Goth news and new Halloween, gothic and horror links. Bringing you into the darkness since 1993!
May 20, 2012
Horror Film Festivals in 2012
Horror film festivals specialize in showing films, not just gathering horror film fans for autograph sessions, panels and vendors rooms.
Here's a list of horror film festivals taking place in 2012. Several on this list have already occurred - they're listed here so we can anticipate their return in 2013. As you can imagine, an overwhelming percentage of these festivals take place in the month of October.
This is not meant to be a complete, inclusive list of every horror film festival in the world. Following is a list of festivals I personally find interesting or intriguing.
Abertoir
November 6-11, 2012
"The national horror festival of Wales." They play shorts as well as films, plus stage panels and parties. (Last year there was a "Mask of the Red Death" party that sounded intriguing!)
http://www.facebook.com/abertoir
http://twitter.com/AbertoirFest
Atlanta Horror Film Festival
September 28 - 30, 2012
This festival showcases independent horror, sci-fi, gore, and thriller films from all over the world.
http://atlantahorrorfilmfest.com/
http://www.facebook.com/atlantahorrorfilmfest
Bonebat Film Fest
April 21, 2012
This comedy horror film fest took place very close to my own neighborhood, at my favorite movie theater: The Big Picture. Sadly, I was too busy to attend, and I missed out on seeing "Dead Heads" and "Monster Brawl." Shucks.
http://bonehand.com/bonebatff.html
Boston Underground Film Fest
March 29-April 1, 2012
This festival featured shorts and music videos in addition to underground films.
http://www.facebook.com/bostonunderground
http://twitter.com/BOSunderground
Bram Stoker Film Festival
October 25-28, 2012
Held in Whitby, this year's festival marks the 100th anniversary of Bram Stoker's death. Besides the films, the festival features a fashion show, a Vampires Ball, and an "1880s night."
http://www.bramstokerfilmfestival.com/
http://twitter.com/BramStokerFest
Buried Alive Film Fest
November 9-11, 2012
Held in Atlanta at the Plaza Theatre.
http://buriedalivefilmfest.com/
Buried Alive Horror Film Festival on Facebook
http://twitter.com/buriedaliveff
Celluloid Screams
October 26-28, 2012
Held in Sheffield in the UK every autumn.
http://www.celluloidscreams.co.uk/
http://www.facebook.com/celluloidscreamshorrorfestival
http://twitter.com/sheffhorrorfest
Chicago Horror Fest
September 28-30, 2012
"Babes, blood, booze." Chicago is a fantastic city to live in if you like horror, goth, steampunk, zombies and the like. There's always something cool going on, like this upcoming horror film festival. They'll announce this year's guest host shortly.
http://www.facebook.com/ChicagoHorrorFestival
http://twitter.com/ChicagoHorror
Dark Carnival Film Fest
October 19-21, 2012
Held in Bloomington, Indiana. This is the festival's sixth year. In addition to horror films, they show dark fantasy and sci-fi films.
http://www.darkcarnivalfilmfest.com/
http://www.facebook.com/dcfest
https://twitter.com/dcfilmfest
Eerie Horror Film Festival
October 11-14, 2012
Erie, Pennsylvania is the location of this horror film fest.
http://eeriehorrorfilmfestival.com/
http://www.facebook.com/EerieHorrorFest
Everybody Dies Film Fest
October 12-13, 2012
Held in Brea, California.
http://www.everybodydiesfilmfest.com/
http://www.facebook.com/everybodydiesfilmfest
http://twitter.com/everybodydiesff
Fear Fete
October 5-7, 2012
Baton Rouge, Louisiana's horror film festival. It's held at the Mall of Louisiana.
http://www.facebook.com/fearfete
Festival of Terror
October 25-31, 2012
Held in Montezuma, Costa Rica. Besides horror, they showcase sci-fi, suspense, thriller and animation shorts and features.
Freakshow Film Fest
October 26-28, 2012
Held in Orlando, Florida. Last year they presented Clive Barker with a Lifetime Achievement award during their gala.
http://www.freakshowfilmfest.com/
http://www.facebook.com/freakshowhorrorfest
http://twitter.com/freakshowhorror
Full Moon Tattoo and Horror Festival
April 6-8, 2012
This was held back in April in Nashville. True Blood's Kristin Bauer was the guest of honor, and Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead made an appearance too.
http://www.fullmoontattooandhorrorfestival.com/
Full Moon Tattoo and Horror Festival, on Facebook
Horror Sci Fi
March 29-April 5, 2012
Phoenix, Arizona-based horror and sci fi film festival.
H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival
May 11-13, 2012
A really cool film festival that's part of CthulhuCon.
http://www.hplfilmfestival.com/
Hudson Horror Show
May 19, 2012
Held in Poughkeepsie, New York. They screened classics such as Day of the Dead, Phantasm and Friday the 13th along with cheesy fare like The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires.
Indie Horror Fest
March 23-25, 2012
Another production by Spookshow Entertainment. Held in Chicago.
http://www.facebook.com/IndieHorrorFilmFest
Killer Film Fest
November 1-3, 2012
Held in Somerville, Massachusetts. They specialize in indie horror.
http://www.killerfilmfest.com/
https://www.facebook.com/killerfilmfest
http://twitter.com/killerfilmfest
Killer Valley Horror Film Festival
March 10, 2012
A conveniently aptly named valley near Ashland, Oregon hosts this film fest.
http://killervalleyhorrorfilmfestival.com/
Midnight Black
October 24-November 3, 2012
"International festival of darkness." It takes place in Los Angeles, though you wouldn't be able to find that out on their poorly designed website.
http://midnightblackinternational.com/
http://www.facebook.com/midnightblackfest
Mile High Horror Festival
October 5-7, 2012
Held, of course, in Denver.
http://milehighhorrorfestival.com/
http://www.facebook.com/milehighhorrorfilmfestival
http://twitter.com/milehighhorror
Nevermore
February 17-19, 2012
Nevermore has been running for 13 years.
http://festivals.carolinatheatre.org/nevermore/
http://www.facebook.com/retrofantasma
A Night of Horror
March 23-April 1, 2012
Another weeklong film festival. This one's held in Sydney, Australia.
http://www.anightofhorror.com/
http://www.facebook.com/anightofhorror
http://twitter.com/anightofhorror
NYC Horror Fest
November 8-11, 2012
The festival screens over 50 films per year.
NYC Horror Film Festival, on Facebook
New Orleans Horror Film Festival
October 25-28, 2012
Created by horror filmmakers for other horror filmmakers. (Ie, not a "fan" convention).
http://www.neworleanshorrorfilmfestival.com/
Phoenix Fear Festival
October 13, 2012
Held in Tempe.
http://phxfearfilmfestival.com/
Sacramento Horror Film Fest
Several events in May-August, 2012
The historic Colonial Theater hosts an event every month from May through August.
http://www.sachorrorfilmfest.com/
Sacramento Horror Film Festival, on Facebook
http://twitter.com/SacHorrorFest
Screamfest LA
October 12-21, 2012
This festival is proud of the fact they discovered and showcased the film Paranormal Activity.
http://www.facebook.com/Screamfest
Telluride Horror Show
October 12-14, 2012
Colorado's main horror film festival.
http://www.telluridehorrorshow.com/
Toronto After Dark
October 18-26, 2012
Quite possibly the longest horror film festival on the planet, at over a week long!
http://www.facebook.com/torontoafterdark
http://twitter.com/TADFILMFEST
Tucson Terror Fest
October 18-20, 2012
Tucson, Arizona's horror film fest.
Tucson Terrorfest Horror Film Festival, on Facebook
http://twitter.com/tucsonterrorff
--Copyright 2012 Carrie Carolin
May 1, 2012
New Goth Links for May Day 2012
CEMETERIES, FUNERALS AND DEATH:
Morbid Anatomy
Joanna, a photographer and graphic designer, runs the Morbid Anatomy Library in Brooklyn. It's a private collection available to public researchers interested in the topic. The blog offers info on upcoming related events and exhibitions, plus info on upcoming conferences.
http://morbidanatomy.blogspot.com/
DARK ART:
Hollywood is Dead
Matt Busch's movie poster parodies. He re-imagines classic movie posters with a dark, horrific or tongue-in-cheek twist. For example, Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast Is Tiffany," "Horde of Dead Things," "Deadward Scissorhands," "Cadavatar" and "Bleak to the Future." Giggle. There's a gallery, a shop, and Matt's mostly abandoned blog here. I've always had a soft spot for parodies, and I so enjoy browsing this site!
http://www.hollywood-is-dead.com/
DARK SHOPS:
Carried Away Coffins
"Sooner or later, you'll need one." This shop specializes in coffin-shaped cabinets for tattoo shops, as well as coffin-shaped mirrors, display cases and coffin bookshelves. So cool!
http://www.carriedawaycoffins.com/
Plasticland
An extremely cool store, selling retro clothes, home decor, skull accessories, arts & crafts supplies, jewelry, books, shoes, beauty products, kitsch and curiosities. There's even a whole section for "Mod Octopods."
http://www.shopplasticland.com/
Virgin Blak
An alternative fashion clothing store selling punk, indie and alternative clothing and accessories. Not the gothiest store ever, but it's not meant to be. I'm including it here because you can find some cool basics and interesting pieces here to add to your wardrobe.
Winona Cookie
This steampunk artist makes custom illustrations, collages, and cool artworks. She's done a Steampunk calendar for Zazzle, and has a book of steampunk paper dolls coming out soon. Check out her amazing Moribund Manor Haunted House artwork, as well as "Gothic Coffin Cruisers." Her writeups under each artwork are humorously written, I think she could have a second career as a witty dark author!
DARK MUSIC:
The Good Natured
A UK-based band with a female vocalist. They describe themselves as "pop noir." Their recent EP release is called "Skeleton."
GOTHIC LOLITA:
Carousel of Crowns
A lovely Gothic & Lolita fashion blog. Currently there's interesting commentary on the evolution of Gothic Lolita fashion in the last 19 years; some Items We Love shopping finds; and even some Gothic & Lolita home decor tips. Wish this blog were updated a teensy more often.
http://www.carouselofcrowns.com/
Hawaii Lolitas
A networking resource for Gothic Lolitas in Hawaii. Not updated often, but I can't find a Facebook replacement for this. Hopefully a nice way to find out about upcoming Lolita events in the Aloha state.
http://hi-loli.livejournal.com/
--Copyright 2012 Carrie Carolin
April 5, 2012
New Goth Links for April 5, 2012
New links from Dark Side of the Net for April 5, 2012.
DARK SHOPS:
Necromance
A Los Angeles store with an antique flair, selling curiodities such as skull beads, jewelry, home decor, shark vertebrae, animal x-ray photographs, animal bones, specimens in jars, plus related cards and T-shirts. An interesting store to browse online, that's for sure.
Necromance Hollywood, on Facebook
Nursery Crymes
This shop sells macabre dolls and doll sculptures by artist Eleanor Boyce in her studio in the north of England. The dolls in Gallery 3 actually frightened me to the point I yelped out loud, waking my doggies from their nap prematurely. Besides admiring the dollies lovely, bloody countenances, it's immensely entertaining to browse the descriptions here. "Hungry Harriet" and "Vomitessa," for example, have humorous writeups as explanations for their appearances.
Subversion Clothing
A UK-based shop selling goth, cyber, alternative, and steampunk clothes. Some of the brands they carry include Iron Fist, Bat Attack, Lip Service, Alchemy Gothic, Kreepsville 666, Tripp NYC, and Plastik Wrap. Besides men's and women's clothing, they sell jewelry, Manic Panic hair dye, plus accessories such as gloves and belts.
http://www.subversionclothing.co.uk/
Subversion UK Clothing "Goth Cloth" on Facebook
Tormented Artifacts
This shop sells insanely cool masks as well as some fascinating dark and twisted prints. Take a peek at the Artifacts section for intriguing occult ephemera.
http://www.tormentedartifacts.com/
Tormented Artifacts on Facebook
DARK PAGES IN OTHER LANGUAGES:
Tim Burton's World
A busy, active, well-maintained Spanish-language Tim Burton news blog. Recent posts have shared Dark Shadows character posters, info on Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter and shared a Spanish Dark Shadows trailer on YouTube.
DARK TV:
The X-Files: Believe Again
One of the last few remaining X-files fandom Livejournals. This one is, refreshingly, carefully moderated and holds its allowable posts to high standards. Fics are posted here occasionally. Currently there is news on the third X-Files movie, Fox's 25th anniversary special (which will air on April 22), and a few useful links of interest to X-files fandom. I'll be back to check out and hopefully contribute to this community once I start my "Re-Watching" X-files project next fall.
http://xfiles.livejournal.com/
HORROR GENRE:
The NY Dark Side Horror Group
An active horror fan Meetup group in New York with real life meetups. Members can utilize the discussion board and share pages with the group, too. There are 15 upcoming meetups, and 163 members as of today. Membership dues are $15 (typical for Meetup).
http://www.nydarksidehorrorgroup.com/
--Carrie Carolin
March 21, 2012
Dark Beverages for Goth Entertaining
Serve something perfectly dark for your next soiree or dismally elegant dinner party. While all the following taste more or less as delicious as any other wine or spirit, they're sold in such incredibly cool packaging, you'll want to display the bottles on a nearby table.
Bats Blood Wine
Bats Blood wine is made in Banat, Romania (an area the makers assure us is part of historic Transylvania.) It comes elegantly packaged in a coffin-shaped, red lined box.
Crystal Head Vodka
My best friends gave me this for my birthday last year. I loved it, and rationed it as carefully as I could bear. Finally when it was empty, I found it makes a great vase for a single rose, or a Day of the Dead style marigold bouquet.
Crystal Head Vodka on Facebook
Kraken Black Spiced Rum
I love spiced rum anyway, but it doesn't hurt that this packaging design evokes Cthulhu, steampunk and Victoriana. The website has a sense of humor, too - they even make a Kraken rum app game for smartphones. Anyway, I like to serve Kraken at my cocktail parties, leaving the bottle visible on the buffet so people can enjoy the cool dark nautical label.
Kah Tequila
"Kah Tequila was designed to pay reverence and honor to Mexico and its people." This Day of the Dead-themed tequila comes packaged in beautifully decorated skull-shaped bottles. Flavors include Tequila Blanco, packaged in a white skull; Tequila Anejo in a black-and-white bottle; Tequila Reposado, in a devil-decorated bottle; and a special limited edition Tequila Extra Anejo, in a skull shaped bottle decorated with Swarovski crystals.
Vampire Vineyards
Now I know you've heard of these guys. Besides Dracula wine, Vampire wine, and Chateau du Vampire wines, they also produce Vampire vodka and Trueblood Pinot Noir. (My favorite is the Vampire Cab Sauv).
http://www.vampirevineyards.com
Vampire Vineyards, on Facebook
Also some beverages of interest:
Trader Joe's produces and sells their own "Dearly Beloved Forever Red" wine in an El Dia de Los Muertos decorated bottle. Your local store may have a bottle or two left even this long after the Halloween season, if you're lucky.
Owen Roe Winery in the Pacific Northwest bottles a Sinister Hand grenache.
I'm amused by Armida Wines' line of Poizin wine bottles.
What might you serve as dessert to go along with your creepily bottled beverages?
How about a chocolate skull?
http://www.chocolateskulls.com/
--Copyright 2012 Carrie Carolin
March 12, 2012
New Goth and Horror Links for March 20, 2012
DARK ART:
Don Kenn Gallery
I can't tell if this artist's first name is John or Don. Anyway, he draws fabulous monsters and spooky creatures, usually on post-it notes. From Denmark, he's a television writer and director.
DARK COMICS:
And Then There Were Zombies
This zombie webcomic updates every Monday and Thursday. The comic is set two years after zombies take over the world, and a band of human survivors has taken over a backwoods Pennsylvania house.
Paranormal
The Spooky Isles
"The Spooky Isles is a website dedicated to horror & supernatural in the UK & Ireland, including ghost stories, horror films and haunted and mysterious places!" I have been so impressed with this site's Twitter feed lately - they share the most interesting links and articles. The website is also excellent, covering spooky books, spooky films, spooky places, and paranormal news. Check out one of their recent guest posts, British Death Through the Ages.
Dark Side of the World
Vampire Lounge and Tasting Room
Ooh, from what I can see of the decor here in the photos, I love it! This lounge is located in Beverly Hills, and serves Vampire Vineyards wines. (The wines have evocative names such as Dracula Zinfandel, Trueblood Napa Valley Syrah, etc.) You can rent the upstairs lounge out for private parties, too. This looks like such a lovely place to stop in for a drink.
http://www.vampire.com/vampirelounge/
DARK SHOPS:
Cherise Clothing
This shop is located in Finland. They sell women's clothing, including lingerie and cocktail dresses, plus vintage pieces, hats, and even vintage sewing patterns. My favorite thing here is their Vendetta coat which they make to order.
DARK BLOGS:
Color Me Goth
"The not so daily ramblings of a goth of color." Dismantlynn is a college student who blogs about her life, goth music and fashion, and things that interest her lately. Check out her post about University of Michigan's zombie university class, and her fashion tips for warm weather goths. Check out her bustle skirt crafting project she's been working on!
--Copyright 2012 Carrie Carolin