Dark Regions Press launches new psychological horror imprint Vampires, demons, zombies – some say that hor-
ror fiction has dug itself into a monster rut, which is exactly why Dark Regions Press is launching Black Labyrinth, an imprint that aims to bring more psy- chological terror to bookstore shelves. The Walls of the Castle by Tom Piccirilli (see Li-
brary of the Damned, p.49) is scheduled to be the first release in what’s projected to be a ten-volume run of novels and novellas (with two to three titles
released each year). The book, which concerns a man who refuses to leave the hospital in which his son died, will be released on November 6. “Tom is an expert at exploring and revealing the ugliest and the most beau-
tiful parts of people,” says Morey, of why he chose Piccirilli’s tale to kick off the imprint. “He's a master at testing the human psyche and the intense per- sonal struggles that come with it.” The Walls of the Castle, and the rest of the Black Labyrinth books, is being
offered in several editions: an ultra-deluxe 8.5 by 11-inch volume signed by the author, illustrator Santiago Caruso (whose gothic artwork graces all of
entrails During a recent BBC morning show ap-
pearance, British novelist James Herbert (The Rats, The Fog) mentioned that he’d won a longstanding bet with Stephen King about which of them would see a ghost first. According to the author, he was with a friend in a Marabella, Trinidad, hotel when said friend noticed a ghostly figure pass by the doorway. Though Herbert missed it the first time around, he sat watching the doorway, only to see the same spectre pass by ten minutes later. Running out into the hallway to investi- gate, he found it empty.
According to a Reddit message board
posting by Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard, he and co-writer Joss Whedon developed a video game version of the movie with Valve Software. Planned as a downloadable expansion pack for Left 4 Dead 2, the game was scuttled when original Cabin distributor MGM filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Some of the bizarre monsters glimpsed in the film were actually developed during their work on the game.
Filmmaker/producer Jason Zada, who
has freaked out millions of viewers since last Halloween with a two-minute Web video called Take This Lollipop (takethis-
lollipop.com), tried to return this October with a sequel. He launched a Kickstarter campaign asking for $150,000 to create
the further adventures of the demented creep (Bill Oberst Jr.) shown accessing viewers’ Facebook photos and contact info in the first movie. The campaign stalled at just $4448, meaning we might have to wait for closure to the story, which won a Daytime Emmy Award in the New Approaches category.
September saw the launch of Egzor-
cysta (“Exorcist”), a 62-page Polish monthly magazine devoted to those who help the possessed. With an initial print- run of 15,000, the magazine features ar- ticles such as “New Age: The Spiritual Vacuum Cleaner.” One exorcist, Father Aleksander Posacki, pinned a sharp rise in the number of de- monic possessions in Poland to the col- lapse of communism in the country back in 1989. With a need to make money and the loss of atheistic communism, more Poles have dabbled in the occult – hence the “spiritual vacuum cleaner.”
Slender: The Eight Pages, a free
PC/Mac game released in June 2012 based on the “Slenderman” urban legend
(for more on this, see p.50) cooked up on the
somethingawful.com forums, is to be followed by Slender: The Arrival (slender-
arrival.com), a PC game “coming soon” from Slender-creator Mark “AgentParsec” Hadley and Blue Isle Studios. The sequel promises more levels than the original, which saw your character searching through a dark wood and abandoned buildings with a flashlight and the heebie- jeebies, lest you find the tall, faceless spook of the title.
Alan Moore announced at the Northants
International Comic Expo (NICE) in Sep- tember that he’s preparing another H.P. Lovecraft-inspired comic book, via Avatar Press. Providence, a ten-part series set in 1919 New England, will feature the lantern-jawed Lovecraft himself as we follow the turn of events that trans- formed him into a chron- icler of interstellar abominations. Moore has previously written Lovecraft-themed sto- ries with Alan Moore’s Neonomicon and Alan Moore’s Yuggoth Cul-
tures and Other Growths (2007), also from Avatar Press.
A.S. BERMAN
the books in the series) and Morey, and bound in black-dyed cowhide with a special edition tray case, for $300; a deluxe lettered, slipcased hardcover version, signed by author and artist, that sells for $99 and features end papers and Caruso’s artwork as a colour frontispiece; a 6 by 9-inch trade paperback edition for $16; and a $3.99 no-frills eBook. As an added bonus, a new Pic- cirilli novelette, Face Blindness, will be included with most hardcover edi- tions. Morey says Black Labyrinth’s primary purpose is to reintroduce readers to
the possibilities of human horror. “There is a fundamental lack of psychological horror in the industry today.
Maybe writers are afraid it won’t sell or that there’s not a market for it. I was around a lot of mental illness growing up, so the inner workings of the brain fascinate me deeply.” Of course Piccirilli’s novel fits the bill perfectly. “This is some gritty, dark stuff,” says Morey, “but as usual
Tom...creates
characters with layers of complexity and personal torment. It might raise your heart rate, but you'll be glad it did.”
A.S. BERMAN
Who says monster hunting does- n’t pay? A recent ad posted in the science/biotech jobs section of Craigslist was for a Cryptozo- ology Research Assistant for work near Whitehall, New York. (Whitehall has a long history of man-ape sightings.) The ad was posted by a “high-energy, team- oriented research entity that is involved in the tracking, docu- menting, and study of cryptozo- ological creatures.” The list of job duties include investigating and documenting Bigfoot sight- ings, travelling to remote areas of the Adirondack Mountains, checking game cameras and “collecting hair and dung sam- ples.” Compensation for this “grant-funded position” will be based on experience and the contract is expected to last six months.
LYLE BLACKBURN MORE MONSTRO BIZARRO AT
RUE-MORGUE.COM
RM10
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