You're traveling through the Appalachian Mountains and suddenly your son goes missing. You're fishing on a wide southern lake, only to be taken underwater by a fish so powerful it must be a god. Your rifle is trained on an outhouse Easter morning as you wait for the hordes of hell to slither and explode forth, your prayers and aim the salvation for humanity. Your toes dangle in the water, languidly, as you bask in the sweet smells of summer, unaware that something is under the water, staring at you, hidden by the reflection of the trees and a perfect blue sky.

Experience all these and more in Bram Stoker award-winning author, Weston Ochse's first podcast short story collection. Titled ... (more…)

Our friends over at Horror Yearbook have launched a new feature, "Horror Hack of the Week," in which they take to task indie filmmakers who are famous for being indie filmmakers, rather than being known for their actual work.

Fear Zone doesn't necessarily endorse HYB's opinions, but we always get a laugh out of them (and we continue to steal sexy photos from them). In his inaugural column, Wil calls to the mat Ted Geoghegan, an indie whose work we've actually covered pretty extensively in Mario's Indie Horror Gallery even though none of us but MArio has ever seen them. Maybe they're good, maybe they're terrible. Who's going to go to the effort to find out? Maybe you will, after re-... (more…)

Here's a quick look at RUE MORGUE #89, which graces Newsstands on May 1st:

RAIMI, REPOSSESSED
More than fifteen years and three blockbuster Spider-Man movies since the last Evil Dead film, Sam Raimi returns to his low-budget horror roots with Drag Me To Hell. Featuring interviews with the director, co-screenwriter Ivan Raimi and makeup effects guru Greg Nicotero.
by Phil Brown, Jovanka Vuckovic and Joseph O'Brien

GRAVEN IMAGES: THE ART OF JAPANESE BLOODY UKIYO-E
Grotesque and sublime, Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints depict a long-held fascination with supernatural terrors and human slaughter. Presenting a look at the history of the elegant but shocking art form.
by Jason Lapeyre

ALL GUTS, NO ... (more…)

Issue #5 of SHROUD: THE JOURNAL OF DARK FICTION AND ART, is now available for pre-order.

Product Description

An introduction to the scandalous and scurrilous Hiram Grange, reluctant hero against the unseen terrors of the earth! Novella excerpts from the upcoming Hiram Grange series, featuring authors Richard Wright, Kevin Lucia, Scott C. Carr, Robert Davies, and Jake Burrows, fiction from Kim Paffenroth, Michael West, John Bruni, Norman A. Rubin, an interview with Ronald Damien Malfi, columns from Michael Knost, Steve Vernon, Norman Rubenstein, and DL Snell, the Webley revolver, and real life confluences!

AT THE PRINTER... AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW. (more…)

STARLOG magazine ahs been canceled, and has published its last issue, after 33 years. I'm stunned. STARLOG was huge back in the day. I still have my dog eared copy of #1, and I read the magazine religiously for at least its first 100 issues. STRALOG started out as a quarterly publication, then bi-monthly, then monthly. At the height of its popularity--around #19, I believe--the magazine even ran a subscription ad on national TV.

Under publishers Kerry O'Quinn and Norman Jacobs, STARLOG popularized Fall TV Previews for genre shows, episode guides, special theme books, and short film contests. The magazine spun off the gorgeous but short lived FUTURE LIFE, acquired Don Dohler's CINEMAGIC,... (more…)

Platinum Dunes' remake of Wes Craven's A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, starring Jackie Earle Haley as the child molester/dream demon Freddy Kreuger, made famous by Robert Englund (who no doubt now wishes he had squeezed in a few more sequels back when he had the chance, instead of complaining about doing one every year), starts filming next month. You know what that means, don't you? Every Tom, Dick and Hairy website out there will be competing for "exclusive" spoilers on the new film. Latino Review was first out of the gate with a positive review of the new screenplay.

Now Wil Keiper of Horror Yearbook is getting into the game with his new NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2010 fan website, the first ... (more…)

Author Hal Bodner's e-book for Ravenous Romances, In Flesh and Stone, is now available for download for five bucks or less. You can read an excerpt at the Ravenous Romances site for free. Here's the synopsis:

World renowned painter Alex Restin seems to have everything a man could want: wealth, youth, a beautiful face and an amazing body. But his lover, Tony, is dying of a mysterious illness and the doctors are baffled. And Alex cannot seem to free himself from the feelings that haunt him.

In desperation, he turns to the zodiac men -- twelve statues of spectacular naked men decorating Alex's home in a converted old library building.

Grief turns to obsession. Every moment of Alex's life ... (more…)

Remember when the Internet was fun? Specifically, when horror sites were fun? Before the flame wars, before the personal attacks, before people started using their blogs to correct, criticize, and ridicule other people? Good Lord, the worldwide blogosphere has become a bubbling, festering stink bomb of negativity. It's as if the rancor found in U.S. political feuds is just a symptom of a far greater affliction in this country. Call it what you like: egomania, snark, maybe even a touch of delusional messiah complex. Or just call it rude behavior.

I remember when Shocklines was a blast, before a handful of people tore it to pieces with their offensive comments to anyone who disagreed ... (more…)

In our continuing coverage of horror magazines, I'm pleased to present this interview with Jovanka Vuckovic, Editor-in-Chief of Rue Morgue. I first met Jovanka at Picture House's party for Guillermo del Toro after the Toronto International Film Festival screening of PAN'S LABYRINTH. With her bright blonde-red-orange hair she was striking even before she showed del Toro the brand new DEVIL'S BACKBONE tattoo she sported on her leg. Jovanka wears her passion for This Thing of Ours on her "sleeve," and her tenure at Rue Morgue has resulted in some of my favorite features.


Tell me just a little about your childhood. I'm curious about where you grew up, and what your earliest exposure to ... (more…)

Cult horror website 5 Minute Horror, maker of the short films "Tasty," "The Accomplice" and "Supersex," will host its first bi-annual film festival, "Bloody Shorts," streaming at 5minutehorror.com from April 10-17th, 2009.

The Bloody Shorts Film Festival will feature the best short work of horror filmmakers from around the world. Entries will be judged on quality of content, as well as competence of production. Film Festival award winners will be announced on April 17th.

B.K. Willerford, co-founder of 5 Minute Horror, says "We've had a lot of requests from filmmakers, asking if we could show their goods. We decided a film festival would be the best way to accommodate all of them. Now talented ... (more…)