Interview with Horror Drunx Founder, Mortimer A. London
By Molly Celaschi
Read Editor of Rue Morgue Jovanka Vuckoic’s Response Here
“I don’t make shit off this. I went in the hole, but at least when I know that I get the stuff out there, somebody’s going to appreciate it. That is all that really matters to me.” – Mortimer A. London.
We like to think of Horror Yearbook as a safe haven for all horror fans no matter how small or seemingly unsophisticated. We are a voice for all of those that may not otherwise have been heard. So, we would like to introduce the Horror Drunx clans and theology.
Horror Drunx was started in late 2002 as a fun past time involving posing in front of famous horror sites such as the Phantasm Cemetery and the Elm Street house, but it has evolved into something bigger. The ringleader, Mortimer A. London, was created as a way of expressing horror movie purist opinions and it grew from there. About a year ago, he gave instructions on how to start chapters and 10 chapters had opened overnight.
Now with dozens of chapters across the US and members growing into the thousands, Horror Drunx has become something of a revolution and a way of horror life. Unfortunately, not all horror fans were created equal and this has landed Horror Drunx into some trouble with other groups, most notably Rue Morgue Magazine. I now present the first of four assignments by Mort as he generously divulges the drama that has ensued with some other horror groups.
Assignment 1 was to take one dollar bills and write “Stop horror movie remakes” over George Washington’s face. Then, cross out the “In God we trust” and write “In Mort we trust” and put your chapters name somewhere. That was popular. One chapter leader paid about $2,000 in Horror Drunx money for his rent.
Assignment 2 was for chapter leaders to find Horror bands and make them their official horror band. Easy enough.
But Assignment 3 is what Horror Drunx is really known for. According to Mort, “Some of the Horror Drunx are avid readers of Rue Morgue magazine, so they asked ‘Why don’t we try to get an article in there?’ There are 2 major publications, Rue Morgue and Fangoria and Horror Drunx thought that Rue Morgue was the lesser of two evils, so I instructed everybody to email the Morgue at the same time and tell them why they felt that Horror Drunx should be in the magazine. I instructed all the Chapter leaders to send out 5 paragraphs just explaining their chapters and what they do. Within in a couple hours, Rue Morgue emailed threatening to sue me. I told them that they better put the Horror Drunx in Morgue and they don’t want to be on the wrong side and they took that as blackmail.”
“They called me unprofessional and thumbed their noses at thousands of people and acted like a bunch of jackasses. They know nothing about public relations. They’re over there in fuckin’ Canada trying to buy out everything. Old school punk rock clubs, the Zombie Walk. I have a lot of issues with them. For example, before the Dawn of the Dead remake came out, they said there was no way they would support a George Romero remake. Then what happened? A few writers actually appeared as zombies in the movie. So their editorial doesn’t mean shit. As long as they get paid off everything is all right. That is the problem with the horror scene. They are just paid off hacks.”
“That is why I like this internet horror scene that is popping up that are doing reviews like Horror Yearbook. They’re not paid. They can say whatever you want.” My ever present editor WIL jumps in with, “Well, when we get paid, we can still say whatever we want. The other sites kiss their ass, but they don’t have to. As long as you’re getting a lot of traffic, those places will still pay you. It is just that those other sites (particularly the “Disgusting” one) like to kiss ass because they collect horror celebrity friends like pokemon cards.”
When asked if he posted personal information online about Rue Morgue or its editor-in-chief Jovanka Vuckovic, Mort replied, “That’s bullshit right there because she puts her email on the website for everyone to see. So she gets mad at me for that.” In an unrelated statement, he has said, “Jovanka has high cheek bones and an Adam’s apple.” (My fabulous editor WIL insisted I keep this in despite the lack of relevancy). “But you know what’s shitty about her, she has about 100 goth kids working for her for free handing out flyers. At least at Troma you get a movie out of it.”
Read Our Lloyd Kaufman Interview Here
In the email from Jovanka, she stated that Mort has acted unprofessional and will never get an interview from Rue Morgue, to which Mort replies, “I have never claimed to be “professional”, so she can shove her professionalism up her ass.” These sentiments are echoed in his MySpace Bulletin that reads, “To Rue Morgue, you dug yer own grave….now it is time for me to piss in it.” Well, in the tradition of Horror Drunx and their horror movie purist beliefs, I do not think this assignment could have gone any other way. I am sure some of the Drunx are still subscribers to Rue Morgue as am I. As a matter of fact, you can read my Rue Morgue review that will follow.
And moving on, Assignment 4 is the current project and involves getting Drunx to pose in front of classic movie posters and taking pictures with the flyers that say “Stop the Horror Remakes!” This has since become a game of inserting the flyers into the DVD covers of the movies as well and has landed Mort into some hot water with the movie rental chains such as Blockbuster.
As far as upcoming events, Mort is working with Sid Terror, the lead singer of the Undead horror punk band, to put together a Horror Drunx music show featuring a movie and some horror bands. “But I can’t let the cat out of the bag on some of the people that might be there”.
Well, it appears that Horror Drunx is a force to be reckoned with and has no intention of slowing down at this rate. In fact, odds are that their horror troops will increase in numbers over the next few months. For more information on Horror Drunx, Please visit them at MySpace.
And to start a chapter, contact Mortimor first. He has a set of questions that will remain somewhat secretive and involves Mort’s probing a bit to see if you are a “true black & blue horror fan and to see if you are a drunkard”. The general requirements are to drink a lot, use vulgar language, and be a true horror movie fan. Contact Mort here: hdrunx@yahoo.com
And read Horror Drunx news on our Message Boards.
