Books

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Dies

erisa — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:58:39 -0700

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. did not write horror, but with an edgy sense of humour and wicked wit, he was able to write about some of the horrors of society and in the process teach us a little about ourselves.

Vonnegut is most known for his classic Slaughterhouse-Five, a book he took from first-hand experience as a prisoner of war during the World War II bombings in Dresden; but every short story, play, essay, and novel written by this genius was truly a work of art.

His wife, Jill Krementz, reported his death. She said that he suffered irreversible brain injuries after he fell a couple of weeks ago and was hospitalized. He died during the night April 11, 2007.

Please read this wonderful article celebrating his life, written by the New York Times.

He will be sorely missed.

The Mist- Motion Picture Production Log

erisa — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:49:51 -0700

Stephen King's Official Website is doing something very cool. They have started a production log for the filming of Stephen King's "The Mist", and King's Official site is providing everyone with the gory details, including publicity stills, on the set shots, and Quicktime video hosted by director of "The Mist", Frank Darabont.

Mike Carbone and Michael Becker from the Reel Horror Podcast got a little flak for talking about the similarities of King's story to that of "The Fog", but regardless of whether you agree or disagree, the production log is very cool, and all those interested in King's book and the movie due to come out November 21, 2007 will find it to be a little added bonus.

Check it out.

King "approved" Roth's Cell

skyhawk — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 11:36:59 -0700

SCIFI Wire sat down with Eli Roth (The Show's favorite director) to discuss Grindhouse, and revealed his concern on taking on Cell due to King's track record with hating the movie adaptations of his books.

"My first question when I adapted it was, 'Can I deviate from the book?'" Roth said in an interview in Beverly Hills, Calif. "It's Stephen King. Am I going to piss off Stephen King? He was mad at Stanley Kubrick [who adapted King's The Shining], I don't want him mad at me. And, finally, Stephen King was like, 'Do whatever you want.'"

Um, that doesn't sound like an endorsement to me. The sound I hear is a cash register. I'm sure King heard it too.

Roth said that he would necessarily change elements of King's book, while maintaining other elements. "I love the opening [scene]," Roth said. "But I also want to keep, ... not necessarily that same chaotic tone, but I want to keep the tension of the opening 40 pages of the book going throughout the whole film and introduce other elements. Because I think the book, for me, where it loses tension is where suddenly you don't feel like the phone crazies are trying to kill them. ... I find that it's finding other ways to make it so you still feel the tension that any second you could get killed [and] carrying that throughout the whole film."

There are few phrases that strike fear in to fans of books more that "introduce other elements." Most of the time it involves a kid that saves the day. Not saying it will happen here, but, seriously, this could go horribly wrong.

Sin-Jin Smyth book on the way

Goldenwarrior — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 04:16:26 -0700

Horror channel.com just released information on a book from Ethan Dettenmaier, it won't be availible until Halloween but its something to check out.

Anxious to see Ethan Dettenmaier's debut film, Sin-Jin Smyth, but sick of waiting for someone to finally pick it up for release? Well, while we can’t offer the film to you (yet), the creators have the next best thing; a book!rest of article http://www.horrorchannel.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4789 For more information on the book go here http://www.apexdigest.com/sjs.shtml

The Wickedest Magazine You'll Ever Read

Reel Horror — Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:37:42 -0700

If you're a horror fan, I guarantee you'll love this mag.

There's killer fiction, by Darren Franz, Amy Grech and many more. We added some slick poetry to this issue that you don't want to miss.

You'll find articles written by John Everson, Staci Layne Wilson, Simon Clark, Steve Vernon, Deb LeBlanc, Greg Lamberson. In these articles they all share their love for the classic era, all offering a different take on why they love it.

The art will blow you away too.

The issue is 111 pages long and is priced at $9.88 (fully illustrated)

You can purchase the issue here.

If you want to read some feedback on this issue, click
here.

All the money they make goes toward paying future
contributors.

Wicked Karnival #3

Reel Horror — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 23:25:06 -0800

For all you horror writers out there.....

I suggest you check out Carnival of Wicked Writers Issue #3. It's jam packed with reviews, interviews, great articles and some awesome original stories!

Go to http://freezenerve.proboards32.com/index.cgi for more info and to read all three issues!

King of HARD CASE CRIME

FreakZilla — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 20:01:35 -0800

Stephen King isn’t throwing in the towel after all. Winterfall LLC, creator of the HARD CASE CRIME line of pulp-style paperback noir novels, today announced that a new book by King will be the lead title of the brand’s second year. King’s original novel THE COLORADO KID, due this fall, tells the story of two veteran newspapermen and their investigation into a man’s mysterious death on an island off the Maine coast.

Launched last September by novelists and pulp buffs Charles Ardai and Max Phillips (and recently nominated for two Edgar Allan Poe Awards by the Mystery Writers of America), HARD CASE CRIME revives the storytelling and garish cover style of the much-loved pulp paperbacks that reigned on newsstands from the 1940s through the ’60s. The line features a thrilling mix of lost pulp masterpieces from some of the most acclaimed crime writers of all time and gripping new novels from the next generation of hardboiled authors, all with original painted covers (some by early 007 poster legend Robert McGinnis) in the grand pulp tradition. Authors range from current best-selling scribes such as Lawrence Block, MOMMY’s Max Allan Collins, Ed McBain and THE STEPFATHER’s Donald E. Westlake to Golden Age pros such as Erle Stanley (PERRY MASON) Gardner, Donald (MATT HELM) Hamilton, Wade (TOUCH OF EVIL) Miller and David (TO CATCH A THIEF) Dodge.

"Steve is an extraordinary writer, and as much a fan of classic paperback crime fiction as we are," says editor Ardai in a statement. "We originally contacted him to see if he’d be willing to write a blurb for our line, and he decided that what he really wanted to do was write a book for us instead. We’re thrilled that he wanted to be part of HARD CASE CRIME, and we’re very excited to get to introduce the world to the baffling mystery of THE COLORADO KID."

"This is an exciting line of books," Stephen King says in a release, "and I’m delighted to be a part of it. HARD CASE CRIME presents good, clean, bare-knuckled storytelling, and even though THE COLORADO KID is probably more bleu than outright noir, I think it has some of those old-fashioned kick-ass story-telling virtues. It ought to; this is where I started out, and I’m pleased to be back."

THE COLORADO KID will be published through Winterfall’s ongoing collaboration with Dorchester Publishing (home of Leisure’s ongoing horror tomes) in October 2005. The book will be released in the classic pocket-sized mass-market paperback format in which hundreds of millions of books were sold during the heyday of pulp fiction. THE COLORADO KID will also be available in audiobook and e-book editions from Simon & Schuster, publisher of King’s work since 1998. HARD CASE CRIME is scheduled to publish nine books in 2005, increasing to a schedule of one title per month in 2006. The label’s next two titles, due in stores this month, are HOME IS THE SAILOR by 1950s pulp master Day Keene and KISS HER GOODBYE, an original novel set on the mean streets of Edinburgh, by the rising young Scottish noir stylist Allan Guthrie.

For information about these and other forthcoming titles or to sign up for the HARD CASE CRIME mailing list, visit www.HardCaseCrime.com.

SOURCE: Fangoria

Koontz's Original Frankenstein

Reel Horror — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 22:18:21 -0800

Fango reports, "Horror veteran Dean Koontzâ€™s name was all over the publicity for last yearâ€™s USA telemovie FRANKENSTEIN, but his work wound up being rewritten for the final project. Now the author has teamed with sci-fi scribe Kevin J. Anderson to novelize and expand his original story into the DEAN KOONTZâ€™S FRANKENSTEIN paperback series for Bantam, with BOOK ONE: PRODIGAL SON debuting in January 25 ($7.99).

Apparently, USA made some major changes to the story and Koontz's wished them well and bowed out of the project.

Check out Koontz's Statement here

Make Love The Bruce Campbell Way

Reel Horror — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 23:48:02 -0800

Scifi.com writes:

"Fan-favorite genre actor Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead, Army of Darkness) told SCI FI Wire that he has written a new book, Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way, that takes a fictionalized and irreverent look at Hollywood romance. Campbell based the book loosely on his own experiences, going from single actor to married man to ex-husband to single and finally to married again.

"In my single days I was not getting laid right and left," Campbell said in an interview while promoting his last film, Bubba Ho-Tep. "I've never been able to take advantage of my status in show business."

The upcoming Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way is the actor's follow-up to his best-selling memoir If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor. "This is a relationship book without the facts," Campbell said. "I'm not drawing on any personal experiences. This is total fiction."

Campbell described the book as "a gag relationship book." "It's a series of fictional stories tied together by the theme of my trying to give a friend some relationship advice," he said. "The problem is I don't know anything about relationships, and so I end up going on this crazy journey to help him. Of course the whole thing blows up in my face and ends up being this crazy disaster." Campbell has flown below the celebrity radar for his more than 20 years in show business and has observed that celebrities don't always have the fun the tabloids say they do.

"This is not the best business to try and have relationships," Campbell said. "You look at the lives of celebrities, and these guys are dating chicks left and right, and you think they must be getting laid constantly. But the reality is that they cannot keep a relationship going to save their lives. While you and I think it must be glamorous, cool and wonderful that these guys are getting laid all the time, I don't think it's quite as exciting as everyone thinks it is." Make Love the Bruce Campbell Way is due in stores June 1."

Funny, we reported this over two years ago when Bruce himself sat down with us and answered some heavy hitting questions......

Today is Friday the 13th, Read About It!

FreakZilla — Fri, 13 Aug 2004 23:33:19 -0700

Today is Friday the 13th- what an appropriate day to launch the official website for the new Friday the 13th book entitled Crystal Lake Memories: 25 Years of Friday the 13th. Culled from exclusive interviews with over 200 cast, crew and industry luminaries, and fully illustrated with hundreds of never-before-seen images, Crystal Lake Memories will take you behind the scenes of all eleven films. From the conception of Friday the 13th, to the series' controversial effects, to the blockbuster success of Freddy Vs. Jason, Crystal Lake Memories is the ultimate document of the ultimate horror franchise. Presented in collectible hardcover and totaling over 300 pages, Crystal Lake Memories will slash its way to a bookstore near you in 2005. Follow the link for more.

SOURCE: Official Site