THE TIES THAT BIND - DVD REVIEW

THE TIES THAT BIND - DVD REVIEW.

Story by Brian Keene.

Directed by Jeff Heimbuch.

I Finally had a chance to sit down last night and pop in Brian Keene's first cinematic production of THE TIES THAT BIND, and watch it on our big screen. Brian Keene has gained a lot of popularity in the last decade, much of that due to his diligence to keep writing and getting his work published. It's worked, because he's gained a faithful audience the world over., and his audience is ever-growing. This DVD will help bring a new audience to the mix.

As Keene's video introduction discusses, he's had Hollywood options before, but this is the first film to actually be produced. Based on Keene's short story of the same name, this was a good tale to film. This is obviously a low-budget production, but with high standards: Heimbuch took a lot of care in this production and his passion shows. From the actors to the details of editing and sound. If I can be so bold as to compare this short film to an episode of Tales from The Darkside, the television horror series, it's qualities are close to that production.

Mention actors, especially husband.

All the extras are fun and informative and Brian Keene shows up with a reading titled Have a drink ... definitely worth watching.

This is a straight-to-DVD production that is also limited to 300 signed and numbered copies by Keene and director Jeff Heimbuch.

The River Berger

I've always wanted to live by a river, or a creek, but this weeks downpour delivered it almost at our front door step. Well, that's a fish story. We're at the top of a hill, so we're in no danger of flooding (yes the books are safe!), but our main street to and from our home is flooded - I mean it has a current! An airboat was spotted going down our river...er street.. this morning. We've had rain for several days, but yesterdays deluge has caused six counties to close schools, including our county. We've taken pictures.

RECENT WEB SITES OF INTEREST

Ray Bradbury's 89th Birthday
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bradbury19-2009sep19,0,1580926.story

Tim Burtons Tricks & Treats Harpers Bazaar Oct. 09 Issue
http://www.thefashiontime.com/2009/09/tim-burtons-tricks-treats-malgosia-bela-evelina-mambetova-sophie-srej-in-harper%E2%80%99s-bazaar-october-2009/

Ah.. Fingerprints On The Sky.. continues to gather...

Tim Richmond, author of the FINGERPRINTS ON THE SKY: The Official Harlan Ellison Reader's Guide, (and being published by Overlook Connection Press) took time over the Labor Day weekend to visit with publisher Dave Hinchberger (yes, that would be me) to work on artwork placement within this massive tome.

FINGERPRINTS ON THE SKY began in 1998 when Mr. Richmond was introduced to me at the World Fantasy Con in Providence, Rhode Island. From that point forward we decided to embark on a journey that we had no idea would go this far, or this long. This volume has grown in so many ways, with the help of Harlan Ellison, his wife Susan, Andrea Richmond, and many others who have also been an immense help in sizing this tome into the book we'll be publishing in 2010. This volume was once going to be a much simpler version. Tim began to delve into more areas of the Ellison canon, discovering items and pieces even the man himself had not seen for decades. It almost seemed never ending, and certainly at times, overwhelming. I personally have spent hundreds of hours working on formatting, collecting images, you name it, I’ve had my hand in it. So much so, here we are twelve years later taking our Labor Day weekend to place images where Tim and I think they should go. This is the only book to ever look and reference every known and unknown work by Harlan Ellison. Thousands of entries, and hundreds of rare items being listed for the first time. After many drafts and changes, we are now down to adding the images and having the book typeset.

Once we’re down to final approval from the Ellison camp, then we’ll have a definite date in 2010 for publication. You can view the editions we’ll have available here at the Overlook website.

LABOR DAY SALE is now over and thank you for the big response! We gave away a lot of books with the new orders, so thanks again and we'll have more book-lover's deals soon!

Dave

Dave Hinchberger

Owner, Publisher, Overlook Connection Bookstore and Press.

RECENT WEBSITES OF INTEREST

UNDER THE DOME by Stephen King - Book Review from Library Journal is now up: http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6694939.html?nid=2671&rid=#reg_visitor_id&source=title

www.Shelfari.com

I’ve discovered this website Shelfari.com that collects author’s and readers thoughts and comments on books they’re reading and even sharing photos of personal libraries. Author’s are also featured including one on Stephen King at Shelfari http://www.shelfari.com/authors/a418/Stephen-King/summary . Neil Gaiman has also sent in photos of his own library http://blog.shelfari.com/my_weblog/2009/09/neil.html

American Splendor Indeed

Harvey Pekar, in his own voice, says about lonliness that "sometimes laying in bed alone you feel the presence like an amputee feels a missing limb." Depressing, but an apt description that I think everyone can relate to at some point in our lives. Pekar, the cult comic-book writer and artist, is featured in AMERICAN SPLENDOR, a movie on his life. Part documentary with, part movie, animation, and the actors even watch a play within the movie (which I assume started the idea of doing this movie). I came to this film without much knowledge of Mr. Pekar and his work. I've seen it, but it's one area I didn't get around too yet. I found the film very entertaining, and Giamatti's portrayal of Pekar works very well. I was very impressed by his performance. You can judge for yourself as Pekar and his wife, Joyce, actually do appear in the film together. This isn't Seinfeld, where it's a comedy about everyday life about nothing... but it does give you the ups and downs that we all experience. A quirky guy that has written and drawn about his own life, had the comics published, and now here's a movie about his life. Pekar's friend, Toby Radloff, also made it onto MTV for bits about being a Cleveland nerd. I enjoyed it - both seeing the actors and the actual people they portrayed. This film came out in 2003, but seeing it again I wanted to pass along its an interesting look at creativity and banality, which always goes hand in hand. I don't care who you are.

At one point Pekar and his wife (the real versions :-) exhange words that gives us a peek at their lives:

Harvey: "That's me, gloom and doom."

Joyce: "That's funny, I thought I married a humorous man."

Harvey: "Well, I sure fooled you."

'Nuff said.

• TAKEN

I finally got a chance to look at TAKEN, the surprise hit film starring Liam Neeson. This film caught my attention because it was co-written (and produced ) by Luc Besson. You know, the Besson that brought us The Fifth Element, The Transporter, The Professional, La Femme Nikita, I mean the man knows how to take us on a ride. The film begins quietly enough and then when the Neeson-train-leaves-the-action-station this film flies like a bat outta hell. Neesons daughter, who he sees mostly at a distance from a divorce, is given permission to tour Europe with a girl friend. This is mostly against dads wishes, but with permission from the now well-to-do mother and stepfather. They get to Paris, they're targeted, and kidnapped. She and her friend are 17. Hello!?

Thus begins the part where you need to just have fun with the film and go with the no-holds-barred action that is non-stop until the films end. Neeson, apparantly an ex-CIA kind of character, has a bag of tricks to take out anyone dumb enough to mess with his daughter. Although a bit older, he's convincing enough to take out the baddies in practically every scene. Oh, yeah, he gets some scratches and dents, but the man is unstoppable.

And so is this movie.

If you're like me, and you like action films where you need to leave your brain at the ticket booth, (Strathems CRANK comes to mind too), before entering the theatre, then youre gonna have a great time with this film.

Dave Hinchberger

Does E-Book Reading Interest You?

Does E-Book Reading Interest You? As a Reader? As an Author?

It was bound to happen sooner or later. An e-book reader would come along that would change the face of publishing. Amazon's Kindle reader is the format that has turned heads (and opened wallets at $400 a pop) to bring you a fairly convenient way to read. There are many readers by Sony and others, but it's the Kindle that has pushed this format forward. And it will hold over a hundred books. I think saving some trees is a great idea; however, I'll still take the 'physical' book every time. As a publisher, I'll continue to produce titles that have special editions that makes that 'book-you-hold' have a special meaning. We also want to produce titles for the everyday reader too, and that's where the e-book version will certainly compete with a 'real' book.

As a store and publisher of horror and the fantastic, I find that buyers, especially horror fans, like to collect the actual books.

As a bookseller, and especially a publisher, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on e-books. If you have a moment, here are a few questions that would help us immensely:

1) Can you foresee switching to buying only e-books now or in the future?

2) Would you continue to buy physical books, and / or both physical and e-books?

3) Is price a determining factor with an e-book? For example would you buy an e-book if it was cheaper than a printed book?

4) If you purchase signed limited editions, but could also buy the book as an e-book, which would you purchase?

You can e-mail your answers to overlookcn@aol.com Thanks for taking the time to respond. Your input makes a difference and will help us help you in the future.

Here is a recent NY Times article on e-books at Book Expo , a leading industry convention held every year. Due to the economy, there was a substantial drop in attendance from publishers, but it was well attended. This will give you more information on e-books and how the industry is perceiving it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/books/01bea.html?th&emc=th

Keep readin'... We All Shine On!

Dave Hinchberger
Owner, Overlook Connection

Wild Wild Trek

Living in the Past?

I'm a child of the 60's and 70's and at times I find myself re-visiting those decades through TV. Of course in the last decade we've all been given the opportunity to own or rent whole seasons of our favorite shows from many seasons past.

If you're like me, you look for a deal, and I've noticed in the last few years that sometimes you can find them at Wal-Mart. I picked up one recently, the Star Trek Animated series for fifteen bucks! Since they originally had it for $45, I was elated to spend $30 less to watch / own something I enjoyed in my teens. All of the original actors voice their characters in this animated set, which makes it more interesting for a fan of the series. Roddenberry wanted to keep the animated series as close to the original as possible. He kept many of the original writers to pen some of these episodes including D.C. Fontana, and David Gerrold. Fontana was also a story consultant on this series. All of which added much credibility and made it more than just a "cartoon." My son of twelve just mentioned to me that "little kids would definitely not get this." 'Nuff said.

What makes a Trekkie? I like the show. I own all the episodes (cheaply of course) of the first and second series. But that's pretty much where I keep it -- just watching the show. No costumes... but wait.. I did pick up a model of the Enterprise with sounds and lights. Something to adorn the Overlook office with. I thought I would put it next to the guy who removes his head and laughs when you enter the Overlook office. But I think that's all I have. If that makes me a Trekkie, then so be it.

I also picked up the box set of Wild Wild West starring Robert Conrad. (Did I ever tell you he kicked me out of a party once when I was 16? Tell ya later... ) and Ross Martin. This was such an inventive show, something like a cross between James Bond movies and the much later MacGyver shows set during President Grant of the later 1800's. Again during my teens I was watching Star Trek and Wild Wild West. What I found interesting was how intriguing and sometimes similar both could be. In Star Trek science fiction mixed with involved story plots and incredible adventures. Wild Wild West also offered advanced story lines with a mix of science fiction and inventions that I had never seen in a western before. Years later as an adult I learned that some of my favorite episodes in both series were written by the same writer: Gene Coon. After telling people for years I thought these two series were a mix of both, this knowledge brought it all home.

The Wild Wild West box set of all four seasons and the two TV movies, make this a must for any fan of this series. I've been watching the first season, which I don't remember seeing, which is in black and white. So I've had some fun watching these for the first time. Since color was the popular favorite for re-runs, I'm sure the networks considered black & white passe' and didn't run them for that reason. What's ironic about that is we owned a b&w TV for years when I was a kid.. so wouldn't have known! Also, the most popular villain of the series, Dr. Loveless, appears first in the third episode. This was to be the first of ten episodes he would appear in four seasons. The villain I always wanted to see more of. And of course there are always the lovely ladies for James T. West (James T. Kirk? A coincidence?) to be romantically involved with. The movie with Will Smith and Kevin Kline that came decades later, although wonderfully filmed, good acting, and great effects, the story just wasn't there. B&W or color, it's always going to be the story. I'm watching these with my 12 yr-old and he's watching black & white! In this day and age of immediate gratification with video and video games, for him to watch this in b&W is an amazing feat. And he's twelve ;-).

I've just started watching this box set, and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. So if you're a child of the 60's and 70's like me, or just want to see some good storytelling TV, pick up WWW it's still a lot of fun. -- Dave Hinchberger

DISTURBING FACTORY

"While belief in the supernatural is only superstition. the sense of the supernatural cannot be denied." -- Thomas Ligotti.

I just love that quote, it gets directly to the heart of the matter. And you have to look no further in todays life than to visit most high rises in this country with buidings that don't have a 13th floor. I have to admit that I have not read much Thomas Ligotti. Not on purpose, as usual it comes down to there's only so many hours in a day, and being the owner of the Overlook Bookstore, I am constantly inundated with new fiction on a daily basis. Then this collection of Ligotti's short fiction came in as a graphic edition. So I plopped it down to give it a go, and as its officially produced with the author's asisstance I thought this would be a nice introduction to his work. Each story features an introduction by the author, and I mean a full page intro for every story. As I'm learning, Ligotti's work is involved and intense. No slight of hand here. These are truly disturbing visions of horror the author delivers.

Let's begin with "The Last Feast of Harlequin" which is very much in the Lovecraftian vein. Lovecraft, considered one of the father's of the horror genre, can be work to read at times, and I've not always been a fan. In this case Ligotti's idea of the masquerade in a dull little town, shows that there is more beneath the masks of the clowns and of the town, than meets the eye. Although the buildup is slow, the payoff is disturbing. I believe I enjoy these author's who've been influenced by Lovecraft, (such as Ligotti), much more. I'm not exactly sure why, but maybe these influenced author's bring a modern feel to old horrors. "Dr. Locrian's Asylum" takes me down memory lane aka "Night Gallery," yes, a favorite show of mine. A town on the down side of it's life, with the omnipresent old and empty asylum, that casts a long shadow across the town. It seems that burning down the asylum isn't going to remove that shadow, or the ghosts, that once inhabitated the asylum in life, and now in other forms. And of course there's the retired Dr. Locrian, who sits and watches from his upstairs bedroom. He's creepier than the ghosts. Also featured are stories "Teatro Grottesco" and "Dream of a Mannikin," both eerily creepy in their own right and nice additions to this collection.

The stories are deftly adapted by Stuart Moore and Joe Harris. The artists, Colleen Doran, Ben Templesmith (30 Days of Night), Ted McKeever, and Michael Gaydos supply plenty of detail. color, and eerie to bring these visions to us. Anytime the artist can relay the author's vision, gives us, the reader, an even more complete picture for us to visit with. These artists have spent a gread deal of time on this project and it shows.

Okay, now where did I put Nightmare Factory Vol . 2 ?

You can see all Thomas Ligotti at the Overlook HERE

THE FRINGE

You're going to hear me write about "no time" in my life and how I'm always trying to sneak in a movie and / or TV show when I get TIME! :-) I used to record things I might miss. In fact I had recorded so much over the years that it really became a space problem These days I don't set timers for weekly shows, or plan to see a show. I've got an out you see.. I've become spoiled by the DVD TV season sets you can purchase, or better yet, rent! Now I can see a whole season within a week (or less if I'm inclined).

THE FRINGE is a Tuesday night show that combines detectives with sci-fi, mystery, paranormal, and just down right evil folk. I didn't catch it when it began, but somehow my family and I started watching it one night, and after several shows, we've become hooked. Produced by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias, and now the new Star Trek movie franchise as of 5/09) who seems to have joined similar ranks with Josh Whedon (Buffy, Firefly, Dollhouse). This series features his 'wraparound' story that is slowly unfolding as we delve into each weeks smaller episodes of odd worlds of mayhem. The bigger story 'seems' to be that a lot of this is connected and thus you have the wraparound. I'm finding it intriguing and I suggest you take a gander when you can.

Today's television is tough. With competition so fierce, we the viewer, are actually benefitting from the writers with some major story line improvements, twist and turns, and you don't know what's coming next. I like that. It's a fine line to keep our attention as well as keep the carrot just far enough out so we're close, but can't quite catch up until it's time for us to eat. Sometimes it's snack, sometimes its a smorgasboard, but as my buddy Dallas likes to say "ah, but was it a good ride?" Good advice.

Now, again, the only reason I've seen a few of episodes is that I've been with my family in front of the tube (no flat screen here yet bubbas and bubbetttes :-), but I get the feeling we'll all be sitting down to see this season's finale here in May. Of course, there's always the DVD set when its released.

So far I'm liking this ride on The Fringe, so hop on board and let's see where it takes us!

NICKLEBACK TAKES ATLANTA BY STORM - NO, I MEAN IT!

For those of you who don't know me very well, I was in the music business for a looong time. Managing record stores, and eventually working for Polygram and Relativity records in promotions. On top of that I've been seeing concerts since I was 15. Now some 30 odd years (we won't be exact here ;-) and about 500 shows later (what? I can't hear you...) I'm running the somewhat respectable mail-order bookstore and press The Overlook Connection.

However these days I'm running the business and trying to keep up with my family, with an occasional concert here and there. Last night I was let out of the property! Whoo Hoo! So... I'll admit it.. I'm not as well versed in today's music as I used to be. Hell, it was my job besides being a huge part of my life, but I just don't have the time like I used too. Thanks to my wife and son, they've been educating me again.

So here I am at Nickleback, with openers Seether and Saving Abel, and trying to get a hold on who and what I'm about to see. Yes, I know some Nickleback, but a whole concert? Well.. I wasn't so sure about this. But my twelve-year-old really wanted to go and mom and I decided to take him and his brother Kyle (pulled away from Ga Tech finals.. shh...don't tell anyone) and sit on the amphitheatre lawn. Give me a beer, I'll sit on anyone's lawn.

Saving Abel was quite good. Above and behind the amphitheatre roof we saw a storm coming. The lightning was flashing sideways as if we were in Frankenstein's laboratory. It was eerie cool. The sky was dark and murky and at one point during a slow part in their final song, the sky parted and the sun hit all of us on the lawn! The crowd roared approval! And then God said "Arthur, Arthurrr, King of the Britain's"... oh.. excuse me.. I digress... Then Seether came on and and really got the crowd going. I didn't know this band really, maybe one song, but I was again, impressed. I will be looking into some cd action on these guys.

And then comes the main attraction as Nickleback took the crowd by storm. No, I mean it, Nickleback comes on, the sky begins shuddering and thumpin' the earth with those load cracks and whoosh.. here comes the rain.. and I mean we are running for cover bubba. All 10,000 of us on the lawn. What cover you ask? Exactly. Time to buy a beer.. in fact somebody upstairs kept turning the faucet on and off throughout the show. Everytime it came on.. time to get a beer. This could explain some staggering on my part later on (along with the shivering, and zombie slime-like skin underneath our clothes) as we went to get in our car and turn on the heat. Oh, the show you ask, "Dave, how was the show?" (when do we get to the review for chrissakes).

Nickleback was a lot of fun. I'd have to say I was thoroughly impressed with Chad Krueger's singing, guitar pickin', and overall frivality (this is putting it nicely :-) as he spoke to the crowd. They played their hits, they played new material off their recent release, DARK HORSE, and they showered (no pun intended) the crowd with a five minute giveaway (playing their versions of metallica, et el ) of shooting t-shirts into the fans. The light show, the stage set-up, the video screens (huge! Great for the lawn people!) the sound, everything was top-notch and well thought out. If you didn't get your money's worth, then you were in the bathroom with the rest of the guys (and some gals) trying to stay dry from the rain. At one point the lead singer from Seether came out and led Nickleback with the cover of a FILTER song (thanks Kyle!) that was rockin' and haunting. Good stuff.

Oh yes.. back to the rain my friends...it was raining.. most of the concert. But Poppa Dave here braved it all with the rest of his family, and we had a wonderful time. The band rocked the crowd of 15,000 plus, and when they were playing you almost forgot that it was raining. Now that's a band worth standing in the rain for. Until the wife says - okay.. that's it .. get me to the car and turn on the heat.
Yes dear :-).

John Lennon In Spain: A Haunting

JOHN LENNON IN SPAIN AT HAUNTED HOUSE

April 21st, 2009. If you don't know it by now, you will. I'm on ol' Beatle and music fan and I'll be posting items on music now and again. Here's an interesting piece about John Lennon's stay in Almeria, Spain in '66, where he wrote Strawberry Fields Forever. The house he stayed in was apparently haunted as well. There's an eight minute bit of footage too which is worth checking out. http://www.theolivepress.es/2009/04/20/a-haunted-house-visits-from-ringo-and-a-trademark-rolls-royce-the-mystery-of-lennon%E2%80%99s-strawberry-fields-forever-trip-to-southern-spain/

THE TIME TUNNEL and CRAIG GODEN

I'm sure some of you remember Craig and his mail-order bookstore The Time Tunnel. When I subscribed to Castle Rock, the Stephen King Newsletter back in the 80's, I discovered Craig and his Time Tunnel store in an ad in the back of one of those small, but fun, newsletters. I may even have a copy of one of his catalogs (I tend to keep stuff, especially of people I like) here in the Overlook files. Craig and I became fast friends and we had a few stories from Necon that may never see the light of day :-). Craig and I also began a tradition of bringing in food on Saturday's at midnight for the hungry (and tipsy) authors and readers at Necon. It began on a whim. We went out to get some food for ourselves - we were hungry - and finding food at Midnight in Bristol, Rhode Island is practically non-existant. But low and behold... in the middle of that moon-lit foggy night, a "Stop-n-Go" sign glowed in the distance. We bought (and heated up I might add) every sandwich they had in the coolers. It was a big hit and every sandwich was \'gone\' before you could say boo. Then we began buying pizzas at midnight the year or two following. Eventually the Necon powers that be took up the midnight feeding frenzy and now Saugies and buns are supplied (a big thank you to John who cooks for us every year!).

I found out just recently that Craig passed away in 2008. The last time I saw Craig was at Necon a few years ago. Craig had moved on from selling books years ago and started a new career in the computer field ( wow.. a real paycheck... wonder what that was like ). He looked good and we had a great time visiting and catching up. Now that I know hes gone a flood of memories seem to be coming. Seems that happens when we know someone whos passed. Life gets busy and we cant keep up with everyone, but sometimes I wish I could. Im just glad to have known Craig he was a good friend to me and the Overlook for many years.

Craig was a musician, did you know that? Yep, he played guitar and wrote songs. I have an album he sent me once, that featured a song of his - Craig singing and playing - time to dust that one off and give it a listen. He had a lovely voice. We'll miss you man.

Dave

Thanks to Rosandra for letting me know.

You can read more about Craig Goden here:

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080504/OBITS/805040335&template=printart