Dragon*Con opens its doors to thousands of enthusiastic humans every Labor Day weekend, and the offerings for fans of horror and dark entertainment in 2012 are once again abundant! Dragon*Con is the southeast’s largest pop culture convention, with over 55,000 attendees from all walks of life. Featuring smatterings of every conceivable genre of fandom, Dragon*Con delivers a knockout roster of guests, vendors, programming, parties, costuming, music, movies, art , the largest parade in Atlanta and more for four memorable days.

What sets Dragon*Con apart from the numerous conventions and events around the globe is its eclectic roster of talent and unique fan-driven programming. Far and away the most fascinating people-watching on the planet, the show practically runs around the clock with a fantastic blend of sci-fi, fantasy, classic and contemporary literature and horror.

Dragon*Con’s Horror & Dark Fantasy track, under the direction of Derek Tatum, is the convention’s home for monsters, malice, and the macabre! Its programming spans from the nightmarish visions of Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft to the dark side of cinema, television, and music. Features include actor and author panels, musician interviews, horror movie discussions, and other surprises. Always a popular track at the show, Tatum says in 2012 his objective has been to push more pop-culture and media elements into the mix, hoping to shake off the misconception that Horror & Dark Fantasy is primarily a literary track.

“While I always want a literary component, times they are a’changing”, says Tatum. “We’ve incorporated a lot more movie and TV-based fan discussion panels. We’re pushing horror to the forefront as much as possible.”

In 2012, NETHERWORLD Haunted House – one of the country’s most popular haunted attractions – will once again sponsor the Dragon*Con Horror & Dark Fantasy track. Atlanta’s true masters of the macabre invite fans to join in the festivities as the southeast’s biggest and best celebration of the popular arts unleashes a monster-sized dose of fun. Attendees are encouraged to visit the Netherworld booth on the Marquis Level of the Marriott Marquis and pick up Dragon*Con exclusive coupons to Netherworld Haunted House!

Always presenting a stellar lineup of guests and attending professionals, a quick glance at this year’s list of Dragon*Con personalities is certain to generate some genuine excitement among fans of the darker side of entertainment:

‘The Vampire Diaries’ series stars Kat Graham, Steven R. McQueen, Joseph Morgan, Ian Somerhalder, Michael Trevino and Paul Wesley
Agent Dana Scully from ‘The X-Files’, Gillian Anderson
‘The Walking Dead’ series stars Emily Kinney, Madison Lintz, James Allen McCune, Chandler Riggs, and Steven Yeun
Horror rock icon Alice Cooper
‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Angel’ cast members Adam Baldwin, Amber Benson, Juliet Landau, James Marsters, and J. August Richards, as well as ‘Buffy’ novelist Nancy Holder and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8? comic illustrator Georges Jeanty
‘Ghost Hunters’ Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango
‘Paranormal State’ psychic Michelle Belanger
‘True Blood’ regulars Joe Manganiello, Carrie Preston and Sam Trammell
‘Charmed’ star Rose McGowan
Singer, artist, and toy designer Aurelio Voltaire
‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ co-star Lee Arenberg
‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ co-star Patricia Quinn
‘Lips Down on Dixie’ Rocky Horror cast
‘Frankenstein’ illustrator and ‘Swamp Thing’ comic co-creator Bernie Wrightson
‘Anna Strong Vampire Chronicles’ author Jeanne C. Stein
Horror artists Dave Cook and Billy Tackett
‘Nocturnal Urges’ author Elizabeth Donald
‘Godzilla’ comic book illustrator Matt Frank
‘Anita Blake – Vampire Hunter’ scribe Laurell K. Hamilton
‘Pinocchio – Vampire Slayer’ comic creator Van Jensen
‘Blood Coven Vampire’ series author Mari Mancusi
and many more!

Of course, there will be plenty of after-hours activities to keep fans occupied, as well, with themed parties and genre-inspired bands and performers – check the official convention website for additional guests and programming schedules.

Dragon*Con takes place August 31 through September 3, 2012 in Atlanta.
You can learn more about the event and find updates on guest appearances and programming at dragoncon.org

Every Halloween, the shadows come alive at NETHERWORLD Haunted House with legions of Netherspawn, intent upon scaring you out of your wits. From all walks of life come these die-hard fans of the fright scene, seeking the opportunity to adorn themselves in ghoulish garb and immerse themselves in the spirit of the season.

And while most of these characters wear more than one hat – both at and away from Netherworld – 25 year old actress/make-up artist Meghan Hodges wears one additional. Well, a crown, actually. Meghan recently won the title of Mrs. Georgia-America 2012, and will soon compete among 52 contestants for the title of Mrs. America.

Meghan recently took a few moments out of her hectic schedule to answer a few questions about her life at Netherworld and what it’s like to be both a glamour queen AND a gargoyle…

NETHERWORLD: Meghan, how did you get involved with Netherworld Haunted House?

Meghan: A few years ago I emailed Netherworld on a whim to ask if they were hiring makeup artists. At that time it wasn’t standard practice to hire someone to only do makeup and not stay to scare, and I didn’t want to be an actor. Luckily for me, Roy Wooley, our fearless makeup director, took a chance on me. He brought me onto his team and cultivated my precise stage makeup skills into over-the-top, monster creation magic. He’s taught me everything I know and it’s been such a fun learning experience!

NETHERWORLD: What is your role at Netherworld – what is an average evening at the haunt like for you?

Meghan: My role over the three years I’ve been at Netherworld has changed significantly. In my first year I did makeup every night, and I acted in a boo hole on Halloween. In my second year I did makeup every night and expanded my repertoire to stunts and even dabbled in some character acting in the position just outside the front door, explaining the rules. By last year, year three, I graduated to the parking lot as a Gar-girl. Being in the parking lot has proven slightly trickier than being inside the haunt. Since there’s nowhere to hide, it’s important to keep up the energy and stay in character. It’s challenging, but very rewarding.

NETHERWORLD: Can you share with us some of your favorite Netherworld moments?

Meghan: Once I got comfortable with my Gar-girl position last year, I got brave. Rather than relying on teenage girls for my reactions, I started going after bigger prey. The first time I made a full grown man fall on the ground was a memorable moment, but there’s something about his wife’s uncontrollable laughter at his folly that made it truly priceless.

NETHERWORLD: In addition to your involvement with Netherworld Haunted House you have a pretty demanding career – can you tell us a little about what you do?
Meghan: Anyone who knows me well is aware that I spend most of my waking hours working. October is my favorite month because Netherworld is a refreshing break from 60-70 hour work weeks. Yeah, I suppose I technically work more than that in October between both jobs, but Netherworld is great stress relief! I spend all day in front of a computer as a senior project manager at McKesson, a Fortune 15 Healthcare IT company, and then all night scaring poor innocent patrons.
So how then did you become active in the Mrs. America pageant? It seems like a rather stark contrast to ghouling it up and scaring the general public!
The number one reason I entered the Mrs. Georgia pageant was to challenge myself to grow in a new and different direction. It was an effort to diversify my interests and do something no one would have guessed of me.

NETHERWORLD: What was the reaction from your Netherworld family to the announcement of your title?

Meghan: I kept the entire pageant experience a secret for a long time… if I myself was skeptical that pageants were like Toddlers & Tiaras or Miss Congeniality, surely my tough scary monster friends would be skeptical as well. Luckily when I posted my win on my Facebook page, I received a ton of support and compliments! It was kind of weird to replace my Gar-girl Facebook profile picture with one of me wearing a crown!

NETHERWORLD: Will your role at Netherworld be affected by your current title as Mrs. Georgia-America?

Meghan: No way – I’m a proud Netherspawn! I have every intention of returning this year. Maybe one night I’ll surprise my fellow Spawn and show up as a pageant queen. The amount of hairspray might scare some of them…

NETHERWORLD: Please tell us how people can learn more about your causes and upcoming appearances.

Meghan: I’ll be supporting many worthy causes this year. To learn more, you can visit my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MrsGeorgiaAmerica2012.

“In his house at R’lyeh, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.”

History is abundant with tales of ancient gods and spiritual beings who span both centuries and worlds, lying in wait for the day they will resurface and reclaim the planet. Some are forces of good, others agents of pure evil, all striking a necessary balance in the supernatural order of things.

Perhaps the most notorious – and feared – is the ancient entity known as Cthulhu. First brought to public awareness in the 1928 H.P. Lovecraft short story “The Call of Cthulhu”, this malevolent creature was said to be trapped in a South Pacific underwater city called R’lyeh. Lovecraft described Cthulhu as “…an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature…. a pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque scaly body with rudimentary wings”. Some said to look upon him could cause insanity and a lack of reason. Legend told that he was an extraterrestrial that ruled the Earth from R’lyeh for eons, creating great cities and temples, introducing man to art and statuary from other worlds, derived from materials unknown to our planet. Shortly after the appearance of mortal man, R’lyeh sank into the ocean, and Cthulhu was trapped beneath the surface. Imprisoned, it was believed that this dark deity was the cause of great subconscious anxiety among mankind. He was worshipped by several religions throughout the earth, who awaited his return, chanting over and over of his unimaginable power as they waited for the stars to align to harken his resurrection from the deep.

The Cult of Cthulhu envisioned a day when the great creature would reclaim his ancient dominion over Earth, when chaos would prevail and notions of civilization would no longer be relevant. Man would return to his most primal, base instincts, and inhibition would be lost forever. They believed that the creative mind (the author, the artist – the insane) was most receptive to the power of Cthulhu. He could communicate with them telepathically, and it was this mental connection that kept his presence known to generations to come. Soon, the notion of Cthulhu had permeated the human mind and his existence infiltrated many aspects of our day-to-day life.

The mythos of Cthulhu spread its ancient roots, taking hold in film, literature, and practically every medium of popular culture. Artists answered the eerie call of the deep muse, paying tribute through painting and sculpture. Writers picked up where Lovecraft left off, documenting tale after tale of the Elder Thing’s ever-increasing power, and his influence over the legions of worshippers clamoring for his reawakening. The grim visage of otherworldly evil has been portrayed in everything from video games to stuffed toys, and even inspired the naming of Californian spider species ‘Pimoa cthulhu’ by Gustavo Hormiga in 1994. There can be no denying his omnipotence…

Certainly Cthulhu’s influence is felt throughout the subterranean chambers of NETHERWORLD Haunted House. No one can deny the constant wave of anxiety and dread that resonates among the human mortals who dare enter. Truly there is no heavier concentration of creative minds than inside America’s leading haunted attraction, possibly receiving subconscious communication from the deep one. His essence can be felt in the air as you wind your way through the stygian darkness – summoning you deeper and farther into the very heart of madness.

Don’t Miss the next installment of NETHERWORLD presents THE HORROR at Studio Movie Grill Holcomb Bridge on Sunday, August 12th at 8:00pm.
2880 Holcomb Bridge Rd. – Alpharetta, GA 30022

Adrian Lyne’s 1990 “Jacob’s Ladder” is quite simply a psychological horror masterpiece. No vampires, no werewolves, no over the top computer animation…it’s a rare breed of horror movie that is so well done and so thought invoking that you almost forget that it’s a horror movie, even while on the edge of your seat…only the great ones can do that.

Starring Tim Robbins (as the titular Jacob Singer – a role originally intended for Tom Hanks) and Danny Aiello, the film bounces back and forth between Jacob’s present life as a Brooklyn postman, his previous marriage and now-dead son, and the horrors of his tour of duty in Nam. His life begins to unravel as he is plagued by bizarre visions and eerie occurrences, leading him to discover an army conspiracy that may or may not be responsible for his current trauma…a mind-altering, aggression-enhancing chemical (nick-named “The Ladder”) which was tested on his squad with disastrous results.

Robbins is in top form, giving a memorable performance as he leaps about through the various stages of his life, overshadowed by guilt from the death of his young son (portrayed by the then unknown Macaulay Culkin) and fighting desperately to make sense of the madness surrounding his everyday life. Strange faces, unusual creatures, and haunting hallucinations begin to hint at something sinister…this, compounded by a visit from a member of his former army unit who reveals he is experiencing much of the same phenomena, leads Jacob to believe that Hell itself has come to claim him.

Set in the early 1970s, Lyne’s presentation of Bruce Joel Rubin’s screenplay effectively portrays Jacob’s growing paranoia, utilizing powerful camera effects and imagery to draw us into his overwhelming dread. Lyne does an amazing job of developing a truly believable paranormal tone, keeping us guessing in goosebumps as we spiral deeper along with Jacob into his nightmare.

Particularly unsettling is an elaborate scene taking place in a psychiatric ward that leaves Jacob – and the viewer – questioning what is real and what is delusion. In the broad arena of horror films, nothing jangles the nerves more than fear and terror that strikes close to reality, and bearing witness to the descent of this endearing character is both uncomfortable and enthralling.

“Jacob’s Ladder” is one of those rare movies that deftly bridges the gap between personal drama and horror, using human uncertainty and confusion to establish anyone and everyone as a potential threat without relying on genre stereotypes and red herrings to keep us on our toes. The most harrowing parts here are not the potential demons or the graphic gore of battle, but the painful details of Jacob’s life – his losses and anguish, and his growing sense of betrayal, both by those he trusts and his own failing sanity.

This is one movie that will certainly leave you thinking (and sufficiently creeped out) long after you leave the theater.

The kind of disturbing visuals and surreal atmosphere seen in Jacob’s Ladder seem almost tangible as you walk through Netherworld Haunted House…and no wonder, when interviewed by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution some years back, Netherworld Haunted House co-owner Billy Messina cited Jacob’s Ladder as one of his favorite horror movies of all time. Hence the latest installment of NETHERWORLD presents THE HORROR!

Movie Tickets are only $1…yep just a buck and Studio Movie Grill has great food and tasty beverages that can be delivered right to your seat in the theater.

Enjoy!

https://www.studiomoviegrill.com/Buy1.aspx?ID=2649&o=b

NETHERWORLD Monster of the Month: July 2012 Revenant Zombies!

We are all, by now, more than familiar with the term “zombie”. A reanimated corpse, brought back to the world of the living through any one of several methods, be it by ritual, disease, or science gone terribly wrong. Numerous accounts of the undead have depicted a wide range of characteristics in these bloodthirsty fiends – everything from mindless, lumbering brutes who seem hard-pressed to move their own body weight, to lightning-fast, cunning predators driven forward by an insatiable hunger for human flesh. A veritable smorgasbord of attributes have been bestowed upon the many zombies of film and fiction, and depending upon your personal preference they would all seem valid.

Within the deepest, darkest chambers of Netherworld Haunted House, however, you are unlikely to stumble across the former variety. The undead who inhabit this buffer between the mortal realm and that which lies beyond tend to be alert and aggressive, with an agenda of their own. Used as shock troops by the Illuminati in the never-ending battle against the forces of the Netherworld, this particular “breed”, if you will, are commonly referred to as revenants.

Revenants, by all accounts, seem to originate from the Middle Ages, when stories began to surface of corpses rising from the grave to plague those left behind. Commonly believed to be evil in their previous lives, revenants were said to be wicked unbelievers, often responsible for spreading disease among the living. Seeking vengeance for some perceived wrong, or exacting suffering on some person or persons they deemed deserving, revenant zombies would steal into villages or homes in the still of the night – often repeatedly – terrorizing the subject of their spite. Legends have been passed down of men who rose after death, carrying their coffins on their backs as they strode through towns calling out the names of mortals who would die several days later of sickness and disease. Although the specifics of each reported sighting differ slightly from one another, there are common threads that string these tales together. The general consensus was to return these vile creatures to the ground through decapitation, burning, or removal of the heart.

Unlike the typical zombie, which is believed to be controlled by some other person or entity for their own means, revenants are self-motivated, and act upon their own design. Historically, the term “zombie” is attributed to areas of magic and voodoo, as someone summons the dark arts or a mystical spell to enable them to direct the actions of the undead for their own sinister needs. These somewhat-less-than-animated reanimates exist purely to satisfy the desires of their master, and linger about aimlessly as they await their next command. Revenants, on the other hand, are driven by a more personal directive, whether it be hunger for brains, blood and flesh, or revenge against a living enemy. This may explain the difference in physical prowess, as revenants tend to be quicker and far more agile than their mystically-enhanced counterparts, and exhibit much higher brain activity (often a revenant has the capacity to outwit the living, taking advantage of the natural superstitions and fears attached to zombie lore). One may have the ability to outrun or maneuver against a garden variety zombie, but the speed, strength and cunning of a revenant is not to be taken lightly. Zombies of all type are also believed to exhibit superior strength, regardless of their current state of decomposition, so when mixing the combined powers of a revenant a truly intimidating threat is created..

In recent years, the threat of the impending “zombie apocalypse” has weighed heavy on mortal men and women. With widespread abuse of chemicals and radiation running rampant, it comes as no surprise that many would fear a day when the dead will rise, seeking sustenance from the living, breathing bodies currently populating the earth. The folly of man has long been a source of disastrous calamities – ironic that his most heinous might one day be the uncontrollable expansion of a legion of lost souls hell-bent on devouring their own…

In light of such potential dread, humans now find themselves preparing for a future in which they are no longer at the top of the food chain, but are instead the prey of beloved friends and family who have returned from beyond. Modern legend indicates that the most successful move against a revenant is to land an accurate headshot to the brain, either with a firearm of some other effective weapon. Even beheading or dismembering a revenant does not guarantee a lasting kill, provided the brain is left unharmed. Burning one can also destroy it, again provided the brain is dealt with properly. Honing one’s physical skills may prove very beneficial, enabling a person to stay one step ahead of these ravaging fiends as we await the final outcome of this horrible conflict. And for the squeamish, there is always the option of surrender…you can take comfort in the knowledge that you’ll be back soon.