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Polish Chapel is Filled with Thousands of Human Bones

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Skull chapel

On the outside, Poland's Kaplica Czaszek chapel is totally unassuming, and it's likely that you'd pass it by without doing any sort of double take. But Kaplica Czaszek translates to Skull Chapel, a fitting name for the macabre sights that await inside...

Poland Skull Chapel

Skull Chapel was built between 1776 and 1804 by local parish priest Wacław Tomaszek, intending for it to be a mass grave for those who lost their lives in battle. After collecting the bones of casualties from the Thirty Years War and the three Silesian Wars, along with those who died from things like cholera and hunger, Tomaszek and his partners literally used them to build the inner walls and structures of the macabre chapel, which is filled out with three thousand skulls, and the bones of 21,000 others. Yes. 21,000.

When Tomaszek passed away in 1804, his own skull was placed on an altar inside the chapel, forever becoming a part of his macabre creation. Not surprisingly, it's the only chapel of its kind in Poland, though there are others like it throughout Europe.

Check out more pictures of the inside of Skull Chapel below, which come our way courtesy of Lost at E Minor!

Skull Chapel Poland

Skull Chapel Poland

Skull Chapel Poland

Skull Chapel Poland

Over in Korea, a plastic surgeon was recently fined for building towers of real human jawbones. Click the link to check out his disturbing creations!


TV Recap: 'Teen Wolf' Episode 323 - 'Insatiable'

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Teen Wolf Episode 323
“Insatiable”
Written By: Jeff Davis
Directed By: Tim Andrew
Original Airdate: 17 March 2014

In This Episode…

Deaton forcefully removes the demon flies from Isaac and the twins, while Scott heads up the “is it Stiles or is it not?” brigade. Noshiko is there with her oni footmen. They inspect Stiles, then disappear. This Stiles is more Stiles than nogitsune. So now the search begins for nogitsune-Stiles, and Lydia.

The sheriff is relieved to see Stiles and Scott come to the station, but that relief is short-lived, because there is still an evil clone out there. Stiles makes a link in his brain. He remembers Meredith from Echo House and thinks she is the key to finding Lydia. Though no one draws the conclusion that Meredith is also a banshee, it seems fairly obvious from the start. Anyway, the sheriff goes to Echo House and finds out that Meredith had been put in what amounts to solitary confinement because she wouldn’t stop screaming. When they get down there, they find the orderly knocked out with sedatives and Meredith gone. So now there are two banshees they need to find.

Allison and Isaac find Lydia’s car and search it for clues. She remembers their breathe-on-the-glass-to-reveal-a-message trick and finds one from Lydia: “Don’t find me.” Meanwhile, Danny of all people finds Meredith, albeit unintentionally. In Coach’s class, Danny realizes they have an uninvited visitor: Meredith. The orderlies are on their way, but Kira begs Coach not to let them take her. Luckily Meredith is a wily one, so when the orderlies arrive, she has escaped from Coach’s office, and made her way into the music room. Her head is in the piano, flicking the strings and desperately trying to listen to what “they” have to say. She can hear them but she can’t understand them. The head orderly, a creepy sonofabitch, finds her and threatens her with a taser. She begs for a few more minutes, but the orderly is not feeling lenient. Coach saves the day, coming and tasing the orderly while Scott and Stiles get Meredith out of the school. Coach has history with the orderly, who teased him mercilessly. Coach is only too happy to return the “favor.” So Scott and Stiles put Meredith in the back of his Jeep and ask where Lydia is. “Who’s Lydia?” Good job guys. They take her back to Scott’s house, and Stiles and Isaac take her upstairs while Scott’s dad needs to talk to him. (We’ll get to that in a minute.) It is around this point that Isaac figures out that Meredith is likely a banshee. When she asks if someone is going to answer the non-ringing phone, Stiles plays along and tells her the phone call is for her. Meredith takes the call and says something in French. Scott, now there, recognizes it (from the story that Noshiko told about her time in the internment camp) and knows where Lydia is. Oak Creek.

Nogitsune-Stiles has Lydia at Oak Creek, but he is tormenting her, not actually hurting her. He wants to “feed on what she feels.” She promises that they are coming to save her, to kill him, and that is what nogitsune-Stiles is counting on. He is keeping her close so he will know when “they” are close.

Isaac, Scott and Stiles arrive. Stiles is not in good shape - clearly, he is dying. He and Scott head into the building to find Lydia. Kira is there to confront her mom, who is there with the oni. Previously, Noshiko had been teaching Kira how to play Go, insisting that if Stiles was playing it with the nogitsune, it was important for her to understand. So she played as Stiles, and mom played as the nogitsune. But her dad recognized the “nogitsune’s” style as her mothers. “Are you sure who you were playing against?” So Kira confronts her mom about that, but we don’t get anything more because fighting breaks out.

Allison arrives from important daddy-daughter time. He wants her to “graduate” and make her own silver bullets with the Argent symbol. Allison is touched, but she wants to use her own molds. A crossbow is her weapon of choice, so an arrowhead is what she once to mold. Daddy is so proud. So Allison arrives with her super-special new silver arrows. And the fighting begins.

The oni bail out early and magically appear in the small cell he is holding Lydia in. They must be very close for this to work: he snaps the kitsune tail he stole from Noshiko, and he and the oni disappear. Outside, the fly in Noshiko’s hand turns to ash and Isaac asks what that means. Nogitsue-Stiles appears, backed up by the oni. “It means there has been a change in leadership.” The oni are on nogitsune-Stiles’ side now. The fighting goes crazy, with all attention turned toward the oni.

Scott and Stiles find Lydia and let her out. She is furious that they are there - “didn’t you get my message?” - and demands to know who else is with them. Scott rushes back out to join the fight, but Stiles is in bad shape and stumbles. Lydia stays back to help him.

Outside, the battle is nuts. Noshiko just stands back and watch, insisting that there is no way to stop the nogitsune without killing it. Kira just thinks mom is avoiding the inevitable; if there is a way, it means that Noshiko could have stopped the nogitsune and saved Reese. Allison land a true shot with her silver arrow, and the oni explodes in a flash of green light. This shocks everyone, but none more than the nogitsune. But Allison turns around - and is impaled through on an oni’s blade. The nogitsune slinks off with his remaining oni. Lydia screams for her best friend. And Scott cradles her in his arms, with Allison comforting him as much as he comforts her. “It’s ok. It’s perfect. I am in the arms of my first love, the person I will always love. I love you.” And with that… she is dead. For real. Dead.

A few other things happened this episode that I should mention. McCall finally tells Scott that, the night before he left, he and Melissa were having a fight, and young Scott came out of his room. McCall grabbed him, and he slipped and tumbled down the stairs. He was out for about 20 seconds, and had no memories of what happened. McCall left the next day, and hasn’t had a drink since. Scott is unimpressed and unmoved by his tale. I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it were. That can’t be the whole story.

Also, the twins are trying to track Lydia when someone opens fire on them. The rounds are stuffed full of wolfsbane, so the twins have been poisoned. Derek finds them and hides them in the coyote den while he… I don’t know, goes for help? What purpose does Derek serve anymore? 

Dig It or Bury It?

Daaaaaammmn. So tonight, in the span of four hours, I watched Bates Motel, The Following, and Teen Wolf. Add that to last night’s viewing of The Walking Dead and I am fucking tapped. This has been the most exhausting week of television - and it is only Monday! I almost feel like, by the time I got to Teen Wolf, I had nothing left. I couldn’t even work up any emotion for Allison’s death. And why Allison? Why not one of the twins? We have a spare. Or Derek? He has been essentially useless this season.

But aside from that… what was up with the twins getting attacked in the forest? That came out of nowhere, had nothing to do with our nogitsune problem, and seemed pointless. But you know what? I bet Kate isn’t really dead - and that was her trying to kill the twins. Allison was haunted by visions of Kate at the beginning of this season (or the back half of this season, whatever), and she is hosting the after show. Plus, now the show is down to zero Argent women.  

And I am waiting for them to reveal that deputy Parrish is someone evil. Because we spent like a full two minutes on him this week, learning that he transferred here, blah blah blah. There has to be a reason behind it. Plus, he looks kinda creepy in that clean-cut way.

Prophecies?

The season finale. Allison is dead. Can Stiles be saved?

An Exclusive Interview with 'Patrick' Star Sharni Vinson

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Sharni Vinson garnered profound praise from fans and critics alike for her turn in Adam Wingard's You’re Next, and this year the actress has returned to the horror genre in the new remake of the 1978 Australian thriller Patrick. In the new version, Vinson plays a nurse who shares a profound connection with the titular character, a comatose patient with telekinetic powers. We recently had the pleasure of connecting with Ms. Vinson, who told us why she loves performing her own stunts, describes becoming an icon for female empowerment, and hints at her role in an upcoming all-female Expendables-style film.
 
Patrick2
 
FEARNET: You’re becoming known as a very versatile actor who can perform a lot of her own stunts. Which of your stunts did you perform in Patrick? 
 
VINSON: Patrick was probably the movie that I have done the most stunts in. We had these incredible rigs that I would get thrown backwards by, or thrown against the wall with. I got to go flying through the air. It was so much fun, I can’t even tell you! We ended up always getting it right in the first take, and that was really upsetting because I wanted to do it again and again and again. Luckily, throughout the film I was able to do a few things like that. So that was a super lot of fun. I always enjoy working with the stunt department because those boys are crazy, and high on life. I just appreciate their adrenaline, enthusiasm, and fearlessness. I always want to get in there and do all of my own stunts. When it came to Patrick, there was one instance where they brought in a stunt double to roll down the stairs because they didn’t want me getting my neck crunched on the concrete. I did the first part of the stunt where I fall back and roll down a couple of steps, and then I did the crash landing at the end. Other than that, I did all of it myself and it was a pleasure to do. I’m glad they trusted me to do all of that. 
 
How does it feel to be well on your way to becoming a cinematic icon for female empowerment?
 
Oh, my goodness. If you tell me that's what I'm on the way to doing, then I'm very flattered and I would be incredibly honored if that was the end result of all of this and I was able to continue to project myself as that and to be a role model. I come from Australia. My family has been so supportive of all of my choices and of anything that I have wanted to do. It’s so up and down in this business, and they have been so supportive. My family has been what has given me a lot of my strength to do this. I would love to be able to let people know that whatever they can dream, they can achieve. Thank you for saying that, and I really hope that I could continue to project that message. 
 
Your costar is in a coma for the majority of the film. Did you feel like that put extra pressure on you to carry the picture?
 
Yeah, it was definitely an element that I was unfamiliar with. I don’t think I’ve worked opposite an actor that had no dialogue. It was more or less comprised of response and answers to yourself, which was really, really interesting. I feel like I’m somebody that works very much off the natural elements within the environment, be it props or other actors. For this, it was really different, because there wasn’t really anything to respond to. It was more internal monologue and dialogue going on. That was one of the big challenges for this movie. And I enjoyed it, because I hadn’t been put in that position before. Then when I did finally get to converse with actors, they just happened to be Charles Dance and Rachel Griffiths, whom I look up to. I was given a bit of the best of both worlds in this one. 
 
Patrick communicates with you telekinetically using a computer. Were you at all distracted by his gross lack of concern for punctuation when he was typing?
 
[Laughs] I don’t know if in that moment when somebody is in a coma and they are communicating with you through a computer, that you would be thinking “Isn’t that crazy that he didn’t use a full stop or a period at the end of his sentence?” I can’t imagine that being the first thing that would jump to mind. So I wasn’t too concerned with the punctuation flaw in his character, but more so with the fact that he was able to do what he was doing.  
 
Patrick1
 
I’ve read that you grew up watching horror films. Had you seen the original Patrick before signing on to the remake? 
 
Yes, I had. I figured it was kind of important. If you redo a movie that was received very well in its time, you need to see the original. You don’t do a remake or sequel or whatever if it isn’t aiming to be bigger, better, or different from the first. Technology has advanced so much since the '70s, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to make a bigger and more extravagant adaptation of the original.  
 
How do you think fans of the original film will respond to this reimagining?
 
I can only say that I hope they react really well. I enjoyed the original film, and I can see why it did well in its time. Telekinesis isn’t really a subject that we even talk about now, let alone in the '70s, so that would have been ahead of its game back then and opened up a lot of people’s eyes. I know it was one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite films, so I would be curious to know what someone like him thinks of this particular remake. And if they haven’t seen it, it will be a great first experience. But I just think that we had the opportunity, with the advancement in technology, to take it further ahead than what the original could do. I think people will like it. It’s a very different film. The score is amazing and creepy. I don’t think there are too many movies out there quite like it. 
 
Speaking of the score... I love Pino Donaggio; he's one of my favorite composers. He did the score for one of my favorite films, Tourist Trap. I was excited to see his name in the credits.
 
He is incredible! It was such an honor to hang out with him at Sitges in Spain. I was a little naïve to just how incredible he actually is; it was lovely to have my eyes opened. I wasn’t even aware, and now I am so aware of him. It’s a real honor to have had him score the film. 
 
Are you still involved with the all-female Expendables film?
 
Yes! I am.
 
Were you cast in that movie based on your ass-kicking performance in You’re Next?
 
Yes, I suppose. [Laughs] A producer who had seen You’re Next and loved my role in the film approached me, so in that sense it was due to You’re Next. I think people are getting a little confused about the project; there are two different all-female Expendables-type films being made. But to be involved with the one that I am involved with is a great honor. It’s kind of like taking the You’re Next character even further into the ass-kicking world!
 
Patrick is now playing at select theaters, and is available On Demand.

 

Freakland Teams Up with 'First Jason' Ari Lehman for 'Friday the 13th' Bust!

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One of our favorite DIY Monster Makers, Spain's Freakland Shop, has joined forces with original Jason Voorhees portrayer Ari Lehman for a Limited Edition bust depicting the first ever screen appearance of the legendary Friday the 13th boogeyman.
 
Jason_Bust1
 
Measuring approximately 7 inches high, the hand-sculpted and hand-painted polyresin statuette depicts Jason at the moment he bursts from beneath the still waters of Crystal Lake – that unforgettable shock that helped kick-start one of horror's most enduring franchises.
 
Jason_Bust2
 
The bust comes complete with one of two collector's card options (buyer's choice), both signed by Lehman in silver marker.
 
Jason_Bust4
 
Get over to Freakland Shop pronto before they're gone... and don't forget to check out their equally cool bust depicting the gruesome “drill scene” from Lucio Fulci's The Gates of Hell, signed by actor John Morghen!

TV Recap: 'Face Off' Episode 610 - 'What a Dahl'

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Face Off Episode 610
“What a Dahl”
Original Airdate: 18 March 2014

In This Episode…

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Roald Dahl’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the contestants are each given a briefly described but never seen creature that lives in a jungle, preying on Oompa Loompas. Dahl’s daughter, Lucy Dahl, is the guest judge.

The Creations

Graham created a Snozzwanger with an elephant nose, monster mouth, and eyes that pop through the top of his hat. It carried Oompa skulls on his belt and snozzberries to use as bait.  Lucy said it was “almost freaky how you channeled my dad,” and thought he knocked it out of the park. Glenn said they made the right decision to save him the other week. Ve found it scary and bizarre, like a child’s nightmare.

Chloe had Vermicious Knid, and she had lots of problems along the way. She couldn’t finish her mold in time, so she had to run her cowl in poly foam, but that didn’t set up right, so she had to ditch the cowl all together. Her creature was supposed to resemble a venus flytrap, but it me it just looked like an angry, monstrous watermelon vagina. Neville felt bad, because he knew she was better than what they saw here, and knows the pain of having every step fail you. Glenn said that better highlights and shadows in the face sculpt could have helped, but it was all hidden behind moss.

Tyler made a Whangdoodle, which he imagined as an earthworm/cockroach creature that lives under the earth and springs up to eat Oompas. His creation is springy and bouncy and made me giggle. Glenn thought it was very successful, with a color that denotes evil, but a presence that acts playful. Neville thought it was just a very complete character. Lucy said that her dad would have loved this, and looks exactly like a monster from Oompa Land.

Niko made a Hornswoggler, and intended to make it look cute until an Oompa got close - then it would become a monster. He decided on a full body suit, which was a mistake - he bit off way more than he could chew and ended up doing nothing with the chest or torso, and the face sculpt was sloppy. Ve thought he wasted time on the the body for no reason, and really had a time management issue. Neville was disappointed that there was so little here with the chest. Glenn thought that the goofy, static gaze that the creature wore made it look like “the Oompa Loompas would have beaten him.” On top of that, the paint job looked like “Easter egg dying that went awry.”

The Verdict?

Tyler wins, and Chloe goes home.

Dig It or Bury It?

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this challenge. Initially, it sounded kind of meh. I never read Roald Dahl’s books as a kid, so I didn’t have any exposure outside of Willy Wonka. But the creations were fun and silly (well, the good ones were). When Tyler’s springy creation was up, I actually giggled out loud. I found that there was a smile on my face after Daran’s (which was one of my favorites) and Graham’s creations took the stage.

Prophecies?

Freakshow!

Stay Away From These 7 Countries, Where You're Most Likely to Get Kidnapped

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Kidnapped

While most websites compile lists of the top places for you to go on vacation, the good people over on Thrillist just whipped up a list that's quite the opposite, and which caught our interest here on FEARNET. We all know that places like Hawaii and Paris make for excellent vacation spots, but what about the places that we oughta stay away from? What are the most downright dangerous countries in the world? Now that's a list we should all be made aware of.

Mexico kicks off the site's list with a reported 1,583 kidnappings last year alone - they note, however, that as many as 99% of kidnappings go unreported. KIdnappings are most common in the border cities of Mexico, and though the drug cartels typically leave tourists alone, you've gotta keep a close eye on random street thugs and rogue cab drivers, who may be after what's in your bank account.

Other kidnap-heavy locals include India, Venezuela and Brazil, which all share the statistic of having thousands of reported kidnappings in 2012. Venezuela may be the most dangerous tourist destination of all, boasting one of the highest murder rates in the world, with many residents using ransom-based kidnapping as their primary source of income. Over in Haiti, a recent US travel advisory warned that "No one is safe from kidnapping," as the country is home to several widespread kidnapping rings.

To see the full list of places you should stay away from, be sure to head over to Thrillist.

On a related note, check out our list of five horrifying horror movie abductions!

This Cozy Swiss Cottage is Perched Over a 13,000 Foot Drop

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Perched on the upper northeast ridge of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps, a tiny cottage known as the “Solvay Hut” has provided a refuge for climbers since it was built in 1915.
 
Solvay1
Photo: Orion666/Wikimedia Commons
 
As cozy and welcoming as that sounds, we should also point out that the path leading to the hut lies about 13,000 feet up the mountainside. Here's a better perspective:
 
Solvay2
 
Established by Belgian mountaineer Ernest Solvay (who donated it after several deaths occurred on the mountain), the hut serves as an emergency rescue station, providing climbers with food, communication equipment and shelter from the elements. The view is also spectacular, as you can see below... but it seems like getting there takes nerves of steel.
 
Solvay3
 
If this sounds like your ideal vacation getaway, then you might also like to visit this tea house in China, which can only be reached by an incredibly narrow and dangerous mountain trail.

'Thief: Director's Cut' Game Soundtrack Review

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Acclaimed composer Luc St-Pierre, whose impressive body of work spans a wide range of styles and genres (and includes the Academy Award-nominated documentary Prisoner of Paradise), took a more experimental path for his score to Thief: Directors Cut, the revival of the historical action-stealth game franchise from Eidos Montreal and Square Enix which hit stores late last month. Sumthing Else Music Works recently released St-Pierre's haunting, experimental music for Thief, and I was immediately blown away by the haunting, often frightening strains of this rich symphonic/electronic hybrid.
 
Thief_OST
 
Working with the Filmharmonic Orchestra Prague (whose mile-long credits include Nathan Barr's score for Hostel, and one of my all-time favorite metal albums, The Great Mass by Septicflesh), along with several session artists playing exotic world instruments and his own synth and electro-acoustic manipulations, St-Pierre has woven a moody dark ambient tapestry that not only compliments the adventures and multi-layered mysteries of the game's Robin Hood-style antihero Garrett, but is equally impressive as a stand-alone work full of dense, complex textures, abstract drones, exotic colors and some seriously creepy sound effects.
 
Thief_Orchestra
Luc St-Pierre and Filmharmonic Orchestra Prague
 
While there are plenty of impressive action cues to be found here, the abstract shaping of sounds and the integration of regional instruments left the strongest impression on me, and would create just as impressive an atmosphere for an intense horror film as for the sly exploits of the game's master thief. Buzzing and ringing synth tones add extra jolt to orchestral cues like "Entering the City," while they take center stage for pulsing ambient tracks like "Meeting The Baron" and "House of Blossoms," which sports a warm but very threatening bass line.
 
 
Deep, dark and lurching suspense cues like "The Accident" and "Thief Taker General's Face-off" are filled with lurching ostinatos reminiscent of Daft Punk's amazing score for Tron: Legacy, also expanding the story's broad historic canvas; the rhythm guitar-driven "Uprising" provides a surprising jolt of coarse, pulse-pounding action, and the slow swells of strings blend seamlessly with bass synths and industrial noise in the disturbing "Absolution" and “Meeting Orion.”
 
 
I was quite surprised (but delighted) at the level of experimentation St-Pierre brings to the Thief score – a quality which brought me back for a repeat listen to discover new layers of intense and disturbingly beautiful sounds. This release joins Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 as one of my favorite game soundtracks of 2014, and fans of gothic, dark ambient and neo-classical music (not to mention horror and suspense scores) will enjoy wrapping themselves in its folds of sonic darkness.
 
You can pick up a digital download of the Thief soundtrack directly from Something Else Music Works, as well as from iTunes, Amazon and other digital vendors.

Exclusive Interview: Crispin Glover Still Doing 'Fine,' Loves Playing Creepy in 'Bag Man'

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Though he's a actor of many genres, veteran performer Crispin Glover doesn't like to be defined by any single one of them. 
 
He's known worldwide, of course, for playing George McFly in Back to the Future, the villainous Thin Man in Charlie's Angels and more recently the Knave of Hearts in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. But whenever he has the opportunity, Glover, who turns 50 next month, marches to the beat of his own drummer.
 
In fact, the film that Glover has declared as his greatest piece of work is a film that probably most people will never get a chance to see because it was shot independently and has never been distributed on video. Co-directed by Glover and David Brothers, the 2007 psychological horror thriller It is Fine! Everything is Fine. has to date only been seen at its Sundance Film Festival premiere, and after that, at Glover's touring shows that consist of his films, slideshows and book signings.
 
It_Is_Fine
Glover's "It is Fine! Everything is Fine." (photo: Volcanic Productions)
 
It is Fine is the second of Glover's It film trilogy. The film was written and told through the point of view of Steven C. Stewart, a wheelchair-bound man severely afflicted in real life by cerebral palsy. Stewart, who plays a version of himself in the guise of a man named Paul Baker, died a month after filming was complete in 2001. 
 
So what exactly is It is Fine? Glover's website describes the film as a “psycho-sexual tale about a man with severe cerebral palsy and a fetish for girls with long hair. Part horror film, part exploitation picture, and part documentary of a man who cannot express his sexuality in the way he desires (due to his physical condition), this fantastical and often humorous tale is told completely from Stewart’s actual point of view – that of someone who has lived for years watching people do things he will never be able to do."
 
Taking time out from the recent tour – where the actor-director brought his touring production to such venues as the Music Box Theater in Chicago and the Alamo Drafthouse in Yonkers, N.Y. – Glover told me by phone that he's most passionate about It is Fine because it tells a story about a person with a disability no film has done before.
 
"The film is a human study. Steve had been locked into a nursing home in his early 20s when his mother died," Glover said. "It was difficult to understand what he was saying, and the people who were taking care of him would derisively call him a 'M.R.' or 'mental retard.' It's not a nice thing to say to anybody, but Steve was of normal intelligence and the emotional turmoil he went through in the decade he was in that nursing home is something I can't even begin to imagine."
 
But instead of channeling his experiences into an uplifting tale, Stewart went with the opposite, Glover said, and the result became It is Fine.
 
"He wrote this screenplay in the style of a 1970s TV 'Murder Mystery Movie of the Week,' but where he's the bad guy. This is what was really important to Steve," Glover said. "If you think about it, when there's a corporately funded and distributed film, if there's a character with a disability in it, that character will be a benefactor to society. There's nothing wrong with that, since there are plenty of people with disabilities who are benefactors to society, but Steve was very keen that he could play person with a disability – emphasis on person– could have dark thoughts."
 
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Glover in "The Bag Man" (photo: Cinedigm)
 
Dark is probably the best way to describe Glover's character, Ned, in The Bag Man, which was released simultaneously in theaters and On Demand earlier this month. The gritty crime thriller tells the story of a low-rent thug (John Cusack) instructed by a crime boss (Robert De Niro) to pick up and deliver a  mysterious satchel. But if he looks inside it, the bag man will lose all the money that's promised to him for doing the job – and possibly his life.
 
Glover plays Ned, a sleazy motel manager with a creep factor of 10.
 
"The  character has twists – he's a shape-shifter, that's for sure. It's a fun archetype to play," Glover says. "The role has ambiguity in the lines. As soon as I started reading them. You can interpret those lines in a lot of different ways."
 
You can track Glover's future in-person appearances – known as Crispin Hellion Glover's Big Slideshow – on his website CrispinGlover.com.

Tim Lammers is the author of the new ebook Direct Conversations: The Animated Films of Tim Burton, which includes a foreword by Burton.
 

Book Review: 'City of Devils' by Justin Robinson

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Last year I praised Justin Robinson's Everyman for being completely fresh, original and, well, damn good. Unbeknownst to me, Robinson had released another novel just before Everyman, and I'm happy to say that, while City of Devils is completely different, my assessment is going to be more of the same: it's fresh, original, and damn good.
 
City_DevilsCity of Devils is a detective novel with all the usual trappings: a stunning blonde seeking help from a rumpled private investigator; a seemingly simple case that becomes bigger with every lead; and a journey that takes our hero to the seedy underside of a big city, uncovering corruption involving the biggest players at the highest levels. The difference is this detective novel is set in an alternate reality where classic movie monsters like vampires, phantoms, gill men and gremlins share an uneasy peace with humans. 
 
Now, it would have been easy for Robinson to drop a few of these monsters in as substitutes for humans in his detective story and call it a day. But what Robinson has done is build a fascinating, fully realized world that we really only get a peek at here. Robinson is very shrewd in choosing what elements he reveals fully and what elements he only hints at. We do get a complete understanding of the new rules of this world, one in which humans lost something called the "Night War" to the monsters. We know, for example, that humans are a protected species by law during the day, but are fair game at night. We know that humans need permits to carry things like silver, crosses and wolfsbane. But we don't learn much about how these monsters came into existence, and how the balance of power has tipped so far in their favor. 
 
Robinson wisely chooses not to bog down the story with too much backstory. We get everything we need to follow along, which is just enough to want to know the rest.
 
Robinson builds the novel around the very human Nick Moss, the quintessential world-weary P.I. who scrapes out a living on his wits and little else. Moss is approached by shape-shifting movie star Imogen Verity for help in finding her husband, a city councilman-slash-mummy known as Juba II. The few leads Moss can scrounge up lead him on a wild path that crosses with, among other things, the local sheriff (a werewolf); a famous film director (a robot); a studio head and unofficial mayor (a crawling eye); a witch; a brothel that sells something other than sex, and a whole lot more. 
 
Robinson imbues the book with a snarky sense of humor, some of which falls flat, but none of which diffuses the tension that builds in each chapter. He does a great job of moving the action at a quick pace, and there's a long chase scene about mid-way through involving Moss and a pack of sheriff's deputies that's as inventive as it is exhausting.
 
I was expecting a fair amount of cheese when I started the book, but what I got was so much better. Robinson treats both the detective and horror genres with much respect in City of Devils, resulting in a book that is smart, fun, and energetic. It's also a book that's aching for a sequel (or a bunch of them), and given that Robinson wrote a short story featuring Moss and published it on his publisher's website last Christmas, I'm hoping he thinks so, too.
 
City of Devils by Justin Robinson is available from Candlemark and Gleam.

Blu Gilliand is a freelance writer of fiction and nonfiction. He covers horror fiction at his blog, October Country, and contributes interviews to the Horror World website. Follow him on Twitter at @BluGilliand

 

Google Street View Hack Turns Your Neighborhood into Post-Apocalyptic Wasteland

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Urban Jungle Street View

Google's Maps application is one of the most incredible services on the internet, allowing you to virtually visit any location in the world, thanks to the power of high-resolution satellite images. So advanced is the technology that you can even see your neighborhood, or any other, from a 'Street View' rather than merely an aerial one, providing you with full panoramic views of the entire world.

Monroeville Mall

As we spotted over on UK's Daily Mail, brilliant Swedish developer Einar Oberg has figured out a way to hack the Google Maps software, and his 'Urban Street View' modification allows you to not just visit any location in the world, but also see what it would look like if the world went to shit. Just like Google Maps, you simply type an address into the search bar and you're magically transported to your desired location, with has been automatically converted to a desolate wasteland - overrun not by zombies, but by overgrown and untamed plant life.

1428 Elm Street

Head over to Urban Jungle Street View to play around with the fun service, and be sure to let us know what you think.

Check out artist Lori Nix's miniature dioramas, which also depict the world after the impending apocalypse!

TV Recap: 'Supernatural' Episode 916 - 'Blade Runners'

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Supernatural Episode 916
“Blade Runners”
Written By: Brad Buckner & Eugenie Ross-Leming
Directed By: Serge Ladouceur
Original Airdate: 18 March 2014

In This Episode…

Dean has been trying to get Crowley on the phone for weeks, with no luck, and he is getting damned frustrated. Crowley has been living the rockstar life, holed up in the suite of a fancy hotel with a sexy young minion named Lola, who responds to his every whim (which, it turns out, is mostly sex, pizza and human blood). Maybe it is more accurate to say that Crowley is living the rockstar junkie life - he is a blood addict, shooting it up like heroin. (Exactly like heroin - The Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” plays in the background.) Anyway, his “donor” is almost empty so he sends Lola out for more. Instead, she stops to pass off intel to Abaddon. She knows nothing except the Winchesters keep leaving voice mails for Crowley about “the first blade.” When she returns to Crowley with bags of blood, he is watching an old movie on TV - and crying. But Crowley is annoyed with her - he knows she was reporting to Abaddon behind his back. He claims he could have helped her, but she laughs at him (he has gotten pretty pathetic) so he kills her. He shoots up the blood she brought him, then sees the bodies around him, catches sight of his pathetic visage in the mirror, and is on the verge of tears. He needs help.

The Winchesters, desperate for information, paint a demon trap in the middle of nowhere and call for one. Snookie shows up. (So I guess the mystical “Snookie” promos aired ahead of the wrong episode.) Apparently she is a demon, and she is going by Nicole now. Maybe this would have been more amusing had I more knowledge or interest in The Jersey Shore. As I imagine is always the case with Snookie, she has no information to offer on Crowley. Last she heard, he was over the Pacific Ocean, but hell is getting crazy and even the loyalists are ready to side with Abaddon. Sam banishes her back to hell (or wherever aging reality stars go to die) and they return to the bunker. Sam thinks Crowley may have double-crossed them, even though the blade is useless without Dean’s mark. Crowley is only of use to them until they have the blade. Crowley finally calls - and he is calling for help.

Sam and Dean find Crowley living in the ruins of his addiction. They cuff him to a chair and Crowley gets belligerent - “Is this an intervention?” Damn straight it is, and they are going to make Crowley kick the blood habit cold turkey. He is returned to his warded “closet” in the bunker, and Sam interrogates him. He has no sympathy, even though Crowley is right that being force-fed Sam’s blood means that at least half the blame falls on the Winchesters. Anyway, Crowley admits that he doesn’t know whether or not he told Lola anything about the first blade. He tracked it to the Marianas Trench, where it was scooped up by a submarine and changed hands a half-dozen times before he lost track of it.

The guys arrange a meet with an antiquities dealer who was the last person to have the blade. Sam and Dean question him as FBI but get nowhere, so Crowley, a few yards away, turns to smoke, possesses the guy’s body for a minute, then returns to his own. The blade is at the National Institute of Antiquities.

Abaddon’s demons beat them to it. They enter the Institute as black smoke, possess the guards, and open up the vault. A research assistant walks in, the very definition of “wrong place, wrong time” and all three end up dead. When Dean and Sam show up to investigate, the curator admits that the vault has been empty for weeks. They did have the first blade, and while carbon dating placed it to biblical times, the authentication process was unreliable, so she - discretely - sold it to a private buyer who insisted on anonymity. Luckily the curator is a cougar with an eye on Dean, so she gives up the only thing she knows about him: his name is Magnus.

The boys recognize the name Albert Magnus as the pseudonym the Men of Letters would use, so it is back to the bunker for them. Crowley agrees to help if he is allowed up in the living quarters and given scotch. He tells them that there was a rumor that a “rogue member” was tossed out, so his name would not appear on the last roster of active members. Dean finds a box labeled in Latin, translated to mean “dishonored and forgotten.” Bingo. Inside they find a file for Cuthbert Sinclair, “master of spells.” He designed most of the warding that keeps the bunker safe, but he got crazier and more eccentric, with his proposed projects being summarily rejected. He was kicked out in 1956, just before the Men of Letters massacre of 1957. Crowley admits that he did his damnedest to find this guy, to no avail.

Crowley leads the boys to an empty field in the middle of nowhere, the last place his men were able to track Sinclair / Magnus. Even now, if he is here, he is warded out the ass - Crowley can’t feel him there. The Winchesters figure they are probably being watched, so they announce their pedigree and wait. A smoky portal of fire appears, and the boys step in…

…and out into the hallway of a well-appointed mansion, where they are attacked by a pair of vampires. They wipe them out easily, and a voice tells them “Bravo.” The boys continue into the mansion and find Cuthbert Sinclair, now going under the name Magnus. Magnus hasn’t aged a day - “there is a spell for damn near everything.” He also brags that they are in the midst of the great collection os supernatural oddities, antiques, and ephemera in the world - including a zoo full of supernatural monsters. He is surprised that the boys are actually hunters, not official, indoctrinated Men of Letters - apparently the Men were snobs and would laugh at mere hunters continuing their work. Magnus has a chip on his shoulder - he wanted to rid the world of monsters, but the Men insisted they were just there to “study” and not interrupt the balance. 

Once Dean shows off his mark of Cain - and Magnus is suitably impressed - he reveals he does have the first blade. Then he puffs Sam out of the room with a spell, explaining that he has separated the ordinary from the extraordinary. Living alone for nearly 60 years has clearly driven Magnus crazy (not that it was a long trip) and tells Dean that he wants him to be part of his permanent collection. Dean is ready to fight his way out, but there are no doors or windows in this mansion. The only way in or out is via spell. He wants Dean to “fire up” the blade and puts it in his hand. The mark glows and Dean is filled with trembling power - then drops it. Apparently handling the blade is one of those things that comes with practice. He casts a spell on Dean that, over time, will weaken him to the point where he will do anything Magnus tells him to do - including turning over the mark. (You’d think that with all the magic in his hands, Magnus could speed up the process a bit.)

Sam has been dropped back at the car with Crowley, and starts going through the file box he brought with them, looking for clues on how to get into the mansion. He finds the spell - Sinclair / Magnus wanted to ward the bunker with this same spell. He sends Crowley off to procure the ingredients for this spell, then casts it. A smoky vortex appears, and both Sam and Crowley are able to step through. 

Inside the mansion, Sam pounces on Magnus and demands to be taken to his brother. He is, but it is quickly revealed that the person he has his knife to is a shapeshifter. Sam kills him, but Magnus is one step ahead, and soon has Sam tied up across the room from Dean. Magnus promises to torture Sam (rather than just kill him outright) but Magnus doesn’t realize that Crowley got into the mansion, too. He unties Dean, and by the time Magnus notices this, Dean has already gotten the first blade and beheads him in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, he seems to be hypnotized by the blade, and it takes much yelling and pleading from Sam for him to drop it.

Free from the mansion, the guys head back to the car - to discover it has been raided by demons. Dean is beside himself when he sees that they keyed his “baby.” The message is in Enochian, and meant for Crowley: “Be afraid. Your queen.” Sam points out that Crowley was only useful until they had the blade. Well, they have the blade. Crowley doesn’t take to kindly to this backstabbing and takes the blade. Now that Dean is a “killing machine,” Crowley will hold onto it until they can find Abaddon. Sure, the blade is useless without the mark, so it has no power in Crowley’s hands - but this way he can keep the power out of Winchester hands.

Dig It or Bury It?

Did anyone else get a Cabin in the Woods vibe off this episode? The mysterious, hidden “cabin” (well, mansion) and the supernatural zoo? The moment Magnus mentioned the words “supernatural zoo,” that is immediately where my mind went. I wanted to see this zoo, but at the same time, I’m glad they didn’t show it because then I would just be comparing it in coolness to Cabin in the Woods.

As much as he doesn’t want to admit it, I think Dean has a soft spot for Crowley. They have worked together an awful lot this season, and frankly, King of Hell or not, Crowley seems to be a very good guy to have as a frenemy. 

Spooky Humor

The show really brought the humor this week. I like that Crowley drunk-dialed Dean. But my favorite was that, when Dean calls Crowley, the caller ID says “Not Moose.” 

Prophecies?

Family secrets are revealed as Sam and Dean’s feud reaches the boiling point.

Decades After Chernobyl Disaster, Effects Still Being Felt

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Chernobyl

It was on April 26th of 1986 that a reactor at Ukraine's Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded, killing 31 people and costing 18 billion Russian rubles. Dangerous levels of radiation were released into the atmosphere, and though the disaster was largely contained, the aftermath of the meltdown is still being felt, with both humans and the area at large being affected to this very day.

As reported by Smithsonian, the environment surrounding the deactivated power plant is still extremely dangerous and unfit for living, with trees going slower than normal, birds having smaller brains than they should and a serious lack of spiders and other insects in the area. Game animals such as wild boar that have been caught outside of the exclusion zone have even been found to have dangerous levels of radiation inside of them, which just goes to show how massive the scope of the disaster still continues to be.

Chernobyl

According to a new study, decomposers like fungi have also suffered from the contamination, and as a result, the natural process of decay is not occuring in the area. Authors of the study believe that this disruption of the basic process could have compounding effects for the entire ecosystem, and they've noted that trees surrounding the power plant still show no signs of decay, despite dying off and falling down shortly after the disaster.

Chernobyl

In an effort to see just how much the lingering radiation is affecting the ecosystem at large, biologists hung hundreds of bags of uncontaminated leaves in different areas of the exclusion zone, leaving them untouched for an entire year. When they returned to the area, they found that while the leaves in areas with no radiation had completely decayed, the leaves in high radiation areas looked pretty similar to the way they did one year prior. Biologist Timothy Mousseau (above) is worried that the high density of leaves in the area makes it a breeding ground for a devastating forest fire, which could spread the radioactive contaminants to areas far outside the exclusion zone.

A frightening thought, isn't it?

Gift Guide: Godzilla Slippers

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Godzilla slippers

So you've watched the Godzilla 2014 trailer a couple dozen times and you bought yourself a fire-breathing Godzilla lamp and 3-foot long Godzilla toy... what more could you possibly do, to get yourself in the proper mood for the big green guy's return to theaters? Well, I can't think of a better way to do so than by going on your own building-stomping rampage, which you can now do, thanks this nifty pair of Godzilla slippers.

One size fits all, up to a men's shoe size of 11, these reptilian slippers turn your ordinary human feet into Godzilla's hulking monster feet, and feature a plushy exterior and soft-lined interior. Your action figures are guaranteed to run away in fear when you enter your bedroom wearing these bad boys, and your Matchbox cars had better pedal to the metal and burn rubber. Destroying things has never been so comfortable!

$29.95, from Bunny Slippers

Watch the 'Russian Spider-Man' Hang from a 1,109 Foot Building

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Daredevil Kirill Oreshkin, sometimes nicknamed “Russia's Spider-Man,” apparently has no fear whatsoever. There's just no other way to explain his unique hobby of climbing the world's tallest buildings and dangling by his fingers from them (sometimes one-handed) with zero safety equipment.
 
Kirill2
 
“Using safety measures changes something,” Oreskin says. “No one is going to recognize that you really risked your life.”
 
In a country where urban climbing seems to be quite a thing lately, this guy may be among the most daring of them all... or at least it looks that way from the photos and videos he posts of his outrageous escapades.
 
The most dangerous of Oreshkin's recent feats was captured in the video below from Vocativ, which was shot atop Moscow's Mercury City Tower, which at 1,109 feet tall is the tallest building in Europe. 
 
Take a deep breath, hang onto something tight and press play!
 
Thanks to io9 for bringing this one to our attention.

 


Thomas J. Churchill To Direct 'Marilyn Monroe: Zombie Hunter'

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If Abe Lincoln can fight vampires, I see no reason why Marilyn Monroe can't tussle with zombies, and apparently neither does filmmaker Thomas J. Churchill.

A sequel to his upcoming zombie period feature Lazarus: Day of the Living Dead, Marilyn Monroe: Zombie Hunter is set to be directed by Churchill from a script he co-wrote with Joe Knetter, and will star model, actress and scream queen Sarah French (pictured) as the iconic blonde bomb-shell turned zombie slayer. David M. Parks will produce.

Principal photography is slated to take place in Hollywood, CA, New York state and Washington DC later this year under the Church Hill Productions/Apothecary Entertainment banner.

“After writing Lazarus:Day of the Living Dead,” Churchill told us of his inspiration for Marilyn Monroe: Zombie Hunter, “the concept of this incredible Hollywood icon as a cool samurai sword using, kick-ass assassin that would get summoned by our President to be humanities' last hope against zombie domination just toyed with me, and I needed to get it out of my head, onto paper and on the screen.”

“The film is going to be a straight-up horror-thriller,” he expounded, “with no room for cheese. Horror fans and Marilyn fans will be proud of the vision I have in store.”

Here's the official synopsis:
'1960. Beauty Queen. Movie Legend. The world is obsessed with her, with her films and her personal life. But, what they didn’t know was that she was protecting us. Her late night trips to the White House were just the beginning of what the world believed was a scandal. A mutated strain of the Bubonic plague has returned with a vengeance, taking human lives and re-animating the dead who have returned to the world with the intention to feast. When keeping this world threat out of the headlines, President Kennedy summons the best fighter and tracker he knows to help him extinguished the undead that have returned. Being a Hollywood movie star was her job, zombie hunter was her skill.'

For more on Marilyn Monroe: Zombie Hunter, 'like' the project on Facebook here -

and follow them @MMZombieHunter

As for Lazarus: Day of the Living Dead, the feature is set for VOD, DVD and BluRay release this coming November via Origin Releasing.

Check Out This Handy and Horrifying Guide to the World's Deadliest Roads

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How confident do you feel behind the wheel? No matter how expert a driver you might be, there might be one road, trail or highway out there that gives you the cold sweats just looking at it... and we've found a shitload of them, thanks to a site that points out the most dangerous, deadly and downright horrifying places to drive in the entire world.
 
BR-116
Photo: Malaysia Chronicle
 
Driving Experiences provides an interactive map to the most hazardous roads from all points of the globe, providing images, statistics and other info on each location – including the “Road Fear Factor” and number of fatalities recorded on each. I'd like to point out that some of those death numbers are just insanely huge... I'm talking tens of thousands of travelers killed.
 
Yungas
Photo: MSN.com
 
The most nightmare-inducing examples include Bolivia's North Yungas Road, nicknamed “The Road of Death,” Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, Philippines, known as the “Killer Highway,” and Brazil's BR-116, the “Highway of Death.” (Seeing a pattern here?) But it's China's Guoliang Tunnel Road (shown below), ominously known as “The Road of No Mistakes,” currently holds the record death toll on this list at 65,225 fatalities annually. Just let that number sink in for a second. 65,225 died navigating this road... in a single year.
 
Guoliang
Photo: Skyscraper City
 
Check out the full interactive map at Driving Experiences... then hide your car keys forever. If you're still not scared enough, then come back and check out this heart-stopping (and totally real) video montage of traffic near-deaths!

Diamond Select Toys Conjures Up Massive 24" Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Bank

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Stay Puft Bank

Perfectly timed with this week's news that Sony's Ghostbusters reboot is gearing up to start production next year, unfortunately without Ivan Reitman in the director's chair (looks like the makers of The Lego Movie are taking over), Diamond Select Toys is getting ready to unleash their massive Ghostbusters bank, which depicts everyone's favorite city-destroying marshmallow man; Stay Puft.

Conjured up by Dan Aykroyd's Ray Stantz in the original film, the cute and fluffy physical manifestation of Sumerian demon Gozer has gone on to become one of the most iconic aspects of the Ghostbusters universe, and Diamond Select Toys brings Stay Puft to life in the form of this super-sized bank, which is double the size of a bank they had previously released. Measuring 24" tall, the vinyl bank is both imposing and adorable - just like the real Stay Puft - and it holds four times the amount of change the 12" bank did, for optimal saving.

The Stay Puft bank is scheduled to begin shipping next week, and you can pre-order yours today over on Amok Time, for $109.99.

Leatherback Turtle's Spike-Filled Mouth is Pure Nightmare Fuel

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leatherback turtle

Pictured up above is a Leatherback sea turtle, which is the largest of all living turtles and the fourth largest modern reptile of them all. These bad boys can grow up to 7-feet long and weigh as much as 1,500 pounds... but it's not their size you should be afraid of.

What you're about to see is an image of the inside of a Leatherback's mouth, which is hands down the most horrifying oral cavity of any creature on this planet we call Earth. You have been warned...

Leatherback turtle

Yep. That's what the cute and innocent looking turtle at the top of this post is hiding within its beak, and we must thank Oddity Central for forever shattering our belief that turtles are totally harmless. Those razor sharp teeth, called 'papillae,' line the Leatherback's mouth and esophagus and continue all the way down to its gut, ensuring that nothing that goes into the turtle's mouth ever finds its way out.

Have no fear, however, because Leatherbacks don't have much interest in feasting on us humans. Their diet consists mostly of jellyfish, and they've been known to consume about 73% of their own body weight in a single day - now that's a whole lot of jellyfish!

leatherback turtle

Why the hell are their mouths filled with so many teeth, you might be wondering? Jellyfish are pretty slippery, you see, and the razor-sharp rows of papillae prevent them from slipping out of the turtle's mouth, and escaping their horrifying demise. A true death trap, in every sense of the term.

Ever wonder what would happen if you tried making out with a turtle? Well of course you have! So click the link to find out!

Chopped Up Family-Friendly Version of 'The Walking Dead' Headed to Broadcast Television

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Walking Dead

Armed with a TV-MA rating, AMC's mega-popular adaptation of The Walking Dead is one of the most downright violent and gory programs to ever air on television, loaded up on an almost weekly basis with beheadings, gut-munchings and skull-crushings. Not surprisingly, the Parents Television Council has been outraged by the show's graphic depiction of gruesome violence in the past, and it was their protests that led to the show's original TV-14 rating becoming the more appropriate TV-MA.

What would The Walking Dead be like, if all the blood and guts were taken away, rather than the rating being adjusted? Well, according to Entertainment Weekly, we're about to find out.

The site reports that the Fox-owned syndication channel MyNetworkTV has just picked up exclusive broadcast rights to re-air episodes of The Walking Dead, which will mark the very first time the show has been seen on broadcast television. Naturally, given the restrictions of broadcast vs. cable, the episodes will be heavily edited down for the channel's replays, with much of the carnage being completely removed, to meet the standards of the watered down TV-14 rating.

Starting this fall, the channel will run two edited episodes of The Walking Dead per week, which is going to be quite interesting, to say the very least!

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