Midnight Men: The Book Trailer

Produced by podcaster and artist Jason Hill of the Horror Hill podcast on the Simply Scary Podcast Network

EVIL DEAD the Musical

Had so much fun at Evil Dead the Musical last night, in San Diego. There was so much blood. Even got to take a pic with my favorite Kandarian Demon. If you have not seen a production of Evil Dead the Musical and would like to, check out this link: It lists all the productions going on around the country from now until the middle of next year: http://evildeadthemusical.com/productions/

I think this is definitely going to be my Xmas card photo

High Desert Book Festival

Had a good time at the High Desert Book Festival last weekend. Got to hang out with HWA LA Chapter author, Greg McWhorter and his wife (our photographer). I'd also like to announce that the first signed copies of my new book, Midnight Men, have been released into the wild. Midnight Men, from Grinning Skull Press, will be available to all on October 16th.

Midnight Men - First Review

Received my first review today for my new book Midnight Men, from Grinning Skull Press. It's from an anonymous Sith Lord and he said it was "Impressive. Most impressive." Then he mumbled something about the power of the dark side. Couldn't really understand him. I think he has asthma, poor guy, but the take away is the book is Impressive.

The kindle edition is now available for pre-order. Midnight Men: The Supernatural Adventures of Earl and Dale

Release date: October 16th

High Desert Book Festival

I'll be at the High Desert Book Festival this October 12th at the Horror Writers Association's booth. No booth number yet, but I'll be joined by HWA LA Chapter member Greg McWhorter. HWA member Mark Tullius will also be there. If you are in the area come on by. I will have, for the first time, copies of my new book Midnight Men, from Grinning Skull Press.

Stories for the Throne!

My story Momentum will be in the third One Sitting Reads anthology series, Horror for the Throne, from Gray Rabbit Productions. Momentum will be one of forty stories in this final edition to the series and its good to know that my work is Throne worthy.

Cover Reveal! Midnight Men

My new book, from Grinning Skull Press, Midnight Men will be available this October! Cover design by Jeffrey Kosh.

Dark Moon Digest #36 - The FUBAR Ritual

I'm very excited that my new short comedy horror story, The FUBAR Ritual, is finally available in print, also in ebook if you prefer. The story had originally been accepted by an anthology that held it for a good long while, but as so often happens, they never published.  The story was picked up by Dark Moon Digest, the quarterly horror magazine from Perpetual Motion Machine Press. I really enjoyed working with editor Lori Michelle, who has a good eye for finding my mistakes.  

The FUBAR Ritual is available now in Dark Moon Digest #36 on Amazon
Dark Moon Digest #36 on Amazon 

Midsummer Scream 2019

More than 30,000 horror fans came to this year's two day Midsummer Scream in Long Beach Ca. It's the kind of event you go to and see things you can't unsee, but in a good way. Its Disneyland for those of us that think The Shining is one heck of a romantic comedy. Good times. And just like Halloween, it comes and goes way to fast.

San Diego Comic Con

The San Diego Comic Con is not my cup of tea. Its huge and amazing, but it's just too much. Not in a bad way, its just so overwhelming. I was ready to go home after a few hours, but I brought my kids and although this wasn't their first Pop Culture Con, it was their first San Diego Comic Con. So they wanted to see as much as they could. It was a 12 hour day when we finally made it home, and unless its work related, I probably won't go back. I prefer the smaller cons, (Midsummer Scream, Long Beach Comic Con, Comic Con Revolution, even WonderCon) where you can see most of the same stuff and there is just a little more room to breathe.

The popular No Sleep Podcast has released their version of my short story Blood, Gridlock, and PEZ. The story is produced by: Jesse Cornett and includes the voice talents of Atticus Jackson, Nichole Goodnight, Dan Zappulla, Jesse Cornett, and  Kyle Akers. The episode also has an interview with Elijah Wood. The story is on the subscriber side of the episode so you must be a NoSleep Podcast member to listen, or pay $2 for the episode.

Episode link: Season 13 episode 1

NEW INTERVIEW on the DRABBLECAST

Kevin and Drabblecast host Norm Sherman discuss the horror genre, the origins of Cryptkeeper Norm, and the hit story The Box-Born Wraith featured as Drabblecast episode 87 back in 2008. The episode was their  second official Halloween Special. Click here to listen to this special Director's Cut episode of The Drabblecast

Evil Musical

Evil Dead the Musical has been around since 2003, ever since Canadian playwright George Reinblatt took a hard look at the Evil Dead trilogy and said to himself, what the franchise really needs is some song and dance numbers. And wow was he right. The musical has been performed around the country to sell out crowds ever since. Most productions will have what is called the splash zone (usually the first three rows) and if you have seen the films you know what those are for - think Galliger but with more crimson. 

So when my daughter told me that her high school was going to perform Evil Dead the Musical: High School edition, I didn't believe her. Turns out it was true. Four full performances of blood, gore, and singing! And when my daughter told me she had volunteered to work tech, cleaning up blood, moving around props - chainsaw, ax, Necronomicon, I couldn't have been more proud. I got to see three of the four performances and I have to say these kids really rolled up their sleeves, got their hands bloody, and put heart and unswallowed souls into this production. It was amazing. The final performance was my favorite as they were hellbent on exhausting their entire supply of blood. So much fun. 

If you are a horror fan, then experiencing Evil Dead the Musical should definitely make your bucket list. It pops up in several cities around the country and sells out fast, so keep an eye out. Here is a list of performances that are taking place in 2019. Evil Dead the Musical

My story, The Room, will be in the new horror anthology from Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. I believe the antho (which may be a short series of anthologies) is including stories inspired by the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book series by Alvin Schwartz, with those haunting illustrations by Stephen Gammell.

Audio News

I have uploaded two new videos to my YouTube channel of some old episodes of the Drabblecast (an eclectic fiction podcast with genre stories and general weirdness) and the long gone Well Told Tales podcast. My story Momentum is read by Norm Sherman in Drabblecast episode 23, and my story Piercing the Dead (also titled Ink Spot) is read by Brandon Carpenter on Well Told Tales. As I mentioned Well Told Tales is long gone but the Drabblecast is back from the dead after a hiatus. It has that new podcast smell but with a touch of the past. Norm Sherman is still at the helm but it seems he has more help this time around, and I hope that means the Drabblecast is here to stay. 

Check them out at www.drabblecast.org. 

My YouTube channel Kevin David Anderson - YouTube

LINKS

My YouTube Channel

My Website

Playwright George Reinblatt website

The Drabblecast - ww.drabblecast.org

Chilling Tales for Dark Nights.

Me on Facebook

Me on Instagram (honestly, not much going on there)

Me on Goodreads

My Amazon Author page
Performances of Evil Dead the Musical for 2019

HauntX Southern CA, 2019

HauntX the Halloween and Haunter's Expo took place in mid-February at the Pomona Fairplex and was a small but fun little con. It caters to professional haunters, home haunters, and the DIY haunted house community. There were two full days of workshops and seminars on building props, designing scares, and even preparing for a visit from the fire marshal. The vendor room had about thirty vendors most of which was for the DIY haunter, but there were Halloween knick-knacks and collectibles, hard to find horror DVDs, and enough cosplayers and picture spots to keep most shutterbugs busy.

Unlike some other Southern California haunting expos like Midsummer Scream and ScareLA, there weren’t any haunted houses to go through, but there were some interactive booths. One of the most popular was the VR game called The Raft. It’s a four-player experience where teammates board a raft and defend the swamp against an infestation of supernatural creeps. Lots of fun for all ages.

Another popular area was occupied by the Decayed Brigade. The fantastic sliding monsters of the Decayed Brigade troupe are a collection of talented and athletic individuals who have elevated a haunt scare tactic into an art form, one that originated at Knotts Scary farms in the early eights. Many of the Brigade members are former or current sliding street monsters at Knotts. The group puts on shows at horror cons, and all kinds of events, birthdays, corporate gatherings. They even have a new show designed for elementary schools in which the dress up as literary characters to promote reading. They did not perform a show at HauntX but they did conduct two different seminars at their booth, one about sliding equipment and the other on techniques. If con goers brought their own slide equipment they were allowed to slide with the brigade and take lessons from some of the best in the business.

HauntX is currently under new management. It had been around for a few years moving from location to location, but it now seems with the new owners they will try to settle in at the Pomona Fairplex. This year it felt very much like a brand-new event, the kind that comes with growing pains. Midsummer Scream, a haunting expo that takes place in Long Beach in July brings in over 20, 000 visitors during its two days. Will HauntX ever grow to that size? I couldn’t say, but they are off to a really good start.

All photos by A. Anderson