Dan Dillard's Blog

I've been working on this story for a while...at first as an animated film (Still in the works) and then also as a novel. This is a bit of a switch for me, as although it is still in the horror realm... Mortimer Grim is more of a middle-grade gothic fairytale. It's also a dark comedy.

So it is my take on finding your family, dealing with loss, coming of age, and monsters, all with snark and pizazz in paperback, hard cover or e-book.

Grab a copy, read it, review it, tell your friends... and Happy Halloween!

 I don't know what it is yet. This site has been neglected for so long I'm surprised it hasn't take me to court.I've moved on almost completely to screenwriting, although there is another book of short stories in my queue that is basically finished. I'm working on a few feature length screenplays, one which has a lot of promise, and ten or more that are sitting in various versions of draft one.

Forgive me internet, for I have sinned. It has been ... like 17 months since my last confession and I have no excuses. I don't do penance either so just deal with the shit.






Last post I did here was about a tiny little film called Bacteria. Since then, we've done one called Buffoonery and Hooligans, one called Revenge, one called The Legend of Pickaxe Dick and one called Third Person.

We've

A few of us had last Friday night off and decided to make a short film. It's horror, a little icky, and I hope to release it to the world soon (one way or another).  Keep your eyes peeled and your hands washed.

Starring Hauke Bahr (Anderson Wake) and introducing Brenna Dillard who also did the practical effects.

Here we are again, months since my last post. It's not that I don't like the three of you that read this...Hell, I'm married to at least one of you. It's just that my life isn't all that interesting on a day to day basis. A couple times a year, something happens that's newsworthy for the world.

Sometimes things happen that are just for my family.
Sometimes things happen that are just for me.

So

This past weekend, I was privileged to sit on a panel of
independent filmmakers and speak to the public. Now...I’m a writer, and not
what one might call an accomplished writer, but a writer nonetheless. I write
because I don’t speak well. My mind moves faster than my mouth and I tend to
ramble and go off on unrelated tangents.



So what happened was this: 
Michelle at HorrorHound asked me a

After all this time, I'm finally getting around to doing what I've wanted to do since I was a kid:  Make Movies! The PigMan short film is happening!


My first book... Awww, look at him, all grown up.


The goal when writing Demons and Other Inconveniences was to eventually turn my stories into films, and that goal continued through the next 10 books. So I have a lot of material to adapt. I've

Thanks, Jimmy Buffett. Forty was actually a few years ago, but looking back, I think forty may be when things changed. It's been a long time since an age really affected me.

Driving at 16 may have been the biggest one--that freedom that comes with wheels, even when you manage to wreck those wheels a couple times (and they don't belong to you--Sorry Dad).

Drinking at 21 was some sort of

Here, finally, is my student thesis film. A lot of people came together to make
this happen and I can't thank them enough. So grab some popcorn and enjoy.


WITCHCRAFT
written and directed by Dan Dillard


An awkward young girl is bullied by kids in her neighborhood. When she has had
enough, she casts a spell to give them a taste of their own medicine…and add to her
collection.



Witchcraft

I wrote this little story a couple years ago and published it in a collection called Down the Psycho Path. Through an odd set of circumstances, I got the opportunity to make it into a film. Those circumstances will be divulged later, but I had just found out about my pancreas problem (long story short, I can't eat fat anymore) and there I was at a road-side diner with a few friends discussing