Hands Off Halloween! Why we need to defend this holiday!

I was a little disappointed recently to read of several elementary schools in Chicago that were banning Halloween because it wasn’t an ‘inclusive’ holiday. According to the Principal of Lincoln Elementary School: “Our goal at Lincoln is to provide space and opportunities for all students to be part of the community — not to create … Read more

The Muppets and Mahna Mahna – the Untold Story!

This is a story that’s never been told. It’s about the tragedy that followed one transcendent moment of triumph. It concerns a true entertainment icon – the Muppet known to millions as Mahna Mahna. Until now, no one dared breath a word of this story. Maybe they feared for their careers. Perhaps they wanted to protect … Read more

WHO THE F*** ARE THE HORROR MOOD TEAM? Part 2

In my last blog I looked at the birth of the black and white horror comic boom that began in the mid 60s and flourished until the early 80s. How it was started by Warren Comics, but spawned more than a few imitators, all of whom avoided the draconian Comics Code Authority because they were deemed to be magazines. Chief among the imitators were three magazines put out by a small publishing company called Skywald, Nightmare, Psycho and Scream. As I stated before, Skywald’s imitation of Warren stopped when a young writer, by the name of Al Hewetson, accepted the editorial reigns and instigated a horror comic revolution he dubbed the ‘Horror-Mood’.

WHO THE F*** ARE THE HORROR MOOD TEAM? Part 1

It’s been a while since I did a ‘Who the F*** Is…? feature on this blog, focussing on writers and comic artists who aren’t anywhere near as celebrated as they should be. This time around I want to focus, not just on an artist, but a whole line of black and white horror comics from the 1970s, known to the horror comic cognoscenti as the Skywald Horror Mood.

To begin, I’d like to set the background with a little bit of horror comic history, forgive me if you know most of this already.

Jim Dodge v Jasper Bark

What series of events created Jasper Bark?

This is a question that has vexed philosophers, scientists and many upstanding members of the community since November of 1969 Jim. It’s possible that genetic engineering has taken some odd and terrifying side roads to which it never wants to return. It’s also been suggested that some rumours are so vicious they grow flesh and start calling themselves wild eyed authors of the macabre. There are even one or two people that claim it all started when two river gypsies fell in love one afternoon, after one of them fished the other out of the Thames at a boat yard in Teddington Lock. It’s been whispered that the initial result of this somewhat watery union was the writer in question. Then again, some people will believe anything, won’t they?

Horror Author Interview – Jasper Bark is Stuck On You

Here at Gingernuts towers we were mightily impressed with Jasper Bark’s recent collection of short stories and novellas entitled Stuck On You. In fact, we were so impressed, we asked him if he’d be interested in an in-depth interview discussing the book at length. Mr. Bark very kindly agreed. What follows is part one of this interview, examining the inspiration, craft, and thought processes behind the writing of these tales. Part two will follow, covering the remaining tales in the collection. Enjoy, and many thanks to Mr. Bark for agreeing to such a thorough examination…

FUQ ME!

I thought I’d start this year off with a blog full of FUQs – Frequently Un-asked Questions.

As a writer there are many questions you are frequently asked, not least the least of which are: ‘Do you actually get paid for this?’ and ‘When are you going to get a proper job?’ Occasionally, in the course of being interviewed, I am asked questions that no sane or decent person should ever have to answer, which is most probably why they were levelled at me.

Zero Signal reviews Stuck On You and Other Prime Cuts

Just saw this from the jovial Jim Dodge over on Zero Signal Magazine:Always a treat, the stories of Jasper Bark are messy, disturbing looks into the mind of a deranged subject of Her Royal Majesty’s United Kingdom. Twisted (definitely), gory (when the situation calls for it) and unbelievably memorable (stock up on Xanax and light bulbs), Stuck on You and Other Prime Cutswill surprise and dismay you and yet you’ll want to read this one from beginning to end without any breaks for oxygen or psychiatric therapy

Another Review of Stuck On You and Other Prime Cuts

Kit Powers posted this on my birthday, what a lovely present:Let’s get this out of the way upfront: Yes, these are dark tales. In them, gruesome and grotesque things frequently happen to people. Some will make you question the limits of human endurance. Some will make you question what you had for lunch, or kill your appetite stone dead.