Adam J. Whitlatch's Blog, page 8

Creepshow 2 - 4/31 Days of Halloween

Ah, anthology films. I love anthology horror films. You may remember last year I reviewed The Vault of Horror, which was a follow up to Tales from the Crypt. Anthology films are great if you like your scares to be bite-sized, and with an anthology written by horror icon Stephen King and directed by George A. Romero, the man who put flesh-eating zombies on the map, how can you go wrong? 1982's Creepshow was a five-part masterpiece of terror that haunted me as a child and set the standard for any anthology film I'd see after. So how does the 1987 follow-up Creepshow 2 with its c three stories hold up against it's predecessor? Let's take a trip with our ol' pal the Creep and find out! The film opens with the Creep (played by special effects master Tom Savini) delivering a stack of Creepshow comics to a boy named Billy. Immediately, fans of the original will notice that the Creep has been given a makeover, no longer the skeletal wraith from the first film. The segment then transitions to an animation style reminiscent of Don Bluth films. The framing story will maintain this style for most of the remainder of the film. Our first story, titled Old Chief Wood'nhead tells the story of an elderly couple who run a general store in a destitute desert town. The head of the local Native American tribe pays the couple a visit, bestowing tribal treasures on them as collateral on a debt. When local youths rob and murder the couple, the store's mascot, a wooden Native American chief named Old Chief Wood'nhead comes to life to claim revenge against the gang. In the second segment, titled The Raft, four college students drive to a secluded lake in the country to swim and party. They brave the icy water to reach a raft in the middle of the lake and are startled by a moving blob that seems to follow them, but attempt to shrug it off, taking it for an oil slick until the blob pulls one of the girls into the water and kills her. One by one, the insatiable blob ensnares and devours the students, slowly wearing them down until they are too weak to resist it any longer. In the third and final segment, The Hitchhiker, Annie Lansing leaves her lover's apartment and races to beat her husband home so he doesn't learn of her infidelity. Along the way, she loses control of her car, striking and killing a hitchhiker. Fearful of the consequences, she flees the scene but soon finds herself haunted by a ghastly apparition of the hitchhiker who continues to stalk and attack her as she tries to make it home. The movie ends with the animated Billy being pursued by bullies, and while I won't spoil the ending, let's just say the boys get served some suitably horrific comic book-style justice before the film inexplicably returns to live-action for the final shot. Well, that's Creepshow 2. How does it stand up against the original? Honestly? Not that well. This is one of those instances where the old adage "less is more" doesn't ring true. The three stories manage to drag on for way too long while simultaneously failing to satisfy. In my opinion, the scariest segment is The Hitchhiker with its increasingly grotesque antagonist. While suspenseful, The Raft, is plagued by long scenes of waiting while music from Deke's car comes and goes. Old Chief Wood'nhead devotes far too much time to Sam Whitemoon's vanity, posturing, and aspirations of Hollywood stardom. I personally feel the film would have benefitted from some tighter editing and the addition of at least one more story. Apparently, the film was originally planned to have five segments, just like the original, but they were cut for budgetary reasons. Perhaps the budget would have been better spent on a fourth segment as opposed to the animated framing story. All that aside, Creepshow 2 isn't a bad movie. Like most sequels, it just pales in comparison to its predecessor. There are some great moments. While not necessarily scary, I loved Old Chief Wood'nhead's subtle movements, and who doesn't love a good revenge story? And my favorite visual in the entire film goes to Deke's death in The Raft, where his fingers slip between the raft's planks, leaving his class ring behind. The Raft also throws you for a loop by setting Randy up as the sympathetic protagonist until he sexually assaults LaVerne in her sleep. Now I'm rooting for the damn monster! Get 'im! Swim faster, Poncho! Mwa ha ha!! And The Hitchhiker doubles as a creepy zombie story and an effective psychological thriller. Despite it's flaws, there's a lot to love here. Overall, Creepshow 2 isn't a terrible flick. Hell, it's a hundred times the movie the 2006 sequel-in-name-only Creepshow 3 is. My advice: pop some hot, buttery popcorn and watch both the original and this one back to back, then check out Shudder's new Creepshow television series. Creepshow 2 is streaming on Tubi.

Subspecies - 3/31 Days of Halloween

Greetings, my children of the night. Oh, man! This one takes me back. It's been a while since I've sat down and watched a good ol' campy vampire flick, and Full Moon definitely delivers. I came across this series in reverse order, starting with the 1997 spin-off Vampire Journals, and it was clear that I was missing some crucial backstory. A few years ago, I was able to catch up on the rest of the series, bingeing all four movies in a single day. When I happened upon today's movie this morning, I knew I had to share it with you. Let's sink our teeth into 1991's straight-to-video horror classic, Subspecies. The movie opens with the aging vampire King Vladislas (played by horror legend Angus Scrimm) sitting in his castle, drinking drops of blood from a strange stone. This relic is the bloodstone, a holy relic that drips the blood of saints. The king's son, the hideous Radu, enters and confronts his father, angry over having been exiled and robbed of his birthright by his half-brother Stefan. The king traps Radu, intending to destroy him, but Radu conjures a number of tiny, demonic minions to release him and retrieve the bloodstone from its hiding place. Free of his cage, Radu murders the king and takes his place as the new lord of Vladislas Castle. In the nearby village of Prejmer, three young women arrive to study the local folklore. They receive a cold welcome from the old fortress' caretaker, Karl, who gives them a tour and teaches them some of the history of the village, how centuries ago it was saved from pillaging Turks by vampires. The women find themselves drawn to the ruins of Castle Vladislas, but they are warned away by the locals who fear the foreigners will awaken evil. Evil has already awoken, however, and Radu begins stalking the girls. They narrowly escape his clutches when they are met by Radu's brother Stefan. After seeing the girls to safety, Stefan confronts Radu and learns of his father's murder. Their ancient blood feud is rekindled, and Radu stalks the young women in order to torment his virtuous brother. Subspecies is an odd duck of a movie. On one hand, you have a classic vampire tale with many of the beloved vampire lore and tropes included. Hell, the film even takes place in Transylvania! But then there's Radu's minions, the subspecies themselves, the weird, little, red boogers that don't really serve much of a purpose except to fetch things for Radu. While the sculpts for the creatures are really neat, the actual effect is pretty laughable. When you see them moving on screen, particularly in their first appearance, you can tell they're essentially copied and pasted onto the scenery, almost seeming to hover above the ground they're supposed to be walking on. It's odd that the film and subsequent sequels were named for them considering what a small role they play in this movie. To be fair, though, it's been a few years since I've seen the sequels, so perhaps their role is expanded in the sequels. I may have to rewatch them and find out. And of course there's the obligatory love story. Having just met and knowing absolutely nothing about each other, of course Michelle and Stefan fall madly in love with one another. I mean, duh! That's just how it works, right? I started to get annoyed around the fifth time Stefan said, "I told you to leave" to Michelle. Well how is she supposed to play the damsel in distress if you keep telling her to leave town, dummy? We've got a movie to make here! Aside from some silly costume and hair choices (looking at you, Scrimm), Subspecies is a pretty solid vampire story. The bloodstone is a cool MacGuffin for the characters to fight over, even if it does kinda look like one of those fake blood Halloween props at times. Radu is sufficiently menacing, although how he manages to wield knives and swords with those ridiculous crab legs he calls fingers is beyond me. The overall look of the character is great, but when it comes to the hands, it's almost as if the filmmakers watched Nosferatu and said, "Hold my beer!" Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of it. Radu's a fun character, and it's good to see him go on to terrorize the living in three sequels. If you like classic vampire flicks with spooky old castles and superstitious old women, then give this one a watch. All four movies, along with the spin-off, are streaming on Tubi, so why not just make a night of it and binge the entire series?

Apollo 18 - 2/31 Days of Halloween

Welcome back, kids! When I woke up this morning, I had intended to watch and review a good ol' fashioned slasher flick, and I even had a couple in mind, but then I came across this movie on Netflix. Being the science fiction buff that I am, 2011's Apollo 18 seemed right up my alley. Let's launch right into it, shall we? Apollo 18 is a found-footage-style film, giving it a grainy 1970s documentary feel. The opening alleges that several hours of footage were uploaded to a lunar conspiracy theory website and that the film has been edited from the available footage. We meet our three protagonists, American astronauts Ben Anderson, Nate Walker, and John Grey. Being part of NASA's cancelled Apollo 18 mission, the astronauts are elated when their mission is revived in order to undertake a classified mission for the Department of Defense. Under a veil of secrecy, even to their families, Apollo 18 launches, and Nate and Ben make a successful, albeit rough, landing on the lunar surface while John stays in orbit to await their return. Once on the surface, Nate and Ben begin unpacking the equipment for their mission, including a set of transmitters sent by the DOD to act as an early warning system against Soviet nuclear missile launches. Once activated, the equipment emits a frequency that causes severe, unsettling interference with their communication equipment, but even more puzzling, the astronauts begin to hear strange sounds outside the lander, and samples collected from the lunar surface seem to move on their own. When the men exit the lander and find a set of footprints that don't match their own, they realize they're not alone on the Moon, and set out to search for signs of life. When they discover a damaged yet functional Soviet lander not far from their landing site, they begin to question the true purpose of their mission, and a series of unsettling circumstances soon become full-blown terror as everything they thought they knew about Earth's closest neighbor is proven to be wrong. First of all, I hate shaky cam movies. God, I hate them, but I put that revulsion aside for what I hoped would be a good story. The film did explore some interesting concepts, such as long-running conspiracy theories about lost cosmonauts. While these tragic ideas are fun to read and speculate about, most have been thoroughly debunked... or that's what they want you to think, comrade. Seriously, the Russian angle was easily my favorite part of the story. How was the rest of the story? Eh... it was all right. The alien illness affecting one of the astronauts was pretty much a paint-by-numbers plot device we've seen a million times already, as were its symptoms. I caught myself looking at my phone a few times as boredom overtook me, to be honest. One thing the film does well is convey the sense of claustrophobia within the NASA spacecraft, but that's really all it has going for it on the spooky scale in my opinion. There are a few jump scares, including one particularly good one that I rewound the movie to watch again. Overall, the film's a mediocre creature feature with a neat concept. If you're looking for real terror, I'd skip this one and just watch Alien instead. If you enjoy a little sci in your fi and like a good conspiracy theory, however, give it a view on Netflix.

The Haunting In Connecticut - 1/31 Days of Halloween

Welcome back, boils and ghouls! October is finally upon us, and that means thirty-one days of chills and spooky thrills as I watch and review a different scary movie each day. Without any further ado, let's dive into our first movie of the season, 2009's The Haunting in Connecticut! **Warning: This review contains some spoilers** The film opens with a chilling montage of vintage funeral portraits interlaced with gruesome imagery of cadaver preparation and mutilation, followed by a disclaimer that what we're about to view is "based on true events," but more on that later. Sara Campbell, played by Virginia Madsen, begins telling her story to a documentary film crew. In 1987, her son Matt (Kyle Galliner) is undergoing cancer treatment in a clinical trial. When the strain of driving him back and forth to the out-of-town hospital becomes too much on Matt, Sara and her husband Peter (Martin Donovan) decide to rent a house closer to the hospital. After an exhaustive search, Sara finds the perfect house for an incredible price. There's just one catch, the house used to be a funeral home. At first, Sara is reluctant, but after a particularly painful episode for Matt on the long drive home, she relents and rents the house. Almost immediately, Matt begins seeing strange, often terrifying, visions inside the house, and objects seem to move on their own. Matt and Sara chalk it up to side-effects of the experimental cancer treatment, but despite this seemingly rational explanation, Matt feels himself drawn to a sealed room in the basement just off of his bedroom. One day, Matt finds the room mysteriously open, and he enters to find the mortuary's embalming room and crematorium still intact. Peter is furious when he learns about the house's past and confronts Sara. Tensions between the couple escalate as Matt's visions intensify. At the hospital, Matt befriends a sick minister named Popescu, played by Elias Koteas, who understands the boy's plot, explaining that those who wander through the valley of the shadow of death are able to see through the veil. After a chilling discovery in the attic, Matt and his cousin Wendy research the house's past, learning that the original owner, a mortician named Aickman, and a medium named Jonah conducted seances inside the house. The teens consult Popescu, who confirms the existence of the paranormal and offers to pray for the spirits in the house. Sara is enraged at Popescu's presence and orders him to leave, but after a particularly disturbing night in the house, she also seeks his counsel. Popescu returns, believing that Jonah, Aickman's medium is responsible for the disturbances. The reverend sets about freeing Jonah's tortured spirit from the home, but instead inadvertently unleashes something far more sinister upon the Campbell family. Part of the film's appeal to audiences is its claim to be rooted in true events. While it is true that it is based on a real haunting case in Connecticut, that doesn't mean the haunting itself is real. The Haunting in Connecticut is based upon the claims of the Snedeker family, which were investigated by renowned demonologists Ed & Lorraine Warren. Horror author Ray Garton was tasked with chronicling the Snedekers' ordeal in his book In a Dark Place. Since the book's publication, Garton has gone on record multiple times that the alleged events were a hoax orchestrated by the Snedekers and Warrens. I highly recommend the "A Connecticut Haunting in a Keen Author's Court" episode of the popular skeptic/science podcast MonsterTalk if you're interested in Garton's take on the entire ordeal. Well... now that we have that out of the way, how was the movie? Well, actually... I dug it. The movie doesn't exactly break any new ground, but the scares are genuine and the special effects are great. For some reason the rattling chains in the embalming room during the exorcism scene cracked me up. They just seemed like a cheap Halloween haunted house trick rather than a Hollywood effect, I guess. Normally I find jump scares to be cheap, but this film makes good use of them, often using them for blink-and-you-might-miss-it scares. Like the characters, you find yourself wondering, "Did I just see that?" The makeup and corpse effects employed during the film's climax are a bit unrealistic but still cool as hell. While I don't want to spoil the film's climax, it's refreshing to see a haunted house film that doesn't fall back on the tired, old "built on an Indian burial ground" or "a witch lived here" tropes. My jaw dropped during the climax, and once you see it, I'm sure you'll understand why. Let's talk about the cast. Normally I like Virginia Madsen, but I felt like she phoned this one in. Martin Donovan had some promise as Peter, but I felt he was underutilized. In one scene, you almost get a George Lutz vibe from him as he drunkenly terrorizes the family, but it's over as quickly as it started. Aside from financial stress leading to his drinking, Peter seems to be the only one unaffected by the house's power. Elias Koteas steals the show as Reverend Nicholas Popescu, in my opinion. His portrayal of the holy man is neither over the top nor heavy handed. He's easily the most likable character in the film, with the possible exception of Wendy who I also feel was underutilized. Overall, I enjoyed it. I may not believe in the veracity of the events upon which the film is based, but that won't stop me from enjoying a good spooky flick. If you're in the mood for some macabre imagery and good jump scares, give this one a watch on Hulu. Just don't watch it in the morning like I did. Wait until the kids are in bed, and turn off the lights.

NFReads Interview!

NFReads has posted an interview with me about my creative process. Click here to read the full interview!

Turtle Power in Lansing!

Sorry for being so late on this post, but if you follow me on social media, you're likely aware of the craziness I've been dealing with. A couple weeks ago, I attended Get Geek'd Expo in Lansing, Michigan as a vendor. This was only my second time in Michigan, the first being a New Year's Eve Metallica concert in 1999. Speaking of that concert, one of the ladies vending at the next booth attended the same show! As Michelangelo would say, "Spookular!" As a Ninja Turtles fan since I received a Rocksteady action figure for my ninth birthday, this convention was just too damn good to pass up! The guests of honor included Renae Jacobs (voice of the original cartoon April O'Neil), and four actors from the first live-action 1990 film: Josh Pais (Raphael), Michelan Sisti (Michelangelo), Brian Toschi (Leonardo) and the Shredder himself... James Saito! What!? James Saito!? The Shredder? In his first ever fan convention appearance? How could any serious Turtles fan pass up this opportunity? I had to go. Back in high school, I had the opportunity to meet Toshishiro Obata, who played Tatsu in the first two films. And while my friends and I did get a photo with him, I was too chicken to ask for his autograph. Well, I vowed not to let that happen again, and if I ever get a second chance, I'll be sure to add his scribble to my growing collection! So I packed up my books and went to Michigan with my lovely assistant Ash, and we set up shop in the vendor room, selling books and War of the Worlds: Goliath merchandise. The first day's sales were so-so, but I wasn't really here for business... I was here for turtles! Sunday morning, the con chair Alex asked me if I'd like a personal introduction to James Saito and Brian Toschi. Uh... duh! Alex and I walked over to James' and Brian's hotel and ran into James partway. Alex asked if I'd be kind enough to escort James to the convention while he waited for Brian. Me? Escort the Shredder? Does a turtle eat marshmallow and gumdrop pizza!? Radical! James and I took the skywalk from the Radisson to the Lansing Center and discussed TMNT, writing, science fiction, and his role in the upcoming second season of Altered Carbon. I told him I'm a huge fan of the show and the first novel, and I can't wait to see him onscreen again in the new season. After making sure he made it safely to the show floor, James was gracious enough to sign my TMNT 1990 movie poster and pose for a photo. Mr. Saito is an amazing, humble gentleman, and I hope our paths cross again. I enjoyed our visit so much that I gave him a signed copy of my novel Birthright, which he was honored to receive, especially after I told him his portrayal of the Shredder was a major inspiration for Temujin, the villain in Birthright. While I didn't get to spend as much time with the other actors, every one of them were kind, funny, and accommodating. All of the guys signed my poster. I did let Josh Pais know that Raphael is my favorite, which made Michelan Sisti pout a little, but we all got a good laugh out of it. Sadly Leif Tilden (Donatello) had to cancel due to a professional commitment, but maybe one day I'll get another chance to meet him. And of course, let's not forget about the lovely Renae Jacobs who signed my original carded April O'Neil action figure. The card and plastic are a little beat up, but that's okay. I have no intentions of ever selling it, which is why I had her personalize it to me. As soon as I'm able, I'm going to get a protective clamshell case for it. Hopefully I can keep it from getting any more yellowed. Renae was very sweet, and I chatted with her the most aside from James Saito. She was the first one I got a signature from. You'd think with all of the events I've done and the celebrities I've met, I'd be over the jitters, but no. I'm still a little kid at heart, and meeting my heroes scares the bejeezus out of me. But again, Renae was sweet and a joy to chat with. Things got a little crazy after I returned home, which I'll probably talk about in another post, but after the dust settled a bit I finally found time to frame my poster and protect the signatures. Now the big question is where to hang it!? Hmm... I wonder if Jess will let me hang it in the living room. My undying thanks to Alex Westcot for putting on such an amazing show and giving me and other Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans this tubular opportunity. I can't wait to see what Alex comes up with for next year's show, nor can I wait to return to Lansing for the next party. COWABUNGA!!!

Revisiting Poppy Z. Brite's "The Lazarus Heart"

Anybody who knew me in my late teens could probably tell you I was utterly obsessed with James O'Barr's gothic series The Crow. From the original comics to the film and TV series to the short run of original novels... I ate it up. But there was always one Crow title that stood out in my memory, one that I remember striking me as odd when I first read it. Last week, while perusing my bookshelves for my next read, I came across my trade paperback copy of The Lazarus Heart by Poppy Z. Brite. Keep in mind, I was raised in a rural setting. I grew up on a southeastern Iowa farm in a very conservative county and then moved around to other rural Iowa communities. I didn't really get to experience city life and the larger world until I left home at eighteen to live in Cedar Rapids. To put it bluntly, I was a pretty damn sheltered kid. So that might explain why I originally found Poppy Z. Brite's novel so odd. Teenage me kept scratching his head while turning the pages. My young hayseed brain just couldn't wrap itself around strange new terms like "crossdresser" and "transsexual." And BDSM? Forget about it! Well anybody who's read my novel Vengeance For My Valentine knows that certainly isn't the case anymore. So there I stood in my office, looking at the cover of The Lazarus Heart, flipping it over to read the synopsis on the back, and trying to remember anything about the story. I vaguely remembered there being twins, one of them trans. Was that one the Crow? Or another character? Shit, I couldn't remember, so I decided to give it another read, to take a stroll down memory lane. From the first page, I was hooked. I was seventeen years old again, my eyes hungrily scanning each line while The Cure, Crüxshadows, and Trust Obey blared in my headphones. When I reached the resurrection scene, I found myself going back to read it again... and again! I looked up from the book and told my wife I only wish I could write as beautifully and as visually as Poppy Z. Brite. I stayed up well into the wee hours, still as a statue until the time came to turn to the next page. In two days (I'm a terribly slow reader), I finished it, and I sat for a long time completely blown away. I’m glad I decided to revisit this book with older, more enlightened eyes, because it is tragically beautiful! Brite’s ability to paint pictures with his words—or in the case of The Lazarus Heart’s subject matter, conjure striking sepia photographs—is simply unmatched. The characters’ pain is almost tangible, their sorrow contagious. The honest depiction of New Orleans as simultaneously breathtaking and dirty effortlessly transports the reader to those rain-drenched streets. The DuBuois twins’ backstory is both tragic and beautiful, and their bond is so strong it's no wonder the crows decided to step in to deliver vengeance for the brother’s murder. But that wasn't the only injustice addressed in the book. No, the novel tackles the endless struggle of non-cis/non-hetero individuals in a bigoted, unaccepting world: the constant fear of discovery, ridicule, unemployment, violence, and even death. The Lazarus Heart is about hate and intolerance, and it's about fighting back against that hate and intolerance. The protagonist, Jared Poe, is amazing in how he's written. His sorrow and rage constantly get the better of him, and he often strays off course, seeking out personal vengeance instead of the mission laid out for him by the crow. Which, of course, is a big time no-no. Although it's his own damn dumb fault, I love that he isn't invincible. His reckless quest for revenge takes its toll, and he pays for it. Pain and grief make us irrational. We lose our heads, which honestly is why I don't blame Star Lord for the events of Avengers: Infinity War. He, like Jared Poe in this book, is only human, and humans are often driven by emotion in lieu of common sense. Honestly, what would you do? As I contemplated the story, I wondered why it was never adapted to film. After all, it‘s not like there isn’t precedent for it. The fourth film The Crow: Wicked Prayer starring Edward Furlong was adapted from the novel of the same name by Norman Partridge, and that movie sucked! Oh my god, that was awful! And I lay much of the blame on David Boreanaz’s cornball performance. It wasn’t exactly Dennis Hopper’s finest hour, either. Check it out, but don't say I didn't warn you. So why didn’t Poppy’s novel get any love? Well, as it turns out, it kinda did... Kinda. From what information I could find online, apparently the third film The Crow: Salvation was loosely—and I cannot stress the word ”loosely” enough—based on the premise of The Lazarus Heart. Both stories feature a man wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for his lover’s murder, both feature dirty cops, and... well... there’s a crow. That’s it. As I recall, any and all traces of LGBTQ themes are absent from the film. If the filmmakers really were adapting Poppy’s story, they straight-washed the everliving shit out of it. And that really pisses me off. For a series that has always seemed to embrace the androgyny aesthetic, you'd think they wouldn't have issues with LGBTQ themes. And The Crow: City of Angels certainly didn't shy away from the subject of BDSM. Whether the scriptwriter, producers, director, or even Miramax themselves are to blame, clearly somebody in the chain of command said "No homo" when they greenlit The Crow: Salvation. But back to the present. I've been wondering if, even though I didn't understand the novel's themes back when I was seventeen, did it leave its bloody mark on me? Did this book plant the seed that would eventually germinate into Vengeance For My Valentine? Did Lucrece DuBuois serve as the inspiration for Eric Hammond? For years, I struggled with Eric's character. There was something nagging me about him, something I was missing. Characters have a tendency to run away from you, leaving the author to record their exploits rather than dictate them. I didn't make Eric transgender... I simply listened when he confessed to me that he was. Once I finally knew Eric, this twenty year labor of love at long last began to take its final shape. I think on some level, I may have Poppy Z. Brite to thank for that. If you're a fan of The Crow, urban fantasy, horror, New Orleans, or stories with LGBTQ characters, I highly recommend tracking down a copy of The Lazarus Heart. Of all the original Crow novels, it definitely stands out as the best in my opinion. The only other one I've read that even comes close is Chet Williamson's Clash By Night. Seriously, check it out. You won't be sorry.

Weller Video Game In Development!

I am pleased to announce that my popular post-apocalyptic series The Weller is making the move into the digital realm in the form of The Weller: The Video Game. The game's demo debuted at Demicon 30, featuring exclusive Demicon content and characters! I'm pleased to report that the game was met with very favorable reception from fans at the con. A new demo showing more of The Weller's world will be available for fans to try out at Planet Funk Con in Bettendorf, Iowa June 21st - 23rd. I'd like to take this opportunity to answer some common questions I received at Demicon. What type of game is it? The Weller: The Video Game is an RPG in the style of popular games like Final Fantasy and Pokemon. Will it be available on consoles? Not likely, I'm afraid. However, the game is projected to be available on Steam for PC, Mac, and Linux users, as well as for Android and iOS devices. Who's making the game? I am! At this time, The Weller: The Video Game is a solo project, but I'm sure I'll be enlisting help from others over the course of the game's development. Wow! How are you making it? I'm using RPG Maker MV to create the game. I originally considered using NES Maker for an even more retro feel, but after a friend showed me RPG Maker's capabilities, I knew it was the perfect fit for The Weller. Will there be other playable characters besides Matt Freeborn? Yes. Rest assured that Grandpa Gene, Radar, Axl, and Mayor Phoenix will all make appearances. You can also expect a few NPCs to join Matt on his trek across the wasteland. Will the Road Runner be in the game? Yes. Matt's trusty vehicle will be included in the game. I haven't reached that part of the game yet, and I'm still learning as I go, but rest assured the Road Runner will be included. What about weapons? Will Matt have the Well Digger? The Well Digger is in the game. In fact, players will be able to enhance it with special rounds to help them tackle the various enemies Matt encounters. Expect Freeze Rounds (already in the game's demo), Dragon's Breath Rounds, Taser Rounds, Poison Rounds, Tranquilizer Rounds, and Blinding Rounds among others. The Well Digger is more powerful than ever in The Weller: The Video Game. Will the game just cover the first Weller novel, or will it also include content from The Weller: Fear of the Dark? At this time, the plan is to only cover the story of the first novel, but I may also include Night of the Cicada. Or perhaps Night of the Cicada will be its own standalone mini-game title. We'll see when I get closer to finishing. It all depends on time and the overall length of the finished game. When will the game be released? I really can't say for certain. Please understand that I'm doing this completely independently and I'm learning as I go. It may take a year or two. I have no intention of rushing out an inferior, buggy game. As with my books, I want to make sure it's done right. The fans deserve that. How much will it cost? Again, I can't say for certain. That depends on the costs I incur during development for art, music, and custom sprites and plugins. I definitely plan to keep the price below $20. Patreon supporters who select the "Gamer" tier or higher will automatically receive a copy of the game upon release, regardless of how long they subscribe (one month minimum). Most importantly, will there be mutant possums?! LOL Yes, there will be plenty of mutant possums. If you have any other questions, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll do my best to answer. Thank you for your support, and I hope to see you all on the road as I travel to various cons this summer! Visit my Patreon page to learn how you can support the game and even get your name in the credits!

The Highest Honor

This past weekend, I attended RodCon as a vendor. RodCon is a free, one-day convention held at the University of Northern Iowa Rod Library. This was my fourth RodCon, and my third as a vendor. During the con, I learned that my friend's teenage daughter was re-reading Birthright, and she'd brought her copy along to the con to read in the car. When she pulled this scuffed, battered, curling copy of my book from her backpack, I almost cried. This is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my career as a writer. Every scuff, every curl is a testament to how much the owner loves this story, and the best part... it belongs to a fourteen-year-old girl! That's just icing on the cake for me! Thanks, Kimberly. I'll hurry up and finish The Weller: Fear of the Dark so that I can get to work on War Machines: Book II of the Temujin Saga for you!

ValleyCon 45

Well, it's definitely official now! I will be appearing as an author guest of honor at this year's ValleyCon in Fargo, North Dakota! I'm honored and extremely excited. I've never been to North Dakota, so you know what that means... The other stellar guests include the original Incredible Hulk Lou Ferrigno, Butch Patrick (Eddie Munster), artist Tom Nguyen, and my friends and fellow authors Roy and Cynthia Booth!! Check out the EVENTS page to find out where else you can find me in 2019! I'll see you out there!