Friday 31 July 2020

A Night of Horror : Nightmare Radio - 10 of horror’s hottest rising filmmakers unite to tell 8 terrifying tales

Available On Demand and DVD September 1

10 horrifying tales directed by 8 of horror's most talented filmmakers

A Night of Horror : Nightmare Radio, premiering on Demand and DVD September 1, is a new anthology from brothers Luciano Onetti and Nicolas Onetti. Joining the Onettis are filmmakers Sergio Morcillo, Joshua Long, Jason Bognacki, Adam O´Brien, Matt Richards, A.J. Briones, Pablo S. Pastor and Oliver Park.

Rod, radio DJ, hosts a popular horror-themed show packed with tales of terror for eager listeners. When he receives alarming calls from a horrified child things start to feel off. What ensues is a roller-coaster ride of horror stories…

Ian Costello, Clara Kovacic, and James Wright help make up the cast.

A Night of Horror : Nightmare Radio is being distributed by Uncorkd’ Entertainment.


Tuesday 28 July 2020

Interview with Theresa Halvorsen - By David Kempf


When did you first become interested in writing?  

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t creating stories in my head or on paper. My first written story when I was about six, was about a princess who survived a plane crash with her maid and wandered around in the forest chatting with the animals. She eventually found her way out of the forest and returned home. As you can see, Disney was huge in our house.


How did you get involved in fantasy/horror? 

Again, this goes back to childhood, but after my princess phase. For fantasy, I read Frank Baum’s Oz books so many times I could’ve recited them. Then I read everything I could get my hands on about ‘true’ ghost stories. This was pre-internet so the only place I could go was the library. From there it was an easy transition into Stephen King, and Raymond Feist. Of course I continued to make up my own stories, which is as is so often the case, borrowed from the authors I was currently reading.


Tell us about your publisher. 

I’m currently working with S&H Publishing, a small press. I’ve very much enjoyed working with them as they’ve allowed me to have a significant say in the publishing process. They’re quick to respond and very willing to work with their authors.


How would you classify the genre you write? 

Oh jeez--I struggled with this one for Warehouse Dreams. For Warehouse Dreams, I landed on soft sci-fi romance. But because it’s set in contemporary Chicago, it definitely has urban fantasy connotations. But since it deals with genetic manipulation, telepaths and psychokinetics, that moves it a little more into sci-fi. I have another series coming soon about haunted houses in Sacramento and those are in the paranormal romance genre. If I had to choose one genre that encompsses all that I have or will write, I’d say I’m a spec-fiction writer.


Buy Warehouse Dreams from Amazon at
https://amzn.to/306hAc3

Why do you think horror and fantasy books remain so popular? 

I think at the end of the day, humans just want to be entertained. Horor is entertaining; it makes our hearts pound, it makes us groan and wince or makes us hide under the blankets. Good horror makes us think because it should have some psychological elements as well. Fantasy is popular for people who want to exist in a different world. Fantasy tends to be hopeful, at least in the end--the good win and the bad are vanquished though good vs bad has become increasingly gray in the fantasy realm. 


What inspires your stories? 

My primary goal is to entertain. I want people to take a step away from their lives into stories and characters they love and root for. But I also want to normalize characters with mental health issues as well. All of my main characters are dealing with or have dealt with some level of depression or anxiety.


What do you think the main differences between American horror and British horror are? 

Uhhhhhhh….I’m definitely not an expert in British horror. I think American horror tends to have more gore and British horror tends to have more atmosphere.


What are your favorite horror books? 

Stephen King’s Bag of Bones is one of my favorite all time books. I also really enjoyed Mira Grant’s Into the Drowning Deep.


What are some of your favorite horror movies? 

I have a love/hate relationship with horror movies. I love the creepy build-up, but generally don’t feel like the pay-off is worth it. I loved Get Out and did enjoy the Haunting of Hill House, both of which have huge psychological elements.


What do you consider your greatest accomplishment as an author? 

As of this moment, I would say the release of Warehouse Dreams. Depending on how you look at it, Warehouse Dreams either took me a year or ten years depending on how you look at the story’s evolution. I’m so very pleased that it’s available for readers who will hopefully love this world and characters as much as I do.


Do you have any advice for new writers? 

Yes! Don’t stop writing. And there’s no ‘right’ way to be a writer or become published. Every person’s path is different, so what worked for one person may or may not work for another. Find out your path and don’t let anyone tell you, your way is wrong. And remember, if you write, YOU ARE A WRITER regardless of publication.


What is your opinion of the new self-publishing trend? 

I know many self-published writers with fantastic works and self-publishing is a great way to get a writer’s vision for their story in front of readers much quicker than traditional. However, there is a risk of self-published writers moving too quickly and putting out books that lack a coat of polish.


What are your current projects? 

I’m currently working on the sequel to Warehouse Dreams and a paranormal romance trilogy based in Sacramento.


Please in your own words, write a paragraph about yourself & your work. 

Theresa Halvorsen has never met a profanity she hasn’t enjoyed. She’s generally overly caffeinated and at times, wine soaked. She’s the author of both nonfiction and speculative fiction works and wonders what sleep is. When she’s not writing or podcasting at Semi-Sages of the Pages she’s commuting through San Diego traffic to her healthcare position. In whatever free time is left, Theresa enjoys board games, geeky conventions, and reading. She loves meeting and assisting other writers, and being a Beta reader is a particular joy. Her life goal is to give "Oh-My-Gosh-This-Book-Is-So-Good" happiness to her readers.

She lives in Temecula with her amazing and supportive husband, on occasion, her college age twins and the pets they’d promised to care for.

Find her at  www.TheresaHauthor.com and on Twitter and Facebook.

Buy Warehouse Dreams from Amazon at
https://amzn.to/306hAc3

Also available.
The Dad's Playbook to Labor & Birth: A Practical and Strategic Guide to Preparing for the Big Day Kindle Edition
https://amzn.to/3hMbW4T


Thursday 16 July 2020

Horror Channel highlights six summer weekend shockers in its August premiere line-up


August is a wicked month on Horror Channel, as the UK’s most popular small-screen destination for genre fans presents six summer weekend shockers, five FrightFest hits including the UK TV premieres of Julian Richards; REBORN, a Carrie for the Z Generation, starring horror icon Barbara Crampton, Jordan Barker’s WITCHES IN THE WOODS, an unrelenting assault of pure terror, Alistair Legrand’s highly unusual genre-blending chiller, THE DIABOLICAL and Milan Todorovic’s sharp-teethed, seductive KILLER MERMAIDS. All these films received FrightFest premiere screenings.

There is also a channel premiere for another FrightFest title, THE WINDMILL MASSACRE, where Friday The 13th goes Amicus in the Dutch countryside. Plus the mind-bending, twisty thriller IDENTITY gets a first showing on the channel.


Full film details in transmission order:

Saturday 1st August @ 23:15 – THE WINDMILL MASSACRE (2016) *Channel Premiere

A coach party of tourists embark on a tour of Holland’s windmills. When the bus breaks down, the strangers are forced to seek shelter in a disused barn beside a sinister windmill where, legend has it, a Devil-worshipping miller once ground the bones of locals instead of grain. As members of the group start disappearing, secrets are revealed that seem to mark them all for doom. 


Saturday 8 August @ 21:00 – KILLER MERMAIDS (2014) *UK TV Premiere

Kelly (Kristine Klebe) and Lucy (Natalie Burn), are on vacation in Montenegro with a group of friends. They decide to visit an abandoned military fortress on the remote island of Mamula. But what they discover there goes beyond all frightening insanity. For it’s the home of a Siren, a mermaid creature of Greek myth, lying in wait to lure men to their death with her enchanting beauty, entrancing song and razor-sharp teeth.


Saturday 15 August @ 21:00 – THE DIABOLICAL (2015) *UK TV Premiere

Single mother Madison and her two children keep being awoken nightly by an increasingly strange and intense presence. Seeking help from her scientist boyfriend, they embark on a hunt to destroy the violent spirit that paranormal experts are too scared to take on. But what is Project Echo and why does that past experiment seem to be impacting on their frightening present?


Saturday 22 August @ 21:00 – REBORN (2018) *UK TV Premiere

A stillborn baby girl is abducted by a deranged morgue attendant and brought back to life by electro-kinetic power. On her sixteenth birthday, traumatised Tess (Kayleigh Gilbert) escapes captivity and sets out to find her birth mother (played by Barbara Crampton), leaving a trail of horrifying violent destruction and chilling chaos behind her.


Saturday 29 August @ 21:00 – WITCHES IN THE WOODS (2019) *UK TV Premiere

A group of students head off for a snowboarding adventure on an untouched piece of land. When their SUV mysteriously stalls in a brutal snowstorm they are not only faced with the reality of freezing to death but a fate even more horrifying. For they have become stranded in Stoughton Valley, home of some Witch Trials even more horrendous than Salem, and are being hunted by a supernatural creature determined to keep them there.


Sunday 30 August @ 21:00 – IDENTITY (2003) *Channel Premiere

Ten strangers with secrets are brought together in a savage rainstorm – among them a limo driver (John Cusack), an ‘80s TV star (Rebecca De Mornay) and a cop (Ray Liotta) who is transporting a killer. They all take shelter at a desolate motel but relief is quickly replaced with fear as the ten travellers begin to die, one by one. They soon realise that, if they are to survive, they’ll have to uncover the secret that has brought them all together.