Years ago at the very first Horrorfind Weekend in Baltimore – when I was just getting into Halloween and haunting houses – I got to sit in on a seminar by Leonard Pickel, editor of Haunted Attraction Magazine. After the seminar we got to talking, and I asked him what good how-to books he’d suggest forking over cash for. Well, his answer wasn’t much help; he said, “Buy them all.” That wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, me being a nobody on a budget, but I couldn’t argue with his reasoning: if each book gave you just one good idea then the thirty or forty bucks you spent on it was worth it. As a man who has wasted countless dollars learning lessons by making mistakes in prop building that a couple of books could have rescued me from, in hindsight, I have to agree. One good idea can save you money, time, aggravation and maybe even a trip to the Emergency Room – don’t ask.

Now let me suggest to you one book that I guarantee you’ll find more than one good idea hidden within its digital pages.

This week I managed to get my hands on not one, but two copies, of “Creature Creation with Mike Melillo: Special Effects Secrets for the Halloween Enthusiast”. One copy is in the Winter Solstice Let-It-Ride Contest and the other I plan to give away sometime soon so keep watching here. For those of you that lurk about on the various Halloween forums you might recognize the author more by his Internet handles: Dr. Slickshill or Blacklightmike. Melillo truly is a Monster Kid after my own heart who was weaned on a steady diet of the requisite Chiller Theater, Creature Feature, and Kaiju that spawned many an obsessed haunter – myself included.

In fact the first part of Creature Creation is an autobiography – at least the important parts to anyone interested in making creatures. Yeah, you could probably skip this, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I could name a couple of how-to manuals right off the top of my head that would benefit from getting to know the authors; the “who” and the “why” of haunting to me is just as important as the “how” in my opinion, and Melillo’s story telling encompasses everything from his early childhood makeup experiments with sawdust and glue to his involvement in the comic book industry is engaging and entertaining.

Next “Health and Safety” is covered , which I also recommend you don’t skip, after which the author spends a lengthy bit of the book on sculpting techniques and mask making. I’ve seen other manuals cover this, and I bet you have too. However, if you have ever made and been frustrated with a two-part mold over a mask or some other sculpted creation then you do not want to miss this part. Ever hear of a Dumpka? It’s a blindingly simple armature – so simple I can’t believe I’ve never seen something like it before – that will let you create a mask with no seams left from the two-part mold. How? Because by using the Dumpka you will be able to instead create a one piece mold over even the most complex of masks. Heresy you say? Read the book, and all will be revealed by Mr. Melillo.

Next up is where you will be glad you have an e-book. At 167 pages with full color photographs the cost of publishing this behemoth of a book would be prohibitive for most folks to buy. However, because it’s an e-book you will have all the full color photos of Melillo’s mask painting instructions, and I guarantee that when you see “The Bride” come to life one layer of paint at a time the techniques will be clearer to you than from any web page or book you have previously seen.

In fact that’s what the author has endeavored to do and has done for the most part – Creature Creation fills in some of the gaps of missing information on similar how-to’s on the web in order to save you those precious commodities I mentioned earlier: time, money, aggravation, etc.

Throughout the rest of the book you’ll recognize such topics as: Fast Weatherproof Hands, Basic Makeup, Tweaking Props to get that edge over store bought and even many home made props, Building Small Creatures and Large with different techniques, and more. More than I can list here, and I promise you will get at least one great idea from each section of Mike Melillo’s Creature Creation – some of which may cause you to smack your head in wonder because you didn’t think of it – and each will be worth the purchase price of the book.

Now for the important stuff. You can get “Creature Creation with Mike Melillo: Special Effects Secrets for the Halloween Enthusiast” from the Black Light Fright website for $29.95 plus $5.00 shipping – a mere pittance for the one zillion good ideas you’ll get from it. Click the blurb graphic below to be taken right to the store and do check out Mike’s haunt Dr. Slickshill’s Sideshow of Monstrous Oddities as well.

One of the best things about the Internet is that everyone can have a voice and there’s no one telling them what they can and cannot say; one of the worst things about the Internet is that monkeys like me are doing it and we have no editors or fact checkers. Yes, the last time I mentioned one of Lesley Pratt Bannatyne’s books I bestowed a Harvard education on her. I failed to mention she was knighted by the Queen and has achieved the 33rd Degree of Masonry as well despite being a woman. Yes, smart cookie that she is she found my error and called me on it. Her bio, which is no less impressive without the Harvard degree, can be found on the Harvard site since she works for them, and we all know that Harvard hires a bunch of slouches as editors and communications writers. Now if I had only taken 3.2 seconds to click that link and read it in the first place . . .

With that said, she’s still one of the Queens of Halloween, and I want to tell you a little bit about another of her books: A Halloween How-To.

Published in 2001 before the explosion of Halloween related websites, forums, email lists, and a quagmire of how-to information, “A Halloween How-To” was the definitive guide to everything Halloween. This would exclude, perhaps, if you happen to be looking for a Pagan religious guide to Samhain; this ain’t it folks. All the information in this guide, which is geared toward an adult contemporary Halloween experience, is still quite relevant, and indeed I found tons of useful ideas for parties, costumes, decorations and destinations I really hadn’t known about before.

Within it’s pages are plenty of good solid ideas to decorate your home and yard, how to pick the perfect pumpkin and carve it, for making do-it-yourself costumes, to liven up a party of ghouls and goblins, to help you decide which music to play from Bach to Midnight Syndicate, for picking classic movies to watch, and for tempting your guest with some delicatible Halloween food recipes. Then Banntyne follows this with an excellent selection of ideas for making Halloween great outside your safe little Halloween home base such as ghost hunting, finding parades and local events, and a profile of some of the nations best haunted attractions (yes, some have went by the wayside since publication but others are still going strong)that you can visit. On top of all this is a good helping of Halloween history, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has read “Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History” also by the Lesley Pratt Bannatyne (I swear I’m going to do a full review on this one soon), and you have a one concise, intelligent, adult read that should give you endless ideas to enhance your October festivities.

Yes, we just finished October, but this book would make an excellent addition to your collection or the collection of a Halloween fan you may be stymied for holiday gift ideas for. Start now people. Time is waisting. Halloween will be here before you know it. Honest!

I’m only about half finished with this delightful book, but I wanted to get something up about it. Last Saturday night while I was at Castle Blood, I got a chance to spend the evening freezing my butt off next to Lesley Bannatyne. She was freezing hers off too while she signed copies of her book and spoke with a childlike glee to Castle Blood customers about one of her favorite subjects – Halloween. With an unparalleled knowledge of the subject befitting someone who is Harvard educated – she is smart people so she is – Bannatyne is wonderfully engaging on the subject with anyone willing to listen. She was also in town for World Zombie Day, which I will post about tomorrow, and is writing a new book about contemporary Halloween celebrations; I can’t wait.

Ya got to love an Ivy Leaguer (Is that a word?) who seeks out zombies.

I’ve always thought myself above average in my own knowledge – I like to pretend I iz smart – of the origins of the holiday, but upon reading the first few chapters of “Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History” I realized there are vast gaps in my own picture of this time of year that’s so important to me and just about everyone reading this blog. Yes, there is a lot of rubbish floating about on the Internet pertaining to Halloween, and I’ve managed to ignore most of that; however, I can assure you that if you pick this book up – either from me through the link above or at your local bookstore – that you will be able to dazzle the average person who asks you about your home haunt, party, or just why you love dressing up as a creature of the night every 31st of October.

I’ll post a full review when I’m done, and I’d love to here from those of you that snag this book or already own it.

So why on Earth have I posted this rather odd looking zombie paring of the Zombie Influx CD, which I just posted about the other day, and the book “Unabridged, Unabashed, and Undead” by Eric S. Brown, which while it could use the hand of an editor, is still a great, fun read – I liken it to literary equivalent of watching B zombie movies – that is filled with every sort of zombie story you could imagine?

Hmmmm – not gonna say anything but Experiment #2, and that you have to go to the Raven’s Barrow fan page on Facebook to see why.

Just a quick reminder here – Chris Kullstroem, author of “Monster Parties and Games” and “Making a Monstrous Halloween” will be at Horrorfind Weekend in Hunt Valley, MD this weekend signing her books. You can read my review of both by clicking Monsters and Books, and of course you can buy them by clicking eaching graphic of their covers below. Hint, hint.

Below that is a link to the Horrorfind Weekend site as well.

Want to meet a hundred brilliant artists all in one spot – every one of them vying for your attention, fandom, and dollar? Then go to a Comicon and you won’t be disappointed. This past weekend I hit the Pittsburgh Comicon and soon found myself in amazement overload as I walked the aisles. Very quickly it became apparent that I couldn’t spend as much time or money at each and every table – not Bill Gates ya know – so I had to briskly cruise the myriad of indie comic booths waiting for something special – at least something more my taste – to catch my eye. It wasn’t too long before I spotted a lone artist sketching away while a customer waited and drilled him with questions.

That artist was Ken Haeser and the comic that caught my eye was The Living Corpse. What did you expect – Fluffy Kittens and Yarn? Frak no. I quietly sauntered up to his table and watched – hoping to go unnoticed so I wouldn’t be barkered in like I had been at other tables – as he sketched something for the man who’d just purchased his entire line of comics including an annual issue. On the table was a sign stating that every issue – that’s 0, 1/2, and 1-6 plus the annual #1 could be had for a mere pittance – 15 bucks. Plus, you got a free sketch with it! What a bargain. You can get the same deal – minus the custom sketch though – from the comic’s store. Mr. Haeser was low-key about the whole sales pitch and his easy good nature pulled me right into perusing the issues on display. Here’s what I had him do below after I coughed up my dough.

But of course I needed a raven for the Raven’s Barrow after all. And, yes, the comic is rippingly good too! How about that? Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to meet the co-creator – Buz Hasson, but their bios can be found on the site. Maybe a future event, eh?

The Living Corpse tells the story of John Romero (an homage to the great one, George Romero) who comes back from the dead as a part of a zombie outbreak in the 70’s. Of course like any good zombie George is a mindless undead thing out in search of brains when he and the zombie horde attack a family in a house near the cemetery where John had been laid to rest. Being a bit more ambitious than the other undead, John breaks down the door of the house and manages to devour a mother and her daughter before the ingestion of brains makes him come slightly to his senses for some unknown reason. A boy, who had been thrown clear of the attack, cowers in the corner as John realizes with horror what he’s done. He bolts from the house driving off some of the other zombies in the process and runs back to the cemetery in torment. As he does we see the name on the mailbox of the house he’s just killed the woman and her daughter in – Romero. Yes, John has killed and eaten his former wife and his own daughter, and he understands completely what he’s done.

In the cemetery he cries out in torment, only to find a demonic figure crouched on a tombstone that says, “Ah, my poor rotted, little friend. I’ve got a job for you.” As a possibly self-inflicted penance, John Romero becomes a Living Corpse – the keeper of the realm between the living and the dead – and he is doomed to spend all eternity as a defender of that realm and punisher of those that cross the line.

The Living Corpse is a great read, and I highly recommend it. I can’t wait to see where the comic goes. Right now, from the website www.CorpseComic.com I see they’re shopping around for a new publisher with issues 7 and 8 in the can waiting for a new home. Hop on over and see what The Living Corpse has going on. If you like comics with a dark and gory bent to them then it’s sure to not disappoint.

TORONTO, CANADA – (Sept. 15/09) The first installment of THE VARIANT EFFECT: Skin Eaters by horror author G. Wells Taylor is now available in FREE multi-format downloads for eBook Readers at skineaters.com and to read online in the Astonishing Adventures Magazine.

The old building in a rundown part of town was a perfect place to find a body, but Joe Borland knows they’d never have dragged him out of retirement if it still had its skin. It’s been twenty years since Borland battled the Variant Effect, and twenty since he let his partner get skinned alive. Now they are ordered back into action to meet a terrifying new threat.

The story continues in the second and third installments “Recruitment Officer” and “Bagged-Boys” also available in FREE multi-format downloads at skineaters.com. Taylor will release the entire novel in FREE installments and visitors can get launch dates by joining the Variant Squad.

Author of The Apocalypse Trilogy and Wildclown’s World of Change, G. Wells Taylor presents a claustrophobic tale of a toxic world where broken soldiers battle manmade monsters.

As promised, I finally took an in depth look at the two volumes from Chris Kullstroem. I figured I’d better since I’m offering them in the Raven’s Barrow Store, eh? In essence I just have to say – Wow and Holy Crap. This woman has totally covered the bases on just about everything Halloween in these two books. Below are just some of my thoughts on both. Oh, and Chris – can I move in with you for the month of October and have you tell me what to do? I always seem to miss something, and it sure as heck looks like the Kullstroem household doesn’t miss anything.

First up is “Making a Monstrous Halloween”. Have you ever gotten to the end of the best month of the year and suddenly realized you missed oing some of the things you’d planned on doing like Ghost Hunting or hitting the local amusement park’s Halloween festivities? How’d you miss it? Did it sneak by you in the dark, or did you just not think of it until it had passed? Well, rest assured with this massive volume dedicated to squeezing every nook and cranny of October full of Halloween revelry you’ll not miss a trick to maximizing the season. Here’s the blurb from the author’s website:

Welcome to Halloween: the greatest time of year. A time when the world turns upside-down and around every corner could lurk a band of zombies fresh from the grave, the Grim Reaper hosting a party from the other side or a hearse and rotting chauffer escorting mortals to the House of Horrors. It’s the time of year long anticipated for its parties and haunts, shows and scares, so that when it arrives we think, Why can’t it last all year? Because let’s face it: celebrating Halloween for one night just doesn’t cut it.

The focus of this book is to come to the rescue. It serves to give ideas and inspiration for bringing all your passions of Halloween to life at home, at work and for play. After all, Halloween isn’t just a night – it’s a season. And here, you’ll discover an ensemble of events and activities from every corner of the grave, including yard displays, events at the office, travel ideas, party themes and much more. This collection of Halloween fun is for enthusiasts of all levels, from those just creeping out of their coffins to the ones celebrating their 60th year in the realm of shadows.

The first section, Starting the Season, helps get you ready for all the Halloween events that will be coming to your area so that you don’t miss a thing. The second section, Making the Season, focuses on a series of displays, celebrations and adventures that you can put together yourself to embrace Halloween throughout September and October. The third section, Keeping the Season, goes into a variety of ways to keep the spirit of Halloween alive in the off-season, from November through the summertime. Topics range from cemetery outings, conventions, parties, howling at the moon and explorations into the furthest haunted realms of the earth.

Kullstroem takes you through such topics as “Researching Halloween Happening” in your area like the usual haunted houses to things you might not think of like spooky magic shows and dark art exhibits and making sure they make on your Halloween calendar which she shows you how to put together in order to “keep all your skulls in a row”. Not only does the author suggest ideas, but also she covered resources on how to locate all the spooky goodness in your particular area. Also covered are topics like decorating inside your house and out as well as how to build the staple props like scarecrows, movie lists for the month, bringing Halloween into the classroom and workplace, renting Hearses, party ideas and how-to’s, building your own Halloween website, hitting Halloween conventions, growing pumpkins, getting ready for an amazing trick-or-treat night, and tons more. I could go on forever about this book; it really is an encyclopedia of everything Halloween.

If you’ve ever been stumped for something extra cool to do in October then get this book! You will never run out of ideas – ever. “Making a Monstrous Halloween” retails for $35.00, but you can get it for $31.50 from our store and as of right now it qualifies for FREE SHIPPING. It is well worth the price when you consider it to be your creepy concierge to all things Halloween that will be used for many years to come.

Next up is Chris Kullstroem’s “Monster Parties and Games”. Ever been to a Halloween shindig where the host thrusts an alcoholic beverage in your hand and shows you to the snack table then . . . that’s pretty much it. How long did you stay? Long enough to watch Uncle Harry gets blitzed and hit on the neighbor’s wife? Well, make your own Halloween party 1000% better by getting this book. Here’s the blurb from the website:

An invincible race of aliens invades your home town. Blood-thirsty werewolves charge through the woods. Hordes of zombies break through the windows. Demons are conjured to steal your soul. We see them in the theater and watch the marathons at home, eyes glued to the screen at midnight and a world away from our living room. And from the opening scenes to the closing credits, we become the victims, the heroes, and even the monsters themselves: running for our lives, battling the creature or stalking our prey before the final kill. We lose ourselves and enter the world of our darkest nightmares, where anything could happen and our very lives may lay on the line.

But after the movies come to their happy or gruesome end, is the battle really over? Are the moments of the chase and ruthless slaughter truly confined to the screen, and our only gateway into them through the magic of the remote control? We’ve survived the invasions, the awakenings, the conjuring and the mutilations… if only there was a way to continue the adventures back in our own world.

But there is! You may have entered the nightmares of so many others, but now you can enter your own to see just what could happen and who will survive. With Monster Parties and Games, you have a collection of themed games that you can make yourself for bringing your favorite films in the horror, science fiction and other dark genres to life. Long after the stories on the screen have come to their end, yours will just begin as you run, fight, dance, bleed, raise the dead and try to come out alive in each and every one.

Gaming materials found in Monster Parties and Games includes Card Game images, Ghostbusters Cases, Spell Books, Lab Sheets, Host Sheets, Character Biographies and much more!

I can assure you these are not kidie games in the least. “Monster Parties and Games” takes you through some of your favorite movies like “The Wolf Man” in the first section which covers classic movies to a “GhostBusters” based game in the Dark Comedy section. Finally you end up with several choices in the Modern Horror and Science Fiction section like “A Nightmare on Elm Street” or “Resident Evil”. The games themselves require you to photocopy things like cards and game sheets from the book. Still other require you to personalize the game a bit with your own props and game pieces. Everything is detailed in the book – another massive one at 218 pages – and Kullstroem has left no detail unthought of when it comes to the game play. With a little preparation – and this book – you can make your Halloween party – or really any monster themed party done at any time of the year like birthdays – one that is really memorable in the minds of your guests.

“Monster Parties and Games” retails for $35.00 and also qualifies for FREE SHIPPING right now in our store.

After you snag the books be sure to hit one of Chris Kullstroem’s book signings. Chris’ next signing will be at Horrorfind Weekend, held at the Hunt Valley Marriott in Baltimore, MD, September 25-27, 2009. She is graciously being hosted by her good friends from the other side, the Patient Creatures (I love these guys – great story tellers and entertainers) and Tricorner Publishing.

The author and the Patient Creatures

October Signings:

October 3, 2009: Cornerstone Books, 1-3 pm, Salem, MA
October 9, 2009: Fright Kingdom, 7-9pm, Nashua, NH
October 10, 2009: The Book Bower, 2-5pm, Middletown, CT
October 17-18, 2009: Lake Compounce Haunted Graveyard, 5-11pm, Bristol, CT
October 24-25, 2009: Mystic Seaport Maritime Bookstore, 3-5pm, Mystic, CT
Halloween Day! (October 31) 2009: Bank Square Books, 1-3pm, Mystic, CT

Become a fan of Monsters and Books on Facebook to get updates on signings!

Man am I behind or what? I just wanted to do a quick post on these two new books by Chris Kullstroem that I just added to the Raven’s Barrow Store. I’m perusing sample copies now and I’m a likinz them so far. I’ll do a full review this weekend unless I end up working myself to death. Check them out if you have a chance and be sure to hit Chris’s website at Monsters and Books. Hey, if they’re good enough for Robert Englund then they’re good enough for me.

Chris is going to be putting up a copy of one of her books for a future contest so be sure to stop by her site and say thanks.