Ghouls on Film

It's Your New Boyfriend!

Maedusa and I went to a screening of the new “A Nightmare on Elm Street” last night. We had a little chat over g-chat this afternoon about the resurrection of iconic character Krueger.

I feel that I must make this disclaimer: I suffer from some (whiskey-induced) memory loss so the details of the first “A Nightmare on Elm Street” are as hazy to me as that guy with the fedora who keeps popping up in my dreams at night.

What’s his name?

Oh yes, Don Draper.

But I digress. For those of you who don’t wish to read our long-winded im appraisal of the current state of Krueger’s sweater, I am going to give you the end of the conversation first.  Find out if you should bother spending your hard-earned ducats on this old-is-new-again-franchise. For more details on what we saw and what we hated keep reading, but beware of spoilers.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street”: Dig It or Bury It?

Maedusa: I give it a reluctant dig… But only on the basis that it was better than most remakes.  If it was a stand-alone and a new franchise, I’d probably bury it for some of the ridiculousness.  I would say “dig,” but with a bit of hesitance.  You? Oooh!  I forgot.  That was one other thing that made me reluctant about this one: Apparently, Freddy is now able to kill outside of Elm St. and branching out into TX, etc. I like when you have some limitations on the monster, but they kind of took that out.
Scara: Bury It. There wasn’t enough inventiveness in the new story to out-scare the old story. I will take a clownish, punning original Freddy over Freddy 2.0 every time. The references to classic death scenes should have been smarter and if you are going to modernize teens and make them goths (which I approve of) can’t you make them a little less boring? Also, I totally agree about a traveling Freddy.
Maedusa: Good point. I much prefer Englund’s Freddy.  He was innovative in that he was probably the first Clown prince of Horror.  I like Haley, but he seemed squandered in the role.  With all the effects and CG at their disposal and the budget, they could have done better!

Jackie Earle Haley’s Freddy  – Burnt Bunny Coached by Christian Bale?

Scara: What about the new Freddy? Not so clownish anymore.
Maedusa: He was definitely much more sinister than Englund’s Krueger.  Granted, he was funnier later on, but even in the ‘84 movie, he was still sort of the baddie you rooted for.
Yeah… I liked, but didn’t like the makeup at the same time.
Scara: Yeah it was repulsive at times, which is the point.
Maedusa: Sometimes, it looked REALLY horrific… Others, I think he looked like a burnt bunny or just a tad fake.  Like the placement of his eyes, etc.
Scara: But he still looked like Jackie Earle a bit.
Maedusa: You could definitely tell it was Jackie Earle under there, even with the extensive scarring. The voice was a dead giveaway, too!
Scara: Oh the voice. I was afraid about the voice and I was right – too much Rorschach not enough Freddy.
Maedusa: I kind of imagined him dialing Christian Bale and asking him for advice on how to vocally approach the role.  It was VERY Rorschach.

Remake or Homage? Or Both? Or Neither?

Maedusa: I was at least grateful they didn’t do a scene-for-scene remake.  Gotta give them points for trying to include an original story.  If their aim was trying to make Freddy much more sinister and unlikeable, they got it done.
Scara: But they did tie-in some classic Freddy moments.
Some lines were directly lifted and there were references to other death scenes. The 2nd floor hallway reminded me of the melting stairs, there was the whole bedroom death scene and the jail.
Maedusa: Yep.  i remember a few.  The whole “I’m your boyfriend now” bit.  And the Freddy painting the walls with Blonde Pouty Girl in the PG cuddle scene.
I was disappointed they didn’t do the dragging of the claws on the walls or the long Freddy hands.
Scara: Back to the fx for a minute, they were a little lame, no?
Maedusa: I was NOT impressed with the effects at all.  For all of the wonders that CG can do today, it seems like they utilized NONE of them. Craven did a much better job on a $1.2 million budget in the original back in ‘84.
Scara: The part with the Freddy head coming out of the wall was very disappointing. I know it was an original Elm Street reference … but did it have to look like it was left over from the original?
Maedusa: It looked too cartoonish.  I thought that, too.  I’m sure it was a nod to the original, but it just looked a bit cheesy.

Plot – Just a Thought, Sometimes a Little Mystery Is Scarier…

Scara: Oh! We have to talk about the children.
Maedusa: Ugh… The kids!  All of them were blonde!  It was like Freddy tried to take out the Hitler Youth!!!
Scara: For anyone who didn’t know the story, they probably figured it out in the first five minutes. They literally stuffed it down our throats. And why was every clue so easy to find?
Maedusa: That was what bugged me.  They found EVERYTHING within seconds and with a modicum of mess: Old pictures, slashed baby clothes… And let’s not forget the two vials of adrenaline and needles.  It bothered me that Fabu-Lash didn’t even bother to get the air bubble out of the needle before he injected himself. Even better: The information on the internet.  Extremely common names turned up as the first results on the No Name Search Engine of Awesomeness!
Scara: I know this (the minutia) isn’t the point, the point is to be scared. I think the point here is we weren’t scared enough and interested enough in the actual movie. We were both totally distracted by minor points – ok, maybe plot is major.
I wrote “point” a lot in that last sentence.
What was my point?
Maedusa: LOL! But it wasn’t just us… The reaction of a lot of people in the theatre was that they were laughing, too. I think people come to expect more “realism” from even horror films now. And the ‘84 Freddy, in spite of itself, seemed more realistic than this one. Sure, Freddy was more gruesome and realistic makeup-wise, but the plot holes were just too big to ignore. Nightmare 2.0 seemed to go for overhauling only the cosmetic points, but neglected the real details that make you care about the characters.

Goths Are the New 80s Teens But Where’s Johnny? … Freddy Is a Pedo

Scara: Oh god, not the diner scene cliché.
Maedusa: Ugh…. The diner scene! Was that to set the tone of awkward teenage interaction & pouting?
Scara: Also …
I was transfixed by Katie Cassidy’s wonky eye. She looked like she was having an allergic reaction to Kellan Lutz.
Maedusa Oooh!  Now that you mention it … Yeah.  I can see that.
I was actually noticing how all of the guys in the film had Maybelline long lashes.
Scara: Yep. This is a nice transition for us to talk about the Goths.
Maedusa: Swim Club: Now for Goth kids, too!
Scara: Most unbelievable part of the movie: chubby Goth has a swimmer’s body.
Maedusa: That was the part that got me. Principal Kurgan’s kid was kind of a hottie!! Who knew!?
Even more miraculously, the goth kids were the ones who had all of the survival skill techniques to survive.
Sara: He was cute- talk about long lashes.
Maedusa: Yeah.  I was pleasantly surprised by Young Mr. Joy Division.  I wonder if the producers did their research on that band? Hmmm….
Scara: What about Nancy? Since she’s pretty much the only recurring character …
I think she was likable in the same way the original was. Interesting how all the relationships in the movie were very PG.
Maedusa: I read that the actress has already been contracted for a sequel.  I did find her very likeable… Different from the Heather Langenkamp Nancy, but still likeable.
Scara: In other words: no boobs.
Maedusa: Yeah…. I noticed the PG-relationship.  They were very PC with tap dancing around subject matter on this movie. No boobs.  Some grape smuggling action, but that was about it.  Even the “Hey!  I’m going to climb in through your window like Zach Morris and just cuddle before Freddy eviscerates you” was super PG.  They didn’t even mention the “m-word” even though Freddy was a pedo loomed over the whole flick.
Scara: I looked back at Wiki for the original “A Nightmare on Elm Street” details and it says Freddy was a child murderer – but no mention of molestation. (I know that Wiki isn’t necessarily the best place to get this info.)  The writers really made it a point to make him unforgivably evil in this movie, so I guess that is where they had to take it.
Maedusa: Eh, Wiki isn’t a bad place to get it from.  I do remember him being a murderer, but didn’t know for sure if they touched on the molestation thing.  I’m wondering if they’re going this route as a cultural touchstone, with that being such a huge topic nowadays (i.e. the Church, Pope, etc.)?

There you have it, that’s pretty much how our conversation and my lunch break ended.

After seeing “A Nightmare on Elm Street” I would have to agree with the famous words put forth by Fishbone:
“Freddy’s dead, don’t be mislead.”

A Face Not Even Clive Barker Could Love

In recent years, horror fans have been plagued by awful resurrections of classic films. The gratuitously gory “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” paled in comparison to the original. Rob Zombie’s one-two stunker punch on the “Halloween” franchise shouldn’t have even been allowed its second helping. The “Friday the 13th” redux? I fart on your watery grave, Mr. Voorhees! “The Wolfman”? Puh-lease!  Benicio’s furry flop bombed so bad it left a mushroom cloud over the box office.

In spite of all the awful remakes, it’s not stopping Hollywood from threatening to remake other classics.  A “Fright Night” remake is in the works, as is a reboot of “Hellraiser.” Instead of remaking horror classics that everyone has already seen and revered, why not remake lesser-known films within the genre that people may not have seen, or could use a serious overhauling.

One film that instantly springs to mind that could benefit from a do-over is “Rawhead Rex.” Made in 1986, the film was the second collaboration between director George Pavlou and legendary author, Clive Barker.  Barker wrote the screenplay for the film, based on a short story from his “Books of Blood.”

Set in Ireland, the film follows Howard Hallenbeck (David Dukes), an American historian who is researching old churches and landmarks in a small Irish town with his family in tow.  A classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Hallenbeck and family choose to cruise the Emerald Isle when an ancient, pre-Christian demon is resurrected and running amok.  Featuring a trailer park massacre and a foul-mouthed, double-agent priest who receives filmdom’s filthiest (if not only) demonic golden shower, this low-budget horror flick is Clive Barker’s biggest source of shame.

In all honesty, though, “Rawhead Rex” isn’t that bad.  Sure, it’s got some bad acting and bad effects, but if you look past all that, there’s actually quite an interesting story trying to claw its way out.  That said, I humbly present several arguments to remake “Rawhead Rex” and give a lesser-known gem a second chance.

Master. Master of Horror.

Reason #1 – Clive Barker
Seeing that “Hellraiser” is getting the remake treatment (sans Doug Bradley! How could you mess with sadistically snarky perfection!?!), why not resurrect a more obscure work of a bona fide horror legend? “Midnight Meat Train” (another “Books of Blood” tale-turned-movie) gave Clive Barker some recent visibility, making him a hot commodity once again.

He’s always been considered one of the masters of horror, but “Rawhead Rex” was made in 1986, a year before Barker solidified his rep with “Hellraiser.”  Now over two decades later, Cliver Barker’s name attached could definitely merit a bigger budget for a “Rawhead Rex” remake.  Additionally, a redux would go a long way towards the author not wanting to plop a bag over his head at the mere mention of “Rawhead” in future interviews.

Reason #2 – It’s Hard To Find
Regardless of how Clive Barker may feel about the cinematic rendering of “Rawhead Rex,” the film has quite a cult following.  The legendary “baptism” scene (mentioned above) beckons horror fans on shock value alone.  However, it’s a hard film to get your hands on.  The DVD has been out of print for years and a new copy will run you anywhere from $85-200.  If you still have a VHS player, you may be able to score yourself a used copy for $15 …  But who still has a VHS player that works? A remake might prompt a new printing of DVDs for the classic and help drum up interest for the newer version.

Reason #3 – Fleshing Out the Mythology
The name of “Rawhead Rex” (King of the Rawheads) bears a resemblance to the name of an old Celtic boogeyman by the name of Rawhead and Bloody Bones (AKA – Tommy Rawhead — or just plain Rawhead).  “Rawhead Rex” has little in common with this legend, although it seems that a substantial mythology behind the monster was intended for the film. Sadly, it wasn’t fully fleshed out.

On one hand, the viewer can be grateful that Barker didn’t take a ham-fisted route and beat everyone over the head with Rawhead’s backstory.  However, the Pagan origins of this big beastie are intriguing. Particularly the fact that he is unable to harm pregnant women and can be repelled by an ancient relic from a Pagan fertility cult.  How the stained glass windows of the local church came to tell the tale of Rawhead and his defeat by a mysterious being (later revealed to be female) is one facet that could be better explored. Ditto for the intertwining of Christianity and Pagan cultures coming together to defeat Rawhead.

Reason #4 – Better Acting
David Dukes does a fine job in the film, as does Ronan Wilmot with his over-the-top portrayal of town uber-douche, Declan O’Brien, the man of the cloth who revels in the resurrection of Rawhead.  However, the rest of the cast turn in performances ranging from adequate to awful.  Falling into the latter category is Kelly Piper as Harold’s oversexed wife, Elaine Hallenbeck. She sounds as if she’s reading her lines off of a 1-900 number teleprompter for most of the film and, up until the film’s climactic scene (where she’s silent), overacts or just seems to offer subtly inappropriate reactions to what’s going on.

Which One Is the Halloween Mask?

Reason #5 – Not-So-Special Special Effects
Even for its time, “Rawhead Rex” has some heinous special effects.  The bad, Paris-Hilton-night-vision denoting evil portents or flashbacks and fake-looking severed limbs are only the tip of the iceberg. While he may not have been bad for 1986, the hulking eight-foot-tall Rawhead looks like a rubbery demented gorilla.  He’s scary in the shadows and from a distance, but close-ups of his rolling red eyes come across as laughable by today’s standards.  A revamped Rawhead design can strive for more realism and re-make “Rawhead Rex” into a smart, scary, and gory force to be reckoned with for future generations of horror fans.

I’m not sure how I came upon My Zombie Pinup. I think it might have been when I was searching for images of zombies at Seder.

At any rate, I can’t believe I am just finding out about the website now. It’s classic pinup photos with an undead and hilarious twist. Maybe you, like me, are dumb and don’t know how to find good things online.  So let me tell you a little more about it.

My Zombie Pinup is the evil spawn of San Francisco-based photographic duo Shalaco Sching and Robyn Malter. From the models, to the composition of the top-tearing situations, these photos featuring zombie girls at the beach, in the old west, on picnics … some zombie animals too …  are a gory-ous update to classic images by Gil Elvgren and Alberto Vargas. Sickly details are achieved through FX makeup, not by casting computery magic-spells. Did I mention they make a calendar too?

One-half of the terrifying team behind My Zombie Pinup, who has, to my mind, one of the greatest names ever (next to Febus Saucier), Shalaco Sching, agreed to answer my questions about how the whole thing got started and the people behind the flesh-eating femmes. (Yes, there are minions.)

So keep reading lest you miss out on any of the fleshy goodness.

Shalaco Sching, Robyn Malter, and zombies

Ghouls: Who are the delicious brains behind My Zombie Pinup?  What parts do you play in this evil scheme?

My Zombie Pinup is the twisted concoction of myself (Shalaco Sching) and my cohort Robyn Malter. We came up with the idea and then assembled a team of local artists to help us realize our vision. Robyn funded the project and we printed it and distributed it ourselves so we got to do whatever we wanted, which is really rare and fantastic. It was really an honor to have that kind of freedom.

We found people who specialized in beauty and pinups and then we found makeup artists who specialized in zombie and horror makeup. We assembled four teams of cut throat artists: Production and wardrobe, special effects, hair and beauty and then we were the photo crew. The biggest challenge we faced was coordinating these many talented artists, seamlessly balancing the beauty, cheeky silliness, and the gore, as well as getting everyone’s work to cohesively blend into a finished product.

Ghouls: We have a soft spot for anything that mixes horror and humor. How has beating a joke to death worked for you and how do you combine the funny and gruesome in your photos?

My Zombie Pinup started with a simple premise, “What if the zombie apocalypse retroactively occurred in the 1950’s, and then pinups were infected by zombies?” We’ve all heard of the flight-or-fight response.  Zombie pinups trigger what I like to refer to as the flight-or-fuck response.

We combine these by bringing elements of horror and beauty together and then the humor just comes naturally from having a great crew of people and high rapport on set.

Ghouls: Tell me a little bit about the process. How do you come up with themes, who does the make-up, costuming, etc.

Typically we start by taking one of favorite classic pinups shots, Gil Elvgren is my personal favorite pinup artist, and then add a zombie twist to it.

We would start the process off by sitting down with our ridiculously talented production designer, Claire Mack, and figure out how we could recreate the shot as authentically as possible. Claire lives vintage — she was seriously born in the wrong era; her life is antiquated. She lives in a giganormous warehouse and it is, literally, a treasure trove of antiquities. Most of the things you see in the calendar come from her warehouse;  if we would need some obscure prop she would have it, and if not she would know where to find it. It was really important to her that everything from the props to the costuming read from the right era.

After that we would bring in our special FX team, Nick Katich and Robyn Carey, and build a story around how each person became a zombie. Things are really working when the wounds and infection are working to illustrate the narrative; it simply adds so much depth.

Then the special FX team would figure out what we needed to do to zombify our models. Robyn is amazing because she knows the whole spectrum from beauty to horror makeup, so she can blend a bruise into blush or eyeliner; she’s phenomenal. Nick is fantastic at hand-crafting molds and creating prosthetics. This allowed us to have one-of-a-kind zombie effects that you would usually have to outsource and it would take forever.

So any one shot had days and days of pre-production going into it. For some of the more involved shots where we needed prosthetics, Nick would do a cast of the models face then make a wax positive and artistically handcraft the gory bits from that, after which he would make another mold, and then pour liquid latex into that to create the prosthetic. It was quite an involved process.

Essentially we had 5 teams working together to make the final result. Myself and Robyn designed and photographed our creation, Claire spearheaded production design and wardrobe, our special FX team focused on the zombie aspect, and then there was our hair and beauty makeup team, composed of Heather Jung our beauty specialist and Tiffany Esparza our hair stylist.

Basically we assembled a Zombie Pinup creation team. And with all these people it still took as long as 8 hours to zombify our models on the day of the shoot. I would look over and the model would be having five sets of hands on her at one time, setting her hair, laying in prosthetics, painting her toe nails, and doing her makeup. The peacock shot literally took 8 hours of setup. And the people who I haven’t mentioned, who this really couldn’t have been done without, are the models who managed to sit still for 8 hours with prosthetics over their faces so they couldn’t talk. They were real troopers.

Ghouls: Your particular zombies are always getting into scrapes. Do you think zombies are more prone to clumsiness than other supernatural/undead creatures?

I think usually it is the result of constantly trying to satisfy their urge for human flesh. But also a lot of it has do to crazy zombie sex.

Ghouls: Fast zombies or slow zombies?

I’m not taking the time to find out. I am finding a shotgun, a motorcycle, and a safe place far away from cities.

Ghouls: Did you both grow up watching horror movies? If so, which ones particularly inspire you and who is your favorite female horror character?

We love zombie movies. We have seen our fair share starting with the Fulci classics.

What was really inspiring was seeing these films brought to life on stage by Hole in the Head Theater Company. Robyn and I saw “Night of the Living Dead” live on stage and didn’t really know what we were getting into. Buckets of blood. Buckets and buckets of blood. Swimming pools of blood. It’s like Gallagher only instead of watermelons, he is smashing zombie heads. Fantastic. I think that really inspired us to do something new inside the zombie genre.

Ghouls: If the zombie apocalypse does come:

(a) do you think zombies will buy your photos?
(b) what’s the one thing you want for survival?

Zombies ain’t going to buy shit. They are going to try and eat your ass. The only way this calendar is going to save me is if a zombie is coming after me and it sees it and get’s distracted long enough for me to book it to a fully stocked yacht.

Ghouls: How can our readers get their grubby little hands on your goods?

We still have a handful of 2010 calendars left but they are going pretty fast. You can get yourself a My Zombie Pinup Calendar, T-Shirt or Hoodie here.

Check out more bloody beauties here.

Type WHOAH! Negative

The worlds of music, horror, and fang-licking-good eye candy lost more than just a pretty face when Peter Steele passed away on April 14, 2010 after a sudden heart attack.

Born on January 4, 1962, Steele was best known as the vocalist, lyricist, and bassist for goth-metal band, Type O Negative.  Throughout his career, he appeared in several low-budget films and his music with Type O Negative served as the soundtrack to 1998’s “Nosferatu: The First Vampire,” as well as popping up on numerous horror movie soundtracks.

His flowing, jet-black hair, piercing green eyes, and gargantuan height were as much a trademark as his rich baritone voice, introspective lyrics, and warped sense of humor.  It was Steele’s charming sense of self-deprecation that prompted him to joke about his 1995 Playgirl spread which revealed that the hulking 6′8″ hunk was packin’ some proportionate heat. Steele duly noted “That’s why my mother named me ‘Peter.’”  (I will fully admit that I still own this issue of Playgirl. Not being of age at the time, I went to great lengths to cop an eyeful of Peter’s pecker, passing myself off as 18 to score a copy at a local mall bookstore back in the day.  It still holds a special place in my collection and you will have to pry it from my cold, undead hands.)

It was more than just the pecker Peter was packin’ that made him so special. Rather, it was the total, erm, “package” of intelligence, eloquent honesty in sharing his most personal torments and struggles in his lyrics, and his quick sense of humor that made him a legend.  Farewell, Gentle Green Giant, and thank you so much for the music and memories that helped make this ghouly girl the woman she is today.

Peter Steele on “Jerry Springer,” 1995

The legacy of Golden Age horror comics such as “Creepy,” “Eerie,” and (of corpse) “Tales From the Crypt” is alive … er … undead and well, carried on with a new crop horror books filling the racks at comic shops.  Serialized horror is represented at its finest with Robert Kirkman’s zombie epic, “The Walking Dead,” while several publishers have been tipping their hat towards the classic anthology horror genre with celebrity – or celebrity estate – endorsed titles like Blue Water’s “Vincent Price Presents” and IDW’s limited series of horror one-shots, “Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Music Box.”

However, one thing comics’ frightful forebears probably didn’t count on was the genre of creepy cute. On film the horrific hijinx of terrifying toddlers like Damien and “The Bad Seed” have caused many adults to run for a pair of rubber training undies, but the comic medium helps to make the dark side lurking behind seemingly innocent creatures less “real” and more likable.  It’s easier to thrill to the antics of killer kindergarteners and occult-inclined pets when they’re safely ensconced on the pen-and-inked pages of horror comics than in a gore-splattered environment.

Here are just a few of these creepy-cute gems,  scratching the surface of that freshly dug grave, poking their eager little hands – or paws – out at their fan base or potential new victims:

Hellboy, Jr.

Honorable mention
Young Hellboy, “Hellboy” & “Hellboy Junior” (Dark Horse)
It says something about the one-two punch of creepy and cute when arguably the most popular independent comics’ character ever is miniaturized in flashbacks. Young Hellboy may have only had a Halloween one-shot and two “Hellboy Junior” books focusing on his childhood adventures, but little Anung Un Rama (“The Beast of the Apocalypse,” for those of you playing along at home) makes an impact with each appearance.

Aside from a handful of appearances in Mike Mignola’s long-running “Hellboy” series, Young Hellboy was so popular and important to the story that the character made appearances in both live-action “Hellboy” films! Seeing the wee hellspawn’s enthusiasm for the WWII superhero, Lobster Johnson, and interacting with his beloved mentor and father figure, Professor Broom, makes the adult Hellboy’s struggle to fight his dark destiny all the more compelling, giving the character even more depth and likability.

Pooch

#5 – Pooch, “Hack/Slash” (Devil’s Due Publishing)
A minor character, Pooch is a hairless Hellhound who, like many a World’s Ugliest Dog contestant is so hideous he’s actually cute.  Upping the cute factor, Pooch is a talking hellhound who likes to speak in the third person and makes some rather humorous (and occasionally perverse) observations.  Having once worked on the side of evil, Pooch was one of the personal minions of Satanic underworld lieutenant, Elvis Presley.  He was charged with the task of attempting to kill “Hack/Slash”’s main duo – hot, weapon-wielding goth chick Cassie Hack and her brawny, deformed-yet-sweet sidekick, Vlad.  Following a change of heart, Pooch found himself trapped on Earth. Away from his Hell dimension, Pooch adapted to life as a very, very ugly companion to humans. He  truly become man’s best friend when he saved his adopted caretakers, Chris and Lisa, from a demon attack.

Courtney Crumrin

#4 – Courtney Crumrin, “Courtney Crumrin” (Oni Press)
Courtney Crumrin isn’t really a creep. Her self-serving yuppie parents and the strange creatures that inhabit her neighborhood are, but she isn’t. As cute as pre-“Runaways” Dakota Fanning with as wicked a sense of humor as “Problem Child,” Courtney is a snarky tweener with a nose for the occult.  The only human who she connects with is her mysterious Great Uncle Aloysius, a dapper hermit who favors the Victorian look and is one helluva warlock, to boot.  Although she doesn’t conceal her disdain for kids her own age, Courtney, nevertheless, maintains a packed social calendar. Between babysitting changelings, sending demons back to their charnal pits, befriending mush-mouthed goblins and eloquent talking neighborhood cats, Miss Crumrin’s a busy gal.  Written by author/illustrator Ted Naifeh (the original artist for “Gloomcookie,” a comic about the lives and loves of young adult goths and the tragically cursed monsters who love them), the series of single issues-turned-graphic novels was nominated for an Eisner Award. Rumor has it, the first graphic novel, “Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things” will be made into a live-action movie in 2011.

Beasts of Burden

#3 – Beasts of Burden (Dark Horse)
A collaboration between “Milk and Cheese” scribe, Evan Dorkin and illustrator Jill Thompson (who turned Neil Gaiman’s seven anthropomorphic beings of “Sandman” into cute, widdle toddlers with the “Li’l Endless”), these canine and feline occult detectives initially were the “tailpiece” of Dark Horse collections, “Book of the Dead,” “Book of Witchcraft,” et. al. They proved so popular with readers that in 2009, the four-legged ghostbusters received their own four-issue mini-series with the strong possibility of a second round to follow. A crack team of house pets and strays alike, the beasts of Burden Hill investigate and quash the strange, haunted happenings in their tiny town. More characters than archetypes, each animal has his or her own backstory: There’s Miranda, the Black Lab shamaness; Pugsley the mouthy, wisecracking little Pug; scrappy stray cat Orphan; and Ace the Husky, whose super strength came from surviving a werewolf bite, among others. Cute and funny without being hokey, the animals don’t hop around on two legs or talk to humans.  Actually, Burden Hill’s humans remain oblivious to the town’s supernatural activity, and it’s up to the Beasts of Burden to get to the bottom of what’s going on.

Death, Jr.

#2 – Death Jr. and Friends, “Death Jr.” (Image)
It’s hard to get much cuter and creepier than the son of the Grim Reaper.  Death Jr. is the adorable, skull-faced pre-teen son of perennially polite Death himself.  Along with his human, homemaker mom who’s more June Cleaver than Mrs. Bates, Junior needs a normal, happy existence – even if he is ostracized by other kids at school who have skin on their faces. Junior is thoughtful, friendly, and constantly trying to prove to dear ol’ Papa that he’s ready to enter the family business.  He also has the worst luck ever with pets.  Equally adorable as Death Jr. is his little girlfriend, Pandora, a gothling with OCD compelled to open every box around her. Rounding out their group of metaphysical misfits are Stigmartha, a young girl with rather strategically placed wounds that bleed when she gets excited, conjoined twins Smith and Weston, and (my personal favorite) The Seep, a foul-mouthed, armless legless fetus-type thing floating in fluid. Written by Gary Whita and drawn by Ted Naifeh (gee, that name sounds familiar!), “Death Jr.” has two full-color graphic novels detailing the adventures of his creepy pals and additionally, was made into one of the very first PSP games for the console.

Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl

#1 – Lenore, “Lenore, The Cute Little Dead Girl,” (SLG, Titan)
Roman Dirge’s neat, sweet, and deceased girl was one of the pioneers of the renaissance of cute, creepy things back in 1998. With a fashion sensibility akin to Wednesday Addams, Lenore is blissfully unaware that she’s dead.  After succumbing to pneumonia at the age of 10, Lenore lives in a big creepy mansion with a gaggle of undead critters she calls friends.   She fails miserably at pet ownership in spite of her love for animals and is rarely seen without dragging a dead kitty cat in tow. (The spirit of one of her menagerie of dead cats haunts her in regards to her treatment of animals.)  In spite of her tender age, Lenore frequently fends off the admirations of the stalker-ish sock puppet, Mr. Gosh, (who is actually a real, live dead man with a bag over his head) and her friend, Mr. Raggamuffin, a cursed vampire doll who secretly harbors feelings for Lenore. Aside from being dead, she loves all the things little living girls love: playing dress up, hugs, sharp objects, and time with friends and fiends!