Midnight Cinephile's Tome of Monsters

I love monsters.  I love monsters of all kinds.  From the most giant kaijus and behemoths to the tiniest horrors and everything in between.  It doesn't matter to me if they are extra-terrestrial, supernatural, created in a science lab or some undiscovered cryptid, each and every monster is an endless source of fascination to me and I want to explore them all.

When I was a kid, I was really into dinosaurs (like most red blooded boys).  The thought that these giant creatures once stood in my backyard was enough to set my young mind racing.  I had tons of books and had a good many species of dinosaur memorized.  I could spout off facts about them on the spot.  I begged my parents to take me the the museum to see the fossils over and over again.  Those were my first monsters.  My love of dinosaurs of course segued into kaiju movies and giant bug movies of the 50's.  As I grew older and started to explore the genre, I watched anything and everything that had to do with Monsters, Ghouls, Ghosts, Beasts, Creatures....you name it.  

My monster obsession didn't end with just movies though, oh no.  Being a child of the 80's I was also (and still am) an avid gamer.  I spent many a night glued to my TV screen playing Atari, Nintendo and my beloved Commodore 64.  Monsters I'd never even dreamed of appeared in pixilated format.  Of course as time went on, the computers and consoles became more advanced and so did the monsters in the games.

When I was in high school I really started to get the reading bug.  I read tons of Stephen King and Dean Koontz at the time.  Then I was introduced to the works on Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft.  My life was forever changed at the discovery of ancient cosmic horrors that could not be named and to describe them would be to go mad.  Cthulhu became an obsession for me (well before he was a pop culture icon, mind you.....but I'm glad that he's finally getting the recognition that he deserves!) as well as Dagon, Nyarlothotep and of course the Mi-Goo.

I looked for monsters everywhere I went and the 80's were a good time to be a monster fan.  Everything from stickers to trading cards to toys to games to movies....hell even metal bands would paint monsters on their albums.

Hence, The Tome of Monsters.  My personal guide to monsters from anywhere and everywhere.  Movies, Books, Music, Games, Toys, Posters, Folklore, etc.....anything and everything goes.  The idea is that each entry will show a picture of the monster (if there's one available....God help you if I have to draw the damn thing.....I can't draw worth a damn) as well as all the information I can find about it.  For those obscure monsters that may not have any information available about them, I guess I will have to speculate on....or hopefully be able to reach it's creator for some insight.

Anyways, I hope that you dig this new side project.  Perhaps if there's a good enough response I will consider putting the Tome into print format.  We'll see!  Stay tuned for the first entry comin' at ya SOON!

RavensBlight

It was during one of my late night insomniac web surfing sessions that I first came across a very peculiar website called RavensBlight.  When I came across it, I knew that I had found something really special.  An ode to all things spooky and horrible.  Here you will find anything and everything you could possibly want for your horror pleasure!  A plethora of horror, all created and maintained by Atist, Musician, Filmmaker and Mad Scientist, Ray O'Bannon.

Mr. O'Bannon has over 300 images to view in his art gallery, such as the one above.  Some are painted, some drawn.....there's color photography as well as black and white photography, not to mention photos of some sculptures and even jewelry that he has made!  His art is varied, yet still maintains a certain fantastic Halloween vibe.  You know when you're looking at one of Ray's pieces. 

Art is but one part of the website experience.  Ray wanted his visitors to be able to come away from the page with more than just a memory of what they had seen, so he created a virtual free toy shop, in which you can download a TON of different paper-craft toys.  My personal favorite is The SplatterBot!  A rusted, bio mechanical horror that is not only fun to put together, but also looks great hanging out on my desk!  Not much of a toy person?  Like board games?  Well, why not try out Midnight Banshees?

 

Paper Toys and games not your thing at all?  More of a video game kinda person?  Ray's got you covered!  You can jump on over to the Arcade and download titles such as Zombie Alley, Grave Island and The Tomb of Count Yargle.  Good stuff and just the thing for when you're looking for a fun horror game to bide your time!

Perhaps you aren't looking to do anything interactive.  Perhaps you are looking for some music to set the mood for your relaxation?  No problem.  Head over to the Music Studio and download one of O'Bannon's EIGHT full length albums!  EIGHT!  My personal favorite is Corpse Dicer......great Grindhouse vibe to it!

Or perhaps you just wanna watch some great horror films.....well guess what?  The RavenBlight Theater has got 23 great short films just waiting to be discovered!  The shortest of the films runs 35 seconds, the longest runs 3 minutes, 50 seconds.  With Ray's kind permission, I present you with three of his films to whet your appetite.

The Butler's Demise.  This is a great one.  It perfectly showcases Ray's keen sense of humor!

Tricker Treat.  This one reminds me of an old episode of Tales From the Darkside, that was entitled Halloween Candy. 

 

The Victim.  One of the shortest films, running at 35 seconds.

It still packs a pretty good punch!

Those are just three of the almost two dozen films available to download!  If you loved them like I did, then head on over to RavensBlight and make sure to tell him that The Wizard of Vestron sent ya!