Horror

Some readers may have noticed the lack of posts by yours truly lately. I have the usual excuses… too busy burying the dead in the basement, honing my expert stalker skills, fortifying my house for the impending zombie apocalypse. You know, the usual. Part of the reason for the absence however has been due to my purchase of Dead Island for the Playstation 3 (also availble on Xbox 360 & PC).

I will be blunt and say that Dead Island is about as perfect of a zombie game as I think anyone could get. What makes Dead Island so great is that it does not play like Left 4 Dead or Resident Evil. Nope, Dead Island is more of an RPG, similar in style to games like Fallout 3 or Oblivion.

Dead Island takes place on a paradise getaway island called Banoi. You can choose to play as four different characters who survived the initial onslaught, each with different specialties. The game is all about performing quests, helping people out to gain weapons or cash, and beating, bashing, driving over and shooting the ever loving guts out of the undead.

I haven’t tried the multiplayer side of the game yet. But unlike games like Call of Duty, Dead Island limits itself to 4 player co-op. You and three friends play the same map at the same time, helping each other out.

If you are a fan of video games and zombies, do not hesitate to pick up Dead Island. It is well worth every penny.

Dead Island video game

Creepy Dolls by Shain Erin

I’m all for honestly creepy and disturbing things. Be it decorations, fine art, whatever. That’s why 98% of all Halloween decorations utterly disappoint. I look more for stuff like what artist Shain Erin has up in his Etsy store. These dolls are works of art and creepy as hell. While not what one would consider “cheap” they really aren’t priced too bad for being one-of-a-kind pieces. Check em out!

Also check out his website for more cool stuff.

Shain Erin creepy dolls
Shain Erin Art

I’m only half way through World War Z. It’s a fairly decent book and it is an interesting twist to the overpopulated zombie genre. So it’s disappointing to hear the film based on the book deviates so far from it, that it will be nothing like the book at all. Leave it to Hollywood. IO9 has the details and excerpts from zombie nerds around the interwebs who have gone bezerk about it. So go check it out.

Rick Baker’s F/X Studio Tour

MIB Rick Baker Creature

Photo by Tori Belleci

Growing up as a kid I was really into horror movies and special effects. Unfortunately I didn’t steer my career in that direction. The guys I admire the most in the field though are Dick Smith, Rick Baker and Tom Savini. Rick Baker does some fantastic creature work.

Well, Tori Belleci from Mythbusters is a huge fan of Rick Baker. Now Belleci is also one lucky fan boy. He got the chance to tour Rick Baker’s F/X studio and he took plenty of pictures for all to see. So go look and be prepared to be jealous as hell.

There’s just something about simplistic design and minimalist art that can make some things super cool. Case in point? These fine sci-fi and horror posters designed by Hungarian artist Szoki over at Wired.com. He has some Star Wars, Halloween, Lord Of the Rings, etc. Check em out!
Szoki Nightmare on Elm Street posterSzoki Hellboy poster

True Blood soundtrack coverGary Calamar, KCRW DJ and music supervisor for HBO’s True Blood, has an interesting post up about one of the new songs for Season 4 of True Blood. They managed to get Nick Cave & Neko Case to perform a cover of The Zombies’ song “She’s Not There“. True Blood has always had great music included in the show. This cover of “She’s Not There” is another excellent song added to the collection.

Check out the article and hear a streaming version of “She’s Not There” over at the KCRW blog.

thewomanimal modeling her custom clothesIf you are a regular visitor to this site then you’ll know how much we love Fright Rags horror t-shirts. I have spent way too much money on their merch. Being a guy however, something I’ve never thought about is that not many of their shirts are sized for women. They do have some babydoll tees, but not all ladies like wearing those. Plus you women like things “pretty” right? Some boring guys t-shirt just won’t do. Rebecca, otherwise known as “thewomanimal” on Etsy is here to help.

Rebecca takes the awesome shirts from Fright Rags and adds things like lace, hoods, straps and ties. She takes normal boring t-shirts and turns them into customized clothing for women. She’ll take a Pinhead shirt and turn it into a custom dress. Or she’ll take your favorite death metal band tee and turn it into a tank-top.

Here’s what Rebecca said about how she started:

I started cutting up guys’ shirts and modifying them to fit me almost 15 years ago because I was frustrated that none of the bands I liked made shirts for girls. Even if they did, the designs on guys shirts were always so much better, and I hate babydoll t shirts! Several years ago I was on a kick of making hoodies out of long-sleeved shirts that had designs on the arms, and I got so many compliments that I decided to try and sell them, and etsy seemed like the perfect marketplace. Since then, I’ve branched out from hoodies to make all kinds of girly stuff out of heavy metal and horror shirts. A lot of my time on etsy these days is spent doing custom work, which I love! At almost six feet tall, I understand that basic sizes small through extra large don’t cover all body types, and I’m so happy to be able to help girls have an item of clothing that is the perfect fit for them.

Considering she is supplying the t-shirt and the customization, her prices are pretty fair too. She also has no problem doing custom work on shirts provided by her customers. So if you are looking for an excellent gift for yourself or that horror loving lady friend in your life, head on over to Etsy and pick up some of Rebecca’s shirts.