UPDATE: CATCHING UP WITH THE ANTI-HERO

 

In my element: Splattered with pig blood.

So it’s been, um, MONTHS since I last updated Mister Growl. The absence was necessary, I swear. This site was originally hatched to be little more than a portfolio of musings about extreme music and a chance to gush about my favorite albums of the day/week/month/millennium. Now that I’m able to cover great bands in Decibel Magazine each month (and with About.com and Girls and Corpses Magazine, when time allows), this site will cover my various writing projects and absolutely reek of shameless self-promotion. But, you know, reek in a good way.

Back in February I agreed to option my screenplay The Post-Ironic Hipster Massacre with an ambitious new production company based in the UK. The script had ranked in the top 100 entries at Scriptapalooza and after discussions with the producers I agreed to re-write the script, changing the setting from Brooklyn to London. The project is still in pre-production, but with the talent currently attached I feel great about the future of my silly, bloody, satirical slasher film.

I also recently finished the rough draft of a “heavy metal coloring book” illustrated by the unfairly talented Ellie Shvaiko. Without giving too much away, it’s a gruesome version of a popular fairy tale complete with monsters, warriors, and a plague that makes buttholes explode and turn inside-out. The title: 130 Dead Kids. More on that soon.

On the screenwriting front, I am nearing completion of drafts for two horror scripts I’m co-writing with awesome collaborators. My brother and I are working together on a haunted house/possession/zombie script tentatively called Appraising the Dead. I’m obviously biased, but it absolutely blows The Conjuring and its ilk out of the water in terms of creativity and kills. I’m also collaborating with screenwriter/playwright/actor Scott Langer on an exciting new project. The Last Birthday (working title) is a story split into halves: Mr. Langer sets up an intriguing premise with gritty humor and sharp dialogue, and I tear the world apart with surreal horror and gore.

Apart from pieces in Decibel Magazine, I also have a selection of poetry lined up for the next issue of Kung-Fu Breakfast. The issue - named “Beyond the Nude” - will focus on perceptions of nudity, sexuality, and the human form. My poems are based on my experiences as a patron of exotic dance establishments, and the collection is called “Dance With a Thousand Names.”

Lots more on the way, including the possibility of a short story collection and a better-late-than-never review of Maryland Deathfest for Girls and Corpses Magazine with my inebriated and uncensored thoughts on the event. Enjoy yourselves, fellow scumbags.