BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!!

     I know that I hoped for this blog to have a weekly update but things don't always work out the way I plan them when a) I have a chronic illness, b) my wife has a chronic illness, and c) we both do our best to take care of my 90 year old mom, who lives with us.  So, keeping that in mind, I hope you can forgive me!

•      As I'm writing this post, I'm rather excited about quite a few things going on.  I'm listening to the latest CD by horror punk band "Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space."  Horrorhound magazine (which I highly recommend, by the way) turned me on to them and they (as well as other horror punk bands) make the perfect companion while writing down my thoughts to you.  This CD ("Toxic Terror Trax --Music for the Post Apocalypse) is their latest release.  I'll be honest and admit I'm more of a horror movie score/soundtrack fan than of the punk genre in general, but as punk goes...  well, let's just say that horror punk is a fun trip down an unpaved side road that I got on accidentally, am unable to turn around on, and is probably leading me to a horrible death.  In a word, perfect for the occasion. So, check them out at www.facebook.com/BZFOS

    

 

Now, let's get straight down to business.  As you know, I've been working on creating an original steampunk/horror/sci-fi character.  I first got the idea when my friend, Timmy Ganske, passed on to me an awesome military gas mask he picked up at a yard sale a few months back. It was in pristine condition (as in new and probably never used), and is a full-face model.  Just by itself in it's original form this mask got my imagination pumping.  In the picture below you can see what I mean.  It almost conjures up visions of that one and only creature who lives in the Black Lagoon.  And you know what?  That's a GREAT place to start! 

 

 At any rate, I began

Gas mask before steampunkification

 digging through my studios drawers and bins and came across all kinds of goodies.  Among them: A complete set of bicycle gears and metal mesh fencing.  This was more than enough to get me started and often times starting something helps me to see the vision of where I want a certain piece to eventually go.  I mean, the only thing I had in my head upon first look was that I thought it'd be neat to have a working smoke stack sticking straight out of the top (and I'm working on logistics for that now).  So, while figuring out how to make that happen, I got to work with my gears and mesh.  What has resulted SO FAR is this:
 

Phase 1 complete on GM Steamification
 

     I'm diggin' the hell out of it.  Plus, it's given me much food for thought since  before continuing with steampunkification, this is probably the best time to consider my  characters backstory and concept.  After all, there are tons of things to consider at this point. For instance, who was this character before events caused the permanent use of this specially designed gas mask a necessity?  What were those events?  Is this character a hero or a villain and why? You get the picture. 
    
     Speaking of villains, this year's Monster Mania convention in nearby Hunt Valley, MD just announced the first of their horror guests that will be appearing for meet, greet, autographs, and photographs (I met John Carpenter and Tom Atkins there a few years ago and have been attending every year since).  This year so far it looks like I'll be carefully shaking hands with Robert Englund (the one and only original Freddy Krueger from the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise). They usually have at least 20 guests so I'm stoked to see who else appears on their list.  Personally, I'm hoping to see Julie Adams' name pop up since she's been doing quite a few other conventions this year for the first time since I've had my eye on the ball as far as horror/sci-fi conventions go. It would be so awesome to meet the woman that The Creature from the Black Lagoon fell in love with!  So, yeah, fingers crossed there! 
 
     OK...WOW... I had a lot more that I wanted to write about in this post but I don't want you running off because you've run out of time so perhaps I will break things up and convey the excitement in smaller installments. On that note, coming up next time I'll give you a run down on the latest horror art coming out of Steam Shady Studios for the Etsy Shop.  As of this writing, October 1st is only 116 days away so there isn't much time to get new ideas through the concept phase and into production so that Halloween is (as always) bigger and better than last year! 
 
     And that's just the beginning so...
 
Until then don't forget: It's never a too late to get your CREEP on!