Our first guest is David Wellington, author of the acclaimed zombie trilogy Monster Island, Monster Nation and Monster Planet. David got his start online and continues to move effortlessly between print, such as his latest, the vampire action novel 13 Bullets, and the internet, with the post-apocalyptic zombie saga Plague Zone and the frozen werewolf terror of Frostbite. All of his horror tales are still available for free online at the links above, and if you like what you see please consider purchasing the print editions.

David’s encounter with terror is near and dear to my heart, as I had an almost identical experience. I don’t doubt a few of you will feel the same.

A lot of things scared me when I was a kid. The first I can remember was a special news report in 1981 by Walter Cronkite called “The Defense of the United States”, a documentary about what we could expect following a global thermonuclear war. I was nine years old at the time, and in love with special effects movies and had heard there were going to be some state of the art “recreations” included in the show. I begged and pleaded to be allowed to watch, sitting through endless talking head interviews I couldn’t understand, wondering if this dud was ever going to pay off. Boy, did it. About halfway through the program Cronkite warned that what we were about to see was a simulation based on the best available data, and that sensitive viewers might want to look away. You got to see what would happen to downtown Omaha Nebraska when the bomb hit. Exploding buildings, people with melting faces… for years afterward I ran and hid under my bed every time an airplane passed over the house, convinced it could be a Russian bomber.

Then there was the time my parents stayed out till two in the morning, and at midnight they started playing The Shining on HBO. I don’t think I need to go into details. When the front door opened and my Dad stepped inside, a little drunk and pissed that I was still awake… well. We’ve all been there, I suppose.

Man, those undead Knights Templar cannot get a break when it comes to werewolves. First they had to shake off Silvia Perschy, then Waldemar Daninsky, now it’s your generic werewolf. Is the third time the charm for our furry friend, or will the Blind Dead be triumphant once more? You decide! Vote in the sidebar for your favourite, and while you’re at it, take a chance on the Critters vs. Firefly Clan bout.

Also, don’t forget to leave a comment or three letting the world know why you chose what you did. Now’s your chance to swing the vote of some wishy-washy fence-sitter.

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.

How often do you get to read, watch or listen to something on this blog that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy? For the sake of our emotional well-being, I have to break up the mayhem every once in awhile and bring you something unbearably sweet. Please enjoy this ode to brotherhood and compassion, as only the The Horror Blog can bring it to you.

And, hey. Take care of one another out there.

As you may be aware, a remake of Universal’s The Wolfman is set to be released sometime in 2008 with Benicio Del Toro as the lead. Those who doubt Del Toro’s ability to play a lycanthrope need only view Big Top Pee-Wee where he starred as Duke The Dog-Faced Boy, his first appearance on the silver screen.

Found via the Dread Central forums.

Via the always delightful Film Junk comes news of yet another campaign to bring director Fred Dekker’s Night of the Creeps and The Monster Squad to DVD. The person behind the drive to have the movies released has taken a page from Ain’t It Cool News book and created ads detailing where to write the owners of the properties through actual letters as opposed to email.

For the sake of your sanity, I will post the contact info below as the ads themselves are ginormous.

For Monster Squad:

Mr. Sumner M. Redstone
Viacom
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036

For Night of the Creeps:

Mr. Michael Lynton
Mr. Bob Osher
Sony Pictures Entertainment
10202 West Washingtopn Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232

To be honest, I hope that the companies involved eventually lose interest and grant the rights to Anchor Bay, who has been chomping at the bit to get their hands on these movies and would probably do them right.

An extra allegedly pulled his dick out during the filming Teen Wolf. If that’s supposed to be his cock, he has a lot to be embarrassed about.

I’m off to catch my bus back home for the weekend, so alas, this will be the only post for the day. Make sure you come back tomorrow for the second installment of The Horror Roundtable. The discussion this time is even better than the first.

Patrick Curry is a video game designer, known primarily for his excellent work on the recently released Stubbs the Zombie. On his blog, he has been posting a different game idea per week as a mental exercise, a few of which are horror related. One is based around a haunted hotel, while my favourite idea is for a werewolf game.

Game Idea #15: Loup-Garou

Loup-Garou is the game where you play as a werewolf. Actually, you play as a human, who’s been cursed with turning into a werewolf. During the daylight hours you are human, going about your “normal,” everyday life. But once darkness falls, you’re transformed into the legendary werewolf – now everything looks, feels, sounds, and smells different. Try to keep yourself from being found out… and try to keep yourself from destroying everything you hold dear…

This is just the concept. A detailed description can be found at Curry’s site.

I’m going to shoot through the remake news as quickly as possible.

You’ve probably already seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake prequel trailer. Final Girl has a handle on the poster.

The 40-Year Old Virgin 2 : Wicker Man trailer is up as well. The less said about that the better.

The Stepfather is stepping up to the plate. Somehow it makes me even more sad to see some of the minor classics up for remakes than it is to see the majors.

The only remake on this list that has me the least bit excited is the possiblity of a made-for-TV Wolfen movie. I have a particular fondness for the low-budget aesthetic of the television movie. It often adds to the lurid quality of the film. That and the original Wolfen, though probably too slow and confusing for a 7 year-old, creeped me out enough that I even tried to read the novel.

And finally, some behind-the-scenes for the upcoming Black Christmas remake. For the record, Black Christmas is my favourite horror movie, behind only Night of the Living Dead and the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, so I have no hope that this will come to any good. Regardless, whether you’re actually interested or morbidly fascinated, there are a few neat tidbits in there for you.