[Susan Foreman]

"Forget the Oscars because the Rondo nominations are out today, and whilst I accept the fact that they are American-slanted and therefore Blighty-based folk like us are unlikely to have to reinforce our mantelpieces, the Rondos are nevertheless a fascinating gauge of what we may be doing right. This year I am not at all surprised to see Sam Irvin's Confessions of a Teenage Monster Hunter nominated for best book alongside Darrell and Eric's Chopped Meat, Wayne Kinsey's incredible House That Hammer Built and John Hamilton's AIP-tastic Witches, Bitches and Banshees, although come on chaps, no mention of Stalking Pictures, and all that money we paid out! Oh well, it has been our best selling book to date so I guess that will have to compensate somehow. I'm just pleased that horror genre print publishing is alive and well when people like Criswell said it had two hopes - Bob Hope and No Hope. There's a great new book on Criswell too that I predict will be a best seller. See what I did there?

Anyway, it looks like this year we are making inroads with Infinity, which has been nominated as Best Magazine for the first time, and why not? (Thanks to the late Barry Norman for that). The Dark Side is also nommed as Best Mag and it's so nice to see Hammer's Ripping Yarns by my much-missed friend, the late Denis Meikle, nominated as one of the Best Articles from THE DARK SIDE #23.

I have to say I'm touched, have been for years, some say, to get my first (and probably last) ever Rondo nom for Remembering Veronica, my tribute to the late actress Veronica Carlson in DS 229. We also have a trio of great interviews nominated: Martine Beswicke by Daniel Burnett, THE DARK SIDE #232, Kier-La Janisse (director, author), by John Martin, THE DARK SIDE #236, Elizabeth Shepard about Tomb of Ligeia, by Ernie Magnotta, THE DARK SIDE #234. Ernie has sent me a ton of great new interviews so he'll definitely make the cut again next year.

Kim Newman’s Dungeon has been nommed as Best Column, which is not a surprise because he's a genre legend, and on the Infinity front we've had nods for The Black Scorpion: He'll Get You Scared Stiff by Gregory Kulon, INFINITY #48 and Pal's Puppet Ancestors, by Mike Hankin, INFINITY #49. Oh, and Rick Melton is up for a Rondo again for his cover for Dark Side 237, Alice Cooper meets The Bride of Frankenstein. "I've got more chance of being struck by lightning" said Rick when I told him over the phone today. Then there was a loud bang and the line went dead.

To my mind the best thing about the Rondos is they encourage you to seek out stuff that you might otherwise have missed, so win or lose they will be much missed when the tireless David Colton finally decides to chuck it in and let us all fend for ourselves! Here's the link to vote
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/mons...o--t88317.html "