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Supposedly inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Alone in the Dark - The New Nightmare was the fourth interactive computer game in the supernatural series featuring occult detective Edward Carnby, armed with just a flashlight to keep the evil creatures at bay on Shadow Island.
Clive Barker’s Undying from EA Games was promoted with the tag-line, ‘What does not kill you will make you wish it had’. Set in Ireland in the 1920s, it involved an undead family attempting to destroy its last surviving member.
Silent Hill 2 was set in a fogbound town where strange creatures inhabited a blood-splattered mental asylum and an abandoned apartment block, while Soul Reaver 2 was based in a world filled with vampires.
The From Dusk Till Dawn game picked up from the end of the 1995 movie, with Seth Gecko imprisoned on a prison ship infested with vampires, and Blade featured the eponymous Marvel Comics character hunting down his undead brethren.
Alien Versus Predator 2 pitched the two movie monsters against a gun-toting marine, while The Mummy recreated the 1999 Universal movie, including video sequences, as Rick O’Connell confronted Imhotep and other marauding mummies.
Return to Castle Wolfenstein was set during World War II, when the Nazis of Wolfenstein had cellars full of genetically-created, fire-breathing zombies.
A sword- and pistol-wielding demon hunter/investigator battled more supernatural foes in Devil May Care. Created by the team who came up with Resident Evil, it was one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the year. Meanwhile, Resident Evil Code: Veronica X picked up the plot from Resident Evil III: Nemesis as heroine Claire Redfield searched for her lost brother in a world filled with zombies, worms, freaks and mutants.
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In 2001 it seemed that almost any film character could be turned into an action figure or a collectable. Sideshow Toys’ series of eight-inch Universal figures finally included Bela Lugosi as a fully articulated Count from Dracula, Lugosi again as the broken-necked Ygor from Son of Frankenstein and Lon Chaney, Sr. as the Red Death from The Phantom of the Opera with a variant unmasked head. There was also a translucent green plastic Creature from the Black Lagoon special-edition figure with fourteen points of articulation.
The same company also released twelve-inch figures of Lugosi’s Dracula, Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man and Chaney Sr.’s Phantom, plus vampire figures from London After Midnight, Nosferatu andSon of Dracula, The Invisible Man (with a clear plastic head!), and a trio of figures from Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein.
A set of three six-inch articulated figures from Full Moon’s Demonic Toys series was also released, along with a twelve-inch figure of Pimp from Blood Dolls.
Another twelve-inch figure released during the year was The Fly from the sequel Return of the Fly.
Mezco’s ‘Reel Masters’, the second series of Silent Screamers six-inch figures, included Graf Orlock from Nosferatu, Edison’s Frankenstein, the 1920 Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and the Metropolis robot Maria, all with their own diorama bases.
The Shadow of the Vampire deluxe figure set featured F.W. Murnau with movie camera filming Max Schreck in a detailed display case.
Produced by McFarlane Toys,Clive Barker’s Tortured Souls featured six Cenobite-like action figures - I: Agonistes, II: The Scythe-Meister, III: Lucidique, IV: Talisac, V: Venal Anatomica and VI: Mongroid - each accompanied by a connected short story written by Barker. The concept was subsequently sold by Barker and Todd McFarlane for a mid-six-figure option to Universal Pictures.
McFarlane continued its Movie Maniacs series with figures of Tony Todd as Candyman and Todd McFarlane’s version of The Blair Witch.
The Mummy Returns spawned a series of articulated figures from Jakks Pacific, including The Rock’s Scorpion King, Rick O’Connell with a pygmy mummy, Anubis and Alex O’Connell, and Imhotep.
Special-effects expert Stan Winston teamed up with X-Toys to produce Stan Winston’s Creature Features, a new line of toys that was launched in October. The initial releases included five new characters developed for a series of films based on old AIP movies of the 1950s, accompanied by a CD-ROM detailing the design, sculpting and development of each figure. At least five additional lines were also being developed - Monster Mythology, Nightmare Demons, Extreme Gargoyles, Stan Winston’s Alien Universe and Animal Kingdom, the latter featuring half-man, half-beast creations.
Ray Harryhausen fans could choose between the X-Plus USA series of limited-edition four-inch chess pieces (which included harpies, hydra, Selenites and sword-fighting skeletons), and the twelve-inch cold-cast statues of Kali, the Ymir and various mythological creatures.
From Japan there were twelve-inch poseable vinyl figures of Harryhausen’s Cyclops and Dragon from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, and Talos from Jason and the Argonauts.
The Japanese also seemed to go crazy for Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas with a fourteen-inch Jack Skellington coffin doll, a gold ‘Millennium’ edition and a twelve-inch version dressed in pyjamas; a ten-inch Sandy Claws doll; a reversible pillow featuring Jack; a hand-painted set with Lock, Shock and Barrel, or a similar set of four vampires; a set of pull-back racers featuring Jack’s faithful dog Zero and Jack’s snowmobile; a Zero choker necklace, and various die-cast Jack key-chains, amongst numerous other items.
A Halloween treat for little girls with a twisted sense of humour was the Barbie-and-Ken-as-The Munsters gift set. The dolls were surprisingly faithful recreations of Lily and Herman from the cult 1960s TV show. And if that wasn’t enough, there was always Mezco Toyz’s series of nine-inch Living Dead Dolls complete with their own death certificate!
The Scooby-Doo five-piece bendable gift set included five-inch figures of Scooby, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne and Fred.
A series of limited-edition retro tin lunch boxes from NECA included designs for Evil Dead andHalloween, each with a free metal thermos and holographically numbered. Stephen King’s 1958 Plymouth Fury Christine turned up as a 1/8th scale die-cast model.
For Christmas trees, Clayburn Moore designed and sculpted a Vampirella Ornament complete with crescent moon and vampire bat.
William Marshall’s Blacula, David Hedison’s The Fly and a Morlock from George Pal’s 1960 movie ofThe Time Machine were recreated as quarter-scale resin bust kits sculpted by Joe Simon.
Sculpted by Richard Force, theNosferatu mini resin model kit featured Max Schrek playing with a yo-yo and was limited to just 200 figures. A ten-inch caricature of Boris Karloff fromMad Monster Party? was sculpted by Tony Cipriano and limited to 500 pieces at $100 each.
Lovecraft fans could choose between a ‘Collect Call of Cthulhu’ T-Shirt or a ‘Pokethulu’ T-shirt, while a company called Java’s Crypt offered in sterling silver an Elder Sign Brooch/Pin, an Elder Sign Pendant and Elder Sign earrings. Bad Boy Designs introduced Cthulhu Beer Glasses with four designs - Innsmouth Golden Lager, Ithaqua Ice, Wizard Whateley’s Dunwich Ale and Witch House Dark (‘It’s the beer you’ve been dreaming of’).
Meanwhile, Mythos Books launched its second revised edition of The Lovecraft Tarot, containing twenty new cards and an expanded book by Eric Friedman.
In celebration of the 70th Anniversary of three of Universal’s most famous Classic Monsters, in October Universal Studios Home Video and Madame Tussaud’s-New York unveiled lifelike wax figures of Count Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster and The Mummy to pay tribute to legendary horror icons Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
From Giant Manufacturing came a Classic Horror T-shirt depicting Universal’s The Mummy.
The Mummy Returns trading cards featured scenes from the movie or early designs of CGI characters, while the Ghosts of Mars trading cards included plenty of background information and even a limited-edition card signed by director John Carpenter himself.
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The 2000 Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement were presented on May 26th at the Horror Writers’ Association Banquet, held in conjunction with the World Horror Convention in Seattle, Washington. The T
raveling Vampire Show by late HWA president Richard Laymon predictably won in the Novel category, while Brian A. Hopkins’s The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club was chosen in the First Novel section. Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tern’s chapbook The Man on the Ceiling won for Long Fiction, and Jack Ketchum’s ‘Gone’ (fromOctober Dreams) picked up the award for Short Fiction. Magic Terror: Seven Tales by Peter Straub was the winner in the Fiction Collection category, and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror: Thirteenth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling won the Anthology award. Stephen King’s autobiographical On Writing was the Non-Fiction winner, Alan Moore’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was voted best Illustrated Narrative, while Steven Katz’s Shadow of the Vampire collected the Screenplay award. Nancy Etchemendy’s The Power of Un won in the Work for Younger Readers category, Tom Piccirilli’s A Student of Hell won in the Poetry Collection section, and Patricia Lee Macomber, Steve Eller, Sandra Kasturi and Brett A. Savory’s web site The Chiaroscuro won the Other Media award. The Specialty Press Award went to William K. Schafer for Subterranean Press, and Nigel Kneale was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Held over July 19th-22nd on the Roger Williams University campus in Bristol, Rhode Island, the guests at the informal Necon XXI were Tim Powers and Elizabeth Massie.
The International Horror Guild’s awards recognizing outstanding achievements in the field of horror and dark fantasy were presented on September 1st during Dragon*”Con in Atlanta, Georgia. Best Novel was Declare by Tim Powers, Adams Fall by Sean Desmond was voted best First Novel, The Man on the Ceiling by Melanie and Steve Rasnic Tem won in the Long Story category, while Steve Duffy’s ‘The Rag-and-Bone Men’ (from Shadows and Silence) won in the Short Story section. I Feel Sick #1-2 by Jhonen Vasquez won the Illustrative Narrative award, and there was a tie for Collection between City Fishing by Steve Rasnic Tem and Ghost Music and Other Tales by Thomas Tessier. Best Anthology went to October Dreams: A Celebration of Halloween edited by Richard Chizmar and Robert Morrish, At the Foot of the Tree by William Sheehan won in the Non-fiction category, and Paula Guran’s Horror Garage was voted Best Publication. Joel-Peter Witkin won Best Artist,American Psycho was voted Best Film, and Angel picked up the Television award.
The International Horror Guild also presented shock-rock performer Alice Cooper with its Living Legend Award. Cooper also received Dragon*Con’s ‘Julie’ Award - named for science fiction/comic legend Julius Schwartz - which recognizes universal achievement spanning multiple genres.
The 2001 British Fantasy Awards were presented on September 23rd at the British Fantasy Society’s one-day 30th Birthday Bash in London’s West End. The winners of this year’s awards were announced by Guests of Honour Hugh Lamb and Simon Clark: The August Derleth Award for Best Novel went to Perdido Street Station by China Mieville,Hideous Progeny edited by Brian Willis was judged Best Anthology and Kim Newman’s Where the Bodies Are Buried won Best Collection. Tim Lebbon’s zombie novella ‘Naming of Parts’ was voted Best Short Fiction, Best Artist was Jim Burns, and Peter Crowther’s PS Publishing was named Best Small Press. The special Karl Edward Wagner Award was presented to legendary anthologist Peter Haining.
The 2001 World Fantasy Awards were presented on November 4th at the World Fantasy Convention in Montreal, Canada. Guests of Honour were Fred Saberhagen, Joel Champetier, artist Donato Giancola and toastmaster Charles de Lint. The Best Novel result was a tie between Declare by Tim Powers and Galveston by Sean Stewart. Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem’s The Man on the Ceiling picked up yet another award with Best Novella, while ‘The Pottawatomie Giant’ by Andy Duncan was voted Best Short Fiction. Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora edited by Sheree R. Thomas was considered the Best Anthology, Andy Duncan made it a double when his Beluthahatchie and Other Stories won Best Collection, and the artist award went to Australian Shaun Tan. Tom Shippey received the Special Award: Professional for J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, and the Special Award: Non-Professional went to Bill Sheehan for At the Foot of the Story Tree: An Inquiry into the Fiction of Peter Straub. Life Achievement Awards were announced for Philip José Farmer and Frank Frazetta.
Unsurprisingly, the staff and clientele of California book-dealer Barry R. Levin voted J.K. Rowling the Most Collectable Author of the Year. Charnel House won the Collector’s Award for Most Collectable Book of the Year for the lettered-state edition of From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz, and the Lifetime Collectors Award went to Henry Hardy Heins for his outstanding bibliographic contributions to the study of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs.
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I guess it was inevitable that, in view of the terrorist attacks of September 11th on New York’s World Trade Center and Washington’s Pentagon building, and their continuing consequences for the entire world, any other topic I might attempt to address in this introduction would just seem trivial, even in context.
Like millions of others, I watched dumbfounded as events unfolded live on television. As a babyboomer, born after World War II, the images I saw that afternoon were amongst the most horrific I have ever witnessed. Yet there was also a sense of awe. A sense of unreality. I was genuinely astonished that anybody could create such wholesale destruction and massive loss of life in what I, probably naively, considered to be a ‘civilized’ world. I was appalled that something I had only ever encountered in the movies or science fiction was actually happening in real life while the world tuned in.
Perhaps more than anything else, I was aware that the events taking place in front of us all would shape the still-fledgling twenty-first century for years, perhaps decades, to come.
So what has all this to do with horror - the fictional kind?
Well, in the aftermath of ‘9/11’ (as American media pundits quickly dubbed the attacks) fiction sales dropped dramatically around the world. Almost immediately, and especially in America, reading tastes shifted towards non-fiction titles and self-help books. With media coverage focused on terrorism and war news, new books were unable to get the publicity they needed. This, coupled with a looming global economic recession, meant that the already struggling horror field was even further marginalized.
In general publishing, the New York Times claimed that book sales had slumped by at least 15 per cent, while bestselling novels by top authors were off by as much as 25 per cent to 40 per cent. Although the Harry Potter books and The Lord of the Rings reissues continued to sell well, supported by blockbuster movies, new books from such authors as Stephen King, Anne Rice and James Herbert were said to be selling well below expectations. And if those authors were not doing well, you can imagine how much worse it was for mid-list horror writers.
Meanwhile, the series of anthrax attacks through the mail in America resulted in some publishing houses refusing any longer to accept unsolicited manuscripts.
Although fiction sales began to pick up again in mid-December, publishers were already having to tighten their belts by laying off staff (including editors), cancelling sales conferences, cutting the number of books published, reducing authors’ advances and marketing budgets, and cutting print runs.
The consequences of these actions will affect the publishing industry for a long time to come.
Perhaps even more bizarrely, given the movie industry’s knee-jerk reaction to the attacks, the US Army held a meeting with Hollywood writers and directors (including Danny Bilson and Spike Jonze) to brainstorm ways to prevent further terrorist assaults on America. Life really was beginning to imitate art.
Soon after the attacks I expressed publicly my concern that once again the horror genre, which was still desperately trying to crawl out of a decade-long recession, would be caught in some kind of moral and media backlash. We had seen it happen before, and there was no reason to assume that this time - given the immensity of the tragedy - events would be any different.
Thankfully, my fears ultimately proved to be unfounded. A few days after the attacks, Steph
en King’s radio station WKIT raised money for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund with listeners pledging a minimum of $10.00 to hear a song. Stephen and Tabitha King matched all pledges dollar-for-dollar, and the estimated total raised reached $140,000.
The New York City Chapter of the Horror Writers Association published Scars, a charity anthology whose proceeds also went to the Red Cross on behalf of victims of the World Trade Center attack. Authors involved in the project included Gerard Houarner, Jack Ketchum, Michael Laimo, Gordon Linzner and Monica O’Rourke.
As Halloween approached, there was a real possibility that parents more concerned with anthrax spores or hijacked airplanes would prevent their children from celebrating ghoulies, ghosties, and things that go bump in the night.
However, according to one Internet source, Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty, Rudolph Giuliani and firefighter and rescue-worker masks were big sellers at Halloween. We were already beginning to adapt.
Horror writers have always argued that their stories can be cathartic - by embracing our fictional fears we can sometimes overcome our real-life demons - and this was never more evident than in 2001.
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