All possible evil - and all possible good -
breathes beneath our flesh.
The lie that there are good people (us) and
bad people (them) or worthy people (us) and
unworthy people (them) is a poisonous one.
I have lied that lie. I have drunk that poison. You?
Here's a bit of late-night conversation about such
things with FilmCourage. It's tough to lie at 2am.
(Close lightbox and click 'Watch' at page bottom)
Clip courtesy of FilmCourage.com
Pic courtesy of Adrian Corona's DIS
woods when I was 14. Ray Bradbury saved my life.
The first words my young eyes read were "He came out
of the earth, hating." So begins Ray's 1948 Pillar Of Fire.
It's darker, more poetic, angrier than anything else he
would ever write. It made me cry.
It's a solo performance - just me and the digital voices
of my director, Ezra Buzzington. My whole heart is in it.
The show trailer is on this page (click 'Watch.') Read
some reviews here. The Audible version is here. I tour
the show as often as I can. Maybe I'll die onstage as
William Lantry someday. Bury me with the book.
a precipice. An old library-keeper invited me in. There
was Amontillado. The moon rose. I feel in love.
When I woke up, I was lying on a stone floor, a skeleton
key in my bony fist. And I knew the place was mine.
My podcast, Gothic Goodnight, is a bedtime show. Yes,
I'll read to you sleep - but you must lie down. You must
turn out the lights! Quiet now...
All of Season One is here. A personal fav (my Phantom
of the Opera episode) is below. Close this lightbox and
click 'Listen.' And please, do it in the dark.
Soccer dads? Oh, I used to try. Until a kindly old
casting director set me right. Our chat was thus:
"You are the soccer dad who will kill the team and
eat them. You want to work? Go dark."
"How dark?"
"With that face, you can't go dark enough."
She was my angel. Close this lightbox and click
'Watch' for my love letter to horror, and to you.
Clip: Phoenix FearCon 2020 Keynote
Pic courtesy of Billy Pon's CIRCUS OF THE DEAD
without broken places, I run. Refusing to be broken
is a gateway drug to the true horror of arrogance.
My Criminal Minds make-up artist, Christopher Allen
Nelson, shared my reverence for Lon Chaney (whose
monsters bore the stamp of broken humanity, and
vice versa.) When he said "Let's make this character
an homage to Chaney," I nearly cried. My sympathies
have always been with the monster.
(Close lightbox and click 'Watch' at page bottom)
Clip courtesy of CBS-TV
Page photo by Spencer Filichia
house where a dead body lay. Why?
I think you know. I think we all know. Mirrors show
more than we wish to see. Mirrors see darkly. If they
don't frighten us, we must not be looking.
Scenes with mirrors are always scenes about death,
even when they pretend not to be. Mirrors don't lie.
We uncover them at our own risk.
(Close lightbox and click 'Watch' at page bottom)
Clip: Aaron Moorhead & Justin Benson's RESOLUTION
Page photo by Joaquin Montalvan
motto. To which I might add "Nudus nudum mortem
sequi." After all, our glad rags won't survive our shroud.
I find body horror truly terrifying. I live in here! It's not
much of a body, but Lord, I am loathe to cast it off.
Because, I suppose, I am so physically "cadaverous"
(I get that a lot) these scenes of intense cinematic
suffering come my way with disturbing regularity.
I rarely turn them down.
One can always use the rehearsal...
(Close lightbox and click 'Watch' at page bottom)
Clip & image courtesy of Adrian Corona's DIS
Extreme horror content; Viewer discretion advised.