I might never live down missing Astron-6’s FATHER’S DAY at Toronto After Dark 2011. By all accounts from sources I trust, it was the highlight of a festival filled with highlights. With so many great movies to see and personal commitments that not even FATHER’S DAY could get me out of, I really had to prioritize and see what I thought would be most relevant to readers of Long Live the New Flesh.

I take a lot of comfort in the fact that I didn’t miss Astron-6’s MANBORG.

Hi everyone and thank you for checking out my monthly FANGORIA'S DREADTIME STORIES blog. For those of you who aren't aware of FANGORIA'S DREADTIME STORIES - here's the scoop: FANGORIA'S DREADTIME STORIES is a new-time radio drama series produced in the flavor of classic radio from the 1930's, 40's and 50's but using today's state-of-the-art digital technology. Each and every month a new 45-minute episode will be available for you to hear anytime you'd like just by going here and streaming it for FREE (the streams contain a few national commercials).

The two films I ended up being most excited for, among the amazing line up at this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival, were both made by Winnipeg collective Astron 6: FATHER’S DAY and MANBORG.  With all due respect to the rest of the pack, festival director Adam Lopez appears to have done a stellar job once again in curating the 6th annual showcase, but those were the two that really spoke to me.

While admittedly impulsive—it’s mere hours since I saw the film—I’m inclined to believe that PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 is the best of the series. It seeped into me in a way the first two failed to. And as much as the ghostly proceedings are to blame (I’m outright terrified of the idea of apparitions and the like), there’s something else that kept me uncomfortable throughout; the fear of real adulthood. [SPOILERS abound]

Almost every writer—myself included—has at one point said, “It’d make a better short.” Seconds after the familiar phrase is uttered however, I often find myself wondering if, in fact, the hypothetical “it” were a short, would I have ever seen it? While short films can often be a wholly striking introduction to new talent, and lovely asides from masters, they don’t typically have the widest audience. So, having been exposed to a number really great works in recent weeks, here’s a roundup of some wonderful horror shorts, and where you may be able to see them if you’re on the lookout.

The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, which I attended during all of last year, began its second year a couple of weeks ago with the first class of a four-week course on Universal monsters, intended to “examine the main themes and stylistic characteristics of the horror films produced by Universal Studios during the 1930s.” I blogged about my classes sparingly during all of last year, but I will keep a steadier, clearer log this time around.

Back in the 1970s, there was a poster for a movie. At first, I didn’t even notice the name of the film; the poster showed four young people standing around what I presumed to be a dead body. The angle was such that it was looking up at their faces rather than straight on them, as they gazed down. Again, not even registering the movie’s title, I did note that one of them was what I back then called “a cute guy,” which made me want to see it.