DEFINITELY worth your time! Click “View original” in the lower left and there you have it, the first six KICK-ASS pages from the new comic! (Good luck trying to read it on your phone, though; we needed to wear our reading glasses enlarge the screen on the laptop browser to make the text out. Whatever you need to do, it’s worth it for the fun!
Oh, it’s going to be dark and brutal? Nice change of pace from the last couple seasons, which have just been a non-stop feel-good jamboree. And by the way, we’d like to add YO, KIRKMAN and GIMPLE! Listen up: YOU BETTER LEAVE GLENN ALONE! And don’t get cute and whimsically decide to trade his fate in the comics with Tyreese, either. However, unless you mess with him, Daryl, or Michonne, we’ll look forward to the premiere.
In the screencaps we put up here from the trailer, it looks like Rick is either hallucinating or having nightmares again, or attacked by a wild animal (not infected with the zombie virus, obviously. Can you imagine how much shorter (but action-packed) the series would be if fish, deer, possums, birds, snakes, dogs, house pets, horses, and the rest of the animal kingdom were infected? They could only stretch that out to two seasons, tops, and that’s with a warehouse-sized armory of weapons and ammo, not to mention canned food.*
(See below screencap) DARYL! HEADS UP! TURN AROUND! Actually, I doubt anyone who has been smart enough to survive up till now, even if they were really bored, would get close enough to a LIVE Walker to hang a hand-written sign around their neck, so he’s probably OK. Better be. OK, of course he will be. I think the creators are wise enough to know that if they killed off Daryl, they’d have mobs (including plenty of enraged females) coming at them with torches and pitchforks.
aaand unless they’re a thin, rickety enough actor/actress to portray the Walker below, looks like we’ll get more animatronic Walkers coming up! We’re all for practical effects.
*There’s a great book series (it may only be comprised of two) out there from approximately a decade ago where yup, the animals are infected too; it includes an amazing, harrowing fight for survival by a lone woman hiding from her bloodthirsty HUMAN attackers in a zoo and getting in way, way over her head. As I recall, the female character is also going through heroin withdrawal at the same time, as if being chased by a gang of rapist homicidal drug-dealers through a zoo where all the cages are open, including the lion’s, wasn’t shitty enough. I’m blanking on the author’s name and the title (I want to say Bryan Smith authored them, but I don’t think I’ve got the last name right), so post a comment if you like brutal, bleak, gruesome and well-written post-zombie apocalypse survival novels with likeable characters, and I’ll get off my butt and get the info on the novel for you. It was so intense I couldn’t read the whole thing in one sitting; I needed sanity breaks.
How many times have you been watching a witch on American Horror Story Coven doing something an ordinary person can’t and thought, You know, that’d come in pretty handy a few times. I know I have. Being able to do something you’d normally get in trouble for (nothing too horrible) and then telling whoever saw it or helped you, “I’d thank you, but of course you won’t remember any of this” like Fiona can? Or just wave someone inconvenient out of the room? Yeah, that’d be pretty cool. Looking like I was thirty or so for decades after that would be pretty sweet, too. However, that’s when the longtime horror fan in me kicks in. I’ve been reading 50s EC Comics since the 80s, which would be enough to scare me off magical anti-aging cures as it is. Combine that with seeing even more mainstream movies like Death Becomes Her, and my brain will remind me of way too many ways that could go horribly, horribly wrong. Plus, there’s usually a huge price to pay for it (selling your soul being the most common). Many of Stephen King’s best books –take Carrie, The Dead Zone, Firestarter, and The Shining (all of which I’ve also been re-reading since the 80s), for example– teach readers that mind-reading, pyrokinesis, and telekinesis have a serious dark side. Let’s not over-think it, though, and go with the American Horror Story Coven rules for these powers (some of which Coven has already showed us the ways these powers can backfire, especially if you need intensive training on how to control them). Whose power/s are you REALLY envious of? Tell Horror Boom in this poll, then see the results so far, and don’t worry, your anonymity is perfectly safe; even the person in charge of everything (that’d be Mrs. Horror Boom here) couldn’t ID you. Have fun!
We were unable to find the artist/copyright for this cool piece of work. If whoever created it wants credit or would like us to take it down, please contact us and we’ll be happy to.
SPOILER ALERT (for S3 of The Walking Dead AND the prison episodes of the graphic novel)
So far, they’re keeping VERY quiet about if we’ll see Carol again. I hope we do; Melissa McBride has said she had to talk Kirkman not once, but twice out of killing her off. McBride said in the Rolling Stone TWD cover story last month (we get the print version) that one of the times, it was because the original plan during the “Killer Within” episode was for her, not T-Dawg, to be the unexpected fast death before the bigger death of Laurie during childbirth (I guess ‘dying during childbirth’ is a tactful way of putting it). Even if we never see her again (though I think we will… hopefully not in the same 1-mile radius about Tyrese, if Rick tells him, or she’s as dead as a walker) I will give them points for not having a character leave the show by being killed off in a sudden way that involves pools of blood (which is why I think she’ll show up down the road somewhere).
Speaking of that, do you want to know what happens to the character of Carol in The Walking Dead graphic novels? If you’re planning on reading them, or are and the lengthy prison arc is still in the early stages, STOP NOW, because it’s pretty shocking. Keep in mind Carol in the comics looks more like Andrea and didn’t lose a kid (I think) or have an abusive husband.
Gonna try not to make this a giant run-on paragraph here, and the backstory is complicated, so here’s why/how Carol in TWD comic dies: She has a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with Tyrese (hey, he’d be the first man I’d try to hook up with in the comics too) and they share a cell. Michonne shows up and is alone together in the gym with Tyrese; she comes on to him and they have sex. Carol, who was already feeling kind of lonely and off-kilter from all the horrible shit she and the group have lived through, either catches them or finds out, and cuts her wrists in their cell. The group find her in time–Tyrese feels terrible and guilty about it, and Michonne’s not exactly proud of it either–and save her life. Lori starts hanging out more with Carol since she knows Carol could really use some friendly support. Carol surprises the hell out of Lori by hinting around about “sharing” Rick between them sexually, and tries to kiss Lori. Lori tries to let her down easy, but worries about Carol’s mental health. Carol feels rejected. Not long after, poor Carol finally goes completely batshit and goes for a stroll outside. She approaches what appears to be a female walker (I say ‘appears” because it’s pretty rotten, missing chunks, etc.) who is chained up and kept around so that his scent will throw off other zombies from the humans living there) and starts talking to her like she’s human, telling her about how she doesn’t have any real friends, the prison isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, she’s lonely, etc. In one of the most disturbing scenes in the series (which sets the ‘disturbing’ bar pretty high) she strolls right up to it calmly, puts her arms around the zombie and asks if it likes her. The zombie bites her throat and she winces and says “I knew you liked me…” as it tears in and rips out a big bite. The disturbing part is the look on her face, she looks happy but with her mind totally gone as she smiles and blood sprays everywhere. People in the group come running over as she collapses and bleeds out –Tyrese especially is in serious shock– and when they try to carry her inside, she gurgles to them to let her die (and dies). Of course, they’re still processing what the fuck just happened when she turns, sits up, and lunges for Tyrese- someone in the group reacts quickly and shoots her in the head. So there you have it, suicide by zombie. Poor Sophie gets ‘adopted’ by Maggie and Glen. It’s definitely not the most fucked-up thing that goes down in the prison era; most of the really disturbing things could NEVER be depicted on AMC. If they tried to re-create them for the series, it’d have to be so dimly lit and watered down that you wouldn’t even be able to tell what the hell is going on; there’s no way to do a TV version of them (that would get past the network and make it to air, anyway).
But I digress. Anyway, she (so far) has a slightly happier existence in her AMC TWD incarnation. I think another character–maybe not a prison resident– may end up snapping and commit suicide in a similar manner. Kirkman and Scott Gimple have both stated they want to use events from the comic, but switch around characters and tweak the situations. For instance, in the comics, Dale lived and it was him, not Herschel (who is not a even-tempered as he is on the show) who got ankle-bit suddenly by a zombie in a dark location and his leg amputated. Dale sticks around way, way longer than in the series… and Andrea hooks up with Dale (Daddy issues? His character repeatedly says he has no idea why Andrea would want to be his girlfriend, but oh well, he’s not going to complain). Kind of relieved we didn’t have to see that depicted on the show–the comic will suffice.
Now you can watch all three Walking Dead webisodes for this year (they generally do it between seasons, so this is the third batch). For the first series we had the gruesome, gut-wrenching (in more ways than one, but damn it was sad) Bicycle Girl backstory. The second was a stand-alone featuring some really good talent (and a grim, satisfying payoff).
This year we get a prequel, and here’s a small spoiler as to what iconic moment from AMC’s The Walking Dead –come to think of it, the comic had it too–check out the four words from the below image (copyright AMC):
Buckle up and enjoy, these three new webisodes (ominously titled “The Oath”) should hold you over until the season 4 premiere this Sunday …especially since Greg Nicotero created and directed them!
Yeah, if it’s not zombies, or other people, what is it? Running out of food? That would eventually land in the category of ‘other people’, (Cannibalism gets pretty intense in the comics). What the hell is it? Fleas? Ugh, your guess is as good as ours. Anyway, check out the sneak peek!
We discovered this site today (of course, at the last minute, but it’s still not too late).
We’ll try to (for now) give you the Cliff Notes version, with more to come. You can also just read the “About Us” section on PopcornHorror.com, but if you’re in a hurry:
Most of the staff either grew up in the 80s like us, or are younger but very well-informed and huge 80s horror fans. You just need to look at their’ favorites’ list under bios.
Anyway, since the clock is ticking, we highly encourage you to click here ASAP to check out six quality horror shorts that are the finalists for a contest they ran called “Blood Games.” The theme was basically, well, like it sounds. For the six finalists the tagline could either be It Started Off As A Game… or It Was Just Supposed To Be a Fun Game… or Some Games Should Never Be Played. I believe the longest was ten minutes, another was a little over four, another two minutes.
From the nail-biting horror short finalist “Click”
We didn’t feel at all like we were wasting out time after watching any of them. One of the finalists is well-made but didn’t stand out, another contender reminded me of a different, better short I saw on BloodyCuts.uk last year that blew me out of the water, another only has one word of dialogue yet definitely gets the message across, but all six of the finalists are better than most horror shorts you’ll watch. One has a twist ending that I’ll bet… hell, I’ll bet our Park Chan-Wook Vengeance Trilogy Boxed Set on that you will NEVER see coming. I pride myself (and get on my own nerves) by almost never being surprised by a twist, it’s pretty rare when I see something I absolutely couldn’t even begin to second-guess. No, I’m not going to tell you which ones are which, go in clean–and not trying to figure out the twist–and find out yourself. It’s much more fun that way!
If you’re short on time and can watch only two, I’d recommend “Click” (for successfully using a simple, very chilling element to scare the hell out of you, while staying understated; I don’t think there’s one drop of blood spilled) and the recently released “Don’t Move” from our horror pals across the pond at Bloody Cuts. Now THAT one is full of gore and sleep-with-the-lights-on scary. Though the budget was very low, you would never, ever guess it from watching. Crank the sound– not so much for the jumps but the amazing stunning, crisp, and terrifying audio. You won’t see (nor have you seen) anything like it. “Don’t Move” is also currently the top vote-getter.
From the show-stopping NSFW horror short “Don’t Move” (Bloodycuts.uk)
Those are the two that stick in my mind–the chills and suspense in the simple (but very clever) terror of “Click” (that title is in no way internet-related), and the in-your-face horror show that is “Don’t Move,” with the kind of quality you’d expect from Bloody Cuts at the top of their game. Voting closes April 30th (I assume at midnight) so get in those votes for your favorite and most deserving of the prize package now!
Truthfully, they never tell us to scale back. We pretty much go for it. In Episode 10, when Daryl smashes the walkers with the crossbow and then smashes his head in the trunk of the car, since I’m directing second unit, a lot of times, I’ll go in and shoot those little accents later. I’ll say, “Oh, this would be a great moment,” or “We need a little punch here, or little push here,” like tearing the face of the gas mask walker to see that hideous skull, or shit like that.
–Greg Nicotero, on not scaling back with “Walker” kills (Hooray!)
If you’d rather read some great interviews Collider.com got to do–and they had great questions–before The Walking Dead Paleyfest Panel, which you can watch the actual footage of right here, and plenty of it-– we sure as hell found some! For the print interview w/Collider, click on the big red link below…
Among other topics, they discuss:
Enjoy! Here’s a really horrifying Walker (shown in a PR photo) that’ll be in Sunday night’s episode (insert your own corny joke about the importance of sunblock here)…
Fuck!
Man, are we sorry we couldn’t be there! However, we’ve got the next best thing, courtesy of Dread Central…click on the big red link to check it out!
TEDxChange – Paley Center for Media (Photo credit: Gates Foundation)
Be sure you read both pages, because there was a scene we didn’t get to see – AND a dark turn for Axel’s character that Robert Kirkman and Glenn Mazzara had locked and loaded in case they decided to go a different way. Plus, find out where did Greg Nicotero (or his body cast) showed up in this episode.
HORROR BOOM 