Horror Fuel
☰ Browse the Crypt
Tag

Halloween

204 stories
Horror Fuel

Road to Death House Part 4: Open Letter

Friday. November 11th. Death House is officially done. Like the 2016 election, it will soon be in the hands of the people to make their decision. Hear my personal views on this film at 22:30 here on Postmortem Radio just published Nov. 8, 2016: HERE https://www.horrorphilia.com/postmortem-radio-episode-016-inside-death-house-wdirector-harrison-smith/ It’s been a long road. Gunnar Hansen, who created the project, is not here to see it emerge from the post production studio. We wrapped principal photography May 5th. Six months later we have a finished film. it is true…making a movie is akin to a minor miracle. Making one with the largest collection of horror names in a single picture, to date…that’s something else. This is a personal entry from me on this film. From its director and its writer. It’s not a pitch. Those who want to see it will see it. Those who don’t will likely see it anyway. Many will love it. Some won’t. It’s the way it goes anytime

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Nov 8, 2016
Horror Fuel

Ode to 80’s Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street

In honor of Halloween approaching (everyone’s favorite holiday) and whispers of the second remake happening (Kevin Bacon, anyone?) this #Odeto80s is on that 1986 Wes Craven classic: A Nightmare on Elm Street. WHERE IT CAME FROM: Wes Craven had already had horror movie success when he read a series of disturbing articles in the newspaper: “It was a series of articles in the LA Times, three small articles about men from South East Asia, who were from immigrant families and had died in the middle of nightmares—and the paper never correlated them, never said, ‘Hey, we’ve had another story like this.” Crave took this horrifying premise and paired it with his own terrifying childhood memory of a creepy man that had come to his window , and put a red and green striped sweater on it to create Freddy Krueger. WHY WE LOVE IT: Nightmare is arguably Craven’s greatest work, leaving the audience feel unsafe: even in their sleep. Aside

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 6, 2016
Horror Fuel

The Road to Death House Pt. 3

“Please don’t let this be full of jump scares like The Conjuring movies.” “I hope this is smart and actually has a story.” “I don’t expect much from this. It’ll likely suck. Just accept it.” “Stupid title. Stupid premise. Nothing to see here, folks.” “This will suck.” “I have hopes for this.” “Based on the cast of old stars [that] they have, I don’t see this being any good.” Internet comments. Most of them from “trolls.” Trolls are people I sum up by asking a simple question: “And where is the movie you made?” Oh…that’s right. I believe there can be too much democracy. The Internet has given a voice to groups of people that should not have one. I’ve posted my thoughts on a filmmaker’s response to uneducated critics here: https://horrorfuel.com/horror/movies/zombie-movies/when-filmmakers-strike-back/ So let’s talk about what Death House will be–not conjecture or ignorant shade cast by anonymous little people who are too afraid to commit themselves to making something.

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jul 25, 2016
Horror Fuel

Petition Calls For Government To Finally Declare Halloween A Federal Holiday !

One holiday stands above all others for horror fans, that’s right I’m talking about our beloved Halloween. But even after centuries of celebration (under one name or another), Halloween still doesn’t quite get the respect it deserves. It’s not even a federal holiday, and both you and I know that it deserves that honor and we deserve that day off to prepare and celebrate accordingly. Even if you only look at it from a financial stand point, Halloween brings in a ton of commerce, in 2015 alone, consumers spent around $6.9 billion in the US (according to useconoimy.about.com). Only Christmas brings in more. One fan of the holiday, Richard Doredant, has started a petition in an effort to get the White House to label the day as a federal holiday. If he can get 100,000 signatures by July 25th the White House will be forced to respond. So, to my fellow Halloween lovers I say this, let’s make sure that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 12, 2016
Horror Fuel

Spoon Fed Horror

Expect more from your entertainment. Don’t be spoon fed. Whether film, literature, music, even video gaming…refuse to be dumbed down. As I move over the half way point in post production for “Death House” I’ve had time to reflect on the film and wonder how it will be received. The latest news on yet another “Friday the 13th” installment is it will be an origins story. I guess my question is…was there ever that much there in the first place to warrant an origin backstory? Doesn’t it defeat the point of making a simple slasher film to entertain, scare and titillate? Do we really need an origins story whether on Pamela Vorhees or Jason or how Camp Crystal Lake was founded? The Millennial Generation and after are said to be too literal. They need everything spelled out for them. They have all the information they need on their phones. Why think? Why extrapolate? Hell, why even dream? School is taught

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jun 8, 2016
Horror Fuel

John Carpenter Reveals His Opinion Of The Friday The 13th Franchise, And It Isn’t Good

During a recent podcast John Carpenter expressed his hatred for the Friday the 13th franchise. In his discussion with Bret Easton Ellis about his involvement as executive producer for the new upcoming Halloween film currently in development, Carpenter ripped the 1980 horror classic a new one with a string of insults, basically calling them copycats and reviving the long running feud between the two franchises. “I think the reason that all these slasher movies came in the 80’s was a lot of folks said, ‘Look at that Halloween movie. It was made for peanuts, and look at the money it has made. We can make money like that. That’s what the teenagers want to see’. THR quoted Carpenter as saying. “So they just started making them, cranking them out. Most of them were awful.” I reached out to Friday the 13th‘s creator Victor Miller to find out what he thought about Carpenter’s statement. Miller’s response was not only civil, but

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jun 1, 2016
Horror Fuel

Michael Myers Is Coming Home & John Carpenter Will Be There Waiting – A New Halloween

John Carpenter’s classic horror film Halloween, released in 1978, began a franchise that seems as unstoppable as the masked killer Michael Myers himself. The franchise will soon add another sequel. Blumhouse announced that Michael is coming home. Blumhouse founder/CEO Jason Blum, Malek Akkad, the franchise’s long-term producer, along with Miramax and Trancas International Films have teamed up to deliver a new Halloween film of epic proportions. The best part, John Carpenter, the father of Halloween himself, announced at a press meeting that he has signed on to serve as both executive producer and creative consultant for the project. He also is considering composing the sequel’s music. “HALLOWEEN needs to return to its traditions,” Carpenter said. “I feel like the movies have gotten away from that…Michael is not just a human being; he’s a force of nature, like the wind. That’s what makes him scary.” “HALLOWEEN is one of those milestone films that inspired everyone at our company to get into

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
May 24, 2016
Horror Fuel

Friday the 13th Gets Lucky

A Few Words From Our Ms. Palmer “What a piece of shit! No one’s gonna see this crap!” — Actress Betsy Palmer aka Pamela Vorhees The late, esteemed critic, Roger Ebert, coined the phrase “Dead Teenager Movie” and I have stated several times that Jaws 2 arguably gets technical credit as the first one. While teenagers in peril was a long standing theme and used over and over again, it’s the sequel to Spielberg’s game changing shark movie that lined them up one after another for the monster to pick off. Jaws 2 gave the designer sheen to killing off teens. It wasn’t a grainy “B Movie” that played part of a double bill at the drive in. This was wide screen Panavision and a 50 million budget. While there was no nudity, the underlying “have sex and die” motif was there with a killer in the form a pissed off female Great White Shark. The original 1978 Halloween fine

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jan 11, 2016
Horror Fuel

The History Of Halloween

The holiday known as Halloween, originated with two separate festivals, the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) and the Christian’s All Saints Day. Celts celebrated “Samhain” (Summer’s End) as far back as 2,000 years ago. This was the time when they held festivals celebrating the dead, the harvest and the beginning of the new year (November 1st). The Celts believed that on the night before the new year the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead was at it’s thinnest. On that night it was believed that the dead returned as ghosts. At sun-down people donned costumes and masks, huge bonfires were lit, people gathered around, many dancing around the fire, and sacrifices were made. All to pay tribute to the Celtic deities. After the celebration each family took a piece of lit wood or coal home to light their fires. People would leave offerings of food and wine outside in-front of their doors

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 27, 2015
Horror Fuel

Halloween ComicFest

Hey Horror Comic fans! It’s me, Shane AKA Deadman, your comic reading and reviewing fiend here at ZADF.ORG ! Halloween is our favorite time of the year here at ZADF.ORG and I am here to tell you about how your Halloween can get even better this year! When you think Halloween you usually just think about costumes and candy, but have you ever heard the word Halloween and thought about comics? No? Well, I do. That’s because Diamond Comic Distributors has announced that they will be celebrating their 4th annual Halloween ComicFest at participating comic book stores by giving away Halloween and horror themed comic books for free. The Halloween ComicFest will take place this Halloween, Saturday October 31st 2105, and is a great way to introduce friends and family to the world of comics. Comic shops are already a great place to go for the latest in pop culture and comics but this event takes the comic shop experience

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Oct 21, 2015

More from Halloween

Horror Fuel

Road to Death House Part 4: Open Letter

Friday. November 11th. Death House is officially done. Like the 2016 election, it will soon be in the hands of the people to make their decision. Hear my personal views on this film at 22:30 here on Postmortem Radio just published Nov. 8, 2016: HERE https://www.horrorphilia.com/postmortem-radio-episode-016-inside-death-house-wdirector-harrison-smith/ It’s been a long road. Gunnar Hansen, who created the project, is not here to see it emerge from the post production studio. We wrapped principal photography May 5th. Six months later we have a finished film. it is true…making a movie is akin to a minor miracle. Making one with the largest collection of horror names in a single picture, to date…that’s something else. This is a personal entry from me on this film. From its director and its writer. It’s not a pitch. Those who want to see it will see it. Those who don’t will likely see it anyway. Many will love it. Some won’t. It’s the way it goes anytime

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Nov 8, 2016
Horror Fuel

Ode to 80’s Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street

In honor of Halloween approaching (everyone’s favorite holiday) and whispers of the second remake happening (Kevin Bacon, anyone?) this #Odeto80s is on that 1986 Wes Craven classic: A Nightmare on Elm Street. WHERE IT CAME FROM: Wes Craven had already had horror movie success when he read a series of disturbing articles in the newspaper: “It was a series of articles in the LA Times, three small articles about men from South East Asia, who were from immigrant families and had died in the middle of nightmares—and the paper never correlated them, never said, ‘Hey, we’ve had another story like this.” Crave took this horrifying premise and paired it with his own terrifying childhood memory of a creepy man that had come to his window , and put a red and green striped sweater on it to create Freddy Krueger. WHY WE LOVE IT: Nightmare is arguably Craven’s greatest work, leaving the audience feel unsafe: even in their sleep. Aside

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Sep 6, 2016
Horror Fuel

The Road to Death House Pt. 3

“Please don’t let this be full of jump scares like The Conjuring movies.” “I hope this is smart and actually has a story.” “I don’t expect much from this. It’ll likely suck. Just accept it.” “Stupid title. Stupid premise. Nothing to see here, folks.” “This will suck.” “I have hopes for this.” “Based on the cast of old stars [that] they have, I don’t see this being any good.” Internet comments. Most of them from “trolls.” Trolls are people I sum up by asking a simple question: “And where is the movie you made?” Oh…that’s right. I believe there can be too much democracy. The Internet has given a voice to groups of people that should not have one. I’ve posted my thoughts on a filmmaker’s response to uneducated critics here: https://horrorfuel.com/horror/movies/zombie-movies/when-filmmakers-strike-back/ So let’s talk about what Death House will be–not conjecture or ignorant shade cast by anonymous little people who are too afraid to commit themselves to making something.

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jul 25, 2016
Horror Fuel

Petition Calls For Government To Finally Declare Halloween A Federal Holiday !

One holiday stands above all others for horror fans, that’s right I’m talking about our beloved Halloween. But even after centuries of celebration (under one name or another), Halloween still doesn’t quite get the respect it deserves. It’s not even a federal holiday, and both you and I know that it deserves that honor and we deserve that day off to prepare and celebrate accordingly. Even if you only look at it from a financial stand point, Halloween brings in a ton of commerce, in 2015 alone, consumers spent around $6.9 billion in the US (according to useconoimy.about.com). Only Christmas brings in more. One fan of the holiday, Richard Doredant, has started a petition in an effort to get the White House to label the day as a federal holiday. If he can get 100,000 signatures by July 25th the White House will be forced to respond. So, to my fellow Halloween lovers I say this, let’s make sure that

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jul 12, 2016
Horror Fuel

Spoon Fed Horror

Expect more from your entertainment. Don’t be spoon fed. Whether film, literature, music, even video gaming…refuse to be dumbed down. As I move over the half way point in post production for “Death House” I’ve had time to reflect on the film and wonder how it will be received. The latest news on yet another “Friday the 13th” installment is it will be an origins story. I guess my question is…was there ever that much there in the first place to warrant an origin backstory? Doesn’t it defeat the point of making a simple slasher film to entertain, scare and titillate? Do we really need an origins story whether on Pamela Vorhees or Jason or how Camp Crystal Lake was founded? The Millennial Generation and after are said to be too literal. They need everything spelled out for them. They have all the information they need on their phones. Why think? Why extrapolate? Hell, why even dream? School is taught

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jun 8, 2016
Horror Fuel

John Carpenter Reveals His Opinion Of The Friday The 13th Franchise, And It Isn’t Good

During a recent podcast John Carpenter expressed his hatred for the Friday the 13th franchise. In his discussion with Bret Easton Ellis about his involvement as executive producer for the new upcoming Halloween film currently in development, Carpenter ripped the 1980 horror classic a new one with a string of insults, basically calling them copycats and reviving the long running feud between the two franchises. “I think the reason that all these slasher movies came in the 80’s was a lot of folks said, ‘Look at that Halloween movie. It was made for peanuts, and look at the money it has made. We can make money like that. That’s what the teenagers want to see’. THR quoted Carpenter as saying. “So they just started making them, cranking them out. Most of them were awful.” I reached out to Friday the 13th‘s creator Victor Miller to find out what he thought about Carpenter’s statement. Miller’s response was not only civil, but

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jun 1, 2016
Horror Fuel

Michael Myers Is Coming Home & John Carpenter Will Be There Waiting – A New Halloween

John Carpenter’s classic horror film Halloween, released in 1978, began a franchise that seems as unstoppable as the masked killer Michael Myers himself. The franchise will soon add another sequel. Blumhouse announced that Michael is coming home. Blumhouse founder/CEO Jason Blum, Malek Akkad, the franchise’s long-term producer, along with Miramax and Trancas International Films have teamed up to deliver a new Halloween film of epic proportions. The best part, John Carpenter, the father of Halloween himself, announced at a press meeting that he has signed on to serve as both executive producer and creative consultant for the project. He also is considering composing the sequel’s music. “HALLOWEEN needs to return to its traditions,” Carpenter said. “I feel like the movies have gotten away from that…Michael is not just a human being; he’s a force of nature, like the wind. That’s what makes him scary.” “HALLOWEEN is one of those milestone films that inspired everyone at our company to get into

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
May 24, 2016
Horror Fuel

Friday the 13th Gets Lucky

A Few Words From Our Ms. Palmer “What a piece of shit! No one’s gonna see this crap!” — Actress Betsy Palmer aka Pamela Vorhees The late, esteemed critic, Roger Ebert, coined the phrase “Dead Teenager Movie” and I have stated several times that Jaws 2 arguably gets technical credit as the first one. While teenagers in peril was a long standing theme and used over and over again, it’s the sequel to Spielberg’s game changing shark movie that lined them up one after another for the monster to pick off. Jaws 2 gave the designer sheen to killing off teens. It wasn’t a grainy “B Movie” that played part of a double bill at the drive in. This was wide screen Panavision and a 50 million budget. While there was no nudity, the underlying “have sex and die” motif was there with a killer in the form a pissed off female Great White Shark. The original 1978 Halloween fine

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Jan 11, 2016
Horror Fuel

The History Of Halloween

The holiday known as Halloween, originated with two separate festivals, the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) and the Christian’s All Saints Day. Celts celebrated “Samhain” (Summer’s End) as far back as 2,000 years ago. This was the time when they held festivals celebrating the dead, the harvest and the beginning of the new year (November 1st). The Celts believed that on the night before the new year the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead was at it’s thinnest. On that night it was believed that the dead returned as ghosts. At sun-down people donned costumes and masks, huge bonfires were lit, people gathered around, many dancing around the fire, and sacrifices were made. All to pay tribute to the Celtic deities. After the celebration each family took a piece of lit wood or coal home to light their fires. People would leave offerings of food and wine outside in-front of their doors

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Oct 27, 2015
Horror Fuel

Halloween ComicFest

Hey Horror Comic fans! It’s me, Shane AKA Deadman, your comic reading and reviewing fiend here at ZADF.ORG ! Halloween is our favorite time of the year here at ZADF.ORG and I am here to tell you about how your Halloween can get even better this year! When you think Halloween you usually just think about costumes and candy, but have you ever heard the word Halloween and thought about comics? No? Well, I do. That’s because Diamond Comic Distributors has announced that they will be celebrating their 4th annual Halloween ComicFest at participating comic book stores by giving away Halloween and horror themed comic books for free. The Halloween ComicFest will take place this Halloween, Saturday October 31st 2105, and is a great way to introduce friends and family to the world of comics. Comic shops are already a great place to go for the latest in pop culture and comics but this event takes the comic shop experience

Continue reading →
Capt McNeely
Oct 21, 2015
Next →