I was lucky enough to snag a copy of Ascension of the Blind Dead when it was first released. Written by Tomb It May Concern’s David Z., Ascension is a continuation of the Blind Dead saga, with the undead Templars coming into conflict with a particularly nasty werewolf, and is a great little taste of irredeemable Euorsleaze goodness. Unfortunately, the chapbook the tale was originally presented in is nearly out-of-print. Happily, to celebrate Friday the 13th David has made a new version of the story, with introduction, available on his new blog, The Story Hole. So if you have a desire to press your luck on this doom-laden day, curl up with some cocoa, dig in and let David know what you think. But don’t get too scared. Remember, they can hear your heart beating.

It’s time to get serious. The 10 remaining pugilists enter the ring for another round of fights, with the first match-up being that sexually confused Lone Star butcher, Leatherface, duking it out with his natural enemy, Hell’s metrosexual piercing fantatic, Pinhead. Snap into a Slim Jim! Dig It!

Don May, Jr., who originally envisioned the fight between Leatherface and Dollman, weighs in on his remaining champion’s chances of survival.

Pinhead would win against Leatherface because he could stand at a distance and make hooked chains fly out of something to get him. Poor Leatherface wouldn’t stand a chance because he’s have to get up close to Pinhead to use his weapon.

Don! You’ve totally cockblocked your own guy! What a turn of events, ladies and gentlemen! Never in the short history of the first annual Horror Blog Halloween Monster Rally have I seen such betrayal!

The Office Pool is now officially closed. Thanks to everyone who wrote in. Take a look at the post below to see the results of the first batch of fights and get an idea of what’s coming next.

Dollman - 20%
Leatherface - 80%

Pinhead - 74%
Samara - 26%

Freddy Krueger - 37%
Pinhead - 63%

Critters - 70%
Ghoulies - 30%

The Haunting - 36%
The Blair Witch - 64%

Circus of Nights - 0%
Frankenstein Monsters - 100%

Wolfman - 36%
Werewolf - 64%

Freddy Krueger and Pinhead - 36%
Michael Myers and Jason - 64%

Captain Howdy - 71%
Sammi Curr - 29%

The Firefly Clan - 56%
The Sawyer Clan - 44%

Waldemar Daninsky - 33%
The Blind Dead - 67%

It was a year ago this month that I picked up a copy of the NES version of Friday the 13th for my coverage of that franchise for my former horror blog. Now it looks like I can save some wear and tear on the old Nintendo.

The Manchester Morgue is offering a fine selection of horror video games from the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Titles include Terminator, Terminator 2, Robocop vs. Terminator, Frankenstein, The Addams Family, Gremlins 2, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jaws, Predator, A Nightmare on Elm Street and the aforementioned Friday the 13th. It’s almost enough to make me buy a gamepad.

Today’s the final day of the first round in the first annual Horror Blog Halloween Monster Rally. Make sure you cast your vote in the sidebar for either Waldemar Daninsky or The Blind Dead. Unlike most elections, your vote does count.

Also ending is your chance to enter the Monster Rally Office Pool. I’m giving away copies of LovecraCked - The Movie courtesy of Biff Juggernaut, and My Dead Girlfriend from Tempe Video to one person who guesses who will be the last creature standing in the rally. If you think you know, email me at steven@thehorrorblog.com.

The news keeps coming faster than I can post about it. Time for another rapid-fire look at what’s happening in horror.

Twitch Film has an interview with Let’s Scare Jessica To Death director John Hancock.

The new Jaws-inspired poster for South Korean creature feature The Host has been revealed.

A Tribute to Topless Evil. Possibly one of the all-time great taglines.

While we’re on the topic, the latest issue of Girls and Corpses has interviews with Necromantik director Jorg Buttgereit, Rue Morgue publisher Rodrigo Gudino, and female ejaculators.

The guys at Film Junk devote a large portion of this week’s podcast to horror-related items, including the top 5 movie deaths, Platinum Dunes remake bonanza and the rumoured Nightmare on Elm Street prequel.

In one of the strangest pieces of news I’ve come across while writing for this blog, it appears that a Swedish TV channel has placed a help wanted ad looking for zombie hunters.

“We’ve had over 200 applicants,” she told The Local.

The successful applicants will take part in an expedition in the north of the country before heading to Stockholm’s Stureplan on Friday, said Holmquist.

The strange part is that, while this is obviously some sort of publicity stunt, the article seems to have been provided by a regular newsite and shows no trace of satire or explanation as to what this prank is all about. This is especially disturbing considering when you consider that, as seen above, at least one person seems to be taking this seriously.

Watch this space for reports of dead Swedes mistook as zombies in the weeks to come.

Twitch Film has the lowdown on Douglas Buck’s remake of De Palma’s Sisters, including the trailer. I’m not sure if this is the regular trailer or one cobbled together for potential distributors, but it’s quite lengthy and gives away a fair amount, so be warned, if you haven’t seen the original there are a few spoilers.

I’m interested to see how Buck’s flat, emotionally distant style translates to this story. The trailer makes it seem almost as if it will be filtered through Cronenberg in much the same way De Palma channels Hitchcock.

Welcome to another thrilling installment of the HorrorCast. Today Rony, Sloan and Steven nearly call it quits as the Essential Tomb of Dracula controversy splits them right down the middle. Can the miracle of masturbation bring them the peace they so desperately crave?

Find out by downloading the mp3 right here.

Here it is, the final battle in the first round of the first annual Horror Blog Halloween Monster Rally! Today you get to choose between two of Spain’s greatest combatants, reluctant werewolf Waldemar Daninsky duking it out with those rotting Templar heretics, the Blind Dead. Who’s going to be walking spanish this round? You decide! Vote in the sidebar for the eurosleaze icon you want to see come out on top.

While you’re at it, make sure you vote for yesterday’s clash between the Fireflys and the Sawyers. I have to admit, I’m a little shocked by the results so far. Fuck being impartial, vote Sawyers! And if you feel so inclined, shoot me an email at steven@thehorrorblog.com and cast your vote for who you think is going to come out on top at the end of this month for our office pool.

“I also work for bullets.”

Thanks to The Movie Blog for bringing this to my attention.

The latest poster for this year’s installment of the Saw series has been retouched with a deeper shade of crimson. Actor Tobin Bell has donated a vial of his blood to be included in the first printing of the poster.

“We decided to do a poster and he’s wearing a red cloak. I was talking to the printer and asked what we could do to get the deepest blood red. I asked if it would be possible to use actual blood. There was silence. He said, ‘We could try, but are you serious?’ I said I was dead serious,” Lionsgate marketing honcho Tim Palen said.

If you’re looking to pick one of these posters up, good luck. It appears that the batch of unsigned posters has already been snatched up and all that remains are the autographed ones, which are going for approximately $500 as of this writing.

I’m a little shocked that this news is getting as much play as it is, or that the posters were snapped up so quickly. While I’m glad this brings both funds and attention to the Red Cross and their blood drives, isn’t this all just a little lame? Is Tobin Bell that much of a presence to merit this kind of exposure? I mean, he’s no KISS. Maybe I should pour a few drops into the podcast and see what happens.

What do you think? Is it a fresh idea or would Bell have been better off donating his blood to the Red Cross himself? Let us know in the comments below.

The movie Chaos has been receiving a lot of controversy recently, not all of it due to its producers’ claims that it is the most brutal film of all time. There’s the director’s challenge to wrestle one of his detractors ala Boll, their attempt to paint the movie as a public service announcement decrying woodland raves, and the accusation that Chaos is a rip-off of Last House on the Left (never mind that Last House is a rip-off of The Virgin Spring).

These are things that would drive most discerning horror buffs away, but instead have the effect of making people like me even more eager to watch this train wreck. But the one thing that really breaks down my resistance towards Chaos is one of the special features, in which the half-naked, chiseled director takes a tour of the Los Angeles coroner’s office. First time in cinema history, baby.

Thanks (?) to the Rue Mortuary for pointing me to this classic clip.

Somebody call Richard Dawson. Here’s a family feud that makes the Hatfields and McCoys look like amateurs. If you had to choose which redneck murderers would come out on top, which would it be, the Fireflys from The Devil’s Rejects or The Sawyers from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? Vote for your favourite in the sidebar.

And while you’re at it, make sure to vote for your favourite in the big-hair royale rumble that is Captain Howdy vs. Sammi Curr. And don’t forget the Monster Rally contest, where all you have to do is email me at steven@thehorrorblog.com with who you think is going to come out on top in this monstrous competition and you’ll be eligible for some wicked DVDs.

As you may have noticed by my subconcious choice for the Clip of the Day image, I’ve got turkey on the brain. That’s right, it was the Canadian Thanksgiving, which is why the blog was unnaturally light over the weekend. Gobble gobble. I have plenty of horror goodies to report from my trip home, but first we’ve just gotta clear out the vault.

Congratulations to The Video Watchblog for turning “one” over the weekend. Tim Lucas has one of the most consistently wonderful blogs out there, and it’s a wonder that he has time to publish a magazine as well. And while you’re there, take a look around. In just the past week he’s had posts on Jess Franco, The Blind Dead, and René Cardona Sr.

David Z. of Tomb It May Concern kicks my ass once again with the best random linkage out there, although he does lose points for praising various disreputable riff-raff. While you’re at it, why not consider taking a crack his script for Lucker the Necrophagus found in his writing annex?

What’s with all these bloggers racking up a huge word count moonlighting? Curt over at The Groovy Age of Horror has been giving his readers a Halloween treat by posting segments of his novel, Night Falls on a Fairy Tale. Eminently groovy.