Author | S. Craig Zahler |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Gothic fiction Drama Horror fiction |
Publisher | Cinestate |
Publication date | 23 January 2018 |
Media type | Print (paperback) |
Pages | 256 |
ISBN | 978-1-946487-00-1 |
Hug Chickenpenny: The Panegyric of an Anomalous Child is a 2018 American gothic horror novel written by S. Craig Zahler. [1] Published by Cinestate as the inaugural entry in their publishing imprint, the novel follows the life of the titular protagonist, an orphan child born with several deformities. [2]
Zahler said in an interview that the idea of the novel has existed with him for 21 years. He calls it his "single favorite piece" out of all his work; he further said that the novel has "probably more elements of horror, with intimations of supernatural and wondering about Hug’s parentage and some longer horror sequences, even if the end result isn’t incredibly violent in any spot." [3]
Kirkus Reviews said that the novel's prose is "solid, and the dialogue in particular shines, feeling natural without betraying the gothic style of the story." [2] Emily Sears of Birth.Movies.Death. wrote: "While it's likely not a great bedtime story for most young readers, those with an interest in horror movies and more macabre fairy tales may be ready for this book." [4] Michele Galgan of Diabolique called the novel "refreshing", adding that it is "different from anything I’ve read — it’s certainly different from Zahler’s other work — and as someone who sees a lot of the same tropes consistently." [5]
Leah Pickett of Dallas Observer called it "a Dickensian fable with elements of gothic horror and Christian apologia" and "a daring, evocative work that defies categorization." [6] A reviewer from Booklist noted that readers will "find themselves pulling for the lovable Hug and for a happy ending to Zahler’s unusual and unusually appealing tale." [7] Midwest Book Review called it "an exceptional, original, and inherently fascinating read from beginning to end." [7]
During the launch of the novel, it was announced that Zahler will work with The Jim Henson Company to adapt it for a feature film. [8] [9]
Horror is a genre of fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten or scare. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which are in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defined the horror story as "a piece of fiction in prose of variable length... which shocks, or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing". Horror intends to create an eerie and frightening atmosphere for the reader. Often the central menace of a work of horror fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for larger fears of a society.
Les Diaboliques is a 1955 French psychological horror thriller film directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, starring Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse and Charles Vanel. It is based on the novel She Who Was No More by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac.
Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson with George Lucas as executive producer. Based on conceptual designs by Brian Froud, the film was written by Terry Jones, and many of its characters are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The film stars Jennifer Connelly as 16-year-old Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King. In Labyrinth, Sarah embarks on a quest to reach the center of an enormous, otherworldly maze to rescue her infant half-brother Toby, whom she wished away to Jareth.
Fangoria is an internationally distributed American horror film fan magazine, in publication since 1979. It is published four times a year by Fangoria Publishing, LLC and is edited by Phil Nobile Jr.
José Ramón Larraz Gil was a Spanish director of exploitation and horror films such as the erotic and bloody Vampyres (1974).
Debi Gliori is a Scottish writer and illustrator of children's books.
Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common themes in the genre are the afterlife, the Devil, and demonic possession. Not all supernatural horror films focus on religion, and they can have "more vivid and gruesome violence".
Steven Craig Zahler is an American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer, novelist, comic book artist, animator and musician.
Bone Tomahawk is a 2015 American Western film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler in his directorial debut, and starring Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Richard Jenkins, Lili Simmons, Evan Jonigkeit, David Arquette and Sid Haig. It was produced by Jack Heller and Dallas Sonnier. The film is about a small-town sheriff who leads a posse into a desolate region to rescue three people who were abducted by a cannibalistic Native American clan.
Brash Books is an American crime fiction imprint founded in 2014 by authors Lee Goldberg and Joel Goldman. The main focus of Brash Books is to republish award-winning and critically acclaimed novels, primarily from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, which had fallen out of print. The imprint also publishes new crime fiction and suspense novels.
Brian Jay Jones is an American biographer, primarily of American pop culture icons. He is a former president of Biographers International Organization.
She Who Was No More is a psychological suspense novel by the writing team of Boileau-Narcejac, originally published in French as Celle qui n'était plus in 1952. The duo's first book, it is a thriller about a man who, along with his mistress, murders his wife. It served as the basis for Henri-Georges Clouzot's 1955 film Les Diaboliques.
Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a 2017 American neo-noir prison action thriller film directed and written by S. Craig Zahler and starring Vince Vaughn with Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Marc Blucas, and Tom Guiry. The story follows Bradley Thomas, a drug mule who must kill a man held in a maximum security prison to rescue his pregnant wife from a vengeful drug lord.
Dragged Across Concrete is a 2018 American neo-noir crime thriller film written and directed by S. Craig Zahler. It stars an ensemble cast that includes Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Jennifer Carpenter, Laurie Holden, Fred Melamed, Udo Kier, Thomas Kretschmann, and Don Johnson. The story follows two childhood friends and two police detectives that are suspended for police brutality who in a desperate need for money, are embroiled in a robbery done by a professional thief.
Our Lady of the Inferno is a novel by horror journalist and author Preston Fassel and the first officially licensed novel published by Fangoria magazine under their Fangoria Presents imprint. It was originally published by Fear Front, an independent press, in 2016, and was only briefly in print before the company closed in early 2017. In May 2018, Fangoria magazine announced that it had acquired the book and would be printing it as "Fangoria Presents #1," the inaugural entry in an imprint of branded horror novels.
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich is a 2018 American horror comedy film directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund, and written by S. Craig Zahler. The film is the thirteenth entry in the Puppet Master franchise, and is the first film produced by Fangoria under their "Fangoria Presents" label, following their acquisition by Cinestate. It is a reboot of the series, and stars Thomas Lennon, Jenny Pellicer, Nelson Franklin, Barbara Crampton, and Udo Kier. It was released on August 17, 2018, by RLJE Films. As of February 2019, the film has grossed over $600,000 through video sales.
Cinestate was a Dallas-based movie studio founded in 2016 by Dallas Sonnier. The company produced ten films under a variety of production labels, in addition to retroactively claiming the 2014 film Bone Tomahawk, produced independently by Sonnier, as a Cinestate movie. In 2017, the company acquired Fangoria magazine, relaunching it in 2018 as a print-only collectible under the editorial oversight of Phil Nobile Jr. In 2019, the company announced the launch of Rebeller Media, an action label that would have encompassed a production company and lifestyle website to be managed by Washington Free Beacon journalist Sonny Bunch. In 2020, following the arrest of producer Adam Donaghey for sexual assault and a Daily Beast article alleging misconduct on Cinestate sets, Rebeller was shut down and Fangoria sold, all Cinestate social media and websites went dormant, the company was closed and its entire staff laid off.
Joseph Albert "Dallas" Sonnier IV is an American film producer, publisher and entrepreneur. He is best known as the founder of Cinestate and, from 2018 to 2020, the publisher of Fangoria magazine. He has producing credits on the films Bone Tomahawk (2015), Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017), The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (2018) and Dragged Across Concrete (2019), among others. In 2018, he purchased the rights to Fangoria and relaunched the defunct magazine as a print-only publication; he additionally expanded the Fangoria brand to encompass a publishing and film production company.
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