TALES OF MYSTERY AND MADNESS

CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN has written more books than I can count on my hands and feet (there are millions of copies of his stuff in print), and some of them have to do with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER—and lucky son-of-a-gun, he also writes with actress Amber Benson, who played the really hot lesbian witch/Goth/hippie chick who was Willow’s love interest on that show. He’s written a bunch of comic books, too, but you really should check out his novels like STRANGEWOOD, THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN and his series of vampire novels that started with his first book, OF SAINTS AND SHADOWS (I don’t dig vampire novels, but this stuff’s pretty good!). [www.christophergolden.com]

“I love SESSION NINE. It's one of the very few horror films that has truly frightened me as an adult. Perhaps it has to do with the idea of insanity, or of being haunted by the insanity of others. The entire film was shot at the Danvers State Mental Hospital, which is not far from my house. It had been closed down for years, but sat monolithic upon a hill beside the highway, empty. The building itself was creepy to look at. Now they're turning it into condos. Seriously. A former insane asylum. Who wouldn't want to live there?”

ELIZABETH MASSIE is also a Bram Stoker award winner. She’s one hell of a writer and a hot babe in a not typical hot babe way (whatever that means). Actually, it means she’s really cool. She writes whacked Southern Gothic novels like the bitchin’ SINEATER and WIRE MESH MOTHERS (gotta love that title!). She’s also an artist and created this thing called Skeeryvilletown, which is really goofy and has characters like 3-Eyed Devil Cat. Let’s be honest: Beth’s weird. But she’s very sweet and has a comedic side which comes out to play when she’s one of the Necon Whores (www.campnecon.com). As a whore, she once gave our publisher/editor a pair of lacy panties and a Supergirl thong, but I was told not to tell you that, either. [www.elizabethmassie.com]

“DARK EYES OF LONDON (AKA THE HUMAN MONSTER) is a film that haunted me as a child when I caught it on a Saturday afternoon flight flick show, and it continues to give me chills. This 1940s black-and-white horror show starring Bela Lugosi and Hugh Williams is set primarily in an institution for the blind, where the shambling, rambling, helpless patients are unwittingly used as a cover for a cold-blooded, murderous insurance scam. Bizarre camera angles, dim lighting and eerie organ music help make this a perfect choice for a late-night Halloween viewing.”

JACK KETCHUM really shouldn’t need introducing at this point after being name-checked at the National Book Awards and plugged in the pages of Entertainment Weekly by Stephen King. But just in case you don’t know who he is, Ketchum is the multiple Bram Stoker award-winning author of several novels including OFF SEASON, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, RED, THE LOST and SHE WAKES. Both THE LOST and THE GIRL NEXT DOOR have been made into movies in the past year. Our publisher/editor co-wrote and associate produced the latter, but I was told not to tell you that. [www.JackKetchum.net]

“It's been quite a while since I saw RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and, like AIRPLANE, it's one of those movies whose pure wackiness never gets stale, so I think I'd go with that one. It moves like a rocket, it's got Clu Guliger and gorgeous naked zombie chicks—and besides, I need a dose of those bisected dogs.”

Jack Ketchum (left) and Edward Lee (right)
give good head on the set of "Header,"
a movie based on the book by Lee.

EDWARD LEE is the sickest one of the bunch here. When some critic came up with the phrase “hard core horror,” they must have had him in mind. Or something. His fiction should be approached with caution (keeping a vomit bag handy’s not a bad idea, too). He’s the author of HEADER, COVERN, SUCCUBI, SEX, DRUGS & POWERTOOLS and a whole lot more. Like his good pal, Jack Ketchum, movie folks have discovered his work makes for uncompromising films (i.e. HEADER www.whatsaheader.com ). Despite having a really, really twisted imagination, he’s actually a really, really nice guy. And as his contribution attests, he’s really, really serious about the movies he likes. [ EdwardLeeOnline.com]

“People ask me all the time why I love old horror movies yet barely acknowledge new horror movies. The answer is simple: atmosphere. We’re talking the ‘60s to mid-‘70s era. Admittedly, most of these movies have some ungainly things in common: hackneyed or derivative plots, low-end special effects and shoestring production, yet to me these movies are million times more entertaining—and more real—than the plethora of huge-budgeted genre projects that Hollywood is cranking out now.

For a flick to put a spell on me, I need genuine, not manufactured, atmosphere. In our wonderful genre, atmosphere is as crucial as character or plot. If the plot is the brain of the movie (or book) and the characters are the heart, then atmosphere is surely the blood. It’s all about the good-old term, “suspension of disbelief.” When the atmosphere is real, the movie becomes real. I am sick to the point of regurgitation with CGI and the Hollywoodization of horror. Whether it’s a $5 million budget or a $100 million budget, I know the instant I see that first splotch of CGI that I’m watching a bunch of actors running around in front of a green screen. Hence, my cup of disbelief runneth over. Horror movies have become merely elaborate cartoons, vehicles that exist to showcase the latest computerized special effects while back-burnering plot, character and, lo, atmosphere. To put it more eloquently: FUCK CGI. It’s ruined what I love most about horror cinema.

Oh, I’m supposed to be talking about what movie I recommend for Halloween. I thought about it to the point of turmoil and realized that I’m not disciplined enough to recommend one, so I’ll recommend two: Paul Naschy’s HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB (1972) and Christopher Lee’s HORROR HOTEL (1960) (also released in a 78-minute uncut version as CITY OF THE DEAD). The Naschy flick, in fact, is my all-time favorite horror movie (the “unclothed” version, especially), and HORROR HOTEL is a work I’ve always regarded as sort of the CITIZEN KANE of the genre. These movies are spooky, creepy and gripping because the atmosphere is REAL and it is prioritized. Both movies, too, begin with the favorite horror staple: a warlock/witch burned at the stake or beheaded only to curse their executioners and vow to return in the future with a big-time Case of the Ass. While TOMB—brilliantly, I think—exploits this feature, HORROR HOTEL serves as the model. TOMB’s got rape, gore, decapitations and state-of-the-art nudity, while HOTEL (made over a decade before) just as effectively “implies” the same.

I watch both of these movies at least once a month, for that dreaded reality of atmosphere never stops spellbinding me. You can study HOTEL frame by frame the way film students scrutinize Bergman, Kubrik or, indeed, Orson Wells, and discover something more fascinating each time as though each frame exists as an individual work of art. TOMB is much more haphazard in its direction but equally full of very functional surprises (and, well, some great nipples, too) and is propelled by the genuineness of the atmosphere it means to drown the viewer in. No two horror movies do I have more passion for than these. When I watch them—over and over—they take me to a scary alternate reality that I BELIEVE in, not a CGI circus. (Even the brazen nudity in TOMB is rife in its realism. No lipo, no Hollywood-bimbo boob jobs, no fussy “racing stripes.” It’s the Real McCoy, right down to those veritable pubic carpets!)

In HOTEL, you can breathe the fog in the street, and in TOMB, when the hot brunette gets her heart cut out after washing the dishes, it’s almost like YOU are the killer. That’s how real these flicks are to me, and they’re what I’ll be watching this Halloween as I do EVERY Halloween. Check ‘em out!”