Thursday 5 March 2009

BHF allumni get "Shrieking Sixties" publishing deal


Blimey, it's all about books this week, isn't it?
Thought I ought to mention that Darrell Buxton, that prince among men and all-round good egg, has been pulling together reviews of 60s BHFs from contributors to the site's message board, and he's only managed to get a publishing deal! Yes, there may even be some reviews by my good self in there, which would be nice (previously I've only managed a few passing comments in that "Vault Of Horror" book, or whatever it was called).
Called "The Shrieking 60s", it'll be a companion piece to FAB Press's rather good (but now quite old) book about the 70s, "10 Years Of Terror" (although not affiliated in any way with that tome). Good news, eh?

New BHF book on its way



The third anthology in the much-vaunted (by me, anyway) BHF Books Of Horror will be with us soon. Ish.
As a taster, here's the cover, provided, as ever, by the massively talented artist Paul Mudie.


BHF books contributor releases own anthology

Daniel McGachey, one of the top authors who regularly contributes to the BHF books of horror, has managed to snag himself a proper publishing deal.

He writes to say:

I just wanted to let you know that "They That Dwell..." and "The Shadow in the Stacks" from the first two BHF Books are to be reprinted soon as part of my first (hopefully not last) collection, "They That Dwell in Dark Places", from Dark Regions Press. This is to feature my previously published stories, from the BHF Books, Black Books and Filthy Creations magazine, plus a selection of new stories written specifically for the volume.

Naturally I'm hugely excited about this, but I was asked to keep quiet about it till the stories were ready. Now I've just seen it announced on the Dark Regions website, so I thought it would only be a courtesy to let you know, since it was a huge boost to have those stories published in the BHF Books.

The books will, of course, be mentioned in the book as the original place of publication for those two stories, and in the short biog piece I'm currently putting off writing.


I'm extremely chuffed about this - Dan's work is absolutely brilliant and I'm glad it's getting an airing beyond the limited range of the (admittedly brilliant) BHF Books. Here's hoping he becomes a household name...

You can find out more here:

Lesbian Vampire Killers reanimate Showaddywaddy shock


The next big thing on the Brit horror horizon will be Lesbian Vampire Killers, and the soundtrack album is already out. Featuring tracks like "Run, you bellends!", it sounds like an absolute hoot.
Hmm.
Anyway, here's the press release:

DEBBIE WISEMAN’S GOTHIC ROMANTIC SOUNDTRACK TO PHIL CLAYDON’S HORROR COMEDY.

Well known for her lyrical style and penchant for melody, composer Debbie Wiseman has written soundtracks for countless television shows and an increasing number of films - Haunted, Flood, Middletown, Wilde, The Lighthouse, Warriors, Tom’s Midnight Garden and Arsène Lupin. In 2004 Debbie Wiseman was awarded the MBE for her services to the film industry, recognising her as one of the UK’s leading score writers. 

The soundtrack features The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Crouch End Festival Chorus and million selling classical singer Hayley Westenra with whom Debbie collaborated on Flood.

Includes Showaddywaddy’s 1976 chart topper Under The Moon Of Love. Lesbian Vampire Killers is released in the UK on March 20th 2009.

About the film: BAFTA award winning comedy duo James Corden and Matthew Holden (Gavin & Stacey) escape to Wales for a weekend of debauchery only to find themselves in a village where all the women have been enslaved by a lesbian vampire curse.

Twisted Nerve gets another airing


Just in case you're not completely sick of it after Kill Bill resurrected the infectiously tuneless theme to Twisted Nerve, it's now available on another CD, this time with other cult movie themes.

Silva Screen Records is releasing CULT CUTS - Music From The Modern Cinema compilation on 9th March 2009.

From LALO SCHIFRIN'S supremely jazzy BULLITT score to HOWARD SHORE'S resonant theme to THE DEPARTED, CULT CUTS is an impressive 18 track compilation of the very best landmark film music which has inspired score composers over the last forty years.

Highlights include two powerful themes from KILL BILL, BERNARD HERRMANN'S spooky TWISTED NERVE and TOMOYASU HOTEI'S scintillating BATTLE WITHOUT HONOR OR HUMANITY.

Lee-ve it out, mate


You'll all be pleased to know, I'm sure, that there's a new article by me up on the Sci Fi channel's website. It's about my old mucker Chris Lee, and I've been remarkably nice about the old guy.
You can see it here:

Hammer shop to close


As probably yet another victim of that darn credit crunch, the Hammer Shop is shutting down - so this could be your last chance to get hold of those poker chips featuring Christopher Lee you've always wanted.
Sally Dickson said: "Just a note to thank all our customers over the past 3 years. The Hammer Films Shop is closing down on March 30th 2009. Please do check our Sale items!"
The shop can be found here: www.hammershop.co.uk