I Want To Thank...

Well, it’s the second to last day before the New Years and it’s been a fun ride through the Horror Blogosphere. Paradise of Horror went from being a personal blog to a full-fledge horror blog with a small band of dedicated readers. I met a lot of great people and a lot of great horror bloggers, I found several nearby Chicago horror icons and I had an overall blast this year. I can only hope that 2011 will bring more greatness and fun my way. There are a lot of people I would like to thank this year but below are a list of people that I would like to personally thank for everything they have done for me and Paradise of Horror.

Pax Romano – I thank him for inviting me to be a part of a little April Fool’s Day prank. The prank was that all us horror bloggers were given screeners for a new indie movie called Manic Monday and we were to exaggerate the movie and make it to be the greatest horror movie ever made. I had a lot of fun with this and I felt like I was officially accepted into the world of the Horror Blogosphere. He was also the creator of The Union of Independent Horror Bloggers, of which I am but I have yet to post my badge saying so. Thanks Pax, for all that you have done.

Dale Lloyd – I want to thank him for all the help and information about VHS’. I never thought I would meet anybody else that had a profound love for the dying format until I ran into him. What I especially want to thank him for is helping me on my quest to find all the original pre-cert Video Nasties. I couldn’t have gotten started without his help. Seriously, to find another VHS enthusiast was one of the highlights of my year… I thought I was crazy for a minute. Because of him I my addiction to VHS was pushed to another level and I became interested in other dying formats like Laserdisc and records. Thanks, man!

Sean Duregger – Though we didn’t talk that much for the first half of the year, he was the first person to ever give me an opportunity to talk on his podcast. I don’t really like the sound of my own voice so I was a little nervous talking but I have to admit, if it wasn’t for Sean’s encouragement… I probably would be stumbling over myself a lot more. Thanks a bunch Sean, it certainly was fun and I hope to be on it again.

HorrO’s Gory Reviews – A newcomer to the Horror Blogosphere and somebody whom I began talking to half way into the year. I want to thank him for always supporting my posts and for being the first person who is a reoccurring commenter on my articles. It makes me happy to see people like that ‘cause it says to me, there are people who read my ramblings. Thank you HorrO for your constant support, I read your blog all the time and best wishes for the next year.

Amanda Norman – Ever since I interviewed her on my blog a while ago I began falling in love where her eerie but fascinating cemetery photography. I told her awhile ago that once I get a chance to go up to Graceland Cemetery I would take some pictures in homage to her photography and I will make good on that. I want to thank her because like HorrO, she has been a constant supporter of my blog and it means a lot to me. Every time I wake up and look on twitter, there it reads “The Gothic & Horror Daily is out INSERT URL Top stories today by @FreddysFingers” and I thank her for that.

Tim Jacobus – Not many people will know him unless you were a Goosebumps fanatic because he was the illustrator for the Goosebumps book. He was a hero of mine, somewhat of a mentor and a person that I never though I would ever converse with in my life. I want to thank him for allowing me to interview him (even if it was all online) because he made my childhood dream come true. This was a landmark in my blogging hobby and I will cherish everything he said. And thank you for your contributions to the Goosebumps book, from me and all the fans… thank you!

Jeff Farley – Much like Mr. Jacobus, I want to thank Jeff for something he and the entire production team of The Blob (1988) did to me as a kid. He was one of the special effects guys for The Blob and to finally be able to talk to someone who was part of the team made my year. I don’t think he realizes how influential his work was for me. I want to thank him for allowing me to interview him and I thought it was very enlightening. If you went back in time and told me, at the age of 12 or 13, that I would be talking to a special effects guy who worked on that movie… I would probably laugh in disbelief. Thanks a bunch Jeff for giving me the time and your special effects work.

Horror Society – I want to thank Mitch, Jessica and everybody else who is part of this elite group of Chicago horror fans for all the festivals they have supported in the Chicagoland area. They have been really nice to me this year and I feel like I have been accepted as one of their own. They introduced me to several Chicago horror icons like Kitty Zombie and Shu and I couldn’t thank them enough for all their work. I also want to thank Mitch for giving me a reviewing position on his team and for treating me with such kindness. Thanks, man!!

Nicki Nix – Much like Horror Society, she has been there through all the horror festivals that I have been to in Chicago. She is usually the first person that runs up to me and gives me a nice warm hug when I walk into the theater and I want to thank her for making me feel welcome to all the festivals.

Trevor Schoenfeld – Even though he is a last minute addition, I want to thank him for stimulating some great movie conversations but more importantly for inviting me to join the Tallyteers of which I am now a member. I hope to keep my “oath” of movie tallying and I hope to meet all the other Tallyteers. Here is a guy who has been tallying movies longer than I have and my first movie tally was just me collecting all my movie tickets.

Stu Conover – Stu Boo is probably the person that I really have to thank because this entire you he has given me some of the greatest indie zombie movies I have seen. He gave me an opportunity to further my movie reviewing hobby and he was patient with me even though some of my reviews were late. He is a calm person, a great person to talk to and is a great and funny guy! I congratulate him on getting married next year and I am very proud to be part of his Buy Zombie team. I met a lot of great people and I hope to stay with him and Buy Zombie well into the next 10 or more years.

The Fiji Mermaid – Simply put, I want to thank him for providing me with some great and rare soundtracks to add to my collection. Not many people know that I collect soundtracks and I want to thank him for adding some new titles.

The FearShop Podcast – I want to thank Mike and Frank for providing me with some of the greatest sound bits streaming on the inter-air. Every night, when the TV is off and I am left to type up reviews or articles… I turn on the podcast and listen to their humorous banter. They may seem like folks who only like blood and guts, but they also look deeper into the film for it’s BEAUTY! I think the Fearshop really understands how BEAUTIFUL horror movies can be.

HorrorBlips – We witnessed the fall of a great place for Horror Bloggers to monitor each other’s posts and to see where they rank overall. It was a great site and I personally loved it not for the rankings but because it gave me a chance to find some great horror bloggers that I never knew existed. They led me to blogs like Killer Kittens From Beyond The Grave, The Horror Digest and Planet of Terror. We will truly miss you and I want to thank you for all the help you have given me.

The Horror Blogger Alliance – On par with HorrorBlips, I want to thank the creator of this alliance, Carl of I Like Horror Movies, for giving us Horror Bloggers an opportunity to be a close knit family and to show others that they are not alone. It have me an opportunity to troll through the site an ultimately find new people to befriend. Some great blogs I found were From Midnight With Love, WGNON Helicopter and Deadly Doll’s House and I thank the alliance for this.

Talk Horror – This was one of the best findings I made all year. It’s a forum that is relatively small but everybody there has made me feel happy. I have been travelling from horror forum to horror forum trying to find my self-named “horror family” and I think I have found it. Everybody there has welcomed me with such warm attitudes that I felt like I really found my place in the Internets. Despite being slightly vulgar and crude, they still made me smile. I thank Bo and Friday for giving me a home.

I also want to give an eternal thanks to the folks who passed away this year and a special thank you and quiet remorse to those who contributed to the horror genre. They will be forever missed and we will never forget what they have done for us and for filmmaking. I raise my champagne glass in their honor!

- Dennis Hopper

- Corey Haim

- Peter Graves

- Zelda Rubinstein

To all my readers here on Blogger, on Facebook and on Twitter… I give you all my thanks for helping me get to where I am. I couldn’t have done it without you and I want to thank all of my blogger friends who have given me some great conversations and for supporting the Horror Blogosphere. Horror movies may not be getting better but I know us horror fans will always be one giant horror family. Here’s to a great 2011 and I wish all of you all the best!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!