Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 7

Text and Subtext 45: Metal Beast

Ah, the 80s and 90s. A golden time for straight to video horror. What do you get when you give a werewolf impentrable steel skin? METAL BEAST. I mean, it’s right there in the name! Anyway, lots of fun, cool creature design, and if you put your brain on pause, you should enjoy this one just fine. Tubi.

How a Christian Fell in Love with the Horror Genre #21

I feel like I’m rapidly coming to the end of the road in regards to this series. Seems like I’ve got a choice to make - bring it to its logical end, shortly, (there will be something else for you paid folks, don’t worry), and keep it firmly rooted in my experiences and thoughts, or pad it out with quotes and references to other works on the subject, regurgitating ideas people have already written about.

That’s really what stood in the way of fleshing this thing out and writing it for so long: The fear that I don’t have many original thoughts on the subject. I have only my personal experiences, my opinions, and that's it. When I think of nonfiction works analyzing horror, I can think of a ton of books which have already done it much better than I could. The best I can offer is my personal experiences with the subject. That'll come out to a slim 30K manuscript, but I'd rather it be on the slim side and real, rather than be bloated and padded with re-used quotes from other folks.

So, where do I go from here?

Let’s talk about how I almost ditched the horror genre entirely, about five or six years ago.

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New Review of Pleasant Brook!

A new review of Pleasant Brook!

“I did enjoy this! it was a fun romp imho. All in all, I think you should pick it up for Halloween, if you like something along the lines of the evil dead, but with a little less chopped-off-hand-running-inside-the-walls, and a bit more don't-put-that-near-your-head-ok-it'll-eat-your-face.” - Goodreads

Text and Subtext 44: Dark Breed

As it sometimes happens, I’m in a groove again - this time space/horror. Astronauts crash-land a space shuttle in the Hudson, and all of them have been infected with an alien virus bent on invading and decimating earth. Interesting creature design and mostly practical effects, there’s no surprises here, but it’s a nice patch of fun. Check it out.

How A Christian Fell in Love With the Horror Genre #20

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. - Philippians 4:8

If I had a penny for every time a well-meaning Christian (and sometimes ill-meaning ones, too) used the above verse to condemn Christians for consuming a particular kind of popular media, I wouldn’t have to teach, and would be rich enough to only write when I wanted to.

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Text and Subtext 43: Horror Planet AKA Inseminoid

This is movie is bonkers. It starts a little slow, but when a member of this interstellar archeology team gets impregnated by alien, all hell breaks loose as she becomes crazy alien baby-momma, ready to kill anything that threatens her alien brood! Silly 80s “gotcha” moment at the end. I don’t think a movie like this could be made today. Brave Horror Planet/Inseminoid now!

New Review!

New review for my debut novel, THE HORROR AT PLEASANT BROOK!

"Horror at Pleasant Brook by Kevin Lucia was a pleasant surprise. I am a lover of horror but so often, horror is written in ways that can be derogatory to women and minority groups and this one I felt really turned that on it's head.

Moving forward, we are hearing from a diverse group of characters, each with their own hidden pain and trauma. You get to know them and I honestly started to like them all. It's a real bummer when they start getting picked off one by one....

As for the actual horror, the others were terrifying and the use of the mask was truly disturbing. I never want to run into those things. My only quibble would be I don't know if I ever fully understood what exactly they were or why...but they were creepy and totally made the story.

Without any spoilers, I was devastated by the ending. Way to rip my heart out Lucia!

I will add Lucia to my must read list." - Goodreads

Text and Subtext 43: The Majorettes

This is a somewhat engaging but mostly silly movie about a serial killer - one with religious obsessions - hunting down and killing members of a high school majorette team because they’re “impure and sinful.” Though I was mildly surprised at the bad-guy reveal, there’s nothing terribly unexpected in this movie. Good way to waste two hours while having a drink or three! Check it out on Tubi.

New Booklist Review!

This may be the best review I've ever gotten.

"Clifton Heights may seem like a charming town in the Adirondacks, but there's a sinister force lurking beneath its quaint surface. Lucia (The Night Road, 2022) has gathered a collection of

never-before-published and edited short stories where readers can journey to a surreal fictional spot in upstate New York and experience its numerous mysteries and unexplained phenomena.

The Can Man is a recycling center where employees disappear and are never heard from again. All Saints is a private school where custodians watch past tragedies unfold. A train-set aficionado owns a scaled-down version of Clifton Heights that seeps into reality. Bassler House, an abandoned building on top of a hill, lures in visitors and bends time and space.

In between stories, Lucia includes personal notes on his creative process, providing valuable insight on his career and inspiration. When the Lights Go Out is a captivating read for fans of small-town horror looking for a fresh voice in the genre." - Booklist

Coming May from Cemetery Dance Publications. Preorder today!

Text and Subtext 42: The Dark Side of the Moon

When I was going through my sci-fi phase in college, I rented this from Wegman’s. Think about that for a moment. Wegman’s used to have a video rental department! Anyway, it was a delightful little surprise back then, and on a recent re-watch, I found it just as delightful. It’s like the best of B-Movie action. Pretty interesting twist on good and evil, and though it borrows elements from other sci-fi horror flicks (Alien), it actually anticipates other horror movies (Event Horizon). Regardless - definitely worth the watch, on Tubi.