Conversations in the Dark: Universal Armageddon Part 1, w/ Miguel Rodriguez!

A little while back in Conversations in the Dark, I had as my special guest for a series of discussions, the one and only Miguel Rodriguez of the Monster Island Resort podcast. Both here, and at Monster Island Resort, Miguel and I discussed the massive 28-film Godzilla series in exhaustive detail. It was a lot of fun, and I hope a lot of people enjoyed it. However, once it was done, we were left with that empty feeling inside, and determined we should continue our discussion on a different topic.

That topic would turn out to be the classic Universal monster movies. We both agreed we would next turn our attentions to those timeless horror gems of Hollywood's home for horror during the golden age. What you have here is the first chapter in this brand new series, in which we take on the first half of Universal's Frankenstein series, arguably the studio's flagship franchise.

So join Miguel and I as we wax philosophical on Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein. You'll hear tales of Boris Karloff, James Whale, Dwight Frye, Elsa Lanchester, Basil Rathbone and more. Listen in on the embedded player below, or head over to the official Vaultcast page and download for listening at your leisure!


Stay tuned for further Vaultcasts in the Universal Armageddon series!

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VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark w/RayRay

It's one of those movies that is on just about every serious horror fans favorites list. John Carpenter's The Thing is one of the most debated and dissected films of all time, and so is certainly fertile ground for lengthy discussion. So when I wanted to discuss, debate and dissect the movie, I contacted one of my longest-running Vault contributors, and someone who has been kind of silent as of late.

I've known RayRay for more than two decades now, and I can tell you that he knows The Thing in a way that few people know any movies. He lives, eats and breathes it. So what better reason to drag Ray out of parental mothballs than to talk ad nauseum about this true masterpiece of genre cinema? The result was a Vaultcast that went far longer than most, so I hope you'll forgive our long-windedness.

If, however, long-windedness is what you're looking for, then you've come to the right place. When was Blair assimilated? What does the Thing really want? How does it work? And what the hell happened to Fuchs? Ray and I discussed the weighties, and generally rambled on and on for nearly an hour and a half, so if that's your bag, then go ahead and take a listen to this very special "You Gotta Be Effin' Kiddin' Me" edition of Conversations in the Dark. You can either listen directly to the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page to download for listening at your leisure...




And for more from RayRay, here are some of the gentleman/scholar's finest posts:

Rob Zombie's Halloween: A Review
The Thirteen Most Badass Heroes in Horror
What Goes Bump in the Night....?
What Goes Bump in the Night....? Chapter II
This Old Haunted House
Howard Phillips Lovecraft: A Paean
First Time Around: Space Monsters

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VAULTCAST EXCLUSIVE! Catching Up with Zacherley, the Cool Ghoul

I've got a special Christmas treat for you this week, kids. This is something I've been sitting on for quite a while now, so you must forgive me for the delay. But at last, the time has come.

Last spring, I made my usually annual sojourn to Chiller Theatre, this time with Captain Cruella, Zombelina and Wee-Sol all in tow. And we had the great luck of running into a true all-time legend of horror at that show--the one and only Zacherley, the iconic Northeast horror host whose famous broadcasts enthralled baby boomers for years.

Long the "mayor" of the Chiller Theatre convention, the 93-year-old Zacherley was proudly holding court that day in New Jersey, but gladly agreed to sit down and be interviewed for The Vault of Horror just a few days later. The following recording is the result of that interview, in which the old school horror host recounts all the details of his vast career, covering his years in radio and early TV, including the late-night movies that are still so fondly remembered by "monster kids" everywhere...

Listen to the interview on the embedded player below, or proceed to the official Vaultcast page and download it for listening later!

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VAULTCAST! Exclusive Interview w/Best-Selling Dark Fantasy & Paranormal Fiction Writer Leanna Renee Hieber!

About a year ago, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting one of the true rising stars of dark fantasy and paranormal fiction, novelist Leanna Renee Hieber, through a mutual friend, KT Grant of the superb blog Babbling About Books and More. Since then, I've wanted to have her as a guest in the Vaultcast, and I finally did so just a few weeks ago. The result is posted here for your enjoyment, and I apologize in advance for getting it posted so late. Alas, such is the dilemma of a hyper-busy Vault Keeper.

Known for her Strangely Beautiful series, which has already been optioned as a musical theatre production, Ms. Hieber is now launching a brand new series that is sure to soon be the talk of dark fantasy and gothic young adult fiction circles: Magic Most Foul. Steeped in a deep appreciation of history and literature, she is a genre writer who is refreshingly proud of being a genre writer, and it was a real treat speaking with her.

So listen in as we chat about her work, as well as various literary and cultural non-sequiturs along the way. You can either listen on the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page and download it for listening at your leisure...



Pre-order signed copies of Darker Still: A Novel of Magic Most Foul!

Leanna Renee Hieber's website

Leanna Renee Hieber on Facebook

Leanna Renee Hieber on Twitter

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VAULTCAST! Interview w/Tom Six & Laurence Harvey, Director & Star of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2!

It's the most talked-about horror film of 2011, and I've got an interview with the men both behind and in front of the camera. The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) has already been banned in a few countries, and has been making quite a stir, so it was impossible to pass up an opportunity to chat with director Tom Six and star Laurence Harvey (who sounded so nice and loveable with his gentle Liverpool accent that I couldn't match up the voice with the monstrous character he plays in the film).

I'll reserve my opinions for my upcoming review of the movie (keep checking Babbling About Books, and More, where I also reviewed the first film,) but for now, let's all enjoy this little chat with Tom Six and Laurence Harvey (my apologies for the occasionally shoddy audio.) Feel free to listen in on the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page, where you can download it for later!

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VAULTCAST! Conversations in the Dark: Pax Romano

He's one of horror's most political and outspoken filmmakers. Over the past 45 years, George Romero has given us a body of work unlike anyone else in the genre. Along the way, he's become a Hollywood outsider, doing things his way--or at least trying his best to.

To discuss Romero and his work, I brought on a blogger whom I've admired for some time now, the masked and mysterious Pax Romano of Billy Loves Stu. A fellow Romero fan and zombie lover, Pax was a whole lot of fun to have on Conversations along with me and my very own zombie companion, Captain Cruella. We get into everything from the Living Dead flicks to Martin, Creepshow and all points in between (not to mention a brief but entertaining non sequitur into the world of horror porn parodies...)

So listen in on the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page and download for listening at your leisure!


Blog: http://billylovesstue.blogspot.com

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EXCLUSIVE! The Abominable Dr. Phibes DVD Commentary, with B-Sol & Capt. Cruella!

Few films--or, truth be told, life experiences--bring my soul as much pure joy as The Abominable Dr. Phibes, Vincent Price's camp masterpiece of 1971. A gift of unadulterated bliss from the movie gods, Phibes holds a special place in my heart, and its viewing has become nothing short of a transcendent experience.

And so, it was with great glee that I approached the concept of recording a DVD commentary for the picture. Suggested by Captain Cruella as a followup to our recent Zombi 2 commentary, the idea was simply too good to pass up. After all, I'd certainly seen the film enough times to be able to pontificate about it with confidence, and we both relished the opportunity to convey our adoration for it.

I hope you get a kick out of watching the movie with our commentary if you choose to do so, and that it adds something for those of you who, like myself, have lost track of how many times you've seen it. As with previous VoH DVD commentaries, simply sync up the movie with the commentary by (more or less) simultaneously starting our audio track and the movie itself on your DVD, in order to watch the film while you listen to us blabbing about it. You can find the audio embedded below, or head over the brand-new Vault of Horror DVD commentary podcast page and download it!

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VAULTCAST! Conversations in the Dark: Kevin Maher

I've been an admirer of the work of Kevin Maher for some time now. His well-regarded genre video clip show series, Kevin Geeks Out, was an eye-opener for me, and if you've been reading the Vault for a while, you may have seen my reviews of several of those events. Simply put, Kevin is a kindred spirit, a fellow unabashed geek--and so I'd been eager to have him as a guest on Conversations in the Dark for a while.

Thankfully, it finally happened, and it was worth the wait. Having just come off a first-time viewing of Stephen King's Maximum Orverdrive, Mr. Maher was pretty jazzed to wax rhapsodic on the topic of killer machines. Which is pretty ambitious, since this is probably not one of the most high-profile of horror subgenres. But we went for it, and with an assist from Captain Cruella, put together a little something I think you'll enjoy. So listen in as I'm joined by a brilliant TV comedy writer and movie nerd for a discussion of murderous vending machines and homicidal laundry folders.

Take a listen on the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page and download it for listening at your leisure...



Blog: http://ThisKevin.blogspot.com

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VAULTCAST: The LANCE HENRIKSEN Interview!

Aliens. Pumpkinhead. Near Dark. Millennium. The list goes on and and on. Lance Henriksen is a legend whose work has inspired me since I was a child. And last night, I got to interview him. In a career filled with celebrity interviews, I have to honestly say that this was one of the absolute biggest for me. A fanboy moment, if you will.

With today being the conclusion of the epic Lance Henriksen Blogathon hosted by John Kenneth Muir, what better time to unleash this, perhaps the proudest moment in Vault of Horror history? I'm very excited to present the VoH Lance Henriksen interview, in honor of the publication of his new autobiography, Not Bad for a Human, co-authored by Joe Maddrey.

You may listen on the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page and download it for listening at your leisure!


Check out my review of NOT BAD FOR A HUMAN over at Fangoria.com...
From the Vault Archives! The Many Faces of Lance Henriksen...

Special thanks to Rebecca Feldbin of Nancy Iannios Public Relations for helping to make this interview possible.

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"We Are Going to Eat You!" ZOMBI 2 DVD Commentary from B-Sol & Capt. Cruella!

For those of you living in the Outer Rim territories, the outstanding horror site Brutal as Hell just unleashed Zombie Jesus Weekend in recognition of Easter, and it sure was a lot of unwholesome, sacrilegious fun. And Captain Cruella and I were tickled pink when BAH impresario Marc Patterson invited us to be a part of it! Marc gave us carte blanche, and so we came up with the delightful idea of providing our very own "DVD commentary" for one of the most heinous grindhouse zombie movies of all time, Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2.

This ran on Brutal as Hell over the weekend, but I couldn't resist reposting it here for all you Vault dwellers, and so with Mr. Patterson's blessing--here it is! For those unfamiliar, the way it works is simple: sync up the audio of our commentary with your DVD of Zombi 2, starting both simultaneously so that our track plays over the movie. And just like that, it's like you're watching it with us... This was tremendously enjoyable to record, and I hope you get even half the kick out of it that we did.

Listen on the embedded player below, or download it for later use!


And while you're listening, take the experience to the next level (courtesy of Cruella's Concoctions) by enjoying a Caipirinha, a fine cocktail that fits right in with the tropical theme of Fulci's flick!

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VAULTCAST! Conversations in the Dark: Tenebrous Kate

This is one I've been anticipating for a long time... For as long as I've been doing Conversations in the Dark, actually. Tenebrous Kate is probably my closest real-life, real-world pal out of the entire horror blogosphere, and I respect the living hell out of her. She's got style, she's got talent, and she's also got the coolest taste in flicks of almost anyone I know.

I had a chance to hear her give an amazing presentation on Enzo Castellari's The New Barbarians at a special Post-Apocalypse edition of Kevin Geeks Out! some time ago, and to say it left an impression on me would be a major understatement--hell, I became a full-on convert to one of exploitation cinema's most fascinating subgenres! So, when the time came to finally have the esteemed Kate on my Vaultcast, there was no question at all as to what we would be chatting about...

I hope you enjoy our giddy discussion on the end of the world... Feel free to listen in on the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page and download it for listening at your leisure!



Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire: http://tenebrouskate.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tenebrouskate
Tumblr: http://tenebrouskate.tumblr.com

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Special Teaser for Visions from the Vault: The Dark Poetry of H.P. Lovecraft!

I'm quite passionate about H.P. Lovecraft, and have recently also become quite passionate about public reading. So when Ashley Drewes of the amazing Sugartown Vintage Boutique in Saugerties, New York offered me the opportunity to combine the two, it was kind of a no-brainer. And so was born, Visions from the Vault: The Dark Poetry of H.P. Lovecraft!

Lovecraft is known first and foremost as a prose writer, so I figured it might be interesting to spotlight some of his verse--not to mention more digestible for the attention-span challenged and HPL newbies. I've got an eclectic lineup of Lovecraft poems I'm looking to read come Saturday, April 9 at Sugartown, and the Captain and I are anxious for any opportunity to return to the lovely land of Saugerties, anyway.

In the meantime, as you await the event with bated breath, take a listen to this little promo Ashley and I put together. You might say I was channeling my inner Vincent Price just a bit...

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VAULTCAST! Conversations in the Dark: Miguel Rodriguez Returns!

Once you get two dyed-in-the-wool Godzillaphiles together, it seems you just can't keep them apart. And so, we come to the third installment of the crossover podcast series Monster Island Resort's Miguel Rodriguez and I have been recording--all about our mutual passion, Big G. This time out, we turn our attention away from the classic Showa series of the 1950s-1970s, and move on to the second series of Godzilla films.

Produced from the mid 1980s through the late 1990s, the Heisei series represented something of a rebirth for the giant lizard. There certainly was a lot of ground to cover, and many films to discuss; but Mr. Rodriguez and I were certainly up to the task. Listen in and join us, won't you?

As always, you have a couple of options. You can listen on the embedded player below, or proceed to the Vaultcast page and download it!



Part 1 of the series!
Part 2 of the series!

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Poe's "LIGEIA" - My Reading, Courtesy of Monster Island Resort

One thing I discovered about myself in the past year (among many) is that I really enjoy live readings. Perhaps it can be chalked up to the whole "being in love with the sound of my own voice" thing, or the fact that I was trained in rhetoric in high school (which, with the addition of $2.25, will currently get me on the subway), but I do get a kick out of public reading, particularly of great works of literature.

Another individual who enjoys this, and is also exceptionally good at it, is my West Coast brother Miguel Rodriguez. Not long ago, Miguel started a series on his acclaimed Monster Island Resort podcast, entitled "MIR Storytime". Using his impressive powers of enunciation, Miguel had been recording himself reading some legendary pieces of horror literature. Needless to say, I became intrigued. And once Miguel gave me permission to contribute to the series, I set about recording my version of "Ligeia"--a prototypical vampire/zombie tale which is one of, if not my very favorite, Edgar Allan Poe short story.

I'm honored that Mr. Rodriguez gave me an opportunity to do this, and was so thrilled to see it posted on his Monster Island Resort podcast homepage, that I asked his permission to repost it right here in The Vault of Horror. And so, dear Vault dwellers, I invite you to proceed directly to the following link, where you may tune in or download it for your macabre listening pleasure:

B-SOL READS EDGAR ALLAN POE'S "LIGEIA"

* The Vault would also like to wish a hearty congrats and attagirl to our very own sister blogger, BJ-C of Day of the Woman, who will be contributing to Yahoo! Movies in the very near future. Nice job, kid. That's how we do it on Team Vault.

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VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/Stacie Ponder

And CitD returns after a month-long hiatus! What better way, I ask, to bring the series back than with the one and only Stacie Ponder, author of a little blog some of you folks may know, by the name of Final Girl? Hmm...anyone?

Anyway, Stacie was kind enough to enter the Vault this week to touch on a ridiculous variety of topics, ranging from the nature of great horror, to why '70s music rocks, to the joys of blog trolls, to why the youth of America is lame, and so much more! So listen in on two crazed individuals going on and on about whatever happens to pop into their heads. It's nothing if not entertaining.

Check it out on the player embedded below, or head over to the Vaultcast page to download it...

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VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/Captain Cruella

The spot: A clandestine, undisclosed location on the New York/Connecticut border. The guest: Captain Cruella, Zombie Queen of the Carnivorous Cadavers. The cuisine: Confidential.

We're here to discuss a fascinating phenomenon in our popular culture: The rise of the zombie. Face it, our undead friends are everywhere, and the movies are just the beginning. They have infiltrated our world, metaphorically speaking. And on Saturday in Saugerties, New York, they will do so literally (well, heh, almost) thanks to Cruella's Village Invasion zombie crawl, which we also touch on (including The Vault of Horror's involvement in the event).

Listen in on all the ghoulish shenanigans on the embedded player below, or head over to the Vaultcast page and download it!



The Village Invasion website
The Captain on Twitter
Press release

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VAULTCAST: Talking with Meir Zarchi, Steven Monroe & Sarah Butler of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE!

One of the privileges I've been afforded since launching The Vault of Horror is being able to interact with those individuals directly involved with the films that have affected me over the years. I had just such an experience earlier this week when, after catching the remake of I Spit on Your Grave at a screening in Manhattan, I was afforded the opportunity to speak about it with the film's director, Steven Monroe; the star, Sarah Butler, who plays Jennifer Hill; and of course, the one and only Meir Zarchi himself--both producer of the remake and director of the still-controversial 1978 original.

It's my distinct pleasure to be able to share this with you, and I'm grateful to all participants for pulling no punches and expecting nothing less in return, especially Mr. Zarchi in our discussion of the much-debated issues of misogyny. Also, thanks to Alexis Hoyt and the rest of the fine people at Falco Ink for reaching out and making these interviews possible. You can listen in on the embedded player below, or proceed to the official Vaultcast page for download...

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VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/Christine Hadden

I'm thrilled about this week's edition of Conversations in the Dark, because Italian horror is one of my favorite topics to discuss. And if there's anyone whose name is synonymous with Italian horror, it would be Dario Argento. Suspiria is one of my all-time favorite horror films, and Argento's signature style in other movies like Deep Red and Tenebrae have long fascinated me.

So of course, I had to bring in one of my favorite Argento fanatics, Ms. Christine Hadden of Fascination with Fear. Christine is more well-versed in Argento than myself--and so, seeking, as always, to make myself look good by surrounding myself with talented individuals, I invited Christine to join me this week. By listening in on the embedded player below, you can hear us wistfully sing the praises of Italy's ambassador of terror, as well as veer into Hitchcock, Deodato and all points in between.

You can also proceed directly to the official Vaultcast page and download the audio!



Fascination with Fear: http://fascinationwithfear.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/slewfan77
Blood Sprayer: http://www.bloodsprayer.com/author/christine/

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VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/Miguel Rodriguez

Have you recently found yourself overcome with the unrelenting need to hear two 30-something year-old men talk for nearly an hour about Japanese monster movies? If so, then boy, have you come to the right place.

This week on the Vaultcast, it is my distinct honor to have as my guest Mr. Miguel Rodriguez, a fellow Godzilla-phile who also happens to run his own podcast, Monster Island Resort. As you can probably tell from the name of his show, Miguel is a huge fan of the big green lizard and his many far-out cohorts and foes. And given my own unconditional love of all things kaiju--see my three-part history of the original Godzilla series--I figured it might be a very good idea if we put our heads together and engaged in some mutual worship of rubber monster suits.

I warn you ahead of time: The geekery involved this week reaches alarming proportions. Your mileage may vary. If you dare to take a listen to our discussion of singing fairies, cockroach people and little boys in tiny shorts, then check out the embedded player below--or proceed directly to the official Vaultcast page to download.



Monster Island Resort podcast: http://www.monsterislandresort.org/
For more on Horrible Imaginings: The Horror Film Festival of San Diego
Twitter: http://twitter.com/MnstrIsleResort

*Special thanks to Captain Cruella of Village Invasion - Crawl of the Dead for forging the unholy Solomon/Rodriguez alliance!

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VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/Kristy Jett

For the first time ever, this time around in Conversations in the Dark we spend our allotted minutes focusing on one film and one film only...more or less. It's an exceptional kind of show this week, but one makes exceptions when one is joined by an online horror dynamo the likes of Ms. Kristy Jett, the omnipresent force whose work can be found on sites like The Blood Sprayer, Fangoria.com and Dread Central, and who is one of the guiding lights behind Fright Rags, online horror T-shirt merchant extraordinaire.

See, Kristy happens to be obsessed with the 1991 slasher/William Castle tribute Popcorn, and since she asked so nicely, we spent a solid half hour-plus waxing rhapsodic about that particular motion picture, amongst a few other random things that will pop up whenever you get two consummate blabbermouths together. So listen in as Kristy and I discuss the film itself, as well as Ms. Jett's ambitions to put together a special-edition, 20th anniversary DVD release worthy of it. Listen below, or head to the Vaultcast page and download!



The Blood Sprayer: http://bloodsprayer.com
Fright Rags: http://www.fright-rags.com

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