Dumplings review on Killer-works.com

Last week, killer-works.com posted my review of Dumplings. On top of everything else I'm up to these days, I'm also hunting down disturbing films to review for the site. Thanks to Netflix, it's pretty easy for me to actually get these movies once I find out about them; but there's still that initial hunt for the title. Some day, I plan to write an article (or series of articles) on what drives certain people (like myself) to find these films. The standard argument of "dealing with fictional horrors helps us deal with real life horrors" just doesn't ring true. Also, disturbing films fall into a different category than horror films, although there is some crossover. Some of the films on my list of future reviews can fall under the categories of drama, romance and even (sadly) documentary.

It's a strange subject worth further exploration and, like everything else, may well become the starting point for a story of mine someday.

Cannibal Holocaust review on Killer-Works.com

Killer-Works.com has posted my review of the 1980 cult classic Cannibal Holocaust. It's the first of what I hope are many film reviews that I plan on submitting to them. Jill (the site's founder) required only that the films I reviewed would qualify as disturbing. Horror, science fiction, mystery, documentary, romance ... any genre, as long as it made the viewer uncomfortable. I've got a lifetime's backlog worth of movies that qualify and I look forward to re-visiting them and sharing what I've learned.

Otherwise, it's been a fair last couple of weeks. I'm still reeling a bit from finally getting my copy of Hell in the Heartland. It's great to have a story accepted, but it doesn't quite feel real until you're holding that book in your hands.

I also met Aaron Christenson, editor of Horror 101, a collection of 101 essays about horror movies. If you live in Chicago, you can pick up a copy at the Book Cellar. If not, you can order it through Midnight Marquee Press.

More later.

Wet Dog Perfume

I just got my copy of Hell in the Heartland today. It's a collection of short horror stories by Illinois authors and set in Illinois. My contribution, "Wet Dog Perfume", is set in that little dog park between the Diversey and Fullerton stops on the Chicago Brown Line. I hope it goes somewhere you weren't expecting to go.

If you want to learn more about the collection, check out the publisher's web site at www.annihilationpress.com. If you want to pick up a copy and meet some of the contributors in person, come down to the book launch party on March 24 at the Mix Lounge (2843 N. Halsted) at 7:30 PM. You can learn more about the launch party at www.twilighttales.com (look under Show Schedule).

I hope to see you there.

A Slight Change in Plans

I got wrapped up in other things, so the plan to make this blog a weekly review site just kind of fell through. I still plan to use it to highlight my own works as they see publication, as well as reading events I'll be participating in.

Book Launch

My first two published stories will be appearing in print for the first time on Saturday, June 9 at the Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago. They'll be available for purchase at the Twilight Tales booth. Chances are good that I'll be at the booth as well.

"Parable of the Lazy Rooster" is a story about coping with death and the relative virtues of faith vs. knowledge. While the characters are fiction, the setting of the story is the very real Red Lion Pub, an English-style pub located in Chicago. The story appears in the second edition of Tales from the Red Lion, a collection of stories written about this landmark.

"Cold Comfort" is another story about coping with death and appears in the second edition of Book of Dead Things. I plan to go more in-depth about this story in a separate entry, but it basically originated with an observation that prostitutes are almost always killed in horror stories. In fact, there are a lot of stories in which the entire plot is how a prostitute is hired by someone who turns out to be a vampire/werewolf/serial killer that kills her. I wanted to read a story in which a woman who deals with strange and and dangerous customers on a daily basis would actually be able to survive such an encounter. So I wrote one.

If you want to know more about Twilight Tales, their book line, their weekly reading series (going for over 13 years) or special events tied to Tales from the Red Lion or Book of Dead Things, check out www.twilighttales.com.

Introduction

This is my first web log. I've set it up primarily to highlight my published work. I also plan to post reviews of books, films and music that interest me.