Fright Night Horror

When did you first become interested in writing? I’ve been writing for a very long, long time.  I started writing for the school newspaper The Jaguar News in sixth grade. My first pro sale was in 1983 for a regional music magazine, The Prairie Sun I did a record review of Pink Floyd’s “The Final Cut.” My first national sale was in 1993 to Starlog magazine. And my first book was in 2003. I’ve written hundreds of articles and interviews in newspapers and have over 45 published books. How did you get involved in fantasy/horror? When I was a kid, I use to watch a local horror show called Acri Creature Feature that showed all the classic horror movies and I really loved them. I started reading the books, which the movies were based on sometime in Junior High School, Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. After that I was hooked. Tell us about your first publisher. I spent close to a decade writing and trying to get my first book, the vampire novel LIQUID DIET...

When did you first become interested in writing? I’ve been writing for a very long, long time.  I started writing for the school newspaper The Jaguar News in sixth grade. My first pro sale was in 1983 for a regional music magazine, The Prairie Sun I did a record review of Pink Floyd’s “The Final Cut.” My first national sale was in 1993 to Starlog magazine. And my first book was in 2003. I’ve written hundreds of articles and interviews in newspapers and have over 45 published books. How did you get involved in fantasy/horror? When I was a kid, I use to watch a local horror show called Acri Creature Feature that showed all the classic horror movies and I really loved them. I started reading the books, which the movies were based on sometime in Junior High School, Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. After that I was hooked. Tell us about your first publisher. I spent close to a decade writing and trying to get my first book, the vampire novel LIQUID DIET publishe...

When did you first become interested in writing? I’ve been writing for a very long, long time.  I started writing for the school newspaper The Jaguar News in sixth grade. My first pro sale was in 1983 for a regional music magazine, The Prairie Sun I did a record review of Pink Floyd’s “The Final Cut.” My first national sale was in 1993 to Starlog magazine. And my first book was in 2003. I’ve written hundreds of articles and interviews in newspapers and have over 45 published books. How did you get involved in fantasy/horror? When I was a kid, I use to watch a local horror show called Acri Creature Feature that showed all the classic horror movies and I really loved them. I started reading the books, which the movies were based on sometime in Junior High School, Dracula by Bram Stoker and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. After that I was hooked. Tell us about your first publisher. I spent close to a decade writing and trying to get my first book, the vampire novel LIQUID DIET publi...

Ahead of the UK premiere of Jill Gevarguzian’s THE STYLIST, lead actress Najarra Townsend talks about being drawn to dark characters, loving film festivals and swapping LA for the English countryside In THE STYLIST, you play Claire, a murderous hairstylist who doesn’t just cut hair! It’s a very restrained yet chillingly emotive performance. What research did you do in order to understand the mind of someone who is, essentially, a serial killer? The majority of my research for Claire was actually building her backstory. I started with our Writer/Director Jill Gervargizian’s backstory notes on the character and then filled in all the blanks. I always approach a role by creating a life history for them. Memories are vital for me to have for every character. Jill also suggested I read “House of Psychotic Women” by Kier-La Janisse, which is about the exploration of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films. I actually did only a small bit of research on real female seria...

Ahead of the UK premiere of Jill Gevarguzian’s THE STYLIST, lead actress Najarra Townsend talks about being drawn to dark characters, loving film festivals and swapping LA for the English countryside In THE STYLIST, you play Claire, a murderous hairstylist who doesn’t just cut hair! It’s a very restrained yet chillingly emotive performance. What research did you do in order to understand the mind of someone who is, essentially, a serial killer? The majority of my research for Claire was actually building her backstory. I started with our Writer/Director Jill Gervargizian’s backstory notes on the character and then filled in all the blanks. I always approach a role by creating a life history for them. Memories are vital for me to have for every character. Jill also suggested I read “House of Psychotic Women” by Kier-La Janisse, which is about the exploration of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films. I actually did only a small bit of research on real female serial killers....

Ahead of the UK premiere of Jill Gevarguzian’s THE STYLIST, lead actress Najarra Townsend talks about being drawn to dark characters, loving film festivals and swapping LA for the English countryside In THE STYLIST, you play Claire, a murderous hairstylist who doesn’t just cut hair! It’s a very restrained yet chillingly emotive performance. What research did you do in order to understand the mind of someone who is, essentially, a serial killer? The majority of my research for Claire was actually building her backstory. I started with our Writer/Director Jill Gervargizian’s backstory notes on the character and then filled in all the blanks. I always approach a role by creating a life history for them. Memories are vital for me to have for every character. Jill also suggested I read “House of Psychotic Women” by Kier-La Janisse, which is about the exploration of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films. I actually did only a small bit of research on real female serial k...

Saturday nights in November belong to the vice-like grip of POSSESSED SEASON on Horror Channel, with Channel premieres for EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING, the prequel to The Exorcist, starring Stellan Skarsgård as Father Merrin, the demon-beleaguered priest, and THE EXORCIST III, written and directed by William Peter Blatty. There is also a UK TV premiere for Chad Archibald's chilling occult fantasy THE HERETICS, and Scott Derrickson's supernatural chiller DELIVER US FROM EVIL completes the devilish line-up. Full film details in transmission order: Saturday 7 November @ 21:00 – EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (2004) *Channel Premiere Having abandoned his faith, Father Merrin joins an archaeological excavation in Kenya, where an ancient church has been unearthed - and beneath it, something much older waits to be awoken. As madness descends upon the villagers, he watches helplessly as the blood of innocents flows. But, the horror has only just begun and in the place where Evi...

Saturday nights in November belong to the vice-like grip of POSSESSED SEASON on Horror Channel, with Channel premieres for EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING, the prequel to The Exorcist, starring Stellan Skarsgård as Father Merrin, the demon-beleaguered priest, and THE EXORCIST III, written and directed by William Peter Blatty. There is also a UK TV premiere for Chad Archibald's chilling occult fantasy THE HERETICS, and Scott Derrickson's supernatural chiller DELIVER US FROM EVIL completes the devilish line-up. Full film details in transmission order: Saturday 7 November @ 21:00 – EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (2004) *Channel Premiere Having abandoned his faith, Father Merrin joins an archaeological excavation in Kenya, where an ancient church has been unearthed - and beneath it, something much older waits to be awoken. As madness descends upon the villagers, he watches helplessly as the blood of innocents flows. But, the horror has only just begun and in the place where Evi...

DUNE DRIFTER is a big departure from your other films. Have you always wanted to make a sci-fi actioner? I've always loved sci-fi and have the best time working on action sequences. Putting those things together has been a lifelong ambition. For a long time I've felt that it's important to walk through the doors that open for you. The opportunity cropped up to do a sci-fi with a modest budget; I thought we could make something fun and personal. So we dove in! Who / what are the film's heaviest influences? I'm probably quite mainstream with my tastes. I definitely borrow a lot from Star Wars. The number 47 pops up as a little nod to Star Trek and we also called the Terran command ship "Valiant" as a little nod to what the Defiant from DS9 was nearly called. But the biggest influences are definitely Roger Corman and Charles Band. I grew up watching their films and at the time I couldn't distinguish the difference in qualit...

DUNE DRIFTER is a big departure from your other films. Have you always wanted to make a sci-fi actioner? I've always loved sci-fi and have the best time working on action sequences. Putting those things together has been a lifelong ambition. For a long time I've felt that it's important to walk through the doors that open for you. The opportunity cropped up to do a sci-fi with a modest budget; I thought we could make something fun and personal. So we dove in! Who / what are the film's heaviest influences? I'm probably quite mainstream with my tastes. I definitely borrow a lot from Star Wars. The number 47 pops up as a little nod to Star Trek and we also called the Terran command ship "Valiant" as a little nod to what the Defiant from DS9 was nearly called. But the biggest influences are definitely Roger Corman and Charles Band. I grew up watching their films and at the time I couldn't distinguish the difference in qualit...

When did you first become interested in horror? I guess it was when I was 14 years old and watched the film "The Fearless Vampire Hunters", which was not exactly a serious horror film, but it did ease me into the genre. I really became interested when I learned about my family's relationship to Bram Stoker; his youngest brother Dr George Stoker is my great grandfather, making Bram my great grand uncle. I became most interested when I was in University and did a research paper and read the book "In Search of Dracula" by R. McNally and R. Florescu. At what age did you know you were related to Bram Stoker? It was at the age of 12 during Halloween time, I would be the object of jokes by my friends about coming to my home for trick or treat, when the question was raised if I would take their blood or give them candy. I asked my father what they were joking about and he sat me down and told me about our famous relative. How do yo...