[Ads of the World via Super Punch]

See more of his monster awesomeness here. [Joel M. Prittie Awesome Blog]

Octo-Bot and big brother. Awesome!

Rooftop Chase. THose amazing colors were added with markers! Holy crap!

Fish in a tank.

More tank pics.

Coleman explains that most bones in forests are, of course, picked clean by predators. So that explains why we don't find dead Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) everywhere, as well as the carcasses of creatures like tigers and moose. Still, that begs the question: Where are the bones? Apparently, porcupines eat bones, as well as hoarding them:

One important behavior of some species of porcupines is that they hoard bones of other animals in or around their dens. Porcupines sometimes are found with bones in their living spaces. For example, the North African crested porcupine (Hystrix cristata) and the Cape porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis) of sub-Saharan Africa, especially in areas deficient in phosphorous, will practice osteophagia, or gnawing on bones. These porcupines will often accumulate large piles of bones in their dens . . . In North America, studies of situations in which bones accumulate today and in the past often include porcupine caves. For an intriguing article on what Pleistocene mammal remains were found in one such gathering of bones, see "Bears and Man at Porcupine Cave, Western Uinta Mountains, Utah" by Timothy H. Heaton, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, in Current Research in the Pleistocene, vol. 5, pp. 71-73 (1988).

The odds are more highly in favor of Bigfoot bones and bodies never being found . . . But if they are ever found, Bigfoot teeth or old bones possibly might be discovered near or in porcupine habitation sites . . . We won't know unless we look, and reexamine past and future "unidentified" finds from porcupine caves, digs, and dens.

via Cryptomundo

Bigfoot photo by Douglas E. Egolf.

In honor of the upcoming Ultraman movie, Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legend The Movie, several monsters from the Ultraman franchise appeared on a Japanese variety show to "audition" for parts in the movie. They showed off their most menacing dance skills for the assembled Ultramen, an impressive feat given those unwieldy-looking rubber suits.

Ultra Monsters dance to ‘Thriller' [Pink Tentacle]

The sequel takes place right after the last film, with Sarah running for her life out of the Appalachian cave system. Remember, in the U.S. release of The Descent, Sarah got out — she was saved, not doomed to live trapped by her own insanity inside the depths of the cave, food for the Crawlers, as in the U.K. ending. But her memory is now gone and the cops are forcing her back into the darkness to find her buddies, naturally.

Here are a few clips from the sequel, which comes out in the USA December 4th:

Hospital:

Getting Ready

Down Under

Cave In

Moss, who also created a clever series of black and red movie posters, and recently designed the brilliant, Hitchcockian Lost Locke poster, drew up this handy survival guide for the A Life Well Wasted podcast. This, and other posters by Moss, will be available in the podcast's store.

[A Life Well Wasted via GeekTyrant]

Caleb Brown [My Love for You Is a Stampede of Horses via FFFFOUND!]

Sadly I don't know a lick of Turkish, so I can only extrapolate based on this trailer that we're getting your classic "zombies invade a wedding" scenario. Which is to say, it's a brand-new scenario I've never seen before. Only a gang of truly hardcore people, some of whom will be wearing blood-stained wifebeaters and earrings, can defeat the menace. Maybe there is some kind of toxic waste involved. Or possibly it's a metaphor for joining the EU? I can only hope.

Check out the movie website, via Arabolge.

UPDATE: Thanks to a helpful translator, I have a bit more information. The movie was directed by film critics Talip Ertürk and Murat Emir Eren. They claim this is the very first Turkish zombie movie. Apparently, they found their zombies via an announcement that they posted to Facebook .

ADA: Zombilerin Düğünü

Trek Movie has an exclusive featurette titled Masks vs. Prosthetics where you can finally see the new looks for both Gorn and the Salt Vampire. The new aliens were supposedly created for the Rura Penthe Klingon prison scenes, but that was cut.

Pete Docter, who directed both Up and Monsters Inc., appeared on an episode of Jeff Goldsmith's Creative Screenwriting Magazine Podcast about Pixar's creative process and how the screenplays change from initial pitch to final product. Docter outlined his original pitch for Monsters Inc., which wasn't about monsters who frighten children, but monsters who act as manifestations of an adult's fears:

"Well, my idea was that what it was about was about a 30 year old man who is like an accountant or something, he hates his job, and one day he gets a book with some drawings in it that he did when he was a kid from his mom, and he doesn't think anything of it and he puts it on the shelf and that night, monsters show up. And nobody else can see them. He thinks he's starting to go crazy, they follow him to his job, and on his dates, and all this- and it turns out these monsters are fears that he never dealt with as a kid. And each one of them represents a different kind of fear. As he conquers those fears, the guys who he slowly becomes kind of friends with- they disappear as he conquers those fears. It's this bittersweet kinda ending where they go away, and so not much of that stayed

[…]

it sounds better as a pitch than it did at the time- anyway. "

Monsters Inc. is a wonderful movie, but I'd love to see this one as well. There is always more room for more beautiful stories about monsters in the world, and this just gets me more excited to see what Docter has up his sleeve next.

[KashifPasta via /Film]

The film features a few TV stars, but is basically made up of unknowns, which we're always happy tp see. The basic premise is a group of teens board a private plane, and end up face to face with a giant sky beast. The end. It looks engagingly trippy — especially in the two stills we grabbed.

[Custom Creature Taxidermy via Super Punch]

Three-headed Frankensquirrel
Capricorn
Chimera
El Chupcabra
Feejee Mermaid
Flying Monkey
Frankensquirrel
Gold Griffin
Unicorn
Vampire Squirrel
Two-headed Chick
Two-headed Squirrel

Just to remind us that the Old Testament is scary too, Jewish culture magazine Tablet commissioned this series of Jewish giant monsters from Dubisch. Enjoy their frightful visages, and learn about their Yid cred via Tablet.

You can see more of Dubisch's amazing creatures on his blog.

Leviathan
All the monsters hanging out together in a kaijew "Destroy All Monsters" moment.
Melchiresa
Nephilim, apparently designed to look a little like Bernie Madoff.
A Rahab gives us the full Cthulhu.
Samael, the badass angel who fought a bunch of good guys and scared the crap out of everybody.

James Turner, an editor for O'Reilly Media, claims that zombies share a kinship with Godzilla. His theory is that, just as Godzilla was inspired by the dropping of the atomic bomb, Western filmmakers (Romero aside) latched onto zombies in the wake of Three Mile Island, the recognition of AIDS, the Ebola outbreak, and similar medical and technological disasters. He goes on to posit that the increasing popularity of zombie movies involving a biological outbreak suggests a Western ambivalence toward biotechnology.

It's an interesting thought, though perhaps a bit reductive. Certainly zombies have been used to comment on biotechnology, but they've also been used to comment on a number of social issues, including consumerism, corporate greed, and the objectification of women. And what causes the zombie outbreak is often less important than what comes afterward. Still, Turner makes an interesting case that biotechnology-based zombies could evolve to more acutely reflect our biological and technological fears:

Blackberry-spawned abominations, anyone? Dawn of the Single-Payer Healthcare Undead? What about, They Came From H1N1?

He's far more convincing when he talks about the important differences between giant monsters and zombies, namely that it's the military and scientists who fight Godzilla, where zombies fall to resourceful and self-reliant survivors.

Americans must like the idea that, as out of control as our hubristic science might become, a good machete and a 12 gauge in the hands of a competent man or woman can always save the day. The 2003 bestselling title, The Zombie Survival Guide, offers the same message of self-reliance. (I'm not sure what lesson we can take from the success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.)

A Brief History Of Zombies [Forbes]

As you know, we only deal with science fiction and urban fantasy here, so Hannibal Lecter and the like are absent from this list — but feel free to call out your favorites in comments.

Get started with 71 - 80!

Additional reporting and writing by Lauren Davis and Caitlin Petrakovitz. Special thanks to Sean Dooley, and Kyle Rowe and IFC's non horror list, which made me remember donkey boy.

The io9 poll is flawed. It's a popularity contest, pure and simple, an attempt to win page views by rewarding readers for having popular opinions . . . It is no measure of how threatening a particular creature is.

To really look at a hierarchy of threat, we need to start from the perspective of a potential victim and work our way up from there . . . Now, I've looked into classification schemes for antagonists before, so would like to take these last few minutes to look into a Monster and Antagonist Relative Classification scheme. Each creature would get classified across multiple categories and by referring to their MARC record, one could get a sense of just how much trouble they're in for. We'll keep it simple and quick and just break things down into three axises, Scope, Modus Operandi, and Power Level.

He then goes on to describe, in awesome detail, all the ways that these axises work, for example:

To start with, we need to determine the monster's Scope. This represents how close you need to be to the monster to be threatened by it. That haunted house might have the power to animate clown dolls and trees, but if you live two towns over, you're not that much at risk.

1. Personal - The creature only threatens those within arms reach. It may move about, but as long as you are not where it is, even if that just means locking yourself in the closet behind a hopefully sturdy door, you should be fine. Examples: Jack Torrence, Not Yet A Zombie Jason, Michael Meyers.

2. Local - The creature threatens a region. While it may only be a danger to you if you personally encounter it, its nature is such that it could be anywhere. As long as you are in its local territory, your life is at risk. If you flee, you should be okay. Examples: Pyramid Head, a haunted house, Leprechaun.

3. Regional/Reach - Like Local, but expand the creature's area of threatening influence to a wider swath. You do not need to be near the creature to be at risk. If you are marked by the creature, it can get you at even greater distances. Examples: Dracula, Samara from The Ring, Freddy.

4. Worldwide - Whether you know it or not, you are currently being threatened by this creature as you go about living your normal, every day life. It might take an extraordinary act to get its attention (reading forgotten lore, reciting a rhyme to a mirror at midnight, etc) but it doesn't matter where you are, it can reach out and get you. Examples: Cthulhu, Aliens, International Cults.

5. Reality - Not only are you threatened, but the entire fabric of reality is threatened by the creature. Examples: Nyarlathotep, Satan, Ogdru Hem

I have been schooled - and you must read the rest. In fact, I would like to be part of this guy's next RPG campaign.

via MetaFilter

Additional reporting by Josh Snyder.

Gossamer (Looney Tunes)
Cute? Look at him. He's basically a hairy valentine in tennis shoes.
Terrifying? He tries hard, but he's ultimately no match for Bugs Bunny. Then again, no one is.

Giant Killer Rabbits (Night of the Lepus)
Cute? They're your average giant mutant bunny rabbits.
Terrifying? Actually, they just seem more adorable when they're gigantic and raiding people's kitchens. But I suppose that whole eating people business could be scary. Maybe.

Beep the Meep (Doctor Who)
Cute? Passably. It helps that he looks like giant puffball.
Terrifying? Absolutely. Meeps are a murderous species who revel in pain, torture, and galactic domination. And Beep is the worst of the worst and a notorious war criminal.

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man (Ghostbusters)
Cute? He's basically a giant version of the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Plus, I've had a soft spot for him since the cartoon.
Terrifying? He nearly destroys New York with his deliciously sugary body.

Lenore, the Cute Little Dead Girl
Cute? It's right there in the name.
Terrifying? Not on purpose, but let's just say you should probably keep your pets (and yourself) clear of Lenore.

Hello Cthulhu
Cute? He might be an unspeakable horror, but he's a huggable one.
Terrifying? Honestly, he's no match for Hello Kitty.

Mogwai (Gremlins)
Cute? Sure, for now.
Terrifying? Just try feeding them after midnight and see if they're still they're still so cute.

Wolvogs (Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood)
Cute? These genetically engineered dog-wolf hybrids look like adorable domesticated puppies.
Terrifying? They may look like dog pups, but wolvogs hunt and kill as vicious wolves.

Beryllium Miners (Galaxy Quest)
Cute? They look like little children, at least until they open their mouths.
Terrifying? They look like they'd happily chow down on any of the Galaxy Quest cast members.

Were-Rabbit (Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit)
Cute? Just about everything Nick Park designs is at least a little bit cute.
Terrifying? He's a strictly vegetarian monster.

Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors)
Cute? Despite the teeth and the thirst for human blood, she is pretty cute when she's small.
Terrifying? Even forgetting the business about eating people and wanting to take over the world, Audrey II's most frightening aspect is her ability to convince milquetoast Seymour to kill for her.

Goblins (Labyrinth)
Cute? In an adorably ugly sort of way.
Terrifying? They're by no means the most critters in Labyrinth, but they do an impressive job of slinking around in the shadows and stealing infants.

Shmee (Squee)
Cute? Squee's teddy bear has seen better days, but he's still cuter than the Doughboys from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.
Terrifying? Shmee provides emotional comfort for the perpetually terrified Shmee, but he also encourages Shmee to take violent revenge on his enemies. Of course, it could all be in Shmee's head.

Pac-Man (Blade: Trinity)
Cute? If you happen to like pomeranians.
Terrifying? It wasn't enough to make a vampire pomeranian; the vamps of Blade: Trinity had to create a mutant vampire pomeranian with xenomorph mouth.

Woodland Critters (South Park)
Cute? In a Disney sort of way.
Terrifying? Anything that comes out of Cartman's brain is automatically terrifying, but the woodland critters get extra points for possessing satanic powers and holding blood orgies. Also, they're trying to ensure the birth of the Antichrist.

Nubbins (Sanctuary)
Cute? It's doubtful anyone would bother taking care of the troublesome little things if they didn't resemble fat chinchillas.
Terrifying? They're basically tribbles with teeth. They're cute and cuddly until they start breeding and eating. And when they get hungry, they can take down the most vicious predator.

Bunnicula
Cute? He's your standard bunny: long ears, fluffy tail.
Terrifying? Maybe if you're a vegetable. Or a conspiracy-theorist cat.

The Denizens of Halloweentown (The Nightmare Before Christmas)
Cute? There's a reason they've been lining the shelves at Hot Topic all these years.
Terrifying? The Oogie Boogie is especially nightmarish, but the rest of Halloweentown gives a good scare, even when they don't mean to.

Sully (Monsters, Inc.)
Cute? That one child calls Sully "Kitty" throughout the entire movie pretty much sums it up.
Terrifying? About as scary as a monster from Sesame Street. But he does make his living terrorizing children, so we'll give him a pass.

Bun-Bun (Sluggy Freelance)
Cute? Yes, even while wielding a knife.
Terrifying? With a violent temper and the ability to produce switchblades seemingly out of no where, Bun-Bun is a force to be reckoned with. He's been known to slay telemarketers, the Easter Bunny, and anyone else who gets on his nerves.

Ickis (Aaahh!!! Real Monsters)
Cute? Unfortunately for him, yes. The small children he's supposed to be scaring frequently mistake him for a bunny rabbit.
Terrifying? Not as much as he'd like, but he gives it a solid try.

The Gingerbread Men (The Tick)
Cute? And delicious.
Terrifying? They're thoroughly evil and pretty clever, but because they're made without preservatives, they tend to go stale after a while.

The Gingerdead Man
Cute? This one falls a bit more on the disturbing side.
Terrifying? A psychotic killer resurrected as a knife-wielding cookie and voiced by Gary Busey? Actually, yes, it's pretty terrifying.

Reynardine (Gunnerkrigg Court)
Cute? Sometimes. He's trapped in the body of a stuffed wolf.
Terrifying? He's a body-stealing demigod, although at the moment he's confined to a single body. Still, he can shift into a pretty intimidating wolf form.

The Rabbit of Caerbannog (Monty Python and the Holy Grail):
Cute? From a distance.
Terrifying? It's not just the fact that the rabbit can decapitate you with its teeth. It's the awful can opener noise it makes when it does it.

Evil Children Everywhere
Cute? Creepifying to be sure, but reasonably cute.
Terrifying? Absolutely. It doesn't matter if they're banishing you to the cornfield or sacrificing you to the Devil; evil children are always utterly terrifying.

Sad news for the playful and clever collection of CG pals cast in Dreamworks Monsters Versus Aliens. While taking a conference call, Jeffey Katzenberg explained why the monsters needed to be put down:

I'd like to tell you there's a perfectly rational, clear and easy answer as to why not, but there isn't. There was enough of a consensus from our distribution and marketing folks in certain parts of the world that we would be pushing a boulder up a hill.

In my humble opinion, nobody knows how to market animation anymore, except Disney/Pixar. This makes me sad because I was dearly hoping for an Insectosaurus stuffed animal, and it was all but impossible to find. Still haven't seen it in stores. But besides the marketing the movie fared pretty well in theaters and was wildly entertaining. So this is sad news.

Sadly this will be the last time we spend with our dear Monster friends, in this brand new Halloween special clip, on Tonight! That is until they get their own TV show...

[via Slashfilm]

It wouldn't be horror week without campy/terrible horror movies to get excited over — and nothing looks more crap-camp- tastic than Nightbeasts, the story about a man, and a pack of Bigfeet — because they travel in packs, bitches! Check out the trailer.

[via CHUD]