Deep within the bowels of Gruesome Magazine headquarters, an elusive ghostly creature lurks. The Grue Crew can’t put their finger on what it is. Some say it’s a Batman style superhero lurking for justice in the corners. Others say it’s a vampire with massive fangs using the evasiveness to further draw you in. Plenty of others just say it’s Doc roaming the halls to the fridge at night. Regardless, this indefinable creature is something many try to figure out. Little do they know that that creature metamorphosizes from week to week. Yes, you the fan choose the form of this creature and The Grue Crew spend the last moments of Horror News Radio  trying to guess what it is. All of you forge the…  Phantom Factor! Here are the rules:

1. I’ll put up a call to action post like this one announcing a topic.
2. This topic (The  Phantom Factor, as it were)  will be based around a favorite horror/genre character, actor, director or even film.
3. The listeners will post suggestions in the comments of social media or this very post.
4. I will pick three suggestions from those listed.
5. On Horror News Radio, I will have list three facts about each mysterious figure that the other Grue Crew members will try to guess. Each fact is in descending order of vagueness.
6. Those who guess from the first clue — the vaguest one — will receive three points. Then two points at the second clue. One point at the final. If no one guesses by that point, no one receives any points.
7. The players can only guess once per clue, but won’t be penalized for getting a clue wrong.
8. Those who enter will be in contention for a random drawing to win a prize at the end of the month! See below for more details.

This Week’s Topic

This week on Horror News Radio, the big topic of the night is  Pacific Rim Uprising.  The sequel to the much beloved kaiju busting 2013 actioner from genre favorite Guillermo Del Toro,  Uprising  follows up 10 years from the original. The Jaeger robot mechs are brought back out to fight an oncoming kaiju threat. Good thing the new recruits include John Boyega leading the fight as Idris Elba’s character from the first film’s son to fight the giant monsters. So in honor of this returning battle, the topic for Phantom Factor this week is Kaiju Kraziness! In other words, your favorite giant monsters in film, TV or otherwise! Keep in mind that “giant” in this case can be anything above roughly average human height (ie above 6 foot tall when standing up). Also, we’d like to have more than just Godzilla to guess from, so be creative! Submit your answers by Monday March 26th at 8:00 pm EST to be considered!

This Month’s Prize

Our prize for March is a copy of the book  The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema  by Michael Vaughn. This book is a film guide organized by genre, including comedy, horror, action, drama, fantasy, and sci-fi with 300 reviews of genre films from all over the world, 160 photos, and exclusive interviews and quotes from the people behind some of the most offbeat films ever made. If you live in a US address, you’ll be entered in a random drawing to win this lovely book!

Thomas Mariani

Thomas Mariani is a born geek, with a bit of nerd mixed in here & there. A native of the (less) swampy parts of Florida, Thomas has always been a fan of films, television & other sources of media ever since he was a child, having been raised on Jim Henson, Star Wars and the basic cable cartoons of the ’90s & ’00s.

Some of his favorite horror films include Evil Dead II, Poltergeist and An American Werewolf in London. He already has experience writing and podcasting about pop culture, which you can read/listen to on sites like www.oneofus.net, www.horrornews.net or even on twitter as @NotTheWhosTommy.