Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
Not only have tickets officially gone on sale here for the next HorrorHound Weekend, which takes place March 28-30, 2008 in Indianapolis, IN, but we’ve got another major announcement! We are proud to reveal that Chris Saradon will be in attendance!! Chris is best known among horror fans as Jerry Dandrige in the 1985 classic Fright Night and the voice of Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas. If you want to meet him, along with the entire cenobite cast from Hellraiser, click the link above and grab your tickets. Bloody-Disgusting will see you there as always! Thanks to our sponsor Anchor Bay.
Stabbed first by “Bloody-Disgusting”
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
ChiZine Market Report
Here’s a current market report for those who might be interested in writing for ChiZine …
- Zine: ChiZine
- Editor(s): Brett Alexander Savory, Hannah Wolf Bowen, Michael Marano, Gord Zajac
- Pay rate: Pay: 7¢ / word
- Response Time: 3 months
- Description (from the editor): Dark. Well-written. 4,000 words or less.
- Submission Guidelines
Note: Horror author D.L. Snell conducted the following interview to give writers a better idea of what the editors of this specific market are seeking; however, most editors are open to ideas outside of the preferences discussed here, as long as they fit the basic submission guidelines.
The Scoop
1. What authors do you enjoy and what is it about their writing that intrigues you?
I could go on for ages with this question, so I’ll just name a few off the top of my head, in no particular order: Clive Barker, Chuck Palahniuk, Craig Davidson, Stewart O’Nan, Stephen King, Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, Paul G. Tremblay, Kelly Link, Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Mark Z. Danielewski, James Morrow, Ramsey Campbell, et al. As for what I like about them, boy, they’re so disparate, it would take me several essays to answer that!
2. What are your favorite genres? Which of these genres would you like to see incorporated into submissions to this market?
Horror, slipstream, surreal, bizarre, literary, science fiction, noir, mystery, crime, etc. Anything dark, edgy, and well-written.
3. What settings most intrigue you? Ordinary or exotic locales? Real or fantasy? Past, present, or future?
Setting is less of a concern to me than character. We publish mostly character-driven pieces.
4. Explain the type of pacing you enjoy, e.g. slow building to fast, fast throughout, etc.
I’m not a fan of wasted words. I like punchy, economical writing. And I love being dropped into the middle of a story right from the start. Don’t meander and fuck about with your narrative, just dive right in and let the story come through the characters and dialogue.
5. What type of characters appeal to you the most? Any examples?
No type in particular—at least not that I’m conscious of. Just well-written, solid characters. I guess fucked-up characters are always fun to read about. No one wants to read about the guy who has his shit together, right? That’s not very exciting.
6. Horror and violence can be blatant a la Romero, or suggestive a la Hitchcock. Which one do you prefer and why?
I generally prefer the subtler horrors, but on very rare occasion a guy like Craig Davidson (Patrick Lestewka) comes along and can tell a seriously graphic story with literary flair. Quite uncommon, but possible. However, a safer bet with us is to go for subtle, creepy, disturbing, and weird.
7. In fiction and in life, what do you find most horrific?
No one thing really stands above any other on the horror-meter for me. All kinds of things are horrific—or can be made horrific—in both fiction and life.
8. What are the top three things submitters to this market should avoid?
Vampires, serial killers, and any kind of high fantasy.
9. What are your top three pet peeves as an editor?
Writers who 1) tell instead of show, 2) front load their stories with all kinds of boring preamble, and 3) synopsize their stories in the cover letter, effectively spoiling the reading experience for my editors and me. Just let the story speak for itself.
10. What quality are you seeking most in submissions to this market?
Solid writing. Intriguing characters. Resonant ending.
11. Any last advice for submitters to this market?
We have something like a 98% rejection rate, so if you don’t sell us something immediately, don’t lose heart, try again. We’ve had several writers submit to us for years and years as they hone their craft, getting better and better, then one day, they finally send us something that knocks our socks off and they’ve got their sale. Like any other job, writing is a skill. It requires practice, especially if you’re trying to sell to a specific market. Read the ‘zine, see what we’ve bought before, and then submit.
Note: D.L. Snell first novel, Roses of Blood On Barbwire Vines, pits vampires against mutating zombies in a post-apocalyptic setting. For more information and to read sample chapters, visit Exit66.net.
Stabbed first by HELLNOTES
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
Coming on the heels on Rue Morgue’s December issue, I noticed they had listed this Gem in their “Classic Cuts” section so I thought what an opportune time to deliver a review of one of my favorite sleeper hits, IMHO.
Man Bites Dog is a low-budget affair made by blossoming writers/directors Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel with further writing credits going to the film’s main…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
Do you know how hard it is to write a movie review when one of the actors in the movie is a favorite of yours? It’s hard. You think and think about how to write it, and when all is said and done, you’ve toned down a lot of what you were going to say into “nice” remarks…well, fuck that!!! I can’t…I stayed up until 2 this morning watching this, knowing this was a “loosely” adaption from…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
This was definitely a strange find. For about the past 5 years, I’ve done almost 90% of my DVD shopping online, specifically with Amazon.ca; and they have this gimmick if you will, that when you click on something for more details, they have a “recommendation” feature that simply states customers who purchased this product also bought…and they throw in another couple of titles,…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
What the heck are up with the deer in this movie? Rachel (Naomi Watts) and her son Aidan (David Dorfman) are at a farmer’s amrket. He sees some deer in the forest and then the deer come out of the forest and stare at him and he stares back. Afetr they leave and are driving down the road a deer stands in front of their car. The kid tells her to go, she hesitates, then a dozen pissed off deer…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
We meet two couples in the beginning of the movie. Brian and Carrie (David Duchovny & Michelle Forbes) are amibitious yuppies. Early and Adele (Brad Pitt & Juliette Lewis) are white trash. Brian is writing a book on mass murderers. Carrie is a photographer, taking pictures for the book. They want to move to California, and Brian suggests a cross-country tour of famous mass murder…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
This film does a great job of luring horror fans into its clutches professing “Check me out! We cast Kane Hodder, Bill Moseley, Reggie Bannister, Michael Berryman, David Hess and we even got Hellraiser Special FX guru Bob Keen!”. Well despite all those names you need a lot more. Well they do. A lot of other actors from all over that you have seen in countless other films that have been brought…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
Philip Swann (Kevin J. O’Connor) is a master magician in the style of David Copperfield. The people in tuxedos that attend his shows believe it is all illusion, actually the magic is real. His mentor was a man named Nix (Daniel Von Bargen). Nix ruled a desert commune with sadism and mind games. Ina flashback, we see Swann and other former members arriving at the commune to bring an end to his…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
Posted by Horror Grinder on
November 30, 2007
I’ve been sitting around reading everyone else’s reviews for the Mist and I’m sorry but i have to disagree with them all. There are plenty of wonderful things about this movie, but they really didn’t work for me. First, that acting in this movie was EXCEPTIONAL. Everyone played their part very well, and really kept to their character. Thomas Jane did such a wonderful job as…
Stabbed first by Horror Reviews New & Old - Horror-Movies.ca!
