The Pale Men talk about the latest TALE to drop, “Game Night” which had been performed live at Lincoln Center’s Walter Read Theater on a double bill with “Who Killed Johnny Bernard” back in August of 2016 (!)

Fessenden: Hello Glenn, Congrats on getting Game Night done in time for a Shocktober release! What took so long….?

McQuaid: We had plans to get it out earlier with the launch of the podcast but it got delayed and then life got complicated and it ended up gathering a bit of dust. I’m glad we waited to release it though as it’s been a nice trip down memory lane and I think it holds up nicely.

Fessenden: What sort of adjustments did you make in post?

McQuaid: I sat with it for a while obviously so when I started post production on it I was in a completely different headspace and my instinct was to speed things up a bit, whereas on the night I had directed the actors to take things oddly slow. I like where it’s ended up, it’s got a stiffness to it that loosens up when things get strange and there’s some nice rhythmic edits happening throughout.

Fessenden: What tone were you going for? How did the piece come about?

McQuaid: The inspiration for Game Night really came from Terrence Fisher’s The Devil Rides Out. I wanted to have fun with a bunch of characters standing inside a protective magic circle as various demons try to trick them into thinking all is safe on the other side of the chalk. Also, there was a cartoon show based on Dungeons and Dragons that I absolutely adored when I was a kid and I think that had an influence on the tone, there’ something almost cartoonish about the piece, particularly with the character April (named after April Snellings). I think this might just be our first audio drama horror cartoon!

Fessenden: Lauren Ashley Carter does triple duty in the piece!

McQuaid: She is amazing and it was only in rehearsal that we decided to do that because I hadn’t cast anyone else for those roles yet. She was really excited by the challenge and it was wild seeing her switch so effortlessly between the different characters and great fun to revisit as I had forgotten the ins and outs of the thing.
The rest of the ensemble is quite charming: a lot of TALES regulars!
And all going by their real names. I wanted it to feel like these guys have been hanging out together since childhood and their goal when together is to always try to match the excitement of their formative experiences, and so we have four grown ass men who are acting like children, free of responsibility; free of maturity, and this is why they deserve the demonic bollocking they get, they’re brats.

Fessenden: I noticed you used the TALES theme for the ring-tone in the story. Wanna divulge what that used to be and why we changed it?

McQuaid: On the night of the performance we used the Murder She Wrote theme song because I am a huge fan of the show, and though it went over really well I felt it was a shame to, after so many Tales, risk infringing on copywrite, so I swapped it out with something we own.

Fessenden: You had a funny story about the last minute shift in the music on the night…

McQuaid: Prior to the performances I was using ambient drones to underscore the play but on the morning of the show I created a more exotic piece that alluded to a grander world outside of the men’s group; it hinted at the pleasures one might find if one were a demon. I was really excited to share it with you but when you heard it on the night you grumbled something about me going all “I Dream of Genie”, maybe I did! Tough crowd.

Fessenden: I must say the poster by Brian Level is particularly appealing: Very simple and iconic. Did you notice the label on the beer bottle: “Beyond Pale Ale.” Ha.

McQuaid: I really love the poster, done during the same sessions as Who Killed Johnny Bernhard and Reappraisal. Brian’s a wonderful artist and a great guy, also I think there’s actually a real bear named that.

Fessenden: Well Glenn, I think you mean “beer.” Nice to chat. I hope everyone will buy our collectable Collection of TALES scripts now available from amazon.

McQuaid: Here here!

Fessenden: And I hope everyone will tune in next week for another special Halloween treat from the Tales HQ.

visit the tales website !!

buy the new Tales Book !!

Episode #48  GAME NIGHT

Something is not quite right
for the fellas on Game Night…

Performed Live August 20, 2016 •  Poster by Brian Level

for more TALES physical media, info and Swag, visit
www.talesfrombeyondtheplae.com

The Brick presents
BrickFlix – Fever and The House of the Devil
with special guest Larry Fessenden
October 25 Doors 630pm

BrickFlix has resurrected just in time for Halloween!

We’re celebrating the return of BrickFlix with a hair-raising Halloween program, honoring indie horror auteur Larry Fessenden. There will be a classic Glass Eye Pix feature, a sneak preview of Larry’s spooky new short and vintage trailers from our secret weapon Gary Balaban.

Plus free ‘Depraved’ pizza from Two Boots and plenty of refreshments

First up, we will be treated to a program of vintage shorts from legendary cinefile and archivist Gary Balaban, then Larry Fessenden will introduce his latest short film Fever, “a mixture of spoken word narrative and disturbing images”  and we top it all off with one of the best horror films of the past 20 years, The House of the Devil, directed by Ti West.

Fever – directed by Larry Fessenden is a segment from Isolation – Nine tales of terror weave together the story of isolated citizens around the world as they confront their darkest fears in an attempt to survive an increasingly deadly outbreak.

visit THE BRICK for more INFO

Pre-order now and help put us on the map!

For lovers of horror fiction, script writing, radio plays, or anyone who might want to put on a show… Glass Eye Pix presents 9 chilling scripts written by genre stalwarts Larry Fessenden and Glenn McQuaid for their award-winning series Tales from Beyond the Pale: “Radio Plays for a Digital Age.”

In the tradition of short horror scripts penned for The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, these 9 startling yarns feature demons, ghosts, war criminals, a haunted vineyard, a mysterious hole, two car wrecks, a drunk ventriloquist and his wicked dummy, vampires, film critics, and Jesus on a dinosaur.

This substantial volume offers the scripts as originally formatted and includes commentary on the work and the genre by essayists (and collaborators) Michael Gingold (Fangoria Magazine), April Snellings (Rue Morgue Magazine), Kim Newman (“Ano Dracula”) and Clay McLeod Chapman (“Whisper Down the Lane”); The book includes full color posters by Gary Pullin, Trevor Denham, Brian Level and Ashley Thorpe as well as a gallery of stills from the productions. 

Since 2010, Tales from Beyond the Pale has been serving up lavishly produced half-hour audio dramas ranging in tone from the gently macabre to the genuinely gruesome. Produced and curated by filmmakers Fessenden (Depraved, The Last Winter, Habit) and McQuaid (I Sell the Dead, V/H/S), Tales has hosted numerous guest writers, directors and performers from the horror community.

Nearly 50 episodes are available at talesfrombeyondthepale.com or wherever you get your podcasts, with more on the way.

9 Tales From Beyond the Pale is an amazon “Book-on-demand” 8.5 x 11 paperbound volume with color posters and b&w photos.

Regular TALES collaborators speak with Fear 2000’s Craig Mann
“Riding the Scare Waves
A celebration of Tales From Beyond The Pale”

Stay tuned for More TALES announcements
and releases as befits the season…

Greetings Ghouls and Boys, ’tis the season to put on your favorite video wallpaper
 for when you are doing your housework or sliding razorblades into apples for the little ones. 

For all you Shudder subscribers, might we recommend Fessenden’s 2019 offering
“The Return of the Ghoul Log” featuring animations created with Beck Underwood…?

and while we’re on the topic, might we recommend you
check out the other Ghoul Logs on offer…?

shudder.com

The Spine of Night was written and directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King.
The film follows a group of heroes from different eras and cultures
as they band together to save mankind from an ancient dark magic
that has fallen into sinister hands…

Featuring the voice talents of Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt,
Betty Gabriel, Joe Manganiello, Larry Fessenden, Rob McClure,
and Abby Savage (GEP pal and sound designer on FOXHOLE!).

From a Stephen King adaptation to a Western cannibal story, the Wendigo has been a part of several iconic horrors.

By BY SHAURYA THAPA at SCREENRANT:

Even though the Wendigo has appeared in a variety of TV shows and movies, the creature started out as a mythical spirit from Algonquian folklore. Wendigos were originally seen as humanoid spirits that possess humans and induce feelings of greed and cannibalism within them. Over the years, their pop culture representations have added some new alterations.

Usually, the Wendigo is depicted with ram horns, glowing eyes pushed back into the sockets, emaciated skin, and yellowed fangs. Films like The Wendigo and Pet Semetary make use of such popular depictions which are in turn influenced more by Algernon Blackwood’s 1910 short story The Wendigo instead of the original myths.

The Last Winter (2006)

Barring the third act, the Wendigo never appears in The Last Winter. But it is the fear of its existence that contributes to an eerie atmosphere throughout its duration. The plot involves a team of environmentalists protesting the construction of a pipeline in the Arctic. With fatal accidents and gas leaks, the team begins to hallucinate and die one by one. The desolate setting only makes it worse for the characters.

Towards the end, the Wendigos make an appearance as nature spirits leaving a lot of space for interpretation. Essentially, the film is a tale of humans changing the flow of nature. So, in this sense, the Wendigos can be nature’s guardians instead of the monstrosities they are usually seen as. As director Larry Fessenden said in an interview with RogerEbert.com, “When the world falls out of balance as it has, there is hell to pay. The wendigo is a way to discuss that. It’s manifested in different ways.”

Wendigo (2001)

After a city-dweller accidentally hits a deer in the woods, he believes that he’s haunted by the Wendigo as revenge in Wendigo. The protagonist also gets a Wendigo figurine at a local souvenir shop that adds further to his scares.

RELATED: 10 Most Underrated Horror Films Of The Last 20 Years

The visions of the Wendigo as well as the recurring motif of the figurine add a sense of mystery to the creature. The blurry hallucinations are stress-inducing and feature the character in night-vision-like lighting. This goes beyond the formulaic depictions making the titular monster more ominous. For most of the movie’s duration, viewers keep on guessing whether the cannibalistic spirit is real or not.

Read about other Chilling WENDIGO Flix at SCREENRANT

… Featuring Interviews with Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Barbara Crampton, Joe Swanberg, et al (and some rambling from Fessenden and a beefcake shot with makeup man Al Tuskes.)

Read the article at BLOODY DISGUSTING