Q: What is Cthulhuville to you?

A: In 2012 I took over a site called Horror-Web and ran that for about 7 plus years. I spent a lot of time and energy working on that. Doing reviews and news and so much more. There was a licensing issue with some software, so I morphed it into LittleBunnyCthulhu.com and kept going. But that got lost to a web manager that failed the one thing you can’t slip on. Renewing the domain name. And thus LBC was also lost to me. But Cthulhuville isn’t my third go around. Because for a very short time I had LittleBlogOfHorrors with Cullen Bunn. That led directly to me gaining control of Horror-Web and integrating the LittleBlogOfHorrors into it.

So Cthulhuville to me is a chance to return. Finding a way forward in the internet space that has changed massively in the 6 or so years since those others were lost. A way to build something with McKenzie and Ian for the community. Ummm, and also to build that community.

Q: What’s your favorite genre?

A: That’s easy. Horror. Always has been. I have three bookshelves of about 600 DVDS (and blu ray) and one of them is exclusively horror. About half of another is Doctor Who. With books I have more and I would guess that it’s about 25% fantasy, 25% horror, and then a lot of other stuff. I’m eclectic in the things I enjoy, but horror has always been a big part of my life.

Q: How do you decide what content to review?

A: I find it amusing that there is belief that I plan it out. But seriously, I have a lot of things I want to review here. Unfortunately, I am a rather slow reader for a variety of reasons. I would love to do a book a week on here, but no way can I crunch through a book that fast. Honestly, at time I will jump around with things and then realize I haven’t done a review recently so I pick a movie at random. Well, not pure random.

Q: Are you accepting direct submissions/requests for review?

A: We definitely do accept submissions. In the past that was the primary way I did reviews.

Q: Can you talk a little bit about how you rate content?

A: I have spent a lot of time working on different charts and ratings. Methods for allotting points based on categories and the quality exhibited by the work I am reviewing. Cross referencing that with other things I have reviewed and searching the internet to balance out how my feelings rank compared to others… Do you believe me? Because that’s all a bunch of bunk. I always go with gut feelings about it. And there’s a chance my rating may shift over time. If I were quizzed on the number value I gave different works I had reviewed, I wonder how many I would get right. I am always willing to defend my stance on a review, so if you feel it was better or worse in your eyes, speak up. I love a good debate!

Q: What makes a good story for you?

A: Wow. This is tough. I need to like the characters. Babadook is on my rewatch list because I hate it. My recollection is that in the beginning I hated the kid and at the end I hated the mom, but they are essentially the only two characters, leaving me with nothing to enjoy. I need to feel like characters acted reasonably, War of the Rohirrim took a massive hit for me because I thought Wulf was an idiot and yet without him being an idiot there is no movie. “Good” is so subjective that it is tough to fully quantify. I believe I have about 100 posts on here, so my suggestion is go read them and that will give you a sense of what swings my pendulum between good and bad.

Q: Why should people read Cthulhuville’s reviews?

A: Because we write them! Next question…

Ok, maybe a bit more explanation. Because we also post them!

OK… Fine. I shall try and be serious. Although both of those are good reasons. I spent 7 years or so working on my sites Horror-Web and LittleBunnyCthulhu (Waybackmachine can give you a look if you like) and during that time I developed a love of reviewing. I had a fairly decent amount of traffic and followers, but when those sites were lost to me, it left me out of the reviewing loop for awhile. In the past I had developed a reputation for being brutally honest. I will say what I think because I don’t ever want someone to see my view here and take it to heart and then later question how I could have been so far off the mark. Now opinions will differ, but I have read reviews by people I knew that enticed me to read a book and then I find out later that person hadn’t read it… just written a blurb. Here you will get an informed opinion. And hopefully you will find yourself either aligned with one of us in our views, or find it useful as a counterbalance. You may love Babadook. I don’t hold that against you (how could I, it’s your viewpoint.)

Q: What do you envision for the future of Cthulhuville?

A: First I would love to build a following. Get more eyes on the words we put here. Screaming into the void has never been the goal. With my previous endeavors we had a community built up around it. Part of that was existing before I took over, and that was a different world of social media. Much harder to push traffic to a site today. So many options of social media to focus on. And I have yet to embrace doing reels. Should I? Should we?

Q: What’s going on in your life that readers might like to know?

A: As a person? I have tons going on. I write. Prose and comics and poems at times. I design games and hope to have something out later this year for people to try. I play pool, and would spend hours a day doing so if I could. I love Magic The Gathering and have begun designing my own cards for it, as I embrace the idea that Magic is a format that is adaptable. More on that soon too!!

I will be at Planet Comic-Con in KC March 21-23 helping with the Outland Entertainment booth, so hopefully you may stop by and say hi. I know McKenzie and Ian will be at MO*Con early May, but that is free comic book day, and I believe I have somewhere scheduled for that.