Random Ramblings from the Vault...

• So... True Blood. I've had a love-hate relationship with the show since day one. I thought last season was great, but wasn't really feeling season 2. And I have to say, last week's season premiere left me significantly less than thrilled. I hear that the second episode was a major improvement... I haven't seen it yet, and I will report back when I do. I'll be patient with it, since I've invested so much time in it. But it better win me back soon...

• I'm anxiously anticipated the remake of my favorite horror TV movie ever, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. It's set to be released at the end of the summer, and I have to say, it looks like it will be pretty damn good. Sorry to see that Guillermo del Toro bowed out as director (as he did with The Hobbit, damn it...), but at least he's still very much involved with the project. Those little buggers in the fireplace freaked me out as a kid--I can only imagine what they will be like this time.

• I'd like to recommend an especially amazing anthology I acquired a while back. It's Vintage Crime's The Vampire Archives: The Most Complete Volume of Vampire Tales Ever Published. Boy, does this tome ever live up to its name, with stories ranging from the pre-Dracula days all the way up to the present, by everyone from Bram Stoker, D.H. Lawrence and H.P. Lovecraft to Anne Rice, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. Oh yeah, and there's a preface by Neil Gaiman and foreword by Kim Newman. It's pretty impressive, and is also inspiring me to pick up Vintage Crime's Big Book of Adventure Stories, featuring some damn fine pulp reprints.

• Is it too early to start thinking about Halloween? I know for me it isn't. I'm already contemplating what I'm going to be this year (I may finally be dusting off that Rocky Balboa robe and trunks I've been sitting on for a few years now.) I can tell you that Zombelina and Skeleton Jack will be taking on traditional colonial garb this year. And of course, Captain Cruella will be Captain Cruella, just in time for the second annual Village Invasion. What costume plans do you have?

• Let's jump from Halloween to Christmas, shall we? Wondering what might be on the Vault Keeper's list to Santa? Well, there are quite a few horror-related items I've had my eye on for some time now, including: John Carpenter's The Thing on DVD (no, I don't own it), Universal's Wolf Man Legacy DVD set, the recent deluxe release of Psycho, Season 1 of The Walking Dead of course, and the Karloff/Lugosi Legends of Horror collection, just to name a few movie selections. And for my bookshelf? The Stoker Award-winning Final Exits, The Zen of Zombie, my pal Paul Bibeau's acclaimed book Sundays with Vlad, and the most excellent recent book on the Return of the Living Dead series, just to name a few...

• My recent encounters with restless spirits at the apparently haunted Sterling Opera House in Derby, CT has got me thinking... How many of you really and truly believe in ghosts? Do you think I'm wacked after reading the first part of my report from the scene? How do you explain such phenomena? The intersection between horror and the paranormal has long fascinated me, and I'd like to get your take on the subject.

• If you could add another monster cereal to General Mills' classic collection, what would it be? Honey Hunchbacks? Zombie Bites? Kong Crunch, perhaps?

• I'm very pleased to announce that last year's post on Catholic themes in Italian zombie cinema has been accepted for publication in an academic volume on the subject of theology and the undead. I'll have more information on this as it progresses, as I'll need to rework and expand the piece before it can be included. But I'm excited and honored that my work will be spotlighted in this way, as that particular post is one of which I am especially proud.

• You can call it Kevin Geeks Out About Evil Children. This coming Thursday, starting at 8pm at 92YTribeca in NYC, Friend of the Vault Kevin Maher will be presenting a double-feature of Don't Go to Sleep and The Children, two classics of the "scary kid" subgenre. The Captain and I would love to be a part of that, as we support all that Mr. Maher does...but alas, we will be elsewhere that evening...

• Where we'll be is the Avon Theatre in Stamford, CT--and if you're unable to make it to 92YTribeca, then by all means come down to that historic little theater for a screening of the awesome '70s nature-gone-amuck flick, Alligator! As always, we'll be doing trivia giveaways, and introducing the film. It should be a blast, and we're looking forward to hopefully seeing some of you Vault dwellers there.

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