
(1980) was the very epitome of American Gothic grisliness - vile troglodytish
creatures dwelling far beneath the site of a gruesome slaughter -scene
emerge at intervals to terrorise the local inhabitants, maiming and
killing the males, sexually enslaving the females.
Go HERE for full story
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MARCH 18, 2001
House
of 1,000 Cowards
Brett Savory may no longer be in charge of CHIAROSCURO,
but he still has plenty of venom when folks at Universal Pictures -
Yes, those folks of Monster Movie filmdom some 50 years ago - get cold
feet over anything having to do with modern Horror. Read Brett's column
at TWILIGHT
SHOWCASE.
On behalf of Darke
Palace, Yvonne Navarro (SPECIES, SPECIES II, DEADRUSH, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: The Willow Files)
would like to invite everyone to drop by The Stars Our Destination Bookstore,
705 Main Street in Evanston, Illinois on March 24, 2001 from 6-8:00
p.m. Yvonne will be signing with evil cohort Jay Bonansinga (OBLIVION, THE KILLER'S GAME). Stars is right on the Evanston elevated train
line, and also has a little parking lot close by. For more info, call
them at 847-570-5925.
OUTLAW NATION
Vertigo's
certainly got their hands full. With top editor Axel Alonso officially
gone and working for Marvel (good move, Quesada!) things are fortunately
moving steadily along. They canceled the FLINCH anthology series, but
a four-part western-themed anthology has taken its place. The first issue
of WEIRD WESTERN TALES wasn't too shabby, and we'll have reviews of the
series up for you soon.
They've
also launched OUTLAW NATION in an attempt to replace PREACHER. Written
by former HELLBLAZER scribe Jamie Delano, the series features some interesting
characters and an intriguing general theme, but the jury's still out on
the overall quality. Issue six just hit and there's still not much to
say story-wise. I'll get you a review in a few more issues, when he gives
us a better idea of what the hell is happening.
HELLBLAZER
continues to rock, and the new "Freezes Over" four-part arc has a lot
of promise. Azzarello's also jumped right into the action this time, as
we have a monster and/or serial killer, Constantine, three criminals,
and several innocent people all snowbound in a small inn. And they've
already found the first corpse impaled by an icicle.
Warren
Ellis's TRANSMETROPOLITAN series featured a few quick hits, and the new
arc is the three-part "Dirge." The first just hit, and it's looking good.
Looks like Spider will be doing more investigatio into police corruption
while an assassin on a rooftop starts smoking random passersby.
Speaking
of Warren Ellis, he will be launching his own imprint soon, a la Alan
Moore, and it will be published by Image. The first title, MINISTRY OF
SPACE is due in May and tells the story of an alternate history where
Britain won the space race. However, the horror will lie in HOW they went
about funding their space program, as well as all the testing that went
on before their initial successes. The follow-up (and the second of three
planned series) will be MORNING DRAGONS, a tale of what may have happened
had the Vikings landed in feudal Japan. The third will be announced later.
And speaking
of Ellis yet again, STRANGER KISSES is also coming soon. The preview issue
looked good, and word is it's even better than its predecessor, STRANGE
KISSES (see review). Watch for more announcements and, once the series
is done, a review.
The new
Kevin Smith-helmed GREEN ARROW is here at last! GREEN ARROW at one time
had a dark and gritty feel that fit perfectly with the Vertigo line (even
carried the Mature Readers tag!) until DC saw fit to bump him off. No
word yet on whether Smith will go for the darker work or for the superhero
stuff (chances are the latter), but if it's anything like his work on
the DAREDEVIL series, then I'm sure it will be damn good. The first issue
sold out before it hit the stands and went into a second printing by the
weekend of its release. Definitely going to be a hot item.
Finally,
Image launched another small horror/sci-fi series called AREA 52, written
by Brian Haberlin. The story takes place in a supposed storage facility
where all the unknown items our government recovers from UFO crashes and
similar phenomena gets stashed. As they put it, it's the warehouse at
the end of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, only it's in Anarctica for security
reasons. The first issue opened as a very light-hearted book, but by the
end of that issue and throughout this one I'm finding it has a very dark
heart. Look for a review as the first plotline wraps.
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MARCH 17, 2001
Nicholas Kaufmann
(STREET CRED in Bloodtype: A Hardcore Horror Anthology,
WITH ITS SLEEVES ROLLED in Poddities: A Creative Tribute to
Jack Finney's Novel "The Body Snatchers", and
LA BETE EST MORTE in Bell, Book & Beyond: An Anthology of Witchy
Tales) is delighted to announce that he's joined the staff of award-winning DarkTales Publications as their Sales & Promotions man. For two years now, DarkTales
has had a major presence on-line. Nick's ultimate goal will be to increase
public awareness of DarkTales' outstanding books and talented authors
in the world outside the Internet, as well as getting DarkTales' titles
into more bookstores throughout North America.
"I'm looking
forward to working with all the DarkTales authors - past, present and
future - in achieving this goal. David Nordhaus, DarkTales CFO and owner,
and Keith "Doc" Herber, designer and editor, are a great bunch of people,
and I couldn't be happier to be joining them. I wouldn't be getting
back in the PR game for just anyone!"
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MARCH 16, 2001
Report by Judi
Rohrig
Additional Guest Of Honor Named To World Horror Convention 2001
He may be just Jay Clarke at home, but to millions of readers he's Michael
Slade, author of the just released HANGMAN (co-authored this go-round
with daughter Rebecca), BURNT BONES, and PRIMAL SCREAM among other titles.
Now Clarke has been added to the line up of Guests of Honor at the May
25-28 World Horror Convention in Seattle, Washington.
The death of Richard
Laymon left WHC2001 short an author Guest of Honor (Simon
Clark is the Foreign Author Guest of Honor), but Laymon
is NOT being replaced; a special memorial is planned and all literature
for the convention will continue to list Laymon as the homeboy GoH.
Negotiations had already been underway to attract Clarke, who is an
attorney with an extensive background in police procedure and forensics,
to the weekend of horror. It just makes the offerings a little stronger
with his addition. Any fan of horror is welcome to attend the four-day
convention to be held at the Seattle Marriott Sea-Tac Airport Hotel.
Contact the World
Horror Convention 2001 at whc2001.org
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MARCH 15,
2001
Scottish
author of vampire and horror books, William Meikle (THE BOOK OF THE
DARK) is running a competition in his free newsletter - the winner
gets to have their namesake turned into a vampire in the new novel he's
currently working on. Anyone interested in becoming one of the undead
should head on over to his web page and sign up for the newsletter.
Then, answer one simple question and you'll be entered in the draw.
William
Meikle
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