by mike | May 4, 2012 | Books, California, Horror, Nightmares, Science Fiction, Writing |
As a writer I don’t often use the old cliché, “Love at first sight.” But that’s what happened the first time I saw Barney. This runty German shepherd, about two months old at the time, sat by himself in a large cage inside an Indianapolis pet shop. There were other...
by mike | May 1, 2012 | Books, Horror, Horror Movies, Research, Sword & Planet, Writing |
In an earlier post, “Horrors! Or How to Scare the ‘Yell’ Out of People,” I wrote about the effect of scaring readers and film watchers with subtle horror, rather than in-your-face buckets of blood, entrails, oozing brains, various and sundry dismembered body parts—you...
by mike | Apr 23, 2012 | Guilty Pleasures, Horror, Horror Movies, Movies, Writers' Retreat |
Let’s talk about guilty pleasures. The term itself relates to something that a person enjoys despite feeling guilty for enjoying it. Where does the guilt come in? From worrying about what others might think about one’s tastes, maybe seeing you as a real lowbrow,...
by mike | Apr 18, 2012 | Books, Fantasy, Horror, Nightmares, Research, Sword & Planet, Sword & Sorcery, Writing |
What’s the deal? A guy who writes horror, fantasy and other weird stuff thinking that creativity is a curse? To be honest—no, not the majority of the time. My brain is almost always swirling with new plots, unique characters, exotic settings and such, and for the most...
by mike | Apr 1, 2012 | Books, Fantasy, Horror, Movies, Research, Romance, Sword & Sorcery, Writing |
Who knew? While writing a recent post about Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan and the acknowledged “father” of Sword & Sorcery, I did research to make sure some of my facts were correct. I discovered that a movie had been made about a portion of his short...
by mike | Mar 27, 2012 | Books, Fantasy, Horror, Movies, Sword & Sorcery |
Horror fans in particular, and movie buffs in general, probably know that line well. Actually, it’s a part of the last line from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic 1960 film, Psycho. Norman Bates, played so creepily by Anthony Perkins, has been taken down—wig, dress, and...
