One of the things I love about horror movies is that 90% of the time, they are truly tragedies. I mean that in the Greek sense--not just that bad things happen, but bad things happen because the main character has made a mistake.

Sometimes the mistake is an ugly moral disaster, like hurting someone else or lying or breaking the law. A wonderful example would be Incident On and Off A Mountain Road, which if you haven't seen it, is the best one hour horror movie you can watch (and probably my favorite Coscarelli flick). I won't give away the ending, but let me tell you, that girl did something naughty.

Sometimes, the hero's mistake is just a mistake, like being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dagon is one of my favorites in this genre. The main characters are just tourists out on a boat, causing no harm, when bam! they're beset by a storm and forced into the village of the damned.

But where horror tragedy and your usual Oscar-winning tear-jerker differ is that the good horror movie punishes not just the characters, but the viewer, too. The element of suspense stretches the nerves and puts the viewer into a position of awkward tension. Moments of gore and grotesquerie churn the watcher's stomach. The anguish felt by the protagonists is echoed by the viewer's discomfort.

So go ahead, pop the popcorn and slip something dark into the DVD player. You can relax knowing that you're enjoying a cultural tradition going back more than 4,000 years. How's that for sophisticated?

Little Miss ZomCon

---

So ... how did you celebrate Valentine's Day? Was there romance? Fine French cheeses? A beautiful array of champagne and chocolate? Or were you alone, gnawing bones in the cemetery, like any other Sunday night?

Well, if you're like me, you're still in a haze of romance and eager to stay in your love bubble. So why not snuggle up with your sweetie to enjoy some of the most romantic horror movies of all time? I know the horror genre doesn't usually treat lovers kindly, but here are a few gems that will warm your heart.

#4. Masters of Horror: Sick Girl -- a one-hour short from Showtime, this quirky romance between two bug-loving lesbians is poignant while filled with plenty of gross-out moments.

#3. Frighteners -- Before The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson rocked the horror world with the enchanting story of a down-and-out medium fighting the powers of evil in a small New Zealand. Love lost and won again make this film great, but campy performances by Jeffrey Combs and Jake Busey make it fun.

#2. Dead Alive -- Another Peter Jackson tour de force, this film celebrates the transformative power of love as one man struggles to become his true self against all odds. And against all horrible, incredibly disgusting zombies. This is also one of the most painfully disgusting movies ever made.

#1. Fido -- If you haven't seen this movie, then you are missing out on one of the greatest zombie films ever made. And more importantly, it's a film that shines a light on the human spirit within in us all, whether we're repressed housewives or the undead.

Little Miss ZomCon

---

When I saw this image, I was blown away--because yes, that letter "i" looked just like a zombie to me. And that meant that my computer screen was no longer a safe haven for me. I already lock the basement and garage doors before I go to bed, to hopefully slow down the zombies when they come in the through the basement windows. And I have a bug-out bag packed with food, clothes, water and important documents in case I need to escape my urban neighborhood when the undead arise. This image (kindly shared by Isaac at http://amomenttothink.tumblr.com/) just reinforced my paranoia.

I'm only 65% joking when I talk like this. Once it gets dark, the front part of my brain is overpowered by my limbic system, which is certain that I might be attacked by zombies at any point. In fact, one night when I was driving with my sister, I observed a drunken-looking man wobbling down the sidewalk and announced: "I thought that guy was a zombie." She gave me a funny look. "You mean that literally, don't you?"

I just nodded and wondered if I could reach the crowbar in the trunk before the guy broke through our car door. Luckily, the light changed before he sniffed us out.

Some people would say that I've seen too many zombie movies. I'd be quick to point out that it only took one--28 Days Later--to permanently scar me like this. I only played the Resident Evil games as a training exercise. I'd also be quick to point out that I am a dues-paying member of Zombie Squad, and we're the first to tell you that we don't actually believe in zombies; we just want people be prepared for emergency situations.

You know, like the dead, rising from their graves to wreak destruction on the earth.

Little Miss ZomCon

---

So today happens to be a birthday of someone famous. Well, everyday is a birthday of someone famous. But today is a day for horror fans. George Romero turned 70 today. A milestone we all hope to achieve. Well, I do anyway.

Interestingly enough, Romero started his career with a job for Mister Rogers. Yep, that Mister Rogers. Shortly after that job Night of the Living Dead was filmed. And so was born the legendary monsters we have come to know and love. But not really.

Zombie lore has been around for a long time. In Voodoo, there have been references to zombies for ages. Serpent and the Rainbow by Wade Davis is a study of the practice (check out the book or the movie. Interesting stuff.)In some ways Frankenstein can be called a zombie story as it deals with reanimating the dead. The first movie with them was called White Zombie and it was made before Romero was even born.

So Romero did not create them, but he made them cool. Scary cool at first. But over the years, they have evolved into more than just scary cool. Sometimes they are tragic characters. Sometimes they are comedic characters. Sometimes they are even romantic characters. And sometimes they are scary as hell.

However. Those who know me realize there has to be a however coming. Romero hasn't done a tremendous amount of memorable work outside the zombie arena. Creepshow and Martin (not the tv series with Martin Lawrence) being his most notable excursions away from the zombie sub genre. In the last 20 years there have been 2 non zombie movies directed by him. In many ways he seems to have fallen into a rut. Oooh, I know, lets do a zombie movie like this. How about one like this. The industry should be ashamed that Romero was cut out financially from the profits of the original. From that angle I can see the desire for him to get paid with a successful zombie movie. But enough is enough. Do something different. I would like to see something original. Utilize the creativity that was used back in 1968 and give the genre something to buzz about. The next one he makes should be called Rehash of the Living Dead.

Thank you for your contribution to the genre. You created an industry and a monster that will (ironically enough) live forever. I wish the man the best of days and many more to come. And I look anxiously towards the next film he makes where he leaves his comfort zone.

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

Let me rephrase that, because anyone who has faced a startled herd of horses will tell you that it is a terrifying experience. Anyone who has been gored by a bull knows that particular 2,000 pound herbivore is one of the most frightening creatures on the planet. And the hippopotamus kills more people on the African continent than any other mammal. So I need to clarify my point.

Nothing herbivorous is horrifying.

Herbivorous animals kill people who attack them or startle them or compromise their territory, and we as humans understand that. We might even sympathize a little. Carnivores kill us for the all same reasons, but some will go further. Some will stalk us. Study us. Attack us while our backs are turned and eat us. And while it's understandable behavior, it goes against everything that we like to believe about ourselves.

We're man. We're the top of the food chain, and with our tools and opposable thumbs, we've set ourselves aside from the natural world. As a human being, I like to think that my world excludes the sensation of hungry eyes drilling into my spine.

But it hasn't always been that way. Just a few centuries ago, people were afraid of lions and tigers and bears ... and wolves, mountain lions, jackals and dingos, just to name a few. These creatures are smart and deadly, a combination that makes the skin crawl. And even though we've managed to wipe out most of these creatures, our skins still remember them. We might even crave their presence in our lives, turning to movies about werewolves, vampires and psychopaths to satisfy the hunger.

So when you turn out the lights tonight and get ready for a good scare, the odds are good you're going to watch a movie about something with big teeth and a thirst for your blood. Something carnivorous. Because herbivores just aren't scary.

Except for bunnies.

Thanks to Tim at http://www.assaultblog.com for putting the Chainsaw Bunny out there for free use!

Little Miss ZomCon

---

About a year ago I initiated a back up of Horror-Web. It was my first time, but it looked simple. The online tools had a button that basically said "Click Me To Backup." So I did. But alas, I made the mistake that so many do on their first time. I didn't use protection. I didn't think I needed any. And not thinking got me in trouble. The backup crashed. But it did so ON the server. And that was kinda not good. It destroyed one file. That file was the one that referenced the locations of the GAMES reviews. Oops. That meant the links for those reviews were lost in cyberspace.

Almost a year later I got an old Horror-Web backup disc and today the Games section is restored. HUZZAH! Well, mostly restored. The backup file was from early 2008. So we kinda lost a few things. They are still there somewhere, but finding the reference links would be like finding one drop of water in a swimming pool (the big kind, not the wading pool you setup in your driveway to cool off your tootsies.)

What does all this mean to you? It means that the GAMES review section is now back. And it will be added to again. Without the file I wasn't sure what would happen to new reviews. I have several non computer/console games that will be coming up soon.

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

Well, not sure why or how, but the Christmas song contest netted a total of one email. Apparently I won $470,000 Euros. Woo-hoo. I already sent my bank account info to them so they could deposit the money. Looks like I am gonna have some more free time to work with.

But seriously, no entries were sent for the contest. I thought it was fun to do. Had a blast working up my Dexter song. Normally I would not consider myself in the running for any prizes offered, but in this case I took first second and third prize.

I need to figure out the contest thing. What sorts of contests would you like to see? I know I need to focus on getting more updates and content going. My birthday gift today is gonna be adding content here. YAY.

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

Let's get the facts straight: Edward Morris, a 2010 Bram Stoker award nominee, has been up for big awards before. In 2005, he was short-listed for a British Science Fiction Award. In 2008, he was nominated for the Rhysling award for science fiction poetry. And while Morris thinks the odds are long for his short story "Lotophagi"--a piece detailing a group of Sasquatch rampaging a communal farm--to win the Stoker award, this might just be his year. People are beginning to take note of this multi-genre writer.

This is because Edward Morris is pretty damn brilliant. I suspected this the first time I met him, at this year's Orycon, where he discussed Kafka, The Fly, and pulp fiction with equal verve. But I knew it for certain when I sat down to talk to him in his Portland home. It's the kind of place packed with paintings (he and his partner run an art studio) books, more books, and one clever cat who seemed to like me. When Morris passed me a cup of coffee, he spouted references to more fascinating science fiction writers than the local library contains.

Not only has he read more than most people, he's done more. Morris has spent time as a house cleaner, a stand-up comedian, a ticket salesman for the symphony, a caretaker for the developmentally disabled, and even a farmer. He's lived in Pennsylvania coal country, San Francisco (you can read about it in his memoir, Atlantis 1999) and settled in Oregon in the last ten years or so. Through it all, he's stuck with writing--much it of focusing on alternative history.
His new series from Mercury Retrograde Press is set in an alternate history drawing on those Pennsylvanian roots. It's smart and it's dark, and it's going to run a whopping eight volumes (small volumes, but still!). Best of all, Mercury Retrograde is running a sort of Volume 0 on their website, in the form of the serial "Death, Inc." They're even polling their readers to choose which possible ending to post. It's an exciting project that uses the Internet to the small press's best advantage.

While Morris has a number of projects forthcoming (he has a story in The New Dead, a hot zombie anthology coming out in February), the Crooked Man series has him most excited. It's an intense new mythos, worthy of H.P. Lovecraft but drawing on a wealth of literary traditions and a remarkable grasp on history--as Morris himself says, "I use the parts of history that are the least believable, while the stuff I make up sounds real."

I left Ed Morris with my head spinning. He'd pretty much doubled my reading list and rekindled my interest in anthropology (he minored in anthropology in college after childhood exposure to the topic). But when I tried to compliment him on his brains, humor and coffee-making abilities, he brushed it off with a casual, "at the beginning of the day, I still put my pants on one leg at a time." And for a man who writes with no cliches, I found it an odd thing to say.

If you'd like to learn more about Edward Morris, check out his blog: http://edwardrmorrisjr.blogspot.com/

And for information about the Crooked Man series, visit: http://mercuryretrogradepress.com/authors/Edward_Morris.asp

By Little Miss Zomcon

---

Ok, so I am late and trying to entice you all into a contest that should have been launched a month ago. The idea hasn't changed from the previous post I made about it. I am trying to get some special prizes for the contest. As of right now, the prizes will be money. Boring you say? Surely you jest. What can't be done with good old fashioned greenbacks (well, they aren't exactly green anymore, and I am partial to the gold coins myself.) I am thinking $25 for first, $15 for second and $5 for third. The plans also include recording and posting the winning entries on youtube with McKenzie singing them. Oh yeah, here is where to send your entry ChristmasSong@horror-web.com

To be honest, when I first thought of the idea of rewriting songs, I wasn't sure where to go with it. I talked with my kids and they loved the idea. McKenzie went with me to get Chinese food and we talked about it. As we talked I realized that rather than being a general song it might be more fun to make it very specific. Rather quickly I began adapting Winter Wonderland to a Dexter based song.

It took me in the neighborhood of an hour to redo the lyrics. So this won't be a very in depth process for you to enter. Here is my sample. And remember, you need to read it in "tune" with Winter Wonderland. May have an audio clip posted on youtube in the next day or so.

Blood drops drip, are you watchin?
In the bay, bags are sinkin.
A beautiful sight, a drop on a slide,
and sailin on a humid summer night.

Gone away...the ice truck killer
Time to hide from Agent Lundy
He chooses a knife and then takes a life
Huntin down the people who must die

In the court he can find a killer,
then pretends that he is arthur mitchell
He'll say "Who'd ya kill?" and we'll say "no one"
But Harry's Code helped to bring you down

Every day, he'll perspire
while the world, gets more dire
to face unafraid, the kills that he made
murderin the killers of the land!

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

So here we have it, the official song contest post. I realize it is a bit late with December already starting, so please tell everyone and get amped up. I am going to have some cool updates over the weekend about prizes and judges.

ChristmasSong@horror-web.com

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

I have been thinking about this lately. There are times when a certain theme becomes all the rage and multiple movies hit in that sub-genre. Granted, there are some sub-genres that have a life of their own. Zombies and Vampires seem to be the biggest. Slashers have always come and gone. But the 80’s was it’s own set of unique.

Most of the iconic modern monsters were born then. Jason, Freddy, Michael, Pinhead. But there were some other interesting moments mixed in there as well. One interesting sub-genre was the Christmas horror movies. Silent Night, Deadly Night being the most renowned as it was the subject of some controversy. While other movies had quietly come and gone with Santa killers, this one struck a chord with conservative America. Perhaps it was the more clever word play in the title. Or perhaps it was simply the sudden realization that there was yet another movie twisting a holiday icon into a killer.

I have commented a number of times about the current trend of remaking every halfway decent and halfway horrible film from the 80’s. An odd dichotomy really. Good movies get the remake treatment out of homage to them (and the belief that a remake will line the pockets easier than being original will. While the halfway horrible ones sometimes get remade because someone feels the idea was better than the end product and if it had only been done slightly different… well, then they could line their pockets with the new version. With all this running through my head I can’t help but wonder when we are going to see a return to the festive sleighing of a certain jolly old bastard. Heh, sitting here writing this reminds me of a story I had been working on before the crashing and burning of my old computer’s harddrive and loss of all my writings. I know, I am an idiot for not having them backed up. I have backups of the writings I have edited for others but not my own.

Maybe what we need to liven things up is a little holiday cheer. I feel a writing contest coming on. I want an original reworking of a holiday song. But whore it up. I mean horror it up. Take the tune and rhythm of a Christmas song (preferably one that people will know) and write new words for it. I want to come up with some interesting prizes for this, so I am not gonna say right NOW what the prizes will be. Or who will judge them. But in the next day or so I will. And who knows, by the time I get home and post this I may very well have figured out what and who.

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

In the Dark Ages, hundreds of people were tried and executed for committing the crime of lycanthropy. Unfortunately, the accused were probably either mentally ill, sufferers of porphyria, rabies, or other diseases, or just victims of simple neighborly revenge for slights real and imagined. It was difficult to prove you weren’t a werewolf if you were accused by a so-called witness. They took their werewolves almost as seriously as their witches, maybe more so due to the much more monstrous nature of the beast and the results of its attacks. Even witches didn't savagely dismember and devour parts of their victims.

---

Werewolves. They're scary for so many reasons: slashing claws, powerful jaws, keen sense of smell, super speed. But it's not just their remarkable abilities as predators that make them icons of horror. It's that by day they look just like us. All that deadliness can be wrapped up in a package no more nerve-wracking that your grandmother.

---

---

Vampires first reared their head on television in the form of the charismatic and powerful Barnabus Collins. He was an old fashioned vampire. Dark and brooding with an ominous aura about him, but so utterly charming that you couldn't help but be drawn to him. Dark Shadows brought vampires into the living rooms of America. This series brought a dark taint to the vampire mythos. Not that vampires were all pretty and fancy before this, but there was something unique in this show.

Kolchak took us from the quaint and charming (yet sinister) to the dirty nitty gritty city life. While his stories dealt with a variety of supernatural and unknown evils, one of his earliest adventures dealt with a vampire. Kolchak was an investigative reporter who constantly found the unseen and unknown. Often against the direct command of his boss, but he was a fighter and no way would he let something as minor as a boss derail him. Several years ago this series was revived with mixed reviews. It was a shortlived revival. Not even lasting half a season.

Nick Knight also known as Forever Knight in a different world. Nick Knight was a vampire cop. The pilot had Rick Springfield as Nick Knight, but failed to continue past the pilot. Sometime after that the series was launched with a different lead and a different title. An intriguing series with a vampire who had a conscience. He had a higher set of morals. He wasn't a vampire who saw himself as apart from humanity, rather as a lost member of humanity desperately trying to return to the fold.

The X-Files is easily the most identifiable series. Mulder is an FBI agent constantly seeking out and finding the unexplained. Delving into his investigations in spite of the response and attitudes of his superiors. Sound familiar? The creator of The X-Files commented publicly that Kolchak inspired the show. Mulder dealt with aliens, conspiracies and monsters. There were a few run ins with vampires. The most interesting one involved Mulder killing a boy who he believed to be a vampire and then having to explain himself to an investigative team who weren't exactly on the same page with the supernatural.

If Mulder became the heart and soul of the supernatural on tv, Buffy the Vampire Slayer managed to win the popularity contest. An incredibly successful tv show based off a really, really bad movie. For the three people who don't know, Buffy was a high schooler who found herself entrusted with protecting humanity from vampires. She had to balance pop quizzes with beheadings. Make sure she brought her homework and her stakes. A well done series that really and truly brought vampires back into the living rooms of America.

Following on the success of Buffy, one vampire from the series got his own show. Angel. Angel was a vampire that Buffy got romantically entangled with and thus never got around to staking. Well, she did stake him once but he got better. Angel took his series in a darker and more grown up direction than Buffy ever did.

Even Southpark got bitten by the vampire bug. They had an episode where Butters became part of the Southpark Society of Vampires. Was it good? Was it crap? It was Southpark. Make of that what you will.

Moonlight was a shortlived series with a vampire as a detective. It received some positive marks from critics yet still only managed to survive for a single season.

Supernatural is Flunky's territory. I don't want to step on her toes (she might hurt me.) They have had some episodes dealing with vampires, but in her words "I hate their vampires." Since every other aspect of the show requires she smoke a cigarette afterwards, I can only assume that their vampire aspect isn't very good.

True Blood brings vampires out of the closet. The dark underside of vampire society has been cleaned up a bit and made legal. As a minority group they deserve the same rights as everyone else. Those rights also include persecution. But of course the vampires aren't as cleaned up as the government wanted them to be.

Vampire Diaries seems to be the heir apparent to Buffy in the Twilight era of teen angst vampires. I haven't checked this out yet, but it seems to be well received so far.

This may not be the definitive listing, but it contains the shows with which I have at least a passing familiarity with. I am sure I missed some things. Many shows have touched on vampires in some way. I tried to focus mainly on shows that had a strong vampire influence.

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

When Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, he took the folk stories of Eastern Europe and turned them on their head. Before Dracula, vampires weren't sexy. They didn't menace in the dark and then seduce their prey: they were loathsome killers escaping their fetid graves. They were filthy, stinking and possessed of a low, animal cunning, creatures with a close resemblance to the fast zombies of the film 28 Days Later.

Bram Stoker's vampire changed everything. Unlike the folk-mythological vampires, Dracula lived in a castle. He made complex plans and manipulated intelligent, modern men. He formed alliances and seduced even the innocent . Plus that, he dressed well, traveled the continent of Europe, and could even navigate a real estate contract. If it weren't for that nagging problem with the sun, he would have been the perfect man. And in fact, that kind of appeal has become the foundation of the vampire genre. From Anne Rice to Stephenie Meyer, from Blade to Once Bitten, the vast majority of films and books about vampires have focused on the sexy, aristocratic side of the vampire legend.

Maybe it's my proletariat background or my Eastern European heritage, but I've always been drawn to those odd-ball vampire stories that recollect the ancient, dirty vampire. My personal top-three vampire films are Lost Boys, 30 Days of Night, and Near Dark. They all feature vampires who are dirty low-lives just aching to suck blood and wreak havoc on humanity. Watch them with a big plate of pierogi and some cheap beer for guaranteed entertainment.

Little Miss ZomCon

---

Once upon a time there was a director named Tim Burton. And once upon a time before he reached fame through The Nightmare Before Christmas he directed a little short called "Frankenweenie." It was about a young boy named Victor who brings his dog Sparky back to life after he gets hit by a car. It's a cute little short that is one giant nod to the 1931, Frankenstein movie.

Fast forward 25 years later, after Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands, Sweeney Todd and many others (including his upcoming Alice in Wonderland) have made him a household name and Burton's at it again - remaking one of his earliest shorts. But, there's a twist. This time, not only will Frankenweenie be a full length feature film, it will be done with stop-motion animation as Burton is well known for.

I'm a bit on the fence about how I feel about a director remaking something he's already done. On the one hand, as a general rule, remakes suck. We all know this to be true. But, I can't think of any remakes where the original director AND creator was remaking something he'd already done. This, in my mind, somehow excuses it since it seems to me Burton had always wanted to make Frankenweenie as stop-motion animation, but due to budget and time restrictions was unable to do so the first time around.

For those that are wondering, the film is of course being produced by Disney and will be in black and white. It currently has a 2012 release date set, and quite frankly, I'm a little bit excited.

---

---

---

---

It's time to write my first blog for HorrorWeb, and I should be sharpening my wits--but all I can think about is sewing. And maybe that's appropriate. After all, why does anyone living in the 21st century sew? For the same reason that I fill my pantry with dried goods and take the handgun down to the firing range: because no matter how bright the streetlights, the dark is out there, and I want to be ready for it.

Once upon a time people lived life knowing that on the other side of their front door, wolves and bears and slavering beasties waited with hungry bellies and sharp teeth. Winter didn't mean a higher electric bill--it meant a drawn-out siege against starvation and hypothermia. Being prepared, always and constantly, was a survival mechanism kept well-honed by fear.

Most of us don't worry about preparing for winter or developing the skills to plug a ravening grizzly. That's because most people are content to put fear on a shelf in a museum, just like all those other prehistoric relics.

But not us. Those of us who love horror know that fear is always lurking in the closet, ready to stoke our instincts and stir our limbs. So why not embrace it? It'll get you ready for when the lights go out.

And who knows what's out there in the dark.

Little Miss Zomcon

---

I know you know that I'm not telling the truth. I know you know they just don't have any proof.

As you may have guessed from my little jingle (or simply read the title) today's SPOT is about Psych. For those of you who've been living under a rock or don't have access to cable television, Psych is about Shawn Spencer and his partner Gus who help the Santa Barbera Police Department solve some crazy crimes using their psychic detecting skills (well, Shawn's the psychic, Gus is the pharmaceutical salesman). Except, you know, they're not psychic.

The show is well known for its homages and references to anything made in the 80's so why wouldn't they do an episode entirely devoted to The Exorcist? They did Friday the 13th (SPOT forthcoming...) so this would obviously be the next step and... hehehe I loved it. Shawn and Gus are called to the scene to investigate the murder/suicide of a young girl at a Catholic school. But when the priest claims the girl was possessed the whole episode become one nod to The Exorcist after another. I mean they got the music and the crazy crab walking and the young and old priest and even implied cross masturbation (hell even the layout of the house they were in was the same). This episode must've been so much fun to make and it was equally fun to watch.

Psych airs on Fridays at 10/9c on USA and you can check out this episode on USA's Psych page.

---

---

I received a press release earlier this week from Delerium Books. They are changing their business model. The text from the release is:

Delirium’s trade paperback and book club will end this month with the final featured title: David Jack Bell’s The Girl In The Woods. My focus has shifted significantly over the past few years and digital editions will replace the trade paperback line in Delirium’s production schedule.

This will no doubt become a hot topic, but I’ve come to the conclusion over the past few years that the digital medium is a necessary step for the survival of not only the genre in literature, but the entire book industry.

The only thing I can say at this point is this: it’s no longer become a matter of whether you like or dislike the digital medium; it’s the point that the business of publishing needs to change in order for it to survive. The money-makers for each physical book that is produced sadly barely include the two essential components which is the author and publisher. The money that changes hands profits printers, book binders, distributors and shipping carriers, which is great, if it weren’t for the fact that what little is left (a very small pittance) falls into the hands of the true artist and those that work hard to bring their book to a broader readership.

The digital format has the ability to change all of this, to even the playing field, to compensate justly the starving artist and independent entrepreneur instead of the bloated corporation. It also allows readers to purchase new works of fiction for much cheaper than limited editions, trade paperbacks and even mass market paperbacks in some cases.

I’ve always been one to do things my way and carve my own path and it’s time to start a new direction.

Don’t get me wrong: I love the physical book as well, and plan to continue to produce limited edition hardcovers for collectors, but I feel the time has come for change, to focus on digital.
Delirium’s amended publication schedule will be posted in the coming weeks. Instead of monthly, Delirium will take on an irregular production schedule of primarily digital releases with some limited edition hardcover releases in the mix.

Another major reason for the reduced production schedule is my involvement with Horror Mall. This company has really become a force in the past year and I feel it is essential to the growth of the genre at the independent level. It is a company that is at the forefront of helping many authors, artists, publishers and movie studios. And starting this month it has become my full time job. My goal when I founded Horror Mall in 2007 was to make it the gateway to independent horror and it is well on its way. With more of my focus on Horror Mall, I will be able to promote digital titles not only from my own press, but from others as well. And not just digital, but the fine limited edition publishers that are in business. And Horror Mall will be there to support other entrepreneurs, artists and many others in our genre.

This is something that bothers me immensely. e-books and pdf downloads and the recently popular kindle have been on the fringe of the publishing industry for quite some time. Delerium has been a fairly large player in the small press for quite some time now. Seeing them make the shift from physical books to digital is disturbing to me.

Times change. LP to 8 track to cassette to CD to MP3. A progression that we can all see and understand. But that is a technology that has been evolving from its inception. Books have been mass produced for almost 600 years (1440 was the Gutenberg Press invention.) And before that they were made by hand. Books have been part of human history in such a way that they are almost what has defined us as a civilization.

As a business decision I understand it, but I will never read a digital version of a book with the same appreciation as holding a printed copy. I read PDFs and emailed proofs and text documents on a regular basis. But I have never referred to them as books. And I never will.

Call me old fashioned, but my home is filled with bookcases. Shelves and shelves of doorways to worlds other than our own. Boxes of books that I haven't the shelves to display. The only way I will ever give those up is for my house to burn down. And if that happened I guarantee you one of the first things I would do with my insurance money would be buying books. Real books, not digital ones.

I will continue to support the industry and wish Delerium the best of luck with their changed endeavour but you can have my books when you pry them from my cold dead hands.

Bloody MonkeyZ

---

Time to forget the franchise appeal of the series and return to the horrific appeal that these creatures brought to our lives. In space no one can hear you scream. Hopefully we will be screaming again soon, whether anyone hears us or not.

---