“The Machine Girl”: Two severed thumbs way up

My pals Ted and Jessie loaned me their copy of the Japanese schoolgirl vs. Yakuza comic gorefest “The Machine Girl.” And let me tell you, it delivers on everything promised by the trailer. The title heroine loses her arm to a sadistic mob boss and has it replaced with a high-caliber machine gun. What ensues could best be described as a campy splatterfest that occupies a space somewhere between “Dead Alive” and “Kill Bill.” “Machine Girl” has it all — people ripped to pieces by flying shuriken, faces ripped off by machine-gun fire, ninjas in track suits, chainsaw fights, barfed up intestinal tracts, finger sushi, drill bras and more severed limbs than you can shake a stump at. And did I mention the flying guillotine? I’m buying it tomorrow.

Film fest fun

My friend Jaime Chavez and I collaborated on a soundtrack for “Invisible Master,” a short animated science fiction film directed by Mike Fisher. It’s received several awards at indie film competitions and science fiction film fests, and it’s being screened Saturday afternoon as part of the San Antonio Film Festival.

I won’t be there (previous engagement), but Jaime did seem interested. Say “Hello” to him if you can.

Oh yeah, hats off to Mike Fisher for another great animated project.

Coming soon: “The Savage Sword of Loehman”

I just got word that Sand: A Journal of Strange Tales will be publishing my story “The Savage Sword of Loehman” in its Fall 2008 issue. Sand is a relatively new bi-annual publication named for the Jorge Luis Borges short story “The Book of Sand.” As its name suggests, the mag specializes in the kind of strange fiction inspired by Ray Bradbury, Julio Cortazar and Richard Matheson. Sounds like “Loehman’s” found a good home.

Got to start somewhere

I’m Sanford Allen, San Antonio-based writer of strange fiction. I don’t know exactly how you got here, but welcome to my website and blog. I’m still getting all the gizmos, gadgets and whirlygigs up and running, so please patient if a few things seem tentative, half-baked or downright broken. Hopefully, once the site is running on all cylinders, you’ll be able to read some of my published work, check out my bio, click links some of my favorite sites and send me e-mails telling me what a weirdo I am.