That’s not a reference to some new sound presentation technology (though that’s sure to happen eventually), but rather, to the state of Arkansas!  Self-described “Benton Resident.  Rogue journalist. Recovering attorney.” Ethan Nobles has written an excellent article about “Afterhell” for the First Arkansas News (FAN) website:

And now for something completely different …

Ethan interviewed Joe and I via Skype a few weeks ago, and is presenting our story as part of a series on modern audio theater.  We talk about where “Afterhell” originated, the challenges involved in getting the word out about a series that’s so different from everything else in the field today, and even offer a brief preview of the “Dicebag Theater” project.

Share and enjoy!

We’ve just uploaded the Afterhell story “Dead Peasants” on our podcast feed.  If you would like to download the file without subscribing, you can do that right here:

\”Afterhell: Dead Peasants\”

We’re posting this after being inspired by Keith Olbermann’s latest Special Comment about health care reform.  He mentioned COLI, otherwise known as “dead peasant” insurance.  We first heard about this rather ugly practice back in 2005, and Joe was inspired to write the story “Dead Peasants.” It originally appeared on the Afterhell Volume 2 disc.

If you want to help the cause of health care reform, please click the button below to make a donation via PayPal.  We will send all donations on to the National Association of Free Clinics, to help them in an effort to put on free health care fairs in the principal cities of states whose Senators are key to getting health care reform passed.

Sorry, sorry… less than nothing for months, but tons of waiting.  If you’ve been able to read the Twitter box on this page, you’re probably aware of one of the many reasons why you’re still waiting for new eps.

In the meantime, I couldn’t pass this up:

Olbermann: Next GOP obsession could be zombie attacks

Ollin Productions is planning a new project we are calling “Dicebag Theater.”  This new show draws on our experience as gamers (we’ve both been playing role-playing games for nearly 30 years) as well as our audio theater experience to bring you a new and unique view of the gaming hobby.

Each episode of “Dicebag Theater” will combine recordings of actual gameplay sessions with dramatizations of the scenes that have been played out in the game.  We hope to thus give listeners a peek inside the gamer’s imagination and foster a greater understanding about a hobby that is frequently misunderstood at best and feared and demonized at worst.  Joe has said that our goal is “to make the show for folks who fear RPGs, to show there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

We will release “Dicebag Theater” on our podcast feed.  It’s our plan to make the show as family-friendly as possible, as we believe that RPGs can — and should — be a hobby the whole family can enjoy.

We’ve gotten permission from several game designers to feature their games on the show, and we’re working now to gather both gamers and actors who are interested in helping us out with this project.  If you fit into either (or both!) of these categories, please get in touch with us!

We’ll keep our fans and friends updated on developments as work on “Dicebag Theater” progresses.  Spread the word!

Exciting news!  Scifind Limited has just picked up “Afterhell” for UK distribution.  To start it off, next month they will offer a new edition of our first episode — in a DVD slimcase with new artwork and a few extras.

For those of us on this side of the pond, this is a glimpse of things to come.  And if somebody is out there listening… yeah, maybe we’ll do some new episodes too.

Another sad, nostaglic bye-bye.  Maybe it’s a bad habit, but hardly one I’m able to quit.

So who is this “Mr Excitement” to whom I’m bidding a fond, reluctant farewell?  The man’s name is Bob Wilkins.  He was the host of the San Francisco Bay Area’s “Creature Features” late-night show and “Captain Cosmic,” a little known sci-fi program showcase for kids.

Unlike other horror movie hosts, Bob Wilkins didn’t ham it up — quite the opposite.  He sat in a rocking chair, surrounded by skull candle-holders and cobwebs, smoking a huge cigar.  Instead of putting on a schlocky get-up and chortling about the next cinematic horror to come, he was cordial.  Unflappable.  Aloof in a neighborly Norman Rockwell kind of way.

And more often than not, he’d tell you to watch something else.  “Don’t stay up tonight,” he often said.  “It’s not worth it.”  It horrified his sponsors, at least until they saw the ratings.

For nearly ten years, Bob Wilkins’ deadpan drollery made “Creature Features” on KTVU Channel 2 a local Saturday night institution.  He announced each film with affectionate, blank-faced mockery.  He’d tell you it arrived at the KTVU studio in a brown paper bag, or how certain creatures in tonight’s movie had fallen on hard times.

Did you know that one of those teeny, tiny women from the Mothra flicks eloped with the Tidy Bowl Man?  Don’t gimme that look.  Bob Wilkins said it, so it must be true.

And once in a while, Bob Wilkins delivered a dark, dusky cinematic jewel — a choice Hammer film, one of the Universal Pictures horror classics, or something totally obscure and twisted.  His show was one of the first, if not the first, to run the dreaded “Night of the Living Dead” on television.

So you can imagine how thrilled my parents were to catch me, still in the zygote age-bracket, watching this godawful dreck hundreds of hours after my bedtime on a Saturday night.

Then one day Bob Wilkins showed up on daily afternoon TV.  And it was great.  I was able to watch him present tons of fun sci-fi stuff at a more respectable hour.  Bob Wilkins delivered it all with the same distant gentle humor.  His face was hidden behind a huge visor, and he called himself Captain Cosmic from the planet Cosmos.  But come on, I knew it was him.

It was cheaper than taking me to watch “Star Wars” five more times, and my mother didn’t realize for months the host was that evil man from “Creature Features.”  I saw all three Flash Gordon serials with Larry “Buster” Crabbe.  Tons of Japanese science fiction.  Cool segments about upcoming sci-fi, real-life robots, astronomy, and books.  He encouraged kids to read, to explore, and have fun.  Until my mom figured it out, it was bliss.

Even at that age, I could tell Bob Wilkins wasn’t really into all these genre stuff.  But he knew how to befriend an audience, no matter the age or background.  And he showed people of all ages how to find the worst in a bad situation … even if your girlfriend did accidentally feed herself to a rampaging carpet from outer space.

So yeah, for reasons even I don’t fully understand, there’s a five-year-old kid inside me that ranks Bob Wilkins right up there with Santa Claus and Captain Kangaroo.  And I’m not the only one.

We interrupt the long wait between Afterhell episodes to mourn the passing of an icon.

AP: Sci-Fi’s Grand Old Man, Forrest J Ackerman, dies

Forrest Ackerman was known by many while serving many roles, under many names.   He was the editor of the Famous Monsters of Filmland Magazine, not to mention its heart and soul.  His playfulness appeared in its pages as cheesy puns and tongue-in-cheek captions.

He often signed his editorials as Dr. Acula.  Readers addressed him as FJA, Forry, 4E, the Ackermonster, and many other goofy epithets.  He embraced them all.  His knack for cheesy puns and wordplay was infectious.

He first coined the term “sci-fi,” so the AP headline is apt on so many levels.  People can’t decide whether it became a benefit or a detriment to science fiction.  The only certainty in its issue is that he said it with genuine affection.

The bottom line:  Forry was the ultimate fan.  He might not be the reason why people invented the term “Big-Name Fame,” but he’s the reason why people still use it. Forry was a model citizen, a grand master in fanboy circles.  He represented what fandom at its best.  He was warm, courteous, playful, and generous.

Spending decades collecting tons of sci-fi and horror memorabilia, he didn’t simply horde his treasure trove.  He opened his home and shared them with strangers from all over the world.

He was a friend and idol to millions — writers, artists, filmmakers, musicians, starry-eye nobodies.  Forry treated them all the same…like family.

I’ve bumped into him once or twice at conventions, on my way to this or that.  And he was doing the same… well, mostly the same.  I was in the company of one pretty lady.  Forry was always surrounded by at least four of them.  (Who says fanboys don’t get any?)  But each time we passed each other, he’d light up, extend a big warm hand, and beam out with “Hi, good to see you!”

Forry was Santa Claus, Dr. Frankenstein, and Hugh Hefner all rolled into one.  He delighted in the dark, revelled in the light… and always seemed to know your name.

He’s gone now.

Does Halloween seem darker every year?  Does every winter seem colder?

No… no, I can’t afford to play that game.  And neither can you, friend.  Yes, you too.  The word “friend” has been overused, but Forry Ackerman proved in his life that it can hold a multitude of real human warmth every time the word is spoken.

A toast to Forry.  The best fiend you could ever want.

As Halloween and the election season come to a close, a strange fusion has taken place, setting the stage for international controversy.

Simon Pegg, one of the brains behind the brilliant movie Shaun of the Dead, has thrown his hat into the metaphysical ring of zombie politics.

Simon Pegg:  “Zombies Don’t Run!”

On Afterhell Volume 3, we kind of cheated.  In “Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel,” zombies move at the speed of plot.

So what does everybody think?  Should zombies be fast or slow?

It’s official!  “Afterhell Volume 3: Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel” has been released and is available for purchase now.  We will update the purchase page soon, but in the meantime you can order your very own copy through CD Baby.  Click here to go there now!

If you are in the Portland, Oregon area, you can come to the Willamette Radio Workshop‘s production of “From the Case Files of Doctor Moreau” (the show’s free and promises to be a lot of fun!) Halloween night and buy a copy directly from us.

This is the same story you may have heard on the Afterhell podcast.  But with this disc, you get all the gruesome goodness in full stereo and CD-quality sound.  Plus the hair-raising artwork of Alida Saxon!  (Note to collectors: there are two different versions of the inside-the-box info card!)

It has been a long wait, definitely longer than we would have liked.  But we hope the results are worth it.

Hey everyone, here’s a quick peek at some of the art for the upcoming release of “Bloodbath at the Giallo Hotel” on disk. With some great direction from Joe and Jamie, I think we’ve taken the presentation for this volume to a new level for Afterhell. Just click on the image to view the larger file.

Everything’s at the printer now, so expect to be able to purchase this in time for Halloween!