How do you make it rain in August in Oklahoma? Easy. You buy a rack of ribs and charcoal and plan to fire up the grill. That’s what I did yesterday. It began raining within a few hours and has been raining since then, with a few short breaks. Oh well. It was too hot to stand over an open fire, anyway.

I have a couple of recommendations for you. The first is Tim Lebbon. Granted, I haven’t read nearly as much of Tim’s work as I should have, but I hope to fix that soon. I’m a sucker for British authors, anyway. Tim is the subject of my September interview for Horror World. The conversation with him was very entertaining and inspirational. Plus, we seem to have come to some of the same conclusions about what is scary and how age makes one a better writer. Be sure and read the interview when it’s posted.

The second recommendation isn’t so good. I recommend you avoid the remake of The Hills Have Eyes. There are some nice scenes here and there, and they stayed true to the story of the original, but … ugh. The scariest thing about the movie is that some screenwriter actually thought all those cliches would work one more time. For instance, as soon as it was stated that the hippie cum yuppie was a Democrat who didn’t believe in guns, we knew he would be the one forced to do most of the mutant killing. And then, at the end, when he’s “killed” the last mutant, he drops the shotgun beside the body. Holy crap. Did anyone NOT see it coming that the mutant wasn’t dead and that he’d pick up the gun and that the sympathetic little mutant girl would sacrifice herself for the father and his baby?

Then there’s Big Bob, the cop, or army guy, or whatever he was. He was supposed to be a gun nut on his way to California to establish a security business. His son seemed cut from the same cloth. However, neither of them could hit a barn when they had to fire their guns. When Big Bob was spinning around and firing blindly I was thinking, “Yeah, this is the guy I’d hire to do security.”

The original had some flaws, but it was at least innovative and so could be forgiven. While this remake was better than much of the Hollywood vomit we’re being served, it was a big ol’ disappointment to me after seeing it get rave reviews from many people at Shocklines and other horror boards. Fortunately, I bought the original at Horrorfind a few weeks ago, and got it signed by the lovely and gracious Dee Wallace Stone.

I watched Rosemary’s Baby last night. It was just the second time I’ve watched the flick. I had trouble staying awake this time. The VHS I have of the film has interviews with Roman Polanski and others after the movie. That’s when I did fall asleep. I spent all night in the recliner. I guess I must have just been in the mood for something with a little more action.