KMG Brings You Independent Horror... Edgar Allan Poe Style!

Greetings creatures and creeps alike! Hope you ghouls & gals have been enjoying your daily dose of horror this week here at CCD...Last year for Horror Week I did a nice little spread about my extraordinarily talented filmmaking friend Bart Mastronardi and his first independent feature known as Vindication. Not too long after, Bart announced that he would be doing a 3-part film collaboration called Tales of Poe. The series intertwines & recites visual tales of Poe's very popular stories, The Tell Tale Heart, The Cask of Amontillado, and Dreams. Just this past summer, he completed production on The Tell Tale Heart, and the film is already scheduled to premiere next weekend at the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria,Queens. Click after the jump for more...

Edgar Allan Poe: A Deviant Art Retrospective

I have been, and always will be, a huge fan of writer Edgar Allan Poe. His stories are written in a very understandable tone and language, which is uncommon for authors of his time period. I like to think that it was cause he was usually being published in journals and newspapers, so he wrote for the everyman that was more likely to read his works. Plus they were spooky as shit... stuff that only a crazy person could think up. Either that, or because he was a fall down alcoholic. To be honest, I love him for all those reasons. So in honor of the true King of All Horror Writers (he is also credited with creating the whole detective fiction genre... insane, right!!!) I thought I would pop over to Deviant Art and check out some cool pieces inspired by his greatest works. Click after the jump to see some great pieces....

I Have A New NetFlix Obsession, But This One Is Going To Take Awhile...

Everyone who knows me and has been following the blog knows that I am a huge fan of the NetFlix instant streaming feature on my Wii. Since I am a teacher and on summer vacation, I have found myself watching an inordinate amount of old television shows and movies using the service. I have long been interested in the 60's and early 70's classic soap opera/horrorfest known as Dark Shadows, but was always scared away by the sheer number of shows in the series. When I first saw the DVD's, there were 40 episodes on each one... and over 20 volumes!!! The show only aired for 5 years (form 1966-1971) but was on everyday, 5 days a week. The result is over 1,225 episodes. Talk about a job that I am undertaking... I must be f'n crazy!!!

The show always had a supernatural side to it, right from the beginning with ghosts and mythical creatures like the Phoenix playing integral parts of the story. But in episode 210, we are introduced to Barnabas Collins. Barnabas is a long lost relative of the Collins family, but he is a vampire. The character was greatly accepted and the shows popularity took off through the roof. The writers went on to throw the full gamut of horror characters into the mix. Werewolves, witches, sea monsters, time travel, zombies... you name it, Dark Shadows had it. They also used classics by H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe as inspiration for story lines. The DVD's of the show even start off at episode 210, basically ignoring the first 209 episodes and acknowledging that the show really start with the intro of Barnabas. What makes the show so appealing to me is that they were getting away with this type of content on DAYTIME TV IN THE 1960'S!!!! My girlfriends mom and my pops both told me how they used to race home from school to watch the show at 4pm everyday.

Now there is talk that Tim Burton is going to remake the classic show into a movie with Johnny Depp in the Barnabas role. They were both big fans of the show, and filming starts in a few months. So I decided to start the viewing... sheshhhhh!!!! All 20 volumes are on Netflix Instant Streaming, and I am 10 episodes into the 1,000 + episodes I am set to watch. (I started at episode 210 with Barnabas) They are roughly 20 minutes long... oh boy, this is sick. I'll keep you posted on my journey.... long live the night!!!!!!

Cthulhu & The Old Ones Present: Art Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft

You really gonna argue with this guy??? If he says go to the art show, we are going to the art show. I'm not going to run the risk of offending any of H.P. Lovecraft Old Ones, so I'm definetly going to check out this exhibit being held at The Observatory in Brooklyn. For those of you guys saying "Who the F is H.P. Lovecraft and whats up with the Squid-Faced Art promoter to my left, let me enlighten you. Lovecraft is one of the foremost horror authors of all time, and he is often talked about in the same breaths as Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe. Personally, I perfer him to both of the above. His stories have entertained people for over 90 years. And when I say entertained, I mean scared the ever loving shit out of them. Some of his classics would be The Dunwhich Horror, The Rats in the Wall, At the Mountains of Madness, Dreams in the Witchhouse, and most famously The Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft lived in Brooklyn for a bit, and thats why I think its even cooler that this Lovecraft inspired art show should be taking place here. So if you like horror themed art, scary stories, or goth chicks (there are sure to be a few at this thing!) then you should make you way over to the Observatory. The show opens June 11th and runs through July 23rd. Click here for more details. See you guys there...