"What is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter?"
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As we continue our Halloween Countdown, this is a reminder to join us on Facebook. We usually post and interact with our fans/friends there (if you have any comments about the articles we post, or suggestions for what next we need to do.)

You can follow Gravedigger’s Local 16 over at http://www.facebook.com/gravediggerslocal

Meanwhile, the page for our podcast, 6′+, is hosting a Covers Countdown with its Video o’the Day.  Every day in October, a new video of a band going in costume will be posted.

One of the first videos posted was the one below: The Cramps doing a version of the James Whitcomb Riley song “Shortnin’ Bread.” (note: the audio is low on the video. Make sure to turn it up.)  You can find this and all the others over at http://www.facebook.com/6ftplus

 

You know the drill. A site either links to or follows us and we link back to them in our own special way (especially when yours truly needs a break). Today’s shout-outs go to the following:

Keith Broun
Fear In Words
Horror Extreme
Tars Tarkas.NET
Body Count Blog
Orgone Research
Bent Realm Studios
Justine’s Halloween
The Midnight Brood
Celebrating The Seasons
The Devil’s Advocates Movie Reviews

Thank you!

Corpse S. Chris of Horror Host Graveyard has been running The Monster Channel for almost a year now. I came across it just recently. It went 24/7 this past January. A lot of public domain and licensed movies, television serials and interesting shows of horror and sci-fi are available for you whenever you want.

You’ll find movies and hosted shows (featuring many of the active Horror Hosts seen on Chris’s Horror Host Graveyard.) every day. Friday has The Friday Night Monstercast, a special double-feature made for The Monster Channel.

Along with the live stream (which you can watch from your computer, your mobile device or your television) there is a real-time chat. Many of horror hosts and spooky people hang out there. You’ll catch me there from time to time. Feel free to stop by (http://100ymm.com) and catch some of the programming.

As a guy with a wide range of interests, simply one listing of links to websites I enjoy just isn’t enough!

Xenorama – Xenorama is “The Page of Heroes and Monsters,” along with an amazing article about an alternate version of The War of the Gargantuas.

Side Order of Ninjas – Funny and entertaining reviews of strange and amazing films.

Hauntcast – The internet’s premier online radio station for home haunters and Halloween enthusiasts.

Grindhouse Database – The cult movie community’s answer to the Internet Movie Database.

Weird NJ – Strange destinations and urban legends from New Jersey.

Home Haunt News – News and reviews no haunter should be without!

alt.horror.cthulhu – One of the few newsgroups out there that has regular, non-spam activity.

Skook – Tons of great artwork, including modernized (but faithful) renditions of Paul Blaisdell creations.

Tomb It May Concern – If Yor Week isn’t enough to convince you to read this, I don’t know what will.

Tough To Kill – An amazing look at European action flicks by Paul Cooke and the owner of the above site.

Home Haunter’s Haven – The name says it all.

The Laughing Reindeer – Back in the day, there used to be a website called “Monster Shindig” that reviewed horror movies, roadside attractions and the like. Although it died, one of its creators set up this blog. Did I mention that he was one of the people responsible for Carnivore?

Monster Shindig – I found this while looking for information about the now-defunct monstershindig.com. It’s not related, but still seems cool.

3B Theater – Any bad movie review site inspired by Strange Brew is okay with me!

Pink Tentacle – Crazy ‘n cool stuff from (and related to) Japan. The entry about Polish posters for Japanese monster movies is a must-see!

Although most of our Christmas content is posted in December, there have been occasions where such articles had to be posted before December rolled around. As a result, they have sadly become under-appreciated.

So to remedy the situation, please let this entry act as the Ghost of Christmas Past (of the non-cybernetic variety of course) and take you to some selected winter and Christmas-related articles from years past:

Winterbeast
Krampusmas
Happy Horrordays!
Christmassacre in July
Nixon and Hogan Smoke Christmas
’tis the season…FOR HALLOWEEN SHOPPING?

Once again, I’m paying tribute to the fine folks that pay us tribute:

Rach on Film
Terror Titans
Deadly Serious
Video Cultures
Secret Fun Spot
Holy Miss Moley
The Witch’s Hat
Werewolf Kibble
Mike and movies…
The Spooky Vegan
Horro’s Gory Reviews
Rough Ride Creations
raculfright_13′s blogo trasho
This, That…The Other Thing
Simon McNeil – Life in Toronto
The Last Blog On Dead-End Street
Dr. Goremans Nightmare Emporium
Custom Zombie’s Undead Ramblings
The World of Einstein & Pencil Shavings

Thank you!

While going through some videos made by the company responsible for that King Kong-inspired birthday party that I used in my last article, I noticed that they had done a video inspired by the infamous Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? TV special. Although the slightly gory video was done as a tongue-in-cheek promotion of their Alien Autopsy party package, the fact that they almost nailed the look of the alien inspired me to look up more on the matter in order to see if any other recreation-type deals had been done. What I found was far more interesting…

(more…)

Keep Watching the Skies! American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties has an amazingly awesome cover Can you name all of the characters depicted on it?

The cover of the Goodtimes home video DVD release of King Kong vs. Godzilla always makes me snicker. Why? Because they used images from a more modern Godzilla movie and the 70′s Kong remake to try to fool unwary consumers into thinking it was filmed more recently than it really was!

Back when Furbies first came out, my friends and I often joked about their resemblance to the Mogwai from Gremlins. It seems like someone at Hasbro had the same view on the matter…


Long before Freddy vs. Jason, there was the Jason vs. Leatherface comic book miniseries.

This offers an interesting look at Elvira’s appearances in video games (including a recent one). I think it’s somewhat ironic, given that the woman who plays Elvira, Cassandra Peterson, apparently invested in the failed Halcyon video game system.

Speaking of the Mistress of the Macabre, here’s the cover for the VHS release of Midnight, a romantic comedy made to cash in on Elvira’s massive…popularity.

This is the worst possible way to design a VHS cover for The Navy vs the Night Monsters.

This Terror of the Doll VHS baffles me. Is it a simple case of retitling or does the “From the film ‘Trilogy of Terror’” mean that this is really just a single segment of that film? If so, why would they expect anyone to buy such a short release?

Virtual Gutter is by far the weirdest relaxation DVD I’ve ever heard of.

Given the generic cover art, it’s easy to assume that this audio drama version of Night of the Living Dead is merely the film’s audio track slapped onto a CD by some sleazy bargain bin company. Instead, it’s an all-new, abridged version of the story starring the original cast and authorized by George Romero and John Russo.

This is lawsuit waiting to happen.

These “Ultraman salaryman” toys are the oddest pieces of Ultraman merchandise I’ve ever seen. Seeing a Dada head on a female body is disconcerting, to say the least. In contrast, this is the greatest Ultraman product ever produced.

Believe it or not, there actually was a novelization of Black Devil Doll From Hell.

Does anyone else remember the Gooflumps parody series that came out during the Goosebumps craze? It only lasted for two books and popular rumor at the time had it that R.L. Stine was secretly writing them. However, that turned out not to be the case. Fans left hanging by the lack of further installments presumably moved on to the Barf-O-Rama- series, which featured books like The Legend of Bigfart and Jurassic Fart.

I want this CD. Yesterday.

Amazon’s teaming up with the “content burned on demand” service Createspace has resulted in a flood of new companies starting up. Naturally, there ares tons of Halloween CDs and plenty of oddball stuff like: Halloween 101: Spooky Jewish Music, United States Of Halloween, Confederate Halloween, Irish Halloween Horror Songs, Spooky Halloween in the USA and Halloween Fart Explosion.

Oh yes, you read that last one right. Sadly, it’s not a one-off release. There are TONS of these things, all with the same use of “wacky” band names and bizarre cover art. Although I must admit that the cover of Frightening Farts For Halloween actually made me smile.

But that isn’t the weirdest thing about those CDs. Despite allegedly being from different companies, several listings use the exact same product description. What’s really going on here?

Several stories, in fact. However, some might not be appropriate for readers of all ages. You have been warned…

The Amazon preview for the Cthulhu Unbound anthology contains a full view of Linda L. Donahue’s “Noir-lathotep.” As you’ve probably guessed, it’s a humorous mash-up of the Cthulhu mythos and film noir with enough injokes to appease all but the most uptight fans of each genre.

Speaking of the mythos, Australian sci-fi/horror author David Conyers contributed to the Call of Cthulhu RPG and has written numerous Lovecraftian short stories like “Aftermath,” “The Swelling” and “Black Water.”

I originally discovered The Fright Site in my search for bad movie reviews, but it was the two original horror stories there that really caught my interest. Both Vampire Moon and The E-Leech are unique in that they are presented in an episodic format and are designed to seem like chat room conversations and diary entries, with make for a creepily realistic touch.

But enough modern fare, let’s look at some classics next. First up is Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla, which inspired countless Hammer movies about lesbian vampires.

BLAH!

Like Carmilla, the penny dreadful Varney the Vampire is a vampire tale that predates (and influenced) Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It also (allegedly) introduced the conventions of the “tragic vampire tormented by his cravings” and vampires having fangs to horror fiction.

Speaking of Stoker, Dracula. was not his only foray into the world of horror. Ones of his other scary stories is Lair of the White Worm, the inspiration for the classic 80′s horror film of the same name. Fans of the film will undoubtedly be surprised at how different the original story is compared to the film. I actually think it’s better that the film was a loose adaptation, as the source material isn’t up to the standards of Dracula and is very politically incorrect.

William Hope Hodgson is one of my favorite horror authors, second only to Lovecraft in my mind. That links offers from his strange tales of the high seas to the adventures of the supernatural investigator Carnacki and his electric pentacle. I personally recommend The House on the Borderland, The Boats of the Glen Carrig (which is strikingly similar to The Lost Continent by Hammer Films) and “The Voice in the Night,” best known as the inspiration for the legendary Attack of the Mushroom People.

Strange Jason has sung the praises of Algernon Blackwood and I think you’ll understand why after reading tales like The Wendigo The Damned and The Willows (among others).

Did you know that The Phantom of the Opera was originally a serialized story by Gaston Leroux? Now you do!

And if you want even more tales of terror, please visit:

Graveside Tales
The Feckless Goblin
Short Stories from 1aDayHorror

As a sequel of sorts to an earlier post by Weird Jon, I thought I would compile a list of websites I enjoy. Well, with the exception of the ones already listed on the sidebar…

Cold Fusion Reviews – One of my favorite bad movie review websites. I love the comments given by the Hieratic Head of Ezra Pound at the end of each review.

Digital Monster Island – The best place to go for reviews of giant monster movies on DVD.

Squonkamatic’s IMDB and Amazon reviews – Interesting reviews from one of my Latarnia forum pals.

British Horror Movies – “Dey’re Briddish movies – I can tell by de way dey tawk!”

SciFi Japan – Incredibly in-depth reviews and news on all things Japanese science fiction and horror. The articles on the Ultraman and Space Giants legal controversies are must-reads!

The HMA – The HMA, or Halloween Mask Association, has an amazing gallery of monster masks.

Haunted Attraction Magazine – The online version of the famous haunted house/hayride/etc. magazine. Includes free article uploads!

Hauntworld – Another great magazine devoted to haunted attractions. This site holds a special place in my heart due to it having the the article that inspired my user name.

Grindshow.com – Sideshow gaff (prop) manufacturer Doug Higley’s website, complete with pictures and user testimonials. The “atomic fish” is very similar to the “atomic mystery monster” attraction noted above.

Cinematic Treasures – A website devoted to the noble goal of preserving classic movie theaters.

MonsterTalk – At long last, a skeptical cryptozoology podcast!

Orgone Research – Don’t let the name fool you, this website has nothing to do with serious research of that junk science. Instead, it offers a variety of articles and musings by my JREF forum buddy Matt Crowley. The debunking of so-called “Bigfoot dermal ridges” is not to be missed.

Dr.Hermes Reviews and Retro-Scans Daily – The good doctor offers a wide variety of movie and literary reviews, including plenty of horror stuff (of course) on his website, while his Livejournal offers scans of posters, covers, ads, and more!

Atomic Monsters – No, this didn’t make the list due to the name. The clever, well-written reviews are what won me over. Fast connection speeds and Flash are a must for viewing the site.

Like many horror fans, I check out Amazon.com a lot: Looking for deals and new releases, doing research for future articles or just checking out old cover art to kill some time. More often than not, I’ll happen upon something that I hadn’t set out to look for, but still find interesting enough to squirrel away the link for future use. And, well, the future is now:

What’s the point of making an action figure based on the 1910 version of Frankenstein’s monster if you’re going to radically alter the look of the creature to the point it’s unrecognizable?

Jim Knipfel’s The Buzzing seems like a really odd novel. It’s got a human private eye whose last name is “Baragon” and despite references to Godzilla movies and other Toho productions being fictional, the Seatopians from Godzilla vs. Megalon are treated as if they exist within the book’s universe.

Someone made a kaiju themed hip hop group. Wow.

This is the greatest DVD cover ever made.


Oh look, a horror anthology made up of reprints from…CTHULHU SEX MAGAZINE!?

I’m stunned that Media Blasters’ DVD cover retained the unauthorized use of the Millennium Falcon from Evils of the Night’s original poster art. Especially since the VHS release had the good sense to replace the poster art altogether.

I don’t know why, but something about the semi-cartoony artwork for Planet of Blood (also known as The Queen of Blood in your mythology) appeals to me.

The company behind this VHS release of The Legend of Blood Castle had some serious balls. They make their Bela Lugosi wannabe and the word “Dracula” the most prominent things on the box in order to trick unwary folks into thinking it’s the Universal classic, but also have “In the tradition of” above it all so they can’t get sued for false advertising.

You’ve gotta love the Amityville-style, carnivorous castle on this cover for Blood of Dracula’s Castle.

Oh crap, the skeleton from the Bloody New Year VHS cover is a Nazi? In case you’re wondering, Blood Sucking Nazi Zombies is just a retitling of Jesús “Jess” Franco’s Oasis of the Zombies.

Look at the price Biokids is going for these days. While $20+ isn’t the highest price for an old VHS, it still makes me wish I had been able to buy this cheaply when I had the chance to years ago. From what little I can find about the movie online, Biokids is a Filipino parody of a Japanese series called Bioman that was popular over there, which got brought to the USA to cash in on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers craze.

What the…

I can’t believe someone was dumb enough to put Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster on a “public domain” VHS triple feature. I can understand the inclusion of Godzilla vs. Megalon since that was widely believed to be PD at one time, but Ghidrah the Three-Headed Monster? I bet Toho absolutely reamed the company behind this.

ATOR!

Please ignore the lack of cover art and focus on the fact that a movie called Adam & Eve vs. The Cannibals actually exists. I’m not kidding.

Go to any discussion of horror films and you’re sure to find people wondering, if not complaining, why certain films haven’t gotten released onto DVD yet.

But I have good news! Turner Classic Movies has set up a website where you can vote for which movies should get a DVD release. The more votes a film gets, the more likely that TCM will approach the licensor or rightsholder about getting it released. You can vote for as many movies as you want, but the best thing to do is for all of us to have a certain film to specifically vote for. After all, we’re more influential together than we are separately. I know this sounds corny, but together we really can make a difference!

I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices, but it was Twitter user bobfreelander‘s Tweet about voting for Island of Lost Souls that helped me make a decision. So click here and look for the place to vote (where fill in your email address) on the right hand side of the screen. Then feel free to search for other films to vote for. Remember, you can only vote once for each film.

And really, it’s just ridiculous for a horror classic starring Bela Lugosi to not be on DVD…

Gravedigger’s Local 16 doesn’t have an advertising budget. Aside from occasionally promoting GdL16 at other sites ourselves, we only have a Twitter account and a Facebook fan page. Many of our visitors are referred here by word of mouth or find us due to search engine hits, which is why having others link to us is such a big deal. Today I’d like to pay tribute to several sites that link to or follow us, which haven’t been referenced by name in any prior posts and haven’t been placed in the “Union Fellows” sidebar:

TotalFilm
Black Sun
Sexy Witch
ArgleBargle!
Chicago Ghouls
Dollar Bin Horror
The Scene Stealer
Handmade by Rach555
Wonderful Wonderblog
Azathoth’s Abode on the Plateau of Leng

Thank you!

Normally, I stick to the “four posts per month” format I developed after GdL returned from its unintended hiatus. But, seeing as how Strange Jason is having a little trouble, I figured I’d change my rules and do an extra post. Come to think of it, Strange Jason and I both doing five posts a month would be a good way of providing several updates without us running out of ideas. Personally, I’d let Atomic and N. Oremac pop in and out whenever they wanted to, as they have other (big) things going on that’re eating up their time. Besides, I think that posting nearly every day would take away of of the specialness that the Halloween countdown has. I’ll have to talk with the others about this so we can figure out a schedule that works for everyone. If any readers would like to make a suggestion, they are more than welcome to do so.

Our first bit of news is that Legendary Pictures, the people behind Batman Begins and Superman Returns, are supposedly trying to license the rights to Godzilla for a new American movie. I can’t say I’m 100% thrilled with the idea. Although Toho has rebooted the Godzilla franchise numerous times, they’ve always maintained that the original 1954 movie was part of each continuity. I fear that an American reboot wouldn’t do that and would thus cut off Godzilla from his roots, rob the character of his dramatic power and weaken the character’s warning of the dangers of nuclear weapons. Tristar’s “reimagining” also has left a bad taste in my mouth (and probably those of other members of the movie-going public). Although it would be pretty cool if they remade King Kong vs. Godzilla

Speaking of things I learned about on Wikipedia, there’s an Addams Family musical coming soon. In fact, it’s already started its trial run in Chicago (November 13 2009 – January 10, 2010). The plot is an all-new story about Wednesday Addams being grown-up and falling in love. Wait a second, wasn’t that plotline part of that Addams Family Values movie from 1993?

Blockbuster Video recently announced that it (and Hollywood Video) would being offering a new movie rental kiosk service using movies stored on…SD cards? I can’t see this being a lasting service. Other kiosk services that use DVDs, such as Redbox, offer rentals for the same (or lower price) and use a format that most homes already have. Sure, a digital camera can read SD cards and be hooked up to a television for playback, but why go through that when you already have a DVD player or gaming console set up? Besides, many devices that can read SD cards are already DVD-compatible, so there’s little incentive to try a new format.

I’ve saved the best news for last: Kellogg’s is offering horror DVDs as part of the latest installment of their “Movie Lovers” promotion. However, presumably to keep kids from ordering those movies, the tokens needed to get the movies are found on “bran” cereals (Raisin Bran, Oat Bran, etc.) rather than the usual assortment of cookies, crackers and cereals that other Kellogg’s DVD promotions had been included on in the past. The horror titles offered are a double feature of Ghoulies and Ghoulies II, Swamp Thing, When Good Ghouls Go Bad, and Goosebumps: Attack of The Jack O’Lanterns. Presumably, these DVDs will come in small square paper sleeves (with cover art and a summary on the back) like other “Movie Lovers” titles have in the past, rather than plastic amaray cases. If this is correct, then the Goosebumps: Attack of The Jack O’Lanterns DVD might contain some other episodes of the Goosebumps TV series. For more details about the promotion, click here.

Interest of fairness, I’m only going to be covering links that I haven’t highlighted on this blog in the past:

Teleport City – Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today. I’ve been a fan of this movie/literature/travel review site for the better part of a decade. The reviews, which often mix information about a movie with anecdotes about the reviewer’s life, have been a big influence on my writing style. I can’t say that I’m all that good at mimicking the style of a Teleport City review, but it’s still an influence.

Lost in Schlock – A blog devoted almost entirely to prop-making, be it for Halloween or movies.

Retroslashers – News and reviews of slasher films from the past and present, along with an insanely awesome title banner.

Weird Boston Events – A must-read guide for any resident of Massachusetts who’s into the weird and wild.

Joe Bob Briggs – Film critic. Drive-in king. Horror host. Just click the link already…

Bogleech – Home of one of the lesser known Halloween countdowns. There’s also some very interesting articles on insects and monster/insect-related toys. Oh, and the webmaster is probably the only person on Earth besides me who’s ever heard of “Scratchees.”

Head Injury Theater – Movie reviews, hilarious articles and a Halloween countdown full of cool paintings by the guy behind the site. What’s not to love?

Bleeding Skull - An excellent site that reviews films (on both DVD and VHS) and contains numerous in-depth articles about various things pertaining to horror movies. Trust me, the site is much better than my description.

The Agony Booth – Home of some of the most in-depth movie reviews I’ve ever seen. I especially like how the KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park review details the various differences between the original American version and the extended European cut.

Gorillamen – A website devoted to the oft-neglected art of gorilla suits. I love it!

Monster Kid Online Magazine – Cool online magazine devoted to old-school horror. Be sure to check out the article about the Three Stooges and monsters.

Laff in the Dark – Everything you ever needed to know about dark rides.

1,000 Misspent Hours and Counting – Tons of well-written (and often humorous) movie reviews. I especially like the fact that, even when he tears the film apart, the writer always makes the most meager of awful movie seem exciting.

The Astounding B Monster – Home to numerous interviews with the people behind the old horror movies we know and love.

The B-Masters Cabal – Your guide to (most of) the premiere bad movie review sites on the planet.

Tomb of Anubis
– NSFW movie reviews, for both vintage and recent films. The screencaps (done in the style of Mystery Science Theater 3000) never fail to make me smile.

Facebook fast becoming the way that old boyfriends and classmates track you down, it might be safe to go back onto MySpace so that you can follow your favorite independent band. Or not. Who cares? Here’s a bunch of bands currently on there who you could easily add if you still had an account. 

List after the break.

Click the post title for further details.

http://www.myspace.com/americangraveyard
http://www.myspace.com/atomicjohnny
http://www.myspace.com/blasedebris
http://www.myspace.com/smokula
http://www.myspace.com/calabrese
http://www.myspace.com/crimsonghosts
http://www.myspace.com/onemangrave
http://www.myspace.com/demonseeds
http://www.myspace.com/deadenddragstrip
http://www.myspace.com/demonssthlm
http://www.myspace.com/officialdeadbolt
http://www.myspace.com/ectremors
http://www.myspace.com/geinandthegraverobbers
http://www.myspace.com/ghoulsnightout
http://www.myspace.com/gokatgoradio
http://www.myspace.com/getthreecoffinsready
http://www.myspace.com/hauntedgeorge
http://www.myspace.com/theehorrorx
http://www.myspace.com/voxtones
http://www.myspace.com/lugosismorphine
http://www.myspace.com/losderrumbes
http://www.myspace.com/snorkels
http://www.myspace.com/losmuertosvivientes
http://www.myspace.com/lostikiphantoms
http://www.myspace.com/lostacapulko
http://www.myspace.com/loscadaver
http://www.myspace.com/worshiplusurfer
http://www.myspace.com/monstersfrommars
http://www.myspace.com/memphismorticians
http://www.myspace.com/messerchups
http://www.myspace.com/mcphersonstruts
http://www.myspace.com/nocturnaldirtsurfersalliance
http://www.myspace.com/satansteardrops
http://www.myspace.com/sixgunrepublic
http://www.myspace.com/satanspilgrims
http://www.myspace.com/southerncultureontheskids
http://www.myspace.com/svengoolie26
http://www.myspace.com/dynotones
http://www.myspace.com/thebrimstones
http://www.myspace.com/thetombstonebrawlers
http://www.myspace.com/verbtones
http://www.myspace.com/thenebulas
http://www.myspace.com/thecoffindaggers
http://www.myspace.com/ghastlyones
http://www.myspace.com/thecosmicvampires
http://www.myspace.com/thetormentos
http://www.myspace.com/thenumbskulls
http://www.myspace.com/thefamousmonsters
http://www.myspace.com/thelegendaryinvisiblemen
http://www.myspace.com/bodybagsmusic
http://www.myspace.com/officialtreblemakers
http://www.myspace.com/thebmoviemonsters
http://www.myspace.com/thecriswell
http://www.myspace.com/edgravesghostshow
http://www.myspace.com/thenightmaresmusic
http://www.myspace.com/thevoronas
http://www.myspace.com/theburnoutsrockandroll
http://www.myspace.com/thepredictionssurf
http://www.myspace.com/thedisconnectma
http://www.myspace.com/absce
http://www.myspace.com/zombieriot

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