Fan Expo 2012

Julie Benz

Just finished a four-day stint at Fan Expo, Canada's celebration of horror, anime, comics, gaming and sci-fi. It was an incredible weekend; I had a great time volunteering for the Horror Writers Association, and met a lot of great members and horror fans.

Thursday saw limited hours of operation, but it was still quite busy--good to see so many people milling about on a weekday! I attended a Q&A with the lovely and talented Julie Benz (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dexter); she was friendly, humorous and quite charming.

Le Musee des Vampires

Just outside of central Paris lies a private vampire museum run by author/lecturer Jaques Sirgent. Located in the suburbs (14 Rue Jules David 93260 Les Lilas, France), this unique space holds a number of interesting undead artifacts, from books to memorabilia, to photographs and pop culture pieces--you name it. For a nominal fee, Sirgent hosts a lengthy, engaging chat about vampire folklore, and speaks to specific parts of his collection. (Sirgent is bilingual, and will speak in either English or French, depending on who's in attendance.)

If you're a vampire fan and heading to Paris, you should definitely make this part of your trip. Here's the website for the museum:  http://artclips.free.fr/musee_des_vampires/musee-homepage.html 

Here are some photos from my recent visit:

Review copies available

Reviewers and book bloggers who would like a PDF review copy of the book should send a request to vyrdolak@bylightunseenmedia.com. Please put "Review Copy of Un-Dead TV" in the subject line and include the URLs of your blog or most recent reviews, if they are published online.

Blood & Donuts (Canada, 1995)

Amid inner-city decay, Boya, a centuries old vampire--who went into hibernation during the infamous 1969 moon walk--awakens with a fright. Surprised to be once again joining the land of the living, he bares his fangs longing for blood, but fights his nature and instead sinks his teeth into the comically complicated lives of Molly, a sharp-tongued waitress, and Earl, a lovable but street-dumb cabby who is mixed with the mob. It seems amid the scavengers, streetwalkers and strangers of the night, this bloodsucking creature fits right in.

This quirky vampire film is hard to classify; the character-driven story is more comedy than horror, and fans looking for a lot of blood and gore will be sorely disappointed. However, if you're willing to give it a shot, you should be pleasantly surprised.

Still editing!

Whoops, skipped a month! Lost some time due to a (well deserved!) trip to Europe. I visited the vampire museum in Paris -- highly recommended -- and I'll post more information about this at a later date. In the middle of the final edits now; it won't be long before these are done and the review copies will be made available. So if you are interested in receiving one, please contact the publisher at http://bylightunseenmedia.com/order.htm

Now if only this would happen to the Cullen Clan...