The Daily Planet » Horror

Better Read Than Dead

Jeff Ayers — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:25:52 +0000

Hello, kiddies! Consdider this a friendly reminder from your slayborhood comic book guy that Walking Dead TP Volume 12 hits Forbidden Planet’s shelves today. They call this blood-curdling tale of terror “Life Among Them.”

Walking Dead TV Series Given Greenlight by AMC

Jeff Ayers — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 02:57:37 +0000

It’s official. According to Variety shooting on the Frank Darabont-helmed Walking Dead series (not just a pilot, as previously reported) will begin shortly, and is scheduled to air this coming October.

AMC has ordered a total of six episodes of the series that revolves around a group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse. Darabont penned and directed the pilot and will exec produce with Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures and David Alpert of Circle of Confusion, which will be funded entirely inhouse by AMC parent Rainbow Media. Charles Eglee, a seasoned TV drama showrunner, has also boarded the project as an exec producer…

AMC… ultimately decided to go straight to series after hearing Darabont’s vision for a six-episode arc… ‘He’s taken the baseline road map of the underlying material and just blew it out to the next level,’ said Joel Stillerman, AMC’s senior veep of programming, production and digital content. ‘There’s stuff in there that will make the people who love the comics very happy and some surprises in there as well.’

Exciting, eh?

UPDATE: I just learned to spell “Walking!”

Currently Reading: Horns by Joe Hill

Jeff Ayers — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:25:34 +0000

To say that I was excited to get my grubby mitts on Mr. Hill’s new novel would be a gross understatement. Having thoroughly enjoyed- and, quite frankly, having had the bejeezus frightened outta me by- his debut novel Heart-Shaped Box, I have high expectations for Horns. Joe Hill is an incredibly gifted writer, and though I’m only a few chapters in, so far so good.

This is what I had to say about Heart-Shaped Box in the Weekly Planet in October 2008:

Heart-Shaped Box: A thoroughly creepy, downright scary, and deftly crafted ghost story. I haven’t gotten chills like this from reading prose since I was a teenager. Having had dealings with the paranormal myself (that’s not the shrooms talking… promise), I can honestly tell you- Mr. Hill describes the pulse pounding terror, the vacuous chill of such encounters so well I only read this book on the train, or otherwise in public… so that when I look up from my book I’m reminded I’m still in the real world….

Also new and recommended from Joe is a lavish hardcover reprint of his sleeper-hit comic series from IDW Locke & Key.

Put both books on your Halloween reading list. Then move them to the top of that list.

Here’s the publiher hype for Horns:

At first Ig thought the horns were a hallucination, the product of a mind damaged by rage and grief. He had spent the last year in a lonely, private purgatory, following the death of his beloved, Merrin Williams, who was raped and murdered under inexplicable circumstances. A mental breakdown would have been the most natural thing in the world. But there was nothing natural about the horns, which were all too real.

Once the righteous Ig had enjoyed the life of the blessed: born into privilege, the second son of a renowned musician and younger brother of a rising late-night TV star, he had security, wealth, and a place in his community. Ig had it all, and more—he had Merrin and a love founded on shared daydreams, mutual daring, and unlikely midsummer magic.

But Merrin’s death damned all that. The only suspect in the crime, Ig was never charged or tried. And he was never cleared. In the court of public opinion in Gideon, New Hampshire, Ig is and always will be guilty because his rich and connected parents pulled strings to make the investigation go away. Nothing Ig can do, nothing he can say, matters. Everyone, it seems, including God, has abandoned him. Everyone, that is, but the devil inside. . . .

Now Ig is possessed of a terrible new power to go with his terrible new look—a macabre talent he intends to use to find the monster who killed Merrin and destroyed his life. Being good and praying for the best got him nowhere. It’s time for a little revenge. . . . It’s time the devil had his due. . . .

The author has also posted a playlist of music (mostly rock) he penned Horns to, titled Iggy Perrish’s Rock Bible. It serves well as a soundtrack when reading. “Hasn’t rock n’ roll always been the devil’s music?”

Coming to Forbidden Planet NYC: Lloyd Kaufman!!!

Jeff Ayers — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:17:15 +0000

Holy cats! Two weeks from tonight! Midnight release!

Upcoming Events @ Forbidden Planet NYC

Jeff Ayers — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:16:40 +0000

Happy New Year! Sorry we’ve not been around much over the Holiday Season, but I promise a return to daily posting starting now.

That being said, Forbidden Planet NYC is hosting an event this coming Sunday, January 10th with Japanese Cosplay Singer Reni. She’ll be performing live, signing CDs, taking pics, and generally being bouncy starting at 12pm. Sounds like an awesomely surreal Sunday at the Planet!

Other events we’ve lined up this coming winter include an appearance by writer/artist Steve Mannion (!!!) of THE BOMB and FEARLESS DAWN fame…

…And a special event with TROMA to commemorate their Blu-Ray release of Poultrygeist in February!

And speaking of TROMA, there’s also a free shindig going down at Otto’s Shrunken Head tonight here in NYC (14th St. between Ave A&B) featuring a live performance by The Mugs, followed by a double-header screening of Troma’s War and The Last Horror Film.

Maybe I’ll see ya there after I close the shop. Or at one of the other aforementioned gigs. Dates, times, and other specifics are being worked out for Mr. Mannion and the Poultrygeist affair, but I’ll announce them the second they’re available. Either way, I’d love to see you!

Various Nightmares

Jeff Ayers — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:34:00 +0000

For those of you who’ve not experienced NIGHTMARE’s annual haunted houses the last few years here in NYC you’re really missing out. Those in the know will tell ya- the productions are top notch, the creatives involved dedicated and intensely passionate, and the whole shebang is usually a scarifying adrenaline rush rarely obtained outside of an encounter with a Lamia (watched Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell last night, hence the reference… Man alive was that neat-0). NIGHTMARE creator Timothy Haskell and his crew work on this all year long and it shows.

I went through on opening night 2009 with the folks from Abracadabra, a staple costume shop on 21st St., themselves appreciators of the macabre and horrific, and I must say with no hyperbole it was my best NIGHTMARE experience yet.

This year’s production concerns Vampires, (the venue has been transformed into the “Museum of Vampyric Artifacts”) and it does well to portray various interpretations of them throughout history- from Nosferatu to Castlevania (looping on a relic front-loading NES) to the gory zombie-hybrids made popular by 28 Days Later. You begin your tour of MoVA guided by a rather innocent looking vamp and then things… well, they go to hell. In a hand basket. So as to not ruin any of the various chills and spooks I won’t go into details. However, I will recommend pushing the red buttons (in keeping with the museum theme they’re strewn around as if to provide insight and information about the exhibits). Trust me- if you’re a mischievous sprite such as myself you’ll be pushing these every chance ya get.

Ladies: don’t bring lame-o’s too cool to be scared, with their hands in their pockets and cynicism in their souls. Like anything fun, you have to open yourself up to the experience. Fellas- bring girls who like to scream. And if you scream like a girl (I don’t, but did. Twice.) bring yourself.

Oh, and this one is definitely not for the kiddies. Unless you bring ‘em along on Kids Day Saturday 10/24 froom 10am-3pm.

Nightmare: Vampires NOHO Event Center 623 Broadway at Houston Street (enter on Mercer Street).
NOW through November 7th

for more details see: hauntedhousenyc.com

The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks by Max Brooks from Crown Books on Vimeo.

The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks- “Those who don’t learn from zombie history are condemned to repeat it.” New York Times Best-Selling author Max Brooks returns with a graphic novel handbook for encounters with the differently-dead (or the living impaired, what have you). Chronicling zombie attacks down through the centuries (Romans? Pre-historic man? None are safe from this terrible scourge!). This GN is old, amazing hat for Max, and features his signature tongue-in-cheek documentarian approach, and it’s deftly illustrated by Brazilian newcomer Ibraim Roberson. Roberson’s art in this is so good, in fact, you’ll want to keep an eye on him, especially his forthcoming Marvel one-shot X Necrosha (previews of which can be seen here at marvel.com), and any future creepfests.

Recorded Attacks really is a top book.

Now if only I could come up with some sort of Crypt Keeper pun to end this thing. How about, “Until next time boys an ghouls, Make Mine Carve-l…. eh-ha-ha-ha-ha-HA!”

Wait. That looks like Carvel. As in the ice cream. What I meant was carve. Ya know, as in, like, to cut something with a huge knife? Instead of Marvel? Ah, forget it.