James Dorr's Blog, page 77

Vicious Videos: Films to Watch Out For from Now to December

It’s already been an exciting year for horror movies, with chilling flicks that tap into just about every kind of nightmare.  Thus far, we’ve seen sophomore efforts by up-and-coming horror masters (Jordan Peele’s US; Ari Aster’s MIDSOMMAR), franchise entries like ANNABELLE COMES HOME and HAPPY DEATH DAY 2 U, the CHILD’S PLAY remake, James Gunn’s [image error]superhero horror flick BRIGHTBURN, and more.  And the year is only half over!

So what silver screen terrors await you in the second half of 2019?  We’ve got you covered.  From voracious alligators and haunted houses to everyone’s favorite dancing clown, here are the upcoming horror movies we’re dying to see before 2019 draws to a close.

So, yes, it’s already past mid-July and it’s time to look out for movies to come as 2019 winds down to fall and winter.  The feature:  “16 Upcoming Horror Movies We’re Dying to See in the Second Half of 2019” by Orrin Grey on THE-LINE-UP.COM.  Two or three of these remakes, most not, but all sound interesting (me, I’ve got a special eye out for number 5, THE BANANA SPLITS MOVIE, expected out on or about August 13 ).  So to see more, press here.

Tombs Amazon Sale at Under Ten Dollars

Yes, this is new, though the catch is that, unless you’re on Prime or buy at least three copies, you will have to pay shipping costs as well.  The book:  TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, and it’s still a bargain at $9.31, under $10.00, or 38 percent off its list price of $14.95.  For more click its picture in the center column or, going directly to the chase, press here.  But one would best hurry, Amazon is also doing “Prime Days” just for today and [image error] tomorrow and, while this one’s for non-Prime customers too, it may not be offered for very long.
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The above is something I found out more or less accidentally and seemed worth sharing.  I then checked out THE TEARS OF ISIS (as is my wont) but, alas, at least on Amazon one must pay its full $12.95 price.  That is for a new copy (which, I admit, I’d prefer you buy because I get a royalty on them — these are all for paperbacks I should add, with Kindle prices somewhat less), but for a less expensive read three vendors have used copies listed at $10.44, with condition rated as “Very Good,” and with shipping free.  These can be found by clicking TEARS’ picture or pressing here and, hey, if you like it, perhaps you’ll be moved to send Amazon and/or Goodreads a review.

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY!

 

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(Triana says she’s still going to skip the fireworks, though)

Don’t Feed the Plant: Little Shop of Horrors Brings Friday Night Delight; 11 Space Films Redux

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I wrote a story called “The Plant-Sitter.”  The sitter in question, hired to take care of an exotic plant while its owner attends a horror convention, in part was a homage to the 1960 Roger Corman film LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, specifically when at the end, the hiree apparently now deceased, the hirer tries to remember her name.  “Audrey something?”  The story was published in the Fall 2004 BOOK OF DARK WISDOM by William Jones, who later founded Elder Signs Press, and who I subsequently worked with on an idea I had for a novel-in-stories about a far-future world of the “Tombs.”  For various reasons that project got delayed, but eventually under new editor/publisher Chuck Zaglanis, thirteen years later, the book was published as TOMBS:  A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH.

So these things are connected.  The Corman movie begat a 1960s retro rock musical in 1982, and that in turn was made into a movie four years after, in 1986, which I also have seen.  And now — one of the perks of living in a university town, where slightly off the beaten track films and theatre are nurtured — I had a chance to see the play on stage last night in an Indiana Univers[image error]ity Summer Theatre production.

For local readers the play can be seen on various dates through July 28.  For those who like horror in urban settings (a flower shop in New York’s “skid row”?) and dark, dark humor, all I can say is that it’s a delight.  It does have, yes, a carnivorous plant as well as, like most musicals, innocent lovers — or those at least who start off with some innocence.  Also it adds a sadistic dentist, and a Greek chorus-like trio of girl pop singers (early 1960s style, remember) who’re not averse to demanding tips to give strangers directions — to get to the flower shop, that is — although greed and materialism infect most of the other players as well.  Or in the plant’s case (named “Audrey II,” after the not quite entirely guileless ingenue) perhaps it’s more properly gluttony.

Anyhow I greatly recommend it.

Then a quick note on yesterday afternoon’s post on “11 Space Movies for Apollo 11,” it turns out that the wily SHORT LIST may have sent that particular feature as, apparently, a special treat for its newsletter subscribers — which means that the link may not have worked for all who tried it.  There doesn’t seem to be much I can do about that, but I can give a list of the movies alone.  Thus, from number one to eleven:  2001:  A SPACE ODYSSEY, APOLLO 13, INTERSTELLAR, FIRST MAN, HIDDEN FIGURES, CAPRICORN ONE, THE RIGHT STUFF, GRAVITY, THE MARTIAN, MOON, SPACE CAMP.

From First Man to Space Camp: 11 Space Movies for Apollo 11

Well, there’s APOLLO 11 which I think was on CNN on TV a week or two back (also, I believe, being re-screened locally this weekend by Ryder Films), but that’s not on this list.  Rather this is a list of Hollywood films, some of epic proportion like 2001:  A SPACE ODYSSEY, some uplifting like THE RIGHT STUFF, even some you might not have immediately thought of as about space like HIDDEN FIGURES.  So the list for today is by Libby Plummer, “The 11 Best[image error] Space Movies that Are Out of This World,” brought to us via SHORLIST.COM.  We’ve trawled the galaxy to pick out the best of the bunch so if you’re looking for something to watch in celebration of Apollo 11’s historic mission to the moon or you’re just a massive space nerd, here’s our shortlist of the 11 best space movies around.  Since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the moon 50 years ago, space has been a popular destination for filmmakers.  Whether it’s true-life stories of daring space missions or the possible future of Earthlings in space you’re after, the movie world has you covered.

Others noted: CAPRICORN ONE, THE MARTIAN, APOLLO 13 . . . the list goes on.  But see it for yourself by pressing here!

Discordant Kickstarter Ten Days In, Books and Swag Waiting

Don’t be shy!  The kickstarter for DISCORDANT LOVE BEYOND DEATH continues apace (see July 5, et al.), albeit a bit slowly.  Such is life, is it not?  But swag awaits, as well as good reading.  Beer mats and ball caps, plus digital copies of the book as well as in paper, plus special editions with two bonus stories for those who act quickly.  But act one [image error]must, this special promotion ends July 31!

A thought provoking dark fantasy anthology where Love follows Death, in the words of the publisher, and where that’s not always a bad thing.  The blurb continues:  Twenty Two fabulous inspired short stories, from a fresh line-up of authors, ensure that there will be something for everyone, and with many being on the macabre side of things, this anthology makes the perfect counter-programming read for those who want something a little different come Valentines Day.  A full contents page can be found on the kickstarter site by pressing here.  Other information as well includes associated merchandise — bookmarks, T-shirts — along with more literary rewards for various levels of support, plus pictures and short bios of the authors.

And may one remind, a good part of what’s pledged goes into the payment of us, the authors, for tales including my ghost story/mystery “The Sending,” of hurricanes, crime, lighthouses, and abandoned Spanish forts on the Florida coast in the 1930s.

A Mystery Solved: Itty Bitty Is Already Published, on June 24

Ah, the things publishers may fail to tell us.  So Many details, so many little things to be completed, can one be surprised if some fall through the cracks?  Hark us now back to June 27 (which cf., below), where ITTY BITTY WRITING SPACE, the anthology of one hundred flash stories by one hundred writers (more or less) was about to be published.  Or let the pu[image error]blisher’s own blurb tell us:  So many stories!  ITTY BITTY WRITING SPACE is the third volume in the Flash in a Flash series of crowdfunded celebrations of short-short fiction.  104 Authors.  101 Stories.  No Holds Barred. Inside you’ll find brief but stirring explorations of every kind of story you care to imagine.  From debut authors to celebrated veterans, this book’s writers bring you short glimpses into their imaginations.  It’s like speed-dating to find your new favorite authors.  Dip in and enjoy!  Then, though not reported here, another email on July 5 with mention of payment and/or author’s copies, but that we should stand by for more details.

But wait, what of the book?  Have we missed a notice that publication has actually happened?  And where did that blurb I just found to quote above come from?  Well . . . what one might think of as a missing detail, but yes, ITTY BITTY WRITING SPACE has indeed been published, dated by Amazon as on June 24, that is three days before it was on the verge of. . . .

So a slip on the date of a few days happens, a date is given but physical copies are not quite there yet, things of that sort are common.  But as one of the authors, my story in it as we might remember being “The Junkie,” a saga of cruel streets and drugs and one city’s solving of its zombie problem, I would have been curious to know.  Availability is only in paperback, at least for now, but for those interested and/or possible purchase (or just to see that, yes, it is there!) one may press here.

Dwarf Stars Anthology PDF Received, Voting Officially Open Through August

The DWARF STARS anthology is a selection of the best speculative poems of ten lines or fewer (100 words or fewer for prose poems) from the previous year, nominated by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association membership and chosen for publication by the editors.  From this anthology, SFPA members vote for the best poem.  The winner receives the Dwarf Stars Award, which is analogous to the SFPA [image error]Rhysling Awards given annually for poems of any length.

Thus the announcement today with a link to obtain a PDF copy that voting officially has begun for 2018’s best ultra short speculative poem.  And I do have, myself, a dog in the hunt or at least a sort of canine companion, the 6-line “Never Trust a Vampiress” (cf. May 29), initially printed in the Summer 2018 STAR*LINE, the SFPA’s own poetry magazine.  Voting continues until August 31 2019 for SFPA members.  The moral therefore, should you be a SFPA member yourself, the untrustworthy bloodsucker could use a little love!

Or, for more information about the Dwarf Stars Award as well a list of this year’s contenders, one may press here.

Discordant Love Kickstarter Alive and Kicking

We were told to watch for it on June 21 and now it is here, the kickstarter for DISCORDANT LOVE BEYOND DEATH (see also, with table of contents, April 30), the book itself to be published on Valentine’s Day 2020.  This is the one for, to go back to the original call, short creepy & emotional stories based around the idea of love evading the limitations of life & death.  . . .  The genre will be a mix of ghost stories / horror / thriller and erotic fiction, cross genre stories are welcome.  In my case the story is a reprint [image error]originally published in ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S MYSTERY MAGAZINE in December 1997, about gangsters and a ghost-inhabited lighthouse in early 1930s Florida (also reprinted in my first collection, STRANGE MISTRESSES, which one may click on in the center column).  But more to the point, the kickstarter itself offers as prizes not just the book itself but a rather extensive selection of swag.

For example (and note, the money is British although I’m sure there’s a way to covert it if needed), for £89 : Full Monty backers package, comes with everything in the Essential Merchandise Collection, plus a baseball cap, second glow-in-the-dark T-Shirt, engraved shot glass, engraved whisky tumbler, 8 bookmarks and heat reactive magic Mug. Also comes with a standard paperback edition of the finished anthology and digital versions of other two back catalogue books. Group discounted at 10% of regular price.  Other choices include such things as a numbered, signed by the authors edition; your name inserted in one of the stories; a full-page ad at the end of the book  . . .  or to see for oneself, check it out here.

And remember, if contemplating an offer, the money pledged will also help (ahem!) pay the authors!

The Goth Cat Triana Wishes To All A Happy Fourth

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She thinks she’ll skip the fireworks herself, though.