I’m back from World Horror in Austin. I’ll write more about the convention later when I can think straighter. Anyone who’s been to a conference like this will understand that there’s a certain amount of disorientation after returning to real life. In brief: it was a complete and total blast, and an unqualified success at every level. Nate Southard and Lee Thomas, along with the other organizers, put together an awesome convention that ran like a well-oiled machine. I’m sure there are pictures all over the ‘net for those who weren’t there…and for those who were but can’t remember.
Early this year I received a request to write an article for Screem magazine. They were doing a vampire-themed issue and were looking for someone to write about ‘Salem’s Lot. Right up my alley. Since the magazine is more film oriented, they wanted me to write about the various adaptations, so I watched the two TV miniseries versions of the novel again and, for the first time, the dreadful so-called sequel. I think my essay ended up somewhere north of 5-6000 words. The editors also wrangled interviews with King and other luminaries for the issue, which is out now. You can order it directly from their web site or wait until it appears on news stands later this month. Here’s the issue description:
SCREEM #22 is now available! Our all vampire issue features an exclusive interview with Stephen King, an essay on Salem’s Lot by author Bev Vincent (The Illustrated Stephen King companion); A look back at Innocent Blood with director John Landis; Black, White, and Red All over: Lugosi’s Dracula celebrates its 80th Anniversary by Scott Essman; The films of Jean Rollin; Tom Weaver speaks with Return of Dracula star Nora Eberhardt; An interview with author Dacre Stoker (Dracula Un-Dead); a retrospective on Hammer studio’s classic horror films Vampire Circus and Twins of Evil, and much more in the Spring edition of Screem magazine!
I saw absolutely no television while at World Horror, so it’s going to take me a while to get caught up. I saw the kiss on the balcony at the end of the royal wedding, on a TV in the lobby, and that was it. (My roommate, Nick Mamatas, thanked me later that day for not turning on the TV in our room at 3 a.m. to watch. Seeing as how I’m Canadian and all, and it’s almost a national obligation. Kate looked awesome, though.)
I finally watched last week’s episode of Survivor and managed to avoid most spoilers in the interim. Something someone said to me at World Horror told me that Rob and Philip weren’t the ones eliminated, but Jeff Strand wouldn’t even say if it was a good episode or a bad one, that’s how tight-lipped he can be. Turns out it was a pretty good one, mostly because of the twist at the end. Strand will set me straight on this, but I don’t recall there being an immunity challenge during tribal before. I couldn’t believe that they were going to get that done in the little time left on the episode. And I totally called it last week when I predicted that Philip would use his mad skills to find his shorts. That cake looked really rich, like fudge. Not sure how much a person could eat, and what the effect would be on their metabolism given how little food they’ve ingested in the last month.
