Friends of the Show: Angry Gnome Comics

Shawn Gabborin and his wife Stephanie are the creators of Angry Gnome Comics. Shawn does the writing while Stephanie excels at illustrating the stories that Shawn comes up with. I have to admit that the Short Stack by Angry Gnome was my first real experience with comics at all. I have purchased and read issues1-3 of their Short Stack series as well as issues 1-3 of Victor Season. Let's just say that Angry Gnome loves their stories dark!

Shawn has since recommended many other comics that I have checked out including The Walking Dead and Preacher trades. Between Shawn's original work and his recommendations, I have become a convert and I have found myself frequenting local comic shops on a regular basis.

We have recently received news that one of Shawn's stories is going to be featured in Heavy Metal Magazine! The story that will be featured is called Home Late which is written by Shawn Gabborin and illustrated by Mario Cau. It will be in Heavy Metal Magazine issue 122 which is one of their special Spring issues. HERE is a link to their special issues page. At the time of this writing, it hasn't been placed on that page yet, but hopefully it will soon. The issue is due to be available on February 10th. Note: the issue cover in this story is not the cover of the spring issue. It is the cover of the fall issue... but what a great cover!

Not only is Shawn a very talented storyteller, but he has worked very hard to get to this point in his comic career. I just want to urge everybody to purchase the spring issue and make sure to contact Heavy Metal Magazine with your thoughts on Shawn's entry to their magazine. This is a big step for Angry Gnome Comics and we prompt everybody to support them! I will definitely be purchasing this issue... and not only because it gives me a legitimate excuse to buy Heavy Metal Magazine without my wife thinking I'm just getting it to look at the hot chicks!

If you want more information on Angry Gnome Comics visit their site or go directly to their store

Friends of the Show Series

Over the past six months that we've been putting out the podcast, we've made some friends. Friends that are working to build up the horror community as a whole. I am actually surprised at the amount of talent that is out there both from those who are writers, illustrators, and musicians, but also from those who create informative and fun podcasts, blogs, and websites.

We're going to do a series of stories about independent horror community contributors. Not because we think they need our help to get noticed, but more to show our appreciation of the support that they've given our show. Since life gets busy, the frequency of these stories showing up on the front page may be a little sketchy, but both Sam and I appreciate their support and want to make sure everybody who visits the site knows who these people are.

Episode 23: Vampire Origins

This week's topic is Vampire Origins. We talk about different myths and legends from around the globe regarding the origination of the vampire. Since we ran a little long, we weren't able to get into the depth that we would have liked, but we are able to discuss some very interesting myths.

We are treated to a few "Impersonate Sam" entries. We also go over some voicemails and emails. One email even mentions how Sam can pop his cherry.

Download Directly

We discuss three films that focus on the origination story of the vampires involved:

Tsui Hark's Vampire Hunters (2002):

I've actually found this whole film on Youtube. If you follow THIS link, you will be pointed to part one. It is broken into many 10 minute parts. You will be able to see subsequent parts in the "Related Videos" section of the page. For those of you who want to take a quick peek at the first 10 minutes, here it is:

Dracula 2000 (2000):

A decent film with an awesome vampire origin story. This film has one of the greatest reveals of any movie in the last 10 years. Unfortunately many genre cliches are present and quite distracting. Here is the trailer:

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula (2000):

As luck would have it, this entire film is also on Youtube. Both Sam and I really enjoyed this historical look at Vlad Tepes' story... before he became a vampire. Great acting, great set design, and an interesting story make this made for TV film very enjoyable. Again, here is a link to the first portion of the film. Look at the "Related Videos" section for subsequent selections.

Musical Selections for this episode:

• Nevermore - The Heart Collector
• Monster Magnet - See You in Hell
• Sentenced - Drain Me
  

Robert R. Best's Review of Aswang

So, say you've decided to put your unborn child up for adoption. And a weird rich guy wants to adopt your baby. And part of the deal is that you have to live with the rich guy in his isolated house until the baby is born.

The message of Aswang: don't do it!

Because it turns out an aswang is a Filipino vampire that feeds on unborn babies while still in the womb. So guess why the weird rich guy wants your baby. See, told you to listen to Aswang.

This low budget movie from the early 90's is creepy and nasty, like you would expect from a movie with this subject matter. Sometimes the low budget hampers the movie a little, but sometimes it helps too, by giving the whole thing a surreal, off feeling that really adds to the overall effect.

I liked it.

30 Days of Night... A Second Opinion

In Episode 22, we talked about 30 Days of Night and both Sam and I really enjoyed the film. Well, let's get another person's take on the subject. Here's Robert R. Best with his review:

So there's this tiny town in Alaska where, once a year, it is dark for 30 days. The few residents who stay each year hunker down for the dark cold month. Until one year, when vampires show up.

That's a nice, solid set-up. And it's handled well. The early parts of the film, before the sun has gone down, set up a good feeling of approaching doom. Someone has stolen all the cell phones and destroyed them. Someone has killed all the dogs in town. A weird stranger has shown up at the diner and is demanding bowls of raw hamburger.

Dealing with all this is the town sheriff, played surprisingly well by Josh Hartnett. He and the few residents of the town are trying to sort out what's going on when the vampires arrive.

A lot of effort went into making these vampires very different from the romantic, tormented souls we've become used to. These vampires are feral and animalistic. Smart, but more like animals than anything else. And this presentation works, especially the excellent performance by Danny Huston as the leader of the vampires.

Its a solid movie. Above average, but missing something I can't put my finger on. There's just no real wow-factor to push this movie into greatness. And it feels like it could have been great. Still, worth seeing.

Keith Latch Bestseller Review!

As if we needed any more reason to get into Keith Latch's books, there has been another review posted by CoffeeTimeRomance.com. You ask, "Romance? What is a review of Bestseller doing on a romance site?" my answer is that Keith's books can be enjoyed by everyone. Here's the review:

Robert Caulder has always wanted to be an author but has never managed to complete a book. Then, he had a near fatal road accident, recovered from a weeklong coma, and returned home to find he could suddenly write. However, now he writes million dollar horror books, something he had never even read before.

Danielle Greer wants to be a literacy agent. When she finds unpublished author Robert Caulder’s first novel on her desk, she knows he is going to be her road to success.

When Robert writes, he does not know what he is going to write until he reads it on the screen in front of him. He knows something is helping him and believes it to be the medication he received after his accident and when that runs out, Robert turns to other drugs. But it is not just his writing ability that has changed; everything about him has become darker.

Mr Latch has an amazing writing ability. I have not read many books of this standard. His descriptions are clear and colorful; I could imagine what the characters were seeing and feeling. I found myself fascinated by the publishing process, how the author, agent and publisher interacted. I was, however, disappointed that the darker twist to the story was limited to the last few chapters of the book. I think the entity known as Always should have made his presence known earlier.

Hollie
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

Here is a link to the page

Bestseller is available for purchase HERE.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Review

I finally made it out to see Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. I must say that having loved both earlier entries in the series, I had high hopes for this film. First of all, this was one of the few "horror" movies that I could enjoy with my wife. Our movie tastes are so different that rarely is there a film that exists in the overlap of our movie-tastes Venn diagram. Secondly, I love Rhona Mitra and I was very excited to see her in the character of Sonja.

As most of you know, this film tells the story of Lucian, a lycan destined for better things than slavery. Throughout the film we see Lucian's appointment change from a life rooted in slavery to becoming the savior of his people. Somewere along the way he falls in love with Sonja, daughter of Viktor who is the leader of the vampires. The problem is that the lycans are the slaves of the pious vampires and such a relationship is forbidden.

My feelings on this film are a little mixed. On one hand, Bill Nighy (as Viktor) and Michael Sheen (as Lucian) do a great job at portraying their respective characters. I love both actors and they did a great job portraying their characters. The film delivered the same dark style as it's predescessors. There was a good mix of CGI and practical creature effects. The only problem is at a few points, it was fairly obvious that the lycan running around was CGI. I also really enjoy the story and mythos on which the film was based.

One problem was that we face before the film even starts is that there was really no possible way to be shocked or surprised with the plot points because we already know exactly how it ends. I realize that this is a common issue with many prequels that come after the fact and deal with the same story arch as the other films in the series. The whole story in ROTL was outlined in the original Underworld.

The action was great. The battles between the vampires and the lycans treated us to great death scenes and lots of excitement. However there were parts where the story slowed down to a crawl.

After all that has been said, I enjoyed the film. It was fun. It had me rooting for the lycans against the "evil" vampire clan. As I said above, Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy did a stellar job. Michael Sheen, especially, played his character Lucian as well as he could have been played. Rhona Mitra was stunning and a great replacement as the beautiful, yet misunderstood, leading lady. This wasn't an earth-shattering film experience, but it was enjoyable.

I give this film a Buy for a couple of reasons. First of all, I need this in my collection to be a completist, but more importantly, I see this as a film that I can watch over and over. Not too heavy, not to light, but very watchable.

-- Mike