31 Days of Horror at Biff Bam Pop!

If you've been to the Biff Bam Pop! website, you know that other than the regular pop culture features, we're all big horror fans there. As always, special for the month of October, and culminating today on Halloween is 31 Days of Horror.

31 Days of Horror takes a look at the past and present in horror movies, television, horror television, horror comics, and even horror animation.

This year we had guest blogger Monica S. Kuebler write about Midnight Son; Loretta Sisco gave us a peek at her Halloween playlist, as well as her regular column, True Crime Corner, and her reviews of the television series Outlander; and Robin Renee gave us a tour of Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion.

Newcomer to the site from over at the late great Popshifter, but terrific writer and whirlwind of terror, Tim Murr gave us looks at Red Christmas, Halloween III, the brilliant Psycho documentary 78/52, Pumpkinhead, Mike Thorn's Darkest Hours, and the latest album by Werewolves in Siberia, as well as his music column Let Us Now Praise Noise. Also from Popshifter, and a terrific comics reviewer, E.A. Henson brought us Alien Toilet Monsters and the seven essential Halloween specials you MUST WATCH this year.

As well as her awesome column Creations of Chaos, about animation and anime films, Sarah Hawkins-Miduski gave us her thoughts on Neil Gaiman's Coraline, Edgar Allan Poe's Mystery Dinner Party, and four creepy animated shorts. JP Fallavollita took us on a tour of the Tomb of Dracula, and also featured horror in ever October edition of his comics column The Wednesday Run. Jim Knipp gave us a look at the deadly dollies of horror films, and Marie Gilbert served up some Soylent Green for the Halloween holiday dinner.

Co-editor-in-chief and founder of Popshifter, the amazing Less Lee Moore gave us reviews of Alone in the Dark, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, and The Asphyx, as well as her regular columns, Pump Up the Jam and Now Streaming on Shudder.

Founder and publisher Andy Burns provided insights on Stephen King and Owen King's recent appearance in Toronto, the Creepshow graphic novel and The Dark Tower: The Art of the Film, the games Resident Evil: Biohazard and Outlast Trinity, as well as his popular weekly Box Office Predictions and awesomely on-topiv column The Week in Horror.

Besides my regular reviews of the television series The Flash, and infusing the 31 Days of Horror theme into my comics review column Heroes and Villains, I got my grubby little hands in there too, writing about the classic rat movies Willard and Ben, fellow Biff Bam Popper Lucas Mangum's Engines of Ruin, The Car, Beware the Slenderman, and Halloween in the Marvel Animated Universe.

Don't forget about the other regular columns at Biff Bam Pop! like The Ten Percent by K. Dale Koontz and Ensley F. Guffey, and By the Book by Jim Knipp, and our other great staff writers like Luke Sneyd, Richard Kirwin, Mat Langford, and David Ward.

Clicky-clicky, come on by Biff Bam Pop! and check out 31 Days of Horror. It's the best way to celebrate Halloween!

Halloween at Biff Bam Pop!

If you've been to the Biff Bam Pop! website, you know that other than the regular pop culture features, we're all big horror fans there. As always, special for the month of October, and culminating today on Halloween is 31 Days of Horror.

31 Days of Horror takes a look at the past and present in horror movies, television, horror television, horror comics, and even horror anime.

Publisher and founder Andy Burns proclaimed the 2016 edition a tribute to women in horror and assembled an amazing crew with that in mind to write reviews and articles this year. We had guest writers Emily Klassen on The Orphanage and The Woman in Black; Monica S. Kuebler on Daybreakers; Andrea Subissati on one of my favorite guilty pleasures, Wild Zero; and Lindsay Gibb wrote about the work of Nicholas Cage.

We also had our amazing female staff writers including Loretta Sisco on The Funhouse, as well as her regular column, True Crime Corner, and reviews of "The Exorcist" TV series; Marie Gilbert on What We Do in the Shadows, Cooties, and Ken Russell's The Devils," as well as her episode-by-episode recaps of "American Horror Story;" Sarah Hawkins-Miduski on Kakurenbo: Hide and Seek and Something Wicked This Way Comes, as well as her awesome column Creations of Chaos, about the Studio Ghibli library and other anime films; Robin Renee on a different kind of monster, Pokemon GO; and last but not least, the amazing Less Lee Moore on Hostel, Saw, The Exorcist, 28 Days Later, Inside, and what to watch on Netflix, as well as her regular music column, Pump Up the Jam.

There was also Jeff Szpirglas on The Gorgon, and Luke Sneyd on Horror-Rama Canada and Bone Tomahawk. Regular columns The Wednesday Run by JP Fallavollita, The Ten Percent by K. Dale Koontz and Ensley F. Guffey, and By the Book by Jim Knipp also featured horror content this month.

Andy Burns also contributed articles on The Neon Demon, Rob Zombie's 31, and horror remakes. I got my grubby little hands in there too, writing about the Jaws sequels, Shin Godzilla, the Rocky Horror remake, the season seven premiere of "The Walking Dead," the 1970s Philadelphia horror host Dr. Shock, and an animated Spider-Man Halloween.

Clicky-clicky, come on by Biff Bam Pop! and check out 31 Days of Horror. It's the best way to celebrate Halloween!

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

This is what we've have been waiting for since the last Harry Potter book, The Deathly Hallows and were teased at the end by the adult versions of our protagonists sending their children off to Hogwarts, finally a sequel, with Harry and friends as adults. Shamefully we don't get what we want, but something different and yet the same.

First a word about formatting, Harry Potter and Cursed Child: Parts One and Two is not a novel, nor is it written as a novel. It is a stage play and is written as such. Based on an original new story by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, with John Tiffany & Jack Thorne, with the play by Jack Thorne. Some folks might find it problematic to read in such a format, but it didn't bother me, and after a while, honestly, I didn't even notice it.

The story is that of Albus Severus Potter, the son of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, and Scorpius Malfoy, the son of Draco Malfoy. Neither fit in well at Hogwarts, neither are good at making friends, and so they become each other's friends - the sons of two enemies of their youth. While Albus struggles with living up to his father's reputation as the savior of all wizardom, Scorpius must deal with rumors that he is the son of Voldermort. A bond is formed between the boys, similar to that of Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the original books.

The tale is one of time travel and alternate timelines, of dire prophecies and dark possibilities. I won't give any more away, but I will say it starts slow, then about halfway through becomes a non-stop rollercoaster. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and felt it kept the spirit of the original stories alive. I hope there's more to come. Recommended.

For another view, check out Sarah Hawkins Miduski's thoughts on the book at Biff Bam Pop! right here.

The GAR! Podcast at the Camden Comic Con 2015

On March 7th of 2015, The GAR! Podcast recorded episodes live at the Camden Comic Con for its second year in a row. This local comic convention has grown in a very short time to one of the events in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, and is personally the best such event I've ever attended, and that includes shows in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York. The Camden Comic Con rocks.

I'm presenting here a compendium of coverage of the Camden Comic Con from both The GAR! Podcast and Biff Bam Pop!, hopefully you'll be able to find what you're looking for.

The first episode featured interviews with Marie Gilbert and Sarah Hawkins-Miduski of both Biff Bam Pop! and the South Jersey Writers' Group. Sarah also wrote a terrific review of the Con here. Our guest for the con, and my old partner on The All Things Fun! New Comics Vidcast, Allison Eckel, and I also talked about the phenomenon of Batgirl-ing, "Teen Titans Go," and the new TV costume for Supergirl. You can check it out at GAR! here and BBP here.

The second episode featured a very special interview with comic creator and writer Bryan J.L. Glass, who talked about the end and origins of Mice Templar; the craft and passion of writing; the creative philosophies of Robert McKee, Joseph Campbell, and Christopher Nolan; worldbuilding; finding the right ending; and yes, even Electra Woman and Dyna Girl. Bryan is a friend, and he rocks. You can check it out at GAR! here and BBP here.

The third episode recorded live at the Camden Comic Con featured an interview with Justin Piatt of Unlikely Heroes Studios about Super!, along with some discussion with guests Allison, her son Thomas, and our official intern Frank Kamina Castle about comics and videogames. You can check it out at GAR! here and BBP here.

The fourth and final episode recorded at the con, and released just yesterday, featured interviews with Mark Poulton, Matthew Catron of Locust Moon Comics, and some cool bathing in the afterglow of the con with organizer Miranda Powell and friend of the show and writer/editor for Pronto Comics, Dennis Knight. Please check out Mark Poulton's Kickstarter. Our guests also talk about what they loved most about the con. You can check it out at GAR! here and BBP here.

And for coverage of the 2014 Camden Comic Con, you can see it here, here, and here. Good times.