Rondo Hatton Horror Awards announced

The restored version of the 1925 silent film Metropolis and the popular zombie franchise The Walking Dead each were double winners Wednesday in the 9th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards, a fan-based recognition of the best in classic horror, science fiction and fantasy.

Voters also decided that The Black Swan, the dark and stylish thriller that earned star Natalie Portman an Oscar, would add a Rondo as Best Film of 2010, narrowly topping Inception and the remake of The Wolfman.

The Rondo awards, named after Rondo Hatton, an obscure B-movie villain of the 1940s, celebrate the best in classic horror research, creativity and film preservation. This year's e-mail vote, conducted by the Classic Horror Film Board, a 16-year old online community, drew more than 2,900 votes as fans chose among 30 categories.

A special nod goes out to UFN friend Shem Andre Byron and Terrance Zdunich, whose collaborative multimedia project The Tutor earned a Special Recognition Award. Congrats!

Now "hiring" correspondents

UFN is actively looking for genre fans around the world who would like to add their voices to this blog. We can’t pay anything (yet), but that could change as UFN grows over the years to come. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were the top websites and blogs that started small and have become the industry’s powerhouses, like Ain’t It Cool News.

Ideally, we would like female correspondents because women need greater representation in the sci-fi and fantasy genres, and have a unique perspective on books, shows, and video games. However, any aspiring or veteran writer may apply.

Depending on your experience, reliability and skill, one benefit UFN may be able to offer is free exclusive press pass access to your favorite events, including Comic-Con San Diego, Dragon*Con, Arisia, Marcon, WonderCon, Big Apple Comic Con, The Saturn Awards, movie premieres and parties, or any of hundreds of other conventions and press events across the country. A press pass is your free ticket in, and gains you special access to red-carpet press events and interviews so that you can cover them fully for our readers here at UFN.

Requirements: You must demonstrate superior writing skills, must be able to conduct a professional interview with top industry talent, must be reliable and trustworthy, and must provide your own equipment.

When contacting us, please explain why you would like to blog for UFN, list your qualifications, and we’ll go from there. Good luck, and Excelsior!

Click here to contact Bombergirl at UFN!

Being Human gets more American in season 2

In an extensive article in the current Fangoria, the cast of Being Human (the new American version) spoke out at a recent press event, discussing character development, where the series is headed, and more. 

Even though reception has been lukewarm for the American version of the popular British BBC show, the three principle actors and Mark Stern, president of Syfy’s original content, were all universally impressed by the quality of the scripts they were given, and strive to do the BBC original justice.

“We are trying to do right by our British brethren,” said Sam Witwer (Aiden, the vampire) during the panel. “We really are trying to compliment them and bring more viewers to their show, which they deserve. It’s an incredible concept. It lived up to its potential immediately.”

Stern was skeptical at first and didn't even look at the DVD  he was given for months, thinking that a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost all sharing an apartment was a “one-joke premise.” But once he actually viewed the original show, he was impressed by, well, the humanity of the non-human characters and how the interact with each other and the world around them.

The show may have started out similar to the original, but watch for changes, especially in the upcoming season, which was recently green-lit by SyFy.

“We did do an actual chart,” said Stern. “How much is the British version and how much is ours? And you’ll definitely see the difference by the middle of the season. It’s just going to continue.”

Click here for the complete article over at Fangoria.

Inaugural Post - What is Urban Fantasy News?

Welcome to Urban Fantasy News, the sisterchild of House Petrelli, of Heroes fame. Even though Heroes has (probably) ended (stay tuned for news on that), our interest in modern fantasy and speculative fiction hasn't, and never will.

Speculative fiction is the great "What If?" What if ordinary people suddenly discovered they had superpowers? What if you could take a pill and never have to sleep again? What if the world was actually one big computer simulation? What if you were immortal?

Urban Fantasy News covers the fantastic in the present. As much as we enjoy things like Sherlock Holmes or Halo, the focus of UFN is solely the comics, films, television shows, books, video games and more that take place in the present day, such as Iron Man, The Matrix, Tron, Being Human, Dead Rising and so on.

So what's in store for UFN?

Our next event is WonderCon in San Francisco, April 1 & 2. We've gotten some great press-only invitations, so look for our first exclusive UFN content next weekend (and keep your fingers crossed for some killer interviews we've requested). We'll also be posting links to hot articles, and continue our perennial photo op favorite, Where's Peter?

Want to be part of UFN? We're looking for regional reporters, so if you're interested in submitting content, please contact us here or via Twitter and we'll talk!

That's all for now. Stay tuned to this channel for news of the fantastic!