The Screamstress - Horror & Paranormal

Featured Site of the Week: Buzz

by Rhys on November 16th, 2005

Welcome to one of my favorite categories on this site: Featured Site of the Week. Here’s my chance to showcase the best horror has to offer: the shining stars of the craftily creative, ghoulishly good, bloodily brilliant.

This week, I’m honored to present Camp Blood.

Most horror sites offer the same old thing: movie reviews, some gory pictures, nothing new or exciting. (Not this site, though. This site is awesome.)

And then one day…I found Camp Blood. I loved the name right off, and then I saw the tagline: Be Afraid. Be Fairy Afraid. With a line like that, I knew it had to be good.

And boy, is it.

Let me ask you this: when you visit a horror site, would you expect to be greeted by Barbra Streisand? Exactly.

Even better…by Barbra Streisand singing the lyrics from The Eyes of Laura Mars?!

Camp Blood sports by far the most varied collection of horror movies of any site, with witty writing that cannot be equaled. But that’s only the beginning: wait ‘til you get a load of the awesome ‘Features’ section. Make sure you have a few hours before you head over, because you won’t want to leave. There’s even a delightfully quirky design: strange and colorful and wonderful…which pretty much describes the site itself. Camp Blood even has its own characters. I would kill for a Skully doll.

The genius behind this frightening fun is Buzz. Writer, filmmaker, creature of the night, this horror hottie embodies the best in the horror genre (wild, campy fun) and the best in humanity (smart, kind, one hell of a sense of humor.)

The man himself. Sorry ladies, not for you.

When you go to Camp Blood, just wait and stare at the opening page for a moment. If you sit there, listen to the song, and stare at the pulsating images, you’ll be quite…mesmerized. I’m pretty sure Buzz is using it to hypnotize us into doing naughty things while we think we’re asleep.

Once you venture further, you’ll be laughing your hiney off so hard you may not realize just how intelligent and provocative the writing is. With sections like “News of the Weak” and my favorite, “The Homo Horror Guide,” Buzz faces convention, kicks its ass, and reshapes it into something much cooler.

There’s even an awesome T-shirt collection. You’re nothing unless you have a ‘Final Girl’ shirt. Yes, even you guys.

Talking to Buzz was like meeting a rock star of the horror world. One I’ve been stalking for quite a while, little did he know…mwahaha! But I wouldn’t kill him and put him in my trunk or anything; he’s way too cool to waste. I’d totally stuff him and put him on loving display.

We were lucky enough to hear from Buzz himself, who can say it better than I ever could:

“CampBlood.org emerged while I was writing a short suspense film I made a few years ago. I started wondering how much, if at all, my sexuality might be affecting the story – and more importantly, how I felt about that. I had been a HUGE horror nut as a kid, but had strayed in college – so I dove back in, this time as a gay filmmaker trying to locate an undercurrent of queerness in the genre.

“I was shocked to find that there was no website that tackled the genre explicitly from this angle (there are some very camp horror sites, but no one was actually saying the Q word), and decided to compile a list of films with special significance to a gay audience – a gay character, gay filmmaker or actor, or a plot or theme that subverts the dominant hetero paradigm (big words!) or addresses an issue particularly close to gays (body terror, teen sexual trauma or confusion, etc.).

“When my list (now the Homo Horror Guide) attracted a hungry and underserved audience, I fleshed out the site with news, reviews, features, and other stuff that made me laugh. Because really, although we can throw around all the academic bullshit we want, these are horror movies we’re talking about – and horror movies are fun.

“I wanted CampBlood to be entertaining, irreverent, and uncompromised – hence the pseudonym, the lack of affiliation/advertising, and the personal voice of the site, which makes no claims to be anything other than the rants of a picky sissy with a laptop.

“The response has been astounding, both from the film community And closeted horror fans – you’d honestly think that being an Omen II fan was more frightening than being a homo these days. But every week I get emails from folks all over the world who thought they were the only homo who was into horror and are thrilled to find a few rental tips, and that’s what really keeps me going.

“My favorite compliment (besides “your ass could make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window”) is, “I totally disagree with your analysis, but it was so much fun to read that I almost didn’t notice.” I don’t really care if people agree with me – I just want them to think about these movies and love them as much as I do.

“Anyway, thanks for plucking me out of the ether and giving me a chance to shine, Screamstress. Now you’ll never get rid of me.”

Love,
Buzz

I hope we never get rid of you, Buzz! You rock. And trust us: you’ve accomplished all your goals and more.

You can almost never say this sincerely in life, but it can be said about Camp Blood: There’s nothing else like it.

Go visit Camp Blood and let Buzz know how awesome he is. That is a direct order from your Screamstress. Don’t make me send Freddy after you.

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