Before I moved out to California, I lived in New Jersey. But, I spent a lot of my days in Pennsylvania. Not only did my fiancé live there, but also a lot of my friends.

Now, these friends were not met in the most traditional of ways.

In fact, most of them I met on the same evening, years ago, while sitting at hotel bar after a book signing in rural Pennsylvania.

That one, long, drunken evening lead to life-long friendships. We’ve been through a lot together: life changes, births of children, deaths of dear friends, and everything in between.

I love these guys with everything I have.

So, why is this relevant on a horror website?

Because we met through horror stuff. The book signing we all met at? It was for Brian Keene, a horror author we all enjoyed. Hell, he was not only the reason we all got together, but he was also part of the group.

Where did we get together the most? At horror conventions, where we shared rooms and had a blast until the wee hours of the morning. Sure, we also had BBQs at our houses, went to other events together, and more, but it was always the horror stuff that brought us together.

Some of the gang!

I grew up in New Jersey, always wanting to be a filmmaker. I did tons of shorts while in high school and college, but it wasn’t until later on in my career that I took it more seriously. After leaving college, I co-wrote and produced a feature length film about the Jersey Devil. It did OK in festivals, but I wanted more.

I then adapted and directed a short story by Brian Keene for the screen, called The Ties That Bind (which you can watch here). It was a great experience, and it also played the festival circuit quite well.

This group of friends of mine, we always wanted to work together on something. It took a few years to get it off the ground, but we finally decided on adapting Keene’s Fast Zombies Suck. I adapted the story, we cast some great actors, and even assembled a gigantic group of extras for a pivotal scene. We all worked hard on it. We all had our roles to place, and we did them well. It was one of the biggest things I ever directed.

We filmed it in the summer of 2012, and it went extremely well.

But then, life got in the way. Moving across the country. Health scares. Re-shoots.

Things happen.

But, thankfully, patience paid off, and now, the film is done.

Fast Zombies Suck premiered at SCARES THAT CARE last week to a packed house. Unfortunately, living on the West Coast now, I could not attend, but I heard from a lot of folks how well it played.

And now, you can enjoy it for yourself.

So, if you have about 13 minutes to spare, take a look at this fantastic short film. We put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it. And we’re damn proud of it.

But most of all, a big thank you is deserved to the rest of the folks who make up Drunken Tentacle Productions. Without their tireless work, it never would have been completed and seen the light of day.

Matt, Mike, Brian, Dave, and Gore…I love you guys. Seriously. I do.

Enjoy Fast Zombies Suck!