I’ve been teasing our podcast for a while now. This is barely seven days’ notice, but we’re making sure that it’s running on all cylinders.<\/p>\n
As I’m so fond of saying, spread the word: There will be a special Valentine’s Day podcast. This will be the world premiere of “Sleepless Days,” one of the stories from our second CD. You’ll find a new RSS feed on the website and here in a blog entry for that joyous day. <\/p>\n
Music video channels have stolen this bittersweet holiday and turned it into a twisted, maudlin thing. Afterhell is stealing it back. Well, okay, probably not. It was just fun to say. But seriously, folks….<\/p>\n
Our cast and some of our supporters have heard rough mixes, but this will be the first time anyone has heard the final mix. On the downside, the story will be slightly abridged. A few minutes have been snipped here and there. To hear the entire story, you need the new CD. Yeah, I had to stick it to ya. But you’ll want to see the cool art design, won’tcha?<\/p>\n
Remember: February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day Afterhell podcast. Tell your friends, family, and other tolerant familiars. Don’t bother telling your cats. They don’t listen anyway.<\/p>\n
Lastly, I wanted to put in a final word about Showtime’s Masters of Horror<\/span> series. It’s wrapped up its first run of 13 episodes, which are coming out on DVD in the weeks and months to come. And it’s been renewed for a second season later in the year, if the voices in my head are anything to go by. I’ve posted comments on it here and my personal blog. I thought I’d finish all that with thoughts on the last few eps. I also thought I’d experiment with the lj-cut function, whimsical person that I am.<\/p>\n
This is a goofy, surprisingly mature piece of tongue-in-cheek social commentary, courtesy of director Lucky McKee. A scientist tries to manage the newest acquisition for her collection of living insects and her new stalker girlfriend at the time. Yeah, she has a girlfriend. And it’s done with a remarkable degree of sympathy and maturity. Actresses Angela Bettis and Erin Brown are the heart of the piece. They carry this off-center hybrid of satire, slapstick, and grade-z horror like naturals. Angela Bettis creates a deliberately wonky, courageous and heartfelt character that could’ve turned into a joke. Erin Brown, fomerly soft-porn schlock siren Misty Mundae, holds her own easily, giving us a charming and sympathetic performance. (To think I actually had to research softcore pr0n to get in the loop on this….) It strains credulity here and there, but the skillful juggling of classic horror tropes, cheeky laughs, and modern social issues make this ep special.<\/p>\n