It's almost time to get back to school for those of us who do such things or know people who do such things. As you consider such things, take a long look back at the last week to see what you may have missed in the world of the bizarre, horrific, and unusual:
- Zombos' Closet of Horror burst forth and vomited out Monster Times Issue 19 from February 1973.
- Sean Eaton brought us Schneider's theory of Hyperconstriction and Hyperexpansion at his amazingly readable R'lyeh Tribune: "The characteristics of the hyperconstricted mode include confinement, claustrophobia, diminishing life force, descent, retreat, and isolation. Hyperconstriction directs one toward the grave—or toward the womb. Taken to an extreme, it leads toward the experience of obliteration."
- Ginger Nuts of Horror interviewed SFX wizard Rebecca Hall: "I have always loved films ever since I can remember. I have wanted to be involved in making film. I was always arty at school always drawing faces and as I got older I started to appreciate make up and the changes it could make to your appearance so the two kind of fell together for me. I have always enjoyed horror films and thought that they always looked like the most fun to do !! As I was learning make Up I sort of discovered that I was better at the FX so from there really."
- Sharon Day talked about her book Growing up With Ghosts at Ghost Hunting Theories: "It all began in 1963 when my family moved into an estate in Fairfax, Virginia. Aspen Grove was built in the mid 1700s as a fort against Indians. In the 1800s, it was taken over by the North to be used as a field hospital and during the war, wrestled back as the same thing for the South. Both sides of the war agonized and died in that home. In fact, the wood floors were still stained with their blood, and the earth littered with bullets, guns, bayonets and the like."
- Morgan Freeman's step-granddaughter (I've never heard of such a thing until now) was murdered by her boyfriend, who shouted some bizarre things as he committed the brutal crime: "The perpetrator, identified by the New York Post as an ex-boyfriend, screamed "Get out, devils! I cast you out, devils! In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast you out!" as he stabbed E'Dena Hines, 33, whose grandmother was Freeman's first wife."
- It was all Duncan Bradshaw all the time at Nev Murray's Confessions of a Reviewer!! this week: "Right where do I start with this one? As I said previously I have discovered a new found love of zombie books, if they have something different. After agreeing to review this one I discovered it had a comedy element to it. Straight away my alarm bells go off. I like a certain amount of wit and humour in my books (the darker the better) but a comedy zombie book? Hmmm."
- John Kenneth Muir deconstructed 2010: The Year We Make Contact: "If Kubrick’s film took a big step back from the characters and attempted to observe the long arc of man’s development with a sense of cerebral detachment, Hyams’ film instead examines man at this juncture with passionate, colorful, up-close strokes. When considered in such terms, 2010: The Year We Make Contact might be viewed as a pretty strong and, yes, wholly valid complement to Kubrick’s film. It is both a faithful continuation of the franchise’s overall narrative, and at the same time an apparent commentary on the visionary world envisioned by Kubrick."
- Here, I reviewed the movie The Conjuring and Paul M. Feeney's novella The Last Bus. For those inclined to the political, I wrote a piece about conservative writers and Facebook at Liberty Island.
Illustration by Frank Brunner for Chaosium's Stormbringer 4th Edition Rulebook.
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