With the coronavirus outbreak wreaking havoc in the convention industry, given how impossible it is to enforce social distancing guidelines in a hall packed to capacity, it’s disappointing but no surprise that the Connecticut-based CT Horrorfest, which was scheduled for this September, has announced its cancellation, with a replacement date of September 18, 2021. I call that a smart move; it’s good to know the CTH folks are thinking of the health of their vendors, their guests, and the horror fan community.
However, this shutdown means my…well, I’m not sure you could call it a “convention schedule,” since my 2020 appearances consisted of CTH and Pow Con, back in January, but okay, let’s a call it “convention schedule.” Anyway, it means I won’t be showing up at any other cons this year—although, honestly, attending one in 2020 doesn’t make a lot of sense, since conventions are already notorious for spreading what’s become known as “con crud”: cold and flu germs spread by people who insist on foisting their poor health on everyone else instead of staying home when they’re sick. I’ve suffered from it on occasion; maybe you have, too. So why take the risk of picking up something even worse?
Well, you might not be able to enjoy the StarWarp Concepts Experience at CT Horrorfest this year, but you can still have the convention experience by buying yourself one (or all!) of the awesome books available from Pan’s publisher. From the dark urban fantasy adventures of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback and Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase to Illustrated Classics like Carmilla and King Kong, and from the graphic novel terrors of Lorelei: Sects and the City to the Brothers Grimm’s dark fairy tale Snow White, StarWarp Concepts has a lot to offer horror fans!
Stay safe, stay well, and I’ll hopefully see you next year!
Even with a good deal of the world on virus lockdown (what, you thought I’d call it a global Pan-demic? Too soon!), it’s that time of year again for 
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1 is a 56-page, full-color special—with cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella)—with the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features three original stories of what I’ve termed the “Paniverse”—tales that take place within the fictional universe of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback.
There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call…the Twilight Zone.
“One for the Angels” (written by Rod Serling; Season 1): The second episode of the series stars Ed Wynn as Lou Bookman and Murray Hamilton (who’s probably best known as the mayor of Amity in the original Jaws) as Mr. Death. Bookman is a third-rate salesman who peddles tchotchkes and items of little use on the streets of New York—a failure in life who’s nevertheless shocked to find Death waiting to take him to the great beyond. Bookman doesn’t want to go, though, not until he’s achieved his ultimate dream as a peddler: to make a sales pitch so amazingly enticing that no one can resist it—“one for the angels,” he calls it. Death, surprisingly, agrees to back off until Bookman succeeds. Of course, what both he and Bookman know is that the peddler has no intention of ever trying to succeed, not if it ends with a trip to the afterlife. And so Death takes steps that will ensure Bookman makes his angelic sales pitch…
“A Game of Pool” (written by George Clayton Johnson; Season 3): Jack Klugman might best be remembered for his role as the slobby sports writer Oscar Madison in the TV comedy series The Odd Couple (alongside Tony Randall as Oscar’s obsessive-compulsive “neat freak” roommate, Felix Unger), but before that he’d established himself as one of Hollywood’s top-level character actors. In “A Game of Pool,” he plays Jesse Cardiff, who dreams of being the all-time-greatest pool player, but knows he can’t because the man he’d have to beat for that title—the legendary “Fats” Brown (played by comedic actor Jonathan Winters)—died years ago. But then Fats pays a visit from the afterlife to challenge him…
“The 7th is Made Up of Phantoms” (written by Rod Serling; Season 5): Three National Guardsmen (Warren Oates, Ron Foster, and Randy Boone) on weekend maneuvers near the site of General George Custer’s defeat by Native American tribes at the Little Bighorn in Montana slowly find themselves drawn into that historical battle. It’s no surprise as to what the payoff will be, but watching the Guardsmen as they journey on toward their fate is worth the watch.
“The Obsolete Man” (written by Rod Serling; Season 2): A totalitarian society decides which citizens have value and which have become worthless—such as Romney Wordsworth (played by Burgess Meredith), whose job as a librarian is considered “obsolete.” The punishment for obsolescence is death, which he’s willing to face with one exception: the man who judged him, the Chancellor (Fritz Weaver), must sit with him right up to the appointed time of his execution. What Wordsworth doesn’t say is just why he wants the Chancellor in attendance… Overall it’s a good episode with great performances by Meredith and Weaver, but its final act gets a bit ham-fisted when Serling injects clichés into the story by having Wordsworth read passages from the Bible so the Chancellor can get some religion.
“The Howling Man” (written by Charles Beaumont, based on his short story; Season 2): Lost in a storm somewhere in Europe, David Ellington (H.M. Wynant) stumbles across a castle run by a religious order that’s led by Brother Jerome (horror legend John Carradine). At first Jerome refuses to allow Ellington in, but when the man collapses on the doorstep Jerome and the other monks have no choice but to give him aid. Ellington is grateful for their help, but his gratitude comes to a quick end when he discovers that the monks are holding someone prisoner—a man whose unearthly howling convinces Ellington that the prisoner must be freed. That’s when Brother Jerome explains just who the howling man really is—and what his release could do to the world…
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0
Something else for our fellow shut-ins to read while we’re avoiding one another these days. Back in 2015, I did an interview with IndyFest Magazine to promote StarWarp Concepts: