Rondo Awards | Candle Cove

Just a little reminder to visit the Rondo site and vote by the end of the month.

Lady Morlock and I did so together earlier this week. A couple of healthy disputes: (Troll Hunter better than The Skin I Live In?) and couple of solid agreements: (Aaron Christensen rocks! Vote for article in HorrorHound (print only, sadly, but vote for it anyway!), tracing the evolution of Body Snatcher-like movies from 1956 to the present) And a whole slew of nifty new horror blog links to click on, including...

Kindertrauma, which we checked out just for the name. Great stuff. And it lead to this, a link to Candle Cove, which made Lady Morlock do her "omigod, omigod" thing. She made me read it and it absolutely blew my mind.

Seriously: so evocative, so creepy. Our living room was brightly lit, my wife was sitting next to me on the couch, but still I sank into this, got chills and BELIEVED. I almost posted a response: "Yes, yes, I remember that show too! Scared the SHIT out of me!"

And then I read the back story and interview with the creator, Kris Straub, whom I will now stalk.

Rondo Voting Time! Vote for Dr. AC's article!

Get your horror voting on...

And don't forget to show the love to Wildclaw emeritus member Aaron Dr. AC Christensen in the Horror Article category...

-- 'Invasion: A History of Body Snatchers,' by Aaron Christensen, HORROR HOUND #31. From Jack Finney's novel to Nicole Kidman's takeover, they're here!

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:

Happy Birthday Tom Savini!

Today's birthday is a big one in the world of horror. Mr. Tom Savini, the Godfather of Gore, the Sultan of Splatter, turns 64.



A graduate of Carnegie Melon (as is our own Aly Greaves, costume Queen and adapter of upcoming CARMILLA), Tom got his big break, as I am sure most of you know, when he was tapped by George Romero to provide a wrist slashing effect to the movie Martin. The very next year, Romero enlisted him for Dawn of the Dead, and the rest, as they say, is history. The list is too long to put here, but some of the highlights include Friday the 13th, Creepshow, Maniac, Trauma, Monkeyshines, Necronomicon, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and Day of the Dead. Savini has worked, as an actor, director, or makeup artist with the likes of Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper, Twisted Sister, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, to name a few, and has even voiced himself on an episode of The Simpsons.



Savini runs the Special Effects Make-Up and Digital Film Programs at the Douglas Education Center in Monessen, Pennsylvania. He is the author of several books on special effects including Grande Illusions I and II (1983, 1994) which detail the production and mechanical workings of many of his famous film effects. He is also associated with other books including Horror 101, by our very own Aaron "Dr AC" Christenson, for which he wrote the foreword.

So, from the very bottom of our black little hearts, everyone at WildClaw would like to send a big and bloody Happy Birthday to Tom Savini. We cannot imagine where we would be without you.

WildClaw Interviewed by Innsmouth Free Press, part I

Many of us here at WildClaw were recently interviewed by the good folks at Innsmouth Free Press as part of their celebration of H.P. Lovecraft's birthday. IFP is a faux-news site devoted to the work of Lovecraft and all things related to the Lovecraftian/Cthulhu Mythos Universe.

Here's part 1 of 5: Ambassador of Horror, Dr. AC himself, Aaron Christensen. Stay tuned for more WildClaw interviews in the coming week!

And here's a bit more about what they're doing over in Innsmouth. Check 'em out:

Innsmouth Free Press is a collaborative effort. We want readers and writers to help us map out and flesh out Innsmouth and the surrounding area, and to do it in epistolary form through news stories, opinion pieces, lifestyles articles, which blur the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Metafiction, if you will.

We also seek to publish short fiction inspired by Lovecraft’s writing, especially fiction that explores interesting, novel settings and characters juxtaposed with Lovecraft’s original fiction.

Our aim at Innsmouth Free Press is not to keep a static website that is updated with fiction every few months, but to maintain a breathing, energetic publication which evolves with help from the user; a publication where fiction does not take the shape of a self-contained short story.

In short, we’d love it if you would join us in this virtual playground. Many of Innsmouth’s streets and locations remain unmapped. Help us discover what lies in the shadows.