Pimping "Chumpy"; Re-Animating "Mermaid"

Written By Will Viharo

Halloween is celebrated daily in the town of Thrillville. The last couple of days were a prime example. On Monday November 15, I hosted my Forbidden Thrills Tribute to the immortal Ed Wood at Forbidden Island Tiki Lounge, with screenings of two of his all-time masterpieces, Glen or Glenda (1953) and Bride of the Monster, along with an angora sweater contest, cocktail specials ("Pink Angora'), and Ernie "Hardware Wars" Fosselius' most recent classic parody, the hilarious Plan 9.1 From Outer Space - with puppets! I was also selling copies of my novel Chumpy Walnut - the "second edition," with some typos I missed twice, hand-corrected by yours truly (the "cleaner" third edition is now on sale.) Chumpy is my "Glen or Glenda" - a story of a misfit that had to be told, and one only I could tell.

The next day, Tuesday November 16 (naturally), I returned to the Balboa Theater in San Francisco for the first time since one of my final Thrillville road shows, Valentine's Day with Donna Loren, to meet Stuart Gordon, whom I interviewed in conjunction with Thrillville's 12th Anniversary show last year.  He was appearing with screenings of his classics Re-Animator (1985) and From Beyond (1987), two of my all-time favorite flicks. I took the opportunity to hand him a copy of my recent pulp-horror-exploitation novel A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge, along with its original "soundtrack" by Actual Rafiq, Music For a Drowning Mermaid. Long shot he'll consider optioning it for a film, but my aim was to share some of my work with someone whose work I have appreciated for many, many years. It's also a book I think he'll enjoy, full of zombies, sex and lurid action. I gotta keep the dice rollin'...cheers.


 
Feeling up Molokai Mike's angora at Forbidden Island

 Getting "Re-Animated" by Stuart Gordon, Balboa Theater


  Artwork by Aaron Farmer
Will Viharo

WILL "THE THRILL" VIHARO is a freelance writer and the author of several "gonzo pulp" novels including "A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge," "Freaks That Carry Your Luggage up to the Room," "Chumpy Walnut," "Lavender Blonde," "Down a Dark Alley," and the “Vic Valentine, Private Eye” series, the first of which, "Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me," has been optioned for a film by Christian Slater, reissued in 2013 by Gutter Books, which also published the new Vic Valentine novel "Hard-boiled Heart" in December, 2015.

Two science fiction novels, "It Came from Hangar 18" and "The Space Needler's Intergalactic Bar Guide," were written in collaboration with Scott Fulks, who added real science to Will's pulp.

Will's own imprint, Thrillville Press, has issued a three volume anthology series featuring all of his standalone novels called "The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection," along with another omnibus called "The Vic Valentine Classic Case Files," which include four novels from the 1990s, "Fate Is My Pimp," "Romance Takes a Rain Check," "I Lost My Heart in Hollywood," and "Diary of a Dick," plus a recent short story, "Brain Mistrust."

More recently published books include the Vic Valentine "Mental Case Files" trilogy comprised of "Vic Valentine: International Man of Misery," "Vic Valentine: Lounge Lizard For Hire," and "Vic Valentine: Space Cadet"; the original story collection "Vic Valentine, Private Eye: 14 Vignettes"; the erotic horror noir novella "Things I Do When I'm Awake"; and a collection of erotic horror noir stories, "VIHORROR! Cocktales of Sex and Death."

Additionally Will has had stories included in a variety of anthologies including "Fast Women and Neon Lights: Eighties-Inspired Neon Noir"; "Mixed Up!"; "Long Distance Drunks: A Tribute to Charles Bukowski"; "Deadlines: A Tribute to William Wallace"; "Dark Yonder: Tales and Tabs"; "Knucklehead Noir" and "Weird Winter Wonderland" (both Coffin Hop Press); and "Pop the Clutch: Thrilling Tales of Rockabilly, Monsters, and Hot Rod Horror."

Viharo's unique brand of "gonzo pulp fiction" combines elements of eroticism, noir, fantasy, and horror. For many years he has also been a professional film programmer/impresario and live music booker. He now lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and cats

https://www.thrillville.net
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