FINALLY....THE BLOODY AWARDS ARE HERE!!!

Okay, folks - after years of promising, and then revoking, and then promising again, and actually having them, but not truly following through with them, to talking about them again, and talking about what would have happened if they did take place...the Blood Awards are going to happen this year! And this time I mean it! I know, we've all heard this one before, but this time will be different. And if they don't happen this year, I will never mention them again! You have Bloodman's word on it!

I thought tonight would be the perfect night to announce the coming of the Bloodies, since it is the night of all awards shows - the Oscars! Now I know most of the movies nominated for Oscars usually pretty much suck, but it's still a big night in the entertainment world. So it seemed fitting to make our announcement at this time.

For those of you that are not aware of our previous announcements, you may be asking what exactly the Bloodies are? Well, I'll tell you. The Bloody Awards will be the ultimate horror fiction award ceremony (well, I don't about the ceremony, but they'll be a big deal), picking the best horror books of the year. Obviously, there are other horror awards given out each year, most notably the Bram Stoker Awards, but much like the Oscars, a lot of these books stink. Now I mean no disrespect to any writers who have won these awards in the past. In fact, sometimes the books themselves are fine pieces of work. Although they seem to rarely be real horror. And before anyone says "who do you think you are to say what real horror is? What's real horror, anyway?" I will answer that question now. I'm Bloodman, and real horror is blood and guts and a high body count and preferably lots of sex and naked ladies! That's what fucking horror is. And if your book doesn't have that stuff (at least some of it), it won't be winning a Bloody Award.

So for now, I will leave you with that. Think about any books that are deserving of a Bloody Award for Best Horror Book of the Year. And remember, these are the 2012 Bloodies, so any book for consideration must have been published sometime in 2011. Aside from that, there really are no other rules. The book must be of reasonable length (no short stories), but a short novel is fine. In fact, smaller books are often the best in my humble opinion. I have many thoughts as to what books are possible nominees, but I want to get as many opinions as possible, so don't hold back! We will announce the initial list soon before narrowing it down to the final, official books up for the award of Best Horror Book of the Year. So get reading and start thinking - and vote for what you think should win the very first Bloody Award!!!

FEARLESS FIGHTERS - The Greatest Kung Fu Movie Ever!

Okay, well maybe this isn't exactly the greatest kung fu move ever, but it's right up there. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this a real quality picture or anything, but if you're looking for an entertaining hour and a half, this is the movie for you! Growing up on Saturday afternoon karate flicks, this movie sent me back to those days - if I had been watching this when I was little, I would have gone insane for all of the crazy shit going on! And now that I'm an old man, I still thought it was fantastic!

There's so much crazy nonsense going on, it's impossible to be bored. I won't bore you with the plot, because there really isn't much of one anyway, not that it matters. Hell, you're not watching a movie like this looking for an Oscar winning screenwriter anyway, right? But if you like flying men and women (which is never explained how they do this stuff), all kinds of crazy kung fu fight scenes, a horde of crazy ass villains (also seeming to possess a variety of super powers, such as causing explosions with his hands, making two swords appear out of one, etc.), then this is the movie for you!

Now you might be saying to yourself, "but Bloodman, this website is supposed to be about bloody stuff, isn't it?" And to that I say yes, for the most part anyway (although if something's good, it's good, and it doesn't always matter how much actual blood is involved (just pretend I never admitted that)). However, in this case, it doesn't matter - there's plenty of blood and destruction to go around in this movie as well! Face it, friends - this one's got everything!

So anyway, do yourself a favor and check it out as soon as you get a chance! You can rent it from Netflix here, or if you just want to own this fine film, you can get it from Amazon here.

Enjoy!

BREAKING NEWS!: Jeff Strand's Wolf Hunt Available in E-Book Format!

That's right, folks! Jeff Strand's long awaited (at least by me) werewolf novel is finally available at an affordable price! And not just affordable, but cheap - only 99 cents! That's the same price as a song on iTunes! Less than some of them, in fact. And this will bring you many more hours of enjoyment than any one song you might download! So go get it now (maybe I should stop praising it so much until I actually read the darn thing - but I'm sure it'll be great)! If you're interested, you can but it from Amazon here, or you can get it from Smashwords here. I've already bought my copy, and I can't wait to start reading it!

Also, in case you were wondering, the picture above is the cover for the e-book version, but there are two other covers out there that are equally cool - the limited edition from Dark Regions Press and the cover for what would have been the Leisure edition (sob - I still can't get over the sad Leisure tale).

And the winner is...

Okay, everyone! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! The official announcement of the horror book that would have won if we had actually gone through with the 2010 Bloody Awards!

But just to build the anticipation a little bit, let's review our would-have-been nominees:

Urban Gothic by Brian Keene - an under appreciated book from Mr. Keene, with plenty of blood and guts and all around fun! In fact, I think this may have been one of, if not the, most violent books he's written!

Castaways by Brian Keene - Brian Keene had a good year in 2009, at least according to the Bloody Awards Committee. This second nomination of Mr. Keene's was listed as a tribute to the late, great Richard Laymon, and the book does give off that feel. A bunch of people being killed and terrorized on an island! Great fun!

Depraved by Bryan Smith - Another book by someone named Brian? To be honest, this one's lucky to have made the list. In fact, if we had gone ahead with the awards like we were supposed to, it wouldn't have, due to the fact that I hadn't even read the damn thing until just a few weeks ago! But let me tell you, it was quite the ride! If you haven't read anything by Mr. Smith, do yourself a favor and pick up Depraved (if you can still find a copy (damn Leisure books))! This one's got enough blood, guts, and nakedness to make any horror fan's dreams come true!

The 13th by John Everson - A great book, and worth buying just for that cool cover - look at that lady scream! Lots of short, action packed chapters makes this one tough to put down. And plenty of blood to enjoy all the way through!

The Devil Next Door by Tim Curran - A blood filled feast! If you like brutality, savagery, and lots and lots of blood, then this is the one for you! Tim Curran's greatest book so far (at least in my humble opinion), and quite possibly the most violent! Great stuff from Tim!

So there you have it - the would-have-been nominees for the 2010 Bloody Awards! And so, without further ado, the winner for the 2010 Bloody Awards for best book of 2009 would have been...


Depraved by Bryan Smith!


Congratulations, Mr. Smith - just think what you would have won (but like I said, not really, so maybe it all worked out in the end)!

Okay, well if there are any of these books that you haven't read, what are you waiting for?!? They have the Bloodman seal of approval, so no worries! You will enjoy them - I guarantee it!!!

Alright, have fun reading, have a great weekend, and be nice to each other!

One More Nomination...

Being the jackass that I am, I neglected one of the nominees for what would have been the first Bloody Awards! And since I left it out yesterday, we are going to devote the entire post today to that great book! And so, without further ado, our 6th nominee for best horror book of 2009 is...

The 13th by John Everson!

But that's it, I promise! If I realize later that I forgot another one, too bad. If I forgot it for that long, it couldn't have been that good. And by the way, I really didn't intend to nominate six books. I think one of the nominees from yesterday slipped on the list, taking advantage of my forgetful nature and the mistaken absence of The 13th. I'll let you decide which one of these horror classics doesn't belong here!

So there you have it - your six best horror books of 2009! Tomorrow, the decision! Quick, go out and read all of them before tomorrow, and then you can play along!

See you tomorrow!

It's been a while...

I won't waste time telling you that I'm sorry for being a slacker and that I will do better in the future - I'm simply going to do it! And then you can believe it when you see it with your own eyes!

That being said, I am sorry for being such a damn slacker - this year will be the year of blood! Although I do want to tie up some loose ends from last year before we move on to bigger and better things in 2011. I am quite disappointed in myself for ruining the first year of the Bloody Awards! And I don't want to continue last year's awards now, as that would be pretty lame, especially for the first year of the awards. But there were some great books in 2009, and I don't want them to go unnoticed. So I've come to a decision. I am going to let you all know what would have been nominated and what would have won had I not been such a lazy ass. But this is not the offical first year of the Bloody Awards! No, 2011 will be the year for that! And I vow to make it happen this time!

So here goes, just so all of you horror fans can go out and find some more great books, here's a list of the would-be nominees for the didn't happen 2010 Blood Awards!:

- Urban Gothic by Brian Keene

- Depraved by Bryan Smith

- Castaways by Brian Keene

- His Father's Son by Bentley Little

- The Devil Next Door by Tim Curran

So there you have it! Read all of them today, and then check back here tomorrow to see for yourself what the winner would have been! And then we can have a real awards program this year, dammit!!!

Okay, take care of yourselves and don't take any shit from anybody!

Bentley Little's THE POLICY!

I thought that with all of the talk about health care and such these days in the news, we would review a topical book - Bentley Little's The Policy! And if nothing else, it can remind the teabaggers that they have to be angry!

Basic Plot: Hunt Jackson needs to get some insurance, but his insurance policies have been taken over by troublesome forces. Fun stuff happens, people die, and a whole bunch of other crazy shit goes on!

This was one of my favorite Bentley Little novels. Similar to other books of his that I enjoyed, it starts kind of slow (not unenjoyable, just nothing too over the top at the beginning), and it continues to build. I found myself really zipping through the chapters, needing to find out what the insurance company would come up with next!

I have to admit, the ending didn't quite live up to the rest of the book in my opinion, but that didn't take away from the overall enjoyment of this book. If you are a fan of Bentley Little, or even if you are not, check this one out! It has Bloodman's approval!

I give this one 4 out of 5 Bloody Skulls!