FX is developing a television show based on the “Welcome to Night Vale” podcast

By Joe Meyers

In an exclusive, Deadline reports the popular podcast “Welcome to Night Vale” is being developed for a television show for FX.  Gennifer Hutchison, who’s currently an Executive Producer of “Better Call Saul”, will adapt the podcast for television via Sony Pictures Television. Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor, the creators of the Night Vale, will serve as executive producers on the series.

“We’ve never met anyone in the industry who understands our world and approach to storytelling better than Gennifer does,” said Fink and Cranor. “We are lucky to be working with her, as well as FX – a network with a long history of creating excellent television.”

If you’re unfamiliar with the show, there will be plenty of time to become acquainted with “Welcome to Night Vale” before the television series begins. Night Vale revolves around the quirky town of Night Vale as narrated by community radio host Cecil Gershwin Palmer, with a revolving cast of characters.  You’ll quickly learn why you should stay out of the town’s dog park, why librarians should be avoided, and why being a radio station intern may be the most dangerous profession in Night Vale.

welcome-to-night-vale-hc-c

This Week in Horror News

This week we’ll be recapping the first five episodes of STRANGER THINGS Season 2, so there won’t be time for any news on the next recording. However, you can get your horror news fix right here…

  • In an exclusive report Variety reveals Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes, writers of “The Conjuring”, are teaming up with producer Joel Silver for an original horror film.

 

  • The film adaption of Nickelodeon’s 1990s horror series “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” is set for an October 11, 2019 release date. Matt Kaplan is producing with “IT” co-writer Gary Dauberman on board to tackle the script.

 

  • The Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded Best Cinematography to Dan Laustsen for “The Shape of Water.” The film also scored Sally Hawkins a Best Actress win, and Guillermo del Toro shared the Best Director win with Luca Guadagnino for “Call Me by Your Name.” Jordan Peele was also honored with Best Screenplay for “Get Out” to once again give the horror genre a strong showing at an awards ceremony.

 

  • Andi Matichak has been cast in David Gordon Green’s upcoming Halloween film, in a role rumored to be the granddaughter of Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode.

 

  • A “World War Z” game is coming in 2018 from Saber Interactive and Paramount for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Check out the reveal trailer below…

 

  • Deadline  is reporting André Øvredal, director of “The Autopsy of Jane Doe” and “Trollhunter” has been hired to direct “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” at CBS Films.

 

  • John Squires at Bloody Disgusting informs us “Victor Crowley”, the surprise fourth installment of Adam Green’s Hatchet franchise, will be released on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD on February 6, 2018.

 

  • Per The Hollywood Reporter CBS All Access has officially given their “The Twilight Zone” reboot a series order. The series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Simon Kinberg’s Genre Films. Jordan Peele will be one of the executive producers, and will collaborate on the premiere episode.

 

  • Netflix will release the new season of “Black Mirror” on December 29th, 2017. Check out the trailers for the six episode 4th season over at Bloody Disgusting.

 

The Podcast Macabre is now available via Google Play Music

by Joe Meyers

As of today we can be heard via Google Play Music! When we decided to move to our own website after the retirement of Geek Planet Online, one of our main goals was to expand our reach. This is, hopefully, the first of several announcements in the coming months regarding various platform availability. Until then, thanks for listening and help spread the love by ranking and reviewing the show.

This Week in Horror News

by Joe Meyers

Here’s a quick Friday recap of the happenings in the Horror World this week:

  • Netflix has announced their critically-acclaimed, crime drama series “Mindhunter” will return for a second season.
  • A third season for Netflix’s “Stranger Things” has also been officially announced this morning.
  • In a recent interview, with my old home town’s Charleston City Paper, Danny McBride talks about his desire to focus on a sense of dread and tension over gore and ultra-violence for the new Halloween film.
  • Deadline reported Michael Green & Bryan Fuller exited the Starz series “American Gods” this week, rumored to be over a budget dispute for Season 2.
  • Variety announced the FOX series “Ghosted”, starring Craig Robinson and Adam Scott, has been picked up for six additional episodes and Paul Lieberstein is joining the show as the new executive producer and showrunner.
  • While speaking with TimesTalks, Guillmero del Toro revealed his only real professional regret was declining an offer from Universal to take creative control over their Monsters in what would eventually become the “Dark Universe.”
  • As first revealed during AMC’s “Talking Dead” this past Sunday night, Lennie James’ character Morgan will be crossing over from “The Walking Dead” to the spin-off “Fear The Walking Dead” in Season 4 of that series.
  • Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment have set January 11, 2019 as the release date for their “Hellboy” reboot. The film stars David Harbour, Milla Jovovich, Ian McShane, and Daniel Dae Kim with Neil Marshall as director.
  • Per The Hollywood Reporter, Kevin Williamson of “Scream” fame has made a straight-to-series order with CBS All-Access for “Tell Me A Story.” The concept is based off a show that aired on Spanish TV network Antena tres, from Marcos Osorio Vidal, Gustavo Malajovich and Hernan Goldfrid. “Tell Me A Story” will take familiar fairy tale characters and plots and twist them into a dark psychological horror-thriller.
  • In an exclusive, Dread Central reported the documentary “The Dark Heart of Jason Voorhees: The Making of the Final Friday” will give us a look at the making of Adam Marcus’ “Jason Goes To Hell” just in time for that film’s 25th anniversary.

Be sure to check out our latest episode early next week, where we’ll touch on some of these news items and more.

“Do These Guys Even Know What They Are Doing?!?”

Hey there, Fright Fans! Chris here. Just another update on where we are with the change over from GeekPlanetOnline.com.

We can now openly say that the move to Libsyn and here is solely due to the fact that GPO will be shutting down in the near future. We wish nothing but the best for Matt Dillon and his soon-to-be expanding family (congrats again to you and the Mrs. on the bundle of joy arriving in the Spring), and we again want to thank him for being a very gracious, supportive, and generally awesome host for the short time we were part of the GPO family.

Now for the updates!

  • iTunes subscribers: You may need to refresh your subscription to the show. I noted my own account had me resubscribe after the RSS feed was refreshed. We would hate for you to miss any episodes!
  • The Libsyn library and the iTunes Store: Subscribers might have noted random older episodes popping up in their iTune feeds. As I add old episodes to the library for archiving, I sometimes forget to backdate the release date, and the iTunes store thinks it’s a new episode. I will do my best to remember to prevent that in the future as we go, but I’m far from perfect (as any of our listeners know).
  • Our webpage: Please be sure to follow us here and to share us with your friends! Take a look at our various postings, including “Voices From The Vault” with our old episodes archived here until the Libsyn archive is built, Joe’s recent review of “To Hell And Back: The Kane Hodder Story”, and all sorts of other stuff that is in the works!

So again, thank you for your patience and your patronage as we continue to gain our footing here, and keep an eye out for new content!

“To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story” [Film Review]

by Joe Meyers

“To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story” is a documentary directed by Derek Dennis Herbert about the journey of stuntman Kane Hodder’s life overcoming several challenges to become the stunt coordinator, actor, director, producer, and man he is today.

Kane

I was lucky enough to attend the Los Angeles premiere of the film at the TCL Chinese Theatre on 10/17/17 during Screamfest, which included a post-screening Q&A with the director and Kane himself moderated by Brian Collins of Birth.Movies.Death. Kane Hodder has been my favorite Jason Voorhees for years, but that honestly may be one of the least interesting things about him after seeing this movie.

This is less of a documentary about a horror icon, and way more of a tale about the human condition and the power of perseverance. I highly recommend it to horror fans and non-horror lovers alike. I identified quite a bit with Kane’s stories regarding being bullied as a child growing up in Sparks, Nevada. While I didn’t have any life experiences to identify with his horrible, near fatal, burn accident, Derek Dennis Herbert did a fantastic job giving the audience just enough information to empathize with the absolute Hell Kane endured as a burn victim without overwhelming them. The recounting of his accident, and his struggles during his lengthy and traumatic recovery process, was chilling.

Throughout the documentary we’re treated to Kane’s own words about his life, as well as interviews with his friends and coworkers (including Bruce Campbell, Cassandra Peterson, Robert Englund, Danielle Harris, Adam Green, Felissa Rose, and Bill Moseley) as well as his wife and children. They all do a wonderful job painting us a portrait of an incredible, complex, and compelling individual. Kane Hodder may have been shaped and molded by near insurmountable obstacles during his life, but this films proves he refused to be 100% defined by them.

As of the Q&A after this screening back in October, distribution rights had not been settled. As soon as they are, and this film becomes available, this documentary will be a worthy addition to anyone’s movie collection. It’s a must own for Friday the 13th fans for sure. Until then, check out the official theatrical trailer to this inspiring film below.

 

“Get Out” scores a hat-trick at The Gotham Independent Film Awards

by Joe Meyers

Yet again we’ve gotten proof that 2017 really is “The Year of Horror Movies.” Last night writer/director Jordan Peele, and his debut feature film “Get Out”, won big at The Gotham Independent Film Awards.

GetOut_FINAL_SM_1024x1024

Jordan Peele took home the award for Best Screenplay as well as the Bingham Ray Breakthrough Director Award. Although “Get Out” lost Best Feature to “Call Me By Your Name” it did receive the Gotham Audience Award. Sadly, the Best Actor Award went to James Franco for his turn as Tommy Wiseau in the upcoming “The Disaster Artist” over Daniel Kaluuya for his brilliant performance as Chris Washington.

However, a horror film just being nominated for five awards is amazing much less it winning three of the five categories. The genre has long been dismisses and forgotten, with rare exception, during award season. Last night firmly put “Get Out” in the spotlight as we approach more award ceremonies over the next few months, and that’s nothing but great news for the horror genre, horror filmmakers and horror fans.

“Get Out” poster art by Francesco Francavilla

 

Episode 118 – Field Trip Fun

Joe’s been out and about again, seeing the various sights and screenings Los Angeles and Hollywood have to offer, and he was good enough to record several of these misadventures. We apologize in advance for some of the audio as these segments were recorded live with an open mic. Hope you enjoy them!

Segment 1 – George Romero Tribute from Beyond Fest on 10/13/17 after NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD 4K restoration screening.

Segment 2 – Tobe Hopper Tribute from Beyond Fest on 10/13/17 before a screening of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE.

Segment 3 – Kane Hodder Q&A after screening of TO HELL AND BACK:THE KANE HODDER STORY at Screamfest on 10/17/17.

Segment 4 – George Romero Tribute & Memorial on 10/25/17 at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA.

Episode 118 – Field Trip Fun