Belcourt Theater 12 Hours of Terror RETURNS

This Saturday October 22, 2016, at the historic (and newly renovated) Belcourt theater in Nashville, TN, the 6th annual Halloween event continues with another 12 hour marathon. The website describes it as a marathon of monsters, murderers, mad scientists, myths, mayhem, masked unknowns and mysteries that span the decades and most known exhibition formats.


The fun starts at 10pm - get there early to catch a performance by Nashville spooky rockers The Boo Dudes. This is a must-see event for horror fans in the Middle TN area. The Belcourt staff always does an amazing job, and I will be introducing one of the movies myself during the night, HENRY, PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER.


You can read a recap of last year's event here. It is always a total blast and endurance test of celluloid chills.


General Admission: $20/$15 for Belcourt members. Tickets are going fast, so grab yours early

Here's a shot of the crowd lined up around the corner last year waiting for the doors to open!




So what movies are they showing? Well, you'll have to show up to see! But here's what information the Belcourt has released so far:

THE HOWLING

Joe Dante's 1981 lyncanthropic masterpiece.

HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER

4K 30th-anniversary restoration of John McNaughton's unsettling horror-crime film.

THE PIT, 1981

"A perverted young boy whose teddy bear tells him to throw people in a pit full of monsters."

And here's what local paper THE NASHVILLE SCENE said about the rest of the night:

We can't reveal any of the four remaining titles, but The Belcourt has these little hints for us:

1. "A very rare international supernatural thriller that you'll totally lose your head over"

2. "An under-appreciated gem of '80s paranoia"

3. "A film in anaglyph 3-D"

4. "An eye-popping finale"

Seasonal Scene faves Boo Dudes will rise from the grave to play a set, and there will be a special guest appearance from local legend Dr.  Gangrene. There's more — costume contest, giveaways, gimmicks — but by this point, I'm thinking you're already sold. Admission is $20, and $15 for Belcourt members. Get your hands on tickets at The Belcourt's site.

AGAIN, this is one you don't want to miss. Sat, Oct 22nd 10pm! See you there!

Halloween Triple-Feature hosted by Dr. Gangrene

It's a Halloween triple-feature at the Franklin Drive-in, in Franklin KY on Saturday, October 17th.

In honor of the late Wes Craven, we are showing his 1984 masterpiece NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, along with the 1985 classic THE GOONIES and director Cameron McCasland's short film TAILYPO.

The event is hosted by Nashville Horror Host Dr. Gangrene, and director McCasland will be appearing as well to discuss his film. There will also be a costume contest for kids and adults with prizes, and more. Make plans now, or Freddy will getcha!

Belcourt Spreads Halloween Fun All October

This year the mighty Belcourt theater in Nashville is again bringing a horde of Halloween fun to Music City, but instead of presenting it marathon-style in one all-day event as they did the past two years, they're spreading it out over the entire month of October this year!

First off they are introducing a weekend classic series of VINCENT PRICE films! Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with all things Price related - and now I'll get a chance to see 4 Price classics on the big screen, and you will too - THE TINGLER, THEATRE OF BLOOD, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, and HOUSE OF WAX (2d). Showtimes will be announced soon, but if they do it like they did the Hitchock and Harryhausen classic series of this summer, they'll show them on Sat. and Sun. afternoons.




Next up is a series of double-features every weekend! These look to be especially fun, screening one film at ten and a second-feature at midnight each week. Check out these great films - Argento, Fulci, and even Rosemary's Baby and The Wickerman!  Amazing lineup...

Wickerman 

Oct 18-19 - 

Special Restored FINAL CUT version!

New Midnight Syndicate CD released today!!

 

Midnight Syndicate releases MONSTERS OF LEGEND album

July 19, 2013 (Cleveland, OH) - Symphonic gothic horror musicians MIDNIGHT SYNDICATE have just released their sixteenth studio album, MONSTERS OF LEGEND. This "tribute to the golden age of horror" is inspired by horror films from the silent era, Universal Studios' horror classics, Hammer Films, and other European horror films of the 60s and 70s. It features sweeping symphonic horror instrumental music and sound effects in the signature style the band helped pioneer. "We want to make you feel like you are a character in one of those classic horror films - that you've entered a world where any one of those iconic Universal monsters could be right around the corner," said composer EDWARD DOUGLAS. The CD artwork features original images from classic Universal Studios horror movies including BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, WEREWOLF OF LONDON, and DRACULA.

"Those classic horror films are at the core of what we do in Midnight Syndicate, so to do an entire disc based on them was a lot fun," added Douglas. "Musically it required us to use more traditional orchestral instruments, and use them in more ways than we have in the past. The result is a fuller orchestral sound with a heavy classical music influence. There are plenty of nods to James Bernard, Bernard Herrmann, and other early film composers." Although the band promises the new disc will deliver the dark atmosphere haunted house designers, roleplaying gamers, and Halloween music enthusiasts expect from them, they feel they've crafted a disc that transcends their favorite time of the year. "Like CARNIVAL ARCANE, we feel we've taken things up a notch both musically and with the sound design on this release," said GAVIN GOSZKA. "There's a lot there to listen to and lose yourself in."

 

In addition to over 50 minutes of new music, the band went back into its archives and recreated several tracks from its early releases Born of the Night and Realm of Shadows, bringing the total runtime of the disc to over 65 minutes. "Both the new album and those older ones are set in and around the mysterious hamlet of Arcacia. We felt it would be a great opportunity to breathe new life into a few of our lesser known tracks from those discs to help tell this story. For additional atmosphere the band called on voiceover artist Dick Terhune. "Dick's known throughout the haunted house industry as the "Voice from Hell," needless to say he was the perfect match for this disc," added Goskza.

The CD is available now through the band's website, as well as iTunes and Amazon.com. It will also be available in select Halloween retailers beginning in August. A collector's edition 12" vinyl version is also available on the band's site.

--- 7 / 19 / 13

Official Midnight Syndicate website: www.MidnightSyndicate.com
Midnight Syndicate on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/MidnightSyndicate
Midnight Syndicate on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/MidSyndicate
Dick Terhune - Voice From Hell website: www.VoiceFromHell.com

Happy Halloween!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - starring Michael Renne

Got a special Halloween treat for you ghouls - an unaired episode of Dr. Gangrene Presents -
DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, starring Michael Renne.

Happy October fright fans!

October is finally here and the countdown to Halloween has begun! I started decorating my house this weekend – my teenage son and I set up a graveyard and put a ghoul in an electric chair out front of the house as well. We’ll be adding a few other goodies to the yard too, including a giant grim reaper.

For the 13 years that I did my show I got invited to host many events, but always declined - Halloween was my night off. I have friends who hold an annual get-together on Halloween night, but I love being home for the whole trick or treat ritual and wouldn’t miss it for anything. In the past we’d take our kids around the neighborhood to gather candy, but they’re all older now, so it’ll be the other side of the candy corn for me – I’ll get to enjoy being home to see everyone else’s costumes. This year we’re going to set up a fire bowl and sit around it handing out candy, and I plan to set up a screen and projector and have Halloween movies playing in the yard too, most likely Universal classics.

This Halloween season I’ll be posting a lot of good stuff here on the blog. I plan to do a TOP 10 VAMPIRE MOVIE countdown as well as reviews, Universal Horror stuff, and photos from my film going adventures as there are a shit-load of great movies screening around the Nashville area this October (see the Nashevil link above). So stay tuned for much Halloween fun here on the blog, and enjoy the season my fiends!!



HALLOWEEN returns to the big screen this Halloween

 Now we're talking! The 1978 John Carpenter classic HALLOWEEN is getting a theatrical re-release this Halloween weekend. The Night HE came home indeed! But it's for one night only - Saturday, October 25th. Check THIS WEBSITE for a theater near you. Unfortunately Nashville isn't listed yet, but have no fear. They're still adding locations, and I'm sure Music City will be included in the murderous mayhem.

Hollywood is catching on! Re-releases are the way to go! As I wrote in a blog post recently, re-releasing the original films in theaters is cheaper, easier, and far preferable to the endless string of inferior remakes, especially with a film like Halloween, arguably Carpenter's best work.

So here's what we've got on tap this Halloween season in the way of re-releases:

The Birds – Wednesday, September 19th
Frankenstein/The Bride of Frankenstein (Double Feature) – Wednesday, October 24th
Halloween - Thursday, October 25th
To Kill A Mockingbird – Thursday, November 15th

And don't forget about Raiders of the Lost Ark in theaters now, extended for another week due to wildly successful screenings!  I only wish Halloween would screen for an entire week, like Raiders, or at least a weekend. But beggars can't be choosers, and I'll take what I can get. The Shining is getting re-released in the UK as well this year. It's a good time to be a horror fan!!

Dr. Gangrene's Haunted Halloween Recap

Greeting Fright Fans – Doctor Gangrene, your physician of fright here. Hope you all had a frightful and fun Halloween season! I really love how Halloween has become a month long event capped off with a night of trick or treating for young ghouls. It is a magical time of year and an event I look forward to all year long.

This Halloween season was perhaps the busiest I’ve ever had. I made an appearance at the Nashville Zoo to MC the costume contest opening night of their GHOULS AT GRASSMERE event, appeared at the Nashville Public Library to host THE BURBS, we held our 8^th annual Horror Hootenanny shock and roll event on October 8th, I appeared at the Nashville Horror and comic convention, and I hosted the 12 HOURS OF TERROR film festival at the historic BELCOURT theater on October 30th.

  

In the media I was featured in The Nashville Scene magazine in an article about Nashville Horror Hosts through the years (and even appeared on the cover this year). http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/nashevil-from-sir-cecil-creape-to-dr-gangrene-a-history-of-nashville-horror-hosts/Content?oid=2661246 The Scene is Nashville’s free newspaper/magazine that comes out weekly spotlighting all the music, events and news that’s cool.

I was also featured on Nashville’s NPR radio talking about Sir Cecil creape, Nashville’s host with the most from the 1970s. You can hear the interview here: http://wpln.org/?p=31164

In addition I also finally wrapped up my Vincentennial Vincent Price 100 posts countdown here on my blog. 100 posts about Vincent Price, many featuring exclusive photos from collector Robert Taylor’s wonderful Price collection. Good stuff and a huge thanks to Robert Taylor for playing along with me.

In addition to all this madness THE DREADFUL HALLOWGREEN SPECIAL aired on Saturday October 29^th, continuing the tradition of airing it in the Middle TN area. Busy season this year!! 

My new show DR. GANGRENE PRESENTS will continue to air every Sat night/Sun morning in all of Middle TN and Southern KY.Lots of great episodes to come, so keep watching WNAB CH58 (18 Comcast) for new episodes weekly!

To top it all off, THIS week I am going to make an appearance in the DICK TRACY comic strip! Look for me as Dr. Meangreen in the strip on Sat Nov 5^th and Sun Nov 6^th!! Definitely one of the coolest things to ever happen to Doctor Gangrene – immortalized in a comic strip!

Stay tuned for more Gangrene news, and until next time – STAY MAD!!

Nashville Scene Halloween Issue

The Nashville Scene Halloween Issue hits the noose stands today with a familiar face on the cover - yep, that's me doing unspeakable things to that poor pumpkin! And best of all there is also an article inside on Nashville Horror hosts through the years, along with a feature on the upcoming Belcourt, er Hellcourt 12 hours of Terror movie marathon and a selection of spooky country albums. Lots of Halloween fun for free in this issue!

And best of all, we're holding a contest for you Nashville/Middle Tennessee based readers. If you take a picture of yourself holding this issue of the Nashville Scene and post it either here or on twitter you'll be entered in a contest - we'll pick one winner to receive a DVD copy of the Dreadful Hallowgreen Special, a $20 CD Warehouse Gift Certificate, and an assorted batch of spooky goodies from Me! So start snapping and posting those pics ASAP!!

My Halloween Weekend

I had a terror-ific Halloween weekend – started it off Friday by celebrating my 16th wedding anniversary. My wife and I had dinner at The Melting Pot in Nashville. It is a fondue restaurant and a really fabulous place – it is also VERY pricey – I dropped over a hundred bucks on dinner, but what the heck, the 29th only comes around once a year, right?

Saturday evening we headed out to the Franklin Drive-in for a triple feature of horror movies: The Corpse Bride, Resident Evil 4, and The Exorcist. This time around I really enjoyed The Corpse Bride. I didn’t care for it too much when it first came out, but I think that’s because I was comparing it to The Nightmare Before Christmas. Taken on its own it’s a great little movie. Resident Evil is terrible…what a mess of a movie. I've never seen any of the previous Resident Evils so I was at somewhat of a disadvantage, but the film ought to be able to stand on its own regardless. It’s just a big blue-tinted cluster f*ck.

Sunday we ran out and got groceries for Halloween snacks. I made a big pot of chili, and my wife made a cake. Our place was hopping with kids coming in and out all day – the next door neighbor’s daughter asked if I would do her makeup, so around 5 o’clock she came over and I made her up. She was a vampire, and I added some corn-syrup blood on the corner of her mouth and chin that she loved. A couple of other kids had me do their makeup too, and then when it got dark the trick or treaters started to arrive. We had a bunch of kids, as always. We went through 5 large bags of candy.

I always hate for the season to be over, but I’m really looking forward to Thanksgiving now. It is one holiday that I begin to appreciate more and more as I get older. No pressure, no presents, no stress, just kick back, enjoy some good food and watch some football. Good times.

Bela Lugosi, Dracula

Wanted to share a couple of cool Bela Lugosi pics today. The first is a pic of Bela in full Dracula regalia. Nothing goes better with Halloween than Bela Lugosi Dracula!


Next up is an oil painting of Lugosi that was owned by Bela himself. This sold for over 86 thousand dollars at Heritage auctions back in 2004! Here is the description of this painting - pretty amazing...

Portrait of Bela Lugosi by Geza Kende - Oil on Canvas - 47" x 61" (ca. 1932).

This stunning, large and famous portrait of the legendary Bela Lugosi stands as a lasting tribute to a great actor. Apparently painted in the early 1930s at the height of Lugosi's fame (he became a household name in 1931 with the premiere of Universal's Dracula, directed by Tod Browning), Kende's work reveals an urbane, debonair Lugosi at the peak of his creative powers; bold and confident, yet utterly charming.

The artist was a Hungarian immigrant, like Lugosi, and became an important painter of portraits and landscapes. Born in 1889, Kende studied at the Nati Academy of Art in Budapest, as well as in Italy and France before settling in Los Angeles in 1932, where he would live until his death in 1952. It was undoubtedly the Hungarian connection that drew these two talented artists together, an alliance that produced the great work offered here.

Kende has captured the essence of Lugosi, Hollywood's "Master of the Macabre", in this wonderful portrait, particularly the penetrating, almost hypnotic, quality of the actor's eyes. Slim and handsome -- the epitome of the iconic leading man -- was the way Bela longed to be seen by Hollywood, which insisted on casting him as one monster/mad scientist after another, and by his fans, who, for many years, saw him as only Dracula.

This portrait hung in a place of honor in Lugosi's home for many years, until his death; Arthur Lennig, in his definitive Lugosi biography, The Immortal Count, shows the actor with this painting at two very different times of his life, and says, "Before the unchanging portrait on the wall, the actor - unlike Dorian Gray - aged." On the back of the canvas Bela Lugosi has signed his name in pencil with an illegible inscription above the signature.

This painting, which is offered in its original frame, has had some expert conservation work performed upon it, and is beautifully preserved. It will make a marvelous centerpiece to any film aficionado's collection.

(Note: Also offered with this painting is the original funeral plaque, which was displayed at Lugosi's funeral. The painted crescent board measures 18" X 12", with "In Loving Memory Bela Lugosi 1882-1956" is painted on it. The board is in very nice condition with some chipping in the upper right corner.)

More Beistle Halloween Decorations

Halloween is fast approaching - hard to believe Sunday is the big day already! Thought I'd share a few more of these wonderful Beistle cutouts. I think I had every one of these at one time or another, and I'm sure a lot of you did too. I especially remember that skeleton directly below. I spent a lot of time moving and rearranging those bony limbs. haha!

Newspaper article

I somehow missed getting a physical copy of this paper when it came out. However a co-worker brought surprised me today - She was unaware of my show until after seeing the article in the paper, so she saved it and brought it in for me. "Dr. Gangrene celebrates Halloween year round" - indeed! What was funny was when I called to pay my car insurance this week the secretary there answered and said, "Hey, I saw your picture in the paper this week." So this article is getting some mileage! I had a co-worker snap a pic of me with the article...That's my mp3 player hanging around my neck - I've been listening to the Halloween episode of Rue Morgue Radio. GREAT podcast!!

Spookhand - Tonight live @ The Muse

Tonight we're performing live and undead at the MUSE in Nashville at the Punk Rock Party Halloween Bash!! Be there or be scared!!

You can tune in live at their website to see us: we are the first band and go on at 7pm :

www.themusenashville.com/

Fri. October 23rd @ THE MUSE, Nashville

featuring:

Spookhand

The Creeping Cruds

Dirty Dee And The Sweaty Meat

The Loose Screws

Top 10 Vincent Price Movies Countdown

For the Halloween season I thought I'd do a series of youtube videos with a countdown of my favorite Vincent Price movies. I'll be posting these over the month of October... Let me know what you think.

Treat yourself this Halloween!

Every Halloween I take some time to enjoy reading a good book to enjoy the season. Last year I read the Marvel Comics Essentials Dracula series - these collect the DRACULA comics from the 1970s by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan, which is one of my favorite comic book series of all time. I have vol. 1-3 of the essentials, which complete the entire run of the initial series.


The year before last I re-read Death Makes a Holiday by David J. Skal, who is one of my favorite writers. This book is a fantastic history of Halloween, and traces it's roots back centuries. This is a really interesting and fun read, and I may have to pull it out again soon to reread again.


THIS year I am continuing the vampire motif from last year, and reading DRACULA by Bram Stoker. Not many books are better Halloween reading material to get you in the spirit of the holiday than Dracula. Makes you realize why so many different version of this story have been filmed, as the original is so powerful and entertaining, even 110 years after it was written!


So treat YOURSELF this Halloween season by picking up some spooky reading material. Doctor's orders!!

EC for me!!

After writing yesterday's blog about William Gaines I got to thinking about EC comics and their influence on me. It seems through the years their influence keeps popping up time and again.

As I mentioned yesterday, I didn't read a lot of EC books as a young mad scientist in training, but I did get my hands on plenty of their imitators. I had a nice sized stack of horror and sci-fi comics that I read and reread regularly. Their campy sense of humor and dark, gory stories were right up my alley. I later bought the EC reprints and of course loved those too.

When I got out of college I started my own company and went the self-publishing route. Together with my good friend Chuck Angell we formed Out of the Cellar comics. The first comic we ever produced was, appropriately enough, a horror anthology comic called Monkey Stew, which featured a creepy old man hosting a series of stories to a young couple whose car broke down in a rainstorm.

This past summer I got my first tattoo. I had thought about getting one for a while, but couldn't decide what I wanted engraved on my skin for permanently. I tossed a lot of ideas around in my noodle, until I finally found the perfect tattoo:

It's a picture from the opening splash panel of the Ghastly Graham Ingels story HALLOWEEN, from SHOCK SuspenStories No. 2. It was perfect because reflected several of my interests all in one image – 1st, the image is from a comic, reflecting my comic book past, 2^nd , it is a horror image so it represents my horror host career and love of horror, and 3^rd , representative of my lifelong love of the Halloween and everything associated with the holiday.

I added the three bats at the top, one for each of my three boys. It was done by Ben Dixon at Lone Wolf Tattoo here in Nashville, and he did a terror-ific job on it. I even managed to work it into a segment of a recent episode! So here’s to EC comics, the Crypt Keeper, the Old Witch, and the Vault Keeper, horror hosts extraordinaire!!