by Britt Hayes

Welcome to the final part of our first annual holiday gift guide. I’m going to run things down a little differently in this edition. In the DVD and Blu-ray sections, I’ll start with bargains, move to regular priced items, and then to boxed sets and pricey editions (if any). For books, it’ll just be a veritable mix of comic books, novels, and the like, priced lowest to highest. Let’s get started, shall we?

DVD

In this Vincent Price three-pack, you get the original House on Haunted Hill, The Bat, and The Last Man on Earth. The set also comes with a free “Scary Sounds of the Night” CD – one of those things you throw in for Halloween and it spends the rest of the year collecting dust on a shelf. $3.99

The original uncut version of Night of the Living Dead. Know an amateur horror fanatic? Maybe a cocky 14 year old who wants to be a walking horror encyclopedia? Put this in their stocking. Everyone has seen this movie, everyone owns this movie, and if they don’t, they’re wayyyy behind. $4.98

The Wasp Woman (1959) is one of my favorite Roger Corman films. As an old film, it’s just begging you to pop open a 6 pack and make fun of the cheesy dialogue and overacting. $4.98

The movie that made generations terrified to go in the water. Appropriate for the young and old alike. $7.49

• The Monster Squad two-disc 20th Anniversary Edition directed by Fred Dekker. Wolfman’s got nards! (Seriously, you can’t mention the film and NOT say it.)
• American Psycho Uncut Killer Collector’s Edition directed by Mary Harron, and starring Christian Bale before he had the action movie voice.
• Dead Alive – MUST HAVE. If you know someone who doesn’t have this, but it for them. If you yourself haven’t seen it, BUY IT NOW. Dead Alive was directed by Peter Jackson (yes, that Peter Jackson) in 1992 and is also known by the original title, Braindead. It’s a fantastic horror comedy with a very memorable lawnmower scene that involved 300 liters of fake blood, pumped out at 5 gallons per second.
• Hard Candy directed by David Slade and starring the tremendously talented Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson. It’s not your traditional horror film, but it is extremely tense, unnerving, and has a couple of wonderful twists. Ever wonder what would happen if a young girl sought revenge on a pedophile? Look no further.

$7.99 for each of the above fantastic films.

Shaun of the Dead is one kick ass British zombie comedy, and introduced a new generation to the brilliance of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and director Edgar Wright. $8.49

Let the Right One In is one of my favorite films of all time. I know it’s only been out since 2008 and it hasn’t been long enough to show if it stands the test of time, but this is one of the greatest films of the last decade, hands down. While I much prefer the Blu-ray version, this is a great deal for the regular DVD. $9.99

Two classic films, one great price. Poltergeist 25th Anniversary Edition directed by Tobe Hooper and starring Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams, and The Thing (my favorite horror film ever) Collector’s Edition directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell and Wilford I’ve Got Diabeetus Brimley. $9.99 each.

This is definitely in my top five favorite horror films. Suspiria, directed by one of the Italian horror masters, Dario Argento. It’s a shame that many of these Italian directors are losing their magic as they get older (Mother of Tears, Argento’s last, was one of the worst horror films I had ever seen), but you can relive the hey day here with this 2 disc special edition, filled with extras. This is great to give to someone a little younger, especially with the remake coming out in the next year or two. $14.49

Dawn of the Dead Ultimate Edition features commentary with director George A. Romero, make-up effects artist and legend Tom Savini, and assistant director Chris Romero, theatrical trailers, radio and TV spots, a poster and advertising gallery, and a bio of Romero. $21.49

DVD Boxed Sets

1, 2, Freddy’s comin’ for you……This box set includes Nightmare on Elm Street through New Nightmare, including part 3 – The Dream Warriors, WITH 3-D glasses. It also comes with an additional 8th disc – The Nightmare Series Encyclopedia, with interviews with cast members, the directors, and the production design teams, never before seen footage, music videos from the movies, original press kit materials, and all seven theatrical trailers. Also included in the set is a CD ROM with all seven screenplays, a trivia game, and an interactive Freddy to put on your desktop. $20.48 for the entire set.

Alien Quadrilogy – 9 discs featuring Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection with Winona Ryder-bot, and a super mega massive amount of special features. $25.49

Hellraiser boxed set comes in a puzzle box you can slide open to reveal Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, and Hellraiser 3. $28.99

I was apprehensive about True Blood at first, but it quickly grew on me. Anna Paquin is no Meryl Streep, but once you get past some of the less than desirable acting, the ridiculous story lines and WTF moments make for a very enjoyable show. $35.99

Friday the 13th: From Crystal Lake to Manhattan. Manhattan is the worst, even worse than space, but this set is still great. My favorite installment is part VII, no contest. That’s where Jason gets all ‘roided out, gets more weapons, and is probably at the height of his creativity. $49.49

Dexter seasons 1, 2, and 3. I only got into Dexter before the fourth season started, and spent about a month getting caught up on all three of these seasons. Michael C. Hall is phenomenal as Dexter Morgan, a blood splatter analyst who works with his foul-mouthed sister Deb in the Miami Police Department’s Homicide division. Dexter may look normal, but he has a secret: he kills murderers and serial killers. Season 1 is $14.99, season 2 is $1949, and season 3 is $23.49.

Who killed Laura Palmer? Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box Edition (complete series) - All 29 episodes with the original pilot (both U.S. Network and International versions) on 10 discs. Remastered picture from the original negative with 5.1 Sound, both personally approved by David Lynch. Deleted scenes, original audio, documentary ‘Secrets from Another Place’, ‘A Slice of Lynch’ (with David Lynch, Kyle MacLachlan, and Madchen Amick), ‘Return to Twin Peaks’, interactive map of Twin Peaks, and the complete Log Lady introductions. $69.99

Blu-ray

Recall a simpler time, before Rob Zombie made H2. This is going on my list, for sure. The Devil’s Rejects, unrated for $7.99. You can make it a double feature and get House of 1000 Corpses for $9.99.

Watch Geena Davis give birth to a maggot baby in the scene that still haunts me to this day, in glorious hi-def! Cronenberg’s The Fly is only $9.49.

Amazon has a lot of great deals on Blu-ray for under $10. The Thing is, once again, my favorite horror film. So naturally it’s on this list in DVD and Blu-ray form. And what a great price for Blu! $9.99

Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead is an example of a good remake. It fails in some ways the original succeeded, but it gave mainstream movie goers running zombies, Ty Burrell, a zombie baby, and the adorable Sarah Polley. Another great steal at $9.99. You can get the original Romero classic on Blu for $13.49.

The Monster Squad is another on this list twice. This 20th anniversary edition on Blu is only $2 more than the DVD version, so if you’ve got the Blu-ray player, get this for only $9.99.

Got a Twilight fan in the family? Stick this in their stocking and tell them to shut up. Katherine Bigelow, director of Point Break and this year’s The Hurt Locker, directed this vampire flick from 1987. In my opinion, it’s better than The Lost Boys. Fuck Kiefer Sutherland, this has Bill Paxton! And Lance Henriksen! And for you Heroes fans, Adrian Pasdar is in it too. $9.99

Dario Argento’s Giallo classic The Bird With the Crystal Plumage finally got the Blu treatment, and Amazon has it for $16.99.

I don’t suggest buying this for a pregnant woman…maybe an open-minded female friend with a baby/child. She might be more understanding of the themes involved. I gave Grace an excellent review, and it’s definitely on my list of best of this year. $17.49

Friday the 13th (2009) Extended Killer Cut 3 disc edition with digital copy. I wasn’t the biggest fan of this remake due to the lack of creative kills (maybe they can rectify that situation in the sequel), but this version has its merits. $19.99 for this edition.

As we come to the end of the Blu-ray list, I realize now that Amazon’s prices for horror Blu-ray are pretty inexpensive. The Audition Collector’s edition is something I’ve been looking forward to. Takashi Miike is a brilliant horror director (his other stuff – I don’t like it so much), and this is not only my favorite horror film of his, but one of my favorite horror films of all time. This edition features new audio commentary with director Takashi Miike and screenwriter Daisuke Tengan, new interviews with cast members Ryo Ishibashi, Eihi Shiina, Renji Ishibashi and Ren Osugi, international trailers, and a new essay by Tom Mes, ‘Agitator: The Cinema Of Takashi Miike’. All yours for $20.99.

Books

Remember the Scholastic book fairs at school? Every time I got a catalog, I’d always check off scary books, especially these: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz. It’s not just the stories that are spooky, but the drawings, all done in black and white, are so damn eerie! These are great for little horror buffs in training. $5.99 each!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters take the classic Jane Austen love stories and add a pinch of horror. The books take the original story, and replace certain words and scenarios. In the first, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are trained killers, and England has been overrun by zombies. In the latter, the story is filled with all sorts of giant sea creatures. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for $8.47 and Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters for $9.32.

Edward Gorey is a favorite of my 16 year old sister. His stories are creepily cute and morbidly hilarious. “A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears.” The Gashlycrumb Tinies is filled with couplets like this. $9.00

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Zombies is a book of Christmas Carols, zombiefied. Some great titles include “I Saw Mommy Chewing Santa Claus”, “Deck the Halls with Parts of Wally”, “Here Comes Zombie Claus”, and “Rudolph the Zombie Reindeer”. $9.99

The Walking Dead Volume 1: Days Gone Bye by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore. I am in love with this series. I don’t keep up with the monthly issues, and choose instead to buy the trade paperbacks, with each including 6 issues. Volume 1 is $9.99, or you can pay $21.59 for the hardcover book one, which has the first 12 issues (or two trade paperbacks-worth). Naturally, it takes longer for the hardcover books to come out, so the trade paperbacks are a good bet. Volume 11 of this series hits shelves December 29th. The story follows Rick Grimes, a police officer hit in the line of fire, who slips into a coma and awakes to find the world has become filled with zombies. Rick sets off to find his wife and son, and what follows is a complex look at what people do to survive, and how they react when surrounded by death.

Max Brooks, son of Mel Brooks and author of The Zombie Survival Guide, continues his zombie trek with World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. The book is a collection of “first hand accounts” of various zombie attacks from around the world. $10.17

Preacher Volume 1: Gone to Texas is the first in the 9 volume Preacher series from Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon. While not a full-on horror assault, the series contains many horrific themes, especially concerning human beings, the end of the world, vampires, religion, an insane and sexually depraved German with a holy mission, angels, demons, and various other sick folks. Jesse Custer is a former-preacher on a mission to find God with his hitman girlfriend Tulip and his new vampire BFF Cassidy. Trust me, you can’t put this series down. $10.19

The Goon series by Eric Powell is a fantastically funny and interesting series. It’s hard to describe these books without invoking B-movies, slapstick, and a certain 40’s sensibility. The Goon takes place in its own time period, following the titular character and his best pal Frankie (who is an absolute RIOT) as they try to quell a gang of zombies led by The Priest. There’s tons of blood and guts, tons of laughs, and in a funny twist, the profanity is blacked out. $10.85

The film Let the Right One In is one of the best of the decade, and the book, Let Me In (the title was changed to Let the Right One In to work with the film) is the basis for that masterpiece. $10.85

Amphigorey comes from the word “amphigory”, which means “a nonsense verse or composition”. This book collects Edward Gorey’s best works, including “The Gashlycrumb Tinies” and “The Curious Sofa: A Pornographic Tale”. $12.89

Under the Dome is the newest novel from the legendary Stephen King. The book is 1088 pages long, and includes a map of the town and a list of characters at the beginning of the book. The town of Chester’s Mill, Maine (of course) is suddenly surrounded by an invisible force field, or dome, and soon the true colors of the people in the town begin to show. I’m almost scared to read this monster of a book, but I can’t help but want to. $14.00 is a bargain.

MyZombiePinUp.com presents the My Zombie Pinup calendar. Foxy zombie ladies in sexy pinup poses. Right now it’s only $14.99, $5 off the regular price.

John Dies at the End by David Wong. This book was published in installments on the internet before being physically published in a collection for the first time in 2007. The description, from Publisher’s Weekly:

Wong—Cracked.com editor Jason Pargin’s alter ego—adroitly spoofs the horror genre while simultaneously offering up a genuinely horrifying story. The terror is rooted in a substance known as soy sauce, a paranormal psychoactive that opens video store clerk Wong’s—and his penis-obsessed friend John’s—minds to higher levels of consciousness. Or is it just hell seeping into the unnamed Midwestern town where Wong and the others live?

It’s on my wish list, and you can buy it for $16.49.