10 Terrifying Alien Abduction Movies of the 21st Century
What can be more terrifying than being abducted by an entity from another world or dimension? To be under the control of a presence literally and figurately so alien, you have no way of gleaning the machinations of their minds and intentions.
The world was exposed to the UFO and abduction phenomena in a serious way back in 1977 with the release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Over the next three decades, only a few movies would plumb the depths of alien terror, such as author Whitely Strieber’s abduction account in Communion (the book is even more chilling) or Travis Walton’s Fire in the Sky.
The floodgates for celluloid abduction nightmares truly opened at the turn of the century. Suddenly, UFO/abduction movies were everywhere. Maybe it was the dawning of a new century, a new age, with the promise of reaching further into the stars, and maybe those stars reaching further into us. Or maybe it came from the adolescence of found footage flicks, which seem to dominate this strange and curious sub-genre. With 60 years of bizarre sightings and experiences under our collective belt, this could be our way of seeking answers.
No matter what the cause, for people like me, the 21st century has been a smorgasbord of high strangeness and extraterrestrial conundrums. Want to get me to drop everything? Tell me there’s a new UFO movie or documentary. Sure, they mostly explore the same material, but I can’t help being drawn in the way Travis Walton was sucked into an alien ship.
Because I watch them all, I thought it best to share 10 modern alien abduction movies that should scratch that ET itch. Ditch the tin foil hat and boil some potatoes. We’re about to stare into the abyss. Check out the trailers and head to your nearest streaming device. Things are about to get eerie.
10. The Fourth Kind (2009)
9. The Phoenix Incident (2015)
8. The Forgotten (2004)
7. Altered
6. Dark Skies (2013)
5. Phoenix Forgotten
4. The Gracefield Incident
3. Alien Abduction (2014)
2. Beyond the Sky (2018)
- Extraterrestrial
Can UFOs Save Us?
Civil unrest. Non-stop mass shootings. Protests. Riots. Pissing matches with Russia. North Korea resuming their nuclear armament in earnest. Skyrocketing fuel prices. Skyrocketing prices for goods on shelves because of the fuel price increase. Covid fears promoted daily. Yep, 2021 seems just about as shit as 2020. I’m beginning to think the Orange One wasn’t the problem.
We are.
Just as we’ve always been. We are a deeply flawed, troubling species and we’ve known it. This is why we’ve created and clung to the concept of beings greater than us that can deliver us from our inherent madness, whether in this life or the next.
If we were ever in need of saving, it’s now. Back in December of 2017, the New York Times published an article that confirmed the Pentagon has had a program dedicated to the study of UFOs, or as they now call them UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena), to separate it from the crackpot stain of UFOlogy. Since then, several videos taken by the US Navy have surfaced and Tic Tacs are now more than a tiny breath mint. There was even confirmation that we possess ‘Off-World Vehicles Not Made On This Earth‘ (click here to read the article in Popular Mechanics).
Just this past week, more videos have been release by the Pentagon showing strange, glowing triangular objects buzzing Navy craft and coming from and going into the deep ocean.
Despite all this, people are still wondering when there will be disclosure. News flash – it’s already happened. The problem is, disclosure is opening up more questions and not giving us the answers we crave.
I remember Ronald Reagan’s speech to the UN in 1987 where he said, “I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world. And yet, I ask you, is not an alien force already among us? What could be more alien to the universal aspirations of our peoples than war and the threat of war?”
We are prone to wars, big and small. Even with the news that there may be something otherworldly in our skies and seas, we still roll in the mud of hate and distrust like pigs in shit.
Speaking of distrust, I find it odd that the UFO community is running with news being leaked from the same organization (the government) that supposedly has been manipulating us and our relationship with UFOs for decades. So, now we should believe them? Where do we turn for the truth?
Tom DeLonge, frontman for Blink 12 and To The Stars Academy, has said in the past he’s seen what we’re dealing with and it caused him to lose sleep for days. It so disturbed him, he’s chosen not to tell us to save us the stress and anxiety.
We’re already not sleeping! We’re so stressed, pharmaceutical companies can barely keep up with the demand for anti-anxiety and depression meds.
The question is, if these videos and revelations are real, do they represent a global threat or a get out of hell free card? Either way, we need it. Maybe this is the kind of shock necessary to dislodge our heads from our asses. Don’t release information with the slow drip of water torture. Tear off the bandage and let us wail and cry a moment. Sooner rather than later, we’ll settle down. Maybe we’ll come together. Or, and this is where my money is, most will be more concerned about the latest episode of American Idol or unfiltered pics of another Kardashian.
We’re living in distressing and bewildering times, especially for the few who still possess the ability of independent thought and the pursuit of knowledge. With the more I see, the more I realize the American Dream of a better tomorrow for each succeeding generation is dead. We need a shakeup. Is whatever is behind the UFO phenomenon the cure we’re seeking? Or is it just another false god that will go the way of Zeus and his gang of idiots?
I don’t know.
A real life Independence Day, no matter how terrifying, could free us from our mental stagnation and imprisonment to hate.
Instead of waiting for a spacecraft to land on the White House lawn and an alien to ask to be taken to our leader, I think we need to find them and ask to meet with their leader. He/she/it has got to be better than anything we’ve produced.
What do you think?
The Dover Demon On TV
Because the writer is always the last to know, turns out I made my television debut on World’s Most Unexplained on the Travel Channel last night. Thank the fates that my friends watch these crazy shows all the time and they were quick to let me know!
Oy, look at that mug. I was filmed in a cramped hotel room in the height of the pandemic. Taking off my mask made me nervous as hell, which helped tamp down any butterflies I had about being on camera and interviewed by someone who was on a laptop in Ireland.
The episode is called Roadside Creature/Up in Flames. In the episode, I and several other Travel Channel mainstays talk about the very mysterious 2 night event in a bucolic Massachusetts town back in 1977. Several teenagers saw a bizarre creature on the dark, winding roads, all of them reporting basically the same odd being. Cryptozoologist Loren Coleman was there on the scene and coined the name, the Dover Demon.
I’m sure you can stream the show. Here is a one minute preview –
https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/worlds-most-unexplained/episodes/the-dover-demon
When I was with Loren at the International Cryptozoology Museum, we got to talking about the DD and I was hooked. Not long after, my fictional take on the cryptid with UFO connections was born. If you’d like to explore the Dover Demon and what it could mean for the people who witnessed it when it returns decades later, grab a copy and be prepared for some high strangeness!
UFO Disclosure Came and Went
At the start of every year, the UFO community (which is as bizarre and inexplicable as the phenomena itself) asks if this will be the year for true disclosure. It always puzzles me because as far as I know, that was done decades ago. If you’re looking for the government or ‘experts’ to claim that UFOs are real and in need of further study, well, just dig into recent history. Disclosure came and went before I was even born.
From the acknowledgement of Project Blue Book, to the serious findings and proclamations by the likes of J. Alen Hynek, Nick Pope, countless pilots, police, military and even presidents (both in the US and abroad), it’s all there. We know that there have been strange sightings in the sky for centuries, if not more.
UFOs are real, and anyone who hasn’t been asleep for the past fifty years knows that.
I think when people now talk about UFO disclosure, they mean they’re waiting for definitive proof of extraterrestrials. The problem is, UFOs and ETs are separate topics. We’re talking apples and oranges. Republicans and Democrats. To assume that all UFOS (and by this, I mean the 5-10% that can’t be explained by rational means) are flown by grays or Nordics or reptilians is to dig one’s heels in as much as an unyielding skeptic, therefore blinding oneself to what may truly lie at the heart of the mystery.
Yes, there seem to be strange objects in our skies from time to time. From Foo Fighters to discs, triangles, cigar, mother ships, scout ships, drones, and craft the size of football fields (funny how so many people use a football field as a unit of measure), exceedingly credible people have witnessed them and will swear to what they saw. We have proof in pictures, videos, radar returns and more. Again, UFOs are real.
Unidentified Flying Objects.
Not Alien Drag Racers.
This small yet gigantic distinction is what causes all of the problems. It’s what makes serious newscasters play The X-Files or Twilight Zone music in the background of a mass sighting report. It’s why people in authority cast ridicule on those who are earnestly curious about the subject and cry out for calm, rational study (as in Governor Symington, who mocked The Phoenix Lights when he was in power, but has since made a 180).
It all comes down to aliens. Mother fucking aliens. For a majority of UFO believers, they won’t be satisfied until an alien walks from a craft hovering over the White House and gives the President a high-five. Or having every media outlet crash through the gates of Area 51 and expose the various craft and bodies – alive and dead – they’ve been hiding in the desert all these years. And that makes them fair game for ridicule. Because no one knows who or what is behind these bizarre UFOs, and to make any assumptions and set them in stone is to not see the forest for the trees.
Late this past December, we were presented a powerful bit of disclosure that can and should be a game changer. In the words of many major newscasts and papers, The truth finally came out: the Defense Department has been studying UFOs for years under its Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. In a jaw dropping expose by none other than The New York Times, it was revealed that the 22 million dollar program closely examined cases of UFO encounters with our military. Armed with both credible eyewitness testimony and compelling video footage, the US government has been trying to determine what these mysterious crafts are, how they work, and where they are coming from.
Make no mistake, the government admitting to a UFO program in such a way is a seismic event. The two videos (of a reported twelve), taken by the military, are hard to scoff at. That it was pushed for by Senator Harry Reid is yet another blast in the bombshell report.
And there is more to come. There are 10 other cases that will be revealed bit by bit. Yes, most of the information gathered by the AATIP is classified, but the fact that they consider the objects a potential threat (whether from an enemy nation or beyond the stars) should give us pause and demand to learn more. This is a big moment in our history, and I’m concerned that it will be swept away like so much confetti after New Year’s Eve.
We have to keep our foot on the gas in 2018. We need forward progress and not allow this to slip back into the shadows. Forget aliens! Something has always been out there. But what is it?
There is a ray of hope. Senator Reid is calling for a Congressional hearing on UFOs.
One thing I’ve noticed and abhorred is the amount of backbiting and charlatans that are allowed to attend serious conferences or given valuable air time. For my money, I think the powers that be intentionally give voice to the kooks (Ancient Aliens, anyone?) in order to relegate UFOS to the absurd, a mere form of entertainment.
This is the time when serious researchers, the military and organizations like MUFON need to band together, not hold their ground on misinformed opinions stated as fact. Intensely study the information and videos we’ve been given and collectively push for more. Leave your agendas at the door and take an objective look at the data.
Click the video below to watch an interview with the pilot who filmed his own bizarre encounter and his opinion on its origin:
Hell, even if it all turns out to actually be swamp gas and ball lightning, I want to know. Instead of being disappointed, I’d been fascinated by the incredible things that nature can do.
Renaming them unidentified aerial phenomena isn’t going far enough to cast aside the ridicule intrinsically linked to those three letters – UFO. We shouldn’t let this moment slip from our grasp. And we shouldn’t let the crazies or hard core skeptics lead the charge. Maybe this us the year we learn to set aside our prejudices and assumptions and really get down to business.
Do I think this will happen? No. As I get older, my faith in the rationality of man grows weaker. But there’s always a glimmer of hope. If anything, this should end the cry for disclosure. Now, let’s concentrate on the real questions and find some answers.
Guest Author Roland Yeomans Talks Horror, Aliens, Vampires, Steampunk & US History
While I take a break to watch Mets Spring Training and continue my self-studies on ancient American archaeology, specifically the mound builders of North America, I’m handing this blog n’ chain over to author, Roland Yeomans. And talk about small worlds. His designer is Heather McCorkle, who is one of my favorite people in the Twitterverse! We are all 6 degrees of maple bacon. Roland’s latest book is a mix of horror and steampunk and history and everything in between. I can’t wait to read it.
OK Hellions, time for me to hit the textbooks. Roland, take the wheel…
“True horror is when men are free to become the monsters they have always wanted to be.”
– Samuel McCord
Roland Yeomans here on my “Don’t You Hate Book Tours?” Book Tour.
One of the worst war criminals was a home-grown one: General William Tecumseh Sherman of “Let’s Toast Marshmallows All Through Georgia” Fame.
It was his idea, by the way.
As he was drawing wagon-loads of civilian down roads suspected of containing mines, cannoning Atlanta homes sheltering crying women and children, and writing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton that there was a whole class of people, men, women, and children, that needed to be killed in the South.
The lure of alternate history is to take the past and give it a twist. Steampunk filters the story through a Victorian H. G. Wells lens. Horror allows me to serve back terror to those who most deserve it.
Have you ever thought what might have been the fate of the White Man had Native American magic been real, had the White’s boogey-men been waiting for the carnage of the Civil War to give them an engraved invitation?
Imagine a world where aliens walk unsuspected among us, where global vampire kingdoms wage war against one another in secret, and one man with death in his veins tries to even the scales for those who cannot fight back.
Horror is more than secret murder, bloody bones, or a sheeted form clanking chains upstairs.
An atmosphere of unexplainable dread, of lurking unknown forces must be present. There must be a hint, expressed with a seriousness becoming its subject, of that most terrible conception of the human brain:a malign suspension of those fixed laws of Nature which are our only safeguard against the assaults of chaos and the demons of unsuspected reality.
In The Not-So-Innocents Abroad, Samuel McCord, a man cursed with the blood of the Angel of Death, marries the woman of most people’s nightmares: the Empress of the Alien Race that has toyed with Man since he crawled from out of his caves.
But love seldom has good sense, much less good luck.
Now, McCord must struggle to see if there is an honorable way to be married to a monster.
He may not live long enough to find there is no such road.
The vampiric Abigail Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Empress Theodora of the Unholy Roman Empire are among the passengers of the honeymoon vessel of the no-longer human and the alien empress.
The insane Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, a crippled General Sherman, 11 year old Nikola Tesla, and the mysterious Greek physician Lucanus join many others on the honeymoon voyage of the first Air-Steamship, Xanadu.
The keening which General Sherman heard as the Angel of Death convened at the corrupt peace treaty at Ft. Laramie when the skies became blood, the stars reversed their course, and the dead rose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArEaOWqzYo
Cost of Passage? Only $9.99. Come aboard for the adventure of a lifetime.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530302722/
Take A Walk With A Demon
You don’t even have to go to hell to stride along with this demon. I’m very happy to announce that The Dover Demon Blog Tour has begun, 6 weeks of cryptid love with chances to win signed books and more. This may be a critter you’ve never heard of, but I promise you’ll never forget him…or her…after you’ve read the book.
“Hunter Shea takes these (cryptid) legends to a petrifying new place and drags you along for the ride. He is quickly becoming of the authors I can count on for a great read. 4.5 out of 5 stars! Horror Maiden’s Book Reviews
Big thanks to Erin El Mehairi for putting everything together. She is truly the patron saint of horror’s lost boys. Visit the tour stops by clicking the above image and make sure to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win signed books.
You can get The Dover Demon in trade paperback or ebook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Samhain Publishing and everywhere books are sold. This little sucker doesn’t phone home and he’ll do very bad things with Reese’s Pieces if you let him.
Jack and I jaw about The Dover Demon in the latest episode of Monster Men, as well as some great horror movies you should add to your to-watch list for #Horrortober. Oh yeah, it’s that time again!
THE DOVER DEMON Raises His Round, Little Head – Cryptid Novel Release Day!
Oh yes, the day is finally here. My latest foray into the world of cryptozoology horror – THE DOVER DEMON – takes one of the lesser known but strangest of all cryptids on a wild adventure that has thoroughly creeped out advance readers and reviewers. Having faced Bigfoot in SWAMP MONSTER MASSACRE and delved into the mystery of THE MONTAUK MONSTER, I wanted to tackle a cryptid that hasn’t had as much public recognition. A trip to the International Cryptozoology Museum 2 years ago sparked the idea for THE DOVER DEMON.
While I was there, I was lucky enough to meet famed cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman. We got to talking about creatures he’s personally investigated. Turns out, he was the man on the scene in Dover, MA in the late 70s when the uber strange biped was spotted by several people over the course of two nights in April. He also gave it its name, the Dover Demon. As a lover of monsters and aliens, I couldn’t resist. I mean, look at that mug!
Believe it or not, to this day, people still aren’t sure what they saw. Yes, today most people would see the image and think it’s an alien from a visiting UFO. But here’s where it gets interesting. The witness who drew the first image did it before the ‘gray alien’ became an internationally recognized icon! This was before the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind and years prior to Whitley Strieber’s Communion.
I was so fortunate to have an early release event at the I.C.M. in August. I got to spend some quality time with Loren Coleman and meet people just like myself who are fascinated by the wondrous creatures that have been spotted around the world. Cryptid fans from out of state made the drive to get some Dover Demon love!
At the time it was spotted, it was treated as a terrestrial creature, though the high strangeness of the event brought MUFON to the town as well. No one could figure out what came to visit Dover, and the story hasn’t been recanted by the witnesses even 30+ years later. So, the mystery continues.
My novel takes on several questions:
- What if other people saw the creature that night but never reported it because their run in with the creature was as terrifying as it was strange?
- What if the Dover Demon makes a return in 2015? What would it, or they, want?
- What if it isn’t anything that people have theorized it to be?
Here’s the official blurb for the book –
In 1977, Sam Brogna and his friends came upon a terrifying, alien creature on a deserted country road. What they witnessed was so bizarre, so chilling, they swore their silence. But their lives were changed forever.
Decades later, the town of Dover has been hit by a massive blizzard. Sam’s son, Nicky, is drawn to search for the infamous cryptid, only to disappear into the bowels of a secret underground lair. The Dover Demon is far deadlier than anyone could have believed. And there are many of them. Can Sam and his reunited friends rescue Nicky and battle a race of creatures so powerful, so sinister, that history itself has been shaped by their secretive presence?
I lovingly wrote this for all the monster/cryptid/horror lovers out there. So take my hand and let’s walk the moonlit paths of Dover. You never know what you’re going to find.
You can get THE DOVER DEMON in trade paperback and ebook. Click here to access my bookstore page!
And if you’re in the Portland, Maine area, check out the International Cryptozoology Museum, or visit the website and support Loren’s little gem, the only museum dedicated to cryptids in the world.
The Aliens Are Here! Interview with BOOM TOWN Author Glenn Rolfe1
It’s time to put on your tin foil hats and settle down in the bunker. Today, for your listening and viewing pleasure, the Monster Men interview Samhain author Glenn Rolfe to talk about his latest release, Boom Town. Glenn is a horror author in Maine (I think there’s some other guy up there who does stuff like that) and a real up-and-comer. Now first, check out the interview :
Here’s what Boom Town is about :
Terror from below!
In the summer of 1979, Eckert, Wisconsin, was the sight of the most unique UFO encounter in history. A young couple observed a saucer-like aircraft hovering over Hollers Hill. A blue beam blasted down from the center of the craft into the hill and caused the ground to rumble for miles.
Now, thirty years later, Eckert is experiencing nightly rumbles that stir up wild rumors and garner outside attention. The earthly tremors are being blamed on everything from earthquakes to underground earth dwellers. Two pre-teens discover a pipe out behind Packard’s Flea Market uprooted by the “booms” and come into contact with the powerful ooze bubbling from within. What begins as curiosity will end in an afternoon of unbridled terror for the entire town.
Now, this is why I love my job. I got an advanced copy of Boom Town from Glenn. I’m not sure if he was fully aware of my alien invasion obsession. So little did he know, I was already hooked by the premise, big time. Boom Town is set in a small, out of the way town, so you immediately get that sense of isolation, which always amps up the creep factor. Most of the main characters are kids in their teens, so folks who grew up loving It can rejoice.
Glenn wastes no time diving right in. I will say that this isn’t your typical alien invasion tale. There are no grays or reptilians skulking around, probing anuses and trying to gain world domination. Think of this more as The Blob on steroids. Snappy prose and non-stop action make this a real fun read. Take me to your leader, if that leader is Glenn Rolfe!
Alien Abduction Ain’t For The Weak
Why do I love alien stories so much? I swear I was abducted years ago. I do have a missing time moment from the late 80s. Can’t remember if I’d had too much to drink at the time.
Anyway, I recently came across Robert Dunn’s alien abduction novel, Behind the Darkness, and wanted to jump up and cheer. Finally, an alien novel that gave me the action and chills I’ve always wanted. Robert was kind enough to answer my fan boy questions. If aliens are your thing, buy this book now!
Everyone who knows me knows I’m a sucker for all things alien. Your book, Behind the Darkness, is an alien abduction thriller that literally creeped me out. Please tell everyone a little about the book.
Behind The Darkness was imagined as Night of the Living dead with aliens rather than zombies. It grew quite a bit beyond that but I think that core, survivors trapped in a house by something unknowable but relentless and dangerous, is still there. Beyond that there was a love of the possibilities of alien abduction stories but a dissatisfaction with the ones I read. I didn’t want psychology, I wanted action. I hope I struck a balance between the alien terrors of the unknown controlling a life
and the survivor story of resistance against impossible odds. By the way, I am so proud that you said it creeped you out. That was exactly the kind of vibe I wanted to give and I always appreciate hearing that it works for someone.
The ending leaves things open for a sequel. Is there one in the works?
There isn’t yet one in the works but I wanted the possibility there. There is a lot more that could happen with this story. That being said Behind The Darkness is a connected story. It takes place in the same world as my novel, The Dead Ground. Like a certain star writer sets horror stories in Maine and several mystery writers stake out locals like the desert southwest or Louisiana, I wanted to use my roots and develop a world in which the Missouri, Ozarks are the home of dark mysteries and terrors. I’m a redneck Lovecraft at heart, I guess. In The Dead Ground the characters are aware of strange events that had taken place a few miles away on the Duncan Ranch and dismissive of the idea of aliens even as they fight the undead and interdimensional tentacle monsters from caves filled with stars. Writing is fun isn’t it?
How did your fascination with aliens and the abduction phenomena start?
The stories really started becoming mainstream and coalescing around certain tropes in the early ’70’s when I was a kid reading everything weird and wonderful I could get my hands on. I had read about Barney and Betty Hill then saw the movie, The UFO Incident, based on their story. In 1985 I was approached by another writer who had a friend with a development deal for a movie but no idea beyond wanting to do something scary. That was when I started on this story in earnest but the flow for the film deal was going in the direction of undersea monsters. It had been ten years but people still wanted to do the next Jaws. I packed my ideas away and along came Whitley Strieber’s books about visitors. He never said alien but he added a layer to the idea of aliens and the mental terrors of abduction. I stewed some more.
You’re also a film producer. Which is harder, working in film or the lonely business of writing?
Writing definitely. There is no one to delegate to or lean on. When you are creating a filmed program any number of people can save you and probably will from the lighting guy that sets the kind of mood you didn’t know you needed with one well placed instrument to the editor or sound person that puts their stamp down and makes everything more. When I write novels or stories it is all on me. A good editor will improve things but it won’t even get that far if you haven’t done the heavy lifting already.
OK, I know I’m a freak who has watched just about every alien abduction movie ever made. Have you watched any yourself and which is your favorite?
I have probably seen them all too. It’s great living in the age of accessible media. I don’t have a favorite exactly because I always wanted more than any of them give. Details. Violence. Action. The movies are actually why I felt I had stewed enough and wrote my story. I wanted to take all those great elements, abduction, the aliens that had become an established even traditional monster, mutilations, hybridization, disbelieving, even hostile authorities, and make the best, scariest story I could.
Whitley Strieber’s book, Communion, seemed to start an industry. What are your thoughts on his work in the abduction vein? Is he in touch with ET, a higher plane, or delusional?
I’ve read that Strieber intentionally referred to Visitors to avoid defining them as aliens. He wanted to leave their origins open. Unfortunately, once an idea is out there we lose control of it and he ended up creating an entire alien mythos. As to the reality, I have issues. I am a narcoleptic. An aspect of that is vivid dreaming and a breakdown between the waking/dreaming state. It has happened many times that I have become aware but still under sleep paralysis. Both dreams and imaginings can become very real in those times and if you can’t move or speak the imaginings that come are rarely pleasant. So in my personal experience there are explanations for being under paralysis and feeling threatened by an evil presence. I tend to think that other people have reasonable explanations as well. That being said, I think Mr. Strieber has made our culture a little richer and provided a good living for himself.
Please let everyone know where to find you and your work and what’s coming up next.
Well of course you can find Behind The Darkness and The Dead Ground on Amazon and feel free to go in through my author’s page. http://www.amazon.com/Robert-E.-Dunn/…
By the way, Behind The Darkness just got it’s first review on Amazon, five stars from a top 500 reviewer. I’m happy about that.
Both of those books are published by the good folks at Severed Press. Everyone should check them out for great reads. http://www.severedpress.com/
I’ll let you in on a secret but just a hint- I have another book out and doing well under a pen name. The surprise, it’s a spicy romance. I challenge everyone to track me down. Coming up, there are two new horror novels. The Red Highway is an alternate history urban fantasy about an ancient god provoking the LA riots to cause the sacrifice of a child. The Harrowing is about a mercenary sent to hell to rescue an innocent. No one is innocent and the one lesson he learns is, never trust an angel. Red Highway is currently under requested publisher submission and Harrowing is making the rounds of some great agents.
Beyond that, I blog erratically at http://robertdunnauthor.blogspot.com/ You’ll find a fun story and the first chapter of The Dead Ground there. I tweet more regularly. Feel free to come say hi there, @WritingDead. Thanks again for the chance to share and connect with your readers.
In Search Of…Inspiring A Generation
People ask me all the time what got me into horror. The answer has always been simple. Growing up a kid in the 70s, I was hooked by the weekly documentary TV show, In Search Of.
It didn’t hurt that it was narrated by Mr. Spock, one of my idols at the time. His voiceover work on that show was always, and I mean always, pitch perfect. Somber, serious, Leonard Nimoy took us all on a trip to the weird and paranormal that has been noted as the inspiration for an entire generation of writers, directors and actors. I don’t think I’ve met a writer at Samhain Horror who hasn’t said this show deeply impacted their lives.
In Search Of was my classroom for the bizarre and unexplained. Every week, I sat in my living room sipping on a Nehi, huddled close to our TV that was as big as our couch (at least the cabinet was – the actual screen may have been 20 inches tops). It was where I was first exposed to Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster, ghosts, life after death, real buried treasure, aliens, the Bermuda Triangle and ESP, just to name a few off the top of my head. Everything seemed and looked so real, I couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of monster and ghosts populating the same world where I rode my bike with baseball cards in the spokes and played Wiffle Ball marathons until we could no longer see the ball.
The film itself was grainy, the terror palpable as each tale unfolded. Any episode of In Search Of back then was scarier than most horror flicks. And now that I can watch them on YouTube today, it still holds true. I’ve said it many times that the baritone of Leonard Nimoy’s voice is the horror soundtrack of my life. Without him and that wonderful show, I may have never discovered my true passion.
Summer’s winding down and Halloween will be here before you know it. Now’s a perfect time to watch this show for the first time or catch up with a long lost friend. At the very least, it will explain how we horror writers of a certain age came to be.
What’s your favorite episode? I know mine was Bigfoot and my first exposure to the famed Patterson Gimlin film.
Hunter Shea 