VCAM viewers may be familiar with Penny Dreadful, the hostess of Penny Dreadful’s Shilling Shockers — an access show that comes to us from Massachusetts. Ms. Dreadful got a nod in today’s USA Today in an article about the history and legacy of horror movie show hosts and hostesses. Her name appeared in the article along side such other horror show luminaries as Vampira and Zachary. Congratulations, Penny!

From the article…

With the advent of cable access and YouTube, a new generation of horror hosts is emerging from the genre’s freshly dug graves. Dr. Gangrene in Nashville appears on local TV in a retro horror show that also features his red-haired assistant, Nurse Moan-Eek. In Massachusetts, Penny Dreadful hosts movies ranging from The Brain That Wouldn’t Die to The Seventh Seal on public access stations. She says her character “is definitely in the tradition of the dark mysterious lady you don’t want to mess with — Vampira.”

Check out Penny Dreaful’s Halloween special, The Horror Hosts of New England! The hour and a half special will run three times on Halloween — at 6:30 am, 7:30 pm, and an extra scary 1:00 am late-night airing. Tune in!

Last weekend a friend of mine donated some “free music” to my iTunes library. As I was importing the files I asked if he thought he was putting himself at risk by acquiring so much “free music” and passing it along to his friends. He promptly told me to buzz-off or something to that effect then explained all the cool music he’d been getting lately had come from a site called Jamendo specializing in music under Creative Commons licensing.

just in case you chose to skip over the hyperlinks in the first paragraph, music under Creative Commons Licensing is free and in most cases permits you to share it, reuse it, or even remix it. But perhaps most importantly, you can feature it in your short films and media projects!

Jackie Yantachka is a senior at Champlain Valley Union High School and is doing her Grad Challenge in television production. As part of her challenge, she’s been shooting a movie review show at VCAM, both in the studio and out in the field. Look for the as yet untitled show in the coming months on the channel. Good luck, Jackie!