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Hello all! I'm spending today watching another friend playthrough Until Dawn, so pardon me for another pre-arranged news post. Here's what I have for you today.

Casting The Void.

The upcoming horror film The Void, directed by Steve Kostanski & Jeremy Gillespie, two members of the Canadian collective Astron 6, has been filming in Ontario for several weeks now and just a few days ago came word of the cast assembled for this ambitious project.

Aaron Poole (The Last Will & Testament of Rosalind Leigh) plays Daniel Carter, a lone police officer who finds himself caught in the throes of The Void.

Daniel Fathers (Pontypool) plays Vincent, a mysterious man with his own reasons for seeking the void.

Kenneth Welsh (Twin Peaks) portrays Dr, Powell, the head of the hospital in which the story takes place.

Kathleen Monroe (Survival of the Dead) is Alison, the hospital's head nurse who shares a checkered past with Daniel.

Ellen Wong (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) plays Kim, a spunky nurse in training at the hospital.

With production now well underway, I hope we will all get to see the horrific secrets within The Void sometime next year.

Negan Speaks.

A while ago, it was revealed that Jeffrey Dean Morgan would be filling the very large shoes of infamous Walking Dead villain Negan. This week, Morgan sat down with EW to talk about what we have to look forward to. Here's a sample from the interview;

On getting the part;

“So a couple of years ago people started saying, “Hey, man, you should be Negan in The Walking Dead.” So I started reading the comic books just because I’m a fan and I love what Kirkman is doing and so I was very aware of Negan and had read quite a bit of the comic books. So my agent and manager were on the phone and said, “The Walking Dead have offered you this thing,” but they didn’t have any information. It was all a big secret. And they sort of got halfway through the sentence saying “We don’t know the character’s name, he’s the new big bad…” and I knew immediately who they were talking about. They just got halfway through and I knew immediately who it was. It was no question. I was like, “Absolutely. We’re going to f—ing do it!” And that was it. And literally a week later I was in Atlanta talking with the cast and hanging out.”

On how close the character will be the comic;

“The character itself is going to be as close as humanly possible. The foul language is a speed bump, I’m not going to say it’s an issue because they’re working on it. We’re going to push AMC — the plan is to push them as far as they can because it’s who Negan is. He uses some colorful language. And reading the comic, it’s important. It’s our intention that this character is going to leap off the pages of the comic book. Some of the characters there’s much more leeway, but Negan is a guy that you want to keep as true as possible, and that would be how I want to play him as well.”

On whether he has seen Lucille (Negan's trusty bat);

“Yes I have. She is gorgeous. A beautiful girl.”

For the rest of the interview, click here.

Handmade Horrors.

I found an awesome site called Clay Disarray the other day. UK artist Lizzie Campbell uses clay to reenact some of horror's most celebrated posters. Check out some of these.

There are many other great ones at her site, which you can check out here.

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Hi everyone. I'm still reeling from the upset last night, but I've pulled myself together to give you some recent horror tidbits.

A Saviour Cometh.

It was announced this week that an actor has finally been cast to fill the mighty big boots of The Walking Dead's most infamous villain, Negan. Jeffrey Dean Morgan will first appear in the role at the end of this season and while I had my heart set on Kevin Durand, Morgan is also an excellent choice.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan.

His turn as The Comedian in the 2009's adaptation of The Watchmen is just the kind of pedigree we need for the leader of The Saviours. What this means for continuity, with a certain character still M.I.A remains to be seen, but it's certainly something for which to look forward.

It's Getting Hot In Here.

A short film that has been making the festival rounds of late is Austrian filmmaker Kevin Kopacka's Hades. Here's a look at the newest trailer here.

Even though using low-key covers of old tunes in trailers is old hat now, I do dig this one. The colour palette influences are no doubt obvious, but from an art-house horror perspective, Kopacka may have just out-Amered Amer with this piece.

Here's Blood In Yer Eye!!!

I came across this video about the history of fake blood the other day.

While the host & narrative are super cheesy, this is still a pretty informative piece on the different types of fake blood that have graced the screen over the last hundred years. Good to see my favourite recipe, the one used in the Evil Dead movies, got a mention.

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Hello all. Since it is now October - the busiest month for all things horror - my weekends are pretty much rammed with stuff. Therefore, this post is coming to you from the past! Here's what I've got for you this week.

Stay Living.

Here's a cool little advert that pops up in my Facebook recently. UK filmmaker Matt Devine recently posted the third in a series of zombie films for Boost Mobile. Here it is below.

To check out the first two parts, click here, and here.

Lucille Would Approve.

A few days ago, the site Nuke The Fridge let fly with a juicy casting rumour about the small screen juggernaut The Walking Dead. Apparently, Kevin Durand has been approached the play the infamous Negan. 

Those familiar with the comic know that Negan's shoes are tough ones to fill, but I think Durand would be an excellent choice. His size & demeanor fit right in with the character, and furthermore, Durand is killing it right now on The Strain.

Aside from that, the entrance of Negan is really going to shine a light on how far the show can really go on AMC. Considering, they shied away from letting Rick say what he really should've said in the concluding moments of last season's finale, how are they going to deal with someone as “colourful” as Negan??? Case in point;

It should be interesting to say the least. Regardless, I hope the rumours are true, and Negan's arc begins sooner, rather than later.

More King.

Last week, I posted a trailer for the upcoming adaptation of the King novella Big Driver, but there is another King adaptation releasing this weekend. The movie version of the story A Good Marriage, which coincidentally also appeared in the King collection Full Dark, No Stars, stars Anthony Lapaglia, Joan Allen and Kristen Connolly. Here is the trailer below.

Doc Of The Dead

During its limited run in Toronto last week, my buddy Schwartz & I took in the recent zombie documentary Doc of the Dead.

Directed by Alex O. Philippe (The People vs. George Lucas), Doc of the Dead delves into the worldwide phenomenon of the zombie.

This doc was a pretty good time. Whereas the other zombie doc I watched recently Birth of the Living Dead focused more on George A. Romero and his contributions to the genre, this one was a much more broad and all-encompassing look at the undead. It may not be as aesthetically pleasing as Birth, but its interviewees are many, including Bruce Campbell, Simon Pegg, Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero. The biggest insights, however, came from arguably the three most important figures in modern zombie culture, Romero, Robert Kirkman & Max Brooks.

Zombie godfather, George A. Romero.

There are an impressive number of things covered over the course of this doc's eighty-one minute running time, including the genre's ravenous and ever-growing fan base, the scientific, social and philosophical underpinning of the zombie as well as its origins in folklore – contrary to the literary beginnings shared by the rest of horror iconic figures. Even the heated debate between fast vs. slow zombies is discussed!

Being a fan myself, I'm obviously aware of just how pervasive zombies have become in pop culture over the last decade. The Walking Dead is the most popular show on television (save for maybe GoT), almost every city has a zombie walk event that draws hundreds or even thousands, and advertisers are now using the undead to schlep everything from phones to candy to courier services.

One of the many zombie faithful.

However, due to so many topics being offered up, Doc of the Dead did tend to meander a bit. I also thought the “comedy” skits added in for filler were pretty painful. It was only when talking about them with Schwartz afterward that I realized it was the same guy who did those elongated reviews of the Star Wars prequels a while back. Yeah, his material isn't as amusing when it doesn't involve hookers trapped in his basement. But, I digress.

Despite perhaps lacking direction, there was a lot of good stuff in there. It featured a lot of familiar genre faces and offered up some good observations about everyone's favourite flesh eaters.

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It felt a little light on news this week - perhaps things have slowed down a bit with all the holidays and sports going on - but here's what I've got on tap for you.

Guests Galore.

I do a lot of belly-aching about the Festival of Fear and how expensive and bloated it has become, but I can't say they aren't trying this year. In addition to bringing back some big names from previous events like Robert Englund and Bruce Campbell, they've got several other cool things going on, as well.

This year will be the biggest assemblage of talent from the massively popular TV show The Walking Dead. Scheduled guests include Chandler Riggs (Carl), Michael Rooker (Merle), Danai Gurira (Michonne), David Morrissey (The Governor) and most importantly - for me at least - Lauren Cohan (Maggie).

Rue Morgue has also put together several other impressive reunions, including those for A Nightmare On Elm Street (Englund, Heather Langenkamp & John Saxon), Black Christmas (Saxon, Lynne Griffin, Art Hindle & Nick Mancuso) as well as the pièce de résistance, a Twin Peaks reunion featuring Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise & Sherilyn Fenn.

And if that wasn't enough, the fest is also throwing in such high profile genre personalities Elijah Wood (fresh off three solid genre appearances in Maniac, Grand Piano & Open Windows), the ever-watchable Ted Raimi and F13 creator Sean Cunningham.

And wait, there's more. Rue Morgue is also bringing in Lisa & Louise Burns, who you may know better as the Grady Twins from The Shining.

So, you see I really have nothing to complain about. Except the lineups... and the crowd management... and the overlapping schedules... Oh well.

Malleus Phantasmagoria.

A few months ago, a teaser arose for the upcoming Italian anthology Phantasmagoria. Soaked in the tradition of the gialli, this intriguing project offers up three stories by directors Mickael Abbate, Domiziano Christopharo & Tiziano Martella. Now, the artist trinity of Malleus have created a poster for the project.

If you aren't familiar with Malleus, check out the fantastic prints they made commemorating the work of Dario Argento here.

Rat Scare.

Watching & reviewing Giuliano Carnimeo's Rat Man this week reminded me of this old skit from Scare Tactics.

Most of their stuff seems silly and contrived, but that still doesn't stop me from going down that YouTube rabbit hole.

Growing Up Is Hard To Do.

After a sizable break, I was finally able to dig into the second episode of The Walking Dead game's sophomore season entitled A House Divided.

I was happy that in this episode Clementine wasn't in as much direct danger, as I needed a breather after the intensity of All That Remains. This episode dealt more with relationships and inter-group politics, of which Clementine often had to act as mediator. In fact, it was during A House Divided that I realized just how much she has grown over the course of this series. Her dialogue tree options are nothing like they once were. Clementine now challenges and deflects in a manner far beyond her years. She has become an active member of the group, rather than a liability and is no longer the timid little girl Lee rescued from her tree house a lifetime ago.

Speaking of the group politics, I am continually impressed with how Telltale manages to keep the dynamics fresh. The story is constantly serving up interesting dilemmas and rarely gives you an easy choice. Negotiating the ensuing situations is tricky business, especially considering you have no control over the actions of the other characters. And it doesn't help that certain individuals seem predisposed to making the worst decisions possible. It's then always up to you to put out the fires. It's a lot to ask of an eleven-year-old, wouldn't you say?

There were some nice surprises this episode, as well. When the new villain Carver, first mentioned in the previous episode, showed up, I recognized the gravelly voice of Michael Madsen almost immediately. The first meeting between him and Clementine was fantastic and rivalled Hollywood production in its pot boiling intensity. It was also good to see the return of a character that was thought long devoured. Of course, the jubilation was short lived because it then brought up instant loyalty issues between comrades, old and new.

Clementine meets Carver (Michael Madsen)

The last set piece of the episode was, again, top notch. I, unfortunately, fucked things up good during my playthrough though. However, now knowing how the mechanics work, I'm sure I would've ended up in the same spot regardless, it just may have been less my fault. 

Anyway, I'm even more excited to see where things go from here. Keep up the great work, Telltale!

Hasn't She Been Through Enough?!

The second season of The Walking Dead Game crept up on me after the holidays, but I was finally able to dig into it last weekend. It's usually a time issue when it takes me a while to get to something, but, in this case, it was more about gussying up the courage to re-enter this universe.

Picking up where the first season left off, Clementine, having been reunited with Krista & Omid, continue their struggle for survival in the zombie apocalypse.

As I would imagine most people who made it through the first season would agree, this game is emotionally taxing. I made no bones about proclaiming this before, but the fact that a video game was able to reach a level of affectedness that the show - and even the comic – have not, is a testament to Telltale Games and their great cast of voice actors.

So, I made it through the first episode – entitled All That Remains – and it sure didn't miss a beat. Almost immediately, Clementine's world went from bad to worse and played out like some sort of Grimm fairy tale. This episode threw out at least four really perilous situations – one of which that really blindsided me – the last one being so cringe worthy that it eclipsed even Lara Croft's gut wound from the last Tomb Raider and Isaac Clarke's laser eye procedure in Dead Space 2. The stuff Clementine is subjected to in just the first stanza of this new arc would've been comical, if it wasn't so disquieting.

That dog. That. Fucking. Dog.

It doesn't look like any improvements have been made to the game play mechanics, as they still remained limited and clunky, but as before, that's a moot point. This is a game about story, character and keeping people out of harm's way. After talking to several other people about their experiences with this game, I am now even more aware of the game's illusion of choice, but am still not deterred. The fact remains is that this game is stressful as fuck because one wrong move means I have to watch a ten-year-old girl get torn to pieces. Not a party.

Post world problems.

I guess the only thing that is missing from this new season is the wonderful dynamic between Lee and Clementine. While it is true she meets several characters in All That Remains that could step into that role, those shoes will be hard ones to fill. Especially since they're all kind of dicks.

Telltale seems to be on the right track still with this venture and avoiding the sophomore jinx. I don't know when the second part is scheduled to release, but hey, feel free to take your time. I already need a break.

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Good afternoon everyone! Here's some quick news before I scoot off to my family Thanksgiving festivities.

Why Horror?

My buddy Tal Zimerman is knee deep in production on his horror documentary Why Horror? and could really use your help. Tal and his partners have already shot a great deal of stuff including interviews with genre icons like George A. Romero, John Carpenter, Don Coscarelli and Eli Roth, but they would like to expand their documentaries scope beyond North American into other countries. Here's below is the promo for their Kickstarter campaign.

I don't think horror has been examined in quite this way before and, take it from me, the subject is in good hands. If this interests you at all, please contribute. You can check out the details and rewards, by clicking on the banner below.

M is For...

So, the ABC's of Death 2 26th Filmmaker competition has been going for a few months now and the total submissions for the letter “M” is now over a hundred and counting. I haven't had time to watch the most recent ones yet - they are coming in it at a pace of multiple times daily now - but my favourite so far has to be Summer Johnson's M is For Make Believe. Here it is below.

The submission I was involved with should be thrown into the mix this week, but more on that when it drops.

The Walking Dead Returns.

Here is a short promo for The Walking Dead fourth season premiere.

I was also excited to hear that three characters from the comic are soon to be included into the TV show, the most important of which being Abraham, played by Michael Cudlitz. A veteran of television from shows like Band of Brothers and Southland, I think he is a pretty good choice.

The Walking Dead's Abraham (left) and his television counterpart (Michael Cudlitz). 

The other characters arriving with him are Eugene (Josh McDermitt) and Rosita (Christian Serratos). The new season begins tonight at 9pm on AMC.

Festival Of Fear 2013

Fan Expo has once again come & gone, and here's a rundown of what took place at this year's Festival of Fear.

I'd like to say that the weekend went smoothly, but that would be a lie. Hobby Star continues to struggle managing the traffic that flows through their event each year. While it is true they figured out how to keep the outside lines short - a problem that has plagued them for years - that's where the positives end. It was fortunate that, due to the addition of a Sports section this year, they were able to utilize both buildings of the Metro Convention Centre, but this also made moving around the event a huge hassle. Getting between the North & South buildings was a twenty-minute ordeal, and just using the escalator - yes, that is escalator, as in singular - to get from the show floor to the Q&A panels took almost as long at peak times.

It's a busy event. I get it. But there's gotta be a better way to do this. The volunteers are told nothing, the security guards won't soon win any awards for congeniality and when is said and done, Hobby Star's attitude in the aftermath is essentially, oh well... Mainly, I'm just annoyed that due to this organizational snafu, I missed several panels, one of which was down to a last minute-schedule change. 

That said, there was still lots of stuff to see and do. Here's my weekend in pictures.

Anchor Bay in fine form.

Cracked & Indiecan's upcoming horror comedy at the Unstable Ground booth.

Flyer for Tal Zimerman's upcoming doc.

Undead Waldo

Fight!!!

Don (Coscarelli) & Audrey II

I'm not sure how I feel about this...

Both Evil Dead and this coming back for return engagements this fall!

Pretty cool creatures from a movie I'll likely never watch.

Sadly, I AGAIN missed out on the free masks!

Sold out. Phooey!

Bottoms Up!

Issue #1. Get 'em while they're hot!

My FOF trade haul.

So, what I did see was pretty great. There were also a lot of people I knew manning various booths, so there was a lot of mingling, as well. Tomorrow, I'll finish things up by talking about some of the Q&A's I attended during the weekend.