Accept yourself
Dec 4th
The Beastie Boys said in the song ‘Pass the Mic’, “Be true to yourself and you will never fall.” Never were wiser words said by three Jewish rappers from New York City. For me, that kind of mantra has been crucial in the discovery and acceptance of me. I am Jack Wallen and I not only accept myself, I love myself.
To be thankful, fer sure!
Nov 27th
As this Thanksgiving holiday is upon us, I wanted to share my thanks to those that have come on board the dark hayride along with me. I originally posted these on my Facebook page, and thought it would be good to collect them all in one easy to digest, tryptophan-laced meal. NOM!
Goodbye Blockbuster
Nov 20th
My wife and I were lamenting the closing of the last three hundred Blockbuster brick-and-mortar stores today. Much of the reminiscing was spent romanticizing how much we missed actually going to the store and perusing the selections — sometimes winding up not finding anything we hadn’t seen or anxiously anticipating a new release. The discussion hit me sideways as I realized how this marks the end of yet another means of interacting with society. Slowly but surely, we are becoming less and less dependent upon actually having to leave our homes. The end of Blockbuster is not so much the end of an era, but another cold shoulder to social interaction, and another victory for network service providers.
Women and the apocalypse
Nov 13th
As most of you know, I have a vested interest in this subject. Why? First and foremost, I placed the survival of mankind on the shoulders of one Bethany Nitshimi. I did this knowing I might lose the attention of some fans of the genre — a fact I am perfectly fine with. Why? For so long, women in post-apocalyptic literature have been relegated to eye candy, relationship fodder, damsels in distress, or (on occasion) a ripped-dress wearing clone with unrealistic fighting abilities (played to the nines by Milla Jovavitch). Some may call “bias” on this; but, to me, the continued portrayal of women as a weakness in the apocalypse, is an insufferable insult.
A matter of appearance
Nov 8th
The other night my wife and I were walking around our local Target store enjoying a capitalist repast. I noticed, ahead of us, an older lady clad in a leopard-print dress that hit her about mid thigh. She was sporting some seriously high heels and tastefully done make up. She was walking around with what could have been her spouse (who was happily doting over her). It was a wonderful and lovely sight to behold. Until…I started seeing the looks she was getting.
Practical Guide to Survive Anything…even a zombie apocalypse
Nov 6th
Have you ever been involved in an emergency situation or a natural disaster? Maybe you’ve just heard of them on the news or from a friend or relative; whatever the case, most of us don’t understand the importance of preparing until it’s too late. Don’t be a victim! Learn from history and understand that anything is possible and we must be prepared to handle the situation(s) accordingly.
The Devil Inside
Oct 31st
Hell’s Muse was published a while ago. That book is the beginning of the Nameless Saga and will spawn plenty of nasty, terror-filled, horror-filled nightmares. The second of the series will begin soon…until then, I want to offer up for your pleasure, a lead-in short that will serve as the underpinnings of the third novel in the series. And so, without further adieu, I give you…The Devil Inside.
Dark Poetry: Lullabies for the Damned
Oct 30th
Have you ever had those moments where the lights are on, but everything is as dark as pitch? If you know of which I speak, then these lullabies for the damned should ring a bell so true you might wonder if you can trust yourself with the lights out. Come into my vicious parlor and see if you can escape the snapping of your own sanity.
Dark Poetry: The Rusty Blade
Oct 28th
The Rusty Blade
Tell me something secret
Whisper into my ear
Make love to my damaged sorrow
With your self-defeating fear.
What little light you brought to life
Is forfeit now and ever
We’ll dance a twisted spider walk
To begin a new endeavor.
My rusted blade it dives and twists
Between your filthy breath
I’ll carve for you a new beginning
Some delightful precious death.
Weep now, my dearest lovely bones
Your tears I will consume
And before your light is extinguished
I’ll waltz you to your tomb.
Let’s go to the Coffin Hop
Oct 26th
As I type, the 2013 Coffin Hop is undead and kicking! If you’re unaware of this wondrous time of year, it is a celebration of authors of the dark fantastic. Horror authors of every bent collect together on one site so you, the reader, can enjoy works sure to get your skin to shrivel on its meat.
The Coffin Hop is the web’s most awesome literary haunted house. 70+ bloggers, artists, writers, and Halloween freaks sharing horror tales and spirited fun. It’s so amahz frightening, even Pinhead and Freddy Kruger are afraid to peek their heads in.
And what’s on the slab for this year? Read on MacDuff!
A taste of Cry Zombie Cry
Oct 23rd
I wanted to give everyone a treat before the most hallowed of nights arrives. This treat is from the up-coming eighth novel in the I Zombie series, Cry Zombie Cry. If you’ve read enough the series, you know how fond I am of nightmare scenes. Here is one I’m confident will have you wanting more of this novel to nom! This scene is later on in the book (Chapter 20). I won’t give anything away (and there is a LOT to give away at this point) other than to say the nightmares do serve a purpose. MU…HA…HA.
Favorite female-centric horror films
Oct 18th
I could come up with lists of horror films to fit nearly any topic. This time around, I want to introduce you to my favorite female-centric horror films. What does that mean? Simple — horror films that center around a female protagonist, a female killer, or films that just exude femme de la macabre! So, let’s all don our favorite heels and pencil skirts and get this bitch on the road!
Top five Halloween-themed horror films
Oct 11th
This is Halloween, this is Halloween Pumpkins scream in the dead of night.
Ah the lyrics to one of my favorite animated films — Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s that time of year and everyone needs to have their horror films queued up and ready to go. What’s that you say? You have no idea where to begin? Well, we can’t have that. October is the time in which we should all be enjoying a good horror movie marathon. Even better — Halloween-themed movie marathons. It’s a pseudo-recursive theme and I’m going to arm you with a few outstanding films to get you moving in the right direction.
10 Things that scare me stupid
Oct 9th
That’s right, ladies and gentlefreaks of the Jackverse, even the Zombie King can be sent shivering under his blankets. No! You say? Yes…I retort. But what in the world could frighten someone who spends his days and nights thinking of ways to set his readers skin crawling with undead and other frightening delights? Well, I’m going to play a rousing game of ‘fess up’, so you can know what haunts my nightmares.
This is Halloween: Movie marathons
Oct 4th
It’s that time of the year my lovelies — October. That means but one thing, Halloween is right around the corner. And although many/most of us are too old to enjoy the age-old tradition of trick or treating, that doesn’t mean we can’t have some adult-flavored fun on this most glorious of holiday seasons!
With that in mind, I’ve come up with a few ideas for you to rip off so your Halloween is as glorious as the Zombie Kings! I’ll run this as a series…so as to not inundate the jackverse with information. So, what in the hell am I blathering on about? On with the ideas!
