Jungle Mania
Attention all writers! Tasmaniac Publications is running a writing competition, to coincide with the release of NEIGHBOURHOOD JUNGLE. To find out more, read on:
To celebrate the second release of Brett McBean’s Jungle trilogy, Neighbourhood Jungle, Tasmaniac will be holding a short story writing competition.
Here’s your chance to further expand Brett’s apocalyptic vision of nature destroying modern civilization as we know it, and maybe carving yourself a slice of infamy under this dangerous canopy, for the lucky winner will see their story published in the final instalment, Suburban Jungle, as well as receiving a set of the trilogy in hardback form.
Stories need to be set around a year from when nature stamped its authority on the world, to coincide with the novel’s timeline. With a word count around 5000, we’ll be looking for stories with well thought out characters thrust into a story worth telling – whether they’re struggling to cope with their new found environment or quite the opposite.
Submissions will be accepted from now until mid-July.
Send as a word document, double spaced with standard text, along with ‘Jungle Mania’ in the subject heading to: tasmaniacpublications@gmail.com
Hardcopies are also accepted and can be sent to:
Tasmaniac Publications
P.O. Box 45
Hagley
Tasmania 7292
Australia
Best of luck to all entries…and remember, it’s a jungle out there!
I Went To The Last Motel…
Imagine if my novel THE LAST MOTEL had really been an early ’80s horror movie; an Australian-made low-budget exploitation flick in the vein of Motel Hell or Friday the 13th. That it had fallen into obscurity in the years following its release in 1981, and more than twenty years later I had written a movie tie-in novel.
Well, that’s exactly the premise the folks at LegumeMan Books and I took with the re-release of my first novel.
Since my novel was heavily influenced by low-budget horror movies of the ’70s/early ’80s, we thought it would be fun if this re-release tied in with the cinematic nature of my book. Initially the publishers and I were simply going to design the book in the mould of a movie tie-in, and leave it at that. But the more we talked, the more we liked the idea taking the concept further and actually creating a faux trailer, poster, lobby cards…
So no, there was no LAST MOTEL movie; no ‘Butch’ Callaghan and no Brazilian video containing the only known trailer for the movie. Everything you see in the offical website was created by the talented people at LegumeMan Books (with a little help from me and some friends). The trailer was filmed by us up at Creswick in April, 2010. The cast (including Butch) was played by our friends (I played the corpse!). The music was composed and performed by myself and Matthew Revert. The poster, lobby cards and video cassette were all created specifically for this re-release.
Apologies to anyone convinced this was a real movie and were hoping that one day a copy of this long-lost movie would turn up.
Still, we hope this re-release concept will be taken in the same way the book was written – with a sense of fun and entertainment, and with tongue lightly pressing on cheek. With that in mind, here is the IMDB page for the ‘movie’ THE LAST MOTEL: THE LAST MOTEL (1981)
And here is the trailer: THE LAST MOTEL TRAILER (YouTube)
Lastly, the official website for the movie that never was: The Last Motel – The Movie.
Vincent Preis Awards 2010
I’m pleased to announce that my novel Die Mutter (The Mother) has come in 2nd place in the German horror literary award, Vincent Preis (Vincent Price), for ‘Best International Literary Works 2010′. Sitting among the likes of Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Brian Keene, Joe Hill and Simon Clark, I must say I’m humbled and awed. Thank you to all of my German readers for voting for Die Mutter.
The Truth is Out There…
The truth about my first novel, THE LAST MOTEL, can finally be told!
THE LAST MOTEL was a 1981 Australian horror movie that was moderately successful upon its initial release, but soon fell into obscurity. In 2002 I wrote the novel based on the movie, and, with the writer/director’s OK (in fact, on his insistence) the book was marketed as an original novel, rather than a novelisation. Now that the film’s writer/director – Butch Callaghan – is gone, I’ve decided to come clean and let the world know about this little-seen horror movie. Also, the novel will now be re-printed as a movie tie-in, and will be coming soon from LegumeMan Books.
More details about both the novelisation and the movie to follow. You can go here to watch the trailer for THE LAST MOTEL, listen to select tracks from the soundtrack, and view behind-the-scenes photos and production stills: The Last Motel – the movie.
Special LegumeMan Books Signing
A group of LegumeMan Books authors (Matthew Revert, R. Frederick Hamilton, Steve Gerlach, Andrew Gallacher, and myself) will be at Dymocks, Southland, on May 14th, for a group signing. If you live in Melbourne, feel free to come by and say hello, buy books, get books signed, and maybe you’ll even get a hug or two. More details can be found here.
Boycott Dorchester
Dorchester Publishing has been screwing their authors over, and some of them have decided that they’re as mad as hell as they’re not going to take it anymore. To read about just how Dorchester have been behaving, and what you as readers, writers, artists, etc, can do, go here.
Words of Wisdom
Wise words from someone who knows.
Horror Trippin’ to Leatherface’s Texas
I’ve finally uploaded the photos from my trip to Texas in May of 2001. I visited multiple locations from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which for the most part had remained remarkably unchanged since the movie was made in 1973. So grab some BBQ , sit back and check out the photos here.
Horror Trippin’ to the Cabin of the Dead
I’ve now uploaded my photos from when I visited the filming location of the original Evil Dead. A lot had changed in the more than twenty years since the film was made, when I visited Morristown, TN in 2003 – namely, there was no more cabin! But, I did get some nice shots of the creepy woods and the chimney that still stands to this day. Check out my trip to the place the Deadites call home here.
Horror Trippin’ to Camp Crystal Lake
I’ve uploaded my photos from when I visited the filming locations of the original Friday the 13th back in May of 2001. Check them out here. I will add the photos from my trips to the other three horror movie locations over the next few weeks. In the meantime: ch-ch-ch-ha-ha-ha…*
*yes, I know technically it’s ki-ki-ki-ma-ma-ma, but it sounds like ch-ch-ch-ha-ha-ha in the movies, so don’t email me or comment that I’m wrong…otherwise I’ll send Jason after you!
