Shane Briant's new short films

Author and former Hammer film star Shane Briant has a book out titled Worst Nightmares, a horror novel which I reviewed and recommended in this post. Recently, I watched short promo films for the novel on YouTube. I was surprised to see that instead of the usual voiceover with a picture of the book, these little films were showing characters and places depicted in the story. A very pleasant surprise was seeing that one of the actors was Briant himself, doing a very good job as "The Plastic Bag Man." All the promos can be seen here; I especially liked Worst Nightmares (Aug. 29), The Agoraphobic, The Crib, and The Plastic Bag Man.

So I talked to Mr. Briant by phone and by e-mail about the short promos; here's what he had to say about them:

Who made the promo films and how were they shot?

I shot all the videos in my attic studio with my camera (CASIO) and my computer. Then I processed the rushes through my iMovie.

Where did you find the actors, and who plays the them?

I begged some great friends to act out the roles. I couldn’t afford to pay them so I added their names in the acknowledgements page of my book. Jeffery Bloom, who appears as the "Dream Healer", wrote and directed Flowers in the Attic, among other films.

The rest of the credits are:

Alex Davies - The Mouth Maiden
Danny Adcock – The Drowner
Janneke Arent – The Scorpion Girl
Barry Langrishe – The Agoraphobic
Wendy Lycett – Wheelchair Wanda
Mary Reagan – The Superglue Lady
Barry and Katya Quin – The Stakes Couple
Holly Louise Greenstein – The Bug Girl

Where are the locations of the Dream Healer's shack seen in "The Crib"?

The Crib was an old shed used by the Sydney Water Authority. I came by it late one night and it looked mighty scary.

What was the most enjoyable part of making them?

It was fun to try and scare people as they gave their performances.

Thank you for taking time to talk with me, Mr. Briant.

Great chatting with you the other day! Best of everything!
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Mr. Briant's novel has received some very good notices, such as these:

“One of the best horror and suspense novels in years.” --bookgasm

“All the danger, treachery and intrigue a reader could ask for.”-- NYTimes best selling author Steve Berry

“Shane Briant combines the psychological suspense of Thomas Harris’ Silence of the Lambs, the creeping horror of Steven King’s Misery, and the eerie inescapable fatality of The Eyes of Laura Mars.” --Katherine Neville, NYT best selling author.

“A bloody good thriller!”--Davebrendon’s Fantasy& Sci-fi

“Definitely pick this one up! 5 out of 5.”-- Popin’s Lair

“Fireside Books first hot book for September – couldn’t put it down!”

Relevant Links:

The WORST NIGHTMARES website.

Shane Briant's blog.