LOVE, LABOUR, AND THE ART OF REJECTION

The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
So wrote Oscar Wilde over a century ago, in the preface of his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. This amuse-bouche almost seems out of place in a work that many consider a Victorian horror novel. Oscar Wilde was a man of wit and knew first-hand the fickle whim of societal tastes. He would spend the end of his life exiled from England after serving two years in a British jail for "indecency."
Wilde would later go on to write in that preface: Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.
And:
Vice and virtue are to the artist materials for an art.
And:
When critics disagree the artist is in accord with himself.
And most importantly:
All art is quite useless.
Oscar, like myself, was not one to suffer fools. Aside from The Picture of Dorian Gray, he went on to pen several standards for the stage. Among them, The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, and the controversial Salome. And that stint in jail I mentioned earlier? No sooner had he been set free than he set fire to his enemies with the epic poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Perhaps folks didn't get what he was trying to do, and perhaps they didn't approve.
That doesn't mean it ever stopped him from getting it done.

I also think it was elegantly stated by another gentleman from across the pond.

"Rejection is one thing, but rejection from a fool is cruel."

- Stephen Patrick Morrissey

Or if you're looking for something a little more red, white, and blue...

Rejection is something that builds an artist. It adds a thicker layer of skin. It opens one's eyes a little wider to the process and the bullshit. Someone can argue that it adds a different perspective to the work, but what if the work needs to operate in complete ignorance of that perspective? How are we supposed to gauge which criticism is helpful and which is not? Is the criticism pure?

Who gets a say in your work, or the interpretation of your work?

DO NOT GET ME WRONG. I am not saying all criticism should be ignored. There are professional people out there who sincerely wish to see people's work made better. I have received very kind feedback from people who wanted to help me get a leg up and, to these people, I am forever indebted. But sometimes there are mean, petty people out there who come from a very dark place of their own and feel like taking a sledgehammer to other people's work because their own work is shoddy, makeshift, and suspect.  

And I know what you are thinking: "But Eryk, what the devil do you know about being rejected? You've got plenty film festival awards and published stories, novels, etc. The world must be handed to you on a silver platter."

Au contraire. I get my fair share of rejections, even still. Ever so often, I still encounter some grumpy, foul troll who steps from beneath his bridge to check the Inbox for submissions and, perhaps he has neglected his medication, perhaps the old pecker isn't firing on all cylinders... Regardless, something's got this guy's knickers in a bunch and, lo and behold, he receives my query and FINALLY he has a proper forum into which he may vent his aggressions! Nothing more could possibly soothe him than to send me curled into the fetal, awash in salty tears.

For those kinds of people, a simple form rejection letter would hardly suffice, would it?

So, with no further ado...

TOP FIVE REJECTION LETTERS I'VE RECEIVED

5. FROM AN AGENT WHO DIDN'T LIKE DIRTBAGS.

"I really tried to like this, but there was not one single likable character in this book. I also felt the enthusiasm in the book did not match that of your in-person pitch. Furthermore, you told me the book was funny. The situations in this book could hardly be described as 'funny.'"

THE REPLY I WANTED TO SEND, BUT DIDN'T

Hey lady, thanks for reading my book. I am a long believer that there's something for everyone in this world, and it turns out DIRTBAGS was not for you. Looking back, I should have divined as much during that in-person interview you referenced. I heard the uppity accent and the way you looked down your nose at me, but I was totally hungover and I thought you didn't like the smell. It was a writer's conference, and this is how I was told to behave. Also, I was completely distracted by your legs, which were quite fit and didn't seem to match the rest of you. Overall, I kept thinking how, with a good honest roll in the hay, you might actually be someone worth having a conversation with in real life, and therefore didn't listen to much of anything you said with your mouth. So I could be excused for misreading your sensibilities, given the circumstances. I am glad I left such an impression on you, however. And furthermore, as far as my book not being "funny," allow my man William E. Wallace to tell you at which platform you may debark.

4. FROM AN UNNAMED FILM FESTIVAL IN AN UNNAMED FOREST COMMUNITY

"No."

THE REPLY I WANTED TO SEND, BUT DIDN'T

Hey man, I was a little put off by the simple, one word rejection of my film and couldn't help but think there was a little anger boiling behind those two letters. I couldn't, for the life of me, think of why and I decided to google your name to see why on earth you could be so angry at poor little me. I saw we went to the same college, but I still couldn't place you. So I asked an old friend if they knew you and if they knew how we might know each other and all my friend said was:
"Seriously? You really don't remember?"

That's never good. 

Turns out, one night I went trolling for townies and took up with a girl that turned out to be your girlfriend. I'm really sorry about that. I was in Party Mode back in those days and, since I don't remember half of them, really think my behavior ought to be excused. Best I can tell, nobody got pregnant so we should let bygones be bygones. I have another film coming out and I would really like to screen it there, if possible. Is there some way we can settle this before the early deadline?

3. FROM A LITERARY MAGAZINE

"This is a great story with great moments, but I really think you could trim it down from its size. I'm

thinking if you get it down to 8000 words, I could find a place for it."

MY RESPONSE: "Excellent. Thanks a lot. Here it is, trimmed from 12000 words to 8000 words. Thank you for your help."

HIS RESPONSE:

MY RESPONSE: "Hi. It's been one month since I heard from you regarding my story. Were the cuts adequate?"

HIS RESPONSE: "Sorry. I thought you new [sic] that by not responding, it meant we were rejecting it."

THE REPLY I WANTED TO SEND, BUT DIDN'T

I was kind of hoping when you didn't respond it was because someone ripped your head off and stuffed it down your toilet. Just checking.

Or maybe you were too busy to reply because you were busy reading that 8000 word story which was later serialized in Pantheon Magazine. Who fucking knows.

2. FROM A ORGANIZATION AWARDING A GRANT

"The judge and panel thought your work showed great promise and agreed that working with you might be valuable, but our main concern is the sheer volume of your writing. You work in film and fiction, and we fear that working on so many different projects does not seem to encourage you to find time to really dig deep into the craft of writing."

THE REPLY I WANTED TO SEND, BUT DIDN'T

Please thank the panel for their time. Also, please assure them that while many of my rejection letters end up in the wastebasket, this one is going into a frame and will be hanging on my wall. So often, while writing 8-10 hours per day, I find I need a little levity, or a break from taking things too seriously. I believe this letter will serve to do just that.

(Note: OK, I lied. I actually sent that one.)

1. FROM A FILM FESTIVAL

"Do you have another cut of your film? Perhaps a nine minute version? I see a pretty good film in there, but as it stands, I wonder if this length will allow it more traction. Most films are made in the editing suite, you know. Use the film form to tell this story, don't tell it the way people enjoy reading it!"

THE REPLY I WANTED TO SEND, BUT DIDN'T

Dear Dipshit, I am glad you asked if we had another cut of the film lying around. I didn't know you wanted the nine minute version. It's sandwiched right here between the eight and ten minute version. I don't know what kind of crap-tastic films you've been forcing people to watch, but the ones I make have pictures locked and sound mixed and music scored... I wasn't slick enough to remember that I would have to recut it for entry into your festival. And thanks for the extra tidbit, that movies are made in the editing suite. I had no idea. I was too busy doing things like WORKING ON THE FILM IN THE EDITING SUITE WITH THE EDITOR. Thanks for the e-correspondence film school lessons! I'll get cracking on that alternate cut tout suite!

The above example best illustrates my point. A simple rejection letter would have sufficed. I work hard and have worked hard my entire life. I have sources where I can find constructive criticism and I seek them out. I exhaust them. So many of my most valuable friends have been haunted by me in a late night phone call or a flurry of text messages, begging their opinions of a project. My poor wife, listening as I measure every sentence or piece of dialogue. The kind and generous souls in my writer's group who offer their unrestricted opinions. To all of these people I have trusted and depended upon and they have helped me immensely. I better not start naming names or we will be here all day. 

What about my own experience? I have a degree in Literature. How do you like that? Also, a degree in History. I have been reading stories for as long as I can remember and I have developed my own sense of taste. Like Hank III says, "Not everybody likes us..." It's true. I write what I want to read. I make the films I want to watch. If it's not for you, please don't bother with it. I do not have the time to stop and consider your past and your experiences and your body of work and your tastes. I wish to high heaven I knew them before I paid your festival fee or I would have saved the money. I wish I knew not to wait for your reply, because you ain't going to send it. I wish I knew if it was a film or literary professional standing at the gate, or if it was just some clown with an attitude.

Because, based on my experiences, nobody likes a fucking clown with an attitude.

BOOK TRAILER: HASHTAG by Eryk Pruitt

I know, I know...
I'm supposed to be posting like a Top Ten List or something on this site, right? Sorry man, but things have been a little hectic. I've been running around trying to finish up the last bits for our upcoming short film "The HooDoo of Sweet Mama Rosa" and attending screenings of our short films "Disengaged" and "Liyana, On Command." There's been readings for DIRTBAGS and, oh... that's right: HASHTAG is on its way as well.

To celebrate the release of HASHTAG, we're throwing a Geeky Writers party  and, if you've never been, you have to check it out. It usually involves a lot of booze and a bit of ranting and raving. We're joined by the writers Todd Keisling, Tony Rapino, and Mercedes Yardley, so it's a bang-up good time. Usually, free things are given away because, you know, people like to be bribed.

AND, if you are one of the people who subscribe to this website... guess what:

Your poor eyeballs will be the first to officially watch this book trailer for HASHTAG.




The video was shot and edited by the ever-impressive film wizard Nick Karner. Hanna Brown stars as Sweet Melinda Kendall and Michael Howard is Randy, the wine salesman. If this scene smacks a bit familiar, it's because it's featured in the short story "Rather A Nice Finish," which was published in Pantheon Magazine waaaay back in 2012. Actually, Sweet Melinda has been a recurring character of mine for some time now, with appearances in stories by Severest Inks, and an unpublished number "The Return of the Mississippi Hot Mess" in SWILL magazine. I'm proud to finally give her a home in HASHTAG, and I hope you buy it, read it, and enjoy it.

The music was provided by the smoothest bluesman this side of the Delta, Mr. Mel Melton of the Wicked Mojos. Not only am I a big fan of all his music, I'm also a big fan of his gumbo. Trust me, if you ever have a chance to eat his Southern and Cajun cooking... get on it. I can't thank him enough for letting us use "Wicked," the opening song off his Mojo Dream album. It's a mood-setter and one I've often used to get me ready to write some swampy Southern fiction.

And of course this could not have been done without Lana Pierce, Tracey Coppedge, and Meredith Sause. No matter what I find myself getting into, they are always there to help me through it and this is no exception. Lana whipped up vittles for everyone on set while Tracey did makeup and Meredith ran sound.

Special thanks to Piper Kessler who let us borrow sound equipment, and taught us how to use it. Thank you Ismail Abdelkhalek for letting us raid your arsenal and lending the hazer. And thank you to Bob Walters of Local Film Talk for the strong constructive criticism and suggestions.

And thank everyone for watching the trailer and hopefully reading the book!!!

Please let me know what you think about the trailer in the comments below.

Eryk Pruitt is a screenwriter, author and filmmaker living in Durham, NC with his wife Lana and cat Busey.  His short films FOODIE and LIYANA, ON COMMAND have won several awards at film festivals across the US.  His fiction appears in The Avalon Literary Review, Pulp Modern, Thuglit, and Zymbol, to name a few.  In 2015, he's been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes and is a finalist for the Derringer Award. His novel Dirtbags was published in April 2014, and Hashtag will be published in May, 2015. A full list of credits can be found at erykpruitt.com.

The new LEAD BELLY: SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS COLLECTION Box Set

I can't imagine life without the iPod.

I listen to music across a variety of genres. I love the opportunity to summon a song from a wide spectrum of tone, mood, and spirit. To have that itch scratched at a moment's notice.

But imagine all that within one human being. A single, solitary man who absorbed music, tradition, and verse from not just old school blues halls or medicine shows, but chain gangs, cotton fields, gospel houses, sukey jumps, New York City concert halls, folk music circles, and jook joints, to name a few. To have captured those spirits and preserved them in amber, untouched by the influence of radio.  And to be able to pick up a twelve-string guitar and call upon music traditions stretching back into forever.

That's Lead Belly. You can buy all the Lead Belly albums you want and still probably never hear all his repertoire. Also, you could start writing today and ten years later, still never cover every artist influenced by Lead Belly, whether they know it or not.

However, a good start would be the new Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection box set. 
While it is a great starting point for folks who are new to Lead Belly, a lifelong fan like myself who perhaps already has a significant collection of Lead Belly music would probably ask if there's a good reason to drop a chunk of change of this box set.

I would tell them no, there isn't one good reason.

There are ten.

TOP TEN REASONS TO DROP A CHUNK OF CHANGE ON THE

LEAD BELLY: THE SMITHSONIANFOLKWAYS COLLECTION

10. THE PHOTOGRAPHS

It doesn't matter if your coffee table is mahogany wood or an upturned cardboard box, the 140-page large format book will look super great atop it. Girls will want to hang out and flip through the pages and guys will tell you how cool you are for having it. The last generation of music lovers probably got their exposure to Lead Belly through Kurt Cobain's mind blowing performance of "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" on MTV: Unplugged. Can you imagine being the guy to turn on the following generations? These slick photographs should do the trick.

9. THE ESSAYS

I can nerd out on some liner notes, man. The best ever liner notes came off the Dylan album, Bringing It All Back Home. I really love getting four-disc themed box sets that cover entire sub-genres like rockabilly, western swing, and Detroit blues (all of which are in Lead Belly's wheelhouse). One of the best parts of the collections are the liner notes. Glossy booklets written by scholars who also like to nerd out. The book has two of such essays. One by Robert Santelli, the Executive Director of the Grammy Museum, and another by Grammy-winning Smithsonian Folkways archivist Jeff Place. The Place essay is very in-depth and compelling and well worth multiple readings. Especially enlightening is the piece "Why He Sang Certain Songs" by his niece Tiny Robinson. I'm this close to tearing that out of my book so I can hang it on my wall.

8. THEY WNYC FOLK SONGS OF AMERICA RADIO SHOWS

This is where it's at. Lead Belly sits in on two radio shows featuring his music. Lead Belly spent his later years in New York City in the nascent stages of the folk scene. He enjoyed a fine bit of notoriety and appeared on a couple radio programs. These sets on WNYC run six and seven songs, and the second one features the Oleander Quartet. This is a treat, man. You can't find that on the internet (yet).

7. LEAD BELLY NARRATION

I'm a sucker for Lead Belly's narration between songs. The dude's like a walking history book. Not only did he save entire traditions in music from history's recycle bin, but nobody explains East Texas life better than Lead Belly. Often, he explains his inspiration for the song, or the source material. In "Rock Island Line," he explains the song's refrain. His version of "Boll Weevil" is a new one, according to the engineer, and it tells the story of one of the South's biggest scourges from the point of view of a man who picked his share of

2015: The Best is Yet to Come

All things considered, 2014 did not suck.

For one, I accomplished a major goal in life when my debut novel DIRTBAGS was published by Immortal Ink in April. For as long as I could remember, I'd wanted to write a book. I'd gotten over thirty short fiction pieces published, and not to mention the recent work in film, but for the first time, I actually felt like a for-real writer. The best part is, the reviews were great. DIRTBAGS stayed in the Top 100 Rated crime books on Amazon for quite a while. It sold handsomely. There were several online reviews that said very nice things. Overall, I was happy with the experience.

I also organized and took part in two successful events in my community. In June, we held the first-ever NOIR AT THE BAR over at Mike's place at 106 Main. We got top fiction talent when Steve Weddle, Phillip Thompson, Chad Rohrbacher, Charles Dodd White, Grant Jerkins and Peter Farris came out to read and sign books. A few of us got wasted back at my place and... well, let's save that story for another day. Also, we hosted a NIGHT OF LOCAL HORROR at Motorco, screening two films I wrote along with short horror by local auteurs Christine Parker, Christopher G. Moore, Roger Paris, Alan Watkins, Jaysen Buterin, Jeffrey Moore, Dean Garris and Todd Tinkham. The event was emceed by The Lowdown Show, filmed by Local Film Talk and lots of people came out to see what we're up to.

Speaking of film, I directed two of them. That's right. LIYANA, ON COMMAND was filmed in July and snagged a "Best Actor" award for Meredith Sause when it premiered at the Carrboro Film Festival. We also filmed THE HOODOO OF SWEET MAMA ROSA in August, but more on that for 2015... Also DISENGAGED, (director: Christopher G. Moore) a horror short based on my story "A Way Yet to Go" has been winning awards at festivals across the country.

Two Pushcart Prize nominations for short fiction. Yeah, yeah, yeah... I've gotten a few pieces published here and there, but most notably my story "Houston" in Thuglit #10, "The Jack Off" over in Pulp Modern #8, and a turn in both Shotgun Honey and Out of the Gutter. I even got translated into German, for fuck's sake. Take a look on my website for the full line-up, as well as links. 

Overall, there is a huge list of people who made 2014 hum for me, but I could not have done a lick of good all year if it weren't for the following people: Lana Pierce, Nick Karner, Tracey Coppedge, Meredith Sause, Jeffrey Moore, Alex Maness, Piper Kessler, Monique Velasquez, Rudy Kraul, Jedidiah Ayres, Mike Bourquin, Raia Mihaylova, Todd Keisling, Zachary Walters, Mike Rollin, and Natalie Pruitt. This list could go on and on, but these folks especially moved heaven and earth for me in 2014. I hope I one day can repay them.

BUT LOOKING FORWARD:

2015 is lined up to rock.

My second novel is being published on May 26th. It's called HASHTAG and it's a humdinger. At present, it weighs in at 100,000 words and follows three people's descent into trouble. Get your shitting britches on, because hopefully this will separate the fat from the cream...

My director's debut, the short film LIYANA, ON COMMAND has been entered into eighteen film festivals so far. Wish us luck. The big project, THE HOODOO OF SWEET MAMA ROSA, based on my Pushcart Prize nominated short story in Zymbol, is currently in post-production and my goal is to have it done before the summer. I'm told it's doable. Again, wish us luck. And I'm most excited about KEEPSAKE, the Southern short film I wrote for Meredith Sause. It was one of the most rewarding film experiences I've ever had, and that translates well on screen. You'll see.

Valentine's Day will have my short fiction piece "Sixteenths" up at YELLOW MAMA. I have a long list of short fiction I hope will be submitted and published this year. Also, this is the year I start shopping my short fiction collection titled LUFKIN. Be on the lookout for news on that.

I've got a WIP entering its last phases. I've got an idea for an epic project I'd like to undertake. I have a month full of meetings to kick off the New Year. I'm wanting to do another NOIR AT THE BAR, god willing.

Like I said, get your shittin britches ready...

SOUTHERN GOTHIC NOIR in FILM

I like Southern stuff.

Those of y'all who've been hanging around the Rectory for a while have heard me talking about my favorite hybrid genre - Southern Gothic Noir - for some time now. Give this kid some Flannery O'Connor or some William Gay or some Clayton Lindemuth or Daniel Woodrell and he could hole up for an entire winter, were it not for the fact that Southerners don't really get winters. 

I wrote my own book DIRTBAGS in the spirit of what I call "Southern Gothic Noir," which blends elements of noir with those of Southern Gothic. Dirty people doing dirty things in the Dirty South. 

Well, this summer I decided to up my game a little. I took on a little project called "The HooDoo of Sweet Mama Rosa," a short film based on a short story I had published in ZYMBOL #3 (Currently SOLD OUT). "HooDoo" recruits the elements of Southern Gothic Noir and employs them, same as they would in a book. In our film, Old Poke Billet is a black man who has been mowing yards in a small Southern community for as long as anyone can remember, but little George Sinclair, a 13 yr old white boy, will go to unusual lengths to try and squeeze in on his action. The film stars JW Smith, Rita Gonzalez, Tracey Coppedge, Meredith Sause, Jeffrey Moore and Logan Harrison and is filmed in the Southern town of Durham, North Carolina. It's Southern Gothic Noir through and through.

But I am hardly the first person to do this. Check it out.

TOP TEN SOUTHERN GOTHIC NOIR FILMS

10. GEORGE WASHINGTON (2000, directed by David Gordon Green)

This film takes place in an impoverished North Carolina town. It's gritty and surreal and extremely tragic. What's really tragic is the dude that directed this stunning flick went on to direct Pineapple Express, but I guess we're all just squirrels trying to get a nut in the end. Casting Nick Cage for the title character in Joe probably wasn't a great move, either, but he did a damn good job in George Washington so for that I commend him. 

9. ANGEL HEART (1987, directed by Alan Parker)

Alan Parker made some pretty good flicks, from Midnight Express to Pink Floyd's The Wall and even another great Southern flick, Mississippi Burning, but this hot, steamy flick will forever be remembered as what got Lisa Bonet kicked off The Cosby Show. This movie is Bad Ass. A detective story about a guy who descends into the depths of Hell... er, New Orleans to find the missing Harry Angel and... well, too many spoiler alerts to continue. 

8. SLING BLADE (1996, dir. by Billy Bob Thornton)

It's a strong testament to this film that no human on Earth can watch it all the way through without talking like Billy Bob for the next several hours. The film that gave way to "French Fried Potaters" and "Not Funny Ha-Ha, but Funny Queer" is also well known for its expert use of Southern accents without being farcical. Little Lucas Black kept that accent his entire career and is still working today, bless his heart.

7. THE KILLER INSIDE ME (2010, dir. by Michael Winterbottom)

I've waxed long and hard about how much I love this adaptation of Jim Thompson's novel, especially in this guest post over at Hardboiled Wonderland. This gritty, sociopathic film is steeped heavy in Southern noir tradition. And the darkness and insanity in Lou Ford's head offer a grim hand toward the "grotesque" elements of Southern Gothic. Most folks don't like the movie, but I ain't most folks. 

And neither are you...

6. BLACK SNAKE MOAN (2006, dir. by Craig Brewer)

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Hot, gritty, sweaty, sexy... The music is amazing. Samuel L. Jackson actually learned to play guitar on Highway 61 by Northern Mississippi bluesmen... The title is taken from an old Lemon Jefferson song. The mix of race and religion and sex is a lethal recipe for something dangerous and this fuse gets lit at the very beginning of the movie. 

5. THE APOSTLE (1997, dir. by Robert Duvall)

In one of the stellar acting performances of all time, Robert Duvall is a fucking dynamo as exiled Pentecostal preacher Sonny aka The Prophet E.F. If this flick comes on, I can't look away until well into the ending credits, as this movie refuses to quit. Catch an early performance by Southern stalwart Walton Goggans, and even an excellent turn from former Angel Farrah Fawcett, but don't kid yourself, this movie is all about Robert Duvall.

4. MUD (2012, directed by Jeff Nichols)

I'm calling it now: Go see everything by Jeff Nichols. After the brilliant Take Shelter and then the soon to be classic Mud, this guy is turning out to be my kind of storyteller. Mud is almost color-by-numbers Southern Gothic, and the Mud and Sam Shepard character are straight-up noir. This movie came at the beginning of the "McConassaince," before True Detective and Dallas Buyer's Club, so it's awesome to see him slumming on an indie film again. And bringing it.

3. FRAILTY (2001, dir. by Bill Paxton)

Wha...What? Two movies in a row starring Matthew McConaughey? What did you expect? This film here is one of my all-time favorites. It's got what you need: grotesques, religion, mystical realism... Questioning right and wrong. Dude, if you've never seen FRAILTY, get thee to a Redbox immediately. I don't want to say anything for risk of spoiler alert.

2. WINTER'S BONE (2010, dir by Debra Granik)

This one has everything you need. Early Jennifer Lawrence, a mess of cast members from Deadwood, and a script based on one of Daniel Woodrell's best novels. The entire film oozes despair and the backstory of the Dolly-Jessup feud could potentially fuel fifteen feature films. John Hawkes plays one of the most terrifying Southern characters and I can't say enough about how kickass this film is.

1. BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (2012, dir by Benh Zeitlin)

A stunning film and story. I won't ruin it with my words. Go see it and prepare to be blown away.

Eryk Pruitt is a screenwriter, author and filmmaker living in Durham, NC with his wife Lana and cat Busey.  His short film FOODIE won several awards at film festivals across the US.  His fiction appears in The Avalon Literary Review, Pulp Modern, Thuglit, Swill, and Pantheon Magazine, to name a few.  In 2013, he was a finalist for Best Short Fiction in Short Story America. His novel Dirtbags was published in April 2014 and is available in both print and e-formats. A full list of credits can be found at erykpruitt.com. SUPPORT HIS LATEST SOUTHERN GOTHIC NOIR FILM "THE HOODOO OF SWEET MAMA ROSA" BY CONTRIBUTING TO THE INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN: 

Music for your Piehole - Detroit Rock City

Look, it ain't no secret: I got no love for New York City. One thing that really gets my goat is that anywhere you are in America, some transplanted New Yorker (or worse, someone who spent a weekend in New York and now regards themselves more cosmopolitan than need be) will go all up in arms anytime you try and perform one of the most basic American tasks, which is ordering a pizza.

One of my favorites: "Oh, your from Texas so you don't know what good pizza is."

Want to watch a throwdown? Get some asshole talking New York pizza, then throw someone from Chicago into the mix. You know, "The Windy City" did not get its moniker because of the Lake Michigan breeze, but rather because it's a metropolis chock full of braggarts.

Look man, I just like pizza. I like to put it into my mouth and chew it up and swallow it. Why everytime folks try to eat something it has to be turned into some foodie food blog is beyond me. It makes me wonder if there's something in the water up in New York City that turns everyone into a douchebag so they can ruin grinders or knishes or Reuben sandwiches for the rest of the country. But it's pizza goddammit so please, eat it and quit instagramming it.

But I got news for you. There's another kid on the block and he ain't so much about making noise. He's about being cooked and eaten and he knows New Yorkers and Chicagoans and food bloggers and just plain old douchenozzles will freak out at the mere mention of another type of pizza.

I'm talking about Detroit.

Detroit style pizza is some good stuff fella, and it's the revolution that's quietly taking over the country. Originally cooked in auto parts pans, the pizza is crispy and crunchy and a downright pleasure to put into your face. Best I can tell, it started at Buddy's Rendezvous in Hamtramck at 17125 Conant St. (it's still there today). Other pizzerias caught on, including Cloverleaf, Jet's and the Detroit Style Pizza Co. (to name a few).

But the reach is growing. Jet's has put a few shops around the country, including some over in Raleigh. Speaking of Raleigh, you can order Detroit style pizza off a truck at Klausie's Pizza. But the best is probably found in Louisville at a shop called Loui Loui's, where owner Mike Spurlock took and accountant-slash-mad scientist's approach by systematically studying the best Detroit style pizzas and creating his own award-winning recipe. Seriously, Loui Loui's is where it's at.

So there you have it. I could post pictures of my food, or go on and on about what it tastes like by overusing words such as chewy or cheesy or even use made up words like umami or nom nom but I won't because I am not a food blogger; I'm a for-real writer.

What I will do instead is give you some music that will rock your face off. Unless of course you are from New York City. In that case, I have nothing that will help you.

TOP TEN SONGS ABOUT DETROIT

10. "Detroit Rock City" by KISS

Let's just get it out of the way. It's the one you've all heard of and folks will flip their lid if it's not somewhere on this list. So here it is. But I'm sticking to my guns re: Eminem and Kid Rock. Now, let's all join the adults at the Big Table.

9. "Detroit City Blues" by Fats Domino

I double-dog dare you to talk about Detroit and not talk about race. Can't do it. Well, maybe you can, kicking it down in the urban sidewalk beaches of Dan Gilbert-ville, under the watchful eye of the video cameras, sipping on an iced latte or pina colada and saying "Ahh, now THIS is the real Detroit." But as living conditions became increasingly intolerable in the Jim Crow South, more African-Americans migrated northward to urban centers. Where most companies employed discrimination tactics, auto companies such as Ford recruited blacks to assist with labor demands, especially during the periods of World War. Songs such as this from Fats Domino sound as if they had been commissioned by the city to encourage folks to move.

8. "Detroit Special" by Big Bill Broonzy

There's a lot of songs about trains with Detroit in the name. It was a coin flip between this one and "Detroit

GUEST BLOG POST: Gef Fox over at Wag the Fox allows me on his blog!

http://waggingthefox.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-southern-gothic-noir-soundtrack.html

Check it out!

FIVE SUREFIRE AND INEXPENSIVE WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK

Hey newly published writers! Let's face it: unless you've got a crack marketing and promotions team, it's pretty damn difficult to get your new novel in front of people. Facebook can only do so much, Twitter is what it is, and what the hell is Pinterest anyway?
Ask any agent or publisher and they will really drive home the importance of the "platform." Platform is one of the most overused words in publishing right now, just behind "paranormal romance." The idea behind a platform is that, along with your work, you bring with you enough expertise and automatic sales to successfully sell your book. Like say for instance you are a well-known foodie, then you've got a great platform to sell a cookbook.
But there have to be other ways to get the attention necessary to help you sell a new book. I will give this information to you for only $235. only $65. ABSOLUTELY FREE!!!

TOP FIVE WAYS TO INCREASE VISIBILITY FOR YOUR NEW NOVEL

 

5. A Sex Scandal

Yes, in this day and age, sex still sells. And no kind of sex sells better than the forbidden kind. I mean there sometimes is no better advertisement than getting caught with your dick in something it's not supposed to be in. And even better (for some of you) if there's video proof of said event. But throughout history, there has been no better sales tactic than a good old fashioned sex scandal.

Remember that dude General Petraeus, who fought the Taliban and Al Qaeda and a bunch of other heroic shit? His book did so-so after his tours of duty, but after he got caught with saucy emails... BOOM! That book went off like an IED.

Can you imagine reading Bill Clinton's book had there been no Monica Lewinsky? I couldn't. So if you want to help increase sales and can't afford a top dollar publicist, then go get your fingers in something. But whatever you do, don't forget to get caught!

 

4. An iPhone Video of a Tragedy

Man, these days, no tragedy happens in the world without somebody capturing it on their iPhone or reasonable facsimile thereof. Think about it, if you happen along a burning school bus full of children, whip out your phone and take a picture of it. Better yet, be the ONLY person taking a picture of it. That's right, when Nightline or 20/20 or Al Jazeera show that video on an endless loop, that's your name they have to show in the corner. You can't beat that kind of publicity with a stick. And the bigger the catastrophe, the more visibility you gain from it.

So if you're not lucky enough to wander upon a tragedy, consider creating one. After all, aren't you creative to begin with?

 

3. An Insensitive Tweet or Comment

Think about it. Would you have even known there were Danish cartoonists had they not drawn pictures of the Mohammad? That dude who made the silly video on YouTube got three hundred million more hits than any silly "safe" stuff I'm ever going to produce. No one even remembers liking Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon II anymore, as his later career has totally upstaged the Mad Max days. The sad truth is that one simple insensitive tweet has got legs. It can give you the traction in todays hyperfast world that good, honest work may not be able to generate.

So try it out. There are plenty of pussies out there in the world. Find the group that's right for you to offend. Me, I like going after feminists, because there's usually something stuck up there in the first place. Something like:

"Feminism is just a bunch of silly shit a woman said and did in her past that she's ashamed of now that she's settled down and married."

Or

"Welcome to West Durham, where the women's legs are hairy and the men's aren't."
Or even
"Hey, let's all admit we only fast forward through HBO's Girls to the scenes with Allison Williams."

But that's just for me. You may find it easier to say something insensitive about all sorts of groups. Just make sure you get someone rankled enough to give you the attention you crave.

 

2. Murder Your Wife

This one is tricky. In the state of North Carolina, the wife is technically still classified as your "property," so it is considerably easier to get off the hook for murdering her. HOWEVER, you must be careful, as this is a double-edged sword.

ABC-11 is obsessed with wife-killing murder trials. If you don't believe me, tune in. There's a new one every week. When they can't find one around here, they retry one that got away with it in the past, sometimes three or four times. Lately, there's been a dearth of good wife-killers, so we're borrowing the one in South Africa, Mr. Oscar Pistorius.

But the fact remains: had ANY one of those bastards written a book, it'd be flying off the shelves right now. They wouldn't have to walk into Barnes and Noble, hat in hand, and ask ever so nicely for their book to be carried in stock, placed on the shelf. No, that thing would be on its second or third printing by now.

 

1. A Good Old Fashioned Shooting Spree

 

Eryk Pruitt is a screenwriter, author, and filmmaker living in the woods of Durham, NC with his (still alive for now) wife, Lana and his cat Busey. His new novel DIRTBAGS was just released and he is looking for any way in the world to promote it. Perhaps you can help him. It's available in print, e-formats and hopefully in a tolerant bookstore near you.

LINK TO PUBLISHER: http://www.immortalinkpublishing.com/books.php?id=34

BOOK TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejEmGlhy2PE

GET THE BOOK NOW ON AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JGZHXN2

 

 



THE RALEIGH NEWS & OBSERVER SUCKS -- And Other Songs about Things Gone by the Wayside

The dinosaurs. The dodo bird. The Polaroid camera. The Twinkie.  Pluto.

In this day and age, perhaps you crave a bit of stability. It's not going to happen. It's a changing world and, in some cases, it changes much faster than you can process. For instance, I sometimes fail to see the necessity to camp out for the latest smartphone because a new one is just around the corner. By the time I get around to upgrading from Vista, I've completely missed Windows 7. And recently I was told "nobody emails anymore."

What???

I look at the speed that things change and I find myself saying the last words a marked man says to the guy come to kill him: "Wait... please wait..."

But there's one thing that is forever and that is music. Since folks first figured out how to record
music, people like Jimmie Rodgers and Lead Belly and The Carter Family have recorded songs that will remain forever and not go away. But while these songs remain, some of the content has faded long ago. And these songs serve as amber encasing these fossilized remains of institutions long past.

Take for example: The Newspaper. Man, nobody loves loved a good newspaper more than me. I grew up in Dallas and watched two daily papers battle it out for business. I even delivered the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald. But since the so-called death of print journalism, I've watched my current paper (The Raleigh News & Observer) get smaller and smaller, while farming content from

THE END IS NEAR: Top Ten Movies about Pandemics, Epidemics, Plagues and the End of the World

Let's face it: We all have to die sometime, so why not at the same time?

Recently a small bout of H1N1 (swine flu) placed me under quarantine at my house and with plenty of time to study the subject in American cinema. I can't help but think we have it easy, perhaps too easy.

Gone are the days of Spanish Influenza (which ended the first World War) and Bubonic Plague (which changed the diet and trajectory of Western Civilization), when a simple sniffle could instantly blank a third of the planet's human population. What we are left with are watered-down illnesses that couldn't hold a candle to their predecessors... the viral equivalent of Kim Jong Un or Raul Castro.

As our planet bursts at the seams due to overpopulation, we must ask ourselves: Isn't it time for a new pandemic? As the burdens of technology and PROGRESS and civilization threaten to smother us, wouldn't a global reset button be nice? With all the blather and rhetoric about end times around the end/beginning of the millenium, shouldn't we be putting the skates on a new world order?

Don't worry, I'm not a virologist or epidemiologist or anyone who made better than a B in any of my science courses. I've not got a master plan to bring about the end of the world. But don't trick yourself into believing that I'm not ready. Whether it be through zombies, nuclear fallout, or a simple strain of some nasty flu, I'm prepared for the end and I repent daily.

So when you feel that tickle in your throat, draw the shades and get thee to a warm bowl of chicken soup. Hit up the Netflix and learn from your predecessors. There are lots of films out there celebrating sickness at the end of the world, and the good right Reverend has them for you right here.

TOP TEN MOVIES ABOUT PANDEMICS, EPIDEMICS, PLAGUES,

and the END OF THE WORLD

10. THE HAPPENING (2008) 

I can see a lot of people getting bent with this choice. Several folks got upset with Shyamalan's lack of explanation, not realizing that we don't care WHAT caused the event, just what happened. If these things were going on, bringing about the end of the world, I probably wouldn't be glued to CNN trying to figure out the science. No, I'd be running for my life. It's called a MacGuffin, y'all.  
The great George Romero never explained what caused the Zombie Holocaust. You know why? It wasn't important. And in the midst of it all, we'd never know either and the not knowing increases the terror. Man, this was a great flick.


9. QUARANTINE / [REC] (2008/2007)
[REC] came first in Spain, then the Americans remade it as Quarantine. Both versions are pretty tight, but if I had my druthers, the fella who made the marketing campaign for the American version would be shot up with SARS. For the trailer, THEY INCLUDED THE FINAL SHOT OF THE FILM. What the hell? Who does that? So throughout the movie, you are waiting for that shot of Jennifer Carpenter being dragged away

Top Five Songs for New Year's Eve

I found my 2013 list of resolutions while I was cleaning out my desk this afternoon. I am posting a picture of it here.

Not bad, huh? I did the first two and my attempt at the fourth is, quite frankly, left to the beholder.



But it's Number Three that's been pestering me a bit. I've gone out of my way to be nicer to people. I've held my tongue when perhaps I shouldn't.


I'm really not into that anymore. Nothing leads to more sleepless nights than "I should have..." and nothing makes me say "I should have" more than knowing some dickhead got one over on me.

So no more.


I now present my resolution for 2014:

I will carry an axe with me everywhere I go. And if you rub me the wrong way, I will chop your head off.

Make the necessary adjustments.

And just to keep it light, I present you with my New Year's Resolution for 1998, something else I found this afternoon. Enjoy.

 

People, I'm just saying: If there are two things I'd like to implore you to add to your list of resolutions, one would be to try to use less adverbs. Seriously. The second would be to try not to be a dick this year. Really. Just stop being a dick.

 

Or else I will chop off your fucking head.

 

TOP FIVE SONGS FOR NEW YEAR'S

 

5. "Happy New Year" by ABBA

 



Yeah... we all have secrets.

TOP FIVE SONGS REGARDING JFK'S TRIP TO DALLAS - 50 YEARS OF HITS AND MISSES

I grew up in a little Midwestern town named Dallas, which is an Eastern outpost in a vast land mass known as Texas. The history of Dallas is a touch spotty, with not much happening there previous to the 1960s. The city's founder, John Neely Bryan, named it after someone nobody can agree upon. It's main function was to be a river city with access to the Gulf of Mexico. It finally grew because a railroad terminus overstayed its welcome when the railroad went belly up and couldn't complete it's journey to Fort Worth.

Those mistakes aside, Dallas hit national headlines when two scrappy denizens from the troubled Trinity River bottoms decided to pick themselves up by their boot straps. Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow helped many banks alleviate their load during the Depression and did their part to redistribute the wealth. However, the crooked forces behind Texas law didn't care much for that kind of talk back in those days. They snuck up behind them on a Louisiana roadside and that was that.

Things stayed pretty quiet in Dallas for the next few years. A small football team made the most noise until a few newsmakers hit the scene. Stanley Marcus, a storekeeper. Gen. Edwin Walker, a self-described patriot. HL Hunt, a bowtie aficianado.

But there was one man in Dallas who knew that history was for those who reached out and took it. One man who knew that if you didn't play an instrument or know how to write good or can't manage money properly, there are limited outlets to greatness.

That man was Lee Harvey Oswald.

Since that fateful Friday afternoon, many have speculated on how the world changed. Even more have asked "what if?" And yet, even more in the past few years have asked the most haunting question of all: "Who is John F. Kennedy?" But I assure you, history was changed on that day.

If you believe the author of one of the biggest time-wasting novels of the 21st century, many earthquakes would have destroyed the world if Oswald hadn't been such a good shot. No one wants that. Another argument: we may not have gone into Vietnam. Can you imagine a world without Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, or Country Joe MacDonald's "Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die Rag?" Can you imagine how bad tourism in Dallas would have suffered, with only a shitty TV show in the 80s and a couple of Super Bowl rings to show for all its troubles?

There is a bright side to every situation. A silver lining shining through those dark clouds. For just remember, every rainy day will clear up eventually. And when it does, you can remove the bubble top from your Lincoln and take a drive through sunny downtown.

And when you do, be sure to turn up the music.

TOP FIVE "HITS" INSPIRED BY THE ASSASSINATION OF JFK

 

5. "THE BALLAD OF JACK RUBY" by OZZIE

Man, history gives some guys all the breaks, and then takes a collective dump on other guys. Jacob Rubenstein gets no love, portrayed for all eternity as some wormy hanger-on with a night club. But The Carousel Club was no ordinary night club. Regular nights at the little joint across from the Adolphus featured an act showcasing comedians, singers, strippers and a ventriloquist. Not just your average Saturday at the bingo parlor, I dare say. Anyhow, after the assassination, he closed the club for the weekend, locked his dog in a car parked outside the courthouse, and went downstairs to give Lee Harvey the old "South Dallas Hello." His first visitor in jail was Joe Campisi, Dallas crime family capo. Died of some mysterious illness he claimed was injected into him. To make matters worse, was played by Danny Aiello in a poorly-researched film in 1992.

 

4. "LEE HARVEY" by THE ASYLUM STREET SPANKERS

Dude says to hell with the United States in the height of McCarthy era paranoia, as the Cold War is just cranking up the AC. He moves to Russia, picks up a family and moves back. Beats the shit out of his wife, passes out pro-Castro pamphlets, hangs out with a Russian emigre (with ties to both GHW Bush and Jackie K) and shoots a crazy fascist politician. The FBI had files on him and "kept missing him" on routine visits to his house.

To me, the scariest thing about the entire JFK assassination is not some vast conspiracy, but how the Little Assassin Who Could shone a light on just how inept the FBI really was back in those days.

 

"THE BALLAD OF PETER PUMPKINHEAD" by XTC

One of the coolest aspects of history is how malleable it becomes over the years. Think about it: Memoirs that his image began to wane. Followed up with the overnight success of Birth of a Nation and years of romanticism, William Tecumseh Sherman is the most vilified historical figure below the Mason-Dixon.

Sherman burned the South, but after the war was celebrated as a hero for years. It wasn't until Jefferson Davis took a college tour and Sherman's own

The fascination with JFK's murder has undergone a similar shift throughout time. In the 90s, Oliver Stone's shitfest of a film coincided with heightened conspiracy theories and impassioned pleas for the truth. Fast-forward to the current era -- one rife with YouTube videos and gifs -- and you find a culture far removed from the stolen idealism of the Sixties or the conspiracy obsessions of the Nineties, but instead an audience captivated by head wounds and gut shots.

 

"I'M GLAD I'M NOT A KENNEDY" by SHONA LAING

But the greatest fear is not the Russians anymore. Nor is it the Cubans. The Mafia is no longer pervasive, except for Sopranos reruns on HBO. As mentioned earlier, it would be ridiculous to assume that an organization so bumbling and inept as the federal government could ever have pulled off an assassination of that scale and kept quiet about it for fifty years. LBJ had the means, motive, and know-how, but the graduate of an East Texas teacher's college and idealistic Master of the Senate operated by a different code and would never have ordered that trigger pulled. JR Ewing... nah.

No, those are no longer the great fears we face. While everyone prepared for one of those evils, in came the little guy with a gun and a desperate need to matter. That's who fired those shots on the Friday in 1963 and he fired them again  at Reagan in 81 and again in Columbine and again in Newtown, Connecticut.

It's easy to be afraid of vast conspiracies or criminal organizations. It's fun to imagine a terrible nation with an ideals counter to your own. But you are afraid of the wrong thing. THAT'S what the government does not want you to know. THAT'S the big secret.

 

"BULLET" by The Misfits

JFK jerked "back and to the left" because he wore a dibilitating back brace, due to injuries he sustained saving his shipmates on PT 109. The brace prevented his body from lurching forward during the fatal headshot. People heard multiple shots because they experienced shock from what had just happened. (Try counting gunshots sometime. You never get it right.) Also, the "canyon effect" in Dealey Plaza creates an echo. The FBI "lost" Jim Hosty's files on Oswald because they were trying to cover up their own stupidity.

No one is more bummed out by a lack of a vast conspiracy than me. I wish there were puzzle pieces and intrigue and missing witnesses... Instead, what we have is fifty times scarier:

A lone gunman.

 

 

 

Please catch my short fiction piece "November," due out in Pulp Modern #6, the Winter Issue. Also, for more on lone sociopaths, be sure to check out my forthcoming novel DIRTBAGS which will be published in the Spring of 2014. All of my credits are available at www.erykpruitt.com



THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR (PART II)

I've written before about how much I love October and how I think Halloween is so awesome, we should give and receive presents. In order to preserve this sentiment, I will now attempt to make the great Autumn holiday as commercial as its wintertime cousin.

Please allow me to present:

TOP FIVE GIFTS TO GIVE DURING HALLOWEEN

2013

(In no order)

 

5. GRIM HYMNS: A Southern Gothic Comic by Col. J.D. Wilkes

I've long been a fan of J.D. Wilkes' music. The frontman for both Th' Legendary Shack Shakers and The Dirt Daubers has explored and translated every nuance of Southern music: bluegrass, blues, swamp, country... to name a scant few. Not only is he an accomplished musician, but a filmmaker,

author, and cartoonist.

Illustrated by Wilkes himself, the book contains graphic renditions of murder ballads, ghost stories and folklore relating to Western Kentucky, where he lives. He recounts the story of Roderick Ferrell through sheet music accompanying his hit, "Blood on the Bluegrass." Lots of Southern horrors abound!

Wilkes financed Grim Hymns via a successful Kickstarter campaign. Not only did donors receive a copy of the "Kentucky-Fried Folklore" book, but their names were listed inside the cover. The first issue is still available on his website, while supplies last.

 

4. SOUTHERN GOTHIC ANTHOLOGY by New Lit Salon Press 

We here in the South don't need sparkly vampires or hunky werewolves to scare the hell out of each other. We got plenty things to spook us all twelve months of the year. Out here, things bite. Spiders, black snakes, rattlers... We got crazy people, crazy people that do all sorts of crazy things. We got ghost stories, juju witches, and drunk uncles. We've got plenty to scare us without making our vampires glow in the dark.

Southern Gothic is a genre that rests on the state line separating horror from grotesque. It brings reality and blends it with mysticism. Southern Gothic should scare the hell out of you because it can really happen. I've written about my views on Southern Gothic before.

One excellent gift this Halloween is The Southern Gothic anthology by New Lit Salon Press. Brian Centrone and Jordan M. Scoggins spent the early part of 2013 reading and selecting stories they felt best captured the genre. From the spooky to the surreal, they feature top-notch fiction ranging from Hardy Jones' "Visiting Cormierville" to Zachary Honey's "Her Prince Charming" to "Instrument" by Mark Pritchard. Original art by Nathan Mark Phillips raises the bar, making it perfect for any coffee table.

Oh... and my short fiction piece "Them Riders," which is a horror update on Robert Penn Warren's first novel, Night Rider.

It's available in both e-formats and print and would make the perfect October gift.

 

3. SEVEREST INKS SHORTS by Khalid Patel

I've written before about my adoration for Khalid Patel's prose in his debut novel, Hollow Shotguns. "Dr. Craine's Body" recalls the best of Edgar Allan Poe's fiction. "Red," a skillful update of a children's tale, leads us into Riverstones City, a crime-ridden Gotham. Patel recently edited work from an outside author with "June in July," a taut, tense stroy from Hunter Heath.

Since the release of that horror classic, he's gone on to produce several short novellas in the gothic tradition that bridge the gap between horror and literary.

Patel represents a new age in fiction. He examines traditional fiction and turns it on its head with technology and innovation. His voice is one that will be heard for a long time.

 

2. MIDNIGHT BLOOD by The Mission Creeps

In Tucson, Arizona, you can have Halloween all year long, thanks to The Mission Creeps. While previous generations got The Misfits, The Cramps, and The Meteors, we have our own inductees to the horror rock Hall of Fame walking among us. Their first album, In Sickness and Health combined horror noir and blues riffs with twisted lyrics and wicked bass. They followed up with Dark Cells which offers what Ennio Morricone may have sounded like if he liked scaring the shit out of people. Last year's Halloween gives us creepy music for any haunted house.

But their latest release, Midnight Blood, is where it's at. Their ballad to "Johnny Cash" makes you miss the original Man In Black. The biting satire in "Can't Find Any Brains" actually makes you feel sorry for the flesh-eating undead. And "She's My Witch" updates the old Kip Tyler classic. You can't go wrong with this album, so buy it today and stick it in a loved one's stocking Jack-O-Lantern.

 

1. FOODIE a short film directed by Christopher G. Moore, written by Eryk Pruitt

We all know foodies, don't we? They order the best wine, know everything about food and constantly pine for more bacon. Nothing scares me more than a table full of foodies because I have no doubt they wonder what kind of wine goes best with my flesh and meat.

How long would they let my bones simmer in the pot to get the best stock?

Which organ would they pair with stone-ground grits?

Would they certify me organic?

These questions and more are realized in the dark comedy, horror cult classic "Foodie," starring Nick Karner, Tracey Coppedge, Meredith Sause and an uber-talented ensemble cast of hilariously spooky actors.

Released in 2012, it screened in over fifteen film festivals across the country and received top prizes for seven of them (and counting). You've heard about the film, but have you actually seen it? Buy the film today, and let me know how you would prefer to cook a loved one!

 

 

 

Am I missing any awesome Halloween presents? Please let us know what they are in the comments below!