News

Word of a new project that combines the works of Edgar Allan Poe with the talented team at Macabre Mansion has arrived. Check out the first details on the original all-star audio drama Poe Poe Pitiful Me.

From the Press Release:

Producers Daniel Roebuck and Kevin Herren are teaming up to produce Poe Poe Pitiful Me. Hosted by Dr. Shocker (Roebuck), our story follows struggling writer Edgar Allan Poe as he pitches three of his original stories to a publisher.

The three Poe stories - The Oblong Box, The Cask Of Amontillado, and Premature Burial - stay true to Poe's original writings with only minor changes in dialogue.

"This audio drama will be a little different than the rest of the 'Macabre Mansion Presents' series," Herren said. "It's going to be a comedic fictional day in the life of Poe with three of Poe's short stories being played out inside the fictional piece.

Audio horror is making a bit of a comeback, and two people who are helping with the resurgence - Jim O'Rear and Kevin Herren - have a new project heading our way called Tales from Beyond. On the CD you'll hear the familiar voices of Daniel Roebuck, Robert Picardo, and many more.

From the Press Release:

Tales From Beyond, a new paranormal audio drama series, is coming to audio CD from producers Jim O’Rear and Kevin Herren. Hosted/narrated (in "The Twilight Zone" style) by beloved actor Daniel Roebuck ("Lost") and featuring an all-star cast including Robert Picardo ("China Beach," The Howling), Jim O’Rear (The Dead Matter, Star Trek 4), Kyle Hebert (Dragon Ball Z, Resident Evil), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Blade, X-Men, Naruto), and Betsy Rue (Halloween II, My Bloody Valentine).

In addition to the audio CD, a feature-length documentary will be released later this year on DVD featuring...

Many people, myself included, hate hospitals. They're generally scary places where people die any second of the day. Then there's that smell. The emergency room chaos. Oh, and the vengeful spirits that prowl the halls don't help much either!

Below you'll find the latest artwork for The Hospital written by Jim O'Rear and Daniel Emery Taylor. Taylor also co-directs the film with Tommy Golden. Check out the official The Hospital Facebook page for more.

John Dugan (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and April Burril (Chainsaw Sally) star.

Synopsis

Old St. Leopold’s Hospital has many urban legends surrounding it, but the residents of Bridgeport all agree on one thing: tortured souls roam its abandoned halls. The mystery proves too much for a pretty young student who decides to investigate for her senior class project. Unfortunately, she does not find ghosts. She, instead, finds Stanley… serial rapist, murderer, and psychopath. As the...

By David Harkness, MoreHorror.com

Killer new poster art (sneak peek) for the upcoming haunted film The Hospital has just been sent over to us. We can't wait to see more!

From The Press Release:

Producers with Deviant Pictures (Jim O'Rear, Daniel Emery Taylor, and Tommy Golden) released this sneak peek of the poster artwork for their highly anticipated new film, The Hospital today. The poster was created by renowned horror artist Billy Tackett and provides a glimpse of the madness yet to come.

The Hospital, featuring John Dugan (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Jim O’Rear (The Dead Matter), Daniel Emery Taylor (Return Of The Swamp Thing), Scott Tepperman (Ghost Hunters International), April Burril (Chainsaw Sally), and Jason Crowe (Dead Moon Rising) was filmed in actual, undisclosed haunted locations and mixes themes from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hostel, Saw, and Paranormal Activity to bring to the screen what Tony Todd (Candyman) says is,...

Are you a fan of audio drama? If you've been reading this site for long, you know that we are so when news came of a new release from Macabre Mansion, we had to share. Their latest CD, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, is now available, and we have all the info you need here.

From the Press Release:

Macabre Mansion® Presents The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - an original audio drama adaptation of the classic story by Washington Irving. Starring country music star Mandy Barnett, Kyle Hebert (Dragonball Z, Naruto, Bleach, Gurren Lagann), Virginia Hey (Farscape, Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, The Living Daylights), Tiffany Labarbera (Macabre Mansion Presents… A Christmas Carol), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Naruto, Bleach, Resident Evil: Degeneration), Jim O'Rear (ABC’s "Nashville", Stephen King's The Boogeyman, The Dead Matter), and Daniel Roebuck (ABC’s "Lost", Rob Zombie’s Halloween and Halloween II), this audio adaptation...

Lazy Donkey Films has announced plans for an upcoming project titled The Hospital. Gathering some horror veterans and filming in locations rumored to be truly haunted, The Hospital is scheduled to begin production in August.

Hospitals are rarely settings for feel good moments. Sure, you've got the occasional exception to the rule like when, from her hospital bed, Adrian said, "Win, Rocky, win!" in Rocky II. But normally hospital scenes are more like what Shane discovered while trying to save Rick in the beginning of "The Walking Dead" or the unforgettable hospital moment from Let the Right One In. Now an entire film called The Hospital? That's gotta be trouble.

The film was written by Jim O'Rear and Daniel Emery Taylor. Taylor will also co-direct the film with Tommy Golden. To follow info on this film from day one, like the official The Hospital Facebook page.

From the Press Release

Allied Horror,...

Three Tears on Bloodstained Flesh is a modern, Midwesternized spin on the giallo sub-genre from writer/director Jakob Bilinski, and we have a look at the teaser trailer, several stills, and more!

Synopsis:

Three Tears on Bloodstained Flesh tells the tale of a man with a sordid past who returns to the small town he's long since abandoned to bury his niece. Convinced she was murdered, he begins digging around the town and in the process uncovers its dark secrets, which include a deranged cult and a high body count.

The film stars Bill Gobin, Kayla Crance (East of Nowhere), Jim Dougherty (Scalene), Angela Steele (Beverly Lane), Scott Ganyo (Shade of Grey, Obsolescence, Spike TV's "1000 Ways To Die"), Rosalind Rubin (12 Rounds, Cleaner, Obsolescence), Grant Niezgodski (Reality, Reality on Demand), Sidney Shripka (Reality, Reality on Demand), Kevin Roach (The Book of Dallas, Reality on Demand), Alexander Hahn, and Jim O'Rear (Day of the Dead,...

Hey, indie horror fans in the San Diego area, Santa's showing up a little bit early this year - December 18th to be precise. That's when writer/director Joshua Hull's zombie comedy Beverly Lane will be making its West Coast premiere as part of Horrible Imaginings' Ghoul's Yule.

Hull's Beverly Lane will be keeping some good company that evening as the flick will be screening as a double feature alongside the 1985 cult classic The Return of the Living Dead at the 10th Avenue Theatre, which is located at 930 10th Avenue in Downtown San Diego. A few short films will be featured during the event as well.

Hull will be on hand to take part in all the zombie-related festivities, and admission for the event is just $8. Tickets can be purchased through 10thavenuetheatre.com. For more information on Beverly Lane (which is also currently available on DVD for those of...

Director Joshua Hull's new teaser poster for his next horror flick Idiot Gore has arrived for your viewing pleasure. The tease has been going on for a while now but checking out the poster it looks pretty creepy and cool and I, Brian Shirley get to work on this project so you'll probably be hearing a lot about this flick!

Written and Directed by Hull (Named "Best Emerging Filmmaker" in the 2011 Golden Cobs for his directorial debut Beverly Lane.) The film stars Jim O'Rear, Shawn C. Phillips, Kaylee Williams, Jim Dougherty, Raymond Kester, Noah East, Bryan Wilson, Morgan Shepard, Kitsie Duncan, Angela Steele, Julie Anne, DJ Mincy, Martin Stapleton, Mark A. Nash, Tommy Martin and more!

Synopsis:

Gus Pruitt is a survivor. In high school, he survived a brutal massacre and went on to write numerous books on the experience and star in a reality show. Years later, Gus...

Over the last few months we’ve been closely following indie filmmaker Joshua Hull’s next genre project, the horror comedy Idiot Gore, and now we’ve got something special to share with you dear readers- an exclusive look at the brand new teaser trailer for the project!

Written by Hull, Idiot Gore stars Jim O'Rear, Shawn C. Phillips, Kaylee Williams, Jim Dougherty, Raymond Kester, Noah East, Bryan Wilson, Morgan Shepard, Kitsie Duncan, Angela Steele, Julie Anne, DJ Mincy, Martin Stapleton, Mark A. Nash, and Tommy Martin.

Read on for the official plot crunch, and then dig on the teaser trailer below! Look for more on Idiot Gore soon.

Synopsis:

Gus Pruitt (Jim O'Rear) is a survivor. In high school he survived a brutal massacre and went on to write numerous books on the experience and star in a reality show. Years later Gus has fallen from bestselling author to out of work writer.

Hey peeps! Here's your first look at Joshua Hull's upcoming slasher/comedy Idiot Gore. This one looks like it's going to be a lot of fun so we'll keep a close eye on it for you.

Plot:

Gus Pruitt (Jim O'Rear) is a survivor. In high school, he survived a brutal massacre & went on to write numerous books on the experience & star in a reality show. Years later, Gus has fallen from best selling

author to out of work writer. His once popular show has now become a trainwreck. He hits rock bottom when his show is replaced by a new, popular reality show dealing with slashers.

When the new show has a bloody run in with someone from Gus’s past, the survivors seek Gus & his crew out for help. As both crews unite & discover a masked slasher hunting them down, it’s up to Gus Pruitt to save the day!

Back in November Dread Central told you about an innovative “Create Your Own Killer” contest being held by writer/director Joshua Hull (Beverly Lane) for his upcoming horror comedy Idiot Gore. Well, after sifting through the numerous submissions from the last month and a half, Hull has found his serial killer for the flick courtesy of horror fan Bob Bower of Palm Harbor, Florida.

The killer that slayed the competition? Sadie Grace.

Hull and Bower are playing this one close to the chest, horror fans, so the artwork for Sadie isn’t being released yet (the best way I’d describe her is that she reminds me of the kind of girl Pennywise would settle down with if he lived in a trailer park), but Hull did confirm he’s already secured the woman who’ll bring Sadie to life: none other than bigger-than-life actress Babette Bombshell (Not Another B Movie...

Hey peeps! Who all watches Ghost Adventures? Zack, Nick and Aaron  go to some outlandish places every Friday night searching for ghost and tonight at 9 pm Est on The Travel Channel they will be joined by the Hollywood Ghost Hunters! The Hollywood Ghost Hunters consist of Kane Hodder ( Jason Voorhees), Rick McCallum (Darkwolf), Ra Mihailoff (Leatherface), Danielle Harris ( Halloween), Chris Carnel ( Miner, My Bloody Valentine), Adam Green,( Director: Hatchet, Frozen, Spiral), Richard Friedman( Director, Born, Darkwolf), Robert Pendergraft ( FX Make up, Hatchet 2), Steve Nappe ( Jason X) Jason Miller( Producer, Hatchet 2, Infected) Jim O'Rear, Barry Blaisdell, Louis Horowitz and Brian Collins.  The two factions join up as they invetigate a once-opulent hotel where 19 Chinese immigrants were murdered during a vicious race in 1871. http://www.hollywodghosthunters.com Visit and "Like" the official Hollywood Ghost Hunters Facebook page...

Horror fans, how many times have you been sitting in a theater watching yet another slasher flick and thought to yourself, “Wow, I totally could have come up with something better than that!”? Well, here’s your chance to be part of horror movie history.

Hot on the heels of completing Beverly Lane, writer/director Joshua Hull is already gearing up for his next feature, entitled Idiot Gore, and wants horror fans to have their hand in creating the killer. Hull describes Idiot Gore as a slasher comedy that is like Tropic Thunder meets Halloween.

The film follows a failing reality show host and his rag-tag crew, who get more than they bargained for when they agree to help a young "Laurie Strode" like character being pursued by a masked psychopath. Jim O'Rear, Shawn C. Phillips, Jim Dougherty, Raymond Kester, Noah East, Morgan Shepard, Ronald Short and Pat Hardy are...

Last summer we told you about Macabre Mansion's audio drama adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher", and it's now available for purchase on CD including two bonus commentary tracks featuring stars Kevin Sorbo and Jim O'Rear.

Here are the details:

"The Fall of the House of Usher", starring Kevin Sorbo, John Billingsley, Bonita Friedericy, and Jim O'Rear, stays true to Poe's original vision with only minor changes in dialogue. The script consists of four speaking roles: Roderick Usher (O'Rear), Madeline Usher (Friedericy), the family Doctor (Billingsley), and the Narrator (Sorbo), who is an un-named childhood friend of Roderick. The audio drama has the same feel and style of classic old time radio shows.

Synopsis - "Driven to the edge of insanity, Roderick Usher believes unknown forces torture his every moment. In a final attempt at finding a moment's peace, he...

Jim O'Rear isn't just an actor, no, no ,no! Mr. O'Rear as done stunt work, writes, produces and directs so he does wear many hats in the film making biz. Check out my latest "Versus" as we get to know Jim O'Rear better and all the projects he's working on and other cool stuff.

Brian S- First off, Jim, how'd you get into acting?

Jim O'Rear- It was by accident, actually. Many, many years ago (when I was about 11 years old) I was performing across the country as “The Youngest Professional Magician,” appearing with people like Harry Blackstone Jr. and The Great Tomsoni. After a performance, one night, a television producer approached me and asked if I’d like to act in a television commercial. I told him that I wasn’t interested and that I didn’t know anything about acting. He tried to tell me that what...

Here’s a little secret about me: I love action figures. In fact, I’ve always wanted to get myself immortalized in action figure form. And while I wait to get that dream fulfilled, Dread Central recently learned of some really fun new action figures that are making their debut this October for the indie horror comedy Beverly Lane.

Writer/director Joshua Hull sent word over that in honor of Beverly Lane’s October 29th premiere, he had a set of action figures made of some of the key cast members and will be giving them out during the premiere event in Indiana. If the response is great enough, Hull teased there just may be an opportunity to purchase sets of the figures in the future.

The four characters from left to right are Adam Cadabra (Jim O'Rear), Andy (Noah East), Susan (Debora J. Mincy), and Scotty the Janitor (Mark A. Nash...

A few months back Dread Central introduced you to one of our indie filmmakers to watch - Joshua Hull, who had just completed his first feature, Beverly Lane. Now Hull is about to unleash Beverly Lane on audiences in the Midwest, and we’ve got the details right here, including an exclusive look at the brand new one-sheet for the film.

Written and directed by Joshua Hull, Beverly Lane is set to premiere on October 29th at midnight at the Hamilton 16 IMAX theater in Noblesville, In. Tickets to this event are just $7.25, and those in attendance will get so much more than just a night with some flesh-eating zombies. The premiere event kicks off with a costume contest in the theater mezzanine between 10:30-10:45 pm, and contestants will be competing for tons of great prizes.

Synopsis:

Beverly Lane follows a local metal company as they celebrate the retirement...

As regular readers of the site know, I'm a huge fan of radio drama, audio horror, or whatever you want to call it so you can bet my ears perked up when an email about Macabre Mansion's audio drama adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "The Fall of the House of Usher" landed in my inbox.

Here are the details:

"The Fall of the House of Usher" stars Kevin Sorbo, John Billingsley, Bonita Friedericy, and Jim O'Rear and will be coming to compact disc this October. The adaptation stays true to Poe's original vision with only minor changes in dialogue.

The script consists of four speaking roles; Roderick Usher (O'Rear), Madeline Usher (Friedericy), the family Doctor (Billingsley), and the Narrator (Sorbo), who is an un-named childhood friend of Roderick. The audio drama will have the same feel and style of classic old time radio shows.

A portion...

Melanie Robel has only been acting in the "biz" for a few short years and she's already added the "executive producer" status to her resume with the upcoming Post Mortem America: 2021. Check out the interview below where she talks about her projects, what she does in her spare time and her guilty pleasures. Melanie also surfs and I needs me some lessons, I wonder if she's up for this kinf of task? This first image of Melanie is from artist Dennis Willman who does these amazing "Playzom" pieces inside his upcoming Ginger-Stein series and also does work with Comic Book Divas.



Brian S- Hi Melanie, so how'd you get into acting?

Melanie- When I was very young we discovered that I was able to memorize movie dialogs by listening, and then I would do one man shows. Complete with voice and expression changes. I remember my sisters and I would reenact the songs in Annie.

The Winners have been announced for this year's Golden Cob Awards, which celebrate and recognise excellence in independent cinema.

Brooke Lewis was named Best Scream Queen for her role in Slime City Massacre. The runner-up was her co-star Debbie Rochon.

Brooke (pictured) said: "I am honoured and elated to win the incredible title of Best Scream Queen.

"I want to thank and acknowledge Bill Dever and the nominating committee for the Golden Cob Awards, Greg Lamberson and the passionate cast and crew of Slime City Massacre, the beautiful and talented horror/sci-fi actresses who were also nominated (especially Debbie Rochon, whom I admire greatly) and all of you who continue to support me through this crazy career I love so much."

The awards will be presented at The B Movie Celebration film festival in Franklin, Indiana, on September 25. The festival itself is on from September 24 to 26.

Other winners were:

Best...

Here is looking ahead, to the 2010 Circus of Terror where several guests have already announced their attendance for the event. To show in New Orleans, the convention will host Doug Jones (Carnies), Ernie Hudson (A State of Hate), Camden Toy (The Godmother), Brooke Lewis (Kinky Killers), Kane Hodder (Frozen) and many others including several current or former professional wrestlers. This event begins October 29th and will take place over two days. The films to show have not been announced, but several more attendees can be found inside.

Others in attendance: Cliff Simon, Jay Acavone, Morgan Sheppard, Kevin Thorn Dawn Marie, Kevin Nash, Shelly Martinez, Raven, Daniel Emery Taylor, Jim O'Rear, Ari Lehman, Betsy Rue, and John Stanley.

More details on the Circus of Terror can be found at the fan site below:

Circus of Terror on Fb

Or at the Circus of Terror event:

Circus of Terror Official Website

Stumble It!

A few weeks back we reported on Beverly Lane, the upcoming film from indie filmmaker Joshua Hull currently lensing in Indiana. Since we love you fans so much and want to support indie horror whenever we can, Dread Central is giving you an exclusive look at the first stills from the set.

Feast your eyes on the carnage below!

Official Synopsis:

Beverly Lane follows a local metal company as they celebrate the retirement of their longtime boss with a "Coney Island" themed party. Bored and angry, the workers find themselves stuck with clowns, a magician, a mime, and one very sick barbershop singer. Then all hell breaks loose ... literally! Stuck between zombies and a sideshow, the workers must learn to survive with each other or die trying.

Beverly Lane features cult actor Jim O'Rear (Day of the Dead, the upcoming Post Mortem, America 2021), Mark A. Nash (Live Evil), musician Noah East,...

First time writer/director Joshua Hull definitely did one thing right in prepping his new horror comedy Beverly Lane: He hired Michael Bukowski to do the artwork for the film's eventual DVD release.

But before we show you what Mike came up with for the Beverly Lane poster, here's a synopsis of the storyline:

Beverly Lane follows a local metal company as they celebrate the retirement of their longtime boss with a "Coney Island" themed party. Bored & angry, the workers find themselves stuck with clowns, a magician, a mime, and one very sick barbershop singer. Then all hell breaks loose...literally!

Stuck between zombies and a sideshow, the workers must learn to survive with each other or die trying.

The film, which will begin principal photography this March in Anderson, Indiana, features cult actor Jim O'Rear (Day of the Dead, the upcoming Post Mortem, America 2021), Mark A. Nash (Live Evil), musician Noah East,...

I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that The Wrestler was a pack of lies. Judging by the number of low budget horror movies starring pro wrestlers past their prime instead of being washed up and struggling to make ends meet, Randy the Ram would have been starring in a movie like The Legacy in place of Al Snow. From playing a crazy wrestler that came to the ring with a severed head to playing a crazy killer more likely to sever heads. A natural progression, I think.

I'll just let the synopsis on the official The Legacy website fill you in.

A campy tongue-in-cheek slasher film created as tribute to our favorite B slasher films of the past... Brought to you by the award winning film company "Feathered Italian Films", The Legacy is one hell of a ride.

The film follows a group of young people on their camping vacation.