Greetings ghosts and ghoulies and welcome to The Theatre of Terror the home of horror comic news, reviews, classic comic scans and creepy art from around the world. Just remember, it's not for the nervous!
The University of Derby is now offering a postgraduate MA in Horror and Transgression.The one-year course, which is aimed at would-be film-makers and writers, will examine all aspects of the horror genre. Students will learn about the history of horror on screen and in books while the transgression part of the course will focus on films and literature with disturbing and taboo themes. Sounds just like the kind of thing we love!
British horror author and director Clive Barker has given the degree his backing and hopes to take a class. According to Dr Jason Lee (no relation to Christopher Lee), the university’s head of film and media, this is the only MA in the world of its kind.
The new MA Humanities – Horror and Transgression is an innovative postgraduate course in film, literature and cultural studies offering the opportunity to work both critically and creatively. Drawing on the expertise of internationally renowned practicing writers and critics, the themes of Horror and Transgression explores what our limits consist of and the boundaries of culture and society. Through the analysis of culture we understand what defines us collectively and individually as humans and what is beyond the human. The course has the support of horror writer Clive Barker who is planning to be involved, saying “Thank you for Raising Hell in Derby!”
A marvelous course for those interested in the macarbe. Who wouldn’t want to be a real life Master of Horror!
Greetings mortals. Learning isn’t always fun, unless we’re learning new methods of torture, however, in the U.S. the McPherson College Library has come up with an engaging way of introducing it’s students to the college facilities.
Creators C Michael Hall, Matt Upson and Dustin Evans have made a 23 page PDF horror comic story based in the College’s library. As slobbering zombies are attacking from all sides the comic book’s heroes attempt to solve the problems using the resources available to them in the library. It’s a great way of making a dull subject interesting, as well as educating it’s members on various methods of zombie disposal.
This gripping zombie adventure has been downloaded over six hundred and fifty thousand times! Wan’t to see what all the fuss is about. You can download the zombie packed action adventure by clicking right here.
It seems that the zombie apocalpse can be a lonely time for both survivors and victims. It’s true that even zombies need loving too.
I once knew a ghoul who dated a zombie for a while. She said he was perfectly stiff for a few days but he got so rotten that she had to break it off! Then she dumped him. After that…he just fell apart. Very sad.
If you’re a necrophyliac who likes their love interest to moan then take a look at Zombie Harmony. It’s only a fun page but i’m loving the concept.
Back from the Depths has been without a forum for a while now so it gives me great pleasure to announce the new Scream forum can now be found on www.horrorcomics.org
HorrorComics.org is a brand new and exciting venture that will hopefully one day grow to become the No.1 place to talk horror comics on the web. From pre-code horror comics, such as EC Classics like Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, all the way up to modern horror comics, such as The Walking Dead and Locke & Key, this new site will cater for every ghoul’s horror needs.
In the mean time Scream fans have the place to themselves so if you’re looking for a place to talk about IPC’s ghastly horror comic Scream! then head on over to www.horrorcomics.org
An interesting story surfaced on the 1st April regarding a new animated series ‘loosely’ based on the life of screen legend Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was regarded as an amusing April Fools gag but the hype machine just kept on rolling with even Arnie himself later announcing ‘The Governator’ will spawn, comic books, merchandise and eventually even a 3D film.
Points of interest – The Governator operates from a hi-tech bunker called the “Arnold Cave” under his home in Los Angeles and his enemies are a dastardly group of super-villains from an organisation called Gangsters, Imposters, Racketeers, Liars & Irredeemable Ex-cons aka The G.I.R.L.I.E Men!
The project is a collaboration between Schwarzenegger, branded entertainment firm A Squared Entertainment, comic books publisher Archie Comics and POW! Entertainment – the company headed by former Marvel Comics creator Stan Lee.
I gotta admit, although it’s a bit of a cheese fest, the trailer looks pretty damn cool!
Arnold starred in some amazing movies back in the day – Predator, Terminator, Running Man etc. These were quite simply amazing films and Arnie has long been held in high regard by pretty much everyone on the planet. His move to cash in on his fame and muscle in to politics was a load of crap and when he left his position as Governor of California earlier this year he was generally regarded by the residents of California as a twat. This new cartoon seems a fairly shrewd move for Arnie as a lot of stupid people have trouble defining the lines between reality and media slush. Even though it’s only a cartoon I can see many people actually believing this is in some way a semi-biographical representation of Schwarzenegger, who does actually fight crime.
We at Back From The Depths are once again looking for contributors for our free, annual pdf horror comic, HALLOWSCREAM. Here’s this year’s guidelines (with a new email address to send stuff to)…
Ideal submissions should be horror orientated and must be weird or spooky to make the final cut. We are mainly looking for completed comic strips between 1-7 pages in length. Script submissions should also preferably be around 1-7 psges in length. Eerie illustrations and artwork along with interesting horror/comic articles, scary short stories, petrifying poems or anything just plain creepy will also be considered.
We have a substantial backlog of scripts in need of an artist, so if you’re looking to illustrate something, get in contact and we’ll give you details of what’s available.
We’ll also consider material previously published elsewhere, as long as the contributors own the copyright.
Completed artwork can be either colour or black and white, and should preferably be A4 (21cm x 29.7cm) 300 dpi jpegs.
It’s here, full of fear and even bigger than last year!
The Hallowscream 2010 Hallowe’en Special! 84 pages of chills, spills, thrills and kills direct from the deranged freaks at Back From The Depths and it’s completely free!
Page 1 : Cover by Andrew Milne
Page 2 : Intro by The Reaper, Design by Malcolm Kirk
Page 3 : Contents Background Illustration by Carol Kay
Page 4 : Blackfriars Script & Art by Michael Crouch
Page 9 : Terribly Bad Monsters : Barking Mad! By Christopher Geary
Page 10 : Little Yelena and the Golligugs Script by Matthew McLaughlin,
Art by El Chivo, Letters by Bolt 01
Page 13 : Terribly Bad Monsters : Bite Size by Christopher Geary
Page 14 : The Furry Collar Script & Art by Denise Ross
Page 22 : Terrorvision Guide by Malcolm Kirk
Page 23 : Grandfather’s Books by Sean “Big Ape”
Page 29 : What’s Blood Got To Do With It? Script by Dave Roberts,
Art by Owen Watts, Letters by Malcolm Kirk
Page 30 : Black Damp Script by John Owens, Art & Letters
by Christopher Geary
Page 41 : Mr. Fatty by Tim West
Page 42 : Hole Script by Steev Thulin-Hopper, Art & Letters by Conor Boyle
Page 45 : George Romero’s Living Dead Script by Matt McLaughlin,
Art by Conor Boyle, Letters by Jim Campbell
Page 46 : Wheels of Fortune Script & Art by Philip Sneyd
Page 49 : Speed Date Script by Dirk Van Dom, Art by Liam Matthew Byrne,
Letters by Alan Smithee
Page 54 : Camera Demonica Script by Mark J Howard,
Art by Antony Rothwell
Page 59 : It Wasn’t Me Script by Tim West, Art by Carol Kewley
Page 63 : Escape Plan Script by Patrick Sneyd, Art by Philip Sneyd
Page 64 : Terror of The Sheep by Malcolm Kirk
Page 71 : Windle Script by Liz Warren, Art by Conor Boyle
Page 77 : Promise Script by Dirk Van Dom, Art by Filip Roncone,
Letters by Chain Gun Chimp
Page 84 : Back Cover Skull by Malcolm Kirk
The Seventh Issue of the Temple APA digital comics showcase is now available to download as a completely free pdf file. 56 pages of artwork and strips featuring contributions from the likes of Dave Hailwood, Dirk Van Dom, Matthew McLaughlin, Simon Mackie, Paul Eldridge, Dan Butcher and Adam Grose amongst others and I’ve got a few pages in there too. I also put it all together and did that cover right there.
In September of 1954, PC Alex Deeprose was called to Glasgow’s Southern Necropolis. Expecting to find a simple case of vandalism, he was instead confronted with an altogether more bizarre sight. Hundreds of children, some of them armed with knives and pointed sticks, patrolling the graveyard.
When asked, they told the constable that they were hunting a 7ft tall vampire with iron teeth who had already kidnapped and eaten two local boys. Children returned to the graveyard on subsequent nights to continue their hunt.
The incident was quickly blamed on American horror comics, such as those published by E.C., despite there being no evidence to suggest any of the children had ever read any such material. Nevertheless, the government responded to the moral outcry by introducing the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955, which banned the sale of magazines and comics portraying “incidents of a repulsive or horrible nature” to minors.
BBC Radio 4 will be broadcasting a documentary about the incident at 11pm on Tuesday 30th March, which will be available on BBC iPlayer.
Following the success of the Back From The Depths Hallowscream Special in 2009, we’ve decided to do it all again this year. That means we’re once again looking for contributors. Here’s this year’s guidelines, (barely altered from last year’s guidelines ‘cos I’m feeling incredibly lazy)…
Ideal submissions should be horror orientated and must be weird or spooky to make the final cut. We are mainly looking for completed comic strips between 1-7 pages in length. Script submissions should also preferably be around 1-7 psges in length. Eerie illustrations and artwork along with interesting horror/comic articles, scary short stories, petrifying poems or anything just plain creepy will also be considered.
If you’re an artist looking to illustrate a script, get in contact and we’ll give you details of what might require your skills.
We’ll also consider material previously published elsewhere, as long as the contributors own the copyright.
Completed artwork can be either colour or black and white, and should preferably be A4 (21cm x 29.7cm) 300 dpi jpegs.
Submissions can be sent to malcolm_iain_kirk@yahoo.co.uk or you can join the ning group and upload stuff there if you prefer.
As this is a non-profit, small press publication, contributors will not be paid but they will retain copyright on any material submitted.
DEADLINES :
Scripts, articles and text submissions : Saturday 24th July
Artwork : Saturday 9th October
Completed strips : Saturday 23rd October.
The finished issue will be available online for free on October 31st.
Do you want to join the Scream team? We're looking for enthusiastic people to contribute articles on horror or comics here on The Theatre of Terror. Contact me for more info.
The University of Derby is now offering a postgraduate MA in Horror and Transgression.The one-year course, which is aimed at would-be film-makers and writers, will examine all aspects of the horror genre. Students will learn about the history of horror on screen and in books while the transgression part of the course will focus on films and literature with disturbing and taboo themes. Sounds just like the kind of thing we love!
An interesting story surfaced on the 1st April regarding a new animated series ‘loosely’ based on the life of screen legend Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was regarded as an amusing April Fools gag but the hype machine just kept on rolling with even Arnie himself later announcing ‘The Governator’ will spawn, comic books, merchandise and eventually even a 3D film.
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