2008 Rondo Awards are in.

Well if you didn't figure it out my my complete lack of screaming and strutting I didn't get a Rondo. But that's OK this is one of the awards that it truly is enough to be honoured with a nomination. But that does mean I'm NOT doing the 100 ways to kill yourself post.

Congratulations to all the well deserving winners and to fellow LOTTD members Max Cheney (Drunken Severed Head Blog) who took runner up, and Brian Solomon (Vault of Horror) and Stacie Ponder(Final Girl) who scored honourable mentions in the Best Blog catagory. Here is the Official Rondo Press release:

Barbie tops Creature in Rondo model showdown

Rue Morgue takes four Rondos; Twilight Zone is Best Book;

Rich Koz as Svengoolie is voted favorite horror host;

Tim Lucas is Best Writer; Basil Gogos is Best Artist;

Ackerman's caregiver Joe Moe is named Monster Kid of Year

MARCH 24, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

By David Colton
CHFB News

ARLINGTON, VA -- Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, TV's The Munsters and Ray Harryhausen's
7th Voyage of Sinbad were all winners Monday in the Seventh Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror
Awards, which also honored the man who cared for sci-fi legend Forrest J Ackerman in the final
years of his life.

But the biggest surprise came when a special "Hitchcock" edition of Barbie, dressed like
Tippi Hedren and swarmed by miniature crows from The Birds, topped the Creature from the Black
Lagoon in a showdown for Best Model, Toy or Collectible.

Not only did the 50-year-old doll from Mattel beat out the green-scaled Creature, but she outclassed
models from The Exorcist, Invasion of the Saucermen and even an action figure of Rondo Hatton himself,
the obscure 1940s horror actor who inspired the fan awards.

The Rondos are an annual celebration of the vintage monsters who sparked almost a century of horror films
and sequels. The worldwide online survey by the Classic Horror Film Board, a 14-year old online community, is
the largest in the genre and drew a record 2,932 emailed votes.

Beyond Barbie's latest triumph, winners Monday ranged from the modern -- The Dark Knight was
voted best film of 2008, the BBC's Doctor Who was favorite television show -- to classic horrors from the past:

-- A new edition of the 1960 film, Psycho, was voted Best Classic Horror DVD.
-- A collection of Harryhausen's 1950s science fiction films, including a colorized Earth vs. the Flying Saucers,
was named Best DVD Collection, and the collected episodes of The Munsters was the favorite TV collection.
-- The painstaking reconstruction of Carl Dreyer's atmospheric 1932 chiller, Vampyr, was voted Best
Restoration.

The most emotional moments came when it was announced in an online ceremony that a Los Angeles
producer, Joe Moe, had been named "Monster Kid of the Year,'' for his long years serving as a friend and
caregiver for horror and science fiction collector Ackerman. The founder of Famous Monsters of Filmland
magazine, Ackerman died this year at the age of 92.

"For his quiet, constant and unwavering stewardship of Forrest J Ackerman's final decade of life,'' the
Rondo citation reads, "Joe Moe revealed not only the man behind Mr. Monster, but the grace and
strength of the ultimate fan. For being there when we all couldn't, Joe Moe is Monster Kid of the Year.''

Moe, contacted by phone during the event, said, "If ever there was a time when I needed my monster
family, it's now. Thank you so much for validating the work I tried to do in a fashion that would make
all of you proud. I tried not to cry for Forry but now that he's gone, this honor from you, my pals, has me
in tears. Thank you so much."

Other winners included:

-- Best DVD Extra: "One for the Fire,'' a documentary about the making of Night of the Living Dead.
-- Best DVD Commentary: Makeup master Rick Baker, Bob Burns, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman and
Brent Armstrong for The Mummy (1932).
-- Best Documentary: Spine-Tingler: The William Castle Story.
-- Book of the Year: The Twilight Zone by Martin Grams.
-- Best Magazine: Rue Morgue.
-- Best Article: "Coffin Joe Resurrected,'' a look at the legendary Brazilian filmmaker Jose Mojica Marins,
by Scott Gabbey and Jovanka Vuckovic in Rue Morgue.
-- Best Magazine Cover: Rue Morgue #83, a portrait of Ackerman by longtime Famous Monsters artist
Basil Gogos.
-- Best Website: Trailers from Hell.
-- Best Blog: Video Watchblog.

-- Convention of the Year: WonderFest in Louisville.
-- Fan Event of the Year: World Zombie Day.
-- Favorite Horror Host: Svengoolie, played by Rich Koz, in Chicago.
-- Best Horror Audio Site: Rue Morgue Radio.
-- CD of the Year: Soundtrack of The Blob by Monstrous Movie Music.
-- Best Horror Comic Book: Hellboy: In the Chapel of Moloch, by Mike Mignola.
-- Biggest controversy: An L.A. fan's disputed claim he had once examined the long-lost Lon Chaney
film, London After Midnight.

-- Writer of the Year: Tim Lucas, author and editor of Video Watchdog
-- Artist of the Year: Basil Gogos.
-- Favorite DVD Reviewer: Glenn Erickson of DVD Savant.
-- Vasaria Public Citizen Award: Cameron McCasland and Creature Cinema for public service announcements
by Nashville's Dr. Gangrene and Nurse Moan-Eek.

-- Monster Kid Hall of Fame inductees: European horror actor Paul Naschy, Jim and Marian Clatterbaugh of
Monsters from the Vault magazine, painter Ken Kelly, the late Calvin Beck, founder of Castle of Frankenstein
magazine, the late Lux Interior, lead singer for punk band The Cramps and an influence on the psychobilly
horror rock movement, and the late Bob Wilkins, original host of San Francisco's Creature Features.

Many of the Rondo winners will receive Rondo busts, sculpted by Kerry Gammill and cast by Tim Lindsey,
at the Wonderfest convention in Louisville on May 16.

Further information, including runners-up and all the nominees, can be found at rondoaward.com

Battlestar Galactica: It has happened all before (answers revealed)

Blog Macabre going sci-fi??? well we'll indulge just this once shall we. So The New Battlestar Galactica has come to an end and fans are in a divided tizzy. Did the ending suck or was it epic, was it a bold conclusion to a bold series or was it a cop out just to try and tie up as many loose ends as they could? Well folks the greatest surprise of all is that BSG (as it has become known) was actually just another of the multitudes of unique incarnations of the Douglas Adams epic The Hitchhikers' guide to the Galaxy. Although much of the story from day one was a dramatic departure from Adams' tale, the writers finally played their hand and revealed in the final episode that this was indeed the case. It had happened all before in fact it happened first in 1979 with the BBC radio series and then the books in which apparently no two publishing's are alike, the 1981 TV series, a later DC comic book adaptation and a multimillion dollar Hollywood flop. In fact the greater the BSG story strayed from the source the more consistent with the HHG omnibus the show became until the final culmination of events where the cast finally arrive at Earth mark2 to start all over again.

With this secret now revealed with the series finale, fans can now look to Adams' works to fill in the gaps that the BSG writers left with somewhat unsatisfactory conclusions...

What of Kara's final fate?
As it turns out, she is inexplicably reunited with the Cylons at a chance meeting at the restaurant at the end of the universe.

What's with Hera? All that for a postscript about being the mitochondrial Eve?
Well there is a bit more to it than that, but that is the gist of it. It would seem that being the last offspring of both the colonists and the Cylons, locked in her primitive brain was the question to the answer of life the universe and everything that the mice wanted so dearly And by mice I mean the pan dimensional beings or "angels" represented by Head Baltar and Head Six.

What of all the dream sequences at the opera house leading up to a rather pedestrian conclusion in reality?
The simplest answer here is that it all took place when the series reached an improbability factor of 2*310888005:1 against which interestingly is Tom Desanto's phone number in Hollywood.

What happened to the Centurions?
Their home planet and in fact their entire solar system was destroyed at the conclusion of a Disaster Area concert which was the first and coincidentally last stop on their short lived "Ultimate Armageddon"tour.

Who was God? why did he hate being called that? and was it the Cylon God or the Human God?
We know they are now colonizing earth mark2 created by the Magratheans commissioned by the mice/angels/pan dimensional beings/the colour blue and designed by the semi-omniscient computer Deep Thought (the Cylon god it would seem). Problem solved.

So there you have it fans, until the next time (and the one after that, and the one following that...)
Gary D. Macabre

Attention Goths and EMO kids

What the hell I may as well do some shameless self promotion for the Rondo Award: best blog category myself. So I'm appealing to the Teenage Goth and EMO kid demographic here. (Hey you guys won Rob Zombie a Rondo for best picture last year after all, right!)

So if you think your life sucks and nobody understands you, you hate them all and would rather go somewhere dark and be alone with other freaks and vamps like yourselves, even if that does contradict the whole concept of alone, who cares the critics can just go to hell anyway, or you're not worthy of existence and want some recognition while your here to bemoan it before skagging yourself (or at least making it look like you're trying to), well then this blog is for you.

So go to the rondo site and mail in your ballot and vote Blogue Macabre for best blog so we can all rule together for one day. Well actualy I'll have a Rondo Award so I won't suck quite so much, but hey, that just legitimises your selfloathing a bit more now doesn't it.

And if I win I promise I'll post Gary D Macabre's top 100 ways to kill yourself and make someone else's life really suck in the process.

Rondo Awards: voting ends tonight!

So do your part and get your ballot in before midnight tonight if you haven't already done so!!!

Oh yeah, and any support for the Blogue and/or theFrankensteinMonster.com (aka the Many Faces of the Frankenstein Monster) is much appreciated, without harping on it like some blogers (Max, elbow,elbow, poke with a stick).

And I Strongly urge you all to vote for Billy Van, genius behind Hilarious House of Frightenstein for the Horror hall of Fame.

Unead or Alive: a Zombie Western Comedy...no really

OK first up, I make no bones about it this blog isn't about movie reviews, and that's not going to change any time soon. I will however discus films in a casual manner without the pretense of actually reviewing it. If you can grasp the difference then we'll continue, if you can't I don't want to hear about it.

So here we are with a Zombie/Western that actually uses the word "zombedy" in it's promotional material. Man this is looking bleak from the get go. As a matter of fact I tossed it back in the two-for-five-dollar bin a couple of times. But alas the allure of some zombie busting carnage with lever action rifles was just too strong and I finally caved. Fortunately I was in the mood for a really bad movie and I had little preconception of this being anything but, so all risk of disappointment and an hour and a half of my life safely socked away in the bottom of the dirty laundry hamper, I settled in with a plate of nachos and my own trusty Winchester '94 at my side ( Don't worry the ammo however was still safely locked away elsewhere, after all if it truly was worse than even I expected, I couldn't risk pulling an Elvis on my 50").

To my pleasant surprise this film was actually conceived with some intriguing and enjoyable premises. The origin of the wild west zombie being attributed to a native Indian curse on the white man I actually really like, some great ideas on how zombie cannibalism would be treated and dealt with by an ignorant town and the application of typical "wild west justice", and even a great little "betcha didn't see that coming" ending. Sadly however the few gems there in never made it past the screenplay writer, the director or the lamentable acting. Even my thirst and enthusiasm for the much anticipated and oh so inevitable zombies vs. .30-30 romp was left largely unsatisfied, rather like having a glass of nice cold Coke on a hot day only to find it has gone flat in the fridge. As for the comedy, well I think that SNL hit it's low point through the late 90's, and actor Chris Kattan... well lets just say "A Night at the Roxbury, Corky Romano, House on Haunted Hill, ..."

There was enough to like in this film to be worth the $2.50 it cost to purchase, and maybe even enough to justify the 91 minutes lost on it (92 minutes might be pushing it). But that said you have to be sold on the premise of Zombie Western/ weak comedy because if you can't take that into a viewing your in for a world of hurt.

G. Macabre

Zombie carnage for desk Jockies

For all you poor schmoes who have to sit on your tookas' all day behind a computer screen making the big bucks, here's a link that should make your day go by just a bit better.
De-Animator Game

And for those of you who aren't afraid of the boss walking in on you check this one out.
Survive the outbreak

bringing the macabre into your home since 1888

Oh how I love National Geographic. Best known for their astounding wildlife and nature photography, the National Geographic Magazine has been publishing equally impressive images of the macabre for every bit as long. Although the brilliant colour photography wasn't the norm until the 20th century, tales of the Mummies of Egypt and sketches and later black and white images of places like Mexico's Aztec temples with their great bizarre carvings thrilled readers from the onset. One of my earliest and most vivid impressions of National Geographic was of the petrified bodies of Mt. Vesuvius. The remains of actual people trapped in their last moments of life in fear and terror, gasping for breath as they appeared to be turned to stone as from a mythical Gorgon. Mummified remains, grotesque skeletons draped in fine robes, ritualistic burials and sacrifices, it's ALL HERE! and if that weren't enough for you during the later periods of the 20th century photographers ventured into the world's most deadly and hostile locations and brought back bloody and graphic images from places like Cambodia. Disturbing images of slain bodies and even stills of the Khmer Rouge posing with human remains or actually butchering humans like cattle or worse.

Now don't think this was simply a thing of the past, the new eco-aware National Geographic isn't going to let readers down either. February's issue contains some truly beautiful images in an article on the Mummies of Palermo Italy and recently the NationalGeographic.com has a short quip about a a recently found skull of whom locals had believed to be a Vampire (when vampires brought death and pestilence, not drank blood) found near Venice (man I've got to visit Spain/Italy someday). link.

Also head over to KinderTrauma for a reader's recent traumafession about National Geographic and his childhood.

G. Macabre

100 things to do with a corpse

Use #35: Torso throw pillows



These cheerful and practical accents will bring a cozy/creepy feel to any room. Their durable leathery texture will see that they provide you many years of enjoyment. We created these delightful and artistic pieces from a pair of transients that we found in the shed out back. This scrawny underfed pair were perfect candidates for this craft. It's important that there is as little body fat on the torso as possible prior to stuffing, as excessive fatty tissues can putrefy, negatively effecting their delightful and whimsical charm. But remember to save that fat in a jam can for future crafty projects like candles and soaps.

Reminder : FJA tribute today

Just a simple reminder for those who may be able to attend. Uncle Forry's memorial tribute is 3:00pm local time, today(March 8th) at the Egyptian theatre in Hollywood. I wish I could attend, but my portal to the land of the living is too far and remote for that to be a possibility.

A shout out from the darkness of here after

Greetings and Condolences. As I sit on the banks of the mighty Styx in silence, hearing the ripples of life and time wash on the rocks of the shore, I look out and see the fragments of an old memory trapped, swirling in an eddy in the middle of the current. Just upstream snagged in the weeds and strainers of the near bank; the bank of the living, there is an accumulation of scraps of dreams unrealized, of loves unrequited and goals unfulfilled. While this is a peaceful and somber spot we the dead still hear the silent footsteps of the living that curiously approach the great river, and see the footprints that they leave in the soft mud. While guests to the Blogue seldom seem to pass comment, their presence is none the less noted, and appreciated.

I was just cruising the Blogue's stats counter, and I thought it worth giving a shout out to to the living who have ventured this way from some unusual lands of their own.

To the tour group from iceclan.com that passed through mid February I say battle on friends and stay warm.

To those who have found there way here from the mysterious portal at Gothic Rose Antiques and Scarlet the talking Macaw, and his/her mysterious mistress who placed the portal there to begin with.

The folks at Horror Blips, that were quite literally that , a brief blip on my radar, but thanks for the mention all the same.

The good folks at the Horror Web blog as well.

Our celebrity visit of Dr. Gangrene who apparently hoped to go un-noticed likely while on Rondo ballot tour.

The deluge of people doing google image searches from Denmark and the UK, hope you found what you were looking for.

To the Lady who googled "100 things to do with plants" I hope she's not too disturbed and will recover in time with therapy.

To the guy who googled "worlds greatest dad" I hope your not taking my advice.

The person Looking for the Virginia Mayo Political Rally, man did you take the wrong turn.

The guys asking google" is aborgast jewish" I have no idea, It's not my business, why don't you ask him yourself.

The the guy or gal in Dundas Ontario with the average time on site of 5.08 min and multiple hits, wow a masochist if there ever was one, but it's appreciated just the same.

Could one of my UK readers (the guy in Wallington perhaps) please check on the guy in Swansea who was logged in for an astonishing 21 minutes and make sure they're still breathing?

Props to my readers in Paris, Belo Horizonte Brazil, Rome Italy (now wouldn't that be cool is the Pope was checking out the land of the Macabre), Copenhagen Denmark ( man I get a lot of good hits from Denmark) Auckland NewZealand, Debrecen Hungary, and Singapore.

To my fellow traveller in Sahuayo Mexico, I really need some of those sugar skulls, can you set me up?

Hey Cancun, I really appreciate the visit and a killer 28 minute Blogue Macabre marathon way to go!!! Seriously now, you've got killer beaches and tropical weather, what are you doing on the banks of the Styx? A cold foggy day in Swansea perhaps, but Cancun?

And my fellow fans of dark places who wander in the US, I ask what's up with North Dakota? the only State I have yet to get a hit from?

The most staggering statistic is that my Public Service Announcement:Making your Zombie Plan has recieved over 1600 views since I posted it last May.

So yes while the living may indeed tread silently amongst the dead, your footseps are well noted.
G. Macabre

Watch out for Morlocks

OK I admit it I slipped up on a previous commitment I made back in December, but that's OK I'm using my time machine to correct that oversight (and why the hell is post being underlined, and how do I stop it?) Anyway go back by following this link to the post I made today on February the 26.

the Time Machine of the Macabre

Moment of Horror #5

While there are many great moment's in horror and this segment is not intended as a top 10 list, or to represent rankings in anyway whatsoever, I felt I couldn't go another installment without including what is quite possibly one of the greatest scenes in the history of film, horror or otherwise:

The shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.

In an era where colour was the proud domain of the cinema and the mundane black and white pictures were relegated to the pedestrian invention the television, Hitchcock took his television crew and the stock of black and white film and shot what I believe is the penultimate Horror/Thriller of all time. The audacity to brutally slay your leading lady not even midway through the film would surely be enough to make a mark on cinema history, but it was the details in how Alfred Hitchcock, the master that he was, chose to do this which shook the cinema going world. With powerful imagery, intense emotional acting and skillful edits, the master didn't show the audience one tenth of what every cinema goer saw. The implied nudity, graphic violence and brutality that never existed on screen, just in the viewer's minds, provoked the censors to give the film an X rating until they were petitioned to further review it. The psychological and emotional effects on the audiences of the time were unheard of and widespread. Alfred Hitchcock with a great actress, a sound idea and a can of chocolate syrup managed what grindhouse bloodfests, slasher flicks and modern torture porn aspire to achieve and seldom accomplish.

I will never do a Post Mortem on this scene for the sure futility it would be.

Gary Macabre

From the files of the Depraved, Grotesque and Macabre

OK It's been brought to my attention that the Blogue Macabre has been lacking in truly macabre content. (although the on going 100 things to do with a corpse does fill the bill to some extent). Any way this past summer I was writing a bit based on some rather macabre current events that occurred up in the north country in which a disturbed whack-job, Vince Wieguang Li, boarded a Greyhound bus and proceeded to kill another passenger and then proceed to behead his corpse. I was actually writing from the angle of what is it about decapitation that disturbs our societal sensibilities more than the simple explicit act of brutal murder, after all once dead the corpse rarely complains. Well lacking a degree in either psychology and/or anthropology I decided to drop the entry. But Damn it this story just keeps getting more bizarre. The whack-job in question is now in court and the details of the incident as they come to light are far more grotesque than were originally reported, elevating Li to the ranks of Geoffery Dhamer or Ed Gein.

Sun columnist Tom Brodbeck has summed up excerpts from the court records esentialy making the first comprehensive wiki on history's most recent psychopath. So for those of you who want disturbing read on, but remember you've been warned.

Now in respect to Mr. Brodbeck, the following is his article, however I am making one minor alteration to his piece, for which if he objects, he is welcome inform me, but I am removing the abbreviative title "Mr." from usage in reference to Vince Li, as it denotes a degree of respect that I will not bestow him.

The story of Vince Li

The following are excerpts from the agreed statement of facts for the trial of Vince Weiguang Li.
This information, filed in court, is extremely disturbing and may not be suitable for all readers.
However, it is now public record and forms part of a very important aspect of this case. Reader discretion is strongly advised.




Vince Weiguang Li was born in Dandong China on 30 April, 1968. He graduated from the University of Wuhan Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science (Computers) in 1992. Li immigrated to Canada in 2001, and became a citizen in 2005. He graduated from CDI College (Computer Programming) in 2002.

He was divorced from his wife Ana in 2006. During his time in Canada, he held a number of menial jobs including caretaking in a church, assistant manager at McDonalds, sales assistant in the parts department at Canadian Tire, and newspaper carrier. He was unable to obtain employment in his field, and had periods of unemployment, although at other times held two jobs at the same time.

Li had few friends, those he had describe him as having mental problems, but never knew him to be violent.

At approximately 12:30 am on Tuesday, 29 July 2008, Li boarded a Greyhound bus in Edmonton, Alberta heading to Thunder Bay, via Winnipeg. He purchased his ticket under the name of Wong Pent. He did not notify his ex-wife that he was leaving, nor what his destination was. He did leave her a note stating: “I’m gone, don’t look for me, I wish you were happy.”

Li got off the bus in Erickson, Manitoba at 5:55 pm on 29 July 2008, although the bus driver tried to advise him that it was not his stop. There was insufficient time to re-issue his ticket, as per the statement of bus driver Patrick Delbridge, attached as Appendix 2. He spent 24 hours in Erickson, as there is only one bus per day stopping in that community. During that time he disposed of most of his personal assets by either selling them or burning them.

At approximately 12:30 am on Wednesday, 30 July 2008, Tim McLean (born 03 October 1985) boarded Greyhound bus 1170 in Edmonton, Alberta, to return home to Winnipeg at the conclusion of summer employment on the carnival circuit.

Li boarded Greyhound bus 1170 for Winnipeg on 30 July 2008 at 5:55 pm at Erickson, Manitoba.

Tim McLean and Vince Li were not known to each other. They did not appear to have any interaction with each other on board the bus or at any of the scheduled bus stops.

Tim McLean got off the bus for a cigarette break, between Brandon and Portage la Prairie. After he returned to his seat, Li moved to the back of the bus and sat beside Tim McLean. The two did not appear to converse.

At approximately 8:30 pm on Wednesday, 30 July 2008, when Greyhound bus 1170 was approximately 18 kilometers west of Portage la Prairie on the TransCanada Highway, Li began to repeatedly stab Tim McLean, for no apparent reason.

Tim McLean struggled and tried to escape, as evidenced by a number of defensive wounds. He was unsuccessful and eventually either fell or was thrown to the floor of the bus. Due to his location at the back of the bus and adjacent to a window, the seats ahead of him were a barrier to escape.

Li was pre-occupied with Tim McLean, and continued to stab him as he lay on the floor. He did not pay any attention to the other passengers as the bus was vacated. He appeared oblivious to the demands of bus driver Bruce Martin that he stop what he was doing. Several persons indicate that after everyone had vacated the bus, Li came to the front of the bus and tried to exit. The bus driver was able to close the door on Li’s arm, with the bloody knife extended outside of the bus.

Li was able to pull his arm back into the bus, and returned to the rear of the bus, where he defiled the body of Tim McLean. Mr. Martin immediately called 911, once everyone was safely off his bus, and the bus door was closed.

As Greyhound bus 1170 pulled onto the shoulder, Bernie Scyrup, driver of a second Greyhound bus that was following Greyhound bus 1170 to carry the passenger overload, realized that there was something unusual in the fashion that Mr. Martin pulled over and stopped his bus. Mr. Scyrup stopped his bus on the shoulder in front of Greyhound bus 1170.

Mr. Scyrup attended to Greyhound bus 1170, and observed that Li was at the back of the bus. Mr. Scyrup entered the bus and called out to Li, as Li continued to stab the body of Tim McLean. Li responded by stating “get emergency.”
As Li repeatedly looked at Mr. Scyrup, Mr. Scyrup realized that Li was severing the head of Tim McLean. Mr. Scyrup got off the bus, as he realized that Tim McLean was dead and could not be helped.

Li attended to the front of the bus, holding the severed head of Tim McLean in one hand and a black-handled knife in the other hand. He motioned that he wished to be let off the bus. The door to the bus was not opened, and was barricaded or protected by a truck driver who pulled over to assist, and was armed with a snipe bar. Upon RCMP arrival, a police vehicle was parked against the doors to the bus, to prevent Li from exiting.

At one point Li looked at the controls, and witnesses believed he was trying to start the bus. Rather, Li was trying to open the door so that he could exit the bus. Mr. Scyrup cut the power to the bus. Li threw the head of Tim McLean into the stairwell and then returned to the back of the bus and continued to mutilate the body of Tim McLean.

(RCMP) Cpl. Harder attempted to communicate with Li, and asked him to drop the knife out of a small window located in the bathroom at the rear of the bus. Li’s only response was some unintelligible words, plus words to the effect that he had to stay on the bus forever. As the officers watched, Li continued to mutilate both the body and the head/face of Tim McLean, using both a buck knife and a pair of scissors.

Various officers noted that he continued to mutilate the body and head of Tim McLean. Cst. Brown and Cpl. G. Smith noted that Li appeared to smell, and then eat parts of Tim McLean’s flesh. He also appeared to lick blood from his fingers and hands. Li also continued to carry Tim McLean’s internal organs and various body parts throughout the bus, later returning to bag them in white plastic garbage bags. He also carried the head of Tim McLean from time to time.

At approximately 1:20 am on 31 July 2008, Li broke open a window on the bus, threw out some personal belongings, a knife and a pair of scissors. He then jumped out of the bus, head first, landing on top of the knife. RCMP members immediately tried to apprehend him. He was struggling, screaming, and refused to surrender his hands. Police stunned him with a Taser on several occasions before he surrendered his hands and could be handcuffed and taken to a police vehicle.

Found in Li’s pants pocket was a plastic bag containing Tim McLean’s ear, nose, and tongue.

Li was formally arrested.

Li was taken to the Portage General Hospital for treatment regarding a gash on his right hand and a cut to his head behind his right ear.

A variety of Tim McLean’s body parts and organs were found throughout the bus.

The tip of the blade was located in the skull of Tim McLean in the forehead area just above the inner aspect of the right eyebrow.

The autopsy reveals that the cause of death of Tim McLean was multiple stab wounds.

The body of Tim McLean showed evidence of damage in excess of 100 areas, ranging from abrasions to a large gaping wound of the chest.

The eyes were missing and not recovered.

The internal organs were recovered, in plastic bags, in 4 separate areas of the bus.

Dr. Littman, the pathologist, estimates that one third of the heart of Tim McLean was never recovered and it is presumed that Li ate it. Further, Tim McLean’s eyes were never recovered, and also are presumed to have been eaten.

Li denies eating the flesh of Tim McLean.

Indeed a macabre tale of nonfiction. So as you go about your daily life with a comfortable degree of separation in your mind between the horror genre that we all enjoy so much and the physical reality in which you perceive yourself, think of this tale the next time you board that bus or subway car.

G. Macabre

OTR Tuesday

Well it's Tuesday once again my fellow wanders of dark places. Today's offering is from the well acclaimed radio series Suspense. I haven't spoke much of Suspense thus far so I guess now is as good a time as any.

Suspense aired on the CBS radio network from 1942 through to 1962 unlike other programs like Lights Out, Inner Sanctum or even the Shadow which established an identity and although there may have been a significant change in the host, casting or director, the series maintained that identity. Suspense during it's long run never really strived for that embossed trademark, rather their quality thriller based scripts with numerous Hollywood contemporary actors and actresses, and a revolving door of 10 different directors and as many as 15 different writers, always remained relevant and fresh for their audience. Not to say the show didn't have a feel of it's own with a distinct opening and few of the hosts using the nom de plume "the Man in Black", but its identity was more so marked by the fact it actually maintained a pretty consistent formula in the majority of it's episodes where an average individual such that the audience could relate were suddenly immersed in a bizarre, terrifying or mysterious situation, with the solution remaining obscure until the very end.

The Radio series survived through the novelty of television which all but erased numerous radio programs from existence. Ironically the radio series actually spun of it's own television program which it outlived as the television series only ran from 1949-1954 with a brief revival in 1962.

So here is today's offering:

Suspense: The thing in the window

(Linked from OTR.net)