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Chiller was awesome! Got some fantastic photos with LORENA (Mariana Klaveno) from True Blood, HARMONY (Mercedes McNab) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and GLORY (Clare Kramer) from Buffy the Vampire Slayer – all signing the Bloodspell book cover, and all wishing me luck and success with the book. Check out a sneak peek below. For the full album, feel free to visit the BLOODSPELL FACEBOOK PAGE (be sure to like us if you do).

Monster Mania was a fantastic time! Notwithstanding all of the people who showed up dressed up as their favorite horror and sci-fi characters, including Pinhead, Michael Myers, and the Predator to name a few, I had the distinct pleasure to meet Allan Hyde (Godric) from True Blood, Melinda Clarke from the Vampire Diaries, and Nick Castle from Halloween!

I’d like to add that I had very nice chats with both Allan Hyde and Melinda Clarke about Bloodspell, and they both signed my book covers. Allan said that he was looking forward to it coming out! Very exciting!! And, OMG, how cute is he? Seriously, I just wanted to put him in my pocket. Love him!

Look for more photos on my Bloodspell Facebook page.

“Even a monster can be afraid of the darkness.”

Talk about a telling title for this Being Human episode – I see your true colors and that’s why I hate you? Not sure that Cyndi Lauper would be too happy about the butchering of her awesome 80s song lyrics. But I’m dating myself, so just ignore that snipe.

And yes, that’s totally Aidan soaking in a tea-bath in the photo inset. But we’ll get there …

So the episode starts off with Sally and her only agenda in life – to break Brigitte and Danny up before Danny hurts Brigitte. Despite her efforts, Brigitte won’t listen and basically tells Sally to leave her alone. She doesn’t want to believe what Sally is saying about Danny. Sally is devastated but there’s nothing that she can do.

Aidan to Sally: You were strong before Danny derailed you, and you know what he is now. And he can’t hurt you anymore.

Meanwhile, Josh goes home with his sister, only to find out that he’s the cause of his parents’ separation. On top of that, Emily gives them Josh’s journal which has all this information about werewolves. Josh’s dad walks in with a hilarious, “so how long have you thought you were a werewolf?” There’s this hilarious scene where Josh backpedals like crazy saying that it wasn’t a journal, but they were all notes for a graphic novel he was working on about a guy who thinks he’s a wolf. It makes a sort of crazy sense, and they let it go.

Then we’re back to Sally, and she decides to scare the crap out of Danny, only we realize that Danny is far more the monster than we’ve ever thought. He’s not even afraid of Sally’s supernatural display of cracking lights and flickering television. Instead, he beats her down just as he used to when she was alive.

Danny: You’re more pathetic as a ghost than you were alive. And that’s pathetic. […] You don’t scare me because I know you’re nothing. You’re dead. And I’m alive. And I’m happy, finally.

He’s a cold one, that guy. And creepy. Way more creepy than any of the real monsters. Ok, maybe not Bishop. Still, I didn’t like how easily Sally left, but it gave me an idea of what their relationship had been like in real life living with such an abusive boyfriend.

Meanwhile, back at Josh’s homestead, Aidan shows up since he knows that Marcus is up to no good and wants to get back at Josh. Unbeknownst to him, he eats some of Josh’s mother’s food which has a lot of garlic in it, and what follows was equally as hilarious as when Josh spins his yarn about his graphic novel. Aidan lurches off the table, and is all fangs and black eyes, and acts like he’s totally drunk. I was laughing so hard, I think I broke a rib. It got even better when he made himself some kind of herb tea bath, gets naked in front of Josh, and douses his entire body in it.

Things get worse as Marcus shows up and everything suddenly jump into serious (as in no giggles) high gear. There’s a great fight scene between Aidan (who’s cured by the tea) and Marcus in Josh’s backyard, and then Marcus takes off. Josh ends up telling his parents that he was actually a werewolf, and they all take it remarkably well. I was a little surprised by that actually … their reactions just seemed weird to me.

Sally tries again to tell Brigitte about Danny, and possesses Brigitte’s body to write a note saying, “he killed me.” It was pretty cool, and freaky. Brigitte confronts Danny, but of course, he cleverly and deceitfully lies his way out of it. Even though he can’t see Sally, he stares in her direction with this really evil look when he gets Brigitte to believe him. Like I said, very very creepy guy. Hope he gets what’s coming to him. Eventually, Brigitte goes back to the house and tells Sally that she needs to move on, and she just wants her to leave her and Danny alone.

The episode ends with Marcus driving off to some obscure barn in the woods with a weird old lady guarding some people Marcus wants to meet with. I assume that they’re going to be some kind of older vampires, and Marcus is trying to go over Bishop for some reason or another. Not sure that’s a smart move, but it will be cool to see who they are.

Being Human airs on Syfy at 9pm on Mondays.

You’re being a martyr. That’s not heroic. It’s tragic.

Bold words to the queen of everything on the Vampire Diaries, Monsieur Stefan! But still, Stefan should know about martyrdom, after all, he’s the king of broody self-sacrifice. Despite what she has already read in the journal about his earlier extracurricular vamptivities, Stefan takes it upon himself to tell Elena about what a bad vampire he used to be, as in “Hunt, Prey, Kill,” and how Lexi taught him about self-control and how to not lose his humanity … how to hold on to love. Awww.

Good to see that Damon is back to his old tricks of trying to get rid of Elijah, now that the werewolves are out of the picture.

Stefan: Trust me, Stefan. I m going to dot all my T’s, I don’t want any surprises.

Damon: Wow Damon, are we actually going to be careful for once?

Stefan: Yes Stefan, I’ve become you. How tragic for both of us. Gotta run, have a  murder to plan. Busy day.

As part of the grand master Original-killing plan, Damon gets his girlfriend to plan an impromptu dinner party, so that he can kill Elijah. But first, he goes to see Katherine to confirm that what John Gilbert told him about the dagger and the white oak ash is true – that it can kill an Original. It was cool to see Katherine all mummified when Damon goes to her in the tomb before giving her some blood. She confirms that it is possible to kill an Original, but begs him not to because she doesn’t want to remain in the tomb forever. Damon of course, doesn’t listen.

The dinner party goes on as planned, however Uncle John shows up as an uninvited guest, and Elijah has an ominous warning of his own to Damon.

Elijah: If you have less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider. [...] Because although Elena and I have this deal, if you make so much as move as to cross me, I’ll kill you, and I’ll kill everyone in this house. Clear?

But Damon being Damon doesn’t take kindly to threats, and he is just about to make his move on Elijah in his study when Stefan calls Alaric and warns that if Damon stabs Elijah with the dagger, they would both die. Only a human can wield the dagger to kill an Original. So two bloody deaths circumvented, we’re back to the dinner table, when Alaric makes a shocking move of his own and stabs Elijah through his chair and through the heart. Definitely didn’t expect that one! Go Rick!!

Unfortunately, they realize too late that if they remove the dagger, Elijah won’t stay dead. So that means that the deal’s off and Elijah’s pretty mad, telling Jonas (Luca’s dad) that he has to find Elena. Meanwhile, Bonnie and Jeremy are doing some channeling and romance together, when Jonas bursts in and takes her magical power for her “own good” he tells her.

Elijah locates and confronts Elena at the lake house.

Elijah: The deal’s off.

Elena: I’m renegotiating.

Elijah: You have nothing left to renegotiate with.

She pulls out a knife, and threatens to kill herself, telling Elijah that Stefan will heal her and she’ll become a vampire just like Katherine did. She asks him once more to promise not to harm anyone she loves, even if they’ve harmed him. But instead, Elijah calls her bluff,  and surprise, surprise, Elena stabs herself. Elijah’s expression was classic, going from smug smile to genuine panic in the space of a heartbeat.

Elijah: Yes, you can have your deal. Let me heal you. I give you my word.

She stumbles out into his arms, and second surprise, surprise, she stabs him with the ash-covered dagger! When he falls to the ground, Stefan rushes to heal Elena, and Damon steps out from around the side.

Damon: Little tip. Don’t pull the dagger out.

Meanwhile, Jenna and Alaric end up breaking up because he can’t tell her about Isobel, especially after what John started up. She leaves, while John walks in (sneaky bastard that he is) and tells Alaric that he can clear everything up, but he wants his ring back. Alaric’s so cool, he takes the ring off and says:

Alaric to John: You want it? Take it, it’s yours. And after what you did to damon, you’re going to need it more than me.

Episode ends with an unexpected twist – Damon discovers a naked Elena…oops, sorry, it’s Katherine, in his shower. Seems like when they killed Elijah, his compulsion on Katherine wore off. Sneaky Katherine, lying to Damon about being stuck in the tomb forever. She tells him that she knew that if he she told him not to kill Elijah, he would. So, she’s now out of the tomb, but she tells Damon that she’s didn’t run, she’s going to help him. Classic … the former doppelganger is back in the mix. Exciting times ahead because as we know … Katherine only looks out for Katherine.

The Vampire Diaries airs on the CW on Thursdays at 8pm.

So this whole episode of Being Human is basically about Josh’s new werewolf tutor, Ray, who vacillates between being a harmless spacey older dude and a psychotic vampire-hater. That said, he has come in very handy in teaching poor clueless Josh the ropes of being a werewolf and how to take charge of his life.

Ray: You know you suck at being a werewolf. It’s almost offensive. Name’s Ray. I’m a werewolf too.

Josh shows up at the apartment wearing some of Ray’s old clothes, and of course Aidan is quick to poke some fun. Loving the one-liners in this episode.

Aidan: Why are you dressed like a douche?

Josh: Because a douche gave me these clothes. No sorry, a werewolf douche gave me these clothes.

Werewolf school 101 is awesome. Loving Ray so far because this is the harmless spacey dude phase. It was cool when he gives Josh the whole werewolf change checklist, comprising of a change of clothes, wet wipes, disposable cell phone, water, pb&j (you know, in case the wolf didn’t eat half a cow).

Ray: A wolf stomach processes food different than a person’s. First few times after changing, I found myself throwing up all the animals that I’d eaten. Wolf would chow down on some crazy stuff. That ever happen to you?

Josh (sheepishly): I think the wolf eats its own poo.

Ray: Yea, that’s the worst.

Ray teaches him to pull a rump roast around a in a circle so that the wolf tracks it down, spending its time looking for the roast instead of hunting live animals.

Rebecca’s back in the picture asking for Aidan’s help to get out, claiming she hates who she is, who she’s become. Not sure I trust her. Aidan and Rebecca’s … er … coming together was a little gross. Meanwhile, Aidan wants to help her (since he got her there more or less), but he’s finding himself struggling to hold on to his own rules. They engage in a vampire-eat-vampire buffet. When Aidan tells Rebecca that “blood leads to blood lust, blood lust leads to blood shed,” Rebecca basically calls him out on saying that to her, telling him that he was the one who needed to bite into flesh far more than she did. I still think she is lame, and probably just wants a booty call. In a blood lust, Aidan and Rebecca almost kill some random guy. She decides Aidan’s lifestyle is too hard and takes off.

Rebecca: I can’t go to a restaurant and pretend to be human when all I want to do is eat the table next to me. I’m not that strong.

Meanwhile, Ray moves in to the apartment. He’s Josh’s new BFF. But now, he starts to show his true colors, getting a little more shady and telling Josh that they can take on the vampires at the full moon. He gets in Aidan’s face, threatening him in his own house, and throwing out his stash of blood.

Love when Josh tries to turn it on with the blond nurse (mimicking Ray’s pick-up lines and wolf-mojo with a dive waitress), and says that he hopes they will end up “sexing in bed.” But she turns around and tells him that she’s too busy to go to HR, but if he talkes to her again, it’s his ass. I laughed my head off. That was hilarious.

Ray is one sick dude. This is definitely the psychotic vampire-hating phase. Supposedly, the night before they change into the wolf, they are super-strong and can take on vampires. Nasty how he tells Josh, “Ready to pop some ticks?” just before they jump on a vampire on a blood-high. Josh gets in a fight with Marcus and beats the crap out of him. He’s all freaked out but Ray’s getting under his skin, whispering in his ear and telling him that he knew it felt good.

Forgot to mention that Sally decides to stop undermining Danny and Bridget after Aidan tells her that everyone deserves a chance to be happy. She basically tells Bridget that she’s ok for them to be together. Thank God. Her stalking was getting a little creepy. Oh wait, she’s a ghost. Never mind.

Josh is really now starting to get interesting – like seeing him with some bite. Next week episode look awesome!

Being Human airs on Syfy on Mondays at 9pm.

I am excited to say that I am planning to attend my first ever Monster-Mania Con in Cherry Hill, NJ on March 11-13. I am particularly excited that Godric from True Blood will be there, as well as Melinda Clarke from The Vampire Diaries.

I will also be handing out postcards for the upcoming release of my novel, Bloodspell, releasing in May 2011. If you’re going to be there, stop by and say hello!

Immortality. What’s not to love? There’s just one thing they leave out of the pitch. Time, that endless sucking time. […] Memories, those haunting memories. […] And realize there is only one true thing—it is impossible to live forever perfectly. […] So go ahead, live forever. Forget what you’ve forgotten. But they won’t. They never do.

Being Human (the US edition) is still stretching its legs. Things are getting more exciting as the three roommates get in the swing of “normal” living, or trying to live normally, anyway. Neat scene of Aidan brushing his teeth, trying to be like any other normal human even though he doesn’t eat, but he tells Sally that it’s “to maintain appearances.” In another surprise move, Aidan decides to become part of the neighborhood watch, and invites all of his neighbors into their home for a meeting. Naturally, Josh freaks out. But that isn’t the worst part, one of the people in the watch happens to be the son of one of Aidan’s victims years before. He corners Aidan later on and impales him in a drunken fight through the stomach onto a piece of pipe. I almost jumped out of my skin when Aidan starts screaming, all fangs and black eyes. That was cool. Bishop, of course, wants to step in and save the day with his own clean-up, but Aidan wants no part of Bishop or his vampire “family.” Aidan instead tries to compel the man by erasing all memory of ever seeing him, but he only succeeds in driving the man to commit suicide.

Meanwhile, they two boys find another ghost, er, “Casper, the handsy ghost,” who hails back from the eighties to instruct Sally in the ways of being a ghost, particularly, moving from place to place. The special effects when they fade in and out are pretty cool. We get to know Sally a bit more in this episode, which is good. She was a lot less annoying as we start to see more of her personality, with some funny one-liners of her own.

Sally to Josh (after he suggests that she could do with a rebound ghost): I don’t need your help, Dry-spell.

She is also able to visit her ex-fiance, only to find that he has been cozying up with her best friend, which of course she is not ok with, despite being dead and as Josh said, “not here.” Just before Tony moves on (through his special door after finding his own closure), he tells Sally that she can physically touch a living person but that they have to be open to it.

The next episode looks cool as Josh finds his own “werewolf” buddy, and it looks like Sally goes on a bit of a jealous rampage as Danny and Bridget start to get more romantic. Overall, still not 100% sure on whether I’m in love with this series or not. Still TBD.

Being Human airs on Syfy at 9pm on Mondays.

Er, not sure about the title for this week’s Vampire Diaries, but all in all, it was a pretty decent episode. I have to admit that I did forget how how Mason was, especially when the CW showed the shot of him getting killed by Damon. Too bad he had to die, even if he started becoming a little annoying toward the end. Speaking of man-candy, seriously…showing Damon in the shower (a waterfall shower, no less!) and in a towel. It was enough to make my heart stutter.

Damon as usual was quite funny and blase when Stefan asks him whether he was doing ok after Rose, and tells him that he knows that he cared about her.

Damon to Stefan: It means I care, Stefan, it means I’m changing and evolving into a man capable of greatness. You better watch your back. Cause I may just have to go get a hero hairdo of my own and steal your thunder.

Classic.

How about Caroline and Tyler’s supernatural chemistry when they had their mini-face off? That was cool. Still, Tyler is such a hot-head, and I think that he really got what he deserved letting his wolf-buddies torture Caroline, the only one who stuck by him during the worst days of his life. I love that she basically slams the door in his face and tells him that he’s no longer any friend of hers. The torture was a little tough to watch, especially when Brody (Jules’ new hot wolf-pack boyfriend) shoots Caroline in the face and in the body with wooden bullets. But it definitely showed the enmity between the wolves and the vampires.

It was very cool when Luca’s dad comes in to protect Damon and Stefan when they’re surrounded by werewolves, demonstrating Elijah’s “promise to protect Elena’s friends.” Still think that Elijah may be up to no good, but I think it would be awesome if he actually turns out to be one of the good guys. It’s always Damon and Stefan doing the saving…I think it would be interesting if they had help from an “Original.”

Another steamy scene at the end with Damon in a bathtub with his latest conquest. Not sure where the producers are going with this angle of bad-boy versus good-boy. I mean, Damon’s trying hard to be good (for Elena), but he  thinks that he is evil, so then he goes and bites innocent people to vindicate his evil self? Not sure if I am liking that too much. I mean, I get it, but it’s a little too existential for me.

Love the twist at the end when John goes to see Katherine in the tomb. Obviously, John still has secrets.

Katherine: I want out of this tomb, John.

John: I’m already on it.

Also left to be seen is Jules’ plans for Tyler. Looks like the moonstone is back in play. And that’s a wrap for this week!

The Vampire Diaries airs on the CW on Thursdays at 8pm.

This episode of ABC’s V will no doubt strike a sensitive chord with many people, if only because it involves religion – specifically, Anna takes on the Catholic Church in the Vatican in Rome. Following a cool scene of a V shuttle landing smack dab in the middle of St. Peters’s square, the episode doesn’t hold back with Anna’s confrontation of the Vatican priests and coercing them into denouncing any support of anti-V rhetoric from its priests (initiated of course from our friend, Father Jack, who is Fifth Column). Anna overtly threatens them after their initial vote that they would not condemn the freedoms of their priests, saying that “people will turn to her for answers” and then does a splashy show of blue energy. In the end, the priests re-vote and Anna gets her way.

Meanwhile, a Vistor of Diana’s (Anna’s mother) regime is actually one of the trusted priests in the Vatican. In a neat turn, his study of the ways of the human soul and faith, has made him more human than alien. In another strange twist, he gives Chad Decker a ring marked with a weird symbol before leaving with Anna. Be interesting to see what that does! Although Anna takes him back to her ship, he won’t share any information on what he has discovered about the human soul to her – instead he says that he will only report to his true queen, Diana. Luckily for him, Anna has been keeping Diana locked in a hole for years.

His message to Diana: “The human soul is truly unique. It’s not a curse. But it is in fact the gratest gift our species has ever found. We must not run from it. We must embrace it. And make it part of us. It will sustain our species in the future.”

Anna threatens to skin him to learn everything he knows about the soul. The priest then he sacrifices himself to Diana, who gives him the honorable death for his loyalty. Anna, in a rage at her loss, tells her mother that she has killed her only ally.

Check out a clip of this scene from ABC’s V site:

Last but not least, news in the Fifth Column, Eli Cohn is the very hot dude (Oded Fehr) from Deuce Bigalow and from The Mummy! Love him! Great addition to the cast.

ABC’s V airs on Tuesdays at 9pm.

The Vampire Diaries are back with a vengeance from where they left off last year! Woot!

The episode opens with a bang with Jules waking up post-werewolf extravaganza near a camp full of dead bodies and miscellaneous body parts. She’s right in the middle of getting rid of all the evidence when a police car shows up, and she puts on a nice show that all her friends were killed by a wolf, right before she takes the poor cop out. Piece of work, that one.

Meanwhile, Rose’s wolf bite is getting worse and worse, to the point where she has delusions, and is craving blood like she’s a newbie vampire. She attacks Elena thinking that she’s Katherine, and goes on a Mystic Falls free-for-all blood buffet. Not to mention that her shoulder looks like a piece of rotting meat. I do have to say though that her acting was spectacular – I really enjoyed watching her descent into madness and pain, only because she did it so incredibly well. It was pretty powerful and raw. Best acting so far I’ve seen on the CW, that’s for sure.

Second-best in the acting department on this episode is of course my boy, Damon, who really got his heart rocked in this one. Obviously, he had feelings for Rose, and when he couldn’t save her (especially knowing that she took the wolf bite for him), he started breaking apart. Love, love, love the scene at the end when he takes Rose into a dream sequence just before he stakes her – that was so romantic and tragic all at the same time.

The whole Tyler/Caroline thing needs to move at a quicker pace. It’s obvious that they have feelings for each other, given what they’ve both been through together. But I guess there has to be some kind of build-up before any vamp/wolf fraternization. That’s where Jules comes in…saying things to Tyler about Caroline killing Mason, and trying to drive the two of them apart. Hopefully Tyler will stand up for himself, but we all know that he’s a bit of a hothead already and liable to fly off the handle. Jules’ ominous “I got my pack coming” was a little cliche for me, but I suppose that a vampire/werewolf showdown is in the works, especially after Rose’s untimely demise.

Speaking of, who knows what kind of rampage Damon’s going to go on now that he has completely lost his mind, and gone back to the dark side. Guess he’s thinking that not feeling anything at all is a hell of a lot better than feeling anything period. Poor Damon – he’s definitely out for blood…some blond werewolf blood to be more precise. I do have to admit though, that while it was good to see Damon’s sensitive side, it’s kind of cool that the bad-boy-with-bite is back. Can’t wait to see what Elena thinks about that one.

And I almost forgot – Uncle John…er…baby-daddy is back. It will be interesting to see what role he’s going to play in the whole mash-up. Good vampires + bad vampires + random werewolves + guys with immortality rings + witches and warlocks + the girl everyone seems to be in love with = ?????? TBD, folks. TBD.

The Vampire Diaries airs on Thursdays at 8pm on the CW.