Books
[Gift Guide] Jeremy Wagner Releases New Horror Novel, “Rabid Heart”, Joins “Grotesque” Art Exhibit in CA
How far would you go for love when all you love is DEAD?
This fall, founding father and current member of renowned death metal band Broken Hope and author of The Armageddon Chord, Jeremy Wagner, released his new horror novel, Rabid Heart. The novel, available internationally in hardcover, trade paperback, digital, and audio formats, is about the depth of undying love in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
“Six months after the Necro Rabies pandemic turned the world into hordes of rabid undead known as “Cujos,” 21-year-old Rhonda Driscoll discovers her zombified fiancé, Brad, in her old hometown. Fearing that her Marine Colonel father will kill undead Brad, Rhonda flees, taking a road-trip with Brad in tow in hopes of starting a new life in a frightening and uncertain world complicated by numerous perils, pure horror, and unconditional love.:
“My style of fiction and my personal tastes in what I read all leans towards really dark fiction and usually has protagonists who go through hell – there’s a lot of that in Rabid Heart,” said Wagner. “The things that my main character Rhonda Driscoll goes through might fit in nicely with say, McCarthy’s The Road pairing with 28 Days Later or Romero’s Day of the Dead.”
Here’s a direct link to purchase on Amazon.
In addition, Copro Gallery presents a group art exhibit curated by artist Chet Zar and aforementioned collector, author, musician Jeremy Wagner. Conjoined vs. Grotesque: Celebrating the Denizens of the Dark… will feature sculptures, paintings, drawings and collector guitars with a slant towards the dark and grotesque! Rock and Roll art, gigantic oil paintings, bizarre and hyperreal sculptures, lifelike and life-sized models, surreal assemblages, mixed media paintings, twisted art toys and other conjoined work will all be featured. Many of the artists in the exhibit come from the dark contemporary art movement, as well as motion picture and music industry artists, special F/X technicians and others from all walks of life. All will exhibit their top-notch primary craft for this special jointly curated exhibition.
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 19, 2019, 8:00-11:30 PM @ Copro Gallery (Address: 2525 Michigan Ave. T5, Santa Monica, CA 90404).
The following artists are featured: Chet Zar (renowned visual artist), Kazuhiro Tsuji (special f/x makeup artist and hyperrealist sculptor), Shawn Crahan (director, actor, percussionist, creative force behind Slipknot), Jay Weinberg (celebrated drummer – Slipknot), Wes Benscoter (artist – Slayer, AC/DC, Black Sabbath), Chris Mars (artist, drummer [The Replacements]), Olivia (artist), Ed Repka (artist – Megadeth, Death – “King of Thrash Metal Art”), Lee Shamel (dark artist), Dan Seagrave (artist – The Devil Wears Prada, Morbid Angel, Suffocation), Andreas Marschall (artist, screenwriter, film editor/director), Scott Musgrove (painter, sculptor), Vincent Castiglia (artist, paints with blood), Shane Pierce (oil painter), Matt Dangler (artist), Guy Aitchison (tattoo artist, painter), Mark Rudolph (artist – Decibel Magazine, Metal Hammer, Carcass, Broken Hope), Zack Dunn (dark artist), Dominic Holmes (artist, tattoo artist, writer), Carin Hazmat (artist, designer), Magnus Gjoen (designer, artist, sculptor), Ronald Gonzalez (artist, sculptor), Bob Tyrrell (tattoo artist), Rob Smits, Claudio Bergamin (artist), Max Verehin (artist), Vincent Villafranca (sculptor), Dan Harms, Fabrice Lavollay (artist), Louie Becker (artist), Miroslav Pecho (dark artist), Tommy Lee Wendtner (tattoo artist), Ryan Matthew Cohn (Star of Oddities, oddities and antiques collector), Ave Rose (automata, still sculpture, fashion, jewelry), Kevin Estrada (photographer) and Gene Ambo (photographer).
Jeremy is a big collector of dark art, as well as memorabilia – hence his involvement in Conjoined vs. Grotesque. Here’s a look at his massive collection.
Books
‘Halloween: Illustrated’ Review: Original Novelization of John Carpenter’s Classic Gets an Upgrade
Film novelizations have existed for over 100 years, dating back to the silent era, but they peaked in popularity in the ’70s and ’80s, following the advent of the modern blockbuster but prior to the rise of home video. Despite many beloved properties receiving novelizations upon release, a perceived lack of interest have left a majority of them out of print for decades, with desirable titles attracting three figures on the secondary market.
Once such highly sought-after novelization is that of Halloween by Richard Curtis (under the pen name Curtis Richards), based on the screenplay by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. Originally published in 1979 by Bantam Books, the mass market paperback was reissued in the early ’80s but has been out of print for over 40 years.
But even in book form, you can’t kill the boogeyman. While a simple reprint would have satisfied the fanbase, boutique publisher Printed in Blood has gone above and beyond by turning the Halloween novelization into a coffee table book. Curtis’ unabridged original text is accompanied by nearly 100 new pieces of artwork by Orlando Arocena to create Halloween: Illustrated.
One of the reasons that The Shape is so scary is because he is, as Dr. Loomis eloquently puts it, “purely and simply evil.” Like the film sequels that would follow, the novelization attempts to give reason to the malevolence. More ambiguous than his sister or a cult, Curtis’ prologue ties Michael’s preternatural abilities to an ancient Celtic curse.
Jumping to 1963, the first few chapters delve into Michael’s childhood. Curtis hints at a familial history of evil by introducing a dogmatic grandmother, a concerned mother, and a 6-year-old boy plagued by violent nightmares and voices. The author also provides glimpses at Michael’s trial and his time at Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, which not only strengthens Loomis’ motivation for keeping him institutionalized but also provides a more concrete theory on how Michael learned to drive.
Aside from a handful of minor discrepancies, including Laurie stabbing Michael in his manhood, the rest of the book essentially follows the film’s depiction of that fateful Halloween night in 1978 beat for beat. Some of the writing is dated — like a smutty fixation on every female character’s breasts and a casual use of the R-word — but it otherwise possesses a timelessness similar to its film counterpart. The written version benefits from expanded detail and enriched characters.
The addition of Arocena’s stunning illustrations, some of which are integrated into the text, creates a unique reading experience. The artwork has a painterly quality to it but is made digitally using vectors. He faithfully reproduces many of Halloween‘s most memorable moments, down to actor likeness, but his more expressionistic pieces are particularly striking.
The 224-page hardcover tome also includes an introduction by Curtis — who details the challenges of translating a script into a novel and explains the reasoning behind his decisions to occasionally subvert the source material — and a brief afterword from Arocena.
Novelizations allow readers to revisit worlds they love from a different perspective. It’s impossible to divorce Halloween from the film’s iconography — Carpenter’s atmospheric direction and score, Dean Cundey’s anamorphic cinematography, Michael’s expressionless mask, Jamie Lee Curtis’ star-making performance — but Halloween: Illustrated paints a vivid picture in the mind’s eye through Curtis’ writing and Arocena’s artwork.
Halloween: Illustrated is available now.
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