The Haunted Mansion, Steven King's Walking Dead and Full Moon Showcase 3/23/11

Here I am again, fresh off a weekend where my brain did not receive an alien download like Sammy Hagar’s did, but we did try a fondue dinner again for the first time in about a decade. Goblin Girl Kara and I used to eat cheese fondue a lot. That had to stop though because the old “you are what you eat” thing is never as true as turning yourself into a human cheese blob by eating a lot of fondue. But, we had a half-price depot deal for The Melting Pot which is supposed to be some snazzy restaurant so we gave it a go. Turns out that it was hardly half price after you get there and hafta drop another 50 bucks, but anyway… hot melt-y cheese? Yes. Hot melt-y chocolate? Yes, please. Soggy meat? What the hell?? This is what people pay $100 for? Sick freaks.

There are a few items in our hot pot of horror this week too. One of the biggest developments was the stealthy re-vamp and deployment of a whole new interactive queue line at the Haunted Mansion at Disney World in Orlando. This is my all time favorite haunted attraction so anything going on with the Mansion gets my attention (this is no knock on any other haunted attraction though, I mean, how are you gonna compete with that?). The line changes look like they could be pretty cool. I just hope it’s not a big racket out there now which would obviously impact the foreboding atmosphere they’ve had there for years. That was always one of the coolest things, you’re boppin’ around sunny Disney and as soon as you enter the line for the Mansion… boom - creepy (which of course always lights me up even more than sunshine and roller coasters). Here’s a link to a video of the Disney crew previewing the changes.

Word came out Monday that Frank Darabont may be looking to re-capture some of his Stephen King collaboration magic on the smash-hit “The Walking Dead” zombie series. Darabont is apparently trying to get King to write an episode for season 2 or 3. It’s said that King would write it together with his son Joe Hill, so I’m sure everyone will be watching for that and it would be a certain ratings winner.

Filmmakers! Our friends at the Horrific Film Fest in San Antonio have put the call out for submissions. This will be their fourth annual horror film fest, it takes place this August, and they always have celebrity guests, vendors and all that stuff. It will be held at the world famous Alamo Drafthouse and San Antonio is a real fun place to visit, this could be your excuse to make the trip.

Are there any Full Moon fans still out there? Just kidding. You gotta give Charles Band credit though. He’s still out there PT Barnum style with his traveling road show, preaching the C-Movie gospel, and doing it all himself. He’s producing all kinds of product and selling it to the fans dirt cheap. It’s hard to call his current output of Evil Bongs and Gingerdead Men classic cult fare, but he does have a giant movie stable that include a few classics, and he’s putting on a big showcase in Chicago next month in conjunction with Flashback Weekend. On April 9th at the Portage theater, he’ll be screening a quadruple feature to celebrate the world premier of “Evil Bong 3-D: The Wrath of Bong”. Other flicks include “Re-Animator” and “From Beyond” along with an appearance by the star of both, Barbara Crampton, and his touring live show. The first 100 ticket pre-orders from Fullmoondirect.com will get 2 FREE DVDs and an Evil-Bong one sheet!

Spook out.

- Shrub

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