The Horror Drive-In film of the year is..But wait. There were a lot of serious contenders and I think it was a pretty decent year for horror, all things considered. Despite all the remakes there have been a lot of horror movies made in 2006. Serious, gut-wrenching horror is back and so is funny/fun stuff. [...]

The Horror Drive-In film of the year is..

But wait. There were a lot of serious contenders and I think it was a pretty decent year for horror, all things considered. Despite all the remakes there have been a lot of horror movies made in 2006. Serious, gut-wrenching horror is back and so is funny/fun stuff. Slither and The Hills Have Eyes get honorable mentions, but our winner is:

SNAKES ON A PLANE.

Once in a while, once in a great while, Hollywood really gets it right. A film delivers exactly what it is intended to deliver and for me, Snakes on a Plane is a perfect film. It’s in the spirit of clever Roger Corman drive in fare like Death Race 2000 and Piranha. Stupid, but not insulting fun. I loved everything about this movie and I’m almost embarrassed at how many times I’ve seen it already. I finally made it back to a real, honest-to-God drive in theater after almost 20 years and Snakes on a Plane was the one I saw. No shit, there could not have been a more perfect movie for that auspicious occasion.

I’m not going to go into a big list here, because we all hate those. Right? But I want to name the book of the year for me.

There were a LOT of mega-serious contenders. I’m sure that I’ll forget plenty, but off my head comes J.F. Gonzalez’s Bully, Matthew Warner’s Eyes Everywhere, Bill Pronzini’s The Crimes of Jordan Marsh, F. Paul Wilson’s Harbingers and Harry Shannon’s The Pressure of Darkness. The one that blew me away the most was…

Gary Braunbeck’s Prodigal Blues. And not (only) because the protagonist is named after me. I’ve been a fan of Gary’s work for a long time, and he never ceases to surprise me. But he definitely outdid himself with Prodigal Blues. Never has his writing been so down-to-earth and so literary at the same time. Gary always deals in potent emotions…too much so for some readers. But Prodigal Blues is so downright human and there is as much joy as there is horror and sorrow that it is really an uplifting piece of fiction. It is the Horror Drive-In novel of the year and it is on the short list of the best damned books I’ve ever read. And trust me, I’ve read more than a few.

So here’s to 2007. May it be even richer and more rewarding…and even bloodier…than 2006.

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