John Rozum's Blog, page 41

31 Days of Halloween - Day 1

Vampires, Two Centuries of Great Vampire Stories Edited by Alan Ryan

Themed anthologies are often hit or miss. On the miss side it's usually because of too much similarity between the stories contained together, or simply poor quality stories outnumbering the good stuff. This book is definitely on the hit side. While countless vampire tales have been written, Vampires is a wide ranging survey of quality work published between 1816 and 1984. The book contains some famous early touchstones such as Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu and Bram Stoker's Dracula's Guest, but also contains some lesser known works such as the outstanding Cabin 33 by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro. The quality of the work is high throughout and the range of stories that all qualify as vampire stories is quite diverse. This is a must have book.







 

31 Days of Halloween - Greetings

Welcome to my 2016 Halloween Countdown. This is my eleventh annual Halloween Countdown. This year I'm going to do something a little different. In past years I've posted several times a day including random, or themed, depending on the year, observations, art, riddles, links, photos, comic book stories, etc. devoted to the big holiday on October 31. Along with all of those posts I've also shared every movie I watch throughout the month of October one, two, and even occasionally three per day. That's around 650 movies so far. The plus side of that is it's a lot of movies, many of which I'd never seen before. The down side is that because I only wanted to cover movies I hadn't posted about previously that meant no repeats and left a lot of favorites off of my viewing list for October for a long time. This year I'm going to bask in the companionship of the Universal Classics as well as many other favorites, but I won't be posting about them here. If you want to see what I watched you can find a list here and the rest here. My previous Halloween Countdowns in their entirety can be seen by clicking on October of each year from 2006-2015 in the blog archive to your right.

Instead I'll be covering another love of mine. Same genre, different media, which doesn't get nearly the coverage during the Halloween season as it should. I'm talking about books. Anthologies, single author short story collections, novels, macabre non-fiction, biographies and graphic novels will all be represented as I share some of the relevant books I've read over the past few months. The good thing is that I've decided to share only books I really enjoyed, and only books by authors who don't often get the spotlight thrown their way. Sure, I really enjoyed Joe Hill's The Fireman, recent books by Stephen King, and graphic novels by Mike Mignola, but those guys don't really need a finger pointed their way. Also, because I really like to go into a book knowing as little about it as possible, the reviews are pretty general and as unspoilery as I could make them. Some of the books work incredibly well if you have no idea what they are about before starting them.

Each of the books I chose are also pretty easy to get your hands on, and I've even provided a handy link on each post so that you can order the book from Amazon. Please use this link. If you make a purchase from Amazon by visiting through those links (even if it's not the item in question) Amazon will throw some revenue my way. It's hardly a noteworthy amount, but can cover the cost of a book or two that I purchase later on.

I recommend doing this on any site that provides a link to something that the creator of that blog has steered your way. Think of it as a tip jar for being directed to quality entertainment.

Also, be sure to visit my companion blog, The Grim Gallery for all things monstrous 365 days a year.

I'm not alone in running an annual Countdown to Halloween. After you are done here, please visit Countdown to Halloween where you will find links to hundreds of blogs hosting their own countdown this year. If you want to be part of that group, information on how to do so can be found at that link as well.

Now go grab a warm glass of apple cider and curl up under a thick blanket while the wind howls outside and a branch (or, is it?) taps at your window glass. You have some spooky reading ahead of you. Enjoy.

Midnight...

Beginning Midnight, October, 1 2016. Check back then.

Ask Me Anything #57

It's the first Monday of the month which means it is time for "Ask Me Anything".  This means anything you want; questions about my work, influences, opinions, anything at all. Anything except what is happening with the Milestone relaunch, because I don't have an answer for you beyond "it's still moving forward."

Questions can be posted in the comments section below, and I'll either answer them there, or in a separate post sometime later in the month.
I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones, all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10,  #11,  #12 , #13, #14,  #15 , #16, #17 , #18 , #19,  #20,  #21, #22,  #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #35, #36, #37, #38, #39, #40, #41, #42,  #43, #44, #45,  #46, #47,  #48, #49,  #50,  #51, #52 , #53, #54, #55, and #56.

Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month under Ask Me Anything.
Now ask away. 

Soon...

The preparations are being made for this year's Halloween Countdown. Be here October 1st to find out what's in store.

Ask Me Anything #56

It's the first Monday of the month which means it is time for "Ask Me Anything".  This means anything you want; questions about my work, influences, opinions, anything at all. Anything except what is happening with the Milestone relaunch, because I don't have an answer for you beyond "it's still moving forward."

Questions can be posted in the comments section below, and I'll either answer them there, or in a separate post sometime later in the month.
I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones, all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10,  #11,  #12 , #13, #14,  #15 , #16, #17 , #18 , #19,  #20,  #21, #22,  #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #35, #36, #37, #38, #39, #40, #41, #42,  #43, #44, #45,  #46, #47,  #48, #49,  #50,  #51, #52 , #53, #54, and #55.

Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month under Ask Me Anything.
Now ask away. 

Mad Scientist #31

The excellent classic horror and science fiction magazine, Mad Scientist , has just published its 31st issue. This issue contains two pull page illustrations by me in full color, as well as some terrific contents and this fantastic cover by Mark Maddox. You can find out the full contents and how to order here.

Ask Me Anything #55

It's the first Monday of the month which means it is time for "Ask Me Anything".  It's also July 4th,  Independence Day, so if you want to ask me anything in the patriotic spirit of the holiday instead of about my work, feel free. You can still ask the regular stuff too if you want.

Questions can be posted in the comments section below, and I'll either answer them there, or in a separate post sometime later in the month.
I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones, all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything  #1, #2 ,  #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9,  #10,  #11,  #12 , #13, #14,  #15 , #16, #17 , #18 , #19,  #20,  #21, #22,  #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #35, #36, #37, #38, #39, #40, #41, #42,  #43, #44, #45,  #46, #47,  #48, #49,  #50,  #51, #52 , #53 and #54.

Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month under Ask Me Anything.
Now ask away. 

20 Years Later Now Online

All of the artwork for the 20 Years Later show, celebrating the movies of 1996,  at Gallery 1988 (West) is now available to look at and/or purchase here. The show itself runs through July 16, 2016, so if you are in the Los Angeles area, please stop by and see it in person.

20 Years Later Preview

Here's a look at the Mars Attacks! piece I did for the 20 Years Later show opening tomorrow night at Gallery 1988 (West). 3-D cut paper and acrylic.