TrueHorror.net Halloween Double Feature


To Celebrate Halloween we have a special Double Feature post!

There will be more updated from these photo sets, but the time just wasn't there to edit as many as I had wanted to. So, for now, these will have to do. Hope you guys enjoy these and have a horrific Halloween!


First up we have "Movie Night" featuring Holly, one of my favorite people to collaborate with. Here we see her all set to watch her favorite horror films on Halloween night popcorn and all, along with some recently expired company. Probably tired of them talking and texting through all the important parts of the movie.



Secondly we have Diana doing her best Tiffany impression from Bride of Chucky. She really got into Character and definitely does Tiff justice! 



Again, thank you all for your continued support throughout October! I really appreciate everyone's kind words. And remember-- Halloween may be over, but the horror continues year round.

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TrueHorror October Mix Vol. 2



As we continue on with our month long October/Halloween celebrations, TrueHorror.net brings you our second horror film themed mix. Yet again, this mix is filled with some of film's most haunting soundscapes for you to keep that October feel going.  


Simply download the file, unzip, and upload into your music library and enjoy. The track listing is as follows:


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TrueHorror October Mix Vol. 1



Just in time for October, we here at TrueHorror.net have put together a mix of some of the most famous horror theme in movie history, along with some other choice cuts to help set the mood for your month long celebration of all things Halloween.


Simply download the file, unzip, and upload into your music library and enjoy. The track listing is as follows:


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Working With HorrorHound Magazine


After setting up my initial version of TrueHorror.net in 2010, I was contacted by Nathan Hanneman, editor of HorrorHound Magazine. He saw a photo I shot of Michael Myers standing above his dead victim. The shot is from the waist down and we see his hands holding the bloody knife in the mechanic suit and boots. This shot intrigued Hanneman mostly because they were doing an issue on "slashers" and Michael Myers was not shown but simply implied. He asked if I would be interested in it being used in their magazine and of course I accepted!


After this, I spoke with Nathan some more and asked if he would be interested in me shooting original shots just for them. He liked the idea and the next thing I knew I was shooting a Nightmare On Elm Street inspired bathtub image for them, which ended up being successful and allowed me to shoot numerous advertisements for them in the future.


HorrorHound was the first time shooting for someone else other than myself and I loved the challenge. I learned a great deal and always pushed myself to make sure I got the shot they asked for. There were mixed results at times, but overall I am very proud of my work with them and extremely thankful to Nathan and hope we can continue to work together in the near future. If you have yet to read HorrorHound Magazine, do yourself a favor and check it out; it not only focuses on current horror films in production, but also specializes in discussing classic horror films in depth.




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Child's Play: 25 Years Later


“Hi, I’m Chucky and I’m your friend to the end. Heidi Ho, hahaha!” 

As children we all had fears, rational and irrational. Some of us feared sharks in the ocean, spiders in our hair, the boogeyman waiting in the closet, the monster under the bed, or some just simply afraid of the dark. These fears are rather common in our early years; however, these fears have the potential to be enhanced when a horror film is introduced to our young and highly impressionable psyche. This brings us to another common if not irrational fear, one shared by both children and adults alike: pediophobia, the fear of dolls. 

I wouldn’t say I outright suffered from this phobia in my early years, but I certainly had a distrust or wariness towards dolls as a kid. Whether it was my big sister's Raggedy Ann doll, the odd cartoonish red doll we had in the house when I was growing up, or this creepy clown doll my best friend had whose laugh feature would activate on its own during sleepovers like the infamous clown scene in Poltergeist. The next level of my doll fear was introduced to me by my older brother, who for some odd reason thought that it would be a good idea for me to watch the Zuni fetish doll segment of the Karen Black classic Trilogy of Terror at the age of 6-- can you say traumatized? He and I watched this in the living room at 1am, lights off, head first at the end of the sofa bed close to the TV staring into pure terror. I was too scared to set one foot off that sofa bed because I was certain that maniacal little monster doll would start screaming and tear my feet and legs up as soon as I would set one foot on the cold hardwood floor. Without a doubt, this solidified living evil dolls as the bane of my existence for the foreseeable future. After witnessing the Zuni fetish doll terrorizing Karen Black for 20 or so minutes, the good news was I knew it couldn’t possibly get any worse…or so I thought.


Growing up in a family who was very much into Halloween and horror, I already had my initial run-ins with Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Leatherface and Jason Voorhees by the age of 9. They certainly scared me and kept me awake for a few nights, but I was able to handle watching those movies without much of a hitch other than the usual minor scares; however, that would all soon change. I wish I could pinpoint the exact moment I was first exposed to Child’s Play, but I know it was before its theatrical release. The earliest memory that pervades my mind were the TV spots. The two things that stood out in those spots for me as a kid were the teaser glimpses of Chucky we see, the first being his shadow walking down the hallway and the second being the close up from the same scene of his hand holding the knife as he walks down the hallway. There was something about the shadow's jerky movements that creeped me out. There was another TV spot that had Andy (the little boy who Chucky torments in the films for those not familiar) saying “Chuuuucky” that had a great creep factor because you never actually saw Chucky. I wish more movies nowadays would stick to keeping their surprises. I guess the reason I was really taken back by this is because I didn’t know what this thing was. I knew it was some sort of little creature or doll, but with the new TV spot , the source of my new fear now had a name: Chucky. I had enough at that point and, from there on out, I tried to avoid the commercials when anyone in the house was watching TV. I did a pretty good job of steering clear of anything to do with the movie, but that would all go down the drain the day I went to my Dad’s apartment to spend the day.


At my Dad's apartment that day I came across a Fangoria magazine with the title: “Gore Drenched Halloween Special.” Perfect reading material for a 9 year old, right? As I got closer to the magazine, I saw Michael Myers on the cover and focused on the release of Halloween 4. As my eyes scoured the cover, I slowly turned my gaze down towards the left corner, and there he was. This was the first time staring directly at the thing that would be the prime source of my biggest fears and nightmares for the next few years. This wasn’t just a picture of Chucky in his Good Guy form, this was Chucky fully transformed, holding a large knife, peering back at me with his sinister stare. It took a moment to process what I was looking at but I was freaked out; from then on I hated him. Once the movie left theaters, I thought I was free and clear, but Chucky continued to haunt me to the point I avoided the neighborhood video store on the way home from school because Child's Play posters covered the entire storefront. This went on for months until I finally decided enough was enough, it was time to face my fear and finally watch Child’s Play.


I clearly remember having my mom rent the movie for me. After popping it into the VCR, what followed was every bit as creepy and scary as I had imagined. I certainly couldn’t dissect a film like I do now, but I did realize it wasn’t cheesy. It had a serious tone and the skills and technology used to bring Chucky to life was as impressive as it was terrifying. One of my favorite things that is often lost on non-die-hard fans is F/X artist Kevin Yaghers' decision to give Chucky's appearance a gradual visual shift from doll to human form (which was abandoned after the first film). In doing so, Chucky ends up looking more like a distorted version of the human figure than a doll brought to life by a puppeteer and animatronics towards the film's end, and it’s very effective. In the final act of the film, Chucky is burned in the fireplace and thought to be dead, but when he shows up again, he is even more nightmarish looking. While burnt to a crisp and still smoldering, he stalks Andy and his mother throughout their apartment in one of the film's best scenes. A scene that really freaked me out, mostly because Chucky is after this little kid close to my age and wants to kill him to transfer his soul into Andy’s body. All of the other killers I had seen in horror films never went after little kids, but this was Chucky’s main goal!


Looking back on the film, everyone involved was on their A-game. Tom Holland directs the film with a great deal of restraint, leaving Chucky to lurk in the shadows for a large portion of the film until his big reveal. The urban setting of Chicago in the dead of a snow-filled winter was also a great choice, adding to the overall sense of dread and despair that permeates the films overall tone. It’s a cold film with a sadistic touch that can easily be lost on the casual viewer. The idea that Chucky tells Andy that he’s been sent down from Heaven by his dead father to play with him is just creepy and sick, and that’s something I love about the movie.


The films score by Joe Renzetti is also handled differently than most would attempt for a movie about a killer doll. Most musicians would create some type of whimsical sounding themes like we hear in the sequels, which work for those films, but would seem a bit out of place here in the original. Instead, Renzetti's score is very minimal and has an almost industrial sound to it with eerie ambient sounds and jarring chord strikes. These soundscapes merge perfectly with realism of the visuals. 

Last but not least is the acting. In a movie about a killer doll possessed by the soul of a serial killer, things can go awry really fast when it comes to casting and acting. That is not the case here. Catherine Hicks, Chris Sarandon, Alex Vincent, and of course Brad Dourif all deliver convincing performances that really help sell the otherwise outlandish material. Whenever a movie hinges on the performance of a child actor, it can be a recipe for disaster, but in Alex Vincent the filmmakers cast someone who was not only likeable but believable. Most importantly they cast Brad Dourif as Charles Lee Ray and subsequently the surprisingly vulgar and masculine voice of Chucky. I know I couldn’t have been the only person who was not expecting that voice to come out of that doll when it is finally revealed to be alive, especially after the hearing the doll speak in its friendly and innocent Good Guy doll voice in the first half. To me, his voice has been the key attribute crucial to Chuckys popularity throughout the years.


25 Years is a long time, especially in movie years. A lot of movies released in 1988 simply do not hold up to the test of time, but Child’s Play does. The effects still manage to impress and the film is just as creepy to watch now as it was back then. Since the original, the series has gone on to spawn five sequels with the latest being the just released (Curse of Chucky). The characters popularity is once again high and remains one of the most well-known horror icons. Throughout the past 25 years, I have grown from being absolutely terrified of this malevolent doll to becoming one of his biggest fans. I suppose part of the fascination lies with the fact that it was the one character that completely frightened me for quite some time, perhaps an odd type of respect has formed over the years. Whatever the case may be, the original Child’s Play is still one of the most renowned horror films to ever hit the screen and is still fully capable of providing new generations plenty of sleepless nights. 

Chucky has made good on his 25 year old promise to be our friend til’ the end.



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Review: Curse of Chucky



25 years have passed since Chucky first broke out of his Good Guy doll box and into the nightmares of filmgoers across the world. 

The first Child’s Play (1988) was an instant success introducing audiences to the foul mouthed doll possessed by the soul of serial killer Charles Lee Ray. Two years later, Child’s Play 2 was released to a positive reception, solidifying his status as a horror icon. Surprisingly, the studio followed up Part 2’s success by releasing the lackluster Child’s Play 3 only one year after part 2 hit theaters. After that Chucky laid dormant until 1998’s Bride of Chucky, which reintroduced Chucky to viewers along with his murderous bride, Tiffany. The film was a dark horror comedy that brought Chucky front and center as the star of the film. While many fans debated whether it was the right move to make turning the series into more of a self-aware comedic story with a shocking ending no one saw coming, Bride was a hit. After some studio shuffling Seed of Chucky was green lit and directed by series writer Don Mancini. The film, which further entrenched the series in comedy, had good intentions with Don Mancini valiantly doing everything he could with a limited budget, but was poorly received and effectively killed off Chucky for the next 9 years. 


Talk of a horror centric remake surfaced a few years back, but after rights issues between studios arose, that idea was laid to rest and a new sequel Curse of Chucky was finally announced in June of 2012. Fans of Chucky were excited, though one major cause for concern that came with the announcement was that this newest installment would be direct-to-video with yet another limited budget. So the question remained: did this matter and/or affect the quality and care that Curse would be made with? The answer: a resounding no. 

The major selling point for a diehard Chucky fan such as myself is the fact that this installment is straight horror and not full of the jokes or self-referential humor that was prevalent in the previous two films. Early on we are introduced to a family in turmoil as a result of a recent death. The main character, Nica (played by Chucky voice actor Brad Dourif's daughter Fiona), is dealing with her grief and the tension the sudden death in the family has brought out between her and her sister Barbara. As you can imagine, the trouble begins when Chucky is brought into the picture via a creepy friendship he forms with Nica’s niece, Alice. Writer-Director Don Mancini makes a bold and appreciated move with this film as he takes his time setting up the film and developing the relationships and motivations behind all the characters involved. While I have heard some people complain about the film being slow or boring, I attribute this to them being so used to Chucky being front and center in the last two installments from the jump. Here, the actors do a solid job and keep you interested in whats going on even when the main attraction isn’t on screen. Fiona Dourif is a revelation and carries the film on her shoulders with a sympathetic and believable performance as Nica. A lot of people assumed she got the job because of who her father is, while this may have been the case, she honestly was great and deserved the role regardless. 

For most of the film, Chucky remains in the shadows and it works, Mancini utilizes his one location-- a large old gothic home-- to great effect. By keeping the action contained in this one spot, he maximizes budget and gives us a bit of a haunted house vibe to the entire thing. Using stylish setups and confident camera work, he clearly shows he is influenced by classic horror filmmakers. One thing Mancini proves here is that Chucky and his alternate Good Guy look can still be very creepy when used properly. Here we are treated to a Chucky that is as sadistic and disturbing as he's ever been. When reviewing a film, I don’t feel it necessary to go into detail about the story so as not to ruin any surprises or moments that are there for fans to be excited about seeing (there are quite a few), but I will say this: there are plenty of callbacks to previous Child's Play films for fans to geek out over when they catch them, some subtle, some not, but most are welcome and exactly what fans of these films look for. 


The movie is not perfect. There are a few lapses in logic that just come with the territory, along with some character moments that I am not entirely sure how to feel about that may contradict things to a small extent from earlier films; however, these won’t hinder your enjoyment of the film. The score is generally solid, if not misplaced in some portions of the film, but there are some moments that I loved that are callbacks to the score from the origial Child’s Play. I will say my main issue lies with Chucky himself. Here, Tony Gardner who did the FX work for Seed, has his work cut out for him and it shows. For the most part Chucky works, but there are a few scenes where he doesn’t feel as lively and fluid as Kevin Yagher's puppeteering from previous films, but that also could be a result of budgetary constraints. 

While going straight-to-video, Curse of Chucky looks great and doesn’t feel like that type of film. It’s a stylish creation made with a lot of love that features solid acting and returns Chucky to his horror roots while honoring the preceding films in what is a true love letter to the fans. When you take it into account that it’s the 6th film in the series that has had its ups and downs, it’s even more impressive that it wasn’t just a name recognition cash grab like most DTV horror sequels are. Curse of Chucky actually adds to the mythos and is a worthy addition to the series. It’s a shame it did not get a theatrical release, but don’t let that discourage you from checking out what has to be a considered a triumphantly horrific and bloody return of one of horror's most beloved characters.

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The Women of TrueHorror.net


Throughout my time creating these images, I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with some great people, none more so than the women who have been so kind to put their reservations aside when it came time to capturing true horror.


Whether it's getting splattered with fake blood, being threatened by a knife wielding psycho, or trekking through flooded areas to get to a shoot location, these girls have been nothing short of awesome, and I couldn’t have achieved what I have today-- artistically and professionally-- if not for their help. Throughout this site you will see the images we have worked so hard to create and I hope the enthusiasm they provided for the shoots shows through.


I'd like to thank: Holly, Angelina, Nefreteri , Natalie , Diana , Victoria , Penny , Tiffany, Kezia , Marilyn , Lisa , Jessica , Olga, Christine , Ariel , Mikki , Cataline , Britton , and of course Es, Gab, Tay and Tanna.


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TrueHorror.net: The Photography



This entire site was originally based off of my passion for horror and photography and a way to showcase it to the public. The new updated version of TrueHorror.net features a lot of new outlets for my creativity that I have been dying to try. However, even with the new look, I never want my favorite way to express my affinity towards the horror genre to take a back seat, so I have made sure to include a full gallery of all my photography work available for everyone to see.


When I first started taking photos, I started with shooting horror action figures. I tried to shoot them in ways that would make them look more realistic and creepy, setting up lighting and any type of backdrop that could help make them seem more alive. This was my way of “directing” a horror scene. Even if it was just a still shot, I really wanted to try and get the mood and framing just right. After some time, I feel I've accomplished this to varying degrees of success.

After I realized there wasn’t much more to accomplish with shooting inanimate objects, I thought I should try my hand at the next level and move on to live subjects. Staring on this path was not easy. I began with limited knowledge, but learned from each shoot. I knew my way around Photoshop a little, but a lot of things were self taught and other things were learned by seeking out help from people with much more knowledge of the ins and outs of photography. I still remember buying my first regular Canon digital camera: I had no clue what an SLR was compared to my point and shoot cam, but it didn’t matter, I was doing what I could with the equipment that I had. I also learned the sticky perils of using too much corn syrup in my early fake blood recipes and realized how important it was to look at every little thing in the frame before shooting and that there was way more to it than just a pretty girl covered in blood, no matter how engaging that was alone.


As I shot more, grew more confident in my eye, as well as my Photoshop abilities (which originally consisted of moving the color balance and contrast back and forth), I had begun to create more elaborate setups and backdrops in attempt to create a full scene from scratch that would tell more of the story. I had graduated from snapping still shots with toys to directing all out mini-productions starring friends and family in the roles of Michael Myers and his victims. After a stint shooting and producing advertisement imagery for HorrorHound Magazine, I continued shooting and challenging myself more and more with each shoot. I built up a portfolio I was proud of, but also ended up hitting a brick wall creatively and took a break for a while. Now, with October here and Halloween fast approaching, I have been re-energized and I am eager to bring my new ideas to life to share with you all.



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