Orrin Grey's Blog: Shovel Murders & Monologues, page 72

Downs & Ups

I have not been broadcasting regularly--in fact, I haven't been doing much of anything I would usually do--but I like to think I've got some good excuses.

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy, though they probably wouldn't sound much like it if I talked about them. Lots of mundane stuff like dentist appointments and trips to the allergist, but also some extra-mundane stuff (in the sense of "extra" that means "outside" rather than "very") in the form of a very unexpected new job! I c...

The Corner of Interview and Win

The last couple of weeks have been crazy ones for me, and I feel like I am behind in absolutely everything, but I wanted to drop a couple of quick (and exciting) news items here:

First off, there's a micro-interview with me up at Innsmouth Free Press, in which I talk about Lovecraft, ghouls, giant albino penguins, and my story Nature vs Nurture. Though I may be mistaken, I think this may be the first time I've ever been interviewed for a publication, so that's pretty awesome.

Also, my story The...

Repo Men

Yesterday I unexpectedly got a couple of free passes to a preview screening of Repo Men. Even before I went into the theatre I was already mentally preparing to start this review with some dismissive bon mot about how Repo Men was Repo: The Genetic Opera, now with 100% less opera (which is still true). Only then Repo Men had to go and spoil all that by being actually really amazingly great.

Seriously, it was great. It comes out in about a week, and I suggest you give it a shot.

Rumors of My Death Are More-or-Less Spot On

So, this last week I came down with some sort of mystery ailment. I don't really know what it is, and it doesn't really behave like a usual cold, but it wiped me out something fierce. Monday and Tuesday I came home from work and pretty much fell asleep. Wednesday and Thursday I didn't even get that far. So, basically, I have been unable to perform just about any activity that requires any portion of a functioning human brain, so if you were expecting something from me (like a review of The...

Best of Pseudopod 2009

My story "The Worm that Gnaws" made the ballot for the unofficial Best Pseudopod of 2009! You can view the poll here, though you have to sign up to the Pseudopod forums to vote. Fortunately, signing up for the forums is pretty painless. Not that I'm asking anybody to vote for me. Though if you'd like to...

It Can Be Told

I saw The Wolfman yesterday and liked it well enough, but it wasn't the movie that I'd hoped for. I should probably say more than that, and maybe I will eventually, but for now I've got something else to talk about.

I can finally announce that I got a gig writing a column on international horror cinema over at Innsmouth Free Press. I'll be doing two columns a month, and it's called "From Strange and Distant Shores" (with apologies to Caitlyn R. Kiernan).

I can announce this because the first in...

Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter

Last night I finally watched Captain Badass Kronos: Vampire Hunter. Like I said as soon as it was over, it was just one actually being awesome short of being awesome. Seriously, though, it was so awesome.

It's the kind of movie that is the very best when you're talking about it, but I don't know how much to talk about and how much to let people experience the first time for themselves. Seriously, if your taste in old, weird, or supernatural movies overlaps with mine, watch this thing. It's cra...

The Condition of a Monster

A man breaking his journey between one place and another at a third place of no name, character, population or significance, sees a unicorn cross his path and disappear. That in itself is startling, but there are precedents for mystical encounters of various kinds, or to be less extreme, a choice of persuasions to put it down to fancy; until--"My God," says a second man, "I must be dreaming, I thought I saw a unicorn." At which point, a dimension is added that makes the experience as...

Transporter 3

For silly fun action I really like the first two Transporter movies. Then again, they were both made under the guidance of Louis Letterier, who is, for my money, one of our best action directors. This one was made by Olivier Megaton, who is one of our best evil robots isn't.

I actually didn't make it all the way through Transporter 3. I was all set to start my review off with something like: "You don't have to be having a seizure to enjoy Transporter 3, but it helps," except that that would be...

"Nature vs Nurture" at IFP

Innsmouth Free Press has just posted their third fiction issue, which features my story "Nature vs Nurture." You can click on over there to read it and the other stories in this issue, put I personally recommend downloading the very attractive PDF edition for best effect.