Here is your one stop trick-or-treat spot for this year’s original Halloween content:
I returned to the parlor for another great conversation with Patrick on The Big Séance Podcast.
I appeared as the character ‘Big Ears’ in the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast’s production of ‘THE COLOSSUS’ and almost had their entire month dedicated to JeffCCartober.
Call it Synthwave, Darksynth, Darkwave or Retrowave, but you know it when you hear it – that sinister pulsing buzz that powered a generation of horror and science fiction.
Here are 13 tracks throbbing with electronic menace to set the mood for your Halloween party.
Halloween Theme – John Carpenter
The master who defined the genre.
Stranger Things Theme – Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein
Speaking of gifts, here are two custom ornaments that Samantha Nielsen (aka Samsospooky) made patterned after my holiday books. They will haunt my tree for years to come.
Reviews continue to roll in as the Christmas Spirit draws nigh. I especially enjoyed this article at HorrorFuel.com.
PODCASTS
Every year we put out our Christmas Specials, and even though they were virtual this year it was a great boost to my holiday spirits.
Part One of The Six Demon Bag 2020 Christmas Special is up (Part Two drops next week), and we’ve also posted a winter themed episode of Put Up Your Spooks. Click on the pictures to listen!
CHRISTMAS MAGIC
My family checked out the Holiday Road immersive drive-thru light show in Calabasas.
Fun Fact #1: Calabasas, site of the ‘Biggest Loser Ranch’ near Malibu, Ca, was the original location of the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. I was lucky enough to be there both years before they moved to Griffith Park.
Fun Fact #2: ‘Calabasas’ is from the Spanish calabaza for ‘pumpkin’. Legend has it that in 1824, a Basque rancher spilled a wagonload of pumpkins on the road en route to Los Angeles. The following spring, hundreds of pumpkins sprouted alongside the road. The area was named Las Calabasas—the place where the pumpkins fell.
The event was delightful, but I couldn’t help but compare it to the Halloween events from this year and long ago. What winter wonderland wouldn’t be improved with a horde of zombie elves?
We bailed halfway through Netflix’s Jingle Jangle but enjoyed Hulu’s Happiest Season, and have plowed through the holiday episodes of The Great British Bake Off. There is homemade cookie dough in the freezer that we are saving for Christmas Eve.
Speaking of homemade, I ran a special homebrew one-shot RPG for my friends full of zombies, chest-bursting elves, Christmas themed puzzles and a Big Bad from a very obscure holiday horror movie (1983’s Blood Beat).
Now that you have enough free stuff to tide you over well into 2021 I’m going to sign off. I wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday and a happy New Year!
We Bleed Orange & Black – 31 Fun-sized Tales for Halloween.
Reviewers are saying,
“This book is a MUST READ for Halloween lovers.”
-Jamie, 5 Star Amazon Review
“I LOVED THIS COLLECTION. The stories were well-paced, distinctive, and held my attention throughout. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to keep the spooky spirit alive this year.”
– Briana Morgan Books
“Each tale is unique and transports you to a different place or time, providing the perfect escape during a Halloween season that we will likely need it most.”
-All Hallow’s Geek.com
“I absolutely loved it and it was the perfect way to kick off October! “
October is the perfect season for horror marathons.
The two are almost synonymous. Not even Christmas, that twinkling 800-pound gorilla, can boast such round-the-clock programming. Of course, wintertime itself is a constant reminder of the year-end holidays, and there is truly no escaping all of the Christmas music, commercials, office parties, decorations, rampaging Krampi, etc.
Horror marathons are important because they set a mood, or what I like to call ‘Halloween Spirit’. Even if you can’t enjoy cascades of brilliant leaves and cozy hayrides, you can always open a portal to the moon-kissed realms on your television.
Here are 13 TV mini-series or single seasons for you to freshen up this year’s marathon.
Ultraviolet – BBC
This stylish techno-thriller is only six episodes long. It stars Idris Elba (!), with an appearance by Stephen Moyer as a vampire (!)
Hemlock Grove – Season 1
The first season of this show has werewolves, vampires, monsters, and mad-science. The cast is great (Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgard, Dougray Scott, Lili Taylor) and so is their chemistry. And it’s DARK.
Werewolf
This sleeper hit from the late 80’s was the most elusive thrill of my childhood. Every rare once in a while I’d manage to catch an episode and watch transfixed as colossal werewolves battled for dominance.
Being Human
This low-key BBC series is about a werewolf, a ghost and a vampire who share a flat. The show runs for several seasons and was adapted in America, but Season One is a strong mix of character and horror.
Juda
This Israeli production is a horror-comedy about a small time criminal who returns from a trip in Romania with new problems, powers and a terrible thirst. It’s suffers from a lower budget but makes up for it with mad-cap performances.
The Frankenstein Chronicles
Also from BBC, this mystery set in the grimdark Victorian era follows Sean Bean(!) as he tracks down the one responsible for a rash of mutilated bodies. Season One is phenomenal – fortunately it is a complete story, so you can avoid Season Two.
The Passage
This vampire thriller only lasted one season on Fox, but the relationship between leads Mark-Paul Gosselaar and child actress Saniyya Sidney was fantastic. The secret power struggle with the psychic vampire master Jamie McShane is also great – the entire cast kills it in this one. Don’t worry about the show being cancelled – it wraps up at the end.
Dracula
This NBC adaptation starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers is bonkers in a wonderful way. It functions almost like a prequel to the story we know, re-mixing and re-contextualizing the relationships and motivations between all the classic characters.
Forever Knight
The last vampire show on this list is a 90’s gem about a vampire cop. One of the vampires from Forever Knight even made a blink-and-you’ll-miss it cameo on Buffy.
Slasher
The first season of this show was more brutal, clever and fun than I expected it to be. If you like the ‘Scream’ franchise, you’ll like season one of Slasher.
Scream
I’d also recommend MTV’s first season of Scream! A worthy addition to the franchise.
Death Note
The animated adaptation of Death Note floored me, even though I’d already read the manga. This twisty supernatural saga about dueling geniuses and death gods has a global body count.
Death Valley
MTV made a COPS style mockumentary show about an LAPD task force that handled the werewolves, vampires and zombies in the San Fernando Valley. Bizarre, gory, silly, fun.
A twisted faerie finds a lost child, a teenage werewolf sneaks out during a full moon, and a legion of monsters begins the downfall of man. Explore Halloween from Appalachia to the Arctic Circle and journey from the Old West to Mars.
This spooktacular goody bag harvests all the joys and terrors of the best night of the year. If you love air crisp as cider and scented with burning leaves, if you greet the darkness with a jack o’lantern grin, and if you yearn for the veil between worlds to grow thin, then you bleed orange & black.
We Bleed Orange & Black is FREE for the next few days!
We Bleed Orange & Black presents 31 fun-sized tales of Halloween from author Jeff C. Carter.
Reviewers are saying,
“This book is a MUST READ for Halloween lovers.”
-Jamie, 5 Star Amazon Review
“I LOVED THIS COLLECTION. The stories were well-paced, distinctive, and held my attention throughout. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to keep the spooky spirit alive this year.”
– Briana Morgan Books
“Each tale is unique and transports you to a different place or time, providing the perfect escape during a Halloween season that we will likely need it most.”
-All Hallow’s Geek.com
“I absolutely loved it and it was the perfect way to kick off October! “
There’s a great review of We Bleed Orange & Black over at All Hallows Geek and my in-depth interview just popped up on The Big Seance podcast. I wanted to post those links here before the swirling newsfeeds and social media moved on.
“the perfect collection of short stories for Halloween in quarantine.”
All Hallows Geek has become a vital source of news for me amid the constant changes and upheavals with this year’s Halloween. I highly recommend you sign up to stay updated (and enjoy reviews and long form entertainment like the live streaming concert and behind the music with Sean Keller!)
I had an absolute blast talking with Patrick on The Big Seance podcast. He’s working hard to present a bonanza of Halloween entertainment this year and is always keeping it spooky with paranormal investigations and ghostly topics. Listen to find out what happens when fudge meets salad!
I’ll have a few more interviews and reviews to share in the coming weeks, but these two were definitely highlights!
A twisted faerie finds a lost child, a teenage werewolf sneaks out during a full moon, and a legion of monsters begins the downfall of man. Explore Halloween from Appalachia to the Arctic Circle and journey from the Old West to Mars.
This spooktacular goody bag harvests all the joys and terrors of the best night of the year. If you love air crisp as cider and scented with burning leaves, if you greet the darkness with a jack o’lantern grin, and if you yearn for the veil between worlds to grow thin, then you bleed orange & black. Get it now!
Book 3 of the acclaimed Weird Western series, Merkabah Rider!
The Rider and Kabede must rally a US Cavalry troop against an army of the undead led by three of Adon’s renegade riders if they are to survive THE LONG SABBATH.
The Rider infiltrates an Apache stronghold to convince the combined forces of Vittorio and Geronimo not to lend their might to the forces of THE WAR PROPHET.
The Rider sets out to rescue the succubus Nehema from the wrath of THE MULES OF THE MAZZIKIM.
In a frontier prison, he comes face to face with his greatest enemy, THE MAN CALLED OTHER.
Finally, seeking to learn the remaining secrets of Adon’s plot to bring about The Hour of Incursion, the Rider and his companions arrive in Tombstone only to be confronted with the horror of THE FIRE KING TRIUMPHANT.
Phew! That’s a lot of books, I bet the shelves inside your eReader are starting to creak. If I could toss one more slim volume upon the pile, it would be my new collection:
Between The Teeth
16 tales of horror and science fiction that will sink their fangs into you and won’t let go.
Get it here, enjoy your books and have a Happy Hallowe’en!
Jeff C. Carter’s stories have been featured in dozens of anthologies, translated for international markets and adapted for podcasts.
His love of science, adventure and Halloween continue to inspire his science fiction, action and horror writing. He lives in Southern California with a cat, a dog and a human.
Author Jeff C. Carter 