37 Days of Nightmare

By now you know Forbidden Planet is a proud sponsor of Nightmare: Ghost Stories, NYC's most horrifying haunted house. My slant on this partnership is this: I'm real jazzed about this, baby! The amount of time, creativity, and detailed hard work the Nightmare folks is simply awe-inspiring. It's conveniently located in the Lower East Side, a short 20 minute-ish walk from the store. And in NYC, city of billions of things to do and see, this is a seasonal stand out by all accounts.

You can't tell there's a reason not to love this time of year; the weather, baseball post-season, and most of all -- Halloween. That's right. I wrote "Halloween". Where the hell did September go? Time to get those costumes made or bought, kids. Heed my words: the time to get this settled is now! Working three blocks away from the Halloween store I've witnessed, and am doing my small part to avert, the utter chaos the neighborhhod erupts into as the 31st draws closer. The two to three hour line just to get into the joint from, like, the 27th onward just boggles the mind. Did soooo many people not see this coming?

Here's where I'm going with this: The time to check out Nightmare is now, soon, today, early, ASAP, and any other modifier of imminence you'd like to add. The venue's huge, but it's gonna sell out often. And as more and more peops get in the swing of the season it's only gonna get hairier. I'd love to fill it up with FP customers, too. Knowing that, why not join us next Thursday for Forbidden Planet Night? I'll see ya there.

Also! Here's a good book to warm yourself up to the season:

30 Days of Night - by Steve Niles (w) and Ben Templesmith (a). The movie adaptation of this recent classic graphic novel finally releases on October 19th, so make sure you can dismiss or praise it based on your having read and enjoyed the book first.

This week's Hugo winning book and featured SF recommendation?

The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester - In the year 2301, guns are only museum pieces and benign telepaths sweep the minds of the populace to detect crimes before they happen. Ben Reich plans to commit a crime that hasn't been heard of in 70 years: murder. That's the only option left for Reich, whose company is losing a 10-year death struggle with rival D'Courtney Enterprises. Terrorized in his dreams by The Man With No Face and driven to the edge after D'Courtney refuses a merger offer, Reich murders his rival and bribes a high-ranking telepath to help him cover his tracks. But while police prefect Lincoln Powell knows Reich is guilty, his telepath's knowledge is a far cry from admissible evidence. Deftly crafted by Bester, this intelligent and suspenseful book was a favorite of mine when I was a kid, and I relish the chance to be reading this again. Also, I was recently recommended the author's short stories, and have picked up the collection Virtual Unrealities. Enjoy.

JEFF