From Homicide to Hockey Masks...

Dark Scribe Press is pleased to announce its second print project — Butcher Knives & Body Counts: Essays on the Formula, Frights, and Fun of the Slasher Film.

From meat cleavers and machetes to summer camp carnage and sorority house massacres, from final girls and scream queens to demented deviants and dead teenagers, slasher films turned body counts into box office gold. It’s the oft-maligned — but surprisingly durable — sub-genre of horror films that uses a Freudian rulebook and bases the survival rates of its characters on vice and virtue. From the low-budget aesthetics of the 70’s and 80’s to the self-referential gloss of the 90’s and beyond, Butcher Knives & Body Counts will explore the archetype of the slasher film and trace its evolution from formula to franchise. From the inventive kills and the gory intestine spills right down to the last tagline and toe tag, Butcher Knives & Body Counts will celebrate the enduring formula, frights, and fun of slasher movies.

The project will be less a "guide" — what most would immediately associate with encapsulated reviews — and more a comprehensive collection of critical essays on the slasher film genre. In addition to opportunities for analyses of individual films, DSP is also looking for essays on various aspects of the slasher film genre. We anticipate those essays dealing with individual films to be in the 1,000- to 1,500-word range, with a slightly larger word range and some added flexibility for essays pertaining to the more general aspects of the genre.

As we did with our Unspeakable Horror anthology, Dark Scribe Press has established this dedicated blog for the project where submission guidelines, tips, and announcements will be posted. We have also posted a "wish list" of films we're looking to have covered at left. When we post our submissions guidelines, we will offer some suggested topics that will give potential contributors an idea of what we're open to in relation to the broader essays.

More details regarding submissions are forthcoming. No queries (or submissions) until we've gotten the submissions guidelines posted, please.

March 14, 2009

‘Going to Pieces’ Scribe Adam Rockoff to Pen Foreword…

Dark Scribe Press is proud to announce that celebrated slasher film historian, author, and screenwriter Adam Rockoff will be contributing the Foreword to Butcher Knives & Body Counts.

Rockoff is the acclaimed author of Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film. This popular book was adapted into a critically-acclaimed documentary which premiered on Starz and was released on home video by ThinkFilm.

Rockoff is also a frequent guest on radio and television programs to discuss all things horror, including Bravo’s highly-rated special, The 100 Scariest Movie Moments. He has also written for numerous horror periodicals and had a long-running column in VideoScope magazine.

He recently sold two screenplays. The first, Tales for Sleepless Nights, is an anthology in the vein of Creepshow. The second is a sequel to Fever Dreams’ first original production, Flesh for the Beast.

Rockoff is also writing a 2-hour television movie, Love Will Keep Us Together, for The Hallmark Channel, as well as a short film with Adrienne King, best-known to horror fans as the lone survivor of the original Friday the 13th.

His latest horror film, Wicked Lake, just completed a limited theatrical release. It was universally detested by mainstream critics but received a 'Mr. Skin Anatomy Award' for Best Lesbian Orgy.
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