Bill Oberst Jr. Exclusive

Well guys I’ve got to say it’s great to be back. I’ve missed keeping up with friends old and new and showing you the best that independent horror has to offer. Whilst we’re on that topic we have an Erebus Horror exclusive from the horror icon that is Bill Oberst Jr. After racking up over 170 performances! Bill is now dominating the stage with his theatrical reading of Ray Bradbury’s Pillar of Fire!

The Original Walking Dead: Bill Oberst Jr. Wants To Take Ray Bradbury Performance To Cons ( “ Los Angeles, CA)

Bill is passionate about bringing what he calls “classic gothic horror” to new generations. Oberst has started a live performance tour of his solo show, Ray Bradbury’s Pillar Of Fire , and he’s looking for horror, sci-fi and comic conventions that are willing to, as he says try something different; a live performance of a gothic horror tale in the masterful prose of Ray Bradbury.” Oberst’s staged theatrical reading of Bradbury’s creepy tale debuted to sold- out houses in Los Angeles last summer (the show won an Ernest Kearney Platinum Medal for its run at Hollywood Fringe Festival) and was a smash at SETC, the USA’s largest theatre conference, last month.

It’s already touring colleges, but Oberst says he is driven to take the show to conventions, too. “The roots of this genre are in classic gothic literature” he says “and if we don’t continue to renew that love for gothic literature in new generations, horror grows stale. Vincent Price toured with live performances of Poe. I want to do the same with Ray Bradbury.” Oberst calls Pillar Of Fire the original zombie story (the hero is a walking dead man who hates the living) and says “It is, in my opinion, the most eloquent defense of Halloween and horror ever written.” Oberst says he has just got his first con booking for the show, Avalon Expo in St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada, and he is encouraging conventions and fan gatherings around the world who have an interest to get in touch with him. Show info and contact details are at http://www.billoberst.com/ray-bradbury.

(Pillar of Fire is read with the permission of Don Congdon Associates,Inc. on behalf of Ray Bradbury Enterprises, Inc. Copyright 1948 Love Romances, Inc.)

Well I don’t know about you but I’d pay good money to see this show if Bill ever ventured over to Merry Ol’ England! And I’m sure my American colleagues would agree!

If you get chance guys this is a no brainer – get yourselves there. Support independent horror and watch a cracking show while you’re there.

For any cons/events who follow us (And I know there are a few!) – take note. Think how much better your event could be with Bill Oberst Jr. present! In the immortal words of Derrick Trotter “You know it makes sense!”

Staring Into The Abyss by Richard Thomas

I love this cover art.

After my last short story I was given to review, I was pretty hesitant to get into Staring Into The Abyss. This book contains 20 short stories. All of them are written well, but I found some confusing. Thomas definitely wanted to let your brain come to its own conclusions about some of these stories.

The trouble with reviewing stories and movies in the horror genre is sometimes you can become slightly “numbed” to some contents. This compilation of stories are dark, and would be a good fit for someone first getting into horror. Not all horror is blood and guts, which you’ll soon find with the quick descriptions I’ve included for you guys.

Maker Of Flight – Alone in a room, a man is forced to make robotic blue birds all day, every day. Some people would consider that a vacation..

Steel-Toed Boots – If you’re trying to get your dick sucked by a male stranger, there’s always a chance it could be your pregnant wife.

Freedom – I think a suicidal just got saved by a prostitute.

Committed – Yet another reason for me to be paranoid when going to the post office.

Splintered – Allows you to skip ahead or keep reading a story about a guy whose relationship has gone sour, kind of a confusing one.

Fallible – If you fall asleep with a lit cigarette, you’re gonna have a bad time.

Stillness – Another confusing one. Guys alone in his apartment (or the entire city for that matter) you don’t know why, eventually he gets taken down by a group of storm troopers? Da fuck?

Fringe – The Russians implanted a microchip in your head, what the fuck has been going on in your life?

Underground Wonder Bound – This isn’t a horror story at all. This is about a couple going to an underground club to have sex with strangers. Hey, you’re into what you’re into I’m not here to pass judgment; just cause I’m not down with it doesn’t make it horrifying.

Amazement – Heroine will make you kill yourself and others.

Victimized – Some chick who has been abused her whole life enters a no rules fighting ring to fight her ex.

Twenty-Dollar Bill – Have you ever stopped and thought about whose hands that twenty-dollar bill in your pocket has touched? (not as entertaining as it sounds).

Interview – Babysitter killer, Quentin Tarantino style.

Paying Up – An absent father finally finds his daughter, as a stripper. Absolute horror story for a father, not for a 22-year-old female.

Ten Steps – A kid’s adulthood is affected by his childhood.

Honor – A wife decides to follow in her mother’s footsteps, and her brother kills her client.

Stephen King Ate My Brain – self-explanatory. My favorite of the bunch.

Twenty Reasons To Stay And One To Leave – A husband dealing with his failing marriage, caused by the death of their son.

Transmogrify – Can you technically be considered a lesbian if you’re a robot that looks female?

Rudy Jenkins Buries His Fears – I think a 10 year old killed a werewolf that’s been fondling him every night.

Links to pass the time on lonely nights:

Kraken Press
Kraken Press Facebook
Kraken Press Twitter
Richard’s Website