Your Horror-Paranormal Round Up for September
It’s been a tale of two summers here in New York. The first half felt like we were living on Mercury, and the second half was mild and sunny on the San Diego-ish side. I’m not a big fan of summer and I’m happy to see it go. Bring me colder, darker days and falling leaves and, most of all, let the true horror begin!
Here are a few things you should be looking out for to get in the mood.
Looking for a great Horror Con to attend? Why not try Rock & Shock in Worcester, MA (10/4-10/6), Spooky Empire in Orlando, FL (10/25-10/27) or, my favorite, Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ (10/25-10/27). I’ll be at Chiller, as I am every year. Where else can you drink next to celebs, be surrounded by like minded maniacs, catch some indie movies, stock up on horror gear and have the time of your life?
I’m a big fan of the movie V/H/S (and the tapes as well. I must have watched hundreds of horror videos in the 80s when I should have been in school). I wasn’t convinced that they could catch lightning in a bottle twice with the sequel. I’m here to tell you I was dead wrong. V/H/S 2 is actually better than the first. The segments are tighter and creepier, especially “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” and the ultra gore-fest, “Safe Haven”. This sequel is a must see. I hope they get the band back together for a third.
Speaking of sequels, one of my favorite paranormal TV shows, Ghost Mine, gets a second season starting September 4th. I know I’ll be writing more about this in the next month, but you really should check it out. If you never heard of the show, read my post about the first season so you’re ready to dive in to season two.
Often when I write, I have music going in the background. There are a couple of rules I have when it comes to writing music. First, it can’t have lyrics. Hearing other words screws with my head. Two, the music has to match the mood of the scene I’m writing. Naturally, I listen to a lot of soundtracks. I just picked up the soundtracks to Sinister and The Innkeepers. Both helped me finish my last book and will take me well into my next. Warning, Sinister, like the movie, will creep you the hell out! Both are excellent.
Calling all squatchers! Yeah, that means you! Are you ready for the new Bigfoot flick, Willow Creek? Click the movie poster below to watch the trailer and get as amped as I am. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this one by Bobcat Goldthwait. You all know I’m a sucker for sasquatch.
Need something to read? I’m not going to sugar coat this one. I fucking loved Brian Moreland’s The Witching House. His latest novella reads as fast as an out of control freight train and has genuine scares. Read the description and tell me if you can resist.
Some houses should be left alone.
In 1972, twenty-five people were brutally murdered in one of the bloodiest massacres in Texas history. The mystery of who committed the killings remains unsolved.
Forty years later, Sarah Donovan is dating an exciting man, Dean Stratton. Sarah’s scared of just about everything—heights, tight places, the dark—but today she must confront all her fears, as she joins Dean and another couple on an exploring adventure. The old abandoned Blevins House, the scene of the gruesome massacre, is rumored to be haunted.
The two couples are about to discover the mysterious house has been waiting all these years, craving fresh prey. And down in the cellar they will encounter a monstrous creature that hungers for more than just human flesh.
Joe Rogan Really Does Question Everything
Looking buff and baked, Joe Rogan has somehow teamed up with the Syfy channel for a show called Joe Rogan Questions Everything. When I first saw the ad for this one, I had a true WHOA! moment. The man who likes to watch babes eat worm guts and coagulated blood balls is now diving into the weird and paranormal?
Eh, why not?
Over the past year, Syfy has been throwing a ton of new, short run shows against the wall and waiting to see what sticks. I’m not sure if this one will adhere to the programming wall for a second season, like Ghost Mine, but it does have something going for it that other shows in this genre don’t – Joe Rogan will call bullshit, literally, to a person’s face when they postulate on the crazy theories that plague their fevered brains. Now that, my friends, is refreshing. Since he’s a martial arts guy, I guess he’s not worried if someone takes offense to his opinion. Might be kind of fun to watch him throw some MMA-style beat down to a man who swears the chupacabra is an ET pet.
He had me at Sasquatch, the focus of his first episode. I get the feeling that like me, he wants to believe. And like me, he needs a little more proof than a few plaster casts and grainy films. Rogan looked genuinely flipped out at times during his squatchin’ night in the woods. Naturally, they didn’t find Bigfoot, but the ride was worth it.
I also watched Joe tackle HAARP and the future of robotics where man and machine will meld as one, then separate into possible warring factions. Can someone say Battlestar Galactica?
Here’s a great reason to watch this show : Drinking Game! Joe gets very, very animated when he talks about the unusual. Every time his eyes pop out of his head, take a shot. You’ll be blitzed halfway into the show. And somehow, I think Joe would approve.
His skepticism and open mindedness is (I can’t believe I’m saying this) a breath of fresh air. For me, the show is a Vulcan mind meld of In Searh Of… and That’s Incredible. Anything that makes me feel like a kid again, even if it’s only for an hour, gets my vote.
Keep searching for the truth, Joe. And keep that BS meter running.
Inside The International Cryptozoology Museum
Hey, fans of Bigfoot, Mothman, the Jersey Devil, The Dover Demon, Sea Serpents, Chupacabra and all creatures strange and undiscovered, did you know that there’s an International Cryptozoology Museum? I didn’t, and I have been vacationing right outside its doors for years! Located in Portland, Maine, it’s owned and run by world famous cryptozoologist, Loren Coleman. He’s the man who actually coined the terms for many now famous cryptids such as the Montauk Monster and The Dover Demon. You’ve seen him on TV and documentaries like Ancient Aliens, MonsterQuest and Weird Travels. The best part is, when you go to the museum, Loren is there to greet you and talk monsters.
As soon as I found out about it, I had to drag my kids to see it for myself. Located on a small side street off the main drag in downtown Portland, we were greeted by a flag depicting a Coelacanth, a large fish thought to have been extinct for millions of years until one was pulled from the depths in the 1930’s. Loren informed me that the prehistoric fish was the inspiration for my favorite Universal Monster, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Loren quizzed us on what was on the flag and I passed the test!
Inspired by a fish!
The museum consists of two rooms jam packed with actual artifacts from cryptid investigations as well as recreations. I was immediately drawn to some of the Bigfoot plaster casts and the news stories accompanying them.
Squatch Feet
Loren actually owns the largest Bigfoot in the world and he’s happy to take pictures with everyone standing in front of old Squatchy. Being next to a legend in the field by a giant Bigfoot was the highlight of my trip.
Me, Loren and my favorite hairy dude
Once we got through the huge Bigfoot displays, there was a host of other mysteries and wonders to explore. Turning a corner into the other room, I came face to face with the legendary Fiji Mermaid, a bizarre, mummified creature that P.T. Barnum used to proclaim was an actual mermaid. It kind of looks like a shriveled up Yoda with boobs. I wonder of Lucas got his inspiration from this.
“Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.”
The second room had a little bit of everything, from a small Chupacabra display…
A little goat sucker under glass
To the Dover Demon, an alien-like creature that appeared in a Massachussets town over a 2 day period in 1977.
You can read about the Dover Demon in Loren’s book ‘Monsters of Massachusetts”
Turns out, Loren investigated the strange and creepy Mothman and was even friends with John Keel, the man who reported on the infamous cryptid. He was a consultant for the movie, The Mothman Prophecies and starred in a documentary on it. It’s my belief that what went on in that West Virginia town in the 60s is one of the weirdest events of all time. You can check out our Monster Men podcast on the subject here.
You could dedicate a whole museum to the Mothman
Loren told me that he was the man who gave the Montauk Monster its name. He also said it was just a decomposed raccoon. Bummer.
I don’t know, this doesn’t look like a raccoon to me
The museum has it all. For a guy like me, I could have stayed there all day, but it was getting late and we had a Duck Boat tour to take and a baseball game to see. So, if you’re ever in the Portland area, I highly suggest you check it out. It must be popular, because it was even mentioned on the Duck Boat tour. There are monsters everywhere….at least I hope.
A Picture Says A Thousand Squatches
More on the story behind this to come. Stay tuned……
Skunk Apes Can You Hear Me?
OK, unless you live down in Florida or Louisiana in the middle of the swamps and you walk around shouting into a bullhorn, odds are, resident skunk apes (that’s an extra pungent, swampy Bigfoot for the uninitiated) aren’t going to pay you any mind.
However, you can now hear them! I am the very proud poppa of a bouncing baby audiobook. Swamp Monster Massacre is now an audiobook, expertly narrated by Michael Ray Davis, a man who nails the tenor and tone of the main character, Rooster Murphy. You can listen to a sample and pick up a copy at the Audio Bookshop for only $3.99 (you don’t see them come that inexpensive) by clicking on the audiobook cover below.
If you’re wondering just what the hell you’re in store for – skunk apes and a dude named Rooster? – I invite you to check out the latest review that was just posted on Horror Novel Reviews. Swampy earned a cool 4.5 out of 5. Not too shabby for creatures so shaggy. Here’s a quick excerpt from the review:
Hunter Shea’s novella is a great read that can be devoured in one sitting. It’s phenomenally paced, has great characters, and even better villains. The Skunk Apes (Bigfoot’s swampy cousin) are vicious creatures, hellbent on destroying the swamp’s intruders (or are they?). The way Shea introduces them to an unsuspecting audience is utterly fantastic. I tore through the story with the same anticipation as the eight-year old version of myself used to rip through R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps. — Tim Meyer for HNR
You can read the rest of the review here.
Happy squatchin’!
TV’s Survivorman to chase Bigfoot with Calgary believer
This one was too good to pass up. Now, I’m not a big Survivor Man fan, but this is a good way to make me one! Again, big thanks to Scott for bringing this to my attention.
Your Horror-Paranormal Round-Up for March
Today marks the start of something new for me. Every couple of months, I’m going to post a hodge-podge of places to go and people to see on the internet, all of them horror and paranormal related. These are the locations, people and achievements that have captured my imagination and gratitude. They are wellsprings of inspiration, information, entertainment and mental edification. Find something that interests you and give them a lookey-loo…
Congratulations goes out to Robert Rumery on the publication of his first comic, The Grove, from WhatTheFlux Comics. If you know me, you know I’m a horror comic junkie. Nice job, Robert. I can’t wait to get my grubby little hands on it.
Looking for great horror books at steep discounts…or even free? Author, editor and all around cool dude in a loose mood, Brian James Freeman has started eHorror Bargains, your one-stop-shop for the best in horror. All of your horror deals are right here. Stop by and load up your e-reader!
Book Reviews. I have 2 places where you can go to get tons of book reviews (and if you’re an author, query them to have your book spotlighted). The first is Oh, for the HOOK of a BOOK. Super reviewer Erin covers multiple genres as well as author interviews. She is the hardest working book reviewer out there today and a lot of writerly types owe her our gratitude.
Another mega-review site is Matt Molgaard’s Horror Novel Reviews. Matt and his team do an excellent job of reviewing not only new horror works, but classics and older hidden gems. If you need to stock up your horror library, this is the place to go. Then head to eHorror Bargains and see if you can get some of them without busting your budget.
Bigfoot. You know I can’t help myself from throwing something about the hairy fella in here. Huge thanks to Scott Albright who brought this post to my attention (actually, it’s as large as a novella) about Bigfoot and why no one has found their bones or bodies. Author Robert Lindsay did some yeoman’s work putting this together. Must read for all you squatchers!
Ghosts & The Supernatural. The definitive place to get everything you need about the world of the paranormal is Jeff Belanger’s Ghost Village. This is the Bible for everyone interested in what lies beyond the veil. You can also sign up for their free monthly newsletter.
Books. I’m super excited that my book release partner on April 2nd is the uber-talented Jonathan Janz. His new book, The Darkest Lullaby, comes out the same day as my Sinister Entity. Here’s a link to a review of his book. He has one of the coolest cover in the Samhain library.
Podcasts. My newest podcast addiciotn is Darkness Radio, a radio show broadcast out of the Twin Cities. You can listen to their archives online or through iTunes. These guys have a damn good time talking about the world of the strange and the unexplained. Love their take on things.
OK, that about does it for this month. I hope you stop by some or all of these great places and supoprt them. If there are hot spots you think I should know about, send them to me and I’ll include them in future posts.
Happy hauntings!
A Crash Course on the Bigfoot of Boggy Creek
Admittedly, I’m a crypto nut. My father bought me a hardcover book on monsters when I was a kid and I’ve been hooked ever since. I remember it had some green, muppet-y looking creature on the cover. I wonder where it went.
For folks my age (I was born around the time the Jets won the Super Bowl), there is a pivotal movie that hooked our fascination with Bigfoot. That film, a drive-in flick that took the country by storm, was The Legend of Boggy Creek. The movie was shot like a documentary and recalls the tale of the Fouke Monster and how it terrorized a town in Arkansas in 1971. Production was cheap, actual townies were used to re-enact events and the pacing was, well, ponderous at times.
With everything going against it, The Legend of Boggy Creek succeeded in terrifying audiences, first in theaters, then on home video, for years. Something about it felt so real, so plausible, that you can’t help being sucked in to the story.
Like most, I thought this was a brief Bigfoot flap that came and went. I was wrong. There is so much more to the story. Here’s everything you need to know about the Bigfoot sightings in and around the now legendary Fouke, Arkansas.
The sightings of a large, bipedal creature did’t begin in 1971. In fact, there are records of brushes with the hairy cryptid, both written and verbal, going back 100 years and continuing right up to the present day, Individuals, families, hunters and even police have all had strange encounters, especially around Highway 71 and the Sulphur River Bottoms.
What makes the Fouke Bigfoot different than other squatches in other locations? From all accounts, the Fouke Bigfoot is aggressive. In quite a few cases, it’s been very threatening towards humans. The Ford family house was attacked by a large, angry creature that tore off doors, broke through windows and grabbed people with intent to harm. This is very uncommon for Bigfoot sightings. The Fouke Bigfoot is not a happy camper and people have gone into shock after coming across it. It’s been known to charge at and even grab people with talon-tipped fingers.
As the town of Fouke has seen a decrease in forested land that makes a perfect hideout for the beasts, it’s been seen less there, but more so in neighboring towns less than 10 miles away that are still dense with trees and winding rivers. Are they migrating? It seems likely.
The creature is generally described as being between 6 and 8 feet tall, with glowing red eyes. On some night encounters, people have seen the eyes first, then the massive body emerging from the dark. Its face is tanned and very human-like.
I don’t think any Bigfoot has been shot at more times than the creatures living in Fouke. The odd thing is that many experienced hunters have had the creature in their sights and appear to have missed every time. Unless there’s a Bigfoot hospital somewhere that tends to their wounds, they’ve all escaped unscathed.
Now, I’m not saying everything that’s been reported is true. I’m just stating the facts. You can visit the town for yourself and see.
Before you go, you may want to bone up on the story and enjoy some of the fiction that’s grown up around it. I highly suggest the following:
- The Beast of Boggy Creek by Lyle Blackburn. From what I can tell, this is the definitive collection of all things Fouke Monster. Blackburn has done an excellent job collecting all of the lore and reports.
- Boggy Creek : The Legend is True by Eric S. Brown. Probably the #1 Bigfoot fiction writer today, Brown’s story will grab you by the throat.
- Smokey and the Fouke Monster by Smokey Crabtree. Smokey actually lived in Fouke and was very much in the thick of things. An interesting bird’s eye view of the phenomena.
And of course, grab a copy of the movie. I have Fouke on my list of places to visit. I’m sure local Bigfoot researchers go into the woods from time to time, searching for the elusive legend.
Which begs the question, if you know that the Fouke Bigfoot is aggressive, would you bring extra precautions on a hunt? Would knowing its temperment make you think twice before going out there?
The legend continues…
Podcasts for the Paranormal Junkie
In the past, I’ve told you all how I’m an enormous fan of Jim Harold’s Paranormal Podcast. I’ve even become a paying member of his Plus Club and I’m loving every minute of it.
Today, I wanted to cue you in to 3 other podcasts that I listen to every week. The best part is that they are all FREE on iTunes.
First up is The Gralien Report. Despite its name, the host Micah Hanks doesn’t just talk about aliens. In fact, he covers every Fortean topic you can think of. Each episode is an hour or more and is run very much like a standard radio show. One of the most informative podcasts you’re going to find.
Next is a show that’s honest with a very homey kind of vibe. SEPS Paranormal Podcast. Host Paul Cagle is a paranormal investigator with a great Tennessee accent that puts you right at ease. He’s very down to earth and tells it like it is. He makes me laugh every time I listen, and that’s a good thing.
And last but not least is Whispers Radio , another show that mainly focuses on ghosts, but will also dip into UFOs and monsters from time to time. Jordan Cline, to me, sounds like a guy I want to have a few beers with.
So next time you’re hunting for something to load onto your iPod or listen to on your computer, give them a try. I wonder if there’s such a thing as podcast rehab?
You’re Never Too Old for Toys
The change in my household really hit home this Christmas when I realized that my wife and I didn’t need to go to a single toy store to get presents for our girls. They’re both officially teens now, and too cool for toys.
Which leaves me as the last child in the house. And you what the best part of being a man-child is? I get to buy any toy I want without asking for my parents’ permission. Nyah nyah!
Granted, I pick cool things up now under the auspices that they would make great set pieces for my Monster Men podcast. But really, let’s be honest, I’d buy this stuff even if I didn’t know what a podcast was.
I was with my brother-in-law Tom this weekend at Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash. This is Kevin Smith’s awsome comic book store in Red Bank, NJ. On a side note, if you haven’t seen his movie Red State, you’re doing yourself a disservice. The movie has even sparked a wave of apocalypse hoaxes around the world.
Anyway, I digress like Gary Busey at a bris.
I was halfway into the store when I spotted my second favorite robot of all time.
You all remember Robbie the Robot? He made his debut in the great sci-fi flick, Forbidden Planet, and went on to do episodes of The Twilight Zone and Lost in Space. Robot from Lost in Space is my all time favorite. As a kid, I said if I ever made it rich, I would buy Robot and Robby and display them in my house. Still working on it. It was Robbie, it was a bobblehead, it was mine.
Then, tucked away in the back of the store was the action figure to beat all action figures. I’m not talking G.I. Joe with kung fu grip. It’s not an original Mego Captain America. No, I’m talking about the ultimate bionic Bigfoot!
I nearly wept when I saw him. If you click on the picture above, you can watch Steve Austin go toe-to-toe with the robotic bigfoot created by aliens. And really, isn’t that the case for all Bigfoots?
Hunter Shea 