Author Archives: steven

Halloween Movies 2022: AMC

Posted on by

Like Freeform, AMC never really has a lot of variety when it comes to their annual Halloween playlist—in AMC’s case, if they’re not pushing one of their horror series (typically the zombie apocalypse The Walking Dead, now entering its final season), they’re running the Halloween franchise movies on a loop, usually out of order (as demonstrated below, with Halloween 6 kicking off the marathon for some reason) and with no sign of 1981’s Halloween II or 1982’s Michael Myers–less Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

(Keep in mind: As far as the makers of the most recent trilogy—Halloween (2018), Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends—contend, none of the other movies in the franchise exist in their timeline, except for the original, 1978 Halloween. Confusing, eh?)

Anyway, here’s what AMC is offering for All Hallows’ Eve (all times listed are Eastern Time):

12:15 a.m.: The Walking Dead: An episode of the long-running TV series adapting the comic book series created by writer Robert Kirkman.

1:22 a.m.: Interview with the Vampire (2022): An episode of the new TV series adapting Anne Rice’s novel.

2:26 a.m.: The Walking Dead: Another episode of the TV series.

9:00 a.m.: Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995): It’s the end of a film trilogy begun in Halloween 4–5, so naturally AMC runs it before the other two installments. Michael is on the warpath (isn’t he always, though?), intending to kill Laurie Strode’s daughter, Jamie Lloyd (J.C. Brandy). The final film appearance of Donald Pleasance (Halloween, Halloween 4–5, Escape From New York) as Michael’s gun-toting psychiatrist, Dr. Sam Loomis, as he passed away after H6 was shot.

11:00 a.m.: Halloween: Resurrection (2002): Another case of broadcasting idiocy, as this sequel to Halloween H20: 20 Years Later runs first. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael have their “final” confrontation, but it’s not the end of the story as Michael shifts his attention from targeting high school kids to college girls. Costarring Busta Rhymes (The Rugrats Movie), Katee Sackhoff (The Mandalorian), and supermodel Tyra Banks.

1:00 p.m.: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988): Ten years after stalking Jamie Lee Curtis’s Laurie Strode on Halloween night (well, technically seven years, considering 1981’s Halloween II took place the same night) and a failed box office attempt with Halloween III to make the series an anthology rather than a repetitive one-note killing spree, Michael picks up where he left off, only this time he’s after Laurie’s young daughter, Jamie Lloyd (future scream queen Danielle Harris, in her film debut), and only his nemesis, Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasance, returning to the franchise) can stop him.

3:00 p.m.: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989): Michael’s back—of course—and he hasn’t given up on killing Jamie Lloyd. Tunnel vision matched with singlemindedness—that’s always been that boy’s problem…well, that and the homicidal rage. Donald Pleasance and Danielle Harris return, in a story to be continued in the previously broadcast Halloween 6.

5:00 p.m.: Halloween (1978): The John Carpenter–directed classic that started it all. Fifteen years after he stabbed his sister to death, Michael Myers breaks loose from the sanitarium in which he was locked away and goes on a killing spree on Halloween night in his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis as “final girl” Laurie Strode and Donald Pleasance as Dr. Sam Loomis. Is Michael really the boogeyman? He just might be…

7:00 p.m.: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998): Director Steve Miner (Lake Placid, Friday the 13th Parts 2–3) sends Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) back to Haddonfield twenty years after her traumatic encounters with Michael, accompanied this time by LL Cool J (Deep Blue Sea), Michelle Williams (Venom), and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises). Guess who’s waiting for them…?

9:00 p.m.: Halloween: Resurrection (repeat broadcast, now in its proper sequence placement)

11:00 p.m.: Halloween (1978; repeat broadcast)

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at Movies! TV Network’s programming. Stay tuned!

Halloween Movies 2022: Freeform

Posted on by

Halloween is almost here! Sure, it might look like Christmas is almost upon us, what with stores already decorating their aisles for yuletide and the Spooky Season stuff relegated to the back shelves, but for the rest of us it’s still the time to celebrate all things macabre. So what better way than to watch horror movies?

Starting today, we’ll take a look at what some of the cable channels are offering for programming on that special day. We begin with Freeform…

There aren’t many surprises involved in Freeform’s annual “31 Nights of Halloween” programming schedule—it tends to be a handful of popular, not-very-scary, family-friendly movies that you’ve no doubt already seen, run over and over again and occasionally interspersed with episodes of The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror. The biggest shakeup this year came early in the month when they ran the very adult Get Out, Halloween (2018), A Quiet Place, Happy Death Day, and Happy Death Day 2U over two nights—and then quickly returned to the less stressful playlist.

So if you’re in the mood for “comfort food” spooky films, here’s what Freeform is offering for Halloween (all times listed are Eastern Time):

10:30 a.m.: Ghostbusters (1984): The original horror comedy starring Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, and Annie Potts. The GB crew deals with a New York City overrun with ghosts in anticipation of the arrival of the extradimensional goddess Zuul and her Destructor: the Staypuft Marshmallow Man!

1:00 p.m.: The Haunted Mansion (2003): Eddie Murphy, Marsha Thomason, Terence Stamp, Wallace Shawn, and Jennifer Tilly star in this adaptation of the spooky Disney ride.

3:00 p.m.: Beetlejuice (1988): Tim Burton directs Michael Keaton, Geena Davis, Alec Baldwin, and Winona Ryder in the tale of a recently deceased couple who simply want to spend eternity haunting their home, only to be forced to call in a disgusting “bio-exorcist” named Beetlejuice to scare away the new family moving in. And that’s when everything goes horribly wrong…

5:00 p.m.: Maleficent (2014): Angelina Jolie stars in this live-action reinterpretation of the Disney animated classic Sleeping Beauty, with Jolie’s fairy queen Maleficent not so much evil as in the original, but simply misunderstood. Hey, like the saying goes, every villain is the hero of their own story!

7:00 p.m.: Hotel Transylvania (2012): Adam Sandler is Dracula! Steve Buscemi is the Wolfman! Kevin James is Frankenstein’s Monster! Selena Gomez is Dracula’s daughter! And they all get together at…Dracula’s vacation resort? 

9:00 p.m.: Hocus Pocus (1993): With Hocus Pocus 2 now on Disney+, here’s the opportunity for folks not paying for a streaming service to catch up on the spooky comedy that stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters, a trio of evil witches seeking immortality.

12:00 a.m.: The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror episodes (Freeform doesn’t list what’s playing)

Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at AMC’s programming. Stay tuned!

Halloween Movies 2022: What’s Your Monster Movie?

Posted on by

According to this popular meme, mine would be Curse of the Disco Zombies, which sounds right, given I spent part of my youth reading horror comics in the 1970s, at the height of disco. No doubt it stars Jaaaahhhhn! Revolta, shambling his way through the cemeteries of Brooklyn while boogeying with Karloff Lynn Gore-y to the tunes of the Bees?Geez!. “Stayin’ Alive” takes on a whole new meaning when your dance partner is a zombie!

It’s a timely question, because in preparation for Halloween this year, we’ll be taking a look at what some of the cable-TV stations will be offering in terms of spooky programming on All Hallows’ Eve. And don’t worry—if you need a break from all the blood and monsters, you can always swing over to the Hallmark channels, which are already knee-deep in their Countdown to Christmas movie marathons.

Celebrating Christmas in October?! That’s terrifying!

So, getting back to the subject…what is your monster movie?

Price Changes Coming for SWC Titles

Posted on by

Well, I suppose it was inevitable (like Thanos!) that the supply chain and printing paper availability problems that have been plaguing the world as much as the Covid pandemic would catch up to us at ’Warp Central. 

Starting late last year, StarWarp Concepts’ wholesaler, Ingram Content Group, and its printing arm, Lightning Source, began steadily increasing the prices of paper and production costs in the U.S. and abroad, and recently they informed us that our prices needed to be adjusted soon if we still wanted to be compensated for sales (and not wind up owning them money).

And so, in the coming weeks retail price changes will be going into effect for all SWC titles. E-book prices, however, are unaffected by this decision, and will remain as they are (unless the price of download fees suddenly goes up, too).

Sorry about the bad news, but in this topsy-turvy world these days, the old adage of “adapt or die” has never been truer—and since we have no plans of shutting down operations, “adapt” it is.

Thanks for understanding!

It’s Banned Books Week 2022

Posted on by

Got a favorite book? Well, odds are good there’s someone out there in the United States who’d liked to see it censored. According to a recent Publishers Weekly article, the American Library Association “reported 681 documented attempts to ban or restrict library resources in schools, universities, and public libraries through the first eight months of 2022, on pace to shatter the 729 challenges ALA tracked in 2021.”

That’s where Banned Books Week comes in—an annual celebration of literacy in which the spotlight is shone on the problem of censorship in U.S. libraries and bookstores. To quote the Banned Books Week website:

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries…. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.

This year’s theme is “Books Unite Us, Censorship Divides Us,” and with local politicians across the United States challenging the existence of certain books, seeking to ban them outright in libraries and bookstores, and, in a few cases, expressing a desire to burn them, the issue of censorship in the U.S. hasn’t been this threatening in decades.

Banned Books Week 2022 is happening right now, September 18–24, so visit the BBW website for more information, including a list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2021 that they’re celebrating this year.

Bonus: If you live in Queens, New York (home borough of Pan and her publisher, StarWarp Concepts), head on over to the Queens Public Library site and read all about “QPL’s 100 Most Popular Banned Books,” all available to check out in book, ebook, and audiobook formats.

Happy Read a Book Day 2022!

Posted on by

Today is National Read a Book Day, which has been celebrated every September 6th since…well, nobody seems to know precisely when this “holiday” began, or who started it, but it’s a celebration of reading, so it’s all good, right? And if you’re a fan of horror and/or dark fantasy looking for the right book on this special day, here are a few titles from Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, you might want to consider:

Dark Urban Fantasy
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is a young adult novel by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy. It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father.

Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, by bestselling fantasy author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil), is a pulp-fiction-styled collection of noir-fantasy novellas starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!

SWC Illustrated Classics
Carmilla is J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood. Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The SWC edition contains six original illustrations done especially for StarWarp Concepts by the super-talented Eliseu Gouveia.

King Kong is SWC’s e-book-exclusive Illustrated Classics edition of the 1932 novelization of the renowned motion picture—which will be celebrating its 90th anniversary next year! Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose, the SWC edition of King Kong features scenes that didn’t appear in the final cut of the film—including the notorious “spider pit” sequence in which Kong’s human pursuers are attacked by horrific arachnids and insects. What makes the SWC version special is that it contains six exclusive, original black-and-white illustrations by comics artist Paul Tuma, whose pulp-influenced style has appeared in the pages of The Twilight Avenger, Flare, and Dan Turner: Hollywood Detective.

Blood Feud, Chasing Danger, and Carmilla are available in print and digital formats. King Kong is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information.

Happy reading!

It’s Read Comics in Public Day 2022!

Posted on by

Do you love comic books? Awesome! And today is the perfect day to celebrate them! 

Why, you ask? Because this is the annual celebration of International Read Comics in Public Day. Started in 2010 by Brian Heater and Sarah Morean, it’s an appreciation of comic books and graphic novels, demonstrated by folks not afraid to celebrate their reading choices by taking them out in public. 

And if you’re thinking that the friendly fiends at Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, must have some illustrated fiction that would be perfect for this occasion—you’re absolutely right! 

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 is a free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to the adventures of Pandora Zwieback and her monster-hunting mentor, Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, with an 8-page story written by Steven A. Roman (that’s me!) and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia (Vengeance of the Mummy, Stargate Universe), and a preview of Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1. Pan is a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world.    

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is a 56-page, full-color comic special that features cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella) and contains three original stories. In “Song of the Siren,” by writer Steven A. Roman and artist Eliseu Gouveia, the teenaged Goth adventuress matches wits with a man-stealing enchantress who’s set her sights on Pan’s boyfriend, Javier. It’s followed by “After Hours,” by writer Sholly Fisch (The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries, Madballs vs. Garbage Pail Kids), and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Beetlejuice, Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld), in which a demon walks into a bar to unwind after a long day of scarifying mortals. And rounding out the issue is “Shopping Maul,” a short story by me with title-page art by Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), in which Pan and Annie, along with Javier and Pan’s best friend, Sheena, run into a group of Gothic Lolita vampires out to do more than a little window shopping.

Heroines and Heroes is another free digital comic book. It’s a collection of stories (and a few pinups) that I drew and mostly wrote during my small-press-comics days of the 1990s, featuring mainstream and indie comic characters that include the superheroic Blonde Avenger, the anthropomorphic Motorbike Puppies, the half-human/half-rabbit superspy Snowbuni, and a Wonder Woman-meets-Harley Quinn three-page tale that was meant to be my entrée to fame and fortune as a DC Comics artist (it didn’t work out, though). 

And Troubleshooters, Incorporated: Night Stalkings is a general readers’ graphic novel about a group of supernatural-superheroes-for-hire taking on their first case. The team consists of a wizard, a female ninja, a sorceress, a werewolf, and a rock ’n’ roll lighting designer wearing high-tech armor. Sure, they might not be on a power level with the Avengers or Justice League—they’re more like superpowered Ghostbusters—but they get the job done. The graphic novel is written by the husband-and-white team of Richard C. White (Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase) and Joni M. White, and illustrated by penciler Reggie Golden and inker Randy Zimmerman, with cover art by Richard Dominguez (El Gato Negro).

The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual and Troubleshooters Incorporated are available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0 and Heroines and Heroes are digital exclusives. Visit their respective product pages at StarWarp Concepts for ordering information, as well as sample pages. 

Now get out there and start reading them in public!

The Summer Reading Days Are Dwindling…

Posted on by

Here in the United States, the start of Labor Day Weekend—the unofficial end of the summer season—arrives on September 2nd, which means the days of summer beach reading are just two weeks away from shifting into the pumpkin-spiced world of fall (you might have already noticed the presence of its familiar scent wafting through your favorite coffee and donut shops).

So if you’re seeking an exciting book or two (or more) to read as summer comes to an close, you might want to take a look at the StarWarp Spotlight blog-post series at Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, in which they shine a spotlight on each of their numerous horror, dark urban fantasy, fantasy adventure, and nonfiction books, not to mention comic books and graphic novels. 

From the young-adult thrills of the Pandora Zwieback vampire-war novels and writers/gamers reference book Terra Incognito: A Guide to Building the Worlds of Your Imagination and the comic-book history From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures to the Illustrated Classics Carmilla (perfect for fans of vampire fiction!) and the sci-fi adventure A Princess of Mars, StarWarp Concepts has a book that makes every day perfect for reading during the final days of summer—and beyond!

(Long Island City sunset photo © 2022 Steven A. Roman.)

Happy Book Lovers Day 2022!

Posted on by

Hey, fans of reading! Today is Book Lovers Day, “an unofficial holiday observed to encourage bibliophiles to celebrated reading and literature” (according to Wikipedia) that’s celebrated every August 9th. And if you’re looking for the right book on this special day, here are a few dark fantasy titles from Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, you might want to consider picking up:

Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1 is my young adult novel that’s perfect for lovers of dark urban fantasy. It introduces readers to Pandora Zwieback, a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets professional monster hunter Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. In Blood Feud, Pan, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father. 

Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, by fantasy author Richard C. White (Gauntlet: Dark Legacy: Paths of Evil, The Chronicles of the Sea Dragon Special), is a pulp-fiction-styled collection of noir-fantasy novellas starring a private eye working the supernatural beat in the city of Calasia. From a sexy chanteuse who literally turns into a beast when the moon is full to a string of pearls that kills its owners, and from the ghost of a dead woman seeking justice to the Grim Reaper’s little girl seeking her stolen chicken, Theron Chase certainly has his hands full—of danger, death, and dames!

Carmilla is J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s 19th-century classic vampiric tale of love gone wrong. Laura is so desperate for a friend that when a young woman named Carmilla practically turns up on the doorstep of the castle owned by Laura’s father, she thinks her prayers for companionship have been answered. But as she comes to realize, Carmilla isn’t as interested in making friends as she is in spilling blood. Regarded as the one of the earliest female vampire tales—if not the first—Carmilla was an influence on author Bram Stoker in the creation of the vampire brides in his seminal novel, Dracula, and remains a popular character in fiction to this day. The SWC edition contains six original illustrations done especially for StarWarp Concepts by the super-talented Eliseu Gouveia, artist of the comics The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0 and The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1.

King Kong is an e-book-exclusive Illustrated Classics edition of the 1932 novelization of the renowned motion picture. Written by Delos W. Lovelace, based on the story by Edgar Wallace and Merian C. Cooper and the screenplay by James A. Creelman and Ruth Rose, the SWC edition of King Kong features scenes that didn’t appear in the final cut of the film—including the notorious “spider pit” sequence in which Kong’s human pursuers are attacked by horrific arachnids and insects. What makes our version special is that it contains six exclusive, original black-and-white illustrations by comics artist Paul Tuma, whose pulp-influenced style has appeared in the pages of The Twilight Avenger, Flare, and Dan Turner: Hollywood Detective.

And From the Stars…a Vampiress: An Unauthorized Guide to Vampirella’s Classic Horror Adventures is my nonfiction history of comic book horror heroine Vampirella that takes an extensive look at her early days, from the debut of her series in 1969 to the death of Warren Publishing in 1983. In addition to telling the tale of Hammer Films’ announced but unproduced 1970s film adaptation that was to star Barbara Leigh and horror-movie icon Peter Cushing, I provide an in-depth guide to all her Warren stories; a checklist of all her Warren appearances (plus the publications from Harris Comics and Dynamite Entertainment that reprinted her Warren adventures); an overview of the six novelizations by pulp sci-fi author Ron Goulart that were published in the 1970s by Warner Books; and a look at the awful 1996 direct-to-cable-TV movie that was made, starring Talisa Soto and Roger Daltrey. There’s also a peek at Mr. Cushing’s personal copy of the ’70s Vampirella screenplay; a foreword by Official Vampirella Historian Sean Fernald, a frontispiece by Warren artist (and Pandora Zwieback cover painter) Bob Larkin, and photographs from the personal archives of Forrest J Ackerman.

With the exception of King Kong (a digital exclusive), all titles are available in print and digital formats, so visit their respective product pages for ordering information. And while you’re at it, be sure to check out all the other books, comics, and graphic novels StarWarp Concepts has to offer. Happy reading!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Posted on by

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of…Johnny Blaze?!

In a Multiverse of Madness, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that somewhere out there is a dimensional plane in which Paul Revere was joined on his famous midnight ride of April 18, 1775, by the Ghost Rider, Marvel Comics’ supernatural motorcyclist. The roar of that skull-faced bike probably did more to rouse the citizens of Massachusetts than Revere’s cries of “The British are coming!”

The art for this turbo-charged cover of The Comics Reader—published in 1976 during America’s Bicentennial celebrations—is by penciler Frank Robbins (Marvel’s Ghost Rider, Captain America, and Invaders, and DC’s The Shadow) and inker P. Craig Russell (Marvel’s Doctor Strange and Killraven, and DC’s The Sandman). 

Robbins drew some of the wonkiest anatomy in comics—arms and legs whirling around like the characters’ joints were broken, coupled with wide-eyed maniacal expressions that made everyone look insane (even Captain America!)—but for a demon-possessed superhero like Ghost Rider, his style worked just fine.

So, ride on, Johnny Blaze and Paul Revere! And a happy and safe July 4th weekend to all of you!