Wings of Steam

Following the tradition set by Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, A. E. Moorat has created his own historical/horror mash-up novel. On October 15th, London publisher Hodder & Stoughton will release Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter, an “alternative history of Britains feistiest queen, packed full of blood, guts, and flesh-eating zombies.”

`There were many staff at Kensington Palace, fulfilling many roles; a man who was employed to catch rats, another whose job it was to sweep the chimneys. That there was someone expected to hunt Demons did not shock the new Queen; that it was to be her was something of a surprise.`

As a promotion for the release of the novel, the publisher has created a web page (wearenotamused.net) where you can read the first chapter of the book and enter a YouTube film competition. A winning entry for the best Victorian zombie short film could win you £100 of Hodder books. The contest closes on September 20th and the best entries will be used to promote the novel.

It’s been a while since I presented any videos on this blog, so this time around I decided to show an entire web series.

Wormtooth Nation is a loose steampunk adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream which premiered between May and June 2008. Being a low budget film by a couple of college students, this series is amazingly well-done. It has won Openfilm.com’s Filmaker of the Month Award and is expected to be a nominee for Best Drama in the first annual Streamy Awards.

Be sure to check out the series’ website where you can find more info on the setting and characters, and buy a DVD of the series re-edited into a feature length movie.

I’m introducing a new recurring feature in this blog called “Victorian Sci-fi Theatre,” where every so often, I will post the latest and greatest of Steampunk short films. Submissions are welcome by emailing me at captain_jules@wingsofsteam.net.

Our debut episode of Victorian Sci-fi Theatre features two films that were shown last weekend at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival. It doesn’t get much better than Lovecraft, steampunk crossovers.

First we have The Book Dealers about a couple of occult book collectors who use 18th century technology to fight an evil force unleashed on a prairie home. Following this, we have The Amazing Screw On Head, a witty show originally aired as a pilot to a series, by Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy.

The Book Dealers:

The Amazing Screw On Head: