DARK BITES

Every once in a while I come across a piece of fan boy joy that gets me as excited as a kid in a candy store with twenty bucks in my pocket.  This is one of those times.  Once upon a time I wrote for a magazine called Insidious Reflections, along with the magazine, co-owner, Chris Hedges, started making coffee mugs with tales of terror printed on them.  Of course, one of those tales is none other than James Newman's Your Cold Black Heart.  Truly one of my favourate stories from that scary mug collection and one I am very excited to report, has now been made into a short film.   Writer/director/producer/actor Kevin Grhyme Wood's Facebook page:  DVD sleeve for my short film YOUR COLD BLACK HEART, based on the short story by horror and suspense master  James Newman  and featuring an original score by Victorian chamber metal performers  Valentine Wolfe !

As most Dark Bite regulars know, I'm a big fan of Steve Wedel and his work and a constant burr in my side is that he hasn't been deservedly picked up by a major publisher.  Yet. His latest offering brings even more proof  that his work is folds above most of its ilk.  The kind folks at Hell Notes once more play host to a review by your's truly of Steve's outstanding novel, followed by an exclusive interview by the author in which we discuss the origins of Amara's Prayer and its hard hitting subject matter. You can read the review HERE , and enjoy the short interview HERE . If once you've read and no doubt enjoyed the novel, the story doesn't have to end there.  Steve has allowed us to travel along with Milton Agnew's personal diary HERE . Support your indie authors and help spread the word by sharing and passing along.

New and old fans of F. Paul Wilson are no doubt anticipating the release of the complete Repairman Jack Early Years Trilogy.   The second in the prequel series, Dark City, will satisfy Wilson's constant readers and ought to bring many new ones to the table as it did your's truly. You can read what I thought of Dark City and enjoy a short follow up interview with the legendary author as hosted by Hell Notes by clicking right here: Dark City:  Review and Bonus Interview

I've talked enough with enough people to know that if you've already seen this film, there's a decent chance you may not agree with the level of enjoyment I got out of seeing this on the big screen.  Mileage definitely caries on opinions and tastes so if you haven't seen it yet, I suggest you do.  Would love to hear your own thoughts even if, or rather, especially if you took away a different perspective than I.                   Hell Notes Presents: EVIL DEAD.

If anyone has a chance to ever experence a reading from Brian Keene, then you really should.  I had a chance to check him out during an End of the world event June 5th,2006 in Toronto, Ontario and was luckier still to steal a seat beside Brian's table where he also had several of his books available.  What immediately struck me was how humble and laid back of a guy Brian was.  No pretentiousness whatsover.  The man was just plain cool and we had had a great chat untl he completely stole with show with an excellent reading from his book, "Terminal." Here he is, seven years later, doing what he does best, only this time at the KGB bar in New York City, reading from his story, "Fetish."  Enjoy!

Here's my review on Books of the Dead Press' recent publication, Little Deaths.  This gorgiosuly wrapped collection of macabre tales is John F.D. Taff's debute launch into what should be a very promising career of leaving behind his nightmares for us to enjoy.   No doubt, John will be a name you will want to keep your eyes on so you can gobble up anything he puts out there. Anyways, here's the review of Little Deaths at Hell Notes .

    Facebook is at it again and this time they've gone too far with a few notable horror authors.  From Rocky Wood's own blog, read his accountment of how faceless Facebook took down his book page after deeming Lisa Morton, Greg Chapman and Rocky Wood's graphic novel, Witch Hunts: A Graphic History of the Burning Times, as having bullying content.   Face book has no right to censor an author's work on these grounds and has gone directly against all of our freedom of speech. Please read Rocky's article and share with evryone you know.

My latest review featuring Steven W. Booth and Harry Shannon's The Hungry 3: At the End of the World is live On Hell Notes' review section.  You can check my review of The Hungry 3 right here .  Feel free to leave a comment and like it if you've read it.  I can tell you right now though, if you plan to read The Hungry 3, you may as well do your self a favor and order all three in the Hungry series at once so you don't have to be like me and wait between books. You can order the book(s) HERE.

In case you missed it, or are sadly oblivious to the many great reviews available at Hell Notes , here's a link to a recent book review written by your's truly: Barry Hoffman's Born Bad in review. For more great stories from Barry Hoffman, or other rare collectibles from his award winning publication company, Gauntlet Press, check out his home page HERE. Stayed tuned for a future interview with Barry Hoffman, coming eventually to a dark corner near you. 

Igor's Lab has just announced a change of casting for DRY BONES, the horror/comedy I discussed with screen writer, co-directer and co-producer Gregory Lamberson HERE. You can read the scoop by clicking Igor's Lab where you can also check out some great stills from the film. Debbie is a well known actor in the horror film industry and has previously collaborated with Greg on his film, Slime City Massacre. Stay tuned as at the end of next month, I travel to the set of DRY BONES and will be reporting first hand what I see, provided I survive the succubus and the horrors she hides.

Cenobites, unite!  Clive Barker has recently announced the launching of his first official Clive Barker store. This from his Facebook page: "At long last, I'm happy to report that the first official Clive Barker Store is open for business at http://realclivebarker.com/ The store proudly features items from personal and private inventory.  You can find museum quality prints, posters, books both rare editions and new, toys, jewelry and much more to come.  If you have nay suggestions for things you would like to see us create for you, tell us. Stop by, take a look, and sign up for the newsletter to hear about new items, contests and all the latest news." You can also follow Clive's new store via Twitter: @realcbstore

Let me start off by saying I don't typically do these chain letter survey things.  In fact, I generally do not like them and find them to be  waste of time.  That said, when my friend, Steve Wedel , was kind enough to have thought of me as his next in line to keep this particular one going, how could I say no?  I couldn't because Steve has been a long time supporter of my writing and has always given me his time when I asked for it.  And, rumor has it the man can grow a little long in the tooth and form a blood hungry appetite under the right conditions and one shouldn't mess with that, so, after putting this off for way too long, here goes. Oh, and it seems this survey is meant for book writers and since I don't have a book under way (just plenty of shorts and other smaller projects) for the sake of this survey, I will be referring to my Dark Bites blog.. THE NEXT BIG THING What is the working title of your book (site)? Dark Bites.net Where did the idea

Despite being seemingly translated in maybe not the most coherent fashion (i.e.: "Foreigners outside of Korea .." Where else would they be?)  This certainly sheds some light on how far the human stomach will go to cure what ails them.  Assuming it's not really some kind of voodoo thing. Thanks to my friend, Dragon Don , who lives in Korea and by default comes across some pretty fucked up and unusual things. Click here for the full article.  Not for the weak of squeamish. So, what's the strangest thing you've eaten?

Recently, Dark Bites' Friend and fiend, James Newman, Recently, Dark Bites' friend and fiend, James Newman, made the announcement that the paperback/e-book/audio editions of his outstanding novel ANIMOSITY will be re eased in early 2014 by  Permuted Press . Fans of James Newman are abuzz with excitement in anticipation of this paranoia based novel being released to the masses. Currently there are still a few copies of the signed limited hardcover edition available from   Necessary Evil Press. And as if this news wasn't thrilling enough  now you can also watch a fantastic book trailer of Animosity.  James tells me that the ending needs some editing, but by that point, you won't care :) Enjoy, and be sure to mark your calenders for early 2014 when Animosity comes to town everywhere from Permuted Press. And in case you need a little extra prompting and missed it the first time around, here's an old review I wrote from just Animosity was first picked

Or, more accurately, his books get listed.  At long last Brian now has a complete list of all his book titles, categorized by series, non-series, etc for your reading pleasures.  If this doesn't satisfy the completest in you, I don't know what will.  Also very handy for the newly recruited Keene fan who ins't sure what of his to read next. THE COMPLETE LIST Also, for all you Dark Bite movie buffs out there, here's a list of the films based on Brian's written works, which includes completed films as well as those still in development: LIST OF FILMS BASED ON BRIAN'S WORK . What's that?  You're a comic/graphic book fan?  You'll be kept joyfully busy with Brian's complete list of comic and graphic novel work here: BRIAN'S LIST OF COMIC BOOKS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS. Visit Brian's site through any one of the above links for more info what he's up to through his ongoing blog and to to see what he's reading, writing and listenin

It is my pleasure to present an exclusive, live interview with author, film maker and friend, Gregory Lamberson,  Greg made cult cinema history when he made SLIME CITY out of his own apartment at age 21 and today is regarded as the hardest working man in horror by international dark culture magazine, Fangoria.  Between working on a variety of films and publishing three new books last year while continuing work on his Jake Helman and Frenzy Way series and a first ever TREEbook project for Medallion Press, I decided to corner the man and find out once and for all his secret to never sleeping. Here, we discuss Greg's upcoming film, DRY BONES, which begins shooting this April.  The film is a dark comedy in the vain of FRIGHT NIGHT and HOUSE and stars Melantha Blackthorne, Michael O'Hear n and Kevin Van Hentenryck. To be a part of movie making history, please visit DRY BONE's page at IndieGoGo.com where you can also learn more on this film and it's progress. You

Hi Folks, If you missed it yesterday, check out my review for John Paul Allen's short story from Biting Dog Press , House Guest, which is being showcased over at Horror World - REVIEW - to help bring yourself up to speed with this post. As promised. I sat down with John Paul Allen to ask him a few questions regarding the true story behind his creepy tale, House Guest, what free means to an author, and what to do when a troll tries to sabotage your Amazon presence   I walked away with a lot more than I could have bargained for, so do get comfy and enjoy a a short swim around the murky dark waters of the muse behind the man. Dark Bites: In regards to House Guest, when did you first sit down to write this creepy little story? John Paul Allen - It was around November of 2006 (though the idea came a few months earlier), the same year my wife passed away. That was in February and following the funeral I slithered into a continuous drunk for most of the next ten months.

Happy weekend to all you Dark Bite readers.  I'm pleased to announce that the good and wicked folks at Horror World have just published my first of what I hope to be many reviews for them.  This time out I downloaded John Paul Allen's creepy little gem, House Guest, devoured it at once and offered my take which you can check out at Horror World, HERE. This review was exceptionally important for me to get out there because, as it turns out, some dirty little troll has been up to no good and purposefully attacking John and other writers by posting negative reviews on Amazon and giving the tale undeserved low ratings.  Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinions and not everything is for everybody but this is going too far.  Like most writers, John works his ass off to put those words on page and even harder to get read by as many people as possible.  After all, a writers true power is in his readers that he relies on in order to merit more stories and if h

Fellow Dark Bit Readers:  Who wouldn't enjoy an opportunity to dig inside their favourate horror writer's mind to see what makes them tick?  Well, how about a chance to sit right down with them face to face, ask all the burning questions keeping you up at night along with their books in the comfort of your underwear if you so choose without risk of arrest?  Well, now you can, thanks to Medallion Press , but it's probably best to keep your clothes on. Today at 1PM, EST film maker, novelist and my friend, Greg Lamberson (The Jake Helmman Files, Carnage Road, Johnny Gruesome) along with award wining author Ronald Malfi (The Ascent, The Passenger) join forces with technology to provide a completely live, interactive experience for fans and new readers to come together in a casual setting from the comfort of their own home.  Here they will keep the round table open to discuss their most recent and upcoming writing projects including Greg's TREEbook novel, The Julian Year

Miami Spy Games Is Zombie Lit Dying? Armand Rosamilia I hope not is my short answer. Obviously, everything goes in cycles and zombies are the hot thing right now, especially with The Walking Dead ruling the television landscape. At some point it will jump the shark and be the next vampire backlash craze. In movies we're already starting to see the lame zombie comedies ( Shaun of The Dead was amazing, but not much more) and mediocre cash-ins about zombies. But what about literature? I'm not only a writer but an avid reader. There are many, many great authors I love to read and look forward to their next book. Authors I've mentioned a million times, but they bear repeating because they put out solid zombie tales: Joe McKinney, Mark Tufo, TW Brown, John O'Brien, Dave Jefferys, Ian Woodhead, etc. I've also run into quite a few other writers that keep putting out new ideas in the zombie subgenre without going over the tried and true 'people of

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  To kick things off nice and easy this week, here's a review of mine recently published by Hell Notes .   Interloper is a prequel to Barry Hoffman's Born Bad series.  It's a fast, mean read so I hope you check it out.  Currently, I'm reading Barry's Stoker nominated first published book in the series, Born Bad , so you can expect an upcoming review of this as well. While we're on the topic of reviews, I am also enjoying some intense "quickies" with John F.D. Taff' s (with all those initials, he must be British, right?) collection of short tales entitled Little Deaths , published by the fine folks at Books of the Dead.  Suffice it to say I am looking forward to completing this and reviewing it along with a short story by John Paul Allen called House Guest that's still swimming around in the murky waters of my brain. Also, as a Dark Bites first, author and dark anarchist in general,  Armand Rosamilia

Dear Dark Bite readers, I received very sobering e-mail from my friend, Steve Wedel, on December 25th. You may remember Steve from a previous post HERE. Between vacation time and fighting a nagging bug now out of the way, it's time I start to catch up things of importance, like this post. If you're a regular reader of Dark Bites - Thank-you, by the way - then chances are you hate when writers get screwed by publishers as much as I do. I don't care what a publisher's reason is or how justified he or she may think they are for not paying a writer, or any creative artist for that matter, but if you choose to accept and publish any work from any creator, then that creative author deserves to get paid, period. They deserve for you to live up to any payment promises outline in either your submission guidelines or, especially, i an agreed upon binding contract. Sad;ly, Steve is not one of those writers who met with a fair and honest deal and Scrybe Press