#Spooktober ‘It Came From The Multiplex!’ edited by Joshua Viola

About the book…

Welcome to tonight’s feature presentation, brought to you by an unholy alliance of our spellcasters at Hex Publishers and movie-mages at the Colorado Festival of Horror. Please be advised that all emergency exits have been locked for this special nostalgia-curdled premiere of death. From crinkling celluloid to ferocious flesh—from the silver screen to your hammering heart—behold as a swarm of werewolves, serial killers, Satanists, Elder Gods, aliens, ghosts, and unclassifiable monsters are loosed upon your auditorium. Relax, and allow our ushers to help with your buckets of popcorn—and blood; your ticket stubs—and severed limbs; your comfort candy—and body bags. Kick back and scream as you settle into a fate worse than Hell. Tonight’s director’s cut is guaranteed to slash you apart.

‘It Came From The Multiplex:80’s Midnight Chillers’ is an anthology edited by Joshua Viola which was released in September by Hex Publishers

It is a 295 page creature feature playing put behind your eyeballs, bringing you tales of alien invasions, monsters from other dimensions and other celluloid chills that those of a certain age may remember with fondness.

Being of that certain age, sticky floors, hot popcorn and the swish of heavy curtains moving slowly preceding each movie, holds a special memory in my heart. The local cinema was an art deco masterpiece, left to rack and ruin by the local council and then knocked down to make a parking lot.

Yep, they knocked down a piece of history and replaced it with the sterile multiplex that is part of the nearest shopping centre, just out of town. Bastards.

Anyway, this collection is a smorgasbord of fear which is perfect for wiling away a rainy, dark winter night. The stories vary in quality, some are properly chilling such as ‘The Cronenberg Concerto’ by Keith Ferrell which is the tale of a man trying to recapture the feeling that horror films gave him in the 1960’s, all he wants to do is pay tribute to the masters…

Or , ‘Creature Feature’ by Gary Jonas where the delivery of some very special movie reels comes with a NDA that has clauses such as ”termination of all life functions” as a penalty for telling anyone about the contents of this particular crate…

Disrespectful teens get their comeuppance in ‘On The Rocks’ by K.Nicole Davis and in ‘Coming Attractions’ by Stephen Graham Jones, teens get a private viewing after staying behind to exlore a theatre after everyone else has left…

Drive in movie shows, vintage theaters, date nights gone horribly wrong and the sweet scent of nostalgia hang over this carefully curated anthology which I can recommend as a fine way to enjoy a retro night out whilst we are all firmly stuck in!

About the author…

Joshua Viola is a two-time Colorado Book Award finalist and co-author of the Denver Moon series. His comic book collection, ‘Denver Moon:Metamorphosis, was included on the 2018 Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.