Dark Horse’s Creepy, issue number three sports the slogan “48 page is of demonic dread”.  So it seems pretty obvious that they’re going to keep getting creative on the subtitle on every issue.  It’s just a pity they don’t Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome back kiddies.

For this month’s column.  I’ve decided to try a little change of pace.  I thought it might be a good idea,  Instead of whining about Dark Horse’s Creepy, to  talk about something else.  But be not afraid for the next entry will be about Creepy.  Unless it’s about the new Lenore; I haven’t decided yet.

Today’s episode is about the latest issue of Fangoria.  How I could have written this blog for more than two years… three years?  I don’t even know how long I’ve been writing this blog, but it’s a long time.  It’s almost incomprehensible that I have never thought of reviewing Fangoria before.  Well I’m here to fix all that this very day.  So here goes.

The issue that I have right now is number 301.  First, in the off-chance that you never heard of it,  Fangoria is a magazine published monthly about horror stuff.  Similar to this blog, except in magazine form.(And they tend not to ever use the word “fuck” in the magazine).

They review, horror movies, and have interviews with directors, writers and other people involved in the horror genre.  There’s a lovely article in the current issue about the movie “Bereavement.”  This includes an interview with the director/producer/editor/music guy(all one guy).

I only really mention this because my daughter and I recently went to a preview showing of this very film.  It was mostly for the press and to get people to write reviews about it.  So coming up very soon on this very blog, you’re going to be hearing (reading) my review of this film.

But back to  Fangoria.  If you’ve never seen it I would recommend that you rush out and buy whatever issue is currently available wherever you are.  This particular issue, which is the March 2011 issue has an interview with Richard Matheson.  And illustrates yet another glaring omission from this blog.  I worship, Richard Matheson openly as a personal god, and I can’t believe that I’ve never mentioned him before on this blog.  If you haven’t read them.  You must.  But this post isn’t about him; I’ll do a separate one about him.

The point is, the magazine is always good and often exceptional.  I absolutely recommend you get it.  I would tell you where to get it but I don’t need to if you live anywhere near a Barnes & Noble or Borders or Waldenbooks or any other bookstore with a newsstand. It should be there.  In fact, I recently saw it in Wegmans, which is a grocery store chain.

But I digress…

Other things in the magazine include profiles of people from the genre authors, filmmakers and directors.  Even actors sometimes.  This month’s issue has an interview with Linnea Quigley (who many of you may remember as running around naked in many horror films, her most legendary performance being the tombstone-top dance in “Return of the Living Dead.”  Which also reminds me that I’ve never written about Dan O’Bannon.  I must do that too.(he Directed ROTLD)

Yes, I understand this entry is a bit rambling and you may come away from it with nothing more than the concept that there is a magazine called Fangoria and I recommend it.  If you do, then I have succeeded.  I can be proud of myself and eat my dog biscuit with a clear conscience.  It’s been sitting on my nose all day.

So long for this month, kiddies.

PS-The picture is not the issue I am reviewing, but was chosen as generally representational of the magazine.  (and because I was too lazy to scan the one I have)

When The Walking Dead premiered, my daughter sat riveted. An excruciatingly long first episode held her in rapt attention for one and a half hours. Ok it was actually only 1 hour when you skipped the commercials; She has Tivo. But it was, to her, entertaining. I overheard her talking to her friends on the phone and telling them how wonderful it was. I thought, this thing must be pretty good. I needed to see it right away and blog about it.

You may notice that this blog post is dated after the last episode has aired, because it took me this long to trudge through enough of the show to be able to write about it.

In short, it BLEW!

There was no reason for this to be the case. It was based on an amazing series of graphic novels that  where fast-paced, well written and unpredictable. Main characters would die without warning. At the point where lesser authors would just have gotten their characters set-up and ready to act, they where already finished and dead. This thing moved. It crackled with snappy writing and originality.

If you are the lucky bastard who gets to transform an already wonderful work into a new medium, why would you mutilate the hell out of it? Changing things because they  won’t translate well from printed to video form is understandable and necessary. But changing things just to change things is asshole-ish. If you want something different then why not just write something original? Oh wait! I know why… Because your writers suck!

It’s a good sign that all the writers were fired right after the last episode, but sad that they needed to be. The show, as written, may never be able to live up to the potential it had from it’s source material (unless the first show of the second season begins with the main character waking up in the hospital and we start over.).

I wish this show had been better. But for those of you who think it’s good, feel free to enjoy it.  If you have never seen these movie cliches before, then they’re new to you. But if you thought it started rambling a bit, and maybe were wondering why the last episode seemed so freakin’ random, it’s because it was. They’d ignored and changed so many plot points that they had no clue where to go, but needed to do a cliffhanger anyway. It’s sad.

If you can’t wait to see more, or if you just want to see something better read The Walking Dead graphic novel compilations.

For more fun, watch this…