Two Reads From Dark Horse For The Scary Season…

Posted on October 31, 2013 by geelw

Yeah, yeah… I know for SOME of you every day is scary, but get up and out in the sunshine once in a while and you’ll see that people aren’t SO bad after all. Then again, Halloween most certainly seems like a more than good time to stay IN after a certain hour in some places, so you’ve hopefully stocked up on food and drink, have enough TP to last a while and maybe some nice and scary movies queued up on your favorite device. Yeah, I know you still use that Betamax, so I was purposefully being vague in that previous sentence…

Now, If you’re a reader and like your things with words a bit on the scary side, you may as well venture out before it gets too dark and boogie on over to your nearest comics emporium just to pick up these two finely illustrated fright-filled tomes from the fine folks at Dark Horse Comics. Tales From the Crypt: The EC Archives – Volume 4 is a chilling collection of classic 1950’s horror from some of the best in the business back then and despite their age, the pre-Comics Code tales of terror and that excellently detailed art will have your eyeballs dancing in their sockets as your brain tells them to calm down so it can process that scary stuff it’s trying to also see.

“Feh!” you say? Followed by “Aw, how can some old smelly comic that’s older than my granny be SCARY?” and a smug “They didn’t even HAVE horror back then!”. Well there, dear troll child… let me give you a taste of things to come… Continue reading →

My Halloween Plans? I’ll Probably Go As Nostalgia…

Posted on October 31, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, allPublicDomain!)

I actually have no plans for Halloween, but if I did and had unlimited funds, I’d dress up as a movie screen and walk around showing people stuff that would blow their minds. All you fans of those modern Batman and other “retro” looking cartoons want to know where they got that funky art style from? BOOM! – here’s a classic Max Fleischer Superman cartoon that still blasts all that modern stuff out of the water. You’re one of those who like that stupidly snappy editing straight out of a music video where you can’t tell what the hell is going on? BANG! – You get Orson Welles’ F for Fake coming your way down the block.

Yeah, I’ll even hit you with the original uncut version of GREED once I get that damned time machine repaired. Some old drunk in a seedy Baltimore bar back in 1957 told me where to find a pristine print, but the damn control box blew all six fuses when I was on the way back from a detour for some dinosaur sightseeing and I’m now stuck here in 2013. The gal who can fix the thing lives in 1942 and works at a Navy shipyard. And nope, Radio Shack does NOT have the parts I need (although they DID back in 1978). Oh well, it’s not So bad here in the present if I don’t watch the news at all…

Random Film of the Week: Mark of the Vampire

Posted on October 30, 2013 by geelw

(thanks, Passion4Horror!)

Confession time: I didn’t much care for the film version of Dracula. It took me three attempts to sit through that film as a kid, but it was less due to Bela Lugosi’s interestingly languid performance than the stiff “let’s put on a show!” Broadway staging most of the movie suffers from.

Over time I’ve finally come to respect and like the film a lot more, but have always found the Spanish language version far more compelling and fun to watch thanks to the additional scenes and excellent supporting cast. Unfortunately, the Dracula in that film chose to mimic Lugosi’s singular acting style a wee bit too much while the other actors eat up the scenery in that great manner supporting players do when they’re making the best of a meaty role.

Continue reading →

The Typing of the Dead Overkill Now On Steam: Shaky Hands May Actually Help…

Posted on October 30, 2013 by geelw

…and some really BIG keys to type on if you’re really a scaredy-cat. Granted, Sega’s hilarious offshoot of it’s popular classic arcade game series is more fun to play for fast typists with nerves of steel who aren’t squeamish about a bit of digital blood and guts, but the game is fun no matter what your typing skills. Now, I’m from the two-to-three finger school myself (using more makes my hands confused because they all want to hit the same keys (stupid fingers!), but I’ve played the classic Sega Dreamcast game The Typing of the Dead with my untaught tapping skills and did pretty darn well.

Anyway, this gory great little game is on sale NOW through Steam for a measly $9.99 and yes, comes highly recommended if you’re camping out at home on Halloween and want something different to do besides the usual scaring the crap out of kids stalking your doorway for candy. Of course, in a perfect world, parents would get this game for their kids and keep them at home where it’s nice and warm, but hey – you can’t stop those little monsters from wanting to go on the prowl for free treats on NON-holidays, so I guess tradition wins in the end…

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut Out NOW On Steam AND GOG.com!

Posted on October 29, 2013 by geelw

I think I’ve written MORE about Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut more than anyone else this year, so I can do this with my eyes stapled shut. Er, NOT type this post with my eyelids, as I’d be in enough pain already and please, I’d want to sanitize my keyboard first, you know. Anyway, Swery 65’s horror/adventure sleeper finally arrives on PC via Steam and (this just in!) gog.com, both at 10% off the $24.99 price for a LIMITED time with a ton of excellent Steam or gog.com exclusive content.

If you’re new to the DP experience, DON’T go in expecting it to look like some uber next-gen game (the resolution is higher, but your new 3D card won’t be taxed much pumping out those graphics) or blow you away with action straight from a non-stop FPS. DO expect a surreal, highly stylized game that surprises at many turns while being deeper on some levels you won’t even see coming (well, provided you didn’t scour the internet for hints and spoilers). This one’s strangely addictive and thanks to the included DLC, you’ll be spending many hours in Greenvale as York while enjoying that FK in your coffee. “Whatever the heck is FK?” You ask? Well, dear readers… you’ll need to play the game to find out. So go do just that, I say…

WIN FREE STUFF! Killer Is Dead (Xbox 360) Download Awaits ONE Lucky Gamer!

Posted on October 29, 2013 by geelw

HEY! Have you got a working Xbox 360 in your home? Good. ALL of mine have died and I’m not giving Microsoft another damned dime to fix them and I’m not replacing them with new models because I could use that money for something else. Like buying a PS4. So, you (Yes, YOU!) get to reap the rewards of my stubborn attitude with a FREE Xbox Live game code for Xseed Games’ Mature rated action game from Suda 51, developer grasshopper maufacture and Kadokawa Games Killer is Dead! So… just HOW do you get this fine FREE game from me, you ask? SIMPLE. First one to post below gets that code. Easy, huh. Well, not THAT easy, folks. You’ll NEED a US Xbox 360 and US Live Account, as this code is ONLY for the North American version of the game! Get it? Got it? GOOD! Now go get some, er ONE.

Fair Warning: This one isn’t for the kiddies, so if you win and you’re under age and your momma finds out and wants to throw your Xbox 360 in the trash, you deserve it. Don’t try to drag me into it, either. I’ll just be nice to her and agree with everything she says about your bad habits… ;^P

Monster High: 13 Wishes Looks to Scare Up Some Halloween Fun on Nintendo Platforms

Posted on October 29, 2013 by geelw

Although… it’s quite funny to me because some parental groups out there are more scared of Monster High than they are of actual bad things, blaming the hugely popular dolls for all the wrong things and in some cases, banning their daughters from even going near anything related to the show. Too bad for those eternal sourpusses, I say. Maybe they REALLY need to do some gaming to chill out for a bit and see that it’s not eeeeee-vil at all. Maybe they need to play Monster High: 13 Wishes out NOW exclusively for all current Nintendo platforms (Wii U, Wii, 3DS/2DS and DS).

This one looks like it’ll be simple and reliable platforming fun for fans of the dolls and yes indeed, I think I’d play this just because I like the unpretentious nature of the family-friendly licensed game. Okay, that sounded pompous, didn’t it? Hey, don’t let the “big” words scare you off now, I say. If you’re a fan of the girls, you’ll probably be giving this a by for that kid who wants it but then play it yourself once they’re asleep. Hey, we all need a guilty pleasure and if this keeps your head out of the fridge and out of that bowl of Halloween candy, it’s all good, right?

Where’s The Beef? In My Belly With Some Sake…

Status

Okay, class. The wi-fi was DEAD at the library when I jetted back uptown after the great Sake in the City II event, or else there would be a post up already about my fun time at the event. Bleh. Anyway, I woke up waaay too early this morning, went out to do some laundry, lost some money in the process and had to make an emergency withdrawal (boo!), but the event and the three seminars I took made up for it. I’ll pop a post in about this tomorrow or Wednesday, but right now I’m BEAT from a long day and way too much sake. I’m not drunk at all, mind you – I just have a bit of a headache from sampling so many types and not having any caffeine at all today, so it’s a confused brain wondering where its real buzz is. Yep, I’m drinking a cup of coffee as I type this and yep, my headache is fuzzing away. A quart of water should take care of that sake swimming pool in my stomach, but I actually didn’t drink all that much (although I stopped counting at 16 samples of 16 different varieties). Okay- let me poke through my email, as I haven’t checked it since last night and I know my mailbox is PACKED. Back in a bit…

So Long, Lou Reed: A Walk on the Mild Side Brings Back Memories…

Posted on October 27, 2013 by geelw

I made Lou Reed laugh once. A long time back (I think it was 1986 or 87, but my memory is a bit fuzzy), I ran into him downtown around St. Marks Place as I was walking to a friend’s place for a birthday party. I recall it was around sundown with fading light and he was coming out of a small shop I don’t recall the name of. As I stopped to nod in his general direction (what I usually did when encountering a celebrity type on the streets of NYC) a trio of Asian tourists (a guy and two women) recognized him and asked if he’d pose for a quick photo with them.

Since I was only about five or so feet away (and probably grinning like a nut on the loose from Bellevue), one of the tourists looked in my direction and smiling as if he’d won the biggest lottery ever, motioned me over pointing to his expensive camera and asked me to snap a shot or two. Of course, I jumped at the chance and three shots later (because I got my thumb in the way on the first picture), handed the camera back to the guy who now wanted ME to pose with Lou. I declined, as I’m not the “Lookit me with the star!” kind of guy (and back then I was a lot more camera shy than I am these days), but Lou was in a pretty good mood and said “Come on”, waving his hand up and forward… Continue reading →

Humor? “It’s Saturday! Let’s Go Dancin!”

Posted on October 26, 2013 by geelw

I used to be one of THOSE people. Yeah, you know if you’re old enough and lived in a big enough city with clubs and nightlife. Yeah, I was a dancer… or a “dancer”, but not on a weekly basis like many, many others who caught the bug that turned into Saturday Night Fever or Dance Fever later on. I think I had the milder version that didn’t morph into Dance Disease, so I’m lucky. I didn’t do a LOT of clubbing with the intention to dance, as hey, no lessons plus terminal terrified shyness isn’t good for steppin’ out at all. Thus the wonders of booze loosening the brain and legs was discovered and some embarrassing flailing away for a few rapturous minutes later, one steps away from the scene, hot and sweaty and smiling at the effort put forth.

Eh, it always worked better in the cartoons. It took me a while to realize this until I got the flu ans camped out one weekend in front of the tube. Go Woody!, Go Daffy, Go Bugs! Too much of that and I was CURED, never to shake that tail feather again. This is how it should be for some and how it is these days. You want me to dance? You’d better be throwing some bills on the floor or have a gun with blanks pointed at my feet.