Nick Cato's Blog, page 36

For Collectors Only

Like EERIE and CREEPY, VAMPIRELLA's early issues featured stories that were (mostly) silly and seemingly aimed at pre-teens. Dynamite's Archive Volume 1 collects the first 7 issues of this classic Warren Magazine...and I was surprised to see only two Vampirella stories within them. Vampi was more of a host, like Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie, introducing horror and fantasy stories and making wise cracks.

I found myself more interested in the feedback letters from fans, as well as the neat items that were for sale in the back pages than I was in the actual stories. While VAMPIRELLA picked up story (and art) wise as it progressed, these early issues are strictly for collectors. I wasn't aware Forrest J. Ackerman wrote some Vampi tales (and thank goodness stopped), and it was nice to see early work from the likes of Neal Adams and Doug Moench. Dynamite did a nice job reproducing the magazine in its original size. I'm looking forward to archives of later issues.

Sick & Twisted

DEADLY NIGHTLUSTS by John Everson (2010 Blasphemous Books / 125 pp. / tp)
This collection showcases six short stories from Everson's early days as a writer, as well as a new one.
There's a few Halloween-themed stories here, the first, PUMPKIN HEAD, being the only one I had previously read (and it's a good 'un). GREEN APPLES, RED NAILS is one of two stories to feature a witch, and gives a nice variation on the old "poison apple" Halloween urban legend, while TO EARN HIS LOVE reads like a pre-cursor to the author's grim 2006 occult novella, FAILURE.
A LACK OF SIGNS brings Stephen King's NEEDFUL THINGS to mind, while STAR ON THE BEACH is one of two stories dealing necrophilia (this could be a contender at a gross-out contest) as a vacationing man cheats on his wife with a beautiful corpse thanks to the guidance of a strange young Cuban boy. SACRIFICING VIRGINS tells the tale of a rock star who, after making a deal with the devil, is given fame and fortune so long as he has sex with a virgin after each of his band's concerts. Things get hairy when a deceased virgin shows up on the bed in his dressing room one night--and he's still held to his ungodly commitment.
The collection ends with BODY AND BLOOD, a wicked little tale of religion gone amuck after the body of an ancient, controversial saint goes on display at a neighborhood church. Well written, disturbing, and reminiscent of classic Bentley Little, this is easily the highlight of NIGHTLUSTS.
I've compared Everson here to King and Little, and not done so lightly. This peek at some of his early work shows a writer chiseling his way through the horror fiction underground to become the acclaimed novelist (and short story writer) he is today. Check it out.

EPIC fail...

OUT OF THE DARK by David Weber (2010 Tor Books / 382 pp / hc)
When I read this military scifi novel's synopsis, it sounded like a sure fire hit. It turned out to be anything but. To be fair, this is the first of a proposed new series, but as a stand alone novel it's just . . . terrible.
It's alien invasion time once again. They've destroyed every city on earth and half the population is dead. Then we're introduced to two groups of survivors who decide it's time to fight back (one in the mountains of North Carolina and the other in the Balkans).
The majority of OUT OF THE DARK is (almost) non-stop military scifi, a subgenre I've been getting into over the past few years thanks to authors such as Robert Buettner. But here it gets played out very quickly, and all the technobabble stood (not to mention the turtle-like pace) in the way of me caring for even a single character.
But the "twist" ending...all I can say is I hope Weber has a real ace up his sleeve for the second story, because right now it reads like a rushed idea that I still laugh at whenever it pops into my mind. I'd even say I doubt the author could've come up with a more ridiculous idea if he tried.
Let me know how the next chapter is...I'm getting off here. I understand Weber has a huge following and is a best selling author, but this wasn't the book to discover him through.

Terriers & Terror...

THE MAD AND THE MACABRE by Jeff Strand and Michael McBride (2010 Dark Regions Press / 186 pp / tp)
The two novellas contained here are both equally terrifying in their own way, and while the ending of the second tale left me wanting, this is an overall good time.
Jeff Strand's KUTTER tells the story of Charlie Stanlon, a forty-two year-old, nerdy serial killer who tortures women in his sound-proofed basement by night and works a typical office job by day. He has a lot of self-made rules (including ONLY kidnapping one woman every two months). After he rescues a Boston Terrier one freezing-cold night at a local park, Charlie's life begins to change. He begins--for the first time in his life--to have feelings for someone other than himself. He eventually names the dog Kutter, and finds himself giving it more and more space in his home as well as his life. Things take a bad turn one night when he goes off his schedule and--on impulse--kidnaps a door-to-door salesgirl. Strand does a terrific job of making the reader care for this low-life serial killer, and I found myself actually cheering him on when he finally accepts a co-worker's inviation to come out of his shell and hang out with some people from the job at a local bar. KUTTER is a grim little story that manages to end on a semi-positive note, and even has a slight twist thrown in.
Michael McBride's REMAINS has a great set-up: a couple of years after some religious college students disappear while seeking proof of their faith in an isolated forest in Boulder, Colorado, a few of the missing students' siblings get together to take another look for them after local officials have continued to come up with no answers. One of them, Brent Cavenaugh, a college proffesor, has discovered something that has inspired him to head this search...and while he tells his companions what he has found, he doesn't tell them everything.
McBride does a wicked job here of building (not only) some serious suspense, but an expectation that kept me flipping the pages as quick as I could. When we finally discover what happened to the missing students, I continued on, psyched to see the final answer. But, when we discover the promised mystery of life, it was nothing readers of "Fate" magazine or followers of paranormal programs haven't heard a thousand times before. REMAINS is a very well written, suspenseful novella, I just wish the ending went for something a bit more unusual.
Despite this one minor flaw, I still recommend THE MAD AND THE MACABRE for those seeking some genuinely disturbing stories.

We Now Pause for a Message to my Fellow Creators . . .

A new year is supposed to bring hope and inspiration. Yet during the first 8 days of 2011, no less than four of my friends (two writers, one musician, and one artist) have messaged me asking basically the same thing:
Why do we keep doing to do this?
In the wake of poor attendance at shows, low book/CD/ticket sales, little enthusiasm from those around them, etc., just why do we continue to torture ourselves by the writing of stories/novels/songs, the drawing/painting of pictures, and the continual practice of our arts? Two of them even claimed they were giving up.
But I have news for them...and for you, if you're a creative type.
You can't give up. So don't even try. If you're a real writer, a real artist, a real dancer, a real musician, a real film maker . . . you'll continue doing what you do because it's in your genetic make-up. Being discouraged over lack of interest or sales of your product is just part of the business end of the artist's life. It's no secret that even those who stick with it their entire life may never gain fame, or that dreamed-of six-figure contract. But that's okay. Because if you're only in this for the money and the money alone, chances are your heart is only partially into your work (if at all).
From 1982-2000 I played bass and then drums in countless bands...most of them original. The only time I made a little bit of money was with the two cover bands I drummed for. I've also been publishing fanzines and books since the early 80s, and have just over the past few years finally seen some money (and a small following) over my writing and some of the books released by my small press. While financially my press is in jeopardy (even after releasing a book last month by one of the all-time best writers in the horror genre), I will continue to publish one way or another. Likewise, while I've been trying to sell my second novel for close to two years, I will continue to do so as I write my third and work on several short stories, regardless of the money that may or may not come.
Why? Because it's what I have to do. I'm engineered to create...in my case, through writing and publishing.
I have friends who continue to play weekend after weekend in "tribute" bands and cover bands at small neighborhood bars, some of them who were at one point signed to major label record deals (my own brother being one of them). Yet instead of leaving when the big time never came calling, or when their CD received negative reviews or no press, some of them continue on because they LOVE to play...it's what they do. Same with some artists I know who may never see their work featured in a prominent gallery or between the pages of a $75.00 hardcover coffee table book. Yet they keep painting...they keep sketching...they keep drawing comics even after Marvel and DC have let them go or avoided them altogether.
While every creator who is serious about his or her craft will see ups and downs (and many will see the artist's life as mostly downs on the financial side), discouragement is going to happen. But we need to brush ourselves off the second a rejection comes, the second the bad reviews come in, the moment your potential boss or buyer says, "No thank you," or "We can't use this at the moment." For those serious about their craft, they need to cherish and take criticism from those who know better...from those who've been there. I'm thankful for the handful of writers/editors who are willing to tear apart my work and point me in the right direction. I'm even thankful for the guy who told me my debut novel was the worst novel he's ever read.
Use the criticism, the poor sales, and the lack of general interest to fuel your fire. Use what you can from the bad (and even good) reviews to make your next project better. If you don't have many, do what you have to to find those who are like-minded and encourage one another, daily if possible. Honestly critique one another's work. Do what you do to please yourself and to fulfill that inner desire that forces you to put everything on hold until you've expressed yourself through your chosen medium as best as you can...then seek to do it even better.
Those who mean business will keep on keeping on, regardless of the levels of success. Those who are playing games or doing it for kicks will eventually fade away.
I hope my four friends (and anyone else reading this) will keep on keeping on.
(Illustration by MC Escher)

Mikels Expose is so-so

FILM ALCHEMY: THE INDEPENDENT CINEMA OF TED V. MIKELS by Christopher Wayne Curry (2008 McFarland & Co., Inc. publishers / 212 pp / hc)
If you're a fan of the horrible cinema of Ted V. Mikels, there's only a few things here you probably haven't heard before. Not a bad read, unless you're unfamiliar (and interested) in Mikels' work. For low budget film makers, there's plenty of discussion on how Mikels was able to finance his films, and how he's still struggling to do so today.
McFarland has done a nice job with this large hardcover, and there's some good pics inside. But compared to Curry's Herschell Gordon Lewis book, A TASTE OF BLOOD, this isn't all too great (which is kind of fitting when you think about the quality of Mikels films!).
For hardcore b-movie junkies only!

A "FACKING" wild ride . . .

THE BROTHERS CRUNK by William Pauley III (2010 Grindhouse Press / 93 pp / tp)

On the post-apocalyptic world of Japan, two brothers (Divey and Reynold) make a living as traveling burrito salesman. Their lives take a drastic turn when they find the remains of a mutilated robot, which eventually transforms Divey into something never before seen. The Burrito Brothers are captured in the desert by a race of Wasp Women and taken to their hive. Desperate, Reymond constructs an old friend out of their stock of buritto meat to help them escape, but things don't go exactly as he planned. Soon, a TV Demon named Vandenboom rescues Rey and 'Meat Pete' and the trio are off to find the (now) missing Divey in this '8-Bit Fack-it-All Adventure in 2-D."

To call THE BROTHERS CRUNK imaginative is a gross understatement. Everything explained above is just the starting point of this "mini-epic" novella that blends scifi, horror, and fantasy into a bizarro-concoction of FRACKING greatness. I was thoroughly entertained on every single page.

With video game controllers used as real weapons, a nifty gang of mutants known as the Damned Dirt Devils, a wonderfully gross female slug-like villain ("Jools Dethbyte") and (arguably) the coolest ostrich to come down the pike in many a moon, fans of offbeat tales just can't go wrong here. There's also plenty of funny dialogue throughout.

As a bonus, there's some funky interior artwork courtesy of Megan Hansen and Brandon Duncan's old-school Nintendo cover design fits ths thing to the tee.

Conversations from the Outer Realms...

DARK STARS RISING by Shade Rupe (2011 headpress Books / 560 pp. / tp)
When you can get through a 560-paged book in two sittings (as I did with this semi-door stop-sized volume), that's saying something.

International film festival producer Shade Rupe delivers this collection of interviews with 27 film makers, artists, writers, actors and performance artists. Each interview is as unique as the person being questioned, from cult movie icon Udo Kier to artist Andre Lassen, from everyone's favorite drag queen Divine to legendary director Alejandro Jodorowsky, there's something here for anyone who loves unusual entertainment (especially cinema).
A couple of chapters even hit me on a personal level. The late Chas. Balun (who not only gave my old fanzine, STINK, a nod in an issue of his DEEP RED magazine, but was an inspiration to me as a DIY guy) has a very informative interview here, conducted in 1994. Chas. was a fan's fan, a true horror fan who did more to get seldom-seen films into the hands of horror geeks around the globe than anyone else I can think of. In the wake of his passing, some of his statements here actually made me all misty...
Rupe's interview with COMBAT SHOCK director Buddy Giovinazzo (conducted in 1995) is chock-full of info I was unaware of, and I was thrilled to see him get such long-overdue coverage in a book of this nature (Buddy was also a film teacher at my local college, the College of Staten Island). Great stuff.
Rupe has introduced me to a few people here, and I found myself equally interested in every chapter, regardless of how familiar I was with the person's work. As a bonus, this Headpress Book is simply GORE-geous: there's countless photos, ad mats, and rare stills, something you'll never be able to fully appreciate on an e-reader (and MAN does this ink smell GOOD!).
Horror and cult film fans take note as there's interviews with William 'MANIAC' Lustig, Gaspar 'ENTER THE VOID' Noe, Jim 'DEADBEAT AT DAWN' Van Bebber, and Tura 'FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL! KILL!' Satana. There's also a rare "talking" interview with the usually silent Teller (of Penn & Teller fame) that turned out to be one of the more enjoyable sections of the book. Comic geeks will also be thrilled over the Arnold Drake interview, as well as Rupe's yak-session with MEAT CAKE creator Dame Darcy.
If you're a die hard cinephile or art nut, there's no reason not to have this on your shelf ASAP. I'm quite impressed...

Plan 9 of the Dead...

DEAD EARTH: THE VENGEANCE ROAD by Mark Justice and David T. Wilbanks (2010 Permuted Press / 241 pp / tp)
Justice and Wilbanks' follow up to their novella DEAD EARTH: THE GREEN DAWN is a rip-roaring road-trip tale that reads like a combination of DAWN OF THE DEAD, PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND.
After escaping to Mexico when his town and loved ones were destroyed, young sheriff Jubal Slate is determined to make it back to Nevada, to the infamous Area 51, where alien beings known as "Necros" have entered our world through an inter-dimensional portal. They've been reanimating the dead in an attempt to take over the world, and Slate (along with his small band of survivors) decide it's time to try and fight back or die trying.
Standing in their way (besides thousands of zombies) is a power-mad nutjob named Kemp, who has found favor in the Necro's eyes: they have given him a piece of technology that allows him to control the undead. And with this new power, he starts his own campaign against anyone who stands in his--and the Necro's--way. Kemp begins to build his army (and new-world religion!) when he comes across Jubal and his crew. Jubal manages to rescue one of Kemp's prisoners (a big guy named Mother), sending Kemp into an even darker rage.
As both groups make it out of Mexico, the showdown on the way to Area 51 brings non-stop action, zombie attacks, and plenty of in-group fights (especially among Kemp's crew). Jubal's group manage to obtain real ace when they find a suitcase nuke at an abandoned military facility.
The authors have managed to keep the zombie thing fresh. While I enjoyed the alien-controlled mayhem (as well as a strange side-character named Mike, who holds a nifty power which is revealed at the end), I'm hoping Jusitce and Wilbanks have something fresh up their sleeves for the third installment; I'm not sure how much longer they can keep this thing going. But for now, THE VENGEANCE ROAD is a brain-smashing good time that'll have zombie fans grinning through every blood-stained page.

What's BEHIND LOCKED DOORS?

Find out in my latest column for CINEMA KNIFE FIGHT!
http://cinemaknifefight.com/2010/12/30/suburban-grindhouse-memories-remembers-behind-locked-doors/