The Texas Chainsaw Musical

Opening tonight! THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MUSICAL

When: Friday and Saturday Nights, Sep 26 - Nov 1, 11:00 pm
Where: National Pastime Theater, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago
Tickets: $15 - General Admission (Select “blood” seats are available to connect you to the carnage-First come, first serve!
Call 312-458-9083 or Click here to purchase online
1/2 Price Advance Tickets Through Gold Star (while supplies last)

This new musical parody of the classic film that spawned a franchise, follows the adventures of Sally, her disabled brother Franklin, and their three friends as they run into the most dysfunctional Texas family since the Bushes. Short on gas and unfamiliar with the neighborhood, they run into the misunderstood Leatherface, whose attempts to make new friends, despite his best efforts, always seem to end in accidental decapitation.

Die hard fans of the 1974 original or newbies that like seeing Jessica Biel run will have a blast at this show. The Texas Chainsaw Musical will alternately rock AND scare the pants off of you. Not necessarily in that order.

Better Zombies Through Physics

While you're waiting for your zombie fix this spring with The Revenants, check out Better Zombies Through Physics at Tor.com.

Deathscribe Student Discount Tickets!

Deathscribe Oct 6th 8p Student Discount Will Call Tickets!

We here at Wildclaw like students. The daemon finds them particularly tasty. So to keep him, and you gentle readers, happy, we are pleased to offer $10 student price tickets to our amazing Deathscribe Radio Horror Festival coming up on October 6th at the Music Box Theatre. So if you are not a student...don't buy em...buy them at the already discounted price of $15....the daemon will know. Non-students are a little more chewy.

Yarr! Talk Like a Pirate Day! And here...some scary Pirate Yarns...

Avast....Scary Pirate films (and books for ye literate 'uns):

The Fog- 1980 John Carpenter flick with Adrienne Barbeau & scream queen herself Jamie Lee Curtis. Not really a pirate movie...but it does involve a boat, attack sailors, and Jamie Lee Curtis...so I figured it was close enough... There's a remake with the yummy Tom Welling..but other than for the sake of his superman hotness...not really worth the watch.


The Ghost Pirates

Spooky pirate tale...also in the public domain...so read it..or else!
"The Ghost Pirates . . . is a powerful account of a doomed and haunted ship on its last voyage, and of the terrible sea-devils (of quasi-human aspect, and perhaps the spirits of bygone buccaneers) that besiege it and finally drag it down to an unknown fate. With its command of maritime knowledge, and its clever selection of hints and incidents suggestive of latent horrors in nature, this book at times reaches enviable peaks of power." — H.P. Lovecraft


And don't forget the bloodiest Pirate of them all...Bluebeard! He had a real issue about his ex-wives and keeping his 'home office' private...

Yarrr!

Zombie Lampshades...and other Spooky Crafts

I am a hardcore DIY-er...just ask poor Brian...our apartment is a veritable war zone of my crafty projects. So when I friend forwarded this Zombie lampshade to me...I had to give the seller a shoutout! Check the Etsy store, Horror Decor for some awesome gifts for the creepy fiend in your life. I am also pretty fond of the "Dream Killer" pillows. The freddy sweater pillow is sort of calling out to me.

Wildclaw Kickoff Party Monday Sept. 2nd at T's

Come on over to T's in Andersonville, 5025 N. Clark Street,Chicago, IL 60640 on September 22nd to have a drink with Wildclaw and meet the cast, crews, and writers for our next season! Every little slurp you take helps sponsor our next season of goriness. No charge...just show up, hang with the crowd, and order yourself some beverages. Maybe buy one for the little Wildclaw Daemon...that guy gets no love.

And best of all...buy your tickets for Deathscribe in person...hand us some cash and we will hand you a ticket for $15. Cheers!

WIldclaw's Deathscribe! Get Your Tickets Now!

WildClaw Theatre's First Annual

Deathscribe:
Ten Minutes of Terror Radio Play Festival.

Chicago, IL—September 18, 2008—WildClaw Theatre Company proudly announces Deathscribe: Ten Minutes of Terror Radio Play Festival, Monday October 6th, at 8:00pm, presented at the historic Music Box Theater, 3733 N. Southport Ave, Chicago. Admission to this evening of spine-tingling entertainment is $15 if purchased in advance through our website (www.wildclawtheatre.com) or $20 at the door.

Continuing our pursuit of intelligent, imaginative horror storytelling, we solicited and received original works from both theatre and horror aficionados from around the world. We are pleased to announce this year's Deathscribe Horror Radio Festival lineup:

"A Crying Shame", written by Doug Lamoreux and directed by Adam Kozlowski (Lifeline Theatre, WildClaw Theatre ).

"The Friend", written by Jenn Udoni and directed by Jeff Christian (award winning actor and director, Seanachi Theatre and Shakespeare Project company member).

"Transmission Unknown", written by Charles M. Kline and directed by Lindsay Porter (Running With Scissors, Live Bait).

"Dark and Stormy", written by Albert Gerber and directed by Don Hall (founding director, WNEP Theater).

"Career Day", written by Chris Hainsworth and directed by Tom Mula (award-winning Chicago playwright, actor, director, and best-selling author).

This evening of five original horror radio dramas, performed by renowned Chicago actors, featuring live foley sound, special guests, and a live band in the Chicago's historic Music Box Theater guarantees a unique evening of horror theatre.

A "Best of the Fest" award will be chosen by a celebrity panel of judges that includes WGN radio personality and Chicago Theatre director Nick Digilio, Chicago Dramatists artistic director Russ Tutterow, award winning graphic artist Tony Akins, horror author and Columbia College faculty member Mort Castle, and The Goodman Theatre's award winning director Steve Scott.

Deathscribe kicks off WildClaw Theatre's thrilling second season, which includes H.P. Lovecraft's "The Dreams in the Witch House" directed and adapted by Charley Sherman premiering this fall, and Scott T. Barsotti's "The Revenants", directed by Anne Adams premiering next spring. For more information, please visit us at www.wildclawtheatre.com.

The Music Box Theatre is near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible. Neighborhood parking near the Music Box is limited. Please allow extra time when arriving by car.

Advance tickets $15 (Tickets at the door $20)

Fall 2008 Horror TV Lineup

Tis slim pickin's this fall yall...and I don't mean the actor. The writer's strike has left a veritable wasteland of crap tv options in it's wake. But, wait now...all hope it not lost. There are a handful of horror options available. Here are a few:

Newbies:

HBO's True Blood.

Based on the popular Southern Vampire Mystery Series by Charlaine Harris, the story follows a small town in Louisiana after the world's vampires have "come out of the coffin". With the creation of a synthetic blood, called True Blood, the vampires of the world no longer need to stay in hiding. They are loud, they are proud, and they want the same rights as humans. The show centers around a young barmaid named Sookie Stackhouse who has a secret of her own: she hears people's thoughts. What would seem to be an awesome gift is more of a curse actually. Besides her friend Tara, her boss Sam, her grandmother, and her brother Jason, she is mostly alone trying to keep the world out. When she meets her first vampire, a courtly handsome guy named Bill, she discovers a wonderful thing...she can't hear his thoughts. Much to the chagrin of those around her, a romance starts and Sookie gets pulled into a supernatural world much darker and larger than she ever could have imagined.

So since it's HBO...there is plenty of boobs, sex, cursing, and violence to help balance out the romance. The men are swoony...I have read all of these books and love them...and the casting is spot on in all cases. Thus far, the show is staying pretty true to the novels. Spearheaded by Six Feet Under's Alan Ball, the show is taking it's sweet time in getting to the real meat of the story, which could cost it some viewers. Like Six Feet Under, it has what I like to think of as 'surreal naturalism' about it. We see the characters in often mundane situations that do nothing to further the plot...but do help slowly fill in the blanks on who they are and how they interact with the world. The sex in the show is a bit much...but I can live with it. I hope this show lasts...I think it has great potential to be trashy good horror fun with nifty special effects, no camp, and a healthy dose of sexiness.

Go mosey around the website and it's spin-offs for some good fun. They have set up dummy sites for different elements from the show like the Fellowship of the Sun (a religious group against the vampires), a Vampire dating service, a blog, and the American Vampire League lobby group.

Fox's Fringe:
I haven't watched this yet. From what I gather, it has an X-File vibe to it and therefore, some decent spook factor. I will let you know when I get to it...it's languishing in the queue.

Returning:

CW's Supernatural: I love this one. Like a good solid little horror movie each week. Nice special effects, good characters, decent dialogue, and some fairly spooky moments.

CW's Reaper: A bit campy, but generally a fun little show...and who can resist Ray Wise as the Prince of Darkness? Not I gentle readers, not I.

Did I miss any? I am not counting lame-o faux spookiness like Ghost Whisperer or Medium. Please.

Super Monster Fusion

The Fly - The Opera

Ladies and Gentlemen (and the rest of you creatures that read this bloody blog) - I present to you - The Fly - The Opera.

What Does A Vampire Killing Sword Look Like?

WildClaw Theatre's good friend, L. A. Banks has seen a piece of her fictional Vampire Huntress world come to life. Here is a video of Leslie seeing her character Damali Richards' vampire killing sword, Madame Isis, for the first time at the San Diego Comic-Con this summer. The sword was made by Hollywood armouror, Tony Swatton, for The Devil's Candy Store.



This sword has a unique blade with four blood gutters. This means that the wound will be in the shape of a cross in any said vampire one might run through with this handy weapon. Hmm... nasty.

Bonus - the video also features WildClaw's Aly and Charlie (shooting the video).

Speaking of Zombies

Now that you've warmed up your writing juices on Deathscribe and you've written a full zombie novel in addition to a ten minute terror play, go on over to Night Shade Books editor, Jeremy Lassen's page and submit it. If you're reading this past October 31st, yer too late.