With his feature film Fantasia, Walt Disney attempted to bridge the gap between what was perceived then as high culture and low culture by combining classical music with animation. Now, sixty-six years later, his legacy continues, this time with the use of symphonic beauty to underscore the fragile grace of depaitations, cranium spearings, and hyper-cerebral electrosis, or, to use layman’s terms, head explosions.

One last kick at the can before those roundtable hooligans take over.

Final Girl and co. have opened up shop on the decidedly non-horror Genre Girls.

Blogs-a-poppin’! The proprieter of the always excellent Kung Fu Fridays has birthed Popcorn and Sticky Floors, a little slice of exploitation heaven.

It looks like the Young Frankenstein stage production may have acquired an experienced monster.

Wait, the Day of the Dead remake has a screenwriter? Ain’t It Cool News provides the interview.

Fangoria has the goods on the Plane Dead poster.

I Spit On Your Movie interviews Mike Mendez, director of Gravedancers, a selection from the upcoming 8 Films To Die For and one of my favourite screenings from this year’s Fantasia.

Night of the Living Dead 3-D fares no better over at 150 Days of Sodom.

Dr. John Carpenter?

Wilmer Valderrama has made a zombie movie? Not “is making”, but “made”, as in already finished shooting.

Max Brooks offers up a primer on the history of zombies.

You may be wondering what happened to the Wild Card poll, and when we can expect to see the conclusion of the Monster Rally. Unfortunately, we’ve hit a bit of a hitch. The Wild Card poll is currently sitting at a three-way tie. I’m not saying who the three contenders are, but until one of them pulls ahead of the rest, I’m leaving it up there.

And while you’re in a voting kind of mood, you may want to check out the Rue Morgue poll for Best Feature Film for 2006, which I mentioned once before. Happily, Hostel made the list, though the two current frontrunners are Slither and The Descent by a wide margin. You must be a member of the board to vote, and they’re only taking votes for a very limited time. Vote now!

That’s right, it’s back. The Horror Blog Monster Rally continues after a brief respite. Halloween was so full of scary goodness that I felt the need to hold this back a few weeks to give us something to do during the November doldrums.

Today’s match turned out to be a good one. It’s the carnivorous Critters versus the ferocious Firefly clan from The Devil’s Rejects, and only one group of malcontents is walking out of this one with teeth left in their head. As per usual, vote for your favourite to live in the sidebar. This fight will last two whole days.

If you have no idea what I’m going on about, check out the first post. And while you’re here, let us know where you stand by leaving a comment.

Sean Phillips keeps cranking out the zombie goodness, including perhaps the most ridiculous crossover ever.

My favourite show of the new television line-up, Dexter, has been picked up for a second season.

The experts over at the Dread Central forums ask, how did Michael Myers learn to drive?

Bubblegumtease.

It’s never too early to start your Halloween costume. This tutorial shows you how to create two costumes in one. Thanks to Dumb Distraction for the link.

I don’t care if he’s only the son of El Santo, that’s pretty damn cool.

Cassandra Peterson is dlisted’s Hot Slut of the Week. Thanks to J. for the tip.

Tim Lucas ponders a more conspiratorial reason for Bill O’Reilly’s stance against watching today’s crop of horror films.

And if that’s not enough for you, Dark, But Shining serves up even more random horror linkage. If you dare…

How’s everybody doing? I’m pretty wrecked. I have the knees of an old man.

Here’s what I learned last night. If you go to a show and you wear the only semi-scary costume in the entire place, you will have plenty of space on the dancefloor. Last night was my personal best in scaring the maximum amount of people in the minimum amount of time. I actually saw one girl bury her face in her boyfriend’s shoulder from fear of me, as if a clown were peeping through her window. One guy came up to me and requested that I stand in the middle of the pit and stare at the band. He added “Why not? You’ve scared everyone else already.” Onward to the linkage!

Tim Lucas over at Video Watchdog posts a wonderfully informative obituary for Nigel Kneale, possibly best known to horror fans for his scripts for the Quatermass series.

Oh, sweet Jesus.

Bitter Cinema has been cracking out some fantastic posters for Halloween, but this Dracula Has Risen From The Grave poster is making me reconsider my stance on vampires. Fab!

DC/Wildstorm has picked up the licenses for A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre? That’s news to me. Some horror blogger I turned out to be.

A small number of cinema patrons in the U.K. have fallen victim to that old movie audience cliche; fainting during a horror film. Saw 3 to be precise. I think it was the quick cuts and shaky-cam that did them in. Via The Movie Blog.

Louis Fowler continues with the wicked audio posts, this time taking a walk down memory lane and posting all four of his annual Halloween Mix Discs.

Louis Fowler posts a response by director Ryan Nicholson concerning his review for Live Feed. Also, Louis waxes poetic on Slither.

Warrenzone has the scoop on The Onion’s selection of horror films for left-wingers, and another list of fright films for right-wingers.

Progressive Ruin ponders the terror of… Pinkenstein?!?

Because we like to see T. Van cry, Tomb Of No Concern has posted some special Halloween comics, including a four-pager by The King.

The Monster is Loose! Meat Loaf releases third Bat out of Hell album. There’s evil in the air and there’s thunder in the sky and a killer on the bloodshot streets!

I’m still calling you out, Twitch Film! Don’t think I’ve forgotten our feud!

Fox Atomic is celebrating its Carnival of Lost Souls with the first photos from the sequels to The Hills Have Eyes remake and 28 Days Later. I just hope they keep the dog’s flashback.

The Comics Reporter dishes up a plethora of comics-related Halloween goodies, including great costume ideas for fat guys.

Abebooks celebrates the season by listing the 10 most expensive Stephen King books they’ve ever sold.

Sadly, Bubblegumfink has called it a day.

The most recent Movie Blog: Audio Edition tackles the “toture porn” trend in horror flicks.

DVD Trash points us in the direction of an Italian fan’s trip to locations for Argento’s Suspiria.

When you run in horror circles, you often hear people refer to Halloween as their Christmas, that is, it being the most important holiday on their calendar. I see Halloween slightly different. I think if Halloween were to have a parallel to another holiday, it would be more like St. Patrick’s Day. Once a year, everyone’s into horror.

This is what went through my head as I was planning things to do for The Horror Blog’s first Halloween. I had originally envisioned asking various horror experts, creators and aficionados to give their take on the genre, but my thoughts kept returning to those people who don’t make horror a daily part of their lives. Sometimes we’re so close to a particular subject that we miss the obvious. That’s why, for the next few days, I will be showcasing guest posts by some of my favourite non-horror bloggers, each with their own take on a subject that thrills and chills them.

Happy Halloween! Everyone!

Tomb It May Concern once again kicks my ass when it comes to fun random linkage. How can you possibly compete against someone with such an unnatural love of Zombie Lake?

I wasn’t aware that someone was running a blog-a-thon about vampires. I’m considering joining in, but my aversion to all things vampiric may be a problem. Thanks to My New Plaid Pants for the link.

At this point it really shouldn’t come as any surprise that someone else’s “guilty pleasure” is just a “pleasure” for me. Cinematical takes a look at quite possibly my favourite Cronenberg film, Shivers.

Curt over at Groovy Age of Horror has posted a review of David Wellington’s Monster Nation along with an interview with the author, in which they discuss everything from the parallels the novel shares with real-life events to a love for a good monster.

Twitch Film has decided to do the unthinkable and hold a contest where the end result is destroying two copies of the Baywatch dvd box set. And thus, in 2006, the year of our lord Hasselhoff, the Twitch Film-Horror Blog feud was born.

The latest Mondo Schlocko podcast is up and running with a tribute to blaxploitation superstar Tamara Dobson.

And regardless of the circumstances, best wishes and a speedy recovery for Tim Sullivan and Frankie Levangie.

Looks like I’m not the only one crafting polls and monster rallies this season. AMC, in a promotion for the tenth anniversary of MonsterFest, have conducted a very classy survey asking horror fans to name the celebrity they would most want to see dead. Paris Hilton topped the poll with a whopping 39%, with Lindsay Lohan at 18% and Simon Cowell coming up third with 17%.

AMC also moved into monster rally territory with a poll on death matches. The highest ranking duel was The View’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck vs. Rosie O`Donnell at 23%, shutting out Freddy Krueger vs. Michael Myers at 21% and Heather Locklear vs. Denise Richards at 19%. One of these things is not like the others…

I was going to ask who you guys thought should take the top spot, but to be honest, the whole thing gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Final Girl keeps rocking out the Schocktober with a glowing review of the House of Wax remake, which I also enjoyed, surprisingly.

The proprieter of the Sleepaway Camp fansite has filmed his own slasher flick, called Grandma’s Sloppy Seconds, with a few very special guests co-starring.

Camp Blood needs lesbians (scroll down to the bottom of the 10/20 entry).

The director of the direct-to-DVD gem Dead End has apparently made a black comedy called Big Nothing, starring David Schwimmer and an americanized Simon Pegg. While I wasn’t enamored with the plotting of Dead End, the dialogue was fantastic, and the whole thing made me feel tense in a way that most horror movies don’t even try to accomplish, so I’m willing to give this a shot.

It’s all about me today. One of my pals from my deviant comics blogging past, Teresa of In Sequence, spills the beans on an upcoming event here on The Horror Blog over at the Beppepodcast. Listen here for a sneak peek.

The winners from the Fangoria Chainsaw awards have been announced. Meh.

Dimension Films gets dirty with The Boathouse, a “a scary film that explores sexual seduction in a way that the genre rarely braves to do.” If anyone from Dimension wants to contact me in regards to directing the sequel, The Bathhouse, my email address is steven@thehorrorblog.com.

Hello! Sorry I haven’t been posting much recently. I’ve been feeling a little under the weather, and the only things I was capable of doing were drinking ginger ale and watching post-apocalyptic barbarian tit movies. To tide you over until I fully recover, here’s a full load of interesting tidbits from across the universe.

Edmonton goths hold a walk for charity and to counteract the press’s negative image of them.

George A. Romero has already started to film Diary of the Dead? Horrorcast contributor Rony is pissed he didn’t get called to be an extra!

Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro is a fan of the monster rally, stating that he would love to see Hellboy go up against the classic Universal monsters. Link courtesy of Dread Central.

Twitch Film has the scoop on the French horror-comedy Poltergay, about a young couple moving into a house haunted by the ghosts of an all-male discotheque.

Bruno Mattei keeps on rocking.

Cinematical lists their top 7 horror comedies.

Former comics blogosphere hunk-of-the-month Sean T. Collins helps compile a list of the scariest moments in comic book history.

Warren Ellis is writing a Castlevania movie?

Cinematical is holding a costume contest. And while you’re at it, why not double dip and enter the 80s blog costume contest?

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.

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.

So, did everyone have a nice Polonia Day?

Ain’t It Cool News has the first pictures of Kurt Russell as Stunt Man Mike in Quentin Tarantino’s contribution to Grind House.

In other Grind House news, Wolf Creek actor John Jarratt is feeling a little burned that Tarantino reneged on his invite to appear in the film.

Check out this sweet Burning t-shirt!

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre screamer Marilyn Burns was yesterday’s D-Listed Hot Slut of the Day. Thanks to J. for the tip.

What’s with all the horror-related hockey Quotes of the Day? That’s two in a row.

I can’t figure out what it stands for, but IESB sits down with 20th Cetury Fox Chairman Tom Rothman to discuss various upcoming projects, including Aliens Vs. Predators 2. Found via The Movie Blog.

Keeping with the monster rally theme, the open forum question of the week over at Film Junk is American Horror vs. J-Horror. Quick, who wins?!?

Did you know that before I decided on a more general horror-related blog I toyed with the idea of an Underwater Nazi Zombie blog? David Z. over at Tomb It May Concern gets nostalgic over his Zombie Lake poster.

Treat, no trick! Analysts expect Halloween shopping to increase by nearly 50% over last year’s sales.