DREAM CAST: DARK RISING

If you've visited my blog in the past, you know I love these fantasy film casts. I remember reading WIZARD magazine as a kid, and the comic book movie dream casts were always a favorite segment of mine. Heck... I think they mentioned Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier years ago, but that's a no-brainer, isn't it? 

Some of the actors I picked aren't particularly well-known. I think readers should be able to use their imagination to see these character in the narrative, but if I had it MY WAY, well... here's the cast for DARK RISING, my new novel from Severed Press (details about the book below the cast). 

Anna Vivaldi

An Italian-Irish woman who is nothing more than leg and attitude, Noomi Rapace is perfect for this role. Why? Because Noomi Rapace is awesome. That’s why. She does a good job portraying tough female characters without being over-sexualized, and Anna Vivaldi is nothing but over-sexualized. I think this would be a good role for Rapace. Please. Please say yes…

Mari Riso

This actress is Rosa Kato. I looked her up, and this pose seems to capture everything that I would want to see in Mari Riso on the silver screen. Tough, haunted, and unwilling to compromise her family’s sacred mission. 

Captain Brand Whitmore

A veteran ship captain, haunted by the woman that he lost when his ship sank several years ago. A drunken wreck of a man who still clings to the fleeting moments he had with Patricia Vivaldi, he is cursed by the ancient octopus demigod. Kurt Russell would be unhinged enough, and could easily make the transition to a damaged man. He’s the perfect balance to the remote and stilted Clive Nightingale. 

Clive Nightingale

Who better to play a creepy sorcerer with a penchant for guitar playing and serial-killing than Clive Owen? Owen’s voice is arguably one of the creepiest in Hollywood, and he could portray the mysterious, morose man who is playing a game with cosmic dice. 

Chan

Another actor I chose for his look, although I am familiar with his work in Hari Kiri. This actor’s name is Eita, and he’s a handsome lad. The character, Chan, is a young, ambitious government agent who steadfastly believes in his mission. Chan isn’t afraid of a giant octopus, and he isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

SPECIAL GUEST

I don’t want to spoil which character Gilian Anderson would play, but after you read the first chapter, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise, anyway. In a film version, I assume she would appear in flashback/memory sequences, because I’d certainly want to maximize my use of Gilian Anderson. 







CLICK HERE TO GET THIS BAD BOY! 

An ancient creature sleeps in the Pacific Ocean, awakened only by the music of sorcery.

Anna Vivaldi has never forgotten the disappearance of her mother, but at least she has the money and courage to find closure. But she’ll need the only survivors from her mother’s expedition: Whitmore, the drunken captain who lost something precious on the first voyage, and Nightingale, the man who had whisked Anna’s mother away on a search for something ancient and terrible. 

On the vast ocean. In the haunted past. Wanted by millionaire treasure hunters and scientists. A thing that should not be real. An island of mysteries. An abyss of death. PREPARE FOR A DARK RISING. 

COVER REVEAL! QUEEN OF THE DEAD

And here it is, ladies and gentlemen! Brought to you by Russell Dickerson at Darkstorm Creative! 



Blood runs through the streets of Detroit and into the gutters of nearby cities. Monsters, both human and zombie alike, have brought civil order to its knees. The haunted mercenary, Vega, must confront this apocalypse head-on with survivors who have their own versions of morality; she’s joined by Father Joe, a pious man who will do everything in his power to save a single life, no matter how many others have to die…
Jim Traverse, the sociopath who has decided the apocalypse will be “beautiful,” has nearly completed his genocidal masterpiece. Jim races against Vega’s company to reach Selfridge Air Base, where they’ll fight for control of the woman who has ascended over life and death, a woman whose relationship with an infernal intelligence gives her power over the walking dead. 

One woman can save the world, or destroy it: The Queen of the Dead. 

The back cover...

Sneak Preview: The Horror Show

The following is an excerpt from the forthcoming poetry collection from Bizarro Pulp Press. The collection is actually a story written through a series of poems. It's a surreal story clocking in at nearly 200 pages (of poems!). At the conclusion of the poem I have provided the book's synopsis.




This is kind of like a rock band's "concept album," similar to something maybe Mars Volta, Pink Floyd, or Smashing Pumpkins would have created (I'm not comparing my work to theirs... no way). 










Here is a review of the collection, in addition to two more poems analyzed by the horror-academic, Anthony Servante. http://servanteofdarkness.blogspot.com/2013/07/poetry-today-trends-and-traditions.html




Boiled Scream



There was a romantic who died
years ago in front of a mountain,
his eyes open while ice
melted over his eyes. 
In his hands he held a photograph
believed to be a woman,

shapeless, no form worth
mentioning because the lines
faded. 

Later, authorities 
discovered a love letter
to a nameless woman 
in the romantic's home,
and in it he described 
his dream of her.

In the description he
mentioned a story
that inspired him, 
a tale of woe
about a goddess
who fell in love with
an angel. Both women 
met while discussing 
the nature of mortal love,
and the goddess wooed 
the angel with a story, about

two men who crossed paths
by voyaging between planets;
both defied each other's
perception of form and thought,
but when they met
their curiosity blossomed
and they agreed to explore
each other and 
the cosmos. 

One of the men was a painter
who designed galaxies,
and they were only men
as gods defined them,
human for the sake of 
understanding. 
The painter asked his lover
to pose so that he might
compose the universe.

Inside his spiraling wormholes
were two blind children
who held hands 
and slept in a tomb
at the edge of time.
They whispered into 
each other's ears
while their skulls
joined.

One of the twins 
ripped out its eyes
and explained one of them
was made of emerald, the other,
sapphire. Handcrafted eyes
made a saint and a sinner,
sexless creatures dwelling
inside of an abyss
or a labyrinth. 

The sinner died over 
the fire, and the saint
bled upon each gem. None 
of it was painful, for 
the sinner and the saint
were romantically in love


Synopsis:

A Nobel Prize-winning poet has been missing for several years, along with his wife and child. Suffering from narcolepsy and amnesia, the poet wanders the same back-alleys he terrorized as a teenager. He's being carefully watched by Doctor Humphrey, whose unique treatment plan is driven by a higher power that wants a cure for mental instability to produce the ultimate war machines. At the mercy of his derangements and the ghosts of his fragmented past, the poet's descent into the darkest reaches of his soul reveals a blood-soaked past which threatens to repeat itself.

While Doctor Humphrey collects his precious data, he devises a terrible plan to satisfy his own terrifying vision for the future. 

New Release: Gravity Comics Massacre

Press Release from Bizarro Pulp Press!

Vincenzo Bilof's novella is on the way. The book cover has been finalized. We are in the editing stages now and should see that bad boy out very soon. The art was done by Sarah VonKain. 

A mind-bending trip down the rabbit hole of terror where aliens, comic books, and nightmares are painted onto a blood-red canvas…

Damien Shears is the best artist alive, but his favorite pastime is killing people. Armed with a pen designed by aliens, Damien illustrates his victims until they fall asleep; in their dreams, they confront their worst nightmares while Damien visits atrocities upon their flesh. His famous comic store has become the perfect tourist attraction for a group of five burn-outs who're looking for a place to party. Reality and dreams collide for the sake of murder and art; the aliens need more data for their analysis of human fear, and people will have to die.

"GRAVITY COMICS MASSACRE is a wild, fast-paced ride into the strangest sectors of your imagination. I dare you to read it without a smile carved into your face; unique and adorably quirky, you can't help but finish this in one sitting. Vincenzo Bilof is what bizarro fiction has been missing."

--Max Booth III, author of They Might Be Demons

"For original, literate, Horror that swings between the bizarre and the profane, look no further than Bilof's inventive rendition of the darkest Horror tropes. You might just get what you don't expect!"

--William Cook, Editor of Fresh Fear and author of Blood Related.

The Next Big Thing-Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension Book One

What is the title of your latest book? 

My latest novel is called Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension. The book is available from Severed Press. 

Where did the idea come from for the book?

For this particular novel, I concentrated on the concept of redemption. Most of the characters and images that comprise the novel are heavily inspired by dream-sequences and music. For this book, the musical artists Deadmau5, Frou Frou, Drake, Deftones, and Sigur Ros heavily inspired large portions of the plot.

What genre does your book fall under?

Necropolis Now: Zombie Ascension is a horror novel.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?    

Amparo Vega- This haunted mercenary would be played by Michelle Rodriguez, who would capture Vega's badass demeanor while her desperation would be simmering on the surface.

 James Traverse-The villain of this novel is a professional mercenary and madman who refers to himself as a "homicidal artist" and "the patron saint of pain." A former super-soldier, he has been tormented by an experience in Egypt, in which he learned that he might be able to acquire demonic powers in the midst of an undead apocalypse. Daniel Craig would be perfect, and nobody would ever expect him to take on such a role.

Vincent Hamilton-A famous arms dealer in Detroit, Vincent is a former soldier who has become unhinged by the zombie apocalypse, though he learns how to cope with it and become the man he never thought he could be. Mekhi Phifer would be ideal.

Bob Fields-A professional soldier, he has been hunting Traverse for a long time. A grizzled veteran who loves combat, an bearded Robert Deniro would be perfect for the character who assumes a fatherly role over Amparo Vega.

Mina Neely-Lindsay Lohan would need green contacts and would have to have almost porcelain skin for the role, but she could play the deranged cannibal. Whenever Mina dreams, zombies devour her flesh, and the only way to stop these nightmares is for her to eat the flesh of the living. Her mind serves as a temporal gateway for the dead, and she is horrified to learn that the zombie menace is indeed real.

Patrick Griggs-Griggs is a former homicide detective whose obsession with adult films led him into a relationship with Mina Neely, who coincidentally ate another actor while Patrick tried to film them together. Even though Mina has been institutionalized, she's all he has left, and if he finds her, he hopes to restore his film studio to prominence. Patrick just happens to love using a Desert Eagle magnum, something Mel Gibson could pull off very well.

Desmond Hunter-He grew up in poverty and watched his mother succumb to crack addiction while he raised his brother, Jerome, who ended up becoming a junkie. Desmond became a lawyer; he's a crusader who will stop at nothing to succeed, and he feels extremely responsible for Jerome. Desmond has just opened up his own law practice, and his first client is one Patrick Griggs, who wishes to sue the state of Michigan because they've barred him from selling videos that depict his former actress-turned-cannibal, Mina Neely. Desmond is given a video of Mina to help create a psychological profile, but he hardly knows what this video really is…

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

While the undead menace threatens to destroy the city of Detroit, an elite cadre of mercenaries is dropped in to find a deranged killer who might be the key to stopping the zombie outbreak.  

Is your book self-published or represented by an agency?

I am working with Severed Press.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

Three months. The first draft was complete at the end of August, 2012.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The only books that come close are Epidemic of the Dead by P.A. Douglas, and Dead of Night by Jonathan Maberry. Any other zombie books that have military action might be close, too, although I haven't read too many of them. 

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

The inspiration for this book came from dreams and music.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

Mercenaries, sex, violence… there are a lot of bullets, and there are a lot of zombies. Most of my characters are "damned" people who must find some way to understand themselves better in order to survive the cataclysm. This story involves an ensemble cast, as the book uses character perspectives for chapters while the stories finally collide in the emotional climax. Vega, the protagonist, is a Shakespearean character, whose flaws lead her into an abyss of war and terror. 

Full Synopsis:

Detroit has become a war zone. Slow, shambling corpses feast upon the living while fire consumes the city. 

Amparo Vega, a haunted mercenary, fights through streets that are choked with the dead. Her mission: extract the legendary soldier, Jim Traverse, who holds the terrifying secret behind the zombie epidemic.

While the bullets fly, Traverse befriends a group of survivors whose fates are forever linked to his: an infamous gangster, a young lawyer, and a former detective struggle against the zombies together.

Can Vega's elite cadre of mercenaries find Traverse before the epidemic becomes global? 

Shane and Griggs: Foils in Zombie Fiction

While writing the second book in the Zombie Ascension series (Queen of the Dead), I keep thinking one of my characters is a lot like another character in a wildly popular television show. It's not intentional and some of the comparisons are weak, but I think both characters underscore important ideas.

Patrick Griggs, a former police detective who was fired from his job because he came apart at the seams; he couldn't keep his family life together, due in part to his addiction to pornography. He shares a lot of traits that Shane exhibits in The Walking Dead. Yes—Shane. You remember Shane, don't you? How are they similar? Why does it matter? 

Let's answer the first question. Griggs has been exposed to violence. He worked in Detroit's homicide department, his career choice heavily influenced by his father's police career. From his first crime scene, Griggs accepted violence and murder as nothing more than common occurrences; blood and death weren't a big deal. He married and had kids because it was something men were expected to do, in his opinion. Secretly, he enjoyed coming to work, but gradually became unhappy because he didn't feel fulfilled. The depravity and dehumanization of porn influenced him to jump into the porn business after his wife left him and his detective career had been lost. 

Shane may've also seen his share of violence; he's also used to making difficult choices. He'll do anything to survive once the zombie apocalypse begins, and he firmly believes that he's always doing the right thing for the good of the group. He's a pragmatist, and holds no illusions about what's at stake. He'll go to any lengths to get what he wants, including murder. Like Griggs, Shane's primary goal is to reunite with the woman he loves more than anything. Both men have felt misunderstood, but Griggs has Mina, and Shane has Lori. Or so they think.

Griggs and Shane are both selfish people, but as we learn more about their ideals, we see how far gone these men have become; they've rationalized their violent actions as part of a belief system that keeps them alive. This blind faith in a methodology does not make them right; they're counters to moral "correctness" in a world where morality may have expired with the milk everyone left in the refrigerators. They’re both tortured men--we want to sympathize with them, but we often decide not to because they're "bad" men. 

Both of these characters are important because they provide balance to their stories; they're fates are embedded and conflicted with the protagonists'. They don't represent evil, but rather provide the questions. They often serve as a quasi-Greek chorus, questioning whether or not morality still reigns in a world gone mad, or helping us discover it all over again. Just as Griggs is the counterpoint to Vega's crusade to find innocence in the wreckage of her life, Shane—and the Governor—provide the counterargument to Rick's morals. 

These characters aren't always antagonists. They're foils—and they've been a part of the Western storytelling tradition for centuries. They're important to a story for obvious reasons. By the time Queen of the Dead is unleashed upon the world in mid-July, I'll finally know whether or not Griggs will be around in the final book.

Dream Walking

Well...

This is the first blog post here. If you're reading this... I thank you kindly.

This is that blog post that is announcing the presence of the blog. The blog has been born. I intend to review horror films and novels. In addition, I hope to share author interviews to promote the latest talent of the growing horror industry. I hope to include my own ruminations on the nature of horror itself, and in addition, I will share the musings of my subconscious.

I live in Michigan, and I happen to love our unpredictable weather patterns. I live with my wife, Lindsay, and Cecelia, our daughter who is nineteen months old. We're expecting our second daughter, Lydia, at the end of January.

By now, I'm sure you know I've written two zombie novels. The most recent release is Nightmare of the Dead from Severed Press. The novel takes place during the Civil War and involves an amnesiac outlaw who must eventually confront....zombies, of course. Check it out here: http://www.amazon.com/Nightmare-Dead-Rise-Zombies-ebook/dp/B008WA9O0W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1349652896&sr=8-2&keywords=nightmare+of+the+dead

As much as I love to talk about myself, I will end this by promising you that I will do whatever I can to post topics that are interesting and relevant. Otherwise, what's the point?

If you're an author interested in an interview, or maybe even a review, contact me via email. I will advertise your appearance here on Facebook, and I will drop several Twitterbombs.

vincenzobilof@yahoo.com

And now, the chamber of horrors opens its doors....