A Gathering of Crows review

Well I have finally got back into reading mode after all the craziness of moving, and I must say my first trip back into the world of literature was a pretty good one. I just finished reading Brian Keene's "A Gathering of Crows" and think it is definitely a book you should be going out to your local Borders Book Store to pick up. Here is the lowdown on the book as featured on the back of the title:
"Brinkley Springs is a quiet little town. Some say the town is dying. They don't know how right they are. Five mysterious figures are about to pay a little visit to Brinkley Springs. They have existed for centuries, emerging from the shadows only to destroy, to kill, to feed. They bring with them terror and carnage, and leave death and blood in their wake. As the night wears on, Brinkley Springs will be quiet no longer. Screams will break the silence. But when the sun rises again, will there be anyone left to hear?"
To tell you any more about the story would be a disservice to Brian Keene. In "A Gathering of Crows" you will learn a little bit more about Keene's labyrinth mythos--a theme that can be found in most of his novels from "The Rising" onward--including how the labyrinth works and much more about the 13, the denizens that use the labyrinth to sometimes inhabit our world. If you don't know what I'm talking about in regards to the labyrinth and the 13 go back and read all of his recent paperbacks or if you haven't read them at all go back to "The Rising" and start now. But if you do know what I'm talking about in regards to this overarching mythology then you will also find some new surprises lurking within, such as a surprise visit to one of the 13's home worlds, and a visit to the labyrinth itself.  This is a tale that encompasses things on a much more cosmic scale than some of the other books. This is not to say that you have to know about the labyrinth or the 13s to enjoy this book, since each of Keene's novels is a "stand-alone" that tells its own tale and doesn't require any prior knowledge of the overall mythology. Needless to say I think this book gives "The Rising" & "City of the Dead" a run for their money as far as being Brian Keene's most exciting piece of fiction yet!
I am giving this book 4 and 1/2 Jolly Jack-O-Lanterns out of 5.
Go pick it up now!

Coolest thing I've ever seen!

And all the credit goes to me, haha.  Just kidding I wanna give thanks to Frank Browning for the template.  Seriously though I made this tonight while I was just sittin around thinking of something to blog about.  It turned out so well that I'm inducting it into the HalloweenOverkill Hallow of Fame, that's right I'm inducting myself. (You don't mind right?)  Also check out the bonus shot of Dracula and Roxas, I know you Ghouls are probably sick of seeing my new kittens but they are just too cool for school.

Dracula

Children of the Night

Children of the Night

Crystal Lake right around the corner!

The other day I realized that an opportunity had finally come to post pictures of something that is literally right in my backyard.  I've been holding on to these pictures with hopes that one day I'd be able to share them with poeple who may actually be interested.  Well what better group of people than the followers of HalloweenOverkill!  I literally live less than 2 streets away from "Crystal Lake."  Creepy isn't it?  Actually what is way more frightening is the fact that another horror landmark is only about another mile the other way.  What is this creepy landmark you ask.  Well I'll give you a clue.  Every town has one of these.  For now check out these pics of Crystal Lake and if you look real hard in the background of one you just might see a little boat full of unsuspecting victims.

Tim Seeley draws for me!

So I was gonna save this one for the Halloween countdown coming up later this year but I just can't keep it hidden any longer.  I was working one Saturday back home in Michigan when I got a call from my cousin who said, "You'll never believe who is at my local comic store!" He was right, I never would have believed it, but Tim Seeley himself was there and was offering to draw anything you wanted if you waited in line to see him. For those of you who don't know Tim Seeley, he is the author and part time illustrator of the comic Hack/Slash.  Hack/Slash is a horror comic from Devil's Due Publishing that centers around a girl named Cassie Hack who is a tortured by various horror villains known as "Slashers."  She also has a sidekick who carries around two giant meat cleavers, wears a gas mask, and goes by the name "Vlad."  The Hack/Slash series even had a crossover event that starred Re-Animator (Amazing!).

Anyway, my cousin hit the jackpot that day because he suggested that Tim draw Jason Voorhees (my favorite horror icon, maybe it has something to do with the fact that we share a name).  Tim then went to town on that little drawing canvas and the picture you see below is what he created.  That's right, he drew a one of a kind Jason Voorhees just for me!!!  My cousin said that as Tim was creating this drawing, he told him that it was one of his favorite fan-suggested drawings ever.  I didn't get to see the actual image until a few months later since my cousin decided to keep the content of the drawing a secret. When he finally unveiled the artwork my spine tingled and my jaw fell right off my face onto the floor.  I looked like Geena Davis from Beetlejuice!  I was speechless.  If you ever read this Tim I want to tell you thank you so much for bestowing upon me this epic piece of artwork that will forever hold a featured spot in my horror "man cave" for all to see!

Top 6 Horror flicks

I've seen a bucket o' horror films in my day, but these 6 are the ones that I would choose to keep if I had to sell my entire horror DVD collection (which consists of over 300 horror films). It was a grueling process to decide on just 6 and there will be honorable mentions at the end but these 6 (in no particular order) are the films that I enjoy watching the most and have had the most impact on my taste in horror films.

1.Dawn of the Dead 1978

This was actually the first horror movie I ever remember watching. I don't remember exactly what year it was but I do remember it was Easter Sunday. How inappropriate is that! The whole idea of being stuck in a mall while the zombie apocalypse occurred around us struck me as one of the most terrifying things anybody could come up with and still haunts me to this day.

  

2. Nightmare on Elm Street 1984

Total f$#%ing classic! This was a "Movie Mania Classic" in other words a movie I rented from our local movie mania video store so many times, the tape began to wear out. I also remember right after seeing this film my cousins telling me Freddy lived in their basement, and because I was like 6 at the time believing them. When I'm coming up from the basement in any house I still zip like the flash up the stairs without looking back because of this movie.

3. Evil Dead II 1987

Not much I can say about this classic that hasn't already been said other than I was a little late to the Evil Dead party. I didn't see this movie until high school. I remember thinking ugh how bad is this shitty sounding movie going to be? Little did I know that I would be watching the legend himself Bruce Campbell in his greatest acting role to date!  The one-liners and over the top gore and special fx were what mad this movie stick in my head for days after the first viewing. It wasn't long after watching this that I went back to movie mania to rent and catch up on a lot of the classics that I had skipped out on up until that point.

4. Friday the 13th 1980

OK to be honest I still wonder if this movie have any impact on my horror fan parents decision in naming me Jason? They won't fess up to it but the horror fanatic in me can't help but believe its true. This is one of those movies that whenever I watch totally brings me back to my youth. I can remember sitting in my living room scared shitless, eating potato chips, inhaling bowls of ice cream, and drinking Faygo, staying up way past my bedtime. Another inappropriate movie viewing was of this movie on the night that my family put up our Christmas tree one year!

5. The Return of the Living Dead 1985

This is another one of those films where I don't quite remember my first viewing but I do remember watching it over and over on HBO. Linnea Quigley may have been one of my first scream queen crushes and this was the movie that introduced me to her. The Tarman absolutely freaked my mind when I was just a kid.

6. Halloween & Halloween II* 1978/1981

*The reason I list these together is that the very first time I saw these movies they were one after the other and I feel that they should be watched as one viewing experience.

Again late to the party. I do remember my first viewing of these two movies was my freshman year of high school when I purchased them from one of K-Mart's old school much missed Halloween budget bins. I came home that night and watched them along with Halloween III all right in a row. Again these are films I can't say too much about that you haven't already heard, and I really do owe it to these films to give them full blog postings which will come at a later date.

Honorable mentions: Halloween III:Season of the Witch 1982, Phantasm 1979, Re-Animator 1985, Trick r' Treat 2008.

So there it is, my top 6 Horror films and some honorable mentions. Let me know what you think of my list by clicking the comments tab right down below.

The Burger King vs. Icons of horror!!!

Not once have I ever considered what our favorite horror villans do when they get the late night munchies, but now I know, they head over to Burger King!  These amazing pieces of art you see down below the post were created to be used as ads promoting Burger King's late night hours.  The posters feature some of our favorite icons of horror including: Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Ghostface, and Chucky.  If you notice Freddy's Jeep has a Dubai license plate, that is because the art was created by a company named Tonic based out of Dubai.  The question I pose to my readers is, who is creepier, these horror icons or the Burger King himself?  Have it your way in the comments.