The “SNL Digital Short” segments on Saturday Night Live are using highly entertaining and the one that aired on last night’s show was definitely that. The short, titled “Firelight,” is horror mash-up parody of Twilight that was just hilarious.

I don’t want to say what the mash-up was, because the reveal is so funny, I don’t want to spoil it for you. But seriously, watch the video here below (though the preview image in the video spoils it, so just click on it quickly). I promise you will laugh.

Singer Taylor Swift, who was the host of last night’s show, played the part of Bella, the human high school girl who in the original story falls in love with a vampire. In the parody, she falls in love with another classic monster, and there’s even a love triangle with yet another classic monster! [...]

Everyone loves tauntauns, right? Every since one of them kept Luke from freezing to death in The Empire Strikes Back, fans of the Star Wars saga have had a soft spot for these reptomammals. (We know they make great sleeping bags.)

So, have you ever wanted to learn how to draw a tauntaun? Well, now’s your chance, as writer and artist David Petersen, creator of the best-selling Mouse Guard comic book series, has given the official Star Wars site a step-by-step tutorial on how to draw these lovable furry mounts.

The tutorial has a list of supplies for you to use, and is complete with 14 easy-to-follow steps accompanied by instructional drawings. In the end, you’ll have a tauntaun standing on the snowy tundra of Hoth, with the option to add color to your creation.

If you enjoy drawing characters from Star Wars or want to learn how, then check back at Geeks of Doom real soon for your chance to win a copy of Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars [...]

The 1981 R-rated animated feature Heavy Metal is now online to watch for free at Crackle.

Due to its rating, you have to sign in to watch it, but sign-up is free and quick and there’s even an option to sign in using your Facebook account (even quicker). While the movie is free to watch, it does have periodic but quick commercial interruptions.

John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Harold Ramis, among others, voice the characters in this scifi animated film, based on the Heavy Metal magazine. The soundtrack is packed with great tunes from Stevie Nicks, Black Sabbath, Cheap Trick, and more, including the title track by Sammy Hagar [...]

A few months ago, William Shatner made an appearance on The Tonight Show to recite Sarah Palin’s tweets after the Alaska governor’s resignation.

Now, for the past two evenings, Shatner returned to the late night talk show to poetically recite the tweets of Levi Johnston, Palin’s teenager daughter’s baby daddy. In last night’s episode, host Conan O’Brien revealed that the first set of tweets was actually from Levi “imposter” account, therefore Shatner was brought back on to do a set of Levi’s quote that were verified.

Check out the videos here below of Shatner, accompanied by bass and bongos.

Also on the Shatner front, the actor best known as Captain James T. Kirk of Star Trek fame, unveiled his new Captain Kirk wax figure at Madame Tussaud’s on Hollywood Blvd in California on November 4, 2009. Check out the video of the event [...]

Star Trek is coming to DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download on November 17, 2009.

Like with many big-name summer blockbusters, Star Trek is getting a few retail exclusive releases at select stores like Target and Best Buy. I don’t usually concern myself too much with different versions of DVDs, unless an exclusive strikes my interest. In this case, J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek was my absolute favorite movie of the year (not surprising, since I’m a Trek fanatic), so naturally, I know how to think carefully on which version of the home entertainment release I’ll be choosing.

Check out the list of retail exclusives for the U.S. and Canada here below and feel free to help me decide which I’ll be getting! [...]

A group of trenchcoat-wearing, boombox-lifting Lloyd Dobler look-a-likes took to the streets of New York City today in celebration of the 20th anniversary release of Say Anything on DVD and Blu-ray.

The Doblers, which called themselves “Mobler,” began their adventure at Penn Station and make their way around the city to Washington Square Park and Union Square before ending their journey at Times Square, where the indie band Lloyd Dobler Effect put on an acoustic performance of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” [...]

Disney/Pixar’s latest animated features comes to DVD and Blu-ray on November 10, 2009. In celebration, the studio has released 8 retro posters created for the film.

Check them out here below (and click for larger, full view), along with details on the DVD/Blu-ray bonus features.

Synopsis
Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios take moviegoers up, up and away on one of the funniest adventures of all time with their latest comedy-fantasy. Up follows the uplifting tale of 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who finally fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America. But he discovers all too late that his biggest nightmare has stowed away on the trip: an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell. Their journey to a lost world, where they encounter some strange, exotic and surprising characters, is filled with hilarity, emotion and wildly imaginative adventure. [...]

Quirk Classics has announced their latest title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls.

That’s right, the publisher has decided to take another swing at Jane Austen with a revisit to their highly successful zombie mash-up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies to give us a prequel. Co-ritten by Steve Hockensmith and with a release date of March 24, 2010, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls takes us back to early 19th century England to the beginning of the zombie plague.

When we first were introduced to the Elizabeth Bennett in Zombies, the young miss and her sisters were a zombie-slaying brood with a mastery of self-defense and martial arts. But the young ladies didn’t start out that way. In Dawn of the Dreadfuls we’ll meet Elizabeth the novice, clumsy with a sword and over emotional in the matters of the heart.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was recently re-released as a hardcover heirloom edition, made it onto my Geek Read list of 10 New Books To Read This Fall [...]

I’m celebrating Halloween in Philadelphia this year, so it’s come to my attention that the Autumn Society has a Dia de los Muertos art show at Proximity Gallery here in town today.

One of the selections for the show is from artist Tom Whalen, who has contributed a Darth Vader sugar skull — a Day of the Dead pop culture mash-up that if I had the money I’d run out and get tattooed on me right now.

Check out the Darth Vadar Sugar Skull image here at right (click for larger view) and check out Whalen’s blog at Strong Stuff.

To see more entries from the show, visit The Autumn Society’s page where the artists all blog about their contributions. (The Society is a collective of artists from the Philadelphia area, but it’s branching out worldwide.)

The Society is also doing a Trick-Art-Treat art show at Brave New Worlds in Philly today 5pm – 8pm [...]

Iconic actor Christopher Lee is now Sir Christopher Lee.

In a ceremony held on October 30 at Buckingham Palace, the legendary actor was knighted by Prince Charles of England on behalf of his mother, the Queen of England.

Lee’s knighthood was announced in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2009.

The 87-year-old British actor began his film career in 1948, but in 1958 he really made his mark on pop culture playing Count Dracula in Dracula. Lee has played many memorable roles over the years, like Lord Summerisle in the original Wicker Man, but he’s best known by today’s audiences as Count Dooku from the Star Wars prequels and the wizard Saruman from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Lee will star next in Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland as The Jabberwock [...]

This is Halloween, this Halloween!

Yes, the holiday of witches, goblins, and ghouls has arrived, and there’s a lot of great deals out there to take advantage of on this glorious day. Check out today’s offerings, including some low-priced movie rentals!

As I was compiling this list, the first “Lightning Deal” at Amazon went up, so I’m adding it quickly to the top of this post so you can see it before it runs out at 9am PST (or while supplies last before that): Zombie Bundle: Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead II on Blu-ray.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game – Slimer Edition

First up, the Gold Box deal of the day over at Amazon is Ghostbusters: The Video Game – Slimer Edition for Xbox 360 for only $44.98 (that’s 36% off the list price of $69.99). This deal is for today only while supplies last [...]

On The Today Show this morning, New York City’s Rockefeller Plaza outside of NBC Studios was transformed into a Star Wars spectacular for the show’s annual “Halloween on the Plaza” holiday broadcast.

The cast of the morning show donned costumes from the Star Wars saga with Kathie Lee Gifford as C-3PO, Natalie Morales as Queen Padme Amidala, Hoda Kotb as Yoda, Ann Curry as Darth Vader, Meredith Vieira as Princess Leia, Matt Lauer as Luke Skywalker, and Al Roker as Han Solo. Star Wars creator George Lucas and his people at Lucasfilm provided real props from the films, including an X-Wing fighter and the Emperor’s chair.

We also found out that Friend of Doom Lou Platania, a member of the 501st Legion, was one of the Stormtroopers on the elaborate Today Show set and that he was the trooper next to the X-Wing in the first video embedded here below. (Go Lou!)

Check out more video from the show here below, including a behind-the-scenes look at the planning and prepping for this special Star Wars-themed episode [...]

Oh how I love the Fall — the changing of the leaves, jacket weather, Halloween, my birthday (!). And on my birthday wish list is typically a slew of books by my favorite authors and publishers released from early September through November. Anne Rice’s The Vampire Armand, Clive Barker’s Abarat, Max Brooks’s World War Z all came out during this season, and nearly every Fall Neil Gaiman (Coraline, The Graveyard Book) offers up something new.

For 2009, here are some of this Fall’s coolest literary offerings of vampires, zombies, monsters, mysteries, and more. Note, I’ve kept the list to just novels (meaning, no graphic novels), and remember, these are just items that I’m interested in. If you have more suggestions, we’d love to know ‘em!

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter
By A E Moorat
Hodder | Eos
October 15, 2009 (UK) | January 5, 2010 (U.S.)

A few weeks ago, I received a publicist’s email asking me if I’d like a copy of Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter for review. I didn’t read any further before I hit Reply with an “Absolutely” as my response. Serious, Queen Victoria as a demon hunter, that’s really all I needed to know. When the book arrived, I figured I’d leaf through it and take a few seconds to familiarize myself with it; next thing I knew I was a third of the way through the book. Yes, it was that good.

I’m a big fan of historical fiction, so even if various types of demon folk weren’t involved, I think I’d have enjoyed the story of a young Victoria coming of age as the Queen of England and falling in love with Prince Albert nevertheless. But add in the Queen’s inherit ability to battle demons, along with demons, zombies, reanimators, and two-headed creatures, and damn if that’s not good stuff. It’s an historical fiction/horror mash-up sprinkled with humor in all the right places. One of my favorite characters is a manservant who becomes zombie lunch only to return to life … to continue being a manservant! Seriously, I love this guy, and you will too [...]

All the haters can say what they will about the Twilight franchise, but there’s one positive aspect about the whole phenomenon that can’t be denied — it’s prompted teenage girls to read more.

Young girls (and their moms) are not only picking up the Twilight books, but also literary classics like Wuthering Heights, and the series has sparked interest in the horror/fantasy genre in general, serving as a gateway to more books like Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire series (from which HBO’s True Blood is based) and more.

Twilight’s also become helpful in the test prep department with Defining Twilight, a vocabulary workbook to help students prepare for tests like the SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT.

Now, just released this week is the New Moon-inspired follow-up Defining New Moon, with over 700 vocabulary words and synonyms found on the SAT, ACT, GED, and SSAT tests [...]

It’s Huluween over at Hulu where you can watch a bunch of spooky movies for FREE, like Candyman, Fright Night, and Troll 2, as well as some TV shows perfect for Halloween time like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, its spinoff Angel, and The Crow: Stairway To Heaven.

Definitely check out the selection of videos, but before you go any further, I thought I’d bring your attention to another selection up for viewing right now: Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

Now, about Dracula — I LOVE this movie. Why? Oh let’s see, because Gary Oldman IS Count Dracula and as you might not know, Gary Oldman rules! Released in 1992, the Francis Ford Coppola-directed film also starred Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing and Tom Waits as Renfield. Sounds good, right? [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is Alfred Hitchcock – The Masterpiece Collection DVD box set for only $53.99 (that’s 55% off the list price of $119.98).

This DVD box set comes with 14 classic Alfred Hitchcock suspense films, which starred actors like James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Anthony Perkins, Sean Connery, and Doris Day: Psycho, Vertigo, Rear Window, The Birds, Shadow of a Doubt, Family Plot, Frenzy, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Rope, Saboteur, Topaz Torn Curtain, The Trouble with Harry.

Let’s do the math: that’s $3.87 per movie — that’s an insane deal! And you know these movies are great, and therefore worth more than just a few bucks each.

The set is housed in premium packaging with a collectible book and each film comes with numerous documentaries, commentaries, and other bonus materials [...]

I absolutely love the American Pie franchise, especially since it stars one of my favorite comedic actors ever, Mr. Eugene Levy.

After the original R-rated trilogy movies were released in theaters, the franchise shifted to the direct-to-DVD market with their American Pie Presents line. Now, coming out on DVD, Blu-ray, and digital download on December 22, 2009 is the latest installment, American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, available in both Rated and Unrated versions.

CraveOnline has both the standard and uncensored trailers for the film, which sees Levy’s return as the wannabe insightful dad Noah Levenstein, along with a story about three high school virgins who find a “legendary guide to seduction” at their school library. Unfortunately, it’s missing a few pages, which leads the sex-obsessed boys on a crazy journey to lose their virginity and reconstruct this sexual “Bible.”

Apparently, the Book of Love has a bunch of celebrity cameos, like Bret Michaels and one that totally caught my eye — C. Thomas Howell, my first celebrity crush! Now I’m really curious what he’ll be doing in the film.

See below for synopsis, casting, and DVD/Blu-ray details [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is Angel: Seasons 1-5 Collectors Set DVD box set for only $52.99 (that’s 62% off the list price of $139.98).

Last time this baby was on sale it came out to less than twelve bucks each. NOW, for the sale price of $52.99 it would be like paying around $10.60 for each of the five individual seasons of Angel on DVD. That’s an insane bargain! This is definitely the lowest I’ve ever seen this box set go for.

This 30-disc DVD box set includes all five seasons of the Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin-off starring David Boreanaz (Bones) and comes with a companion booklet, a letter to fans from series creator Joss Whedon, and plenty of bonus features [...]

The Gold Box deal of the day over at Amazon today is The Omen Collection on Blu-ray for only $44.99 (that’s 65% off the list price of $129.98).

This Blu-ray collection contains the 1976 classic film The Omen, our first encounter with spawn of Satan, Damien, as well as its sequels Damien: Omen II (1978) and Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981). The set also includes the 2006 remake, known as 666: The Omen.

All the original movies come with feature commentary, with the first film having several commentries, including one by director Richard Donner. The Omen also has a trivia track and deleted scenes, as well as features pertaining to the remake [...]

27 days and counting until the New Moon premiere WOOOOOOOO!!!!

A ton of publications featuring the cast are set to hit newsstands in the coming weeks. Kristen Stewart is gracing the covers of several mags including Allure, Seventeen, GQ and Interview. And of course, there’s the usual smattering of TwiGossip in all the gossip rags, but this Chik doesn’t like to patronize the paparazzi so I don’t buy ‘em – most of the pics can be found elsewhere anyhoo.

Some of the lesser known (for now) stars of The Twilight Saga have been doing some interviews and sharing great behind the scenes info. Jackson Rathbone, who plays the long-suffering reluctant veggie vamp Jasper Hale, says on Eclipse “It’s actually the first time Bella and Jasper interact that’s longer than one sentence, or me attacking her. Kristen and I kept saying it was really nice to get to work together because we had never had a chance to really, kind of, like, get into some dialogue.” Read the entire interview on MTV [...]