Monkeyskull

Interactive ad squirms with giant maggots when you walk by

Chris Walters — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:53:06 +0000

This video ad in Austin, TX for the anti-virus program ESET uses motion sensors to detect when people pass by. When they do, giant 3D-modeled maggots emerge from the screen and wriggle, then fall down. The ad is part of a campaign created by Monster Media, a company that specializes in large-scale LCD display advertising, and they say future versions of this campaign will have giant roaches and rats.

Unfortunately I can’t embed it, but if you click Monster Media above you’ll be taken to the right video clip on their portfolio page where you can see the promotional maggotry in action.

“Monster Media Unleases Creepy Crawler Ad for ESET” [wide-formatimagining.com]

Review: “Infected” by Scott Sigler

Chris Walters — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:30:54 +0000

Infected
By Scott Sigler
Published by Three Rivers Press / Random House

Scott Sigler’s invasion horror novel “Infected” combines ideas from Parasite Rex, delusional parasitosis (and Morgellons), Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Cronenberg’s old body horror flicks, and, uh… I guess a medical thriller? An otherworldly invasion launches its first wave against humanity by sending out tiny parasitic creatures that take up home within a human host’s body, then quickly grow and take over the person’s willpower, turning him or her into an insane killer. Luckily that doesn’t last for long; unluckily, it ends when the creatures kill the host and erupt forth in as grotesque a manner as you can imagine.

The lead character, Perry Dawsey, is an ex-footbal player who has anger management issues, and when he realizes that there’s something else living in his body, he fights back. With a knife, usually. Okay, think about that for a moment: he fights back against the parasites in his own body with a knife.

I was giggling and cringing throughout half of this book, and that’s the half I liked; the medical thriller half felt more generic, and since the chapters alternate between the two storylines, I spent too much of the time reading impatiently in the hopes that we’d get back to Perry’s ongoing battle with his body. It’s definitely not for the squeamish, although it’s quite an experience to read if you’re a hypochondriac or you get really freaked out by parasites.

Oh, it’s also the only book I’ve read where being severely beaten as a child by your drunken, abusive father is a good thing, as far as increasing your chances for survival.

I was less interested in the ending, partly because it went sci-fi in a way that made me feel the sequel, Contagious, wouldn’t be as focused on body horror (although to be fair I haven’t read it).

If you’d rather listen to the unabridged audiobook, Apple is distributing the entire thing for free at the button below:

Infected: a Novel (Unabridged)

Sigler made a video trailer for the book. Here it is:

Infected – Official Site

iPhone app review: “Ghost Capture” camera app

Chris Walters — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:27:02 +0000

Check out Ghost Capture here:
Ghost Capture lets you insert ghostly images in your existing photos, or take new ones and ghost them up before saving to your camera roll. There’s a free version with 10 images, or a 99 cent version with 30 ghosts to play with.

It’s a fun idea, and although I have a few issues with it, it’s not a bad app. It does what it advertises, and if you want a quick and easy way to generate some “proof” of ghosts in your life you should give it a shot.

The interface is a mess:

So much of the iPhone app experience relies on smart user interface choices to maximize the use of the small screen, and Ghost Capture just puts a bunch of identical buttons across the bottom; you have to study and read the control panel before you can use it, instead of just understanding intuitively “here’s where I take photos, here’s where I add ghosts, here’s where I access my photo album.”

There are two other drawbacks. You can’t erase parts of the ghosts to put them behind objects, and at only 280×320 pixels, the final images are very small.

I made a few test images to show you some of its capabilities. As you can see, if you’re creative with your photo choice and positioning, you can come up with some fun final images. (These are the actual size of the images produced by the app, by the way.)

There’s one unique quality to Ghost Capture that might make you want to support it: proceeds from the paid version are used to fund an independent film called “Ghosts Don’t Exist.” Check out the trailer below, and if you like it, you might want to pay the 99 cents just to help the movie come a little closer to being distributed.

ghostsdontexist.com

Check out Juxtaposer here:
(As a side note, if you’re artistically inclined and don’t mind putting the effort in to making your own ghost “stamps” to insert into photos, an app like Juxtaposer will serve you better–it’s more flexible and more functional.)

60-second claymation Evil Dead is as good as the real thing

Chris Walters — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:46:17 +0000

I like The Evil Dead, but the problem with full length movies is you have to watch them, which requires sitting still and paying attention for a really, really long time. That’s why I think this sixty-second remake is perfect. And the claymation style looks right at home if you remember some of the effects from the original.

The movie was made for a contest for Empire magazine. If you like it, you have until March 12th to vote for it–click over to the Empire site and cast your vote.

There’s a sixty-second version of A Nightmare on Elm Street too, and although it’s got some impressive recreation of Freddy’s glove and his phone-sex gag (see image to the right), it’s nowhere near as satisfying as this one.

Evil Dead remake with clay and done in 60 seconds, made for the Empire Jameson competition 2010. http://www.missinghead.co.uk

Serial killer appeared on ‘The Dating Game’–and won!

Chris Walters — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:25:36 +0000

Rodney Alcala’s now infamous winning appearance on “The Dating Game” in 1978 proves two things. First, that you shouldn’t look for romance on a television show. Second, that some serial killers really do have weirdly charismatic personalities.

When Alcala appeared on the show as Bachelor No. 1, he was introduced as “a successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the dark room at the age of 13, fully developed. Between takes you might find him skydiving or motor-cycling.” In fact, last month he was found guilty of murdering four women and a girl between 1977 and 1979, with the first murder–of a 12-year-old girl–happening shortly after the television appearance. With all four adult women, prosecutors said Alcala raped and then strangled them with such force that he broke bones in the jaw and throat area.

In 1968–ten years before being selected for the game show–he’d been convicted or raping an 8-year-old girl. Clearly background checks were less than thorough at ABC in the late 70s.

According to CNN, Bachelor No. 2 Jed Mills was creeped out by Alcala almost immediately and said he caught himself leaning away from him when they were on the set. In the green room before taping, Mills said Alcala was “obnoxious and creepy”:

“He was quiet, but at the same time he would interrupt and impose when he felt like it… he became very unlikable and rude and imposing as though he was trying to intimidate. I wound up not only not liking this guy … not wanting to be near him … he got creepier and more negative. He was a standout creepy guy in my life.”

The contestant who chose Alcala, Cheryl Bradshaw, refused to go out with him. Crime profiler Pat Brown suggested to CNN that that may have helped trigger his violent behavior that started up again shortly after the taping: “One wonders what that did in his mind. That is something he would not take too well.”

“Convicted serial killer won on ‘Dating Game’” [CNN]
“Rodney James Alcala On ‘Dating Game’” [Huffington Post]

Get original monster artwork on the cheap from Monster By Mail

Chris Walters — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:25:31 +0000

Here’s a cheap way to get some original art: for $25, cartoonist Len Peralta will draw you a monster based on your suggestion, then mail it to your home address. Add ten bucks more and he’ll film it and send you a link where you can watch the magic happen on YouTube. You’ll probably want to spend that extra ten bucks–just look at these examples below:

If you’re working with a smaller budget, for $13 you can order a 24-page coloring book from Lulu.com. My favorites from the coloring book are Cthulhu and the peeping werewolf–and if you’re too impatient to deal with shipping time, there’s a downloadable version as well.

monsterbymail.com
Monsters by mail examples [Flickr]

Catch up on old Freddy before new Freddy stabs you in the gut

Chris Walters — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:05:22 +0000

The Freddy Krueger film reboot is almost here, so now’s your last chance to experience old-school Freddy before he’s turned back into a truly frightening, evil monster. The very first Nightmare positioned Freddy as a boogey-man for teenagers, someone who was actually terrifying and not just campy. Then all the other movies happened, and Freddy became a sort of malicious clown of death, a bachelor uncle turned serial killer.

I’m not sure how I feel yet about the new version–it looks scary and serious, but it also looks like it falls into a lot of modern horror movie traps: the use of video diaries and websites to make it contemporary, too much reliance on scenes from the original, and an affiliation with Michael Bay. I do like that Jackie Earle Haley is playing Freddy, but honestly in the trailer he sounds so much like Rorschach that I’m worried I’ll keep thinking of Watchmen as I watch it.

Anyway, the point of this post is that you’ve got just under two months to watch the old Freddy movies before the new one comes out. They’re a mixed bag, both as far as scariness and humor. One of them (The Final Nightmare) is just completely batshit insane and looks like it was made by stoned film students who were losing their minds during production. Another one (New Nightmare) goes all meta and is truly scary until it tips over into some bizarre mythological hell climax that’s just embarrassing. My favorite will always be Dream Warriors, partly because that’s the first one I ever saw, and partly because Laurence Fishburne, Dick Cavett and Zsa Zsa Gabor are in it.

The best reviews I’ve found online of the Freddy movies are at a blog called Movie Glut (movieglut.blogspot.com). You can also get all the old movies on DVD for about $10 each.

You don’t have to be lonely, but you don’t have to kill

Chris Walters — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 16:09:38 +0000

Nobody likes to spend Friday night alone, but occasionally it happens. It happens even more frequently when your interests lie in para-medical research or DIY surgery, because frankly nobody wants to risk falling asleep next to you. Well it’s the modern era, fool! Stop looking for fresh bodies and just buy a high-quality medical mannequin!

I’m not talking about those cut-off-at-the-thighs torso models with puzzle piece organs, although they’re undeniably entertaining. No, nowadays you can find incredibly detailed, interactive, and medically specific models to ~~squeal over~~ study thoughtfully.

Want to practice delivering a baby? There’s a model for that. Want to have three buddies over for a CPR singalong? Try the four-headed dummy. Do you enjoy inserting catheters? First of all, you’re a perv, and second of all, here’s the model you want.

My favorites, though, are the veterinary models: dogs and cats that you can practice trauma emergencies on. For less than $100 you can get a giant patch of dog skin with a giant flea on it.

Sure, they’re expensive. But sometimes that’s the price you pay for being a creepy weirdo nobody wants to be friends with.

Aspen Multi-System Corp
Rescue Critters

3D Madness: Execution in the Philippines circa 1900

Chris Walters — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:01:13 +0000

I don’t know if this photo was staged for the 3D opportunity, or if we’re seeing the beginning of an unfortunate moment in human history. I found it on Flickr as a sterescopic image, meaning you have to either use a special double-lens or cross your eyes a special way in order to see it. For those of you with old-skool red/blue glasses (aka anaglyph), I’ve converted it below.

(Photo: pingnews.com)

Don’t have 3D glasses? WTF is wrong with you? Get a pair.

Cool 80s monster stickers

Chris Walters — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 01:10:26 +0000

Flickr member Rafa Toro found an old set of monster stickers from his childhood, so he scanned them and posted the images to Flickr for a little group nostalgia. I grew up in the 80’s and don’t remember them, but then I was more into Garbage Pail Kids. Ah, innocence.

I love how every cheap toy line in that decade stole from Star Wars. I never thought to imagine Darth Vader as a vampire, or some sort of sparkle-eyed blood dispenser, until today. I guess I just can’t picture Darth Vader ever needing a napkin.

“Monstruous Diabolicos” (Set) [Rafa Toro's Flickr page]