The Walking Dead Episode 406
“Live Bait”
Written By: Nichole Beattie
Directed By: Michael Uppendahl
Original Airdate: 17 November 2013

In This Episode...

We go back to see what the Governor has been up to since last season’s massacre. He and Morales and that one other guy stuck together for a day or two, but the Governor seems to have lost the will to live - or at least care about it. When a walker lurches towards him, it is a gunshot from Morales that keeps it at bay. In the morning, the Governor is alone - Morales and the other guy left.

So the Governor is on his own. He finds a truck, crashes the front gates of Woodbury, and burns the place down. He survives on the road by himself for a couple months, but he is in bad shape. his hair is long and unkept; his clothes are torn; and he has a thick, scraggly beard. He finds an apartment building that appears safe and goes looking for a room. He is stopped by two sisters with a gun - he disarms without being asked. 

The sisters are Tara and Lily. They live in a unit with their dad and Lily’s daughter, Megan. The Governor only plans on staying a day and tells them his name is Brian - a name he saw scrawled over a barn, warning a guy named Brian to stay away. There is general uneasiness on the part of the sisters, and the Governor just wants to be left alone. Lily brings him some Spaghetti-Os; he thanks her for them but dumps them out the window and returns to the can of food he brought. Megan reminds him of his daughter, so when her grandpa asks him to go get a backgammon set from a neighbor upstairs, he does. (In the process, he finds the owner of the backgammon set, a double-amputee, who tried to kill himself - and failed.) The Governor stares sadly at his one remaining picture of his family as he tries to fall asleep. In the morning, Lily sees the photo as she brings the Governor some supplies to take with him. He politely declines the food, along with his gun - he has the suicide zombie’s gun.

Before the Governor goes, Lily has one more favor to ask: if he can bring some oxygen from the retirement home down the street. Her dad has stage four lung cancer and only has two days worth of oxygen left. The Governor agrees. At the home, it seems like many of the living maladies that faced the patients followed them into undeath: the bedridden are still bedridden; the wheelchair bound are still wheelchair bound. The Governor finds a cart filled with oxygen cans, but it seems that not all the residents were invalids, and a dozen or so descend on him. He uses the oxygen cart to bully his way past them, but he is fighting a losing battle. Tucking a tank under each arm, the Governor makes a run for it.

Lily is extremely grateful and insists on cleaning up the Governor’s cuts before he leaves. While she goes to get supplies, Megan sits with him and asks about his eye, if something happened to him or if he was born like that. “I’ll tell you what happened if you promise to keep it a secret.” She pinky-swears (something the Governor had never heard before) and he tries telling her he is a pirate. She doesn’t buy it, so he gives the sanitized version: “I was trying to help someone I loved and protect them from getting hurt.”

Apparently this interaction with the little girl made the Governor decide to stay on with the family. He cleans up and shaves, and teaches Megan how to play chess. In the other room, Lily and Tara are saying goodbye to their father. Lily brings Megan in to say goodbye, but grandpa is already dead. The Governor tries to coax the women out; they want a few minutes. A few minutes they do not have, as grandpa comes back from the dead. The quiet becomes chaos and the Governor reacts quickly, bashing his skull in with an oxygen tank while Tara hides and Lily screams that he’s not dead. Of course she knows this is not true, and after she helps bury the body, she and Tara thank him for saving them.

That night, the Governor burns his one remaining family photo, then says goodbye to the ladies. Lily insists that they come with him, that there is something better out there and he will help them find it. The four of them pile into a delivery truck stuffed with food and they set out. There is no use making a plan, he explains. They will go where the road and the biters will let them. At night, they sleep in the truck. Lily wiggles up against the Governor, subtly at first, but when he doesn’t rebuff her, she becomes more aggressive. The Governor hesitates at first (probably because Tara and Megan are inches away from them) but gives in.

Morning comes and the truck won’t start, so the foursome heads out on foot. A crow caw startles Tara, causing her to trip and hurt her ankle. While Lily helps her, the Governor spots a pack of zombies. They spot the living and start coming after them. Megan is too scared to move - until the Governor calls her to him. She runs into his arms and the new family runs into the woods. The two couples get separated and the Governor (and Megan) fall into one of those big zombie pits he and his “inner circle” used to dig. There are four zombies in the hole he falls into, and he kills them before they can chomp on Megan. When they are safe, he clutches Megan, promising he will never let anything happen to her. “Holy shit,” comes a voice from above. Morales is peering down at them, gun drawn. The Governor just hugs the little girl.

Dig It or Bury It?

That was a good episode. The Governor can really carry a show. This was the most depressing “What I did on my summer vacation” project ever. It really makes me wonder where the Governor’s character will go. (Yes, he’s not even close to a governor now, but the name has stuck.) He is a broken man - even more broken from where he was last season. He has a new family now, but he is far from being whole. I can totally see him just kidnapping Megan. I don’t think we are done with “crazy Governor.” I also like that it was one of his own zombie catchers that nearly did him in.

Kill o’ the Week

The Governor had some nice kills. I am especially partial to the kills he made in the pit, including ripping out the throat of one walker, and snapping in two the head of another walker - using a discarded bone for leverage.

Zombie o’ the Week

Suicide zombie. How horrifyingly tragic is it that someone saw no way out, tried to kill himself - and missed, forcing him to live as the thing he hated and feared the most?

Wisdom of the Walking Dead

Lily: “No one mentioned how boring the end of the world would be.”

Prophecies?

The Governor is back with Morales and his group. Morales seems to have taken a lot of pointers from the Governor - and none of the good ones.

Sleepy Hollow Episode 108
“Necromancer"
Written By: Mark Goffman & Phillip Iscove
Directed By: Paul Edwards
Original Airdate: 18 November 2013

In This Episode...

Ichabod wants to interrogate the Headless Horseman. Of course, he doesn’t have a head, so that makes conversation a little one-sided. Abbie suggests they use Andy to communicate with the Horseman. They wait for Andy in the little cubby in the tunnels where he has been living, and Andy does not feel comfortable with the idea. His soul no longer belongs to him and if the Horseman gives him a command, he is unable to resist.

Ichabod’s first round with the Horseman doesn’t yield much. the Horseman is not feeling chatty. Ichabod taunts him, speaking directly into his neck hole. He even grabs him by the collar - and a necklace falls to the ground. this rattles him. It belonged to Katrina, and the Horseman isn’t ready to divulge all his secrets just yet. Through flashbacks we discover that before Ichabod, Katrina was betrothed to another, Ichabod’s best friend and a man of wealth, Abraham. Abraham gave Katrina the necklace, but it was Ichabod who picked it out. Katrina knew that instantly and admits to Ichabod that she is calling off the engagement that night. It was an arranged marriage, and her heart belongs to another: Ichabod.

The Horseman reveals that Ichabod was his sole mission, then and now. He blames Ichabod for Abraham’s death (or rather, whoever called upon the Horseman blamed Ichabod for Abraham’s death) which infuriates Ichabod. The power goes out, meaning the UV lights that weaken the Horseman are dead. He is still hexed, but Abbie insists on pulling Ichabod out of there, at least until she gets the full story.

So let’s back up a little bit. The captain brings in Jenny at Abbie’s request, thinking she may have some insight. While at the station, she hears that an incident just went down at Adams’ Antiquities, a place Jenny knows, and goes with the captain to the scene. The place has been ransacked but expensive jewelry and cash haven’t been touched. Clearly, whoever broke in was looking for something very specific. Jenny checks the vault and finds Adams in there, shot in the leg. The men who broke in were German and they took a sort of warlock stone that would only be useful in removing a hex. The pieces fall into place pretty quickly from there: these were the Hessians who want to break the hex on the cell that is holding the Horseman. The other thing they would need to do is break the power grid. The captain and Jenny head down to the power grid. The captain is impressed with the way Jenny handles herself, and between the two of them and the SWAT team that meets them there, they arrest the Hessians without incident. Well, except for the bomb that blows up, knocking all of Sleepy Hollow into darkness.

Back to Abbie and Ichabod. He tells her the rest of the story, again in flashbacks. He and Abraham were tasked with taking the Declaration of Resolves, the precursor to the Declaration of Independence. It was an extremely important and delicate mission, but Abraham, having just been dumped, was too distracted to focus on the mission. Ichabod - for whatever reason - decides to tell Abraham that he was the one Katrina was in love with and they would be married soon. Abraham is enraged and forces Ichabod to duel. He keeps trying to lay down his sword, but he gives in and the men fight. Abraham gets the best of Ichabod, pinning him to the ground at sword point - but then he is shot. Hessians dressed as Red Coats appear, and Ichabod runs for his life. So the assumption is that Abraham sent the Horseman after Ichabod for revenge.

Jenny and the captain arrive. They don’t have the medallion, but the only way it would be useful is if the men broke into the cell and used it in there. Ichabod is left to stand guard over the Horseman while the others go load up some weapons and check the exterior doors for weak points. Now remember, Andy is still in the cell with the Horseman. With everyone gone and Ichabod still wracked with guilt, no one pays attention as he digs into his belly with his bare hands and removes the medallion. He chants over it and the hex breaks. Ichabod finally takes notice and rushes into the cell, grabbing the medallion from Andy. He apologizes weakly, but it is too late. The Horseman is breaking free of his chains. He “faces off” with Ichabod, then leaves, returning with two swords. He wants to finish his duel. For you see, Abraham is the Headless Horseman. After the Hessian Red Coats shot him, they made him one of them and sent him to kill Ichabod.

In an effort to make up for what he has done, Andy reminds the Horseman that the master forbids killing Ichabod. He says another incantation, and the Horseman and Andy disappear into bursts of flame. Ichabod is heartbroken - he essentially created his own nemesis. But then he reconsiders: Andy and Moloch wouldn’t let the Horseman kill him. “If I am not meant to be the Horseman’s kill, who am I meant for?” he ponders. Another realization: that Katrina is being held in “escrow” for the Horseman. Katrina is his weakness.

Dig It or Bury It?

Solid. I feel like Sleepy Hollow really benefits from episodes that directly move the mythology along. Monster-of-the-week episodes tend to slow the pace down.

I know I complained about it last week... but seriously, how can the Horseman hear what people are saying? I totally get that he can hear and see and speak through Andy, but he seems to respond to voices without Andy around. Look, it’s a dude riding a horse without a head - there is no doubt that there is supernatural nonsense going on here, so it makes sense that he has some kind of supernatural connection through Andy. I know, I’m obsessing over this one thing. I promise to let it go.

Douchey Time Traveler Thing to Say

Abbie tries to teach Ichabod how to do a fist bump. He doesn’t get it, but seems pleased to be included.

Prophecies?

A haunted house story! 

Though they've experienced great success in the last several years with remakes of Let The Right One In and The Woman in Black, Hammer Films was in its early years all about the classic Universal Monsters.  After the massive box office success of their film The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957, Hammer brought iconic actor Peter Cushing back to play Dr. Frankenstein in a whopping five sequels.  One of those films was Frankenstein Created Woman, in 1967, which is about to get a high-definition makeover from the folks over at Millenium Films.

The cult classic will be released on Collector's Edition Blu-ray on January 28th of next year, marking the first time the film has been presented in high-def here in the states.  Check out the full list of special features below, along with the original trailer for the film!

• Commentary Featuring Derek Fowlds ("Johann"), Robert Morris ("Hans") and Jonathan Rigby (Hammer Historian)
• Frankenstein Created Woman Trailer
• World of Hammer Episode "The Curse of Frankenstein"
• World of Hammer Episode "Hammer Stars: Peter Cushing"
• Brand New Documentary: "Hammer Glamour"
• Animated Stills Gallery
• Includes Exclusive Collectable Cards

Just like they did back in 2011 with the first ABCs of Death, Magnet Releasing, Timpson Films and Drafthouse Films recently put together a competition designed to find the 26^th director for the upcoming sequel ABCs of Death 2.  Well-known as well as up-and-coming horror filmmakers were each given a letter of the alphabet and tasked with making a short film centering around a word that begins with that letter, with fans encouraged to submit their own films for the unclaimed letter M.

Since the launch of the contest in August, well over 500 short films were submitted from over 40 different countries, and the top twelve finalists have just been announced – six were decided by a jury while the other six made the cut based on votes from other fans.

We’ve compiled all twelve of the shorts for you below, which should only take you about a half an hour to get through.  I can think of no better way to spend your lunch break today, so dig in to learn all the different ways that the letter M can kill ya!

M IS FOR MAILBOX – DANTE VESCIO & RODRIGO GASPARINI

The blood flows and a young vampire sucks it all up in this creepy Halloween-set short that reminds us to never underestimate kids… or badass old dudes.  A fun twist at the end makes this one a clever spin on an iconic monster tale!

M IS FOR MAKE BELIEVE – SUMMER JOHNSON

Life was just so innocent and magical when you were a kid, wasn’t it?  In this highly disturbing entry, two young girls come across a bloodied man who is barely clinging onto life, and attempt to make it all better with a little glitter and kindness.  Ah, to be a kid again!

M IS FOR MARAUDER – STEVE DANIELS

Road Warrior meets Mario Kart, by way of Troma, in this humorous and highly gory submission that depicts one woman’s quest to become a member of a particularly badass biker gang.  Does she make the cut?  Watch it to find out!

M IS FOR MASTICATE – ROBERT BOOCHECK

Taking heavy influence from Zombieland’s awesome opening credits sequence, this ripped from the headlines slow-mo short centers around a man that’s as hungry as he is hairy… and he’s very, very hairy.  Is he a zombie?  Well, you’re just going to have to find out for yourself!

M IS FOR MATCHMAKER – SEAN TRETTA

Scream queen Tiffany Shepis stars as the titular matchmaker in this one from indie horror filmmaker Sean Tretta.  But it’s not exactly dates that she’s trying to set people up on, as you’ll soon discover in this clever short that features another familiar face!

M IS FOR MEAT – WOLFGANG MATZL

This year’s submissions don’t get much creepier than this surreal bit of puppetry from Austria.  If I wasn’t already a vegetarian, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t need to see much more than this short to make me never want to eat meat again!

M IS FOR MIND MELD – BC GLASSBERG

A human lab experiment gets increasingly bizarre and brutal in this entry, which packs the gory torture of a film like Hostel into only three minutes.  As you might expect, it’s a violent assault on the senses, packed with a twist that makes things all the more horrific.

M IS FOR MIRACLE – ALVARO NUNEZ

Just as he’s about to commit suicide, and jump to his death, a man is presented with a package labeled ‘Miracle Box.’  Inside is a cute little bunny, and a couple of carrots.  A happy ending to his once suicidal day, right?  Well, it depends on how you look at it, as this submission from Spain shows.

M IS FOR MISDIRECTION – ANTONIO PADOVAN

Helen Rogers from the V/H/S segment The Sick Thing That Happened To Emily When She Was Younger stars in this one as a magician’s assistant.  We’ve all seen that trick wherein a magician puts a beautiful lady in a box and sticks swords through it, only to have her come out of the box unscathed, but the finale to this particular magic trick is anything but predictable.  The swords may not kill her, but that doesn’t mean she’s in the clear!

M IS FOR MUFF – MIA’KATE RUSSELL

There’s nothing safe for work about this short that showcases the dangers of extramarital sex.  All is going well for a horny old man when a prostitute arrives in his hotel room to give him a thrill for the night, a night that ends with the bed sheets being covered with a bit of a different kind of bodily fluid than planned.  The old man isn’t this unlucky prostitute's only fan, I’ll say that much!

M IS FOR MULTIVERSE APATHY – SANTI GONZALEZ

Toilet humor was big in the first ABCs of Death, a trend that will continue if this entry wins the big prize.  In it, a very bizarre apocalyptic event has overtaken the world.  It’s not zombies.  It’s not sharknados.  It’s poop.  It’s raining poop.  There’s an idea for ya, Syfy!

M IS FOR MUNGING – JASON KOCH & CLINT KELLY

We end things on a highly disturbing note with this last finalist, which leaves behind a taste in the mouth that you probably aren’t going to be able to get rid of all day.  If you want to know what you’re in store for, look up the term Munging on Urban Dictionary.  And then proceed with caution… or don’t proceed at all.  You have been warned!

These top twelve finalists will be screened at select Alamo Drafthouse locations on December 15^th, at which point the winner will be announced.  The winning entry will appear in ABCs of Death 2, with the winning filmmaker also receiving a $5,000 cash prize.  You can see all of the other entries over on the ABCs of Death 2 website.

Which of the top twelve finalists are your personal favorites?  Sound off below!

No, this isn't a sneak peek at this week's American Horror Story: Coven. If you were approached by someone who claimed that a dark spirit was attached to your soul, and that the only way to rid yourself of the evil was to hand your valuable personal belongings over to them, you'd probably chuckle and walk the other way, am I right?  If you answered yes to that question, then pat yourself on the back for being far less gullible than some...

In the parking lot of a Santa Fe, New Mexico Walmart last week, three women claiming to be witches sold a gullible passerby on this ridiculous scam, telling him that an evil spirit was following him and that money was the root of his problems.  They coaxed him into a white van in the parking lot, where they proceeded to empty his wallet and even talk him into forking over his jewelry, part of a 'soul cleansing' ritual that they told him would keep the Devil off his back.  More like a wallet cleanse!

The victim apparently realized he had been scammed a few days later, and notified the authorities.  Police found the three 'witches' in a nearby hotel, and were able to recover the gullible man's jewelry.  They weren't charged with any crime, given the fact that the man willingly provided them with the loot.

Only in America!

I don't know about you, but I'm constantly on the lookout for the kind of bizarre home decor that will creep out my guests and make them wonder what the hell is wrong with me.  From a severed finger on display in my bathroom to a lifesize Killer Klowns bust above the TV in the living room, my house is loaded with such trinkets, and I always get joy out of watching the reactions of people who dare step foot inside my lair.  But I must admit, even I am a little bit too creeped out by what I'm about to show you...

Founded at the tail end of last year, The Cement Head specializes in unique concrete statues that play up the inherent creepiness of baby dolls.  Their offerings range from slightly creepy to downright frightening, one bizarre creation depicting a screaming baby bursting out of an egg and another featuring a baby's head atop the body of a turtle.  But that's only the tip of the iceberg of their offerings, which also include baby heads with saw blades stuck into them, babies with their brains exposed and even a Hellraiser-inspired Pinhead bra.  Yes.  A Pinhead bra.

You can see all of the company's strange sculptures over on The Cement Head website.

Would you display these in your home or are they too creepy even for you?  Sound off below!

In 2002, publisher Cemetery Dance released its first full limited-edition novel by Stephen King: From a Buick 8.  It was a visual and tactile treat of a book, issued in three states, or versions: a “gift” edition, a limited numbered edition, and a 52-copy lettered edition, each one more sumptuous than the last.  Bernie Wrightson’s illustrations managed to deftly capture the otherworldly strangeness of the creatures that emerge from the titular Buick, despite the fact that they are said to be indescribable.  While it wasn’t the first book with Stephen King's work published by Cemetery Dance (that honor goes to 1998’s The Best of Cemetery Dance, which includes the reprint King story “Chattery Teeth”), it set a precedent.  Later King publications – Blockade Billy; Full Dark, No Stars; It: The 25^th Anniversary Edition; and especially the two Secretary of Dreams compilations – matched or surpassed what From a Buick 8 started, which cemented Cemetery Dance as one of the most exciting, important publishers of Stephen King limited editions.

Now, a quick primer on limited editions for the uninitiated: unlike mass-market, or trade books – those hardcovers and paperbacks you see on the shelves at Target and on Amazon.com and in actual bookstores, long may they live – limited editions generally only have a single print run; when they’re gone, they’re gone.  These runs are usually presented in different “states”: a lettered state of a signed limited is most often the rarest, restricted to twenty–six or fifty–two copies (and designated by the letters A–Z or A–ZZ inside) and usually features the most lavish production values.  A numbered state is more accessible, a little less expensive and featuring most of the bells and whistles of the lettered version.  Numbered editions usually have a print run of fewer than 1,500 copies – a miniscule amount when compared to the million–plus print runs of King’s mass market books.  More recently, specialty publishers have offered a third state, the gift edition: unnumbered and unsigned, but still featuring the same exacting standards of their more expensive cousins.  Gift edition printings are kept low, as well – most often under 5,000 copies – and are usually priced affordably for average readers.  For about double what a person would pay for a hardcover in stores, they can own a beautifully–produced piece of art … albeit without Stephen King’s signature.

A little over a decade after Cemetery Dance published Buick 8, we arrive at one of the most anticipated novels of Stephen King’s career: Doctor Sleep, the sequel to King’s masterpiece, The Shining.  While frequent King limited-edition publisher Subterranean Press (The Green Mile, Stephen King Goes to the Movies) was tasked with handling the limited reprint of The Shining, Cemetery Dance concurrently pulled out all the stops with Doctor Sleep.  Released as a “deluxe special edition,” Sleep comes in the standard states, each boasting an oversized design (7 inches X 10 inches).  The heft on this thing is incredible, underscoring the notion of a limited edition as an object to be held, as well as a story to be enjoyed.  Erin S. Wells builds on the impressive illustrations she offered in the 25^th anniversary edition of It, but it’s Vincent Chong’s color work that truly astounds.  Recalling J.K. Potter’s mixed-media illustration that defined Scream Press’ outstanding Skeleton Crew limited, Chong’s pictures offer both literal and phantasmagorical interpretations of the text, serving to heighten the horror without rendering it explicable.

The gift edition, published at an accessible 1,750 copies, came unsigned and slipcased, with both the cover and the case sporting two-color hot foil stamping.  This edition also features illustrated endpapers, with an original drawing by King mainstay Glenn Chadbourne.  Move up a grade and we get more amenities: signed by King, Wells, and Chong, the numbered edition of only 750 copies is bound in leather with that two-color hot foil stamping.  Another step up from the gift edition, this version comes in a traycase.  It’s the 52-copy lettered edition (A-ZZ) that really dazzles in its adjectival excess: imported endpapers, gilded page edges, a satin page marker, a custom traycase, this edition is the definition of how Cemetery Dance can present textual works of art as visual works of art.  Also signed by King and all artists, this lettered state sold out in just over an hour.

While in recent years, King limited editions have come out more routinely, it’s a mistake to think that the editions themselves are anything routine.  Doctor Sleep once again proves there are still enough people who care enough about books as objects to put as much time, care, and effort into the book part as King put into the story part.

---
Kevin Quigley is an author whose website, CharnelHouseSK.com, is one of the leading online sources for Stephen King news, reviews, and information. He has written several books on Stephen King for Cemetery Dance Publications, including a book on comics and Stephen King, Drawn Into Darkness, as well as Chart of Darkness, Blood In Your Ears, and Stephen King Limited, and co-wrote the recently released Stephen King Illustrated Movie Trivia Book. His first novel, I’m On Fire, is forthcoming. Find his books at cemeterydance.com.

I was never the kind of person you would describe as a 'thrill seeker' - not when I was a kid, and certainly not now.  I've always been more the type of person who realizes the danger in things and then stays away from those things, and one of those things I've always stayed away from are really crazy looking amusement park rides.  As you can see by the photo above, this is one those rides that I'll never be found within 500 feet of.

Currently being erected in Kansas City's Schlitterbahn Waterpark, the Verruckt Meg-A-Blaster is set to be the world's tallest water slide, shattering even the record set by Brazil's 134.5-foot-tall 'Insano.'  The four-person raft slide is going to be not just the tallest but also the fastest one ever constructed, propelling rafts down it at speeds of 65 miles per hour.  Yea.  No thanks.

The final height of the ride has not yet been announced, and it is set to open to brave members of the public next year.  Or should I say, insane members of the public - Verruckt is in fact the German word for insane.

Would you hop on a raft and allow this thing to have its way with you?  Comment below and let us know!

Supernatural Episode 907
“Bad Boys”
Written By: Adam Glass
Directed By: Kevin Parks
Original Airdate: 19 November 2013

In This Episode...

A call from an old friend of Dean’s takes the Winchesters to upstate New York for a possible haunted house. The friend is Sonny, an ex-con who runs a farm for troubled boys. Unbeknownst to Sam, Dean spent two months here when he was 16.

As the story goes, Sam was left with Bobby for those two months while Dean and their dad were on a “job.” In reality, Dean lost the food money in a card game and was caught trying to steal peanut butter and bread. Dad was happy to teach Dean a lesson by leaving him in jail, but the local police didn’t want a young boy to sit in lockup over the weekend while waiting for arraignment, so he takes him to Sonny. After 15 years in jail, Sonny bought this farm and takes in “troubled boys” who do chores and learn responsibility rather than just going to jail.

Sam is haunted by the idea of Dean being “locked away” for a couple months, though Dean blows it off as no big deal. Sonny called because one of his employees, Jack, was gored on a tractor that roared to life on its own. Sonny’s wife (?) Ruth, a devout woman whom the boys at the far describe as a hard-ass, tells Sam that the farm is haunted. Before Sonny bought the place, it was owned by a man named Howard and his wife Doreen. Jack was working for them at the time, and Howard was sure he and Doreen were having an affair. Howard got drunk and tried to kill them. He killed Doreen, but Jack got away, and Howard always swore revenge on Jack. He died in prison last year, and it seems to be around the time that the strange noises, flickering lights, and sudden chills began.

Dean and Sam go to the graveyard and burn up Howard’s corpses. Thinking that is the end of it, they head out of town, stopping first by a local diner. Dean remembers the waitress, Robin; she does not remember him, which hurts him. He drags Sam out of there but before they can hit the road, Sonny calls back. This time, Ruth is dead, smothered by the shower curtain while taking a bath. Sonny tried to get in to save her when he heard her screams, but the door was locked. There are no locks on the farm. 

The Winchesters return to the farm. Sam goes through some of the home’s paperwork while Dean interrogates the three boys currently living there. The two older boys are constantly picking on Timmy, the young, meek boy who appeared as if out of nowhere. He was found in an abandoned building, and all attempts to locate his parents or other family yielded nothing. He was sent to Sonny’s because he kept running away from the orphanage. Dean scares the older boys away from Timmy and rescues his action hero from their clutches. The boys go on with their chores while Timmy watches from inside. The lawnmower jams and one of the boys reaches in to fix it when the switch flips on and the blades rip to life. 

So clearly, Timmy is the problem. But this isn’t the “think happy thoughts” kid from The Twilight Zone. Sam finds childish scrawling on a wall that leads to the answers. He knows that the ghost is Timmy’s mom. The two were in a car accident in the woods. Everything was on fire, and Tommy’s mom saved him by pushing him out of the car. Mom didn’t make it out and the car blew up with her inside it. Timmy ran to a building to hide, and he cried for his mother there, begging for her to return. So she did, but she is different (clearly) she is a hideous, ghoulish undead creature. Dean grabs Timmy’s action figure and melts it into a puddle on the stove, but that does nothing. Then Sam figures it out: Mom is anchored to Timmy.

Since they can’t burn Timmy, they have to make him send his mommy away. “You have to let her go so she can find peace,” insists Dean. So Timmy does. It takes a couple tries, but he breaks through. Mom’s zombie-decayed face crumbles off, leaving a pretty and vivacious young woman. She smiles a warm thank you, and disappears.

Other fun facts we learned about Dean’s past: Robin was Dean’s first kiss, and she does remember him - she was just hurt that he left suddenly. Dean excelled at Sonny’s home: good grades, responsible, and a champion wrestler. When his dad showed up to take him home, he contemplated staying - but saw Sammy in the front seat, playing with a toy, and knew he had to go for his little brother.

Dig It or Bury It?

It was a sad-sweet episode. Just another tortured chapter in the story of the Winchester boys. It was a really good episode - I am a sucker for “backstory” episodes.

Prophecies?

Someone is killing virgins, so Sam and Dean sign up to be born-again virgins. 

When it comes to fun throwback-style horror flicks, they don't get much better than Cabin Fever, made by Eli Roth in 2002.  Ti West followed up Roth's film with the sequel Spring Fever in 2009, a hot mess that resulted from producers hijacking West's vision and cutting together their own version of the movie he intended to make - West has since disowned the movie completely, and even tried to get his name taken off of it.

Next year, the fever returns in Cabin Fever: Patient Zero, the first of two prequels that delves into the origin story of the virus that left Jordan Ladd without a face and that dude from Boy Meets World covered in blood.  In Patient Zero, a group of friends travel to a distant Caribbean island for some fun in the sun, a vacation that quickly turns into a nightmare when a horrific infection shows up and tags along.

Check out the international trailer for Cabin Fever: Patient Zero below, and make sure to hit the little 'CC' button on the video's toolbar and set the subtitles to a language you can understand.

And yes, that is Sean Astin.

Patient Zero is set to go straight-to-DVD sometime next year, with Cabin Fever: Outbreak to follow in 2015.

There are two different types of jewelry; the pieces that you wear to make yourself feel good and the ones you wear to make a statement to others.  While the former types are typically elegant but bland, the latter are anything but.  They're unique, bold, and most importantly, attention-grabbing.  I don't think you need me to tell you which category this bracelet belongs in.

The 'Out For Blood Bracelet' is fashioned from solid brass and coated with thick glossy enamel, a morbid piece of jewelry that's sure to make people do a double take, and ask you if you're okay.  I'm fine, you'll tell them, as blood drips from your wrist and flows down your hand.  Because you're cool like that.

Approximately $32 from That's Pretty - matching necklace and ring also available!

After providing cover illustrations for the Night of the Living Dead comic and graphic novel series from Avatar Press, artist Matt Busch found himself bitten by the zombie bug, beginning a project that saw him zombifying iconic Hollywood movie posters, from Star Wars to E.T., Harry Potter to Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Rather than simply Photoshopping effects over the images, Busch actually recreates each poster by hand, and then adds in the zombie effects.  For the past several years, he has been displaying his handiwork on the Hollywood is Dead website, and now the Hollywood zombies are looking to shamble their way onto your coffee table!

A Kickstarter fund to turn Hollywood is Dead into a coffee table book has far surpassed its $13,000 goal, with a week still left for donations.  What does that mean?  It means that all of Busch's zombified movie posters will be compiled together into a beautiful hardcover book, a 200-page affair that will be packed with both posters that are available for viewing on his website as well as brand new ones that have never before been seen.

Learn more and see Busch's work over on the Hollywood is Dead website.  And keep your eyes peeled for the book, which is on its way into our lives!

Hailing from Denmark, John Kenn Mortensen is a writer and producer of children's television programs.  In his spare time, Mortensen lets his macabre side shine, with a series of hand drawn pieces of art that fuse together the childlike whimsy of his day job and the nightmarish imagery of the horror films I'm willing to bet he is a fan of.  Oh, and did I mention that each piece of his art is drawn on the tiny yellow canvas of a Post-It note, with a pen as his brush?  He calls them his Sticky Monsters, and boy do they live up to that name!

Check out a few of my favorites below and then be sure to head over to John's Facebook page, Tumblr and blog, where you can see a whole lot more of his work.  Next year, the Post-It terrors will be compiled together in the hardcover book Sticky Monsters, which is set for release on May 1st.