Modern Horror Gets Our Engines Revved

"I never feel more in the present than when I'm scared in a horror film."

Two interesting interviews and articles with author and critic Jason Zinoman, whose book Shock Value hit the shelves earlier this year. Modern horror is examined and the very nature of fear discussed. Big shout-outs to Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary's Baby, and the world of monsters. Enjoy.

Go-Go-Gadget Child Robot with Biomimetic Body!

Celebrate this Halloween AND get your geek on with one of the World's 10 Creepiest Gadgets, compiled by Sean Fallon of nerdapproved.com, like the Demonbells seen above! Just in time for the holidays!

Haute Couture Tentacle Dress

High fashion meets Cthulhu.

Bram Stoker's Journal

Here is a report from the CNN website about the discovery of Bram Stoker's private journal by his great-grandson, Noel Dobbs. It sheds some light on his creation of "Dracula." Of course, it will probably not mention his "homage" to F. Sheridan LaFanu's "Carmilla." Nope, probably not.

Camera Obscura Part One

If you are liking American Horror Story, we have a Halloween treat for you. In celebration of the CAMERA OBSCURA MOBILE GAME now available for iOS and Android, Drew Dewalt Studios releasing the 20 part demon hunting web series. Written and Directed by Drew Daywalt and Produced by MWG Entertainment and Jeff Farley.

Paranorman Trailer

From Laika, the stop-motion genius's that brought you Neil Gaiman's Coraline, comes Paranorman.

Zombies Feed on Recession Economy!

According to the Huffington Post, the Zombie archetype has generated piles of cash. It's become an industry. Just like, say, Miley Cyrus. I know what you’re thinking, but she’s more likely a replicant than a zombie.

Read the HuffPost article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/25/zombies-economy-pump-5-million_n_1030569.html#s432040&title=Zombie_Movies

How do horror aficionados feel about our symbols turning into… pop culture references? And how much is your zombie worth to you?

An Afternoon Treat... for Your Brain!

Dragging a little this lovely Friday afternoon? Watching the minutes tick by? Take two of those minutes to complete this horror movie title challenge, courtesy of Sporcle.com. Zing!

Maleficium: Dark Art Exhibition Tomorrow

An amazing collection of artists are showing tomorrow night (Sat., Oct. 29) at the first annual Maleficium: Dark Arts Exhibition. Curated by painter and sculptor, J. Anthony Kosar, this is a free gallery opening and will be filled with dark arts goodness with work by world-class illustrators, painters, and sculptors.

You know these artists from their work on The Sandman (Jill Thompson), 30 Days of Night (Ben Templesmith), Jack of Fables (Tony Akins), Star Wars (Dave Dorman) ... the list goes on and on. Twenty-nine artists and their work.

I'll be displaying my latest painting, Cthulhu Rising, created in time for the Halloween weekend. See you there!

Paranormal Activity 3 Breaks Opening Record

"Over the weekend, Paranormal Activity 3 took in $52 million at the U.S. box office, the best September/October opening in history and the highest ever for a horror movie."

Saw it a few nights ago on one of Lady Morlock's and my precious date nights. I hadn't seen the previous two, and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. And I find it encouraging that today's horror-movie goers (and potential WildClaw patrons!) are being taught the benefits of patience, the slow build, the clever mis-direct, the horror of the mental construct, rather than the cheap jumpscare and the CG rubber monster mask.

Slate article here:.

Weekends To Die For Photo Hunt

Put your observation skills to the test in this photo game. Take a look at each picture set and find the difference between the 2 photos.

Click on the image to be taken to the Travel Channel site to play.

Wes Craven at TEDx Chicago

Seeking Wonderland trumpet maestro and Friend of WildClaw, Kevin Richey attended a TEDx Chicago event earlier this month. He hit a seminar given by some dude named Wes Craven.



Kevin had offered to follow Mr. Craven into the men's room and lay the WildClaw elevator pitch on him, but alas, the opportunity did not present itself. Kevin did say he had a dandy time -- the event was based loosely on "the nature of evil". Here are some bullet points from Wes Craven's seminar:

• People don't pay to be scared because they're weird. They pay to have the fear that is in all of us brought to the surface. When it's brought the surface it can be dealt with. Fear can be very freeing when it is shared.

• Horror audiences tend to be very smart, brave, inquisitive, able to deal with complex issues, well adjusted

• Despite all our thousands of years of evolution, the human species still has nightmares. It's evidence that we have a biological need to deal with fear that our conscious mind doesn't want to deal with

• Horror is especially important for young people - it's a way for them to deal with complex issues as they are just beginning to understand how the world works in the midst of great personal change (i.e. puberty)

• The standard horror narrative is universal. That is, the car that breaks down in the middle of nowhere on a moonless night is a perfect metaphor for the shared truth - we are on a tiny planet in the middle of a mostly empty universe that is little understood, and anything can happen to us at anytime.

Come see Kevin wail with Seeking Wonderland on December 5th at the Mayne Stage for DEATHSCRIBE 2011

Horror comics

Reposted by permission from my good friend and excellent blogger, Mark Brett, a lovely installment about the grisly and gruesome nature of classic horror comics:

25 horror comics that prove... DOCTOR WERTHAM WAS RIGHT!!

In Dreams...

Many, many, many blood-soaked thanks to Anthony and Kathy Jaskulski for playing their part in making our Masque of the Red Death benefit such a huge success. They took time away from their busy schedules with school, work and Dream Reapers (Chicago's Most Horrifying Haunted House!) to help keep the folks on their toes at our not-so-little soirée.

Anthony showed off his make-up artistry using the faces of Kathy and Susan Hooper as his canvas, before transforming himself to creep out our guests, while their souls (or what was left of them) were captured by Kathy and her magical camera.

If you want to see some of Anthony's handiwork, and see what they do outside their day-to-day life, visit Dream Reapers, Chicago's Most Horrifying Haunted House!

Peanut Butter in my Chocolate...Wonder Woman and Horror

Seriously...the only thing I love more than horror and ponies is Wonder Woman...so the two together...le sigh...awesome-sauce.  If they put Wonder Woman on a pony fighting a Kraken...then I will die a happy woman.


Also, Wonder Woman will soon be drawn by Wildclaw friend and all around super cool dude, Tony Akins.  We love him.  He rules...and draws real good too.

Music Box Massacre Saturday October 15th, 2011

We think you should go.  Some of us will be there.

Imagine it, a typical art cinema on Chicago’s Northside. Quiet, beautiful, tranquil, and known for showing the same on screen…. except for one 24 hour period every October.
Noon, Saturday October 15th until Noon, Sunday October 16th— experience Horror on the big screen.
Film Line-Up:
Noon – Waxworks – (Silent film with live organ accompaniment!)
1:30pm – Burn Witch Burn (Rarely Screened 60’s Classic!)
3:05pm – Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman’s Nightmarish Vision)
4:45pm – The Abominable Dr. Phibes (Vincent Price!)
6:30pm – Wizard of Gore (with Herschell Gordon Lewis in Person!)
8:45pm – Halloween (The Original John Carpenter Masterpiece!)
10:30pm – Poltergeist (80’s Craziness!)
12:45am – Pumpkinhead (The FX Masterpiece!)
2:30am – Gates of Hell (Gore Galore!)
4:15am- The Vampire Lovers (Hammer Horror Lovely Ladies!)
6:00am – Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things (The Bob Clark Classic!)
7:45am -The Sentinel (Rare Screening!)
9:20am – From Dusk ‘Til Dawn (Tarantino & Rodriquez Insanity!)
Plus Vendor tables, prizes, and Charity auctions for Vital Bridges —- Vital Bridges’ mission is to help people throughout metropolitan Chicago impacted by HIV and AIDS to improve their health and build self-sufficiency by providing food, nutrition, housing, case management and prevention services.
Special Guests to be announced soon, but one confirmed guest will be HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS, “The Godfather of Gore” and director of such sick scarefests as “2,000 Maniacs”, “The Wizard of Gore” and “Blood Feast!”

Ticket Info: ADVANCED SALES ARE SOLD OUT! REMAINING INVENTORY TO BE SOLD AT THE DOOR!

• $29 from 8/15 – 9/15 only 350 available at this price!
• $34 from 9/16 – 10/14 only 220 available at this price!
• *$38 day of show * only 80 available at this price!

All advanced tickets are sold out for this event! The remaining inventory will be sold at the box office starting at 10am on Saturday

Bucket O' Blood

Totally unsolicited plug here:

Last weekend? Weekend before? Lady Morlock and I stopped into this joint not once, not twice, but THREE times in the space of three days.

Up until then, we had the same experience I'm sure you did, traveling down Milwaukee Ave, passing the sign

and thinking "hell yeah I want to check that place out."

Do it. It's that cool. It's the book shelf my Dad and I would have if we had a sweet bachelor pad together and I hadn't lost half his John Norman collection back in the eighties.

Speaking of the eighties, that's the truly glorious thing about the used vinyl. Yeah, there are the obligatory water-damaged CSN albums and whatnot, but it's mostly about the deep, strange and specific eighties shit. I grabbed an Art of Noise disc I'd been hunting and presented Lady Morlock with TIM CURRY's SOLO RECORD!!! You heard me. Tim Curry, swaggering and free-styling over crappy Eddie Money beats. It's incredible.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3--TWEET TO SEE IT FIRST!

Tweet to see it First! Bring Paranormal Activity 3 to your city early. #ParanormalActivity #Chicago Vote:paranormalmovie.com

TWEET TO DECIDE WHO IN THE WORLD SEES “PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3” FIRST!

Paramount Pictures Launches First Ever Global “Tweet To See It First" to Kick Off the Eagerly Awaited 3^rd Installment of the Thriller Franchise

Movie Will Premiere in 20 Cities Worldwide on October 18^th

HOLLYWOOD, CA (September 28, 2011) – In an unprecedented move, Paramount Pictures will debut PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 exclusively in cities where the most fans “Tweet To See It First”. This first ever of its kind campaign launched today at 8:00 a.m. PDT and is open to fans worldwide. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 will premiere on October 18^th in the top 20 cities with the most tweets, 3 days before the film’s global release.

“The support of this franchise from the online community is phenomenal. We again look to reward them for that support by offering them the chance to see it first, this time expanding our reach globally,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount Pictures.

To vote, fans can go to www.ParanormalMovie.com and select their city from a global map, which will also serve as the point of entry to create a tweet with a special set of hash tags that link directly to twitter. Once a tweet posts, it counts as a vote. A leader board will show the top 20 global markets in real-time.

The “Tweet To See It First” competition is available to audiences worldwide and ends at 11:59 p.m. PDT on Thursday, October 13^th. The top 20 cities will be announced on Friday, October 14^th.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 is produced by Jason Blum, Oren Peli and Steven Schneider and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman from a screenplay by Christopher Landon. Follow PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TweetYourScream for audience reactions and important announcements.

About Paramount Pictures Corporation

Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company's labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group and Paramount Television & Digital Distribution.

Horror-Pin-up artwork by Chicago artist

Local artist Joseph Rade was kind enough to donate 7 different prints of his horror pin-up artwork for the upcoming WildClaw benefit! Each print is about 11"x17" and printed full-bleed (of course!!) and once began as hand-drawn and painted images that have been scanned and fine-tuned digitally.

He has just started hitting the convention circuit this year with his artwork, and he's getting very positive responses... and most of his customers have been women (wink! wink!)! If you are coming to the benefit, keep your eyes peeled for these items on the Silent Auction block. You can see more of his work on DeviantArt or on Facebook.

Methinx this is a perfect fit for the event and our fans, don't you?

Frankenstein Necklaces from Von Erickson's Lab! Get em at our Benefit!

Von Erickson's Lab has sent along several awesome necklaces for our Red Death Benefit!  These babies are so fun.  Check them out at his etsy store and give the gift of horror while supporting fantastic independent crafters!  I love the drippy bloody one myself!

Tara McPherson's Lilitu From Kid Robot Black

I love this new piece from artist Tara McPherson and Kid Robot Black. Get the full run-down with a rotating full view of the piece from the folks over at Vinyl Pulse.

Dead Weight

Ladies and Germs, let me present to you some home-grown talent and their new movie, Dead Weight.

First, check out the trailer:

Here are some credits:

Written and directed by Adam Bartlett and John Pata

Featuring Joe Belknap, Mary Lindberg, Michelle Courvais, Aaron Christensen, Sam Lenz, and Jess Ader. Music for the film was done by Nicholas Elert.

Edited by John Pata

Director of Photography is Travis Auclair

Executive Producers: Chris Burgbacher; Nancy Cremer; Bradford Lasky; Maureen Lasky; Daniel Lowin; and Melanie Lowin

Produced by: Adam Bartlett; Dan Kiggens; and Lee Marohn; and John Pata.

Now, check out the poster: