Fan Expo 2015

Fan Expo 2015 has ended. The Horror Writers Association had an amazing run this year; we engaged lots of horror fans, talked about writing and other aspects of the craft, and our members participated in no less than eight panels! A record for us, which we'll try to top next year.

Monstrosity & Monstrosity II

Independent graphic novel publisher Alterna Comics produced two volumes of a horror / sci-fi anthology called Monstrosity in 2013/14. Overall, the short monster-themed comic tales are funny and engaging, with some stunning artwork. What's even better is that most of the content was created by indie Canadian writers and artists--including Attila Adorjany, Sanya Anwar, Jordyn Bochon, J.Bone, Rodrigo Bravo, Dylan Burnett, James Edward Clark, Jason Copland, David J. Cutler, Ian Daffern, Matthew Daley, Anthony Del Col, Alex Diochon, Brian Evinou, Toma Feizo Gas, Ryan Ferrier, Adam Gorham, Keith Grachow, Max Haig, Brice Hall, Shane Heron, Fred Kennedy, Eric Kim, John Lang, Marvin Law, Ricky Lima, Jason Loo, Nimit Malavia, Cory McCallum, Brian McLachlan, C.M. Morgado, Jeff Moss, Sam Noir, Gibson Quarter, Katie Shanahan, James Stokoe, Noel Tuazon, James Turner, Kris Waddell, and Michael Walsh. Whew! That was quite the roll call.

OGOM: ‘The Company of Wolves’

The University of Hertfordshire is hosting a conference that will "explore human social existence and its animal substrate, and the intersection between the human and the wolfishly bestial as expressed in narrative media from a variety of epochs and cultures."

The Company of Wolves: Sociality, Animality, and Subjectivity in Literary and Cultural Narratives—Werewolves, Shapeshifters, and Feral Humans will run September 3-5, 2015, and is brought to you by the Open Graves, Open Minds Project.

Terrors from the Lobby! (part three: en español!)

My latest, ongoing addiction--collecting lobby cards from Canadian horror films--is already turning into a nice little stash. I usually get them from the Hollywood Canteen in Toronto, or visit their booth when I see them at a convention.

However, I recently picked up a few different lobby cards online, and what makes them really interesting (and perhaps not as common) is the fact that they're in Spanish--since they were all displayed at theatres in Mexico.

What's the time? SLIME TIME!

In the mid-late 1980s, Hasbro created two lines of absurdly large watches for kids. The first, called Watchimals, featured furry wristbands with animal heads that would open to reveal a digital watch inside. There were twelve characters to choose from: a bear, butterfly, elephant, peacock, mouse, toucan, dog, dragonfly, goldfish, moose, snail, and unicorn--which were primarily marketed for girls (a related line of products, Wearimals, were furry animals that could be clipped onto clothes, hair, etc). But the focus of this post is Hasbro's second line of cumbersome timepieces called Slime Time, which featured two colour variants of three characters--a snake, bat, and frog--that also opened up to reveal a digital watch inside (and were marketed for boys).

Gamut magazine

In the mid-1970s, Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, produced four (or possibly five) issues of a comic magazine called Gamut. At the time, the college ran a "Cartooning" course, which was geared towards comic strip and comic book creation. As such, the 'zine primarily featured student works spanning fantasy, superhero, and other more traditional genres--as well as a spattering of horror.

The cover artwork was illustrated by professional artists of the day, including Mike Ploog, Will Eisner, and Bernie Wrightson--all of whom were at one time guest lecturers at the college. I unearthed issue #1 at The Beguiling in Toronto, and have included some of the more interesting aspects below. And, being a huge Wrightson fan, I'm now madly searching for the remaining issues--since it appears as though some rare work of his was reproduced therein (and he contributed the covers for issues #3 & #4).