Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - William Malmborg

William Malmborg is a twenty six year old writer from Wheaton , IL that has been penning short stories and novels for ten years. In 2002, he got his first story acceptance from the magazine Black Petals for his story “Red Pickup” and has continued to publish short fiction with magazines and anthologies. This year, he hopes to become an official novelist as well, and is eagerly anticipating a response from Dorchester Publishing about his novel Jimmy. His blog, wlmalmborg.blogspot.com, is a wonderful horror stop for any fan and it puts him in the Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight.

Q: How did you get into horror?

A: My horror entry started early thanks to my Mother and Grandmother who used to love scaring my little brother and me with horror stories and movies. While other kids were read happy little tales of rabbits and chickens having tea parties, we got to hear about people being devoured by demons and crazy serial killers who murdered children. One of our strongest memories is of my grandmother telling us that the former owner of house she lived in decapitated her children one night and then slit her own throat, but was rescued by paramedics and imprisoned in a metal institution, which, of course, she had recently escaped from. My mother also once read us the prologue of Dean Koontz’s Darkfall when we were really young, which terrified us, and then let us watch Halloween one night. Later my brother and I would call that the ‘year without sleep’ because we would lie awake every night thinking about all the scary things that could happen.

Q: How and why did you start blogging?

A: I started blogging in 2007 while my wife Jennifer was waiting for her transplant. My goal was to bring awareness to both of our diseases and to share with the world what it was like to be the husband of someone waiting for a surgery like that, our hearts stopping every time the phone rang because it could be a potential match. The blog was an extension of a website I had built earlier in the year after an anthology publisher suggested I create one so that fans could learn more about me and see what other publications I had appeared in. After Jen’s death I decided to separate my blog into two separate ones, the main one focusing on horror movies and books, writing, and anything weird I happened to stumble across, and the second one focusing on Crohn’s Disease and my experiences with the terrible autoimmune disease.

Q: What are your fav and least fav horror films?

A: Wow, this is hard one. I think my all time favorite film would have to be The People Under the Stairs directed by Wes Craven. I first saw the movie on Joe Bob Brigg’s Monster Vision as a freshman in high school and fell in love with it. The movie taught me that horror doesn’t have to be supernatural and that the most disturbing things in this world are usually man-made. My least favorite film would have to be Rob Zombie’s Halloween. The problem I have with it is that it is actually a good film, which makes it harder to dismiss like other remakes. It also seems like the movie could so easily have been its own story as opposed to being the remake of Halloween, which would have made it a nice addition to the horror genera. Instead everyone wanted to capitalize on the Halloween name, which ticks me off. Give us something new. I also hated seeing a Michael Myers humanized.

Q: What can we expect from your blog in the future?

A: My blog’s future will be pretty simple, especially now that I have found a layout I really enjoy, which will allow me to focus on my posts rather than the background elements. I will continue to write about horror movies, novels and short stories as well as my adventures with writing and any real world topic that catches my eye. I’m also toying with the idea of writing some stories that would further reveal the world I started to create with my tale “Jacob’s Gift” which was published in 2004 by Black Petals Magazine. Many people have asked me what happens next, and I have started some small writing projects that will answer the question, ones which I may serialize on my blog or website.

Dollar Bin Film - "The House That Dripped Blood"

A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house: 1) A writer encounters a strangler of his own creation, 2) Two men are obsessed with a wax figure of a woman from their past, 3) A little girl displays an interest in witchcraft, and 4) A film actor discovers a cloak which gives him a vampire's powers.
I liked this movie. Horror Legends Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee lent there talents to this fun collection of horror stars and macabre stories. The four stories of this film were well done, had some shocks, and the acting was pretty good through out. It's an entertaining mix of stories from the 1970's that is still enjoyable today. Although my favorite anthology movie will forever be Creepshow, this is up there on my list of favs.

The Dollar Bin Horror Store is now Up and Running!

Thats right folks, I decided to make an online store to help cover a little bit of the costs of all the dollar bin films I buy (seriously folks, I'm that fucking broke!). So tell your friends, and if you feel like splurging this week, how bought helping an unemployed college student out buy buying a shirt, a bag, a hoodie, or even a pack of pins!
Click HERE to check the store out!

Dollar Bin Film - "Saturday the 14th"

A Family moves into a house inhabited by scary creatures and a number of close calls ensue.
Now see this is my type of movie...the type that MEANT to be bad! The 1980's horror-spoof comedy has everything you want in a low-budget cheese film...really bad acting, horrible effects, and the best ripped-off name since James Cameron ripped of the 1957 novella by Poul Anderson, Call Me Joe (yeah I said it, Avatar is a rip-off, wanna fight about it!). This movie is just a fun time (and a lot better than Scary Movie 3) so if you like campy 80's movies, horror comedies, or horror spoofs, see this movie!

Please Vote For Me!

Everyone please do me a HUGE favor! Click HERE and Vote for my Image in the Barely Rotten Girl Next Door Contest simply by Liking and/or Commenting on the photo! And while your there, check out all the information on how to enter yourself, news on the upcoming calendar, and all around horror goodness!

Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight - Corpse S. Chris

Corpse S. Chris unearths the weird and unusual in the realms of horror. His blog, The Horror Host Graveyard, gives props to the ghouls and fiends who stay up late with you to host your favorite b-movies. From Ghoulardi to Vampira, Elvira to Penny Dreadful, he's got em all. This time, Corpse S. Chris is in the Dollar Bin Horror Spotlight.

Q: How did you start your blog?

A: A few years ago I discovered the show Ghoul A Go-Go on public access and looked them up on the internet. During my search, I discovered there were many horror hosts all over the country that are still on TV and the internet. Most of the websites I found were done by or about an individual hosts. I could only find two websites that had information about different hosts and those did not give me all of what I was looking for. What I wanted to see was new videos, new hosts, merchandise reviews, downloads, and more. Since I was finding these things by doing various internet searches, I decided to start the blog to compile and present my finds to others who might be interested. Also, it was to move my host web viewing guide from my MySpace to the site.

Q: Being from Cleveland, I love Ghoulardi. Who is your all time favorite Horror Host or Hostess?

A: There are so many to choose from, past and present, and my choices seems to keep changing. Some of the classic hosts that I like are Zacherley, the orginal Svengoolie, Vampira, Deadly Earnest, and so many others. Of the new ones, there are so many great ones now that to choose is almost impossible. Among those Penny Dreadful, Ormon Grimsby, Karlos Borloff, Dr. Sarcofiguy, The Bone Jangler, Jebediah Buzzard, Professor EmCee Square, and Mr. Lobo are among ones I always try watch, but I find something to like in all I see, though some take a little while to understand their approach.

Q: Could you tell us more about the Horror Host Graveyard Trading Card set and how you came up with them?

A: Again, the cards were something I couldn't find. Some hosts have had a set dedicated to them, but, with the exception of a series of promo cards from Scary Monsters Magazine, there hadn't been a multi-host set of cards. In keeping with the idea of my site promoting horror hosts, I though a set of different hosts would get people interested in hosts they might not have heard of otherwise.
After talking to Dr. Gangrene about what I was thinking of doing, he became a sort of adviser who I would bounce ideas off of. He also became the first host to agree to be on a card. I then approached hosts to be on the remaining cards and eventually got the ten for the set. Working directly with the hosts made sure that I got the best quality pictures and subsequently got them to autograph cards to be randomly put into sets.
Sometime after the set was completed, Mr. Lobo surprised me by doing a retro type wrapper design for the set, which was printed trading card sized in color, which is included in each set.

Q: What's coming up next for the Horror Host Graveyard?

A: What's up next is the second series of cards, with all different hosts and a possible magazine, as well as continuing presenting the newest hosts, information, reviews, and any other horror host related information I can find.

Splurge Of The Week : Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

" 'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.' So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, an expanded edition of the beloved Jane Austen novel featuring all-new scenes of bone-crunching zombie mayhem. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the blood-soaked battlefield as Elizabeth wages war against hordes of flesh-eating undead. Can she vanquish the spawn of Satan? And overcome the social prejudices of the class-conscious landed gentry? Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read."

Were do I begin on why you should read this book!?!....
1) The mash-up is amazingly done. I still wanna know how the hell he did it.
2) It has fucking Zombies! I'll read almost anything with zombies.
3) It has kickass, strong women who fight the zombies better than men.
4) The mash-up is done by Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote the kickass book How To Survive A Horror Movie (if you haven't read that one yet, go to the bookstore NOW). BTW...he also wrote the big Book of Porn.
4) Again, Zombies

If you like films such as Zombieland and Shaun of the Dead, your gonna love this book. Hell, If you're literate you'll like this. If you're a zombie...you probably won't. And If you like to save money, even on a splurge, you can find this book at Walmart for $9 instead of the $13 list price!

Dollar Bin Film - "I Spit On Your Grave"

An aspiring writer is repeatedly gang-raped, humiliated, and left for dead by four men whom she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.
This is another one I found at a yard sale! Also known as Day of the Woman, I must say I loved this movie although it was one of the hardest films to watch. The first 30 minutes or so depict a brutal rape scene that i almost had to fast forward through. But if you can get through that part, the rest of the film is near masterpiece. Instead of being broken down by her attackers, she rises up and gives them their just deserts. This movie has been paned by many critics as degrading to women, but I found just the opposite. I found her to be strong, standing up for herself and coming out on top. A definite must see for horror fans but please get the kiddies out of the room first.
Sending Deadly Kisses,
Rhonny Reaper