Editor Anthony Ferguson has compiled an outstanding collection of Australian stories that feature evil dolls and artificial humans. It includes my story “Regolith”, which was initially published in the excellent anthology Agog! Smashing Stories, edited by Cat Sparks back in 2004. That anthology is well-nigh impossible to get now, but the story remains a particular favourite of mine. I’m excited that it’s getting a second life in this particular context.

Devil Dolls and Duplicates in Australian Horror
Edited by Anthony Ferguson (Equilibrium Books, 2011)

Synopsis/Blurb:

Since time immemorial, men have dreamed of creating beings in their own image, and for almost as long they have endured nightmare visions of being overthrown by the beings they create.

Dolls and effigies have always been a staple in the horror fiction genre, for what could be more frightening than seeing that which is inanimate move of its own volition, or hearing words emanate from fleshless lips while staring into glassy, lifeless eyes?

Presented here for the first time are the collected ruminations on the theme of dolls and duplicates by some of the biggest names in Australian horror and science fiction. There are tales on reanimated corpses, beautiful gynoids, alien impostors, clones, golems, doppelgangers, and of course, dolls – effigies that exist to serve and protect, and others that want to mess with your head in the worst possible way.

Contents List:

• Marcus Clarke, “Human Repetends”
• Wynne Whiteford, “Automaton”
• Van Ikin, “And Eve Was Drawn from the Rib of Adam”
• Michael Wilding, “This is for You”
• Stephen Dedman, “A Single Shadow”
• Jason Franks, “The Third Sigil”
• Jay Caselberg, “Porcelain”
• Sean Williams, “The Girl Thing”
• Chuck McKenzie, “Confessions of a Pod Person”
• Lee Battersby, “The Divergence Tree”
• Rick Kennett, Excerpt from “In Quinn’s Paddock”
• Lucy Sussex, “La Sentinelle”
• Jason Nahrung, “Spare Parts”
• Robert Hood, “Regolith”
• Kaaron Warren, “Doll Money”
• Andrew J. McKiernan, “Calliope: A Steam Romance”
• Tracie McBride, “Last Chance to See”
• Martin Livings, “Blessed are the Dead that the Rain Falls Upon”
• B. Michael Radburn, “The Guardian”
• Daniel I. Russell, “Tricks, Mischief and Mayhem”
• Christopher Elston, “Hugo: Man of a Thousand Faces”

To order a copy of the book, go to the Equilibrium site.

Then there’s this one: a cautionary tale about leaving Chinese food in the fridge for too long:

Take Out (written and directed by Joe Douglass)

All up not a huge selection on which to build a tradition. So it’s good to see a new one getting thrown into the oven.

Happy End was once the home of the Friendly Oatmeal Factory, but is now a long-forgotten ghost town in the middle of nowhere—and an unintended stopover for six best friends who are about to discover the true meaning of terror (or so says the publicity). The Oatmeal Man is a comedy / horror film written by Jesse Gordon and directed by Sean Gordon for Pulsar Pictures. The movie has a tentative 2010 release date.

“Horror never tasted so good!”

Synopsis:

Six best friends decide to make an impulse trip to Las Vegas in the hopes of mending Santi and Annie’s dying relationship. When Clive decides to fake engine trouble so that Santi can “save the day,” his truck actually breaks down, stranding the group in the middle of a long-forgotten ghost town. But that’s only the start of their problems. There’s a high-fiber killer lurking in the shadows, and he’s got a maniacal recipe for terror. Can Clive and his friends survive the night? Or will they become just another breakfast topping?

First Teaser:

Official Trailer:

Behind-the-Scenes with the Cast:

• Cast: (in alphabetical order) Al Burke, Krisondra Daigneault, Moira Dennis, Claude Foster, Sean Gordon, Ann Gotti, Kaleo, John Karyus, Nicole Kunz, Sal Perales, and Donna Marie Sergi.

• Production Crew: (in alphabetical order) Richie Armstrong (Film Editor), Abbey Cardenas (Assistant Director), Diane Cardenas (Executive Producer), Desiree Chandler (Hair / Makeup), Carri Daigneault (Executive Producer), Colten Daigneault (Director of Photography), Tom Devlin 1313FX (Special Effects), Elektron, Aftershock (Unit Photography), Blake Funk (Sound Designer), Demitri Van Gelder (Sound Mixer), Jesse Gordon (Screenplay), Sean Gordon (Producer / Director), Orbit (Design Art), Team Triton (Visual Effects).

• Source: Sean Gordon; Official website; Facebook page; MySpace page
• Writing: Robert Hood  |   Research: Avery Guerra

Sebastian’s Voodoo (US-2008; short [4:23 min.]; dir. Joaquin Baldwin)

Synopsis:

A voodoo doll must find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death.

Official website

“For the longest time, I thought that the ‘Amelia’ chapter of Trilogy of Terror gave more background on the Zuni fetish. I have a distinct memory of seeing a movie/show on TV as a child where in one scene there was a doll on the ground as soldiers on horseback charge past. The scene eventually shows the doll sitting upright (or moving in some similar fashion). I was rather disappointed not to see this scene in Trilogy of Terror, which now makes me wonder: Did I imagine that scene, or was is some other movie.”

It has the quality of a Twilight Zone moment, but I must admit I have no recollection of the scene.

Can anyone out there identify it?