Horror Guy

I'm Baaaaaack.....

Howdy all you fiends and freaks! It's been a while (see my previous post), but I'm far enough along in school now that I've settled into a cool learning groove and can spare some time to blog about the genre I love so very much. I'm currently performing a few tweaks on this site and putting together a new 'Pieces' entry to catch up on some stuff that's gone on recently and in the past few months while I've been on a blogging hiatus. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer for Zombieland, one of my most eagerly anticipated flicks this year!

Horror Guy is Becoming a Hair Guy

Yeah, um, sorry you guys. I know I've been a bit out of touch but I actually started a 14 month program at the Aveda Institute right here in Portland and it has been keepin' my ass busy. Hasn't been much time for my favorite pass time in a while but now that I'm thru the Freshman part, things might be loosening up a bit. Still, posts here on the blog might be few and far between until I finish up school in May 2010. I'll pop in and out of here as I can but you'll likely find me most often on Twitter (link right there in the sidebar).
Back to life, back to reality...

A Terrifyingly Fun Birthday Surprise!

Holy crap on a crutch! Ok, so yours truly is about to creep into the realm of being '40-something' for the next few years and to mark the occasion, Cridafer and I are jetting off to probably my favorite place on the planet other than Portland -- AMSTERDAM!!!!
But that ain't all! Cridafer sent me a group of links pointing to places to go and things to do that we haven't already done on past trips and it turns out that on the big day (December 10th), we will be visiting Amsterdam's historically horrorfic Dungeon.  I'll just let the link speak for itself but needless to say, there will be pictures and tales aplenty for the ol' blog.

Pieces, 11/29/2008

Ug. I've eaten twice my weight in holiday goodies, been back and forth to east Texas, am gearing up to turn 40 and faced other various real-life horrors; time to take a break and sort thru a big pile o' pieces...

...no, I have not seen Twilight, nor do I intend to. At least, not until I can rent it on disc. Thinly-veiled abstinance-only education disguised as teen horror fiction is just not my cuppa tea.

...so you've heard me rant an rave about the horrifically skilled writing of Brian Keene and thru Keene I've discovered a couple of his contemporaries like Geoff Cooper, Ray Garton and JF Gonzalez, but I gotta say that Edward Lee, my most recent 'discovery', is driving me nuts with City Infernal. His writing is like watching a really good street fight, where both guys are getting in some really good punches and things are moving really fast and the cops could show at any moment but you feel thrilled and exhilerated to be alive and able to witness such a breath-takingly painful spectacle! <whew!>
Can't wait to bite into the next book in this series, Infernal Angel.



...blood brother Vault of Horror recently ran a poll among the "Cyber-Horror Elite" to determine the top 50 horror flicks of all time. Check it out; yours truly was among those polled for this survey.

...one of my favorite flicks of this year, Midnight Meat Train, is about to hit Blu-Ray! I'll be snatchin' this one up on February 17th.


...looks like I'll be out a bit of cash that day, as Feast III: The Happy Finish also gets the DVD treatment.

...speakin' of Blu-Ray, I just got my rented disc copy of The Strangers and will finally get to sit down this weekend and watch this flick I've heard so much about. Of course, I'll let ya know what I think.

Another 'Fest Success!

The annual HorrorFest that we held this past Saturday was a raging success! Probably the biggest, best, most entertaining 'Fest so far! If I hadn't been so preoccupied with making sure everything was running smoothly, I may have taken a pic or two. <sigh>
If any of the attendees did manage to get a few snapshots, send 'em along to me and I'll post them here for all to see.

Horror Guy's HorrorFest 2008

Yeah, yeah, I know I haven't been writing much for my 12 faithful readers lately. What can I say? October is always a busy month. But enough of that twaddle.

The 8th Annual HorrorFest that Cridafer and I put on each year is almost upon us! This Saturday, October 25th, we will once more throw open the doors of The Treehouse here in Portland to our friends and loved ones from across the country to join us for our yearly 'film festival' of flicks hand-picked by yours truly. With all the RSVPs we've received, this looks to be the biggest 'Fest so far! How do you wrangle an invite? Ya gotta personally know me, Cridafer, or someone else that is already attending. So if yer in the Portland area, get out there and GET TO KNOW ME!
This year's line-up of fun and frightul flicks promises to entertain, shock, and maybe even horrify. Check it out...

10:00am-10:25am: The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror! (1996)
Once again, the Simpsons kick off HorrorFest with a ghoulish anthology of  screamingly funny tales. See the evil thing living in the Simpsons' attic! Gasp as Lisa inadvertently creates a miniature civilization! Scream in terror as Kang and Kodos run for President of the United States!

10:30am-12:15pm: Young Frankenstein (1974) PG
EVERYTHING comes wonderfully to life in this dead-on Mel Brooks spoof/sort of sequel to the original horror classic Frankenstein!– non-stop laughs from beginning to end!

12:20pm-2:25pm: Ghost Rider (2007) PG-13
Years ago a teen-aged stunt-cyclist Johnny Blaze sold his soul to the Devil. Now Johnny is a world-renowned daredevil by day, but at night transforms into the Devil's own bounty hunter, the Ghost Rider!

2:30pm-3:55pm: Hatchet (2007) R
When a group of New Orleans tourists take a haunted swamp tour, they slam face-first into the local legend of deformed madman Victor Crowley. What follows is a psycho spree of seat-jumping scares in the tradition of  "old school American horror"!

4:00pm-8:45pm: The Main Attraction!
Slasher Show-Down!

In this corner...
A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master (1988) R
Years ago, the children of Elm Street laid the unquiet spirit of child-murderer Freddy Krueger to rest. But some evils refuse to stay buried. Freddy is coming back and this time Elm Street is not enough...he wants the souls of all the children in Springwood!

...And in this corner...
Friday the 13th: Jason Goes to Hell (1993) R
Jason Voorhees is back! In this shocking, blood-soaked installment of the Friday the 13th film series, the secrets of Jason's unstoppable killing instinct are finally revealed. And once you know the chilling facts, you'll see him in your nightmares...and Jason will see you in hell!

...Now FIGHT!!!!
Freddy vs. Jason (2003) R
Freddy Krueger enlists the help of undead slasher Jason Voorhees to escape his prison in hell. Once he is unleashed and the bodies start to pile up, it becomes clear that Jason isn't willing to step aside. Now, with a terrified town caught in the middle, these two titans of terror will enter into a horrifying and gruesome showdown....winner kills all!

9:00pm-11:00pm: Halloween (2007) Unrated Director's Cut
Rob Zombie reinvents the ultimate slasher classic, unleashing Michael Myers for a bloody rollercoaster of a rampage like fans have never seen!

11:05pm-12:45am: The Descent (2005) Original Unrated Cut
Six women on an extreme outdoor adventure are trapped while exploring a cave in a remote part of the Appalachians. As they push on, praying for another exit, they learn that they are not alone under the earth.

A Ripping Start to the Halloween Season

In my leg, that is. Seems I managed to rip open a calf muscle while decorating this joint for Halloween. Now I have to be off my feet until at least Monday, probably longer. Ah well...gives me plenty of time to catch up on/rewatch a lot of my favorite fright flicks.
Took a few pics of what I managed to get put up in the Treehouse so far. Click the fireplace boneyard below to see a few pics I threw up on the flickr account.

Happy October from Horror Guy

It's the most wonderful time of the year! We're only three days in and I've already managed to decorate the living room (mostly), watched Friday the 13th parts 1 thru Jason X, and tore a musle in the back of my leg. Guess I'll have to lay on the sofa for a few hours each day, watching flick after flick as the leg heals. I think I can live with that.

Happy October, all you fiends and freaks! 

'Tis the Season for Halloweenin'

A little over a month to go until our favorite holiday and the Horror Guy is gearin' up for a great Halloween season. First, I'm gonna talk Cridafer into hittin' the Shanghai Tunnel bar sometime in the next week or two, maybe drag some friends along to sit in Portland's creepiest bar and sip some brews. Then there's the HP Lovecraft Film Festival here in Portland over the weekend of October 3rd-5th. I've also recently discovered the writings of Al Sarrantonio, who authors some of the best Halloween fiction you can find on the bookshelves. Then there's the HorrorFest movie party that Cridafer and I host every year, this time on October 25th. Watch for the line-up here soon and if you are in the Portland area and think you might want to make some new friends, hit me up for an invite.
And finally the holiday itself on October 31st; not only is it the most wonderful day of the year, it's also my & Cridafer's anniversary--7 years this year!
So what are you doing to celebrate this Halloween season?

Pieces, 09/07/2008

The Day Job is now a thing of the past and the Horror Guy is taking some much needed time off from the rat race. Let's clean up pieces so I can get back to some rantin' on a regular basis...

...all this time off means I have time to set up my li'l personal space I like to call The Grimoire. It's coming along nicely and I'll soon have some shots up on my recently set-up flickr page.

...don't forget that HBO's new vampire drama True Blood debuts this evening. Set those DVRs!

...maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment in light of all the disastrous horror flick remakes going on these days, but I actually have high hopes for the upcoming remake/reimagining of the original Friday the 13th heading to theaters on February 13th, 2009.

...the HP Lovecraft Film Festival & Cthulhucon is comin' around again. If yer in the Portland area next month, the dates are October 3rd-5th.




...speakin' of film festivals, the Horror Guy's very own 8th Annual HorrorFest will be held on October 25th. Line-up and more info to come.

...Brian Keene's excellent zombie-themed short story The Ties That Bind is being adapted into a short film by the folks at Bamfer Productions. Check out the creepy lookin' trailer below.