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Top 10 Films of 2021

12/31/2021

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I watched a lot of great films this year, but these are the top 10. Just like my top reads of 2021, they are in no particular order and weren't necessarily released this year.

1. The Shout
This hidden gem from the 70s completely surprised me. Amazing acting with a unique premise. I can't believe more people don't talk about this movie.
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2. The Lie
Edge of your seat, screaming at the TV kind of movie. It makes you ask the question "What would you do?".
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3. Birdemic: Shock and Terror
If you love to watch bad movies with a friend, it really doesn't get better than this. I laughed nonstop while watching it with my co-host of PaleoCheeze Podcast. You've gotta see this with your B-movie buddy.
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4. The Clovehitch Killer
Super tense. A great coming-of-age thriller.
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5. Leatherface
Let's face it. This franchise is loaded with stinkers, and I had low expectations going into this one. What I got was so much different than your average TCM movie. This was a gory action thriller epic in size.
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6. Halloween Kills
If you know me, you know Michael is my favorite killer. I knew there would be stuff I didn't like about this movie, but when the franchise is loaded with as many rotten eggs as this one, all it really takes is getting the mask right and some great edits. (So far only 2 movies have gotten the mask right since the first two originals: 2018 and Kills). When this finally came out, I think I was smiling the whole time watching it.
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7. Lake Mungo
Two things got this movie on the list: The subtlety and the acting. I've never seen acting this good in a found footage movie.
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8. Midnight Mass (mini series)
Great dialogue, acting, and concept. And to think it's actually a love story when it comes down to it.
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9. Come True
This is not  a movie you can turn your brain off with. You need to be paying attention to every detail. And you're probably going to want to watch it at least a few times. I did. One of the best soundtracks I've heard in a while. Also, we got a chance to hang out with the director Anthony Scott Burns for an episode of PaleoCheeze Podcast. (Episode airing soon).
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10. Caveat
One of Shudder's best. Great concept, creepy atmosphere.
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Top Reads for 2021

12/29/2021

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Celebrating my favorite discoveries each year is always a good time, and like most of you, I like to share them. In no particular order, here's my top 10 reads of the year (not necessarily published in 2021).


1. The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd
Heartfelt, dramatic, adventurous. My wife turned me onto this book a few years back. So glad I got around to it.
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2. Something Rich and Strange - Ron Rash
Rash is like a tamer Ketchum and a harsher Raymond Carver. This thing is packed with amazing lessons in storytelling.
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3. Where All Light Tends to Go - David Joy
Crap hits the fan in this Appalachian noir tale with some great characters.
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4. Moon Lake - Joe R. Lansdale
Lansdale through and through. No uncharted territory, just an old pair of comfortable shoes, as Joe might say.
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5. Pearl - Josh Malerman.
It shouldn't work but did. Creepily. Some unsettling visualization in here. NEEDFUL THINGS meets CARRIE meets CHARLOTTE'S WEB and ANIMAL FARM. Every bit of it thrown in a blender and served with fried potatoes, eggs, and brimstone.
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6. Chasing the Boogeyman - Richard Chizmar
What  THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT did for cinema, this book may do for crime fiction. A pseudo crime bio turned murder mystery.
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7. Creature - Hunter Shea
Heavy on real-life drama with something in the woods. Shea does a masterful job at filling the pages with the drama without it being boring, which is what could happen in other hands.
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8. Off Season - Jack Ketchum
I was late to the game on this one. Brutal, excellent characterization in a believable savage story.
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9. In the Scrape - James Newman and Mark Steensland
Feels like Appalachian noir like Rash or Joy. A lot of tension here and the perfect length. It went by fast.
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10. The Strange Thing We Become - Eric LaRocca
I was sent this one for a blurb. Offering one was an easy decision. Some excellent transgressive stuff in here. If you're one of those who didn't like his novella THINGS HAVE GOTTEN WORSE SINCE WE LAST SPOKE because of the format, this book will make you a fan. This is where LaRocca's prose really shines.
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Blame Joe Lansdale

4/28/2021

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It was 1984. I was a freshman in high school. My favorite bands were AC/DC, KISS, BLACK SABBATH, ROLLING STONES, and IRON MAIDEN. And like most kids my age, I listened to local radio stations, believing they were trustworthy gatekeepers of music, weeding out the bad with some all-knowing filter and presenting only the best music the planet has to offer, saving us from having to hear anything less than stellar.

But then one day, while roaming the halls of Harper Creek High School, I discovered punk rock. A friend of mine was playing it on his little boombox. What came out of the speakers was the most aurally offense music I’d ever heard. 

I was in love.

That same friend made me a mix tape filled with bands I’d never heard of: THE PLASMATICS, MDC, THE MEATMEN, DOA, and SCREAM to name a few. 

After listening to that tape, I realized the gatekeepers I’d been trusting with their magic filters didn’t know their asses from a hole in the ground, which I’d already had my suspicions about. I mean, why weren’t they playing KISS? And why when they finally did play SABBATH it was always Paranoid? Why not Planet Caravan or Lord of this World or Electric Funeral? 

As I dug deeper into the punk scene, I found out these bands had a DIY ethic that completely opened my eyes to a whole new way of doing things. They were making stuff happen on their own terms. They were writing the music they wanted to write. Not for the money, not for the fame, not for the chicks. They were angry and energetic, and it was a healthy way of pissing vinegar on The Man.

I clung to that ideology over the years with everything I had and carried it through my love of indie films, those gems that obliterate blockbusters in storytelling and originality. The indie books that offer wild plots that haven’t been done before. I even found that for every genre of music, there’s an indie scene giving birth to amazing talent you’ll never hear on the radio. Not just punk. There’s underground funk, jazz, new age, pop, you name it.
 
Once I'd found my individuality through the discovery of punk and its ethics, I ran from trends. I’m still that way. If a trend starts, I bolt the other way. I pierced my nose 30+ years ago, when the only other person I knew who’d done it was a punk in my band. Talk about drawing attention. But several years later, when my daughter wanted hers done and it looked like that would become the norm, I took mine out and never wore it again. I chopped my dreads off after catching a whiff of a trend there too. But Chad, you’ve got a beard! Yes, I know. I haven’t let the hipsters chase me away from that yet. Instead, I refuse to worship my beard with product and its own special comb. 

This might sound like a bullheaded way of thinking (my wife and kids certainly poke fun), but really I’m just an advocate for individuality and paving your own way without checking to see what the masses are doing first.

Fast forward a few decades. 

I decide I want to do what I can to make a career out of writing. Right away, I want nothing to do with anything considered mainstream horror. This pretty much rules out monsters and ghosts, but particularly zombies and vampires. And absolutely no dystopian settings. Call it artistic integrity, punk-rock ethics. Whatever. But writing to market is not for me. I’ll leave that to those who enjoy doing it, because God knows the world is full of readers who love those tropes. And good for them. We like what we like, right?   

So, I write OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES. Very unexpectedly, Jack Ketchum and Richard Chizmar praise it. I couldn’t be happier. So I write a few more “dark fiction” books in the same vein (STIRRING THE SHEETS, WALLFLOWER, THE PALE WHITE), using real-life scenarios and enough ambiguity and bleak drama to hastily slap a “horror” label on it. 

During this entire journey, unbeknownst to him, I’m using Joe Lansdale as a distant mentor. Here’s an author who is embraced by the horror community, yet when he changes genres they move from the popcorn line at the blood-spattered drive-in to the back of an old pickup to solve crime, then it’s on horseback to head out west.

But for me, the pull of sticking to what’s expected of me--or even jumping on a bandwagon as it strolls by, waving its zombie-scented money in the air on its way to apocalyptic lands we’ve already been to a thousand times over--is strong. I think about caving often. And I suppose I did when I wrote BLOODLETTER (the first book in a vampire series) as C.E. Lutzke. And it may not be the last time I cave. Matter of fact, to play the devil’s hypocrite here and be completely transparent, I’m not above writing to market under a pseudonym just to make money, because, unfortunately, a mortgage trumps integrity.  

But what makes me truly happy is the unapologetic exploration of other genres and mixing them. With THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU I wrote a tragic “romance”. It’s bleak, it’s beautiful, it’s angsty, and hearts are broken. It was a total experiment I wrote 100% for me.

It wasn’t the first time I did this. SKULLFACE BOY was an experiment too. A bizarre road trip where I ask the reader to suspend all disbelief right on the first page, when I tell them our protagonist has a skull for a face. 

Other than THE NEON OWL--another off-the-road exploration into territory new to me (crime noir-ish)--those two books were the most fun to write. They're loaded with more me than anything else.

While I'm honored to have a readership with reader expectations and hear whispers of anticipated broken hearts with what many have deemed "heartfelt horror," it's also a little scary. If STIRRING THE SHEETS and OF FOSTER HOMES AND FLIES made them cry, how are they going to react when when I've got a one-legged handyman searching for clues on who's shitting in the bushes at THE NEON OWL? 

I imagine Lansdale had this same problem at first. The difference is, Joe is more punk than me, and I don’t think he gave a good shit. After Lansdale wrote THE DRIVE-IN, readers screamed, "We've got a splatterpunk guy on our hands!"

Joe said, "No you don't," and wrote a crime novel, while pointing toward THE MAGIC WAGON, stating, "And don't forget about the western."

Joe gave the finger to the pigeons and their holes. 

I want to give that same finger.

Joe did for my view on writing what punk rock ethics started at the age of 14. His “fuck-the-reader” and “write-like-everyone-you-know-is-dead” principles are as punk as it gets. It’s why he’s in my list of top 3 writers of all time, right alongside Mr. Ketchum and Mr. King (for me, they're all tied for first). 

I’ll never be done writing “heartfelt horror”. It’s in my DNA. But I’m not done writing dark drama or humorous crime stories either. Just know that whatever I write is honest and 100% me, on my terms. And I sure do appreciate you riding along. 

But if you’re one who tends to like the same comfortable shoes--as Lansdale puts it--and don’t care much for when I wander too far, blame Joe Lansdale. It’s his fault. 
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Best...and Worst of 2020 (Film Edition)

12/26/2020

1 Comment

 
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Unlike the number of books I managed to read this year, I got quite a few movies in (around 180), most of which weren't released in 2020. Here's my top 10 best and worst films I watched this year (in no particular order...except for Paddleton).

Best of:
1. Paddleton
2. It Comes at Night
3. The Greasy Strangler
4. Anything for Jackson
5. Blue Jay
6. Come to Daddy
7. Doctor Sleep
8. The Boy
9. The Beach House
10. The Rental


Worst of:
1. Found Footage
2. Thankskilling 3
3. Demon Wind
4. The Love Witch
5. Drive-In Massacre
6. Death Bed: The Bed that Eats
7. Invasion of the Blood Farmers
8. The Amityville Curse
9. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
10. The Giant Spider Invasion
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Best of ...Books 2020

12/22/2020

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Sadly, I found myself not reading as much this year. Chalk it up to the stress we've collectively shared, as well as a surprise writing project, a handful of blurb requests, hiding behind too many bad movies, and rewatching Curb Your Enthusiasm for the 3rd time.

Here are the top 5 books I read this year (in no particular order).

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The Best of... - Joe R. Lansdale


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Gorilla in my Room - Jack Ketchum



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Magic - William Goldman



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Slash - Hunter Shea



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It - Stephen King
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Best and Worst of...

11/1/2020

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Last month I did the 31 Days of Terror Challenge where I comprised a list of horror films to watch for every day in October. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to follow the list either because the movie was no longer streaming or because I needed to watch a film for PaleoCheeze Podcast or because of those godawful Amityville movies with author/podcaster Jason Brant.

That being said, I did watch at least one horror film per day, totaling 33 films in all. Here's my top best and worst of the month (featuring only films I hadn't seen before).

Best:
1. It Comes at Night
2. The Greasy Strangler
3. Borgman
4. Zombeavers
5. Jennifer's Body


Worst:
1. Death Bed: The Bed that Eats
2. Found Footage
3. Invasion of the Blood Farmers
4. The Giant Spider Invasion
5. Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
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Bloodletter Cover Reveal

10/23/2020

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If you're familiar with my work, you may be surprised at the simple theme I tackle in this one. I'll admit it's atypical of what I normally write, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. While I'm not necessarily marketing the book as YA (young adult), it most definitely could be classified as such, and I believe those who regularly indulge in YA will take to the series.

I'm not ready to spill a full synopsis yet, but I will say The Hemato Pages treats vampirism as more of an affliction rather than something supernatural. The protagonist is a female tattooist in Los Angeles, CA who struggles with life after being "turned" one year ago, trying desperately to feed only on those who meet the criteria based upon her moral code. There's bloodshed, suspense, and even romance, within. 

Bloodletter, the first book in the series, will be available December 2020. 

Artwork by Zach McCain (who also did THE SAME DEEP WATER AS YOU, OUT BEHIND THE BARN, THE PALE WHITE as well as the Thunderstorm limited editions WORMWOOD and HALO OF FLIES).
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31 Days of Terror

9/27/2020

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Following the lead of my buddies Hunter Shea and Jack Campisi over at Monster Men, I'm accepting the challenge of watching a horror movie every day in October.

Hunter and Jack made their horror to-do list randomly by using the 31 Days of Terror: Halloween Horror Movie Dice Game wherein they rolled dice to determine their categories as well as films they'll be watching. Because I didn't want to get stuck watching films I just recently saw, I copied the categories they randomly rolled and filled in the blanks with movies I either have never seen before or haven't seen in 30+ years (with the exception of Halloween 2018, which I've just been wanting to get at again).

Below is the list I curated, along with the platform where they can be streamed. Join us, and let me know which movies you'll be tackling during October.

*Where it says "Best Horror Movies" I left for whatever it is I'm in the mood for that day (TBD).
1. Creature Feature - THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK (Shudder)

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2. Demon Horror - DEMONS 2 (Shudder)
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3. Mutant Horror - COLOR OUT OF SPACE (Shudder)
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4. Best Horror - TBD*
5. So Bad They're Good - DEATH BED: THE BED THAT EATS (Amazon Prime)
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6. Lycanthrope - THE HOWLING (Shudder)
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7. Ghost Horror - THE INNKEEPERS (Shudder)
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8. Surreal Horror - BORGMAN (Shudder)
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9. 1970s Horror - INVASION OF THE BLOOD FARMERS (Tubi TV)
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10. Wizard Horror - SATANIC PANIC (Shudder)
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11. 1960s Horror - BLACK SABBATH (Shudder)
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12. Animal Horror - ZOMBEAVERS (Amazon Prime)
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13. Anthology - TWO EVIL EYES (Shudder)
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14. Bad Horror - THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION (Shudder)
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15. 1980s Horror - WITCHERY (Shudder)
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16. Alien Horror - NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (Shudder)
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17. Zombie Horror - CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS (Tubi TV)
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18. Scariest Horror - DON'T LOOK NOW (Shudder)
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19. Mutant Horror - THE TOXIC AVENGER IV: CITIZEN TOXIE (Amazon Prime)
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20. Plausible Horror - THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (Amazon Prime)
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21. Psychological Thriller - IT COMES AT NIGHT (Shudder)
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22. 2010s Horror - US (Amazon Prime)
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23. Doll Horror - ANNABELLE (Amazon Prime)
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24. Best Horror - TBD*
25. Big Plot Twists - ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (Shudder)
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26. Serial Killer Horror - MONSTER PARTY (Shudder)
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27. 1990s Horror - THE STENDHAL SYNDROME (Shudder)
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28. Vampire Horror - THE HUNGER (Amazon Prime)
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29. Kinky Horror - THE GREASY STRANGLER (Amazon Prime)
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30. Cannibal Horror - CANNIBAL GIRLS (Tubi TV)
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31. Halloween Themed - HALLOWEEN (2018) (Amazon Prime)
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Top Reads in 2019

12/31/2019

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Like a lot of readers who frequent Goodreads, I set a goal this year. I failed that goal. Chalk that up to a mixture of being too busy and not carving out enough time to read. But I would like to make a small list highlighting my 5 favorite books I did read this year, in no particular order:
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PARADISE SKY - Joe R. Lansdale
I don't necessarily like westerns. I don't hate the genre, but I'm just not that interested unless it's films like TOMBSTONE or THE HATEFUL EIGHT or BONE TOMAHAWK. Something with nontraditional grit, which Lansdale has done here expertly so. PARADISE SKY is the epic adventure of a black cowboy and his quest for redemption, survival, and revenge. It's dark. It's hilarious, and it's a must read. Don't let the western tag fool you if you tend to steer clear of that sort of thing. I'm seeing a boost in mashup westerns (the weird and the horrific), with John Boden's WALK THE DARKNESS DOWN (see below) helping pave that way again.
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WALK THE DARKNESS DOWN - John Boden
You can check out my review on Cemetery Dance Online, but here are a few of my thoughts from said review:  Boden presents unique, otherworldly visuals and characters in this Wizard of Oz-esque, Tolkienish adventure that feels more like Joe Lansdale-meets-80s-body-horror-meets-Gunsmoke. The pages turn easily and quickly as we wait to see what other oddball characters or events he presents. And of course, there’s justice that needs bringin’, and any reader who’s started the read will be anxiously awaiting that outcome...This feels new, unpredictable, and fresh.
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PEACEABLE KINGDOM - Jack Ketchum
Not only one of the best books I read this year but in my top 4 single-author collections ever. It's both brutal and heartbreaking. If you've ever read Ketchum then you know how disturbing a single line in one of his stories can be, and this book proves it time and time again. I learned a lot about short storytelling from PEACEABLE KINGDOM.
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MY BEST FRIEND'S EXORCISM - Grady Hendrix
A female-centric coming of age set in the 80s regarding a group of girls and one of them becoming possessed. Again, I'll point you to Cemetery Dance Online for my full review, but there's an excerpt: The aging punk rocker in me should hate this book. The testosterone-fueled machismo in me should be chopping wood or building car engines while reeking of onions and beer to compensate for the time spent reading about a group of young girls toting Trapper Keepers and spooning plushies in their rainbow-filled bedrooms. But here I am, singing its praises with my Dayglo flag held high. I enjoyed every minute of it.
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CRICKET HUNTERS - Jeremy Hepler
Another great coming-of-age tale. Hepler does a fantastic job of switching timelines within these pages, making each one a story on its own that you can't wait to get back to rather than dumping background info as fluff when all we really want to do is get on with the story. A great roller-coaster of a ride, this one. And with the last fourth of the book I couldn't turn the pages quick enough.
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Ten Horror Films You May Have Missed

10/15/2019

2 Comments

 
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Tis the season for horror. Our month to shine. A lot of us read and watch horror year 'round, but October is a great excuse to turn others onto what they might be missing.

To celebrate the Halloween season, I've put together a list of 10 overlooked films, movies that are sadly underrated, and it's a shame aren't more popular. 




1. NOVEMBER (Shudder): Breathtakingly stunning cinematography in crisp, modern B&W. This is folk horror at its finest. Imaginative, unsettling, and original.
2.  DEAD AND BURIED (Shudder): This one's from the 80s with one of the best last lines of a film ever. The special effects are top notch. A true cult classic.
3.  THE INVITATION (Netflix):  Hypertensive and brooding. This is always my go-to when someone asks me for horror recommendations streaming on Netflix.
4.  TERRIFIED (Shudder):  Unique, creepy, and contains one of the single most disturbing scenes in a film ever. The shower scene makes PSYCHO look like a romantic comedy.
5.  THE BABYSITTER (Netflix): Nothing scary here. Just good fun. Coming-of-age with plenty of gore and humor.
6.  HIGH TENSION (Amazon Prime): Great name for this film. Dark, unsuspecting, and it'll stay with you for a while.
7.  BUG:  A sadly overlooked William Friedkin (Exorcist) film full of disturbing paranoia.
8.  BOXING HELENA:  This one takes obsession to the next level. When I saw Kevin Smith's TUSK, all I could think about was this movie and how much better it is.
9.  GOODNIGHT MOMMY (Amazon Prime):  Twins are always creepy...and so are bandaged moms.
10.  THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE (Amazon Prime):  Another psychological one that toys with your mind and keeps you on edge.
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