Grave Matters--The Good. The Bad. The down right Zombified. 2013 revisted & beyond

One distressing crew!

Hello Kittens, It's been some time since I've had a free moment to sit these old bones down and stretch my rotten fingers out to recap last years Invasion, talk about some updates and bring you some general zombified and horrifying news. It's officially three months until what should be Village Invasion V--just seems like yesterday when the Village Invasion was just a zombie baby of an idea. Who knew that it would become a giant event that for one night in October would take over the quaint and quiet Village of Saugerties, NY. ( or as I like to call it--sauGHOULties)  I've been interviewed by all sorts of folks, horror and non-horror alike, been in a TV pilot, been asked to be a TV host ( even though that still hasn't gone anywhere--still, it's pretty zomberiffic and quite an honor to have even been thought of in that way!) I've even been an extra in Blondie's newest video, Mother and got to use my most zombitastic make-up skills for the band and their extras. There's so much other amazing crap that's happened that it's totally mind blowing and I'm glad I can share it all with you here in the Crypt. So without further adieu I bring you my latest installment in Grave Matters--The Good. The Bad. The down right Zombified; 2013 revisited and what the future holds for the Village Invasion.

So many of the undead!

My dreadful self and a tiny minion.

1. Village Invasion IV this past October 19th was an absolute scream. There were SO MANY OF YOU with a giant tally of over 4,000 zombies dragging their oozing corpses up and down the streets of sauGHOULties, NY. Whoa--you all seriously outdid yourselves! The Carnival of the Dead theme was a total blast and it was a horrific sight seeing so many of you embracing your dark inner zombie-carnie-clown-freak-selves. It was especially heartwarming, ( Yes--it did warm this cold zombroad's heart) to see so many kids just having the time of their little zombie hearts! In fact, so much so it's becoming even more popular with the families than I could ever have wished! With all the technical issues and the rain (which dampened only a few spirits) all in all--a success! Sadly however, with anything that grows in size, it also grows in liability and organizing as managing and dealing with funding for something this large can get out of hand rather quickly. I've had the pleasure of working with several folks in the town who have taken the event to the next level for sure, and for that I thank them--it's been amazing! Unfortunately no one wants the responsibility and liability of dealing with something of this magnitude. It looks like the prior idea of just having a group of zombie lovin' humans shambling through to help support local businesses has outgrown its shuffling grounds. I'm still working on secondary plans and ideas and maybe soon we'll have some less than sub-par news. Stay tuned, Kittens!

The streets overflowing with shamblers!

Some of our Brain-tastic Volunteers!

2. Did you get your uber collectible and one of a kind t-shirt from the Village Invasion III and IV? No? Well you're in luck! If you'd like one from 2013 AND 2012--We have 'em. They're $10 and all the proceeds go to our Small World Playground Fund which is to help rebuild our playground that the Boys and Girls Club uses in the Village of Saugerties, NY. For more info or to order these stellar limited event shirts please email: captaincruella@gmail.com and I'll be sure to get you one of these epically stellar T's!

3. Did you know that Goblin came to New Haven, CT this December? Yes, they did and myself along with Brian Solomon from the Vault of Horror got to catch these guys perform some of their gloriously eerie music. Many of you horror fanatics have seen Italian terror maestro Dario Argento's Suspiria, which weaves a menacing tale of witchcraft as a fairy tale gone horribly awry, and if you haven't--stop what you're doing and go rent this right now! So for those of you who have seen it also know that the soundtrack laid down by Italian musicians, Goblin combined with Argento's brilliant use of lighting and cinematography, is well accompanied by their creeptacular sound. Somehow chimes paired with whispered lullabies means ridiculously creepy!

4. Killer TV: There's been so many great series running, especially on FX recently that it's been so hard to pull my favorites from my rotten memory. Here's a few that I've recently gotten myself hooked on and hope you're watching too:

Do you smell bacon?

The Walking Dead. Not much to say here except, "they messed with the wrong people." Thrilled beyond belief for next season. Lets hope they don't kill off anyone we've invested in too soon this season, shall we?

The Strain. Anyone watching this? Thoughts? So far--I'm pretty hooked. After a string of sickeningly sweet and romantic love vampire stories I'm all in for a gruesome tale that's based on what I'd like to think a vampire truly is, a disease.

American Horror Story, Coven. Great season with witches however I am getting tired of the same actors just changing up roles. I know I'm gonna get a bullet to the head here for saying it but, Jessica Lange--must you play the same character in EVERY season? Geesh. The last episode will always stick with me when actress, Lily Rabe, (who plays character Misty) gets stuck in "hell" with her having to be in biology class and repeatedly being forced to dissect a frog. I can completely relate, only for me it's being stuck in I-95 rush hour traffic, over and over and over and over. If you haven't caught any of these--you should, Captain's orders!

Rosendale Zombie Fest zombies doin' the two step shuffle.

5. Appears the Rosendale Zombie Festival will be happening once again in Rosendale, NY this September 27th. You can swing by the good Captain's zombification station again this season. Get there early! I'll be arriving a few hours prior to the zombie parade's initial launch in order to bloody up those who lack their inner zombie. After you do the zombie-shuffle, head back to the park for a costume contest to see if your zombification makes the cut all while doing the death-dance to local bands and DJs.Typically there's a killer screening of  horror flicks which rounds out your night of all things horrifying at the Rosendale Theatre later in the evening. Make sure to bring some canned goods as like with the Village Invasion--this event helps to restock the local food pantry! See you there, Kittens!




Looking forward to writing more in the future and for those who expressed interest in helping to keep the Village Invasion alive, please contact me, Captain Cruella at:
captaincruella@gmail.com

Here's to another horrifying zombified season! Viva la Zombie!

Grave Matters: Artist Spotlight! Creepy Unkle Pigors of Toxictoons

• Welcome to the latest installment of Grave Matters: Artist Spotlight. Today we're talking to Toxictoons mastermind of the macabre, Eric "Unkle" Pigors. If you've never seen Eric's work before, well shame on you! If you have, congrats--you belong in the cool kids club. Seriously though, Eric's work has been just about everywhere from conventions to monster masks and apparel (even Disney films--we'll get into that) and this time we're delving a little further into this evil genius' mind to pry out some info about how he works and what makes him tick!

  
  Cruella's Crypt: I noticed a sort of Rank Fink hot-rod influence in your work. What's your true source of inspiration?
  
  Eric Pigors: A little bit of everything I grew up on back in the 1970s, like Rat Fink, Mad, Plop comics, Wacky Pacs, The Munsters, Charles Addams, Dr. Suess, Groovy Ghoulies, Disney and other animated cartoons that were made the old way--drawn by hand.
  
  CC: Where do you see Toxictoons going? And what's on the menu for the future for you?
  
  EP: I would love to see more of my Toxictoons art out there in the Halloween industry. I have nine masks now through TRICK OR TREAT STUDIOS based on my Toxictoons characters but I would love to see more stuff out in the market. I do my own Halloween merchandise that I sell in September and October on my website www.toxictoons.com, with merch such as my annual Trick or Treat bag specials that sells out every year--shirts, prints, and other goodies. I also would love to see an animated Toxictoons Halloween special. For now I enjoy just doing what I do every month: making new creepy shirts, art books, stickers, prints and other spooky merchandise.
  
  CC: What's your favorite horror movie of this decade so far?
  
  EP: Wow--after 2010, hmm.... I enjoyed Trick or Treat but that might have been before this date [Editor's Note: Yep, released in 2009]. Honestly that's the last one I really enjoyed that I  can think of.
  
  

  

  
  

  
  
  CC: Having worked for Disney how hard was it for you while working for them to keep from drawing cobwebs and adding monsters into the mix? And what was the experience like working there?
  
  EP: While I was at Disney I wasn't quite drawing what you all recognize me for now. I did have some spooky monster art but I was drawing more Ren & Stimpy and MAD style stuff, which can be seen in my first Toxictoons book. Working for Disney was a lot of fun and we got paid very well. When I got laid off with all my fellow 2-D artists in 2002, after the industry decided film goers only wanted to see CG animated films, I took my savings and started really pushing Toxictoons. 
  While working at Disney, I usually worked on the villains or their sidekicks on films like Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and lots more. The best part was the great health insurance, and we got a silver pass so we could go to Disneyland free anytime! As a kid I loved Disney and Disneyland and I remember when I was young, a friend's Dad worked for them and we got to check out the original Herbie the Love Bug at the Disney Studios. We had pizza, then headed to George Barris's shop and saw the Batmobile, the Munsters coach and other cool hot rods from films. While at the Disney Studios it felt amazing to be walking around knowing that's where they made all those great films that I had grown up watching! Fast forward 13 years and there I was, working for them, which was pretty surreal.
  
  
  

  

  CC: Is there a character that you've created that you identify with the most and why?
  
  EP: Well--I love drawing Frankenstein's monster and sexy vamps a lot. I'm thinking that maybe they remind me of myself and my "bootiful"wife, Denise. 
  
  CC:  Tell us the most memorable horror movie you watched growing up and why we should all see it.
  
  EP: I remember being freaked out by Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things as a teenager. It had cool old-school zombies and it's directed by Bob Clarke who directed my all-time favorite film, A Christmas Story. I met Bob Clarke at a Fangoria show I attended around  2006 /2007. I brought both DVDs for him to sign and told him I thought A Christmas Story was such a perfect movie. I told him I was an artist and showed him my work and talked about the possible remake of CSPWDT and that if he needed a new poster of the characters around the coffin that I would be more than willing to do it. He told me his son was also an artist also and introduced me to him. A few months later some drunk driver asshole killed them both. I keep these DVDs in a special place and get them out now and then to look at his signature.
  
  
  

  

  
  CC: Not many know that you had your very own encounter with death back in 2011 and laughed in the face of the Grim Reaper himself after surviving a heart attack. I'm personally glad to see you're back in operation. How have things been for you since then?
  
   EP: Yeah--I had my own brush with death Memorial Day weekend 2011. I wasn't feeling well and it turned out I was having a heart attack! The doctor who was putting my stents said that I  died for a short time while on the table after he was done with surgery, but I don't recall dying.  I did tell him I felt weird and sickly all of the sudden, then vaguely remember them running around in a panic to pump me with some fluids.  (Apparently you have to be awake during the whole procedure.) But the weirdest part was when the ENTs who came to drive me in an ambulance to another hospital 15 miles away looked at my paperwork and said, "Hey, I see your name is Eric Pigors--you wouldn't be Unkle Pigors, would you?" I acknowledged it was indeed me and he says, "We have a celebrity on board!" He starts telling me he has bought my shirts and prints and described my art to the driver. It was really comforting since I was scared shitless about what might happen once I got there. So the procedure was done and I now have two stents implanted. I live with a bit of anxiety each day but realize it's normal and am getting better at not being so scared about it.
  
  CC: Please help settle an ongoing conflict in the horror community: Count Chocula or Frankenberry? And, go---
  
  EP: Man I love those characters! I'm surprised no one ever did an animated special or series with them. They bring back such fond memories of being a kid, which a lot of my fans say my art does for them. I prefer Frankenberry the character but Count Chocula's cereal. But since the doctor said I have to change my diet, now I just buy the box and stare at the art every Halloween. Maybe I should pour some in the trick or treaters bags at my Spookhouse next Halloween? HAHAHAHA! 
  
  CC: How can fans help with the cause to keep Toxictoons' gory goodness going?
  
  EP: If your readers want to see more of my art or even BUY some of my merchandise, they can just head over to Toxictoons. And don't be frightened. I won't bite--much.  Bwohahahahaha!
  
  
  
  Clearly Unkle Pigors just cannot be stopped! And we hope he never is. Many thanks go out to Unkle Pigors for the zomBeriffic swag we'll be dishing out to those lucky enough to catch the eye of the Captain and her crew for their most ghoulriffic get-up. You can also check out his creeptastic Monsterpieces App over HERE.  Just be sure to tell him the Captain sent ya.
  
  So keep your peepers glued to this blog for more spotlights on our special guests, performers, vendors, artists and venues, as we march onward to the next Village Invasion on October 19 in sauGHOULties, New York ! Viva la Zombie, Kittens!
  
  

  

  
  
  
• 
  

  
  

  
  

Grave Matters - Village Invasion IV Updates & Other Rantings from the Captain

Greetings to all you zomBeriffic kittens!

• Seems just like yesterday that I was preparing the Z horde for the third installment of zombie hijinks in the Village of Saugerties in glorious old Upstate New York, and now here we are. So much has happened in just four years! The deathly crew is planning on some gorrificly good times, and we hope that you--yes you, kitten--will do your part in helping spreading the infecti... I mean word, about this year's Village Invasion IV! Along with all the planning and zomBification process the Village of SauGHOULties will be undertaking, I'd also like to discuss some extra brainy goodness and some not-so-goodness too. So pull your zombie selves together and enjoy the ride.

• So I'm sure, unless you're still freshly buried and have literally been living under a rock, you have seen the trailers for World War Z. Now if you know who I am and know my stance in the "Fast zombie vs. Slow zombie" never-ending debate, you'd know I'm a devout "fast zombie" champion. HOWEVER, in no way ever was I a fan of zombies can outrun a vehicle and literally form an undead bridge of zombies to climb walls and chase down helicopters and airplanes. While I really enjoyed the book, forgive me for saying this, but I'm not going to see this in a theater. However, I do expect a full report, kittens. I'm counting on it to be just as bad as I think it is.

• One movie I did drag my carcass to was the remake of Evil Dead, which in my humble zombie Captain opinion was probably one of the goriest movies I've ever seen--and I've seen a lot of 'em. Now I know some thought it was lacking as the storyline didn't have an Ash character, and some thought the plot wasn't solid enough. I say hogwash--go see it if you adore scene after scene of gratuitous gore paired with great scares and an interesting twist to a seriously epic classic.

• Bedlam at the Bijou at the historic Bijou Theatre in the up-and-coming artist mecca of downtown Bridgeport has been bringing screams, thrills and even some interesting talks about all things horror, thanks to Brian Solomon of the blog The Vault of Horror and his creeptastic double features. It's typically held on the third Thursday of every month starting at 7pm for a mere $10. And did I mention that there's a full bar AND you can order pizza directly from famed Two Boots Pizza right next door and have it delivered right to your table? I'm still working on the fried brains topping--give it time. So if you haven't come out, you must. That's an order! The next event happens on June 20!

• So some of you might have read my status over the past few months and seen that I was contacted by a television network to be a possible host for a new television series based on ghost hunting and criminal investigating. Well--it's true! I was and while I wait for the news on whether or not I've got the job, it's still pretty zomBtastic to have even been thought of for the gig.  I'll keep my rotten fingers crossed and keep all you kittens in the know. Zombie Captain of the undead today, Zombie Captain of the undead and television host tomorrow. 

• Village Invasion IV- YES...it's happening. Save the date-OCTOBER 19TH! Last year was such a gigantic success that we've rolled up our sleeves and are planning an even better event than last year! Be prepared for more music, more vendors, more activities, prizes, collectible event T-shirts, as well as amazing offers concocted by the restaurants and merchants in the Village of sauGHOULties, New York! I'll be rolling out new information as time goes on, so keep your peepers peeled for more gorrific details and head on over to the Village Invasion site, my very own Facebook page, The Village Invasion FB page and also on Twitter! You don't want to miss the most ghoulriffic event on the East Coast this October! 

• Myself and the venerable horror blogger Brian Solomon from the Vault of Horror have recently caught BBC America's zombie mini series In the Flesh. Some have compared it to the zom-rom-com Warm Bodies, but I personally think it has a much more serious tone. I find that it's  interesting to use the lead character's undead status as a metaphor for mental illness. The character ends his own life then finds himself resurrected back into a town that rejected him and his former gay lifestyle, more of an outcast than he ever was before, then is forced to come back to a family that's in denial about his "Partially Deceased Syndrome". I'm excited to see the rest of this series in the next few days ( thank you DVR!), and am interested to hear what the rest of the ghouligang has to say about this as well.

I'll be blogging more often as the time marches forward to the Village Invasion this October 19 with the details of the possible indie film festival, the overall theme for the day, the specials, the vendors and more! If you're interested in being a part of the zombie madness contact me, Captain Cruella at captaincruella@gmail.com. See you there, kittens and until then--stay scary!

Village Invasion Part Deux - Bigger, Better, BLOODIER!

**cue evil music**

Greetings, Kittens! I find myself once again here in the Crypt to talk to you all about a little shindig I'm putting together. You may have heard of it... The Village Invasion-Crawl of the Dead... II?

Yes indeedy! It's happening once again in the quaint Village of Saugerties, New York! It's going to be bold. It's going to be big. And best of all? It's going to be bloodier than before! I have all sorts of devious plans hidden up my sleeves and I'll be working diligently alongside my partner in crime and Terror Team-mate, Count Brian Solomon of The Vault of Horror, concocting all sorts of ghastly goodness for all you boils and ghouls.

As always, we cannot do this alone! We need YOU, my dear minions, to make this event more zombilicious than before. Bring us your worst, your most gruesome, and above all help us spread the infection. This is your zomBirthday kittens, so let's celebrate all that's macabre with a garbled party cry of "Braaaaainsssssss!"

If you have a business you think would benefit from our endless promotion, or are a local business owner in the Village of Saugerties, and you'd like us to talk incessantly about you leading up to the Village Invasion II-Crawl of the Dead event being held on Saturday, October 22 at 8p.m., please contact us! We're always looking for sponsorship for prizes, and we're currently working up a promotions package to give us zombie overlords a way to keep bringing satisfying and meaty substance to the masses. We promise we won't disappoint you kittens. As you already know--we're practically VIRAL!