Since we spend the entire week revisiting episodes of the FEARnet original series Post Mortem with host Mick Garris, we thought it'd only be fair to put Mick himself in the interview chair for his own Post Mortem-style interview. Below you'll find a brand new 4 part interview conducted specifically for this week long event. In Part 1, Mick talks about his humble beginnings as a film and music journalist and how that gig eventually lead to his interview show for the Z Channel, which in turn led to a writing gig on Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. Part 2 delves into the origins of his long collaborative working relationship (and friendship) with the world's best known horror author Stephen King, first on Sleepwalkers and then tackling King's epic & much celebrated novel The Stand. 

In Part 3, Garris discusses the process of creating the original horror anthology series Masters Of Horror and how the show (which boasted such filmmakers as John Carpenter, John Landis, Takashi Miike and Dario Argento) made it's way to Showtime. In the 4th and final segment, we get to talk in depth about the inspiration behind Post Mortem, going back to his interviewer roots and what he learned from his filmmaker guests & friends. Trust me, folks - this is one killer interview!

Check out more with Mick Garris on Post Mortem!

Fringe Episode 510
“Anomaly XB-6783746”
Written By: David Fury
Directed By: Jeffrey Hunt
Original Airdate: 21 December 2012

In This Episode...

The Fringe team can’t seem to communicate with Michael. He doesn’t have any tech in his neck,  but he doesn’t seem to have any empath skills. Olivia calls Nina, who can’t talk in her office, but calls back from a more private location. They arrange a meeting, and Olivia, Walter, and Peter show up in an alley with Michael. Nina leads them to a Massive Dynamic “black lab,” one that she turned over to the resistance when the Observers arrived. Inside the lab, in addition to the standard tech fare, three hyperbaric chambers hold dead Observers. The resistance had been experimenting on them, trying to figure out how they were able to read minds. They weren’t able to do much with the little knowledge they gained, but Nina surmises that using an e-cog device (the glowy mowhawky helmet thing) will translate Michael’s thoughts and electrical impulses into something they can understand.

Naturally, this doesn’t work. Nina believes that maybe the reverse will work: let Michael read one of their thoughts. That would require another e-cog device, but Nina has a friend at the Ministry of Science named Dr. Hastings who can help them. When they can’t get a hold of Hastings, Liv, Peter, and Walter break in to the archives to help themselves.

The reason they couldn’t get in touch with Hastings was that the Observers were interrogating him. They managed to read the sound waves off the walls in Nina’s office and discover she was in league with the resistance. Olivia sees Windmark finishing up his interrogation of Hastings. Once they grab the e-cog devices, Liv and Peter rescue Hastings, who tells them that the Observers know about Nina.

Nina’s comm device gets no service in the underground black lab. She goes topside to call Olivia. When she does, the loyalists pick up her location. Olivia alerts her that she has been compromised, and she cannot go back home. Nina is surprisingly affected by this. Back in the lab, she must hide Michael, for the Observers are coming. He first touches her cheek gently, and Nina gasps as her head fills with all sorts of images and info that Michael is feeding her.

Windmark, two Observer goons, and a handful of loyalists come to the lab. Nina is sitting there in the center of the room, waiting for them. Windmark interrogates her while the loyalists search the premises for Michael or the others. Nina has had a lot of practice in blocking her thoughts from the Observers, but Windmark is determined to break her down. Just as the mind meld is becoming too much for Nina, the loyalists interrupt. They have finished the search of the lab, and found no one else. Windmark tells them to restrain her (despite the fact that she is already a cripple) but she moves fast and grabs one of the loyalist’s guns. Windmark scoffs - guns can’t hurt him. “It’s not for you,” Nina tells him - and she shoots herself dead.

The Fringe team returns to the lab and are greeted with the sad and grisly scene. Walter is overcome; Olivia isn’t holding up much better. Peter notices security cameras in the lab, and calls up the footage. They see Nina leading Michael off-screen to hide him, and the confrontation with Windmark. Olivia turns so as not to see Nina die. Peter and Walter are both surprised to discover that Nina killed herself. “They were going to read her. She did it to protect us,” Peter says. They also notice that Windmark didn’t leave with Michael - he must still be in the lab. Olivia finds him in the bottom of one of the hyperbaric chambers, beneath a dead specimen.

Back at the Boston lab, Michael and Walter are hooked up to one another via e-cog. Michael seems to be able to answer Walter’s questions. But he stands, removes the helmet, and touches Walter’s cheek like he did with Nina. This time we get to see what Walter sees: essentially, his life passing before his eyes. But he learns something new, and very important: this Donald that they have all been chasing... it is September.

Dig It or Bury It?

Nina’s death was one of the most gracefully-portrayed I have ever seen on television. It wasn’t sappy or cloying, nor was it mechanical. It just was what it was. You don’t see Nina pull the trigger; nor do you see her bloody corpse. You see her glasses and a pool of blood on the floor, and you see her slumped figure from behind.

Walter Babble

Peter is concerned that Walter is starting to revert to “classic Walter:” the cold, clinical scientist of Peter’s youth. He asks Nina about her promise to remove those bits of brain once the Observers were defeated. Peter is nervous, and not comforted when Nina says that taking out those brain bits may not work, but if she doesn’t do it soon, Walter might regress permanently. So it’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation. Well, it was; with Nina dead, who else is qualified to do it?

Walter’s shifts are subtle. At the beginning of the episode, he tries to get Michael to eat some licorice, insisting it is good. He doesn’t take it, and shortly thereafter, Walter begins referring to him as “the subject.” But then when he found Nina’s body, his face just melted, and he was back to being crazy Walter.

Prophecies?

Fox is now at the point where they are counting down episodes. “Only three episodes left!” they taunt at the end of tonight’s episode. Sad. 

Metal guitarist Mike Scaccia died last night after a collapse on stage. He was 47.

Scaccia was one of the founding members of Rigor Mortis in 1983. In 1990, Al Jourgensen invited him to join his band, Ministry, on tour. The tour went well, and Scaccia stayed on with them. He recorded Psalm 69 and Filth Pig with Ministry before leaving to re-form Rigor Mortis in 2003. Since then, he had bounced between Rigor Mortis and Ministry, and also recorded albums with Revolting Cocks, Lard, and Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters. He also performed a track on a Lucio Fulci tribute album, Lucio Fulci: A Symphony of Fear.

On December 22nd, Scaccia was performing with Rigor Mortis at the Rail Club in Fort Worth, Texas to celebrate lead singer Bruce Corbitt's 50th birthday. Some reports stated that Scaccia asked the club to turn off the strobe lights, but it wasn't done in time, and Scaccia suffered a seizure. He was taken to the hospital, but died shortly thereafter.

Corbitt had this to say on his Facebook page: "My brother is gone! The only reason I am who I am is because of this man. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t even be in a band. RIP Mike – the greatest guitar player I ever knew. I’m proud to say that I was always Mike Scaccia’s biggest fan, and always will be.”

Burlesque is so five minutes ago. Now it's all about horror-burlesque. Nothing says "burlesque" or "horror" like garters that are attached to your leg. Of course, that would be painful, unsanitary, and would likely cut a night of partying short (what with the massive blood loss and all.) Open Wound FX has you covered with these latex prosthetics that look like your skin itself is being held up by the garters. Garters are included.

$70 at Etsy (or $50 for unpainted prosthetics)

A nearly-extinct technology has gotten a futuristic facelift.

With the prevalence of laptops and tablets, there are fewer and fewer reasons for people to have a computer mouse. So taking it apart and modding the hell out of it seems natural. A Hungarian kid who goes by Ramses did just that: he tore up a gaming mouse and put it back together in a style that would make H.R. Giger very proud. Ramses entered his Giger mouse in a Giger mod competition. The site is in Hungarian and the translation is crap, so I don't know if Ramses won, or if the mouse still works, but does it matter when it looks this awesome?

Tons and tons of "work in progress" pictures are available here.

It's Christmas eve, and you are waiting up for Santa. Distract yourself from those shiny presents that await you with some of FEARnet's holiday-themed horrors from Christmases past...

Even horror's greatest villains take the time to celebrate Christmas.

Santa is an anagram of Satan. Doesn't this worry anyone else? It worried us, and garnered a list of evil Santas, plus a history of the legend of Krampus.

Our interview with Jill Tracy on her "accidental" Christmas album

Tim Sullivan dreams of a black Christmas with John Saxon

Eric Stanze ponders overlooked and underrated holiday horrors.

Enjoy a gallery of nightmarish Christmas trees

Christmas is a special time... which calls for special implements of murder.

We have interviews from the new Silent Night sorta-remake: Malcolm McDowell on keeping the Christmas traditions alive, and director Steven C. Miller on why the holiday horror is so important to him.

Or for the traditionalist, a look back at the original Silent Night, Deadly Night.

And if you didn't get the Christmas gift of your dreams, be sure to check out our gift guide and buy yourself a little present.

Actor Jack Klugman died on Christmas Eve. He was 90.

The actor was best known for his role as Oscar, the messy half of The Odd Couple, for which he won two Emmy awards, and as the lead in the procedural series Quincy M.E. However, Klugman had several roles on classic genre television shows, most notably The Twilight Zone.

Klugman appeared in four episodes of the anthology series throughout its run. In "A Passage for Trumpet," he played a suicidal trumpet player who gets caught between life and death. In "A Game of Pool," Klugman played a billiards champion who faces off against a dead legend. Klugman played a captain in "Death Ship," where a space ship crash lands and the crew discovers an identical version of themselves already there. And in "In Praise of Pip," Klugman played a small-time bookie who has a sudden change of heart - much to the dismay of his bosses. Klugman also appeared in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents as well as an episode of the newest iteration of The Outer Limits.

Though Klugman was largely known for his roles on the small screen, one of his final roles was a feature that will likely be familiar to FEARnet readers: Drew Daywalt's Camera Obscura. In the film, Klugman is a retired crime scene photographer. When he dies, he leaves his camera to his granddaughter, who soon learns that the camera has all sorts of demonic secrets.

No details on Klugman's cause of death were immediately available; however, he had suffered from throat cancer for several decades. 

As far as reading goes, 2012 was a strong year for me. I’ve discovered a couple of new authors that I’ll be following for years to come; some of my favorites have weighed in with their strongest work in years; and, most importantly, the duds have been few and far between.

I’m flattered that FEARnet has asked me to present a list of my “Best Reads of 2012.” What follows is not a ranked list. I have trouble ranking things, especially when I’m holding a book I read in January up against a book I read a week or two ago. So, I figure the best approach is to present this list of favorites alphabetically by the author or editor. I think it’s a pretty diverse list, representing something the horror genre proved to me over and over again this year: it’s one of the most flexible genres an author can work in, with room for mystery, suspense, humor, action, terror, and of course, gallons of blood.

When you’re done reading about my favorite reads, I’d love nothing more than for you to share your favorites in the comments below. I’m always on the lookout for a good read, so if there’s a book out there that really fired you up, let us know!

Nemesis by Kealan Patrick Burke

Burke’s finale to his “Timmy Quinn” series followed a rocky road to publication, and had a load of expectations waiting for it in the end. Nemesis came to us two years after the last installment, Peregrine’s Tale, and a full eight years after the one that started it all, The Turtle Boy. In that time, Burke had aborted one false start on the book, and even stepped away from writing altogether for nearly a year. In the meantime, the fans who’d followed the series through its small press origins were wondering if the end would ever come, and the thousands of new fans discovering it in digital were clamoring to know what happened next. Fortunately, Burke came out swinging with a novel that tied up all the loose ends while expanding the world in such a way as to ensure there are more stories yet to be told.

Video Night by Adam Cesare

The most pure fun I had reading all year. A throwback to the home video heyday of the 1980s, Video Night makes good on every promise made on the sleazy, clamshell covers of the horror movies of that period. Cesare captures what it was like to be a shy young movie fan whose best guess at how to impress a girl is to show her Re-Animator. Full of warmth, humor and buckets of blood, Video Night announces Cesare as one of the best new voices in horror.

This Dark Earth by John Hornor Jacobs

Jacobs brings the hammer down early in this one, kickstarting the undead apocalypse with an outbreak in a small Arkansas hospital, then having the world react with a volley of nuclear bombs. And if you think he’s going to hit you with that deadly combination only to back off and let you catch your breath, think again. Jacobs maintains this blistering pace for over 300 pages, and the beauty of it is that it’s not all empty set pieces – there’s a fair amount of characterization, too, resulting in a story where bad things happen to people you’ve developed a strong rooting interest in. At its heart is Gus, a child prodigy who, in a normal world, would’ve grown up as an outcast due to his fierce intelligence and social awkwardness. Instead, he becomes a leader and a savior, one of the few men standing between humans and total extinction.

Appalachian Undead edited by Eugene Johnson and Jason Sizemore

Editors Johnson and Sizemore produce a collection that narrows the typically large-scale focus of zombie fiction down to the dark and mysterious Appalachian region, which proves to be fertile ground, indeed. Some of the genre’s best and brightest are visibly having a good time mixing the area’s rituals and traditions with tales of the living dead, producing stories that depict mining tragedies, home invasions, conjuring and moonshiners in a whole new light. This one’s as good an argument as any for the continued health and vitality of the zombie subgenre.

The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King

In revisiting his Dark Tower series, which ostensibly wrapped with a seventh volume back in 2004, King smartly avoids tampering with the main storyline to take us on a little side journey set between the fourth book, Wizard and Glass, and the fifth book, Wolves of the Calla. As the familiar ka-tet of Roland, Eddie, Susannah, Jake and Oy wait out a storm, Roland shares a tale from his childhood, one which itself encapsulates an old Mid-World fairy tale. King is at his best when writing about the power of storytelling, leading Keyhole to emerge as one of the most quietly powerful chapters in the series. With this book, King has opened up the possibility of more trips back to the immense universe he’s created by showing that there are many dark corners left unexplored.

Edge of Dark Water by Joe R. Lansdale

When this first came out, I kept reading reviews saying that Lansdale had taken his writing to “the next level.” I’m not sure what other Lansdale books those guys have read, because in my opinion Lansdale has been operating at the top level for years. Edge of Dark Water is just another in a long line of excellent books showcasing the pure storytelling mojo of one of the best writers working today. No, it’s not a horror novel in the traditional sense, but if you can point me in the direction of a more terrifying figure than the legendary killer known as Skunk, I’ll shake your hand. I read this one early in the year, and even now there are complete passages and images that spring fully to mind when I think back on it. An excellent coming-of-age novel that ranks right up there with Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life and Stephen King’s “The Body.”

Honorable Mentions, or, Books from 2012 That are Sitting on My Desk, Taunting Me

These are books that were published in 2012 that I’ve not yet had a chance to read, and that I anticipate would have made this list if I’d just gotten around to them.

Dark Faith: Invocations edited by Maurice Broaddus and Jerry Gordon
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
Coldbrook by Tim Lebbon
***
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.

It's amazing what some sappy music and canned laughter can do for one of the scariest movies of all time. Enjoy The Exorcist, recut in the manner of a 1980s sitcom.

Merry Christmas, faithful FEARnet readers! As most of you know, finding a good horror themed Christmas movie is tough, because well... not many of them are good! Naturally there are the few exceptions. The original Black Christmas for example is undeniably one of the top 10 horror movies of all time. The 2006 remake Black XMas however? Well, in retrospect now its good trashy "slasher" fun. If you're wondering what to watch today horror-wise, might I recommend either the Spanish flick Christmas Tale or also Santa's Slay, both currently streaming for free on our web-movies page? And if neither of those is what you're looking for, well we've got a sample of a whole slew of holiday themed chills for you below.  Here's a bevy of trailers specifically for holiday themed horror movies. This way you can make a list and check it twice! How many of these have you already seen? And which ones do you plan on revisiting today? Let us know and share 'em with your friends as well. Enjoy!

It's been a great year for horror comics. We've seen a proliferation of new series from small publishers, horror publishing mainstays, and even the big guys. Now it's time to take a look at our favorite issues over the past year. We're not talking about the series as a whole here, just our favorite comic books of 2012. Whether the series itself was awesome, terrible, or non-horror, we're going to celebrate the difference a single issue can make!

Batman No. 13
"But Batman's not a horror series!" Yes, correct. But let's break down every fudged up thing that happens in issue 13. The Joker lurks in the shadows, recovering from having his face sliced off. Batman himself remarks that Joker's threats and attacks are more brutal and sinister than ever before. Joker systematically kills a precinct full of cops. Harley Quinn is terrified of him. And when we finally see the Joker it's revealed that he's made a mask out of his own sliced off face. Shit. So forget about Batman and what you expect from the series. This issue is about a (once-loveable?) serial killer who's been deformed, gets nasty, dark, and vile, and… I can't stress this enough… makes a mask out of his sliced off face! Scary, huh?

Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. No. 0
The Issue 0's that DC put out this year were hit and miss. Any issue 0 related to a superhero property was a miss. Any issue 0 related to a horror property was a hit. We got the good end of that deal, for sure. Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. No. 0 gave horror fans the best of both worlds. The first half of the issue was the classic Frankenstein's Monster tale we all know and love (with a comic book spin on it, of course). Then we cut ahead and see Frank in active duty as an agent of S.H.A.D.E. and it's all high action and adventure. But even if the story wasn't up to snuff, the artwork in this issue alone would have been enough to keep this issue on our radar. For a story that's been beat to death, one might say this comic is… ALIVE! (Sorry, had to.)

I, Zombie No. 28
Oh, I, Zombie, you're my favorite comic about eco-conscious, hipster monsters. Done with heart, big emotion, and a lot of… brains, this final issue is a lot of fun. It's touching, inventive, and brings together a slew of loose ends that unfurled over the series' short two year run. The emotional highs are allowed to soar just as high as the action scenes, as Gwen the gravedigging zombie detective makes a final sacrifice to save the world. With a Lovecraftian unspeakable horror bearing down on the world, Gwen pays the ultimate price and paves the way for a new world where humans and monsters can coexist. It's classic "final issue" material, but like everything I, Zombie did before, this issue is filled with nuance and grace.

Swamp Thing No. 0
Another 0 issue! And it's awesome. Though the rest of Swamp Thing's series lags, get confusing, and trips over its own feet sometimes, issue 0 sets up the story perfectly. We see who the Thing was before he became a monster set to protect the world from "the rot." And we see one of the most vile villains in fantasy/horror comics, Anton Arcane, do what he does best (which is, of course, to eat people and hide in their skin). Arcane runs wild in this issue as it all builds up to how he's going to kill the would-be Swamp Thing. The artwork is flashy and tricky, using the borders between panels to add to the feel of the book (the borders look like stitched up skin, and sometimes maggots crawl out of them). And, of final note, any comic where a hero gets his head bitten off by a monster is A-OK in my book!

The Walking Dead No. 100
If you didn't expect to see this issue on this list you must live in a barricaded zombie-proof safe-house (either that, or you stopped reading The Walking Dead when they left the prison). Here's an issue that will quiet even the staunchest supporters of the "nothing happens in The Walking Dead" complaint. SPOILERS AHEAD. For real, spoilers for the comic if you haven't read it yet, and spoilers, probably, for the TV show if they stay on the air long enough to get to this arc. Glenn's death was so slow, so painful, and so mournful… there are no words for it. Negan, one of the nastiest characters I have ever read, is so vile in this issue. Fans of the series will never forget the bluntness of the issue. I think we were expecting some big, exciting moment. Instead Robert Kirkman killed one of our favorite characters with a baseball bat. Sad, brutal, scary… it's what every good horror comic should aspire to.

Genre fans may recall first seeing actress Alexandra Daddario in Stevan Mena's 'Bereavement', a prequel to his film 'Malevolence', so considering the adversary she had to face off in that film, it seemed to be the perfect training ground for when she'd inevitably go head to head with one of the horror's biggest heavyweights. And there's no bigger one (literally and figuratively) than Leatherface! With 'Texas Chainsaw 3D' arriving in theaters on January 4th, we thought this would be the ideal time to get Alexandra in the hot seat to talk all things Chainsaw Massacre!

First off, just wanted to tell you how much I love your performance in Bereavement. I remember coming to set and (director) Stevan Mena had nothing but nice things to say about you.

No way! That was such an exciting film for me to do, because it was my first lead in a movie. And it was a really big deal to me at the time. It still is! It’s amazing how much I hear about that film from horror fans.

What’d you think about Bereavement when you first read it? Because it’s a really dark movie. And because it’s a prequel, you know how it has to end. To me, your character has some of the most heartbreaking stuff in the movie.

It’s pretty shocking to the audience! I really embraced what it was. I thought it was really cool and really dark and I was just excited to be a part of it. I don’t remember having any ambivalence or weirdness about the content of the film. I knew what the film was and what it was supposed to be.

I also feel it was a good way to get you properly prepared for a Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie since it’s so heavily influenced by that original film!

Yeah!

How’d Texas Chainsaw come to you? I thought I had read that you weren’t familiar with the franchise but after getting this role you went back and watched the first one?

Yes. I live in LA and I auditioned for the role and I knew the producers were familiar with my work beforehand. So I got the role and I’m a big scaredy-cat! It’s not that I don’t like horror films, it’s just that they’re very effective on me and I’m always hiding behind my fingers while watching them. So I had not seen any of them, even though I knew what they were and I of course knew who Leatherface was. But I watched the original and it’s an amazing movie. And you see why this franchise has lasted 30 plus years and why Leatherface is so iconic. It’s just incredible. And reading about the making of it and what Tobe Hooper’s intentions were with the film, it’s really incredible.

The making of that movie is almost as fascinating as the movie itself! And it’s always interesting to hear from people that are only now just seeing it such as yourself. It’s amazing that this little movie from 1974 still works.

Oh definitely. The thing that’s so interesting about the original is that it caused this uproar when it came out and it was banned in England. Looking at it now, it’s kind of mild gore-wise compared to the types of films we have come out now. It’s interesting to see how cinema and horror films have evolved since then and how it paved the way. I still find the scene with the Hitchhiker first getting in the van to be so eternally creepy. It will always be one of the scariest scenes ever, and the movie just gets more and more terrifying.

Did you go back and watch any of the other Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies? Or did you just stick with seeing the original for reference?

I watched the one with Jessica Biel. I heard great things about it, in particular her performance so I wanted to watch her performance. I had to take breaks while watching that one, because I watched the DVD at home and there was too much gore for me to handle in one sitting. For me! I’m not good with gore. Which doesn’t make much sense considering I’m in a Texas Chainsaw film. (Laughs) But it’s always different making the film than watching it. But I thought the remake was excellent and her performance was amazing.

What’s cool is you’ve got the original Texas Chainsaw. Then you’ve got Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, which is the one that Tobe Hooper did in 1986. But this new one is a direct sequel to the original, so it’s almost like an alternate timeline in the Chainsaw universe, because it picks up one the next frame from where the first one ends. And it’s really cool seeing a new scene take place right after the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre! Was that one of the appealing aspects of this project to you?

It’s really exciting in that it deviates from the classic horror film and it’s not what people are going to expect, which is great. I love that fans of the original will like this, because there’s so much from the original that ties into this one. We have a lot of the original actors in this film making appearances, so I think for fans of the original, it’s going to be exciting for them. To those not as familiar with the franchise, it still stands on its own as a really fun, scary film.

Leatherface is obviously one of the iconic characters in horror history. I love seeing billboards of him all over town! Some actors that have played him before tend to distance themselves from the cast to further instill fear on screen, while others don’t follow that philosophy. How was your working relationship with Dan Yeager as Leatherface? Was it intimidating seeing him in the mask?

He was in character on set the whole time and I definitely didn’t get to know him all that well until much later in shooting, so it definitely made it scarier. I didn’t joke around with him or hang out with him in the same way I did with the other actors. Yeah, it did make it scarier to have a little bit of distance. But he’s an incredibly impressive person & actor. He never once complained; it was really hot and he’s wearing this mask and always stayed in character under these difficult circumstances and long shooting days and when cameras rolled, he was totally terrifying. He bought a great human quality to the monster that was really, really amazing.

What was your favorite scene or sequence that you filmed that you’re either most proud of or that stands out for you from this experience?

Well the one scene that was scary but also the most challenging was when I was working with Tania Raymonde in the overturned van. We’re in this small space and being chased by Leatherface and we’re feeding off of each other’s energy and fear. I thought that was a really great sequence. It was crazy to shoot! But for an actress it was a really interesting thing to be able to pull off.

Because this was shot in 3D, technically that involves a lot more. As your first 3D shooting experience, was it weird to get used to how much longer this process took?

I’m used to things taking a long time. There are always challenges when making a film. But yeah, shooting 3D does take a lot longer than 2D, so we did run into more technical problems than we anticipated. But I think that’s just part of the process. Sometimes you’ll do a take and think its great but the camera move was off and that’s just the way it is. It’s just another technical hurtle to overcome but I think it’s worth it because I think the 3D is so amazing. One cool thing, you watch playback in 3D. You get 3D glasses and you watch what you just shot in 3D in Video Village which is insanely cool, so you can get a sense on set of what they’re doing.

You’ve seen the film now. Anything that surprised you about it? What are your final thoughts now seeing it all come together?

Making a movie and seeing it are totally different experiences. But I think I need to see it again for a variety of reasons. We had a screening with a bunch of the actors and some agents, and even though we read the script and were in the movie and knew what was coming, we were still jumping out of our seats at certain scares and laughing and enjoying it. There’s something kind of amazing about that, and I hope that audiences have the same reaction that we had, even though we knew what was coming. I still found it incredibly frightening, and I’m excited to see it again.

Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula. It sounds like fan fiction, the kind of clumsy mash-up written in overly purple prose and shared on someone’s blog; or, perhaps, like the literary equivalent of comic book fanboy arguments, the ones that start with questions like, “Who is stronger: Superman or the Hulk?”

This re-release from Titan Books (originally published by Doubleday in 1978) is a far cry from fan fiction. Yes, it’s pure pulp, but pulp guided by the steady hand of accomplished mystery author Loren D. Estleman, who makes sure that “The World’s Greatest Detective” (along with his stalwart companion, Watson) meshes seamlessly into the famous vampire tale. The result is a rousing adventure story that does both Bram Stoker and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle proud.

Estleman’s book chronicles Count Dracula’s time in London, beginning at the point where a mysterious schooner arrives in Whitby Harbour in the midst of some decidedly unnerving weather. According to a journalist who alerts Holmes of the incident, the schooner arrived with a corpse lashed to the helm and all other crewmembers missing and presumed dead. A large beast, either a dog or a wolf, escaped from the ship into the night. Naturally, it’s the kind of thing that piques the interest of the detective, and he and Watson immediately begin looking into the matter.

As events unfold, Estleman manages to weave in a number of characters from the original Holmes stories as well as Stoker’s novel. Most notably the vampire hunter Van Helsing makes a couple of quick appearances, although the book (ostensibly written by Watson and discovered and “edited” by Estleman) concentrates for the most part on Doyle’s characters.

Estleman keeps things moving at a brisk pace, finding plenty of opportunities along the way to season things with great pulpy phrasing like “the all-pervading stench of evil.” It’s more thriller than horror, although Estleman holds his own in the creepy department, particularly when describing some of the face-to-face encounters with Dracula. But above all, it’s just plain fun. Estleman stays true enough to the creations of Doyle and Stoker to keep from thoroughly enraging the purists, but is free of the sometimes dense language and slow pacing that characterizes those original works and which might turn new readers away. As such, it’s something I’d be comfortable recommending to diehard fans of the characters and newbies alike.

Kudos to Titan Books, which continues to grow its reputation as one of the foremost pop culture curators of our time. There are ads in the back of the book for several more in the “Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes” series, and based on this one I’ll be seeking out more in the future.
 

Order Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula by Loren D. Estleman (Titan Books)

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.

Hopefully, you enjoyed revisiting a full week of our original interview series Post Mortem, which was capped off last Friday with a new exclusive interview with host Mick Garris. But because it's Christmas, and you've all been nice (right?) and also since we're on the cusp of a new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, this lost Post Mortem episode seems timely. We're proud to present our never-before-aired Post Mortem with director Tobe Hooper!

In Part 1, the iconic horror director talks about creating The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, one of the original rule breaking films of the genre. Part 2, Hooper discuses the "red humor" (as Mick calls it) of his films, as well as the experience of making an independent film and working with first time crew members to create something special. Part 3 delves into working with Warner Brothers to adapt Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot'. Part 4 touches upon everything from revealing the magic trick of the "kitchen chair" scene in Poltergeist to getting an education on special effects with Steven Spielberg. Garris digs in deep and even gets Hooper to talk about his own real paranormal experience. In the 5th and final part, Hooper opens up about what scares him.

This is a good one, fiends. Enjoy Post Mortem: Tobe Hooper!

Want more Post Mortem? Check out even more interviews on our Post Mortem page!

I must admit, when tasked with coming up with my favorite television moments of 2012, it was a bit formidable. Sure, there were great moments - plenty of them. But one of the problems with coming up with this list as opposed to, say, doing the same for movies, is that a movie is two hours, self-contained, and the good and the bad separate themselves pretty easily. Not so with television. You might have an episode that was great, but if it is surrounded by a number of average or even sub-par episodes, it gets lost in the shuffle. I have the benefit of having detailed notes from virtually every episode of genre television that aired in 2012, but even still, it is hard to think back to the beginning of the year, when we are on the tail-end of the 2011-2012 season, when you are already halfway through the 2012-2013 season, and finding a lot of old favorites and natural fallbacks have gone downhill. 

So here it is, in no particular order, my top 10 series and episodes from 2012. These are the moments/events/series that really popped for me. Did I miss anything?

American Horror Story: Asylum

I like this season a lot better than season one. Is it ridiculous? Yes, of course. But it is also bat-shit crazy, in a wonderfully entertaining way. Somehow they managed to make alien abductions and an Anne Frank who survived the Holocaust not cheesy. Season two manages to propel forward at a breakneck speed while still pacing itself. Highlight of the season? Ian McShane. ‘Nuff said.

The Walking Dead

The season is only half over, but so far, season three has restored my faith in the series. Season one was revolutionary; season two was dull. Season three has been action-packed and fearless. Few TV shows would kill off a main character in the middle of a season; when they do, it is usually because the actor and the producers had a well-publicized disagreement. But in this case, it better served the story to have Lori die, and so she did. I love that nowadays, being a series regular does not necessarily mean that you won’t die (see also: Rita in Dexter, Bobby in Supernatural, Jenna, Vicki, and Alaric in The Vampire Diaries.)

Mockingbird Lane

I liked this re-imagining of The Munsters. It was a little sappy at times, but it was visually stunning, had some great monster-y moments, great performances by a surprisingly well-cast troupe, and a thick dose of humor. I can only imagine what Mockingbird Lane could have been had NBC decided to continue the series past the pilot.

Dexter

Season six ended with the greatest cliffhanger in Dexter history. For the most part, season seven did a bang-up job carrying that storyline on. The season finale was a tiny bit of a let-down, but only because it was following in such prestigious footsteps. Deb really came into her own this season. I am impressed with how well the writers were able to introduce Dexter’s real life to Deb, and have her react in a way that was very true to the character we have known for the last seven years.

Teen Wolf Episode 210: “Fury”

Teen Wolf has gotten immensely better in its second season. It is no longer cheesy teenage trash; it is a bona fide, layered television series with enough different aspects to appeal to a number of different demographics. That said, season two wasn’t perfect. It had its slow moments, it’s hokey, sappy, teen angst moments. But episode 210 was a stand out. In my original review of the episode, I wrote, “It’s almost like with this episode, Teen Wolf became a Man Wolf.” It was well-paced, really propelled the story in an interesting and honest way, and didn’t fall back onto tired teenage tropes. Let’s just not speak of the severely problematic season finale.

The Simpsons“Treehouse of Horror XXIII”

I know I pick The Simpsons’s annual Halloween anthology every year. Even if the segments aren’t really horror (like the Mr. & Mrs. Smith parody), it’s still The Simpsons, and there is always something to like. This year, the 23rd installment of the Halloween classic, included a great Paranormal Activity spoof, a great Back to the Future spoof, and a great sciencey black hole segment. Plus, they threw in a little Mayan apocalypse for the doomsdayers.

Fringe, the back half of season four

I have been a little disappointed in the less-than-rousing finale season of Fringe. I am just holding out hope that they are saving all their mojo for a crazy series finale. But the second half of season four was very satisfying. They shut the door (so to speak) on the alternate universe for good, in a way that wrapped up the storyline nicely, was sentimental without being sappy, and set  the entire timeline right again.

The Vampire Diaries, the back half of season three

Much like Fringe, I thought The Vampire Diaries finished out their third season strong. I really liked getting more background on the Originals, and spending more time with them. I like that TVD has no problem killing off main characters - this time, it was Alaric (though it wasn’t a surprise because actor Matt Davis already had another gig lined up with Cult.) Elena becoming a vampire in the last few seconds was predictable and I fear it is leading to the show’s downfall (the first half of season four has not been stellar, though it is picking up.)

Psych Episode 611: “Heeeeeeeeere’s Lassie!”

I have long championed Psych and their proliferation of pop culture goodness. Every season, they do at least one horror spoof, and this season, it was The Shining. One of the show’s detectives, Carlton Lassiter (who is often called “Lassie” against his will) moves into a condo which may or may not have driven the former tenant to suicide, and it seems that Lassie might be going down that path. Numerous homages to The Shining included similarly-patterned carpet, a kid riding a tricycle down the hall; a pair of twins that look suspiciously like the elder versions of Kubrick’s twins; and of course, Lassie doing his very best Jack Nicholson impression - through a splintered door. Interestingly, there is a touch of Rosemary’s Baby splattered in this episode, with a pregnant character named Rose-Marie Farrow, who was the spitting image of Mia Farrow’s Rosemary.

ABC

For canceling 666 Park Avenue.

Gun-toating, hick-with-a-heart-of-gold Daryl Dixon is, hands down, the best part of The Walking Dead.  Norman Reedus, the man behind the character, is pretty damn awesome too.  So, it just follows that someone should dedicate a comic character to him.  Miguel A. Insignares did just that in his comic Monster Town. The story features Reedus as its main character, greaser ex-con Dexter Collins.

Insignares adapted Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead into comic form, had artwork featured in The Punisher movie and designed collectables for First Blood, Rambo, and Rocky Balboa. Reedus will team up with Insignares, acting as associate producer on all Monster Town multi-media projects.
    
Here’s some background on Monster Town:

Set in 1950's Arizona, MONSTER TOWN features Dexter Collins (Norman Reedus), an ex-con, greaser who returns to his hometown after a ten year absence. His attempt at reconciling with his old flame and estranged father are short lived after a mysterious meteorite transforms the local townspeople into ravenous, mutated monsters. When the monsters attack, will the former outlaw be the town's saving grace or its ultimate demise? MONSTER TOWN will take you through the journey.

Mr. Insignares said, “Norman and I have been looking to collaborate for a while and when I showed him the details and visual style of MONSTER TOWN he immediately jumped onboard. This project is a perfect fit for us and the action/horror fan.I am stoked to join forces with Norman and we invite innovative companies who would like to translate MONSTER TOWN into other media such as Television, Film, Animation, and Game Consoles to join us." Norman added, "I am excited to be a part of this project and to watch it grow."

To kick off the collaboration, a limited edition print of Reedus as Dexter Collins, signed by the artist, is available for purchase. A portion of the proceeds will go to benefit the Hero Initiative. Fans can also buy buttons with the slogan “Reedus will Lead Us,” limited edition t-shirts, and guitar picks.

"Should old acquaintance be forgot" … hack off a piece of their arm as a reminder.

It’s the end of the year, so let’s take a look at Texas Chainsaw 3D coverage gone by: Alexandra Daddario talked with FEARnet about taking on the genre favorite, we visited the set,  and we let you know how to join the Texas Chainsaw 3D club.

Now we have a new clip to celebrate the New Year. It looks like Leatherface is getting a little nostalgic for some classic chainsaw action. Watch it below: