328 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Childhood Fears

Willietalk.com

Automatonophobia

When I was eight, I had a ventriloquist's dummy named Willie Talk.  I don't know if Willie was a popular toy or not,  but I liked him well enough.  He came with his own suitcase, where he slept in my closet when I wasn't playing with him.  I tried to learn how to throw my voice without making my lips move, but I wasn't very good.  Still, I had dreams of one day being like Jay Johnson, the 70's comedian who was featured with his dummy, Bob, on the TV comedy, Soap.

But in 1978, a movie starring Anthony Hopkins called Magic was released. Magic was based on William Goldman's novel of the same name.  In it, Hopkins played a failed magician whose career received new life when he added Fats, his ventriloquist's dummy, to the act.

But Fats wasn't a funny dummy.

This was the TV spot they ran for Magic.

I never played with Willie Talk again.

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!  

329 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Friday Night Thriller Theater

Every Friday, I recommend a movie that can be streamed from Netflix!

Absentia

This week, I watched Mike Flanagan's exceptional 2011 indie horror offering, Absentia!

Fans of horror cinema tend to be a bit more forgiving of bad filmmaking, especially in low-budget or independent horror productions. I have certainly watched a lot of bad scary movies, but I am usually able to find some redeeming qualities in even the worst film to keep me coming back for more. It is a rare treasure, then, when one finds an extremely low-budget independent horror title that is a truly superior work. Such is the case with Mike Flanagan's Absentia.

Absentia begins at the end of a long and emotionally harrowing journey for a pregnant woman named Tricia. Tricia's husband Daniel had gone missing without a trace nearly seven years earlier. Now, the final paperwork has come through for Tricia to have Daniel legally declared deceased in absentia. Her sister Callie, a young woman in recovery from substance addiction, has come to Los Angeles to help Tricia finally close the door on this sad chapter in her life. But as events unfold in the film, we learn that Tricia's husband isn't the only person to go missing without a trace over the years in this neighborhood.

Could these disappearances have something to do with the creepy underpass at the end of the lane?

Don't let my lame description of Absentia dissuade you from watching this wonderful film. The events I have described here are only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There's a bit of H.P. Lovecraft in Absentia, and the movie is as much a horror film as it is a story about the stories we tell ourselves in order to cope with trauma.

Mike Flanagan (who wrote, directed, and produced Absentia through Kickstarter crowd funding) takes his time with the pacing of the film. He establishes his characters and the mood of the piece, first. We begin to like these characters and feel for them. Courtney Bell (Tricia) and Katie Parker (Callie) give emotionally resonant performances, and Dave Levine (Detective Ryan Mallory) is especially winning as a sincere cop assigned to this baffling missing persons case. Often while watching Absentia, I was struck with the sense that I was watching real people, not actors, struggling with the devastating unfairness of unexplained loss.

Remember what I said about Lovecraft, though. There may be a monster in this movie. Insanity, death, and the fate worse than death lurk in Tricia's neighborhood... and maybe, in the underpass.

Check out the trailer below!

Absentia

Running Time:  1 min: 55 sec

Absentia was such an exciting experience that I literally cannot wait to see Mike Flanagan's next picture, Oculus. Oculus is based on Flanagan's award winning horror short of the same name and stars Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica). Oculus premiered in September at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. I have no idea when it will be coming to theaters, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out!

Until then, check out the trailer for the short film, Oculus.

Oculus

Running Time:  1 min: 30 sec

And make sure to stream Absentia from Netflix, tonight!

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and...

Happy Halloween!!

330 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Paranormal Encounters?

In this clip, Ed and Lorraine Warren (the real life Ghost Hunters featured in James Wan's chiller-rama, The Conjuring) tell us what to do if we see a ghost! The video is a bit of a teaser. It ends after 7 minutes in order to try to entice you to rent or buy the whole thing on Amazon Instant Video. Even so, Ed and Lorraine pack in some good advice, and the moderator is truly terrifying!

Ed and Lorraine Warren: What To Do When You See A Ghost

Running time:  7 min: 06 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

331 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

iOS App

Home - A Unique Horror Adventure

Initially released for PC in 2012, Benjamin River's 8-bit style, horror narrative, Home, is available now for iOS Devices on the App Store  for just $2.99.  It's the perfect spooky adventure to take if you're a budget-minded horror gamer on the go!

Benjamin Rivers is a game designer and graphic novelist from Toronto. He developed the narrative in Home to change based on the decisions you make in the game. You can learn more about him at www.benjaminrivers.com, and more about Home at its website: http://www.homehorror.com/mobile/

Watch the trailer below for a glimpse of Home's spooky, throwback style!  

Home - iOS App Trailer

Running Time:  1 min: 20 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

332 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Poem

"The Takey Men" by Nick Gisburne

"The Takey Men" is another original and creep-tastic work written and read by Nick Gisburne!

Make sure to listen to more classic and creepy poetry & prose at Nick Gisburne's YouTube Page!!

"The Takey Men" by Nick Gisburne

Running time:  2 min: 51 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

333 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare 'o the day!

Bedfellows

Bedfellows is directed by horror short film maestro, Drew Daywalt.  Daywalt is like a modern day Poe, cramming serious scares into just a few short minutes.  Awesome!

You can see more scary shorts at the Daywalt Fear Factory YouTube Page.  And, don't forget to "Like" them on Facebook at facebook.com/DaywaltFearFactory.

Bedfellows

Running Time:   2 min: 31 sec

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!

334 Days 'til Halloween...

Scare o' the Day!

Audiobook

Here's something a bit longer for a creepy, Autumn Sunday afternoon, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft.  Read by Mike Bennett and produced by Podiobooks.

Mike Bennett is a writer, voice actor, and English teacher.  He has written the novels, Underwood and Flinch (a story about vampires. The scary kind!) and One Among the Sleepless, as well as a short story collection, Hall of Mirrors: Tales of Horror and The Grotesque.

Mike Bennett's literary work can be found at www.underwoodandflinch.com.  More of his narration can be heard at his YouTube Page, on his iTunes Podcast for Underwood and Flinch, and at podiobooks.com  

Hear Mike Bennett's reading of "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft by clicking this link to the 5-part Play List!

Mua-ha-haaaaa!!

Enjoy!!

and…

Happy Halloween!!