2018 Rondo Awards Nominees

Online voting has begun for the 16th Annual Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards. You’re invited to vote for your favorites in any or all 29 categories. Click the link for instructions and the complete ballot. The deadline to participate is midnight April 8.

As teaser, here are the Best Movie, Best Television Presentation, and Best Article finalists.

BEST MOVIE OF 2017

  • ALIEN: COVENANT
  • ANNABELLE: CREATION
  • THE BLACKCOAT’S DAUGHTER
  • BLADE RUNNER 2049
  • COLOSSAL
  • CULT OF CHUCKY
  • A CURE FOR WELLNESS
  • GET OUT
  • GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2
  • HAPPY DEATH DAY
  • Stephen King’s IT
  • IT COMES AT NIGHT
  • JUSTICE LEAGUE
  • KONG SKULL ISLAND
  • LIFE
  • LOGAN
  • MOTHER!
  • THE MUMMY
  • THE SHAPE OF WATER
  • STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
  • SUPER DARK TIMES
  • THOR RAGNAROK
  • WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
  • WONDER WOMAN

BEST TELEVISION PRESENTATION OF 2017

  • AMERICAN HORROR STORY: CULT, ’11/9.’ 9.26.17, FX. Election results spark a murderous cult from both sides. ‘Take pain in one hand and anger in another. Use them.’
  • BLACK MIRROR, ‘USS Callister,’ 12.29.17, NETFLIX. A creepy take on fandom and Star Trek. ‘But then you threw my son out of an airlock.’
  • DOCTOR WHO, ‘Twice Upon a Time,’ 12.25.17, BBC America. The Twelfth Doctor, refusing to regenerate, meets the First Doctor. ‘There’s a few false starts, but you get there in the end.’
  • THE EXORCIST, ‘Darling Nikki,’ 11.10.17, FOX. An attempt to draw the Demon out of hiding. ‘After they’ve gone, we’ll start putting this house together again.’
  • FEUD, ‘You Mean All This Time We Could Have Been Friends?’ 4.23.17, FX. The Bette Davis-Joan Crawford finale includes recreation of Crawford filming TROG. ‘My mother told me to never speak ill of the dead, only good. Joan Crawford is dead. Good.’
  • GAME OF THRONES, ‘The Spoils of War,’ 8.6.17. A spectacular battle of fire and ice. Dragons, too. ‘I will fight for you. I will fight for the North. When you bend the knee.’
  • THE HANDMAID’S TALE, ‘A Woman’s Place,’ 5.17.17, HULU. An ambassador brings short-lived hope. ‘We let them forget their real purpose. We won’t let that happen again.’
  • THE ORVILLE, ‘Pria’ 10.5.17, FOX. Charlize Theron guests as an alien from the future. ‘When we get to my century, I’ll introduce you to Amelia Earhart.’
  • STAN AGAINST EVIL, ‘Girl’s Night,’ 11.8.17, IFC. Jeffrey Combs guest stars as Impish Man. ‘Answer the door. Then step outside and lock it, and everything will be great.’
  • STRANGER THINGS, ‘The Gate,’ 10.27.17, NETFLIX. Eleven and others confront beasts from the Upside Down. ‘I never gave up on you. I called you every night.’
  • THE WALKING DEAD, ‘Bury Me Here,” 3.12.17 AMC. Carol rejoins the fight after a delivery to the Saviors goes bad. ‘We have to fight. We do. But not today..’

BEST ARTICLE

  • ‘Battle of the Monster Makers: The Science Behind Henry and Victor Frankenstein,’ by Mark C Glassy, PhD, SCARY MONSTERS #103. The science behind Universal and Hammer’s dueling mad doctors.
  • ‘Boris Karloff: Host of NBC’s Thriller,’ by Dr. Robert J. Kiss, CLASSIC IMAGES #507. How the horror icon held viewers spellbound.
  • ‘Caltiki: The Name Written in Tripe,’ by Tim Lucas. SCREEM #33. The rediscovery of Mario Bava’s role in his Italian monster movie.
  • ‘Robert Bloch: The Clown at Midnight,’ by Steve Vertlieb, THETHUNDERCHILD.COM. Recalling a 25-year friendship with the author of Psycho.
  • ‘Could the Zombo Show Be Successful Today?’, by Mike DeMesa (art by Rob Costello), SCARY MONSTERS #103. A wistful look at the Munsters short-lived horror host.
  • ‘The Epic Untold Saga Behind Frankenstein: The True Story,’ by Sam Irvin, LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #38. More than 100 pages on the 1973 NBC miniseries that brought elegance and star-power to Mary Shelley’s monster.
  • ‘Fan Therapy: Subscription Boxes,’ by Nathan Hanneman, HORRORHOUND #63. What do you actually get in those horror mystery boxes? HH opens them up.
  • ‘The Future of Horror: Directing a New Generation,’ by Nathan Hanneman and staff, HORRORHOUND #68. A look at directors who will be taking the genre in scary new directions.
  • ‘The Great and Secret Showman,’ by Sean Plummer, RUE MORGUE #176. The myths and truths behind Satanist Anton Lavey.
  • ”How Do You Solve a Problem Like Carmilla, Part Two,’ by John-Paul Checkett, VIDEO WATCHDOG #184. More surp[rising films based on LeFanu’s novella.
  • ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame,’ by Nige Burton, CLASSIC MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES #9. An in-depth look at the 1939 all-time classic.
  • ‘James Whale,’ a three-part article by Neil Pettigrew, DARK SIDE #183, 188, 189. Visits to Whale’s birthplace and stage career offer insights to his Universal monsters.
  • ‘Less Is More: on the Need to Return to Generic Horror,’ by Preston Fassel, HeardTell.com. A prescription for change.
  • ‘The Mummy: 85 Years of Stalking,’ by Jon Kitley with Jason Jink Jenkins, HORRORHOUND # A museum-full of mummified films, toys, games and artifacts.
  • ‘Music to our Fears,’ by Jamie Jones, CLASSIC MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES #6. Dissecting the horror themes that made so many films so memorable.
  • ‘The Night of the Eagle Revisited,’ by Clive Dawson, DARK SIDE #181. The many incarnations of Burn Witch Burn.
  • ‘The Obscure Cinematic Lore of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,’ by Steve Joyce, the Journal of Stevenson Studies, Vol. 13. Exploring the many silent-film takes on one of literature’s original monsters.
  • ‘The Old Dark House, Fixed Up Good as New,’ by Tom Weaver, CLASSIC IMAGES #509. Interviews and tons of facts about the newly restored James Whale classic.
  • ‘Paul Blaisdell: The Strange Creature of Topanga Canyon,’ by Vincent di Fate, SCARY MONSTERS #104-105. The low-budget triumphs and career heartbreak of a master monster maker.
  • ‘Paul Naschy,’ by Rod Barnett, SCREEM #34. An expert examines the latest Naschy resurgence.
  • ‘Phyllis Coates, or Loosing Lois Lane in New York,’ by Bruce Dettman, FILMFAX #150. A first-person account of escorting the Superman star to a Manhattan convention.
  • ‘The Production of Universal’s Invisible Man Returns,’ by Greg Mank, MONSTER BASH #29. How Vincent Price went invisible.
  • ‘Regarding the Incomparable Acting Career of Peter Lorre,’ by Lucas Paris, MONDOCULT.com. The performances are the thing in this look at one of horror’s most singular presences.
  • “The Road to Hell: The Making of To the Devil a Daughter and the Unmaking of Hammer,’ by David Taylor, LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #39. How Hammer blew a last chance to stay afloat.
  • ‘Supernatural Folklore in the Japanese Ghost Film,’ by Kat Ellinger, DIABOLIQUE #26. Tracing the cultural roots of apparitions and demons.
  • ‘Triple Threat: Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster,’ by Martin Arlt, MAD SCIENTIST #32. Everything, and more, you need to know about Godzilla’s arch-nemesis.
  • ’20 Years of Monsters,’ by Michael Ramsey and Deborah Painter, MONSTER BASH #30. A look back at two decades of fandom’s most monster-friendly convention.

Filer Steve Vertlieb’s article “Robert Bloch: The Clown at Midnight” is up for a “Best Article” Rondo Award, and he’d be glad to have you read and consider voting for it. Anyone can vote – simply send an e-mail to David Colton ([email protected]) with their name, e-mail, and the nominees they’re voting for. Everyone may vote just once. Voting ends Sunday night, April 8, 2018, at midnight.

2 thoughts on “2018 Rondo Awards Nominees

  1. Yyyyyyeah. On what planet (ahem) is “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2” a “classic horror movie”?! If the nominee list comes from internet randos nominating, I can see how the list could get away from the core purpose, though. I’m not sure how the list is created.

    /not-a-horror-fan

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