Halloween Hijinks

Why do demons and ghouls hang out together?

 Because demons are a ghouls best friend!

Sorry for the bad joke, but it's that time of year again when the Archive gears up for the Halloween celebrations, and this year we've got much to celebrate because the end of this month will see the publication of my first ever horror novel, The Dead Walked written under the name Vincent Stark.

And in the lead up the publication the Archive goes into ghosts and ghoulies mode, with the rest of the month devoted to Halloween centric posts.

                                                             
The Dead shall walk

Book one of a new apocalyptic thriller by Vincent Stark.

More details soon.

Judge Dredd - can we expect another Mega City Flop?

Recent reports are that Alex Garland has taken over the post-production editing of "Dredd" from director Pete Travis after so-called creative differences arose between the production staff and the producers.It seems that arguments arose over the footage the director was delivering to the studio.

The movie is set for release next September; however, the changes taking place did not rule out the re-shooting of some scenes, sources told the Times newspaper.

Fans of the character, and I include myself among them, have high hopes for this movie, though indications are that it may have to go through extensive reshoots before it's ready for release. The latest reports are that director, Peter Travis is now off the picture and that writer, Alex Garland is taking a larger part in the editing room.

Shades of the dreadful (pun intended) Sylvester Stallone Dredd movie here, and it will be a crushing blow if this movie turns out to also be dire. The producers of the first Dredd movie seemed to treat the character too much like a superhero, and if reports are true then that is also what has happened here. For a Dredd movie to work and remain true to the original character it needs to take on the feel of the original Robocop movie, which would have made a great Dredd film.

As Dredd would say - Drok!!!

Now listen up...

Once upon a time audiobooks were not taken seriously and thrown together by publishers as a kind of afterthought, but these day sales are booming and publishers are finding big names attracted to recording their favorite books for public consumption. Predicted sales growth of audiobooks is on an upward path due to the technical improvements which has led to digital downloading and the fact that professional speakers are being used to voice audiobooks. With sales of physical books on the decrease as eBooks take over it is nice to see the audio format more than holding its own.

Recent statistics reveal that:

 The audiobook market neared the $1 billion mark in 2011, increasing
6 percent over 2010.

> Almost 25 percent of the U.S. adult population listens to audiobooks.

> Audiobook listeners tend to have higher incomes, more education and read more books than non-audiobook listeners.

> Almost 35 percent of audiobook listeners have an iPod or MP3 player.

And the story is the same in the UK with the Independent newspaper this Sunday carrying an article that looked at some of the celebrities who have recorded audiobooks -  Colin Firth, Kate Winslet, Samuel L Jackson and Nicole Kidman are just some of the famous names who have recorded audiobooks.


I must admit until recently I've never really had any time for audiobooks. I used to find it difficult to truly get into the story, but these days I regularly listen to audiobooks and have bought more audiobooks in the last two years, then ever before. The quality of the titles available has definitely improved over recent years and when the right voice is matched with the right book, the result is a great listening experience. So if you're one of those readers who had a bad experience with an audiobook in the past, then maybe it's time to think again....

Tainted Stats

Weekly Stats Report: 3 Oct - 9 Oct 2011
Project: THE TAINTED ARCHIVE
URL: http://tainted-archive.blogspot.com/

	Mon	Tues	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total	Avg
Pageloads	463	535	514	488	506	452	534	3,492	499
Unique Visits	355	390	381	388	361	344	393	2,612	373
First Time Visits	340	377	355	364	340	331	369	2,476	354
Returning Visits	15	13	26	24	21	13	24	136	19

Free O'Keefe for Kindle

Chap O'Keefe is one of those writers who for decades has been keeping the western flame burning - together with other authors from Robert Hale's Black Horse Western imprint, the author has been delivering thrilling western adventures, ignoring the fact that mainstream bookstores seemed to have forsaken the genre and taking heart in the large readership gained from the public libraries. Indeed until recent years Libraries provided the main market for the western, but now with the digital revolution westerns are as easy to find as any other genre - and that, dear reader, is how it should be.

Much of Chap O'Keefe's impressive back list is now available for the Kindle, thanks to the author's own publishing imprint which truly deserves to be a success. These days writers have to do all they can to maximise the potential of their work and ensuring the books are available digitally for the new breed of western reader is something to be applauded. The books have to be out there if we are to entice new readers to the joys of the genre.

"Yep, pardners . . . Chap spins a mighty fine yarn that
should send yuh moseyin' on down tuh yuh local
bookshop pronto. This excitin', fast-paced, quickdrawin'
book is jest thuh thing for puttin' in the
cowhands' Christmas stockings."
– NZ Rural Press

"... what kept me going was O'Keefe's sensitive approach
to the scenes and his interweaving of the oppressive lives
that women had to lead in the 19th century into the book... Dillard's determination to help Liberty as his number one priority endeared
him to me forever. It's an action-driven novel and a page-turner
that will keep you going until the very end. And the end is worth
all the discomfort you feel when reading about Liberty's helplessness:
the ending is chaotic, surprising and actually pretty funny. Or maybe
that's just my take on it because I love it when women who have been victimized come back and get theirs. Revenge can be so sweet."
– Laurie Powers, grand-daughter of
pulp legend Paul S.Powers, talking about Liberty and a Law Badge.

 "You could as well have been watching a movie as
reading a book. . . O'Keefe writes westerns with the
coolness of a hired gun."
– New Zealand Herald

". . .the quintessential action-packed western."
– Saddlebums Western Review

And here's how the promo works - Buy any O'Keefe Kindle ebook, except The Sheriff and the Widow, which is already subject to a special-price promotion, and you get to choose any other O'Keefe ebook FREE, supplied to you as a PDF file you can read on your ereader!

Send us a copy of the Amazon sales number,  and name the second book you want, which can be any of the five, including The Sheriff and the Widow, if that's your preference.

Simply email the Tainted Archive at garydobbs@hotmail.co.uk with the words O'Keefe Kindle in the subject line. Include your choice of free book and the number on your Amazon sales reciept and I will pass your details onto Chap O'Keefe who will promptly send out your free eBook.

Check out Pulp Serenade
Check out Western Fiction Review 

Check out Chap O'Keefe's Amazon page HERE and find a review of Chap's latest eBook at Western Fiction Review

Archive Sunday Comics - And now the screaming starts

To get us all in the mood for the publication of The Dead Walked later this month, we have a special horror themed Sunday Comics. As always double click on any of the images for a larger version..

By the late 1970s, Charlton Publication Inc.'s press, housed in its own building in Derby, Connecticut, was showing its age. Reproduction in the Charlton colour comics no longer quite matched that of rival products from New York big boys like DC and Marvel, but you could always rely on the company's writers and artists for plenty of unfettered vigour.

Well, perhaps not entirely unfettered. There was always the small matter of complying with the code of the Comics Magazine Association of America, Inc.

For the guidance of its staff and freelance contributors, Charlton reproduced the code in a small booklet it put out in 1973. See illustrations to the left.


As you can see, it explained why Charlton horror comics were never called that. They were "ghost" or "mystery" titles.

The Charlton booklet also explained the art styles and writing it wanted for its various groups of comics, which included Romance, War, Western, Super Hero, and Science Fiction. Here are its requirements for what (unseen by the eyes of the kiddies and the Comics Code Authority) it made no bones about calling "horror":



So much for what was and was not allowed! We hope you enjoy this six-page tale that appeared in the December 1977 issue of Haunted and are suitably chilled. Study the last picture closely to see what became of a clean-limbed hero and a sweet young heroine regardless of the code that shielded their fates!

Zombie lit

While you wait for The Dead Walked by Vincent Stark, you may want to try out this little shocker - The battle begins when the dead walk in Among the Living by Timothy W. Long. See the synopsis below.

The dead walk. Now the real battle for Seattle has begun. When a gas leak causes the National Guard to forcibly evacuate the neighbourhood, Lester isn't going anywhere. The former dope pusher has a new clientele… the kind that require him to deal lead instead of drugs.

Mike, a newspaper reporter, suspects a conspiracy lies behind the chaos. He’s driven to find the truth, even if it means dragging his beautiful co-worker into danger.

Kate has a dark secret: she’s a budding young serial killer. As society collapses, her skill in dealing death may be the one thing that can keep her alive.

These survivors, along with others, are drawn together in their quest to find not only the truth behind the spreading apocalypse, but also to escape the madness they face at every turn.