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A Monstrous Reading

Finally for my U.S. fans! A reading from my novel Monster Lawyer…in English!

About the story:

“In the supernatural world there are eternal, immutable laws. And where there are laws, there are lawyers.”

Monster Lawyer

Danny Becker was bullied as a kid and terrified of his own shadow—any shadow, really—until he learned to use his words, grew up, and became a lawyer. Thirty years later, Danny wakes up to find the closet monster who tormented him all through his youth sitting on his bed. Turns out his childhood nemesis needs a lawyer. Even worse, Danny knows the creature is innocent and cannot in good conscience turn it away. What follows is Danny’s journey through the supernatural legal world of monsters and magic and his realization that he never really dealt with his true fears as a kid.

More fun that you can wave a wand at, Monster Lawyer is an atmospheric limited series set in drizzly Seattle with a strong set up, a unique secret universe, and a compelling character arc for an unlikely protagonist tending to the most underrepresented population in our most colorful underworld.

Industry note on rights:
Monster Lawyer is published in Germany as Im Zweifel fur das Monster (Blanvalet). All other territories available. The sequel is due out this fall in Germany and is also available in all other territories.

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Unlikable Characters. A Good Thing?

“A thoroughly entertaining, even funny plot awaits the reader. The author…wants to entertain. And he succeeds in doing this in a well-versed and humorous way.”

Carsten Kuhr, Phantastisch Lesen

Rezension

Daniel Becker ist – Pardon, ein Arschloch. Muss er auch sein. Denn um bei einer der angesehensten Anwaltskanzleien aus Seattle Karriere zu machen, muss man über Leichen gehen. Seine Ehe ging, angesichts einer 7 Tage, 50 Stunden plus Arbeitswoche erwartungsgemäß in die Brüche. Seine Tochter sieht er kaum, stattdessen jede Menge Akten.

Doch Daniel hat ein Geheimnis. Als Kind floh er im Elternhaus voller Furcht vor dem ihn heimsuchenden Monster unter seine Bettdecke. Der erwachsene Daniel lebt auf einem Hausboot. Und bekommt einen neuen, wichtigen Fall, der ihn zum Partner aufsteigen lassen könnte. Just in dieser Nacht, als seine Karriere endlich abhebt, meldet sich ein alter Bekannter, Dämon genannt, bei ihm. Halluziniert er? Ist es der Stress? Wird die Arbeit etwa zu viel?

Sein Besuch sucht einen Rechtsanwalt. Es wird ihm vorgeworfen, ein Mädchen umgebracht und die Existenz der magischen Welt offenbart zu haben. Ersteres wäre kein Problem für ein Mandat, aber für zweiteres droht dem Advokaten ein mehr als schmerzhafter Tod. Daniel bleibt nicht viel anderes übrig, als den Fall zu übernehmen. Und, da er ein guter Rechtsverdreher ist, obsiegt er natürlich im Rechtsstreit.

Fehler, ganz großer Fehler! Sein Erfolg spricht sich herum und merkwürdige Klienten suchen seine Hilfe. Und dann will der Richter, vor dem er einen Schuldigen entlastet hat, auch noch, dass er den wahren Mörder findet.

Buckingham weiß, was seine Fans erwarten

Royce Buckingham gehört hierzulande zu den US-Autoren, die eine treue Fangemeinde haben. Insbesondere sein Roman „Dämliche Dämonen“ und dessen Folgebände und die „Mapper“ („Karte der Welt“) -Serie fanden Anklang.

„Im Zweifel für das Monster“ ist auf der Internetseite des Autors in einer Rubrik „German Novels“ aufgeführt. Es gibt anscheinend kein englischsprachiges Original. In Royce‘ Vita dann der entscheidende Hinweis: die Rechte an diesem Buch für den US-Markt sind noch zu haben. Der Roman wurde also als Welt-Erstveröffentlichung bei Blanvalet in deutscher Übersetzung publiziert.

Inhaltlich wartet ein durchaus unterhaltsamer, sogar lustiger Plot auf den Lesenden. Es geht dem Verfasser nicht unbedingt darum, Missstände anzuprangern oder große Messages zu verbreiten. Er will unterhalten. Und dies gelingt ihm durchaus versiert und humorvoll.

Er zeichnet das Bild eines typischen Karriere-Rechtsanwalts, wie wir es auch aus TV und Kino kennen. Ja, die Handlung ist in sich nicht unbedingt logisch oder überzeugend. Aber, und dies ist für den Lesespaß entscheidend, der Roman liest sich flüssig in einem Rutsch durch. Unser Rechtsverdreher offenbart dabei menschliche Züge. Dazu ist das Handlungstempo überraschend hoch, unerwartete Wendungen reihen sich aneinander, sodass ich den Roman mit Spaß gelesen und nicht aus der Hand gelegt habe.

Fazit

Als Fazit bleibt festzuhalten, dass Royce Buckingham genau weiß, was er kann und was seine Leserinnen und Leser von ihm erwarten. Er versucht beileibe nicht, das Rad neu zu erfinden. Sondern konzentriert sich auf seine abwechslungsreiche Geschichte, unterfüttert sie mit Humor und lenkt uns so ein wenig vom Alltagsgeschehen ab.

Carsten Kuhr

Review

Daniel Becker is – sorry, an asshole. He has to be too. Because to have a career at one of Seattle’s most respected law firms, you have to walk over dead bodies. As expected, his marriage fell apart given a 7 day, 50 hour plus work week. He hardly sees his daughter, instead he sees a lot of files.

But Daniel has a secret. As a child, he fled under the covers of his parents’ house in fear of the monster that was haunting him. Adult Daniel lives on a houseboat. And gets a new, important case that could make him a partner. Just that night, when his career is finally taking off, an old acquaintance called a demon contacts him. Is he hallucinating? Is it the stress? Is the work getting to be too much?

His visitor is looking for a lawyer. He is accused of killing a girl and revealing the existence of the magical world. The former would not be a problem, but for the latter the lawyer faces a more than painful death. Daniel has little choice but to take on the case. And, since he’s a good legal spinster, of course he wins the lawsuit.

Mistakes, big mistakes! Word of his success gets around and strange clients seek his help. And then the judge before whom he exonerated a guilty party also wants to find the real killer.

Buckingham knows what his fans expect

Royce Buckingham is one of the US authors in Germany who have a loyal fan base. In particular, his novel “Dämliche Demons” and its subsequent volumes and the “Mapper” (“Map of the World”) series were well received.

“In doubt for the monster” is listed on the author’s website in a “German Novels” section. There doesn’t seem to be an English-language original. In Royce’s résumé then the crucial note: the rights to this book for the US market are still available. The novel was thus published as a world first publication by Blanvalet in German translation.

In terms of content, a thoroughly entertaining, even funny plot awaits the reader. The author is not necessarily concerned with denouncing grievances or spreading big messages. He wants to entertain. And he succeeds in doing this in a well-versed and humorous way.

He paints the picture of a typical career lawyer, as we know it from TV and cinema. Yes, the plot itself is not necessarily logical or convincing. But, and this is crucial for reading fun, the novel reads through fluently in one go. Our legal twister reveals human traits. In addition, the pace of action is surprisingly high, unexpected twists are lined up one after the other, so that I enjoyed reading the novel and couldn’t put it down.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that Royce Buckingham knows exactly what he can do and what his readers expect from him. He is by no means trying to reinvent the wheel. Instead, it concentrates on its varied history, underpins it with humor and thus distracts us a little from everyday events.

Carsten Kuhr

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Nautilus Fantasy Magazine Review

der Autor hat eine phantasievolle Geschichte erdacht, die unterhaltsame Lesestunden garantiert.

Dana Rotter | Nautilus – Fantasymagazin

“The author has created an imaginative story that guarantees reading entertainment for hours.”

BUCHTIPP

Der Buchtitel IM ZWEIFEL FÜR DAS MONSTER (Blanvalet Verlag) mit dem dazugehörigen Buchcover lassen keinen Zweifel daran, worum es in dem neusten Roman von Royce Buckingham gehen mag: Auf leuchtend orangenem Hintergrund prangt ein schwarzes stilisiertes Monster, das einen Richterhammer schwingt. Wer nun denkt, dass Monster nicht vor Gericht kommen, der irrt gewaltig! Das erlebt der aufstrebende Anwalt Daniel Becker am eigenen Leib, als ihn das Monster aus seiner Kindheit aufsucht, damit er ihn vor dem Mitternachtsgericht verteidigt. Er steht unter Verdacht einen Mord begangen zu haben. Zu Daniels Überraschung gewinnt er. Doch während sein Klient freigesprochen wird, wird er selbst dazu verpflichtet den Mord aufzuklären. Versagen ist dabei keine Option.

Der Verlag kündigt das Buch an mit dem Satz “Lachen, bis der Anwalt kommt.” an. Das ist vielleicht etwas hoch gegriffen, denn auch wenn Buckingham amüsant schreibt, reicht es meist doch nur für ein Schmunzeln. Das tut dem Lesevergnügen aber keinen Abbruch, denn der Autor hat eine phantasievolle Geschichte erdacht, die unterhaltsame Lesestunden garantiert. Es fällt anfangs zwar etwas schwer, mit dem Protagonisten Daniel Becker warm zu werden, verkörpert er doch viele negative Klischees über Anwälte, aber im Laufe der Ereignisse erlebt er – so viel darf verraten sein – eine deutliche Entwicklung. Ihm zur Seite stehen außerdem während der Ermittlungen einige Monster, die durch ihre bizarren bis liebenswerten Charakter zu überzeugen wissen.

Wer aufgrund der Mordermittlungen einen anspruchsvollen Anwaltskrimi erwartet, wird enttäuscht werden. Nichtsdestotrotz überrascht am Ende die Enthüllung des Mörders – aufmerksame Leserinnen und Leser können aber gerne während des Schmökerns miträtseln, denn alle Hinweise, die am Ende zur Aufklärung führen, stehen zur Verfügung.

IM ZWEIFEL FÜR DAS MONSTER ist definitiv unterhaltsam und phantasievoll, aber eher leichte Kost für trübe Herbst- und Wintertage. Am besten man kuschelt sich ganz fest in eine Decke ein und hofft, dass das Monster unter dem Sofa sich nicht blicken lässt … Dana Rotter | Nautilus – Fantasymagazin

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In Case you Missed it…

Had an amazing interview with fellow horror writer Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Hex, Echo) when I traveled to Munich in October.

Talked about my latest book, Im Zweifel fur das Monster (Monster Lawyer) and my approach to writing horror, childhood influences and why humor and horror fit together.

Special thanks to Moderator, Björn Springorum and Penguin Random House, Germany for the amazing opportunity!


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Over 300 Readers (and counting) Love Im Zwiefel für das Monster


Für Freunde skurriler Geschichten à la Christopher Moore genau das richtige… mit einer Prise Magie, “übernatürlichem Scheiß” und Anwaltsleben gepaart.

Die Leser lieben Im Zwiefel für das Monster! Über 300 (Tendenz zählende) Zuhörer und Leser haben diese Geschichte bereits hoch gelobt!

Just the right thing for fans of bizarre stories à la Christopher Moore… paired with a pinch of magic, “supernatural shit” and legal life.

Readers are loving Im Zwiefel für das Monster! Over 300 (and counting) listeners and readers have already shared their high praise for this story!

More reviews here…
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ANDREWELTEN LIVE – Countdown to Halloween

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  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

LitLounge.tv Live Stream Event

20:30 Uhr | Watch the Online Event Live HERE; LitLounge.tv

Im Zweifel für das Monster | Echo

Royce Buckingham, Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Rachsüchtige Berggeister und kriminelle Monster – bei diesen Romanen schalten Sie beim lesen besser das Licht ein!

Moderation: Björn Springorum

Die Fantasy-Verlage der Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe bringen bekannte Autor*innen im Livestream zu euch nach Hause – und ihr könnt live eure Fragen stellen.

Rachsüchtige Berggeister und kriminelle Monster – bei diesen Romanen schalten Sie beim Lesen besser das Licht ein! 

Halloween steht vor der Tür, die Zeit der Hexen, Geister und Ungeheuer. Mit diesen Gestalten kennt sich der niederländische Horrorautor Thomas Olde Heuvelt bestens aus. Für sein Debüt »Hex« wurde er von Stephen King geadelt, in seinem neuen Buch »Echo« entführt er uns in die Schweizer Alpen, wo ein uralter Berggeist zum Leben erwacht.

Der amerikanische Bestsellerautor Royce Buckingham dagegen nähert sich den Ungeheuern in seinem gerade jüngsten Roman »Im Zweifel für das Monster« von der humorvollen Seite. Erlebt die beiden Schriftsteller im Gespräch miteinander und erfahrt alles über die vielen Facetten des literarischen Gruselns. 

Wie immer könnt ihr uns eure Fragen im Chat schicken. 

Super excited to be doing this in Munich, Germany…from my publisher’s offices!

#OtherWorldsLive – The Halloween Countdown

8:30 p.m. | online event on LitLounge.tv

When In Doubt For The Monster | Echo

Royce Buckingham, Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Vengeful mountain spirits and criminal monsters – you’d better turn on the lights while reading these novels!

Moderator: Björn Springorum

The fantasy publishers of the Penguin Random House publishing group bring well-known authors to your home in a live stream – and you can ask your questions live.

Vengeful mountain spirits and criminal monsters – you’d better turn on the lights while reading these novels! 

Halloween is just around the corner, the time of witches, ghosts and monsters. Dutch horror author Thomas Olde Heuvelt is very familiar with these characters. He was ennobled by Stephen King for his debut »Hex«, and in his new book »Echo« he takes us to the Swiss Alps, where an ancient mountain spirit comes to life. 

The American bestselling author Royce Buckingham, on the other hand, approaches the monsters from the humorous side in his most recent novel »In Doubt for the Monster (Monster Lawyer)«. Experience the two writers in conversation with each other and learn everything about the many facets of literary horror. 

As always, you can send us your questions in the chat. 

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Back to Urban Fantasy

After publishing several medieval fantasy books–five to be exact–I decided to return to urban fantasy, the genre of my very first novel, Demonkeeper / Damliche Damonen. And now I’m celebrating the German release* of my new novel, Im Zweifel für das Monster (Monster Lawyer).

So why write an urban fantasy about a lawyer representing monsters? First of all, urban fantasy is awesome! How fun and scary is it to imagine modern-day monsters among us? Answer: very fun and very scary. Also, writing Im Zweifel für das Monster as an urban fantasy was a natural fit for me—an organic choice. Im Zweifel is a marriage of two passions in my life—I’m an adult lawyer, and I have loved monsters since I was a little boy. There is nothing more “urban” than the law—modern civilizations are built upon it—and monsters are inherently fantastical, and so the natural habitat for a lawyer/monster story is indeed urban fantasy.

*Rights available everywhere else! Reach out to me (and my agent) here.

Key Seattle Sites in Im Zweifel für das Monster / Im Zweifel für das Monster Cover

A Q&A with my Publisher

Auszüge aus Fragen und Antworten mit meinem Verlag

After several medieval fantasy novels, why did you decide to write urban fantasy?

When I wrote my first novel, Demonkeeper (Dämliche Dämonen), nearly twenty years ago, I was a criminal prosecutor in juvenile court. I loved monsters and fantasy, and the young criminal defendants I was seeing in the courtroom were very real and had hard, gritty lives. So I created young fictional characters and put them in a real-life setting (Seattle), and then used monsters to represent the turmoil and perils of a hard life. It felt perfect for urban fantasy.

Now things have come full circle in my writing career, and I’ve returned to urban fantasy. Crazy as it sounds, the original young fans of Demonkeeper have all grown up! And because I’m writing adult novels, Monster Lawyer (Im Zweifel für das Monster) can be genuinely horrifying, and it is! It’s also serious and fun at the same time. Like Demonkeeper, there are societal themes to give Monster Lawyer depth, but I still weave in humor whenever I can because…well, I’m me.

Warum hast du dich nach mehreren High-Fantasy-Romanen entschieden, Urban Fantasy zu schreiben?

Vor fast zwanzig Jahren schrieb ich mit Dämliche Dämonen meinen ersten Roman. Es war recht junger Urban-Fantasy-Roman, und jetzt bin ich zu meinen Ursprüngen zurückgekehrt, denn so verrückt es klingt: die ursprünglichen jungen Fans der Dämlichen Dämonensind erwachsen geworden! Diese Geschichte ist für sie. Und weil ich jetzt Romane für Erwachsene schreibe, ist Im Zweifel für das Monster wirklich gruselig! Aber ich webe immer noch Humor ein, wann immer ich kann, weil… nun ja … ich ich bin.

Demonkeeper has a lot of humor. How is this with Monster Lawyer?

The fact that Demonkeeper was both spooky and funny is a product of my personality. I like to see the humor in things, even if those things have a dark side. I think it’s good to laugh when addressing death in particular; it helps us deal with our mortality.

It’s the same with Monster Lawyer. The idea of a lawyer representing monsters strikes me as hilarious, and the situations that arise when Daniel Becker represents monsters in legal cases are delightfully ludicrous. But the idea of representing a monster has a very serious side too. I work with lawyers who represent real-life murderers, and their representation of killers can be seen as an analogy to representing “monsters.” This serious underlying theme lends Monster Lawyer depth and makes Daniel’s character arc extremely interesting, especially because of his painful childhood relationship with the monster he’s asked to defend as a grown-up. No more spoilers, but I can tell you that Monster Lawyer is funny and sad and serious and raises lots of ethical questions. It’s truly an adult take on monstrous urban fantasy, but with plenty of immature humor to make it fun too. I hope!

Additionally, writing Monster Lawyer was a real experiment for me in mixing humor and horror. One thing I learned is that the tone of the tale can be “spooky” and funny—those two moods can coexist—but when real “horror” arrives, the humor flees the page, goes into hiding, and doesn’t come back until it’s safe—usually not until the next chapter.

Dämliche Dämonen hat eine Menge Humor. Wie ist das bei Im Zweifel für das Monster?

Die Vorstellung, dass ein Anwalt Monster vertritt, finde ich urkomisch, und die Situationen, die entstehen, wenn Daniel Becker Monster in Rechtsfällen vertritt, sind herrlich lächerlich. Aber ich habe auch gelernt, dass der Ton der Geschichte gruselig und lustig sein kann – diese beiden Stimmungen können nebeneinander bestehen –, aber wenn echter Horror auftaucht, flieht der Humor, versteckt sich und kommt erst zurück, wenn er sicher ist – normalerweise nicht vor dem nächsten Kapitel.

Most authors choose a Private Investigator or a Cop as their hero in Urban Fantasy, but you chose a lawyer. Why?

Well, yes, I am a lawyer, and it is good for me to write what I know. It gives me an interesting and genuine perspective to share, and I can create scenes for my readers that are not cliché or overused. It’s true that many stories use a cop to generate situations for action on the streets, and an attorney is more of an analyst in an office. As a prosecutor I’ve never chased criminals down dark alleys. But the real-life drama of a courtroom is incredible. I’ve tried burglaries, rapes, homicides, you name it. Serious stuff. I handled a home-invasion stabbing where one of the five defendants received a sentence of life without parole. Trying a case in front of a judge and jury and waiting during those tense moments for the verdict to be announced is a heart-pounding, emotionally exhausting experience. Now imagine you’re trying a case with monsters and, if you lose, the penalty is that you get eaten. You get the picture.

Of course, Monster Lawyer’s lawyer-protagonist, Daniel Becker, also goes into the field to track down evidence, and he has a supernatural investigator to help out, so we get plenty of on-the-scene action throughout this particular story.

By the way, lawyers are a natural fit for fantasy. They are experts on rules, and well-developed fantasy worlds have well-defined rules. So do monsters. Vampires have rules—they drink blood, sunburn easily, and only die when you shove a wooden stake through their hearts. Werewolves have rules—full moon transformations, bites that cause lycanthropy, and getting shot with silver bullets really sucks for them. As I like to say, fantasy worlds and monsters have immutable laws, and where there are laws there are lawyers.

Die meisten Autoren wählen einen Privatdetektiv oder Polizisten als ihren Helden in der Urban Fantasy, aber Sie haben sich für einen Anwalt entschieden. Warum?

Nun ja, ich bin Anwalt, und ich schreibe gerne darüber, was ich kenne. So kann ich eine authentische Perspektive vermitteln und dennoch Klischees vermeiden. Im Gegensatz zu Daniel Becker, dem Helden von Im Zweifel für das Monster, habe ich aber noch nie Verbrecher durch dunkle Gassen gejagt. Reale Anwälte sind ja eher die Analytiker im Büro. Aber Daniels Fall ist von der Art, dass man keine offizielle Unterstützung anfordern kann. Also muss er die Action-Szenen selbst durchstehen.

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Very excited! Here’s why…

Okay, so the Fall 2022 Random/Penguin House catalog for Germany is out. This is the catalog that goes to booksellers…like Barnes and Noble, Village Books, etc.

Monster Lawyer (by me) is the second book listed under fantasy. This is an “I’m #2!!!” victory, which is awesome by itself. But that’s not all.

Many huge titles get a full page in the catalog. I’ve shown the Game of Thrones page below as an example 10 books–one page. The Star Wars books (written by Terry Brooks, R.A. Salvatore, George Lucas and other random authors of some repute)–two pages.

And Monster Lawyer? One book–two full pages (fun pics below). Wow! Love it. Cautiously optimistic about its lauch. Aww, screw it…crazy excited for the Halloween launch. They’re calling it “Unsere gruseligsten fantasy-titel zu Halloween.” Yeah, I didn’t know either, but Google translate says: “Our spookiest Halloween fantasy title.” I’ll take it!

Looking forward to going to Germany to promote it in October. The last two times my publisher supported/marketed my books like this we ended up on the bestseller list, and so I see good things ahead (and dead people, but that’s from Monster Lawyer II, which I’m currently writing–just did a killer whirlpool sucking down a boat at Deception Pass scene…so much fun).

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Cover Reveal MONSTER LAWYER

Release Date – Halloween 2022

We have a cover!
Monster Lawyer will be released in Germany this Halloween as a lead title in Blanvalet’s (Random Penguin House) fall catalog with a significant marketing campaign. This is great news! My two previous novels that had this sort of publisher support both landed on the bestseller list, and so expectations for Monster Lawyer are high. Yay!
Fun fact – the German title “In Doubt, for the Monster” is a play on the German legal phrase “In Doubt, for the Defendant.” It’s essentially the same as the US version of reasonable doubt–if you have a reasonable doubt, you must vote in favor of acquitting the defendant. This follows the great tradition of naming legal thrillers after legal phrases (Presumed Innocent, Final Argument, Double Indemnity, Mistaken Identity). Only this time we have a monster on trial…

High-powered attorney Daniel Becker is about to make partner at one of Seattle’s top law firms, but Danny’s ordered adult life is thrown into chaos when the closet monster who tormented him as a child appears in his room again after thirty-some years, plops down on his bed, and says, “Danny, I’m in a little trouble, and I need a lawyer.”

Happy Cover Day!

Royce

Cover art credit: Anke Koopmann | Designomicon

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In the thick of it…judging horror.

Promo Videos

I’m about 10 shorts into judging for the Bleedingham Horror Film Festival. There are 30 entries for me to review. Several of the entries are student entries, which are really fun. Overall, the films are technically adequate to pretty decent. The acting is generally poor to, again, pretty decent. Story is where most entries fall short. I know it’s hard to develop story with a short, but it can be done.

Additionally, a little originality goes a long way. I see too many filmmakers who just want to make a film and don’t start with a decent story, or even a premise. With that in mind, I’m gonna make some observations. Every year there are recurring set-ups, situations and elements. I’m able to group some of them for you. Here goes:

The masked killer who is going around murdering people (usually women) for no reason.

The bedroom short–I’m in bed minding my own business, and there’s something in the shadowy closet!

The “he killed my cat!” revenge short.

The couple driving into the woods, setting up camp and getting killed (usually by the guy in #1 above) short.

The “Oops, I ran over someone and left. Now I’m going to get revenge killed by a ghost who hates hit-n-runners.”

The found footage flick where they should never have looked at the film.

The brilliantly art/horror film whose intellectual title has nothing to do with the indecipherable story.

Films with “night” in a title that adds nothing to the piece. Midnight, The Long Night, Dead of Night, Beware of Night, Hey, It’ Night!

One-word titles that just sound creepy, but…add nothing to the piece. Hunger, Lurking, Insatiable, Vitals, Death.

The “This is actually a music video, but it’s creepy speed metal so that counts as a horror short, right?” submission.

The overly explained legend that then, shockingly, happens to the person to whom it was explained.

This is a partial list of minor creative crimes and things I see too much. They’re not terrible things or offensive to my sense of filmmaking, but they’re things beginners can work to avoid and make their films better.

Happy filmmaking,

Royce

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Judging the Bleedingham Horror Film Festival

Link to festival:

Home

I will be a judge for the Bleedingham Horror Short Film Festival again this year, and it’s pretty great! I watch dozens of films that range from one minute to fifteen minutes long. The films are submitted by filmmakers from beginners to seasoned indie pros. Procedurally, I judge on a 1-10 scale in multiple categories based upon technical aspects (sound, editing, cinematography), story (my specialty) and the all-important “scary factor.”

It’s a joy to work with Michelle, Gary and Langley, who put on a great event at the beloved Pickford Theater here in Bellingham right around Halloween.

So what sort of stuff have I seen, being a judge? Well, I’ve seen funny animation where people get eaten. I’ve seen one-room ghost tales with a someone in a sheet…that actually worked. I saw a bowling alley horror film that incorporated a local legend. Stop-motion, which is always fun. Lots of serial killers, which gets old and, frankly, is often cliche and derivative…but hey, these filmmakers are learning. My advice is usually “learn to tell a good story and try not to start filming until you have one.” That’s what’s most often missing in the pieces I see. But I know how hard it is to make a movie, and so I give a lot of slack when I’m judging works that aren’t perfect. It’s all meant to be fun and encouraging. And it is.

Sooo, I have 21 films to watch already, and I’m off to do that!

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