Didi's back, with a new column — and we're glad she is, especially since she's no longer submitting her articles on cocktail napkins.

"We rob graves, so you don't have to," — EdGeinCollection.com

Kevin Klemm, the twisted corpse maker from The Ed Gein Collection and The Girls and Corpses Magazine, took a bite out of the Big Apple on April 14th at the "Zombies Attack" art show and performance opening party. The event was held at the MF Gallery on 157 Rivington Street and yours truly had the pleasure of being in attendance.

Zombies Attack is a showcase of known and unknown artists and anyone who shows up in Zombie makeup is rewarded with free beer and brains. Note, these are not toy brains but real live pig brains. Fortunately, alternative refreshments were available and I opted for a cocktail instead of a handful of pork head.

What's he got that you don't?

By the way, for more info on Kevin Klemm, see EdGeinCollection.com, GirlsAndCorpses.com and IconsOfFright.com. Feel free to purchase the Girls and Corpses calendar and make sure you check out the head corpse light (edgeincollection.com/products.html, click on dead lights), corpse popcorn bowl (myspace.com/edgeincollection and the corpse business card holder (edgeincollection.com/decor.html) — items no home should be without.

And what a fabulous Zombie night it was. I arrived just in time for some brains but was told that the Zombies had already served dinner. Nevertheless, I did work up a thirst and opted for my aforementioned cocktail. I encountered a variety of flesh on the premises and spoke briefly with the owners of the gallery, Martina Secondo and Frank Russo, who are both well-respected artists of the Zombie genre, themselves.

	Didi and Martina Secondo at MF Gallery

Martina explained that she has been inspired by horror films and B-movies, gore and "just creepy things in general," all her life. Her online gallery, MFGallery.net, showcases established artists and emerging artists.

I should point out the evening not only featured eye candy but ear candy as well. The band Dethrace performed at around 8 p.m. and had the roomful of zombies howling for more. Should you want to check them out, the band will be performing at a Zombie closing party at the MF gallery on Saturday May 26th.

I made the rounds and got to speak to many of the amazing artists that contributed work to the show. Cecilia Granata, who is originally from Milan, is an illustration student at NYC's School of Visual Arts. She defines her art as a by-product of a cynical mind. Her paintings are disturbing to the eye and often leave the viewer uneasy. Cecilia explained that this is a result of her personal discomfort in considering reality. "Zombies and monsters are one of the few topics that emerge from my work as a consequence of my long lasting passion for horror," she explained. For more, see cecilia.bird-beak.com.

Terrorizer Magazine, featuring the art of Ed Repka

Artist Ed Repka is well known for his Megadeth album cover designs. A connoisseur of the grotesque and a proponent of supernatural realism, Ed is known worldwide for his illustrations of Vic Rattlehead, Megadeth's skeletal mascot, which for a decade has adorned CD covers, magazines, posters, T-shirts, and hordes of other metal merchandise. Regarded as the undisputed king of Thrash metal art of the 80s, Ed specializes in producing menacing reminders of impending apocalypse and grim visions of the irradiated aftermath. It's a dirty job but someone has to do it. For more, see www.myspace.com/edrepka.

Artist Drew Maillard explains that he's been involved in the lowbrow art scene for quite a while. "I show up mostly in surrealist/underground shows and galleries," he said. He states that the chemical spill under his apartment might be adding a certain je ne sais quoi to his work. Mostly, he wants to "stay in his apartment, create his art, and not deal with the world" — and who can argue with that.

Artist Garry Boake says he's been into art all his life and that he's a die-hard fan of "Dawn of the Dead." He had a couple of pieces in the show. One was a "rifle scope looking thing on the drip-shaped piece of wood called 'Shoot It, Man, Shoot It in the Head.'" The other piece, "Wake the Dead," was a sketch of a hand protruding from a grave with red ink dripped on the frame and glass. You can check out more of his fabulous piece of work at www.drgnlord.com.

Artist Jeff Zornow specializes in horror comics. Jeff is somewhat of a "gorehound" — he is very passionate about the horror genre. He loves dealing with monsters killing and eating people and he says, "I find it fun!"

In addition, Jeff designs T-shirts, album covers and artwork for many bands. "Horror is a great way to point out the faults we have, while at the same time being entertaining," he comments. Jeff claims that he shall not rest until all that the human race holds dear is reduced to a pile of bloody pulp and slimy maggots. Good luck, Jeff. For more, see www.yourmidnightreader.com.

Well, as fate would have it, I wound up at the bar next door, drinking where I was able to get a few more drops of blood from president and founder Eric S. Eichelbeiger of Anxiety Films. Anxiety is a large online community of filmmakers and fans in the B movie, Horror, Sci-fi, Biker Slut, Gore Flim, Sexploitation, Eurotrash, Rebel Film, Women in Prison, Cannibal Film, Sleaze, Blaxploitation and Trailer Trash markets.

Eric told me that Anxiety was interested in applying a cinematic technique, made famous by Alfred Hitchcock, to a 1950's style sexploitation flick. A direct product of this can be seen in the movie "Women in Anxiety." The main element that Eric was interested in capturing was the "underlying anxiousness" in the Hitchcock films. Check out a few of his sneak previews at AnxietyFilms.com — what a treat!