Nick Cato's Blog, page 33

James Newman's ANIMOSITY set for release

ANIMOSITY, a new horror novel by author James Newman (who just happens to be a fan and friend of this blog) is set to be released by the always reliable folks at Necessary Evil Press. Full press release with ordering info below:

JAMES NEWMAN OFFERS READERS "AMERICAN HORROR STORY" WITH LATEST NOVEL, ANIMOSITY


James Newman announces the release of his new novel, Animosity, available April 1 from Necessary Evil Press.

Animosity is the story of Andrew Holland, a bestselling horror writer whose life starts to mirror the fictional nightmares of his novels after he finds the body of a murdered child not far from his home. Though the authorities clear him of any wrongdoing, as weeks pass with no arrest the local media insinuates connections between the gruesome subject matter of Andy's novels and his tragic discovery. In a community tainted by suspicion and paranoia, Andy soon finds himself a pariah, and fears he might not make it out of his once-idyllic neighborhood alive. Subtitled "An American Horror Story", Animosity is a modern-day morality tale in which the monsters wear familiar faces . . . rather than bloodthirsty vampires or brain-eating zombies beating at the door, these are our friends, our families, our peers . . . .

Animosity has received advance praise from a number of established authors. Rick Hautala (Ordinary Demons) called the novel "a great story filled with tension and genuine horror . . . this book will entertain you even as it shows the worst in human nature and our struggle to rise above it", J.F. Gonzalez (Survivor) said it "echoes the works of Bentley Little and George Orwell", and the novel features a special Foreword by award-winning novelist Ray Garton (Live Girls).

James Newman's previously published books include the novels Midnight Rain and The Wicked, a short story collection, People Are Strange, and several novellas, including Holy Rollers and The Forum. The film rights to Animosity were optioned pre-publication, and a screenplay is currently being shopped around Hollywood.

The signed, limited hardcover edition of Animosity can be ordered directly from the publisher, Necessary Evil Press (http://www.necessaryevilpress.com/), or from online bookstores such as Camelot Books (http://www.camelotbooks.com/), and the Horror Mall (http://www.horror-mall.com/). Additional information can be found on the author's website, http://www.james-newman.com/.

I recently attended the NY premiere of the new documentar...

I recently attended the NY premiere of the new documentary, HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE, and shared my thoughts over at CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT. Enjoy:
http://cinemaknifefight.com/2011/03/17/the-godfather-of-gore-finally-gets-his-due/

A Killer Strikes at Home During WW2...

THE GERMAN by Lee Thomas (2011 Lethe Press / 277 pp / tp)
Set in a small Texas town during World War 2, THE GERMAN twists racial and sexual prejudices into a tightly woven thriller that had me guessing until the end.
A couple of young men are found dead, one disembowled and the other hanged, both with snuffboxes stuffed in their mouhts that contain messages written in German. Naturally, the German citizens of the town are suspect, especially Ernst Lang, a quiet yet authoratative man who lives across the street from young Tim Randall.
Tim's father is overseas "fighting the good fight," while his mother works the night shift at a factory. Tim sneaks out when she's gone with his best friend, Bum, and one night they decide to spy on Mr. Lang. A few older teenagers catch Tim peeking through Lang's window and when they see him having sex with another man, they become convinced Lang must be the murderer.
On the case is Sheriff Tom Rabbit, continually attempting to give the German suspects the benefit of the doubt while trying to keep the increasingly rowdy, blood-thirsty natives at bay. He's a likeable enough character who shines during the surprising finale.
Thomas paints a dark portrait of paranoid small-town ideology and of man's refusal to allow logic to rule over his self-imposed passions. In doing so he skillfully builds the reader's liking for both the young, patriotic Tim as well as the former socialist, Nazi party leader, Ernst. Ernst is a gay man who doesn't fit gay stereotypes: he's a rugged, tough ex-soldier who can take just about anyone in a bar fight and defends his personal choices in ways that confound all he speaks to. His reasons for leaving Germany make it difficult for Sheriff Tom to view him as a suspect, which increases the mystery and gives the novel a sense of "it could truly be anyone."
Like any memorable thriller, there's plenty of tension and a pace that makes it hard to put down. Thomas also (as with his novel, THE DUST OF WONDERLAND) weaves homosexuality purposefully into the story, not as a means of exploitation. There's also a grim torture scene reminiscent of Jack Ketchum's THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, making THE GERMAN a bit more horror-edged than your standard mainstream thriller.
I've been watching Thomas grow as a writer since his debut novel, STAINED, was released back in 2004, and in a relatively short period of time his chops have become slick and his prose poetic and smooth, yet always able to genuinely chill the spine. THE GERMAN is a fine example of an author who handles his craft like a seasoned vet, and is able to blend genres in a way that should appeal to different audiences.
(This book is officially released TODAY, March 15, 2011).

Terrible...Yet I Could Not Look Away...

Even for a mod film, 1968's THE TOUCHABLES is a strange one, despite little-to-no "trip-out" scenes, no drug use, little drinking, and a plot that's barely there (if at all).
Four care-free rich girls kidnap a statue of Michael Caine at a party. When its owner retrieves it, the girls decide to kidnap a famous rock singer (Christian) at a wrestling match. Three of them dress as nuns while one dresses as a cigarette girl. They lure him into the back room during the match and manage to knock him out and dress him as a nun. They wheelchair him out of there, into their nifty sports car, and head out to the English countryside where they live in an enormous see-through Dome on seemingly endless property (which includes a huge lake).
The girls tie him to their round bed and keep him prisoner, but like any swinging 60s heterosexual rock star, Christian accepts his fate and indulges the ladies one at a time (there's practically no nudity and the sex scenes cut away to the next scene or go into goofy dream sequences that attempt to be symbolic of something I couldn't decipher). When not shagging, the girls entertain Christian (and each other) with ping pong tournaments, pinball, dancing and poetry reading. It's nice to have money and not have to work...no?
One of the wrestlers is a sort-of boyfriend to one of our rich Dome girls, and his black wrestler nemesis (named Lilly White!) has his goons looking for the kidnapped Christian, a man he'd "Like to know a lot more about." Yep, there's gay undertones all throughout the film (both male and female) but they're never explored.
While it's not discussed why these girls are so rich, most viewers won't care due to the look of this beautifully shot (and edited) film that must've looked amazing on a big screen (the film has not come (legally) to video, but plays occasionally on the Fox Movie Channel, where I recently caught it).
THE TOUCHABLES, though completely pointless, is as much of a female fantasy as a male's, and in that regard it works as eye-candy (albeit PG-rated) of the obscure kind.
I'm assuming the film takes place IN 1968 (the year it was made), although during a mock-court sequence, one of the girls mentions a law that was created in 1987, so along with several other questions, you'll have to let this slide and enjoy the ladies playing foosball in their short nighties.
Lilly White's goons end up locating Christian at the Dome, and before long Christian's tour manager and several others converge for a fist-flying ending that's as out of place as the sudden opening party scene. This freaky mess ends with Christian agreeing to head to Hollywood with his manager (a possible symbol of the UK finding its own mod scene getting tired?) and the Dome being deflated, looking like a pseudo 007 flick.
Sadie, Melanie, Busbee, and Samson are 4 beautiful friends who are hard to take your eyes off, and I'm assuming Christian (with his Beatles / pre-Justin Bieber hairdo) has some sort of appeal, but only fans of meaningless cinema will be able to sit through this thing even one complete time. It would, however, make a GREAT midnight movie...
The Groovy Girls of THE TOUCHABLES (Front: Ester Anderson. Sitting: Monika Ringwald, Kathy Simmonds and Judy Huxtable)

Where to Get Some of My Fiction...

...for my new followers both here and on various other social networking sites, here's a list of anthologies some of my short fiction has appeared in. The first two have recently gone out of print but you can check ebay and amazon for used copies.
(2006--features my story, "Toes")
(2007--features my story "I Buried a Fergason (a.k.a. Zombie VIII in Italy")

(2008--features my story "The Life Machine (or, How the Boardwalk Tried to Darken the World")Available here: http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Stories-Sand-Esther-Schrader/dp/0979477050
(2008--features my story "Tight Space")Available here: http://www.amazon.com/Bits-Dead-Keith-Gouveia/dp/1897217811/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1300047305&sr=1-1
(2010--features my story "The Aircrash Bureau (or, How Johnny Carson and General Patton Hijacked a Space Shuttle to Get Back on the Air")Available here: http://www.amazon.com/Houdini-Gut-Punch-Jonathan-Moon/dp/1456333496/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300047393&sr=1-1
And for those of you who still haven't taken the plunge into this classic,
this 2005 underground cult hit can still be ordered right here : http://www.horror-mall.com/TWO-TWISTED-NUTS-by-Jeff-Strand-and-Nick-Cato-limited-edition-chapbook-p-19846.html
I have 2 stories and one non-fiction piece slated for release later this year...more news to follow.

Book 3 is a Decent Turn...

DYING TO LIVE: LAST RITES by Kim Paffenroth (2011 Permuted Press / 242 pp / tp)
Lucy and Truman, 2 intelligent zombies from DYING TO LIVE: LIFE SENTENCE, open this 3rd installment of Paffenroth's undead saga aboard a small boat. They're traveling with Will and Rachel, two humans who have learned to trust them (although Rachel is a bit more apprehensive than Will). They find a dock outside of a walled-in city named New Sparta. Will and Rachel are allowed to enter so long as they hand their 2 zombie companions over to the city to be used in their undead labor force. Lucy and Truman agree to this, despite figuring there will surely be rough times ahead.
Will and Rachel quickly adapt to their new home: they're given a nice little house and each of them find jobs (Rachel on a construction site, and Will with a group of men who leave the city to keep wandering zombies at bay). They become friends with their neighbors (a couple about their age with a baby), and while Will looks forward to getting back on the water, Rachel begins to grow comfortable, enjoying all the comforts available to them in New Sparta.
Things aren't so good for Lucy and Truman. She's forced to work with a group of fellow zombies who (like Will's job) also go outside the city looking for undead threats, and Truman winds up as the new "smart zombie" attraction at a local circus. When he gets tired of the way the human handle him, he rebels, and is punished via electrocution for spectators to see.
When Rachel goes with her neighbor to the circus and sees Truman being tortured, she becomes convinced the citizens of New Sparta are more savage than the zombies and agrees with Will that they need to leave...after they try to rescue their zombie friends.
While I've been enjoying Paffenroth's unique apocalyptic series, this 3rd novel--while emotionally the richest of the series--felt more like an unusual drama than a horror novel. That's not to knock it--I'm sure fans of the series will enjoy this, despite the absence of some favorite characters from the past two books (my favorite character from the 1st novel, Milton--barely seen in the 2nd--isn't even mentioned this time). Also, the religious aspect that made the first novel so memorable is barely touched on, although Paffenroth does make up for it with his contemplations on the human (and undead) condition in a way that'd make (even) George Romero jealous.
I strongly recommend new readers read the first two novels before trying LAST RITES. There's some zombie goodness here and there, along with a few tense scenes, but fans of the zombie subgenre looking for an all-out gut-muncher might be disappointed.
I'd like to see a return (and an expansion) to the religious themes of the first novel should Paffenroth deliver a 4th, but regardless of which direction this series may take, readers can bet that whatever the author comes up with, it won't be the same old generic zombie story. And for that alone, LAST RITES is worth any zombie fan's time.

Twisted Tales . . .

Check out my latest book review over at THE CROW'S CAW:
http://thecrowscaw.com/2011/03/09/reviewed-twisted-tales-from-the-torchlight-inn-by-ty-schwamberger-thomas-a-erb-dean-harrison/

Comic Geek Update No. 8

I know I sound like a broken record (HEY---remember that term?), but Dark Horse Comics' CONAN: ROAD OF KINGS series is yet another example of how everyone's favorite Cimmerian can be done the right way. In this 3rd issue, Conan leaves princess Olivia at a shady tavern as he tries to locate an old friend. But the sexy dancer girl he left her with almost has her life taken by the slimebag she works for. When Conan returns to the tavern, Olivia is missing, and the basement holds an underground lake that's home to a huge sea dragon. The 4th issue is now set up quite well, and Doug Wheatley's cover art can be stared at for hours...

The 11th issue of Vertigo's iZOMBIE features vampire hunter Horatio as he learns the origin of the vampire girls and gets his partner back after making a truce with them; Ghost girl Ellie finally meets Scott's grandfather (who's now inside the body of a chimp) while Galatea informs mummy-man Amon about Xitalu, a Cthulhu-like God whose powers she's trying to harbor. We discover vampire girl Claire has little self-control with her human blood lust, and our title zombie girl Gwen contemplates her possible romantic future with Horatio (who still doesn't know she's undead) as she hangs in the cemetery with Ellie and the were-terrier. These first 11 issues sort-of conclude an introduction to all these characters, and we're promised the start of a new story arc with issue 12. Addictive, fun stuff so far.

After the last 2 issues' epic 'Aquawar' story, we're back to Martian Manhunter's battle on Mars with D'Kay that began a few issues ago. This 21st issue begins with the aftermath of the Aquawar, then dives into Manhunter's epic brawl (that ends with a few Big Bangs). We also learn (somewhat) what has been happening with Deadman since the White Lantern took possession of him. While BRIGHTEST DAY has drifted away from the zombie tale it began as back in the DARKEST NIGHT series, it's still a continually action-packed, interesting tale (and it's bi-weekly to boot).

100 Years Ago in Idaho . . .

EUTOPIA by David Nickle (2011 Chizine Publications / 320 pp / tp)

Sometime in 1911, Jason Thistledown's mother dies. He keeps her body in a barn and does his best to survive the rest of the snowy winter on their isolated pig farm. As soon as spring approaches, an aunt he didn't know he had shows up and explains that his mother has died of a strange illness. Jason's Aunt Germaine then takes him away from his hometown (where he learns everyone has died of the same illness) and brings him to a mountainous area of Idaho known as Eliada.

Meanwhile, Eliada is having its own problems: The Ku Klux Klan are about to lynch a negro doctor (Andrew Waggoner) who they apparently don't want working in ther hospital. But before they hang him, Dr. Wagoner sees another person about to be hanged--a strange-looking man who we later find out is a patient at the hospital's quarantine ward. Dr. Waggoner is rescued at the last minute by Sam Green, a man hired to keep order by Garrison Harper, who has set up this smal town according to his own ideals.

When Jason arrives in Eliada, it doesn't take long for Nickle to get the suspense going: his aunt allows the head doctor, Dr. Bergstrom, to place him in quarantine to make sure he isn't carring the germ that killed his hometown. After waking up strapped to an operating table, and surviving an attack by small demonic-looking creatures, Jason begins to wonder who this mysterious aunt is and why she has brought him here.

There's so much that happens after this simple premise I don't know how Nickle managed to keep the rest of the novel so tight. There's fantastic atmopshere throughout as conspiracy theories abound in this fresh take on the small-town-harboring-ancient-evil theme (at least I'm assuming the evil here is ancient). Readers will be thoroughly taken with Jason (son of an alleged gunslinger) and Dr. Waggoner (not to mention a potential germ-warfare subplot) that by the time the creatures come fully into play, they won't be taken as the goofy imps of your standard pulp novel. EUTOPIA is as frightening in its social message as it is with its religious themes, and features irresistable prose.

While EUTOPIA doesn't hit the reader over the head despite everything going on, its slow-building tension works well with several pay-offs as the end approaches, and the many subplots never slow the story down--but enhance it. A top-notch novel all around.

A Prison Flick Done Right

Very well done film based on Britain's most dangerous prisoner. Tom Hardy delivers an amazing performance as Michael Peterson, a small time criminal who was supposed to do 7 years for a robbery but wound up doing 34...30 in solitary confinement.

When Michael adopts his "fighter name," Charles Bronson (suggested by a prison mate), the film quickly becomes one of the more original prison dramas, full of off-beat humor and some surreal self-narration from Bronson.

The Objectfilms DVD comes with a nice making-of featurette and a separate soundtrack CD.