by Shelagh Rowan-Legg from ScreenAnarchy

I hope I’m not the only one out there who loves radio dramas and podcasts. It’s a lo-fi way hear all kinds of spooky tales, and often more accessible (and cheaper) that film and television (which I still love, of course). Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid’s Tales from Beyond the Pale has been a staple for horror audio fans for about six years. If you haven’t given it a listen yet, you have lots of episodes to enjoy. And a new one is available now, with a very special star. Check out the details and link below.

Ron Perlman, the critically-acclaimed star of Hellboy, returns this month to Tales from Beyond the Pale, the long-running radio drama from Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid. Having last appeared in the 2010 episode “This Oracle Moon”, Perlman is back in a big way with episode 59: Glenn McQuaid’s “Three Raps on the Buoy”.

In the latest Tale, two open-water swimmers (Perlman and Declan Reynolds) meet at a buoy, where hopes and secrets rise to the surface. The episode also stars Ashley Bell of The Last Exorcism.

Producer Larry Fessenden says, “As we near the end of Tales season six, I look back at the amazing contributions by our writers, directors, actors, sound designers, musicians, and poster makers and I marvel at the ambition and humility of this project. These aren’t movies, but they take the same level of care and commitment. It has meant the world to me and Glenn to continue this project for so long, a testament to our love of art making in a brutal world. We’re not done yet. Stay tuned.”

Declan Reynolds, who also co-stars in McQuaid’s The Restoration at Grayson Manor, adds, “Glenn and I bonded over losing our fathers at a young age, and “Three Raps on the Buoy” feels deeply connected to that shared experience. Working opposite Ron Perlman was a genuine pinch-me moment. At its heart, it’s a tale about grief, something human and universal.”

“Three Raps on the Buoy” is available for free alongside all other episodes on all major audio platforms, as well as directly through the Tales from Beyond the Pale website.

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Larry Fessenden—founder of the downtown production outfit Glass Eye Pix, and the city’s reigning maestro of uncompromising, fiercely independent genre fare—returns to Scary Movies for a 25th anniversary celebration of the landmark 2001 chiller that might be his most influential work to date. Erik Per Sullivan stars as Miles, the watchful 10-year-old son of photographer George (Jake Weber) and therapist Kim (Patricia Clarkson), whose life is irrevocably altered in the course of a snowbound upstate vacation. Driving through icy woods to a borrowed cabin, the close-knit family of Manhattanites are rattled when their car hits and injures a deer, attracting the ire of three local hunters who’d been tracking it for sport and profit. As his parents struggle to establish a fragile peace with their disgruntled neighbors, young Miles takes an interest in the story of the Wendigo, a voracious shapeshifter from Native American mythology. This sequence of events sets the stage for a formative encounter with vengeful nature and the elemental—yet indelibly human—mechanics of violence, unfolding across a wintry Catskills landscape that Fessenden’s 16mm camerawork infuses with an otherworldly glow. An IFC Films release. 4K restoration from the original 16mm camera negative by Vinegar Syndrome. Anniversary screening co-presented by Hollywood Entertainment.

I have always had a thing for maritime spookiness (see: Trawler), and I’d wanted for some time to write a pandemic-set piece about open-water swimming. Swimming was one of the things that got me through lockdown. On a small rocky beach in Howth, I would swim out to the buoy and rap my knuckles against it, in memory of loved ones now gone.

Three Raps on the Buoy grew out of those swims, but also out of my friendship and ongoing collaboration with Declan Reynolds (The Restoration at Grayson Manor). On the cover of the script, we say that the Tale is dedicated to the memory of our fathers, Patsy and Charlie, who were both taken from us too early and in tragic circumstances. That became increasingly important to us as the piece developed. Beneath the darkness, this is really a story about grief, and about the shapes it can take when we carry it for too long. So this one is for the Dads, and those that miss them.

The production also became something of a reunion for me. I got to work with my I Sell the Dead pal Ron Perlman again, and to reunite with sound designer John Moros, who absolutely kills it here. John has thrown himself into this Tale with an extraordinary amount of care and invention. He has followed the direction on the page to a T, while constantly finding ways to make the world richer, and more tactile. John has given it everything, right down to having me in his pool splashing about to capture the water we needed.

And, of course, I got to work with Declan, this time as both story collaborator and performer. Larry suggested bringing Ashley Bell into the mix, which was a wonderful idea. Ashley came aboard as Lauren and brought a warmth to the role that gave us an emotional dimension that I hadn’t quite anticipated.

Working with actors, and playing alongside them, is the best job in the world. There is something so genuinely good about a group of people committing themselves to the same imagined world and seeing where it takes us.

Ron, Declan and Ashley, thanks for swimming in this ocean with me, where the waters were never the same twice. “Always in flux.”

A big thank you my Pale Brother Larry Fessenden for steering the ship along with Jordan Gass-Poore’ and Rigo Garay, and to Lee Nussbaum, who lent a hand at every step of the journey, from the earliest days of  the piece right through to the finish line. His support, patience and good instincts are woven into this one too. 

Glenn McQuaid

Top: John Moros records McQuaid • Middle: Perlman, Reynolds, Bell • Bottom: McQuaid at Monkeyland

Listen to THREE RAPS ON THE BUOY

Satan Hates You On blu-ray

THR: Ojai Playhouse Launches ‘Left Turn,’ a Free Indie Film Showcase Featuring ‘Our Hero, Balthazar,’ ‘Crumb Catcher’ and More

‘$Positions,’ ‘Our Hero, Balthazar,’ ‘Fucktoys,’ ‘Situations’ and ‘The Napa Boys’ are among the movies on the lineup, which will be followed by live Q&As with participating filmmakers.

Following the recent success of independent films like Obsession and Backrooms, Ojai Playhouse is launching Left Turn, a new programming series aimed at spotlighting emerging independent filmmakers, The Hollywood Reporter can reveal.

The inaugural event, set for Aug. 8, is a free one-day showcase featuring screenings of independent releases followed by live Q&As with participating filmmakers. It will take place at Ojai Playhouse, one of California’s oldest independent theaters. Built in 1914, the venue is among the state’s first single-screen cinemas.

The lineup includes $Positions, Our Hero, Balthazar, Fucktoys, Situations, The Napa Boys and Crumb Catcher, the latter of which earned a spot on THR’s list of the best horror movies of 2024. Making their Ojai debuts are Crumb Catcher, Situations and Our Hero, Balthazar. Journalist Daniel Spielberger (NBC News, Esquire) will moderate each filmmaker discussion.

“Thrilled to host this eclectic lineup and welcome the filmmakers and fans of indie cinema to the Ojai Playhouse,” theater owner and programmer David Berger said in a statement.

Creative branding consultant and designer Harrison Neef, added: “The visual direction for Left Turn was heavily inspired by drive-in movie nights and the feeling of community around sharing cinema as a culture and pastime. Playing on bright colors and DIY-collage style image compositions, we’ve pulled from the nostalgia of yesterday to highlight the films of tomorrow.”

Get your tickets HERE

featured in the 24 hour movie marathon, GEP titles
The Roost
The House Of The Devil
Late Phases

Join us in celebrating the works of the late Tom Noonan at Paradise Factory in NYC
(founded by Noonan in 1983) for a 24-Hour Retrospective Screening.

featuring Glass Eye titles THE ROOST, LATE PHASES, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL

Marathon begins TOMORROW at 11AM, continues all through the night!
Tickets available at paradisefactory.org or at the door.

Paradise Factory Theater
64 East 4th Street, NYC

From Rue-Morgue
By MICHAEL GINGOLD

Faith can be a dangerous thing in the new movie by ALONE WITH YOU’s Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks.

Dark Sky Films has announced that it will release BLOOD SHINE to theaters and on digital platforms August 21. Written and directed by Bennett, who also stars, and Brooks, it also features David Call (DEPRAVED), Brendan Sexton III, genre filmmaker/mogul Larry Fessenden (who discusses the film here), Toby Poser (MOTHER OF FLIES, HELLBENDER), Kyle Minshew and Maurice P. Kerry. The synopsis: “Set in a desolate expanse of upstate New York, BLOOD SHINE centers around Clara [Bennett], a religious zealot who worships light in lonely, sacred rituals. When problematic horror director Brighton West [Call] travels upstate to finish the screenplay for his next film, a chance encounter with Clara leads him into a hallucinatory web of faith, flesh, and the sublime.”

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