Well, in about another eight to nine hours (it's just after 4:00 pm PST here), Halloween will be here... and Terrorpolooza 2012 will begin: 24 hours of non-stop horror movie watching and tweeting.  Giving roughly, two hours per movie, I should be able to watch a total of twelve horror movies- if time allows, I'll spontaneously add a 13th! Here are the movies I'll be watching and tweeting along to during the entire event (in order of viewing): Bluebeard (1944) The Screaming Skull (1958) Creature From the Haunted Sea (1961) The Manster (1962) Nightmare Castle (1965) Guru, The Mad Monk (1970) The Oval Portrait (1971) It Happened at Nightmare Inn (1973) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) Meridian: Kiss of the Beast (1990) Mary Shelly's Frankenstein (1994) Orphan (2009) I hope you join me on Twitter during the event.  Now, I'm going to crawl into my sarcophagus and get some sleep before the big event.  Spook you then!

The 1950's is known for cheesy monsters, hokey action, and mad science.  It was a time when the B-movie reigned supreme, and Japan was not immune to the fun... Interstellar hero Starman comes to Earth seeking the brain of Balazar, who is planning to invade the planet with mutants specially created by his evil scientists ... This movie is actually a re-edited collection of three one hour films that were part of the Japanese series, " Super Giant ".  The original series was filmed and released in 1958, while the re-edited film was released in the United States in 1964.  The " Super Giant " series, consisted of nine short films, with the last three comprising the material used in " Evil Brain From Outer Space ".  Since the three original films weren't really connected to each other outside of the presense of Starman, the American they had to be pieced together to tell a single story- result ing what was called "a non-ending cavalcade of ch

Vampires and witches are often a good basis for a horror novel.  Through in the Spanish Inquisition, and odds are you'll get a pretty good story. In 1496, while the Spanish Inquisition is in full motion, Diego  de Villanueva is seeking a way to rise through the ranks of the Inquistion.  He will do anything he needs to... even use his brother's darkest secrets and knowledge to bring fear and hatred to the world... " The Black Castle " caught my  eye while shopping at " The Book Place ".  I was intrigued by the idea of it taking place during the Spanish Inquisition.  While I did enjoy reading this book, I was also a little disappointed. The style is very fitting to the story- it has an almost old world charm and rythm to it that I found pleasing to the ear.  It's also easy to read, and flows at a nice pace.  While, it's not "fancy", the images it creates are fairly good and atmospheric. The story itself is a really interesting idea.

Aliens are sometimes used in the world of horror to scare us- tales of abductions and experiments, invasions, and even using us a big game.  Sometimes, however, the truth is just simple bafflement and mystery... In 1965, the town of Exeter, New Hampshire, a series of unidentified flying objects started to be reported.  John G Fuller investigates this mysterious case of possible alien visitation. " Incident at Exeter " is an interesting look at the UFO phenomena.  Through the use of interviews with witnesses, transcripts of reports to authorities, and even visits to the locations of sightings, Fuller takes you on a personal trip in order to make sense of what was seen. The writing style is very straight forward and easy to follow.  Rather than being dry as many books about UFO's can be, this book has touches of humour and insight as Fuller expresses the various thoughts and theories he runs through in order to figure out the truth.  The rythm and flow is quick enou

Quite often, foreign horror films can bring something new to a horror fan's life... and sometimes not... Valerie lived a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Amsterdam.  After her mother is killed, Valerie begins to uncover secrets about her mother's past... secrets that someone doesn't want revealed. .. " Death in the Shadows " is a Dutch film originally titled " De Prooi ," and was the " What Movie Wednesday " winner this week. The story is actually pretty solid in its premise.  It offers ample opportunity for suspense and scares.  While there are some decent moments of suspense, the scares themselves are a little off.  I did like the fact that there were some attempts at a red herring here and there.  It's nice when a suspense/thriller does what it can to keep the viewer guessing.  Too bad, they didn't balance that out by giving actual clues to the identity of the real killer Most of the characters felt like fil

Well, folks- Halloween is once again approaching, and horror movies become the main thing to watch.  In honour of Halloween this year, I've decided to do something special. During the summer, when asked to housesit for my best friend Jay (from "We Came From the Basement"), I would conduct a 24 hour horror movie marathon, where I would tweet along to horror movies all day. I've decided to do the same for Halloween this year.  So starting at 1:00 am (PST), I will start watching horror movies and tweeting along to them for 24 hours.  I cordially invite you to follow along and add your comments on what I tweet! But that's not all!  Starting in November 2012, I'm going to post a monthly poll on this blog listing three movies.  Each month, you'll get the chance to decide which of the three movies listed I'll watch and tweet to as part of "Terrorpolooza 2013"! So, join me Halloween on Twitter for "Terrorpolooza 2012" and have som

  I've been looking for a decent werewolf novel to help balance all the vampire ones that are currenty proliferating the bookcases.  While cruising my favorite store, I found one that promised to be interesting.   Janos is a man who can not remember his past- he's not even sure Janos is his real name.  All he knows is that he's a werewolf... and wants to die.  Soon however, he'll learn that he's more than just a werewolf.  He's going to discover that he's part of a neo-facist plan to bring about the domination of the world...   I was really hoping that " The Mark of the Werewolf " was going to be a really intense, and suspenseful book about a werewolf as he eludes capture and wreaks ferocious revenge upon those that wish to do him wrong.  What I got was an interesting look at what it might be like to be immortal, with a dash of theology in the mix.   The story isn't bad, but not great.  It kinda reads like a werewolf version of

With the advent of  shows like " The Walking Dead ", and movies like " Shaun of the Dead ", and " Zombieland ", and games like " Left 4 Dead ", zombies have become quite popular... possibly helping us forget all about vampires that sparkle... You are one of the many people on the resort island of Banoi when people start to attack and each other.  After learning you're immune to whatever is causing the carnage, you and three others band together to help a small group of survivors to find a way off the dead island ... " Dead Island " is a really enjoyable game to play.  The storyline is well thought out and interesting, and while there is a progression to it, it's not a strictly linear story either.  The openess of the story, with the main quests and the side quests helps to create a bit of variety, and allows the player to move the story forward at their own pace.  I also enjoy this openess because it's actually more r

Across the cultures, there abound tales of people transforming into animals and stalking the wood.  Such tales have been used to illustrate the duality of humanity... and simply to make you feel uneasy walking in the woods... Campers have been found mutilated in the woods near an Indian Reservation.  Legends about a spirit that transforms people into bloody thirsty bears are being whispered... and one man races to save the soul of the woman he loves from an ancient evil... " Crooked Tree " isn't that bad of a book.  It's not great, but is a decently diverting read.  The story has a good flow to it, and follows a fairly simple and logical progression of events, while still having a nice building of suspense throughout it.  The characters are interesting, relatable, and actually have roles other than gore fodder.  The characters aren't wasted, and used quiet well. I loved the idea of using an old legend of the First Nations as the premise for the story.  It

Sometimes, you run across a movie where the title is really quite interesting... and misleading...  This week's " What Movie Wednesday " winner was very misleading... Women have been disappearing from the streets of Manila in the Philippines.  One night, Laura is kidnapped as well.  What she discovers is a horrible cult... a cult that thirsts for blood ... When you hear the title, " The Thirsty Dead ," you probably first thought that it was about vampires.  Unfortunately, you would be wrong.  This movie is actually about a cult that drinks blood to maintain their immortality... but aren't dead. The premise is interesting enough, though the execution of it in this movie is not so interesting.  The story makes sense throughout- and is quite logically put together.  Too bad the acting, costumes, etc detract from making it a suspenseful, creepy story.  Rather, it all comes across as being kinda silly. While watching it, I couldn't escape the feeli

One of the staples of horror stories is that often, the past returns to haunt and torment the characters involved.  One such story of the past reaching into the present for revenge is " Nathaniel " by John Saul... After the death of his father under mysterious circumstances, Michael Hall and his mother move to Prairie Bend to spend time with his grandparents.  Soon, a voice starts to whisper to him from the shadowy ruins of a barn- propelling him to discover why the town is so fearful of births... and who Nathaniel is ... John Saul, in my opinion is on the same level as Stephen King when it comes to writing horror fiction- though his stories are a bit more subtle, and build at a slower pace.  I really quite enjoyed " Nathaniel ". First off, the style is very atmospheric and moody, without exagerating the details.  Saul doesn't paint every errie detail, but allows the reader to let their imagination creep along the dimly lit hallway to the door where the

In addition to horror fiction, I enjoy reading non-fiction works about the paranormal.  One such book is " The Devil in Connecticut " by Gerald Brittle. David Glatzel was an average, American boy... until the first day of July 1980.  Soon after, strange sounds can be heard, then sinister shapes are seen.  Shortly it would seem that Hell itself had been unleashed in the small Glatzel household in Connecticut ... This book covers a case of demonic possession that famed demonologist Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated in the 1980's- a case that would ultimate finish in what came to be called " The Demon Murder Trial ". It details the events that occur as the case evolves through the generally accepted phases of demonic activity, weaving the details into an engaging story. The style of writing is fairly easy to follow, and straight forward.  There is some artistic license used to portray the mood and atmosphere of the events taking place, but it's not o

October 3rd saw the return of " What Movie Wednesday ."  I offered up three movies choices, and people voted on which one I would watch, tweet along to, and ultimately review.  The people voted for a movie, whose title sounded interesting and potentially grue filled... They voted for " Blood Bath " Having returned home from serving in Vietnam, David seeks to live quietly in the mountains of Mexico- only to have his life turned upside down by the appearance of a beautiful water nymph.  David soon finds himself involved in events that will cost him his soul ... It's not often that I find a movie that, quite frankly, makes me want to nap until the end.  I don't mind movies with a slow pace so long as there is some excitement spread throughout it.  "Blood Sabbath" lacked that excitement, and much more. The story is a little ridiculous, and put together incoherently.  It really doesn't make much sense- probably because it isn't even r

The image above was created by Brandon Bryant , who asked me on Twitter to submit two words as part of his #365Logo project.  The idea behind the project was to creat 365 logos during the year using just words that were submitted by people like myself. Since my username on Twitter is TerrorCorner , I figured, "Heck- why not?" and submitted those two words.  The result was the image you see at the top. I rather like it, myself- especially the claw reaching up.  Very B-movieish- which suits me perfectly.  Most of the logos he's produced (like this one) are very much what you would see on many old school movie posters- which is something I also like about them. I'm hoping he does this project again- or a similar project in the future.  I'm quite interested in seeing what else he comes up. In the meantime- check out his website for more of the #365Logo images, and other work by Brandon.  He's got some really impressive work.

A couple of days ago, I received a tweet from JT Schaad , asking what five horror books I would recommend reading during the Halloween season- so today, I'm going to briefly discuss five of them. "Misery" by Stephen King- Let's face it, this is one of his greatest pieces of work in my opinion.  It's right up there with "The Shining", "Pet Cemetery", and "Christine".  The characters are relatable (even the psycho-fan Annie Wilkes), and well defined.  The plot is tight and suspensful- with a nice flow to the building tension and the shock moment.  The writing style has a great feel to it, and pulls you into the story. "The Servants of Twilight" by Dean Koontz- One of Koontz's earlier works, and one of the few of his that I've really enjoyed.  The characters are intersting, and the action flows and builds until a rather satisfying climax.  Not AS good as Stephen King, but still quite enjoyable. " Audrey Ro