Darren Callahan

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Darren Callahan
Darren Callahan (c. 2018)
Darren Callahan (c. 2018)
Bornc. 1969 (age 54–55)[1]
GenreScience fiction, horror, sexploitation
Notable worksDesperate Dolls
Children2
Website
www.darrencallahan.com

Darren Callahan is a Los Angeles-based director, producer, playwright, writer, and musician. Stage plays he has written include The White Airplane, Horror Academy, and the three-play cycle Beautiful Women in Terrible Trouble[2][3][4] and his novels include the The Audrey Green Chronicles trilogy and City of Human Remains.[5][6] He has been involved in a number of roles, including director, writer, and composer, in films such as Under the Table, Children of the Invisible Man, and Battle Apocalypse (aka Chrysalis).[7][2] His plays have been produced by Chicago's Strawdog Theatre Company,[8] Babes With Blades,[9] Polarity Ensemble Theatre,[10] Chicago Dramatists, Breadline Theatre, Stage 773, Prop Thtr, and City Lit.[citation needed]

He has also written for BBC, SyFy, NPR, and Radio Pacifica New York.[2]

Early life[edit]

Callahan is from Dayton, Ohio.[4]

Career[edit]

Film and stage[edit]

Callahan wrote several radio dramas in the 1990s and early 2000s, including Uncle Ant[11] (1997), The Wave (1998), The Death Guard (2000), The Carnival of Spies (2001), and The Tokyo Tourist Bureau (2005). He was awarded the NPR Best Audio Drama Award.[citation needed] In the 2010s, Callahan wrote, directed, and scored several of Glass City Films' productions, including[citation needed] Under the Table, Children of the Invisible Man,[2][12] Don't Call Me Loretta,[13] Death & Devils, and the film version of Desperate Dolls. He produced Emily Bennett's Chat Room (2015) and scored for the films Cry It Out, American Barbarian,[citation needed] LVRS, and All the Flowers That Cut Through the Earth.[14]

Callahan's screenplays are typically within the horror, science fiction, and sexploitation genres. In 2014, Desperate Dolls was put on at Strawdog Theatre.[8][15] Reviews were mixed, with some praising Callahan's use of suspense[16] and the choreography of the murder scenes,[17] while others criticized it for romanticizing violence against women[3] and for being "more exploitative than an homage to past exploitation films."[18][19] Among Callahan's many other feature-length screenplays are Kiss Me With Blood, Nerves, Red Park Road, and Summer of Ghosts, all of which have been published by Hooper Cinema Classics. Some of his stage plays include Horror Academy, Mass Grave, Sub-Genre, The Double Negative, and White Airplane.[2]

In 2019, Hooper Cinema Classics published a two-volume set of his work. The first book, Devil Films, included the screenplays All These Devils, All These Demons, and All These Witches, and the second book, Sex Films, included Sexxina, All a Girl Can Get, and Pleasure Zone IV.[citation needed] In 2020, Battery Filmtext began publishing a 24-volume set[4][14] of 24 of Callahan's sexploitation screenplays, including Documentia, The Battle For Carlyle, and Salamander Lake.[citation needed] Filmstrips, a selected compilation of his film scores,[20] and two volumes of his mid-2000s stage plays were released in 2020. In 2021,[citation needed] he adapted Brian Pinkerton's Rough Cut into a screenplay[21] entitled Low-Budget Horror. Hooper Cinema Classics also released The Fifth Terror (2021), a collection of five of Callahan's feature-length horror screenplays. Another edition featuring a sixth story was released shortly after.[citation needed]

All These Devils (2017) and Terror/13 (2018) have been a finalist and semi-finalist, respectively, in Shriekfest's script competitions.[2] In ScreenCraft's contests, Terror/13 (2018) was a semifinalist[22] and In Control (2019) and Demon Wasp (2022) were quarterfinalists.[23][24] In 2019, In Control was a top 10 finalist in the PAGE Awards' science fiction category and All These Devils was a semifinalist in the Austin Film Festival's Drama Feature Screenplay category.[25][26]

Music groups[edit]

Callahan's first band, The Life and Times, got a recording contract when he was 18. They opened for acts including The Smithereens and 10,000 Maniacs. His pop group, OO OO WA, signed to Limited Potential Records and put out two LPs and two EPs in the mid-1990s. They released a four-disc boxset in commemoration of their first album, Screen Kiss, in 2003[1][20] and re-released the album in 2015.[citation needed] They released a new demo and compilation called Lost Valentines in 2020.[20] Travel, a noise rock[27] band featuring poet Matt Hart,[28] released a 100-song boxset with Brazildisc in 2018 and re-released the EP Whiteout!!! Brazildisc also re-released The Globe Hotel by Teenage Blackout.[citation needed] In 2021, he released When a Pill Becomes a Law,[27] a 13-song solo record,[citation needed] and a four-volume singles collection of his songs from the late 1990s.[1] Other musical groups he is or has been part of include DJ Powda, Italian Aviation, Telegraph, The Dictionary, and The Sad Comedies. Callahan is president and founder of Phantom Soundtracks recording company.[citation needed]

He has also executive-produced songs for the late Dayton, Ohio industrial band Dementia Precox, including overseeing a re-release of their 1986 album Huh?,[4] and has produced the shoegaze band The Loud Bangs.[29]

Novels[edit]

Callahan's first book, Hours Until We Sleep, was self-published. The Audrey Green Chronicles trilogy, City of Human Remains, and The Vanishing of Archie Gray were all published by Brazilbook. Trouble Press published a collection called Twin Cinema, made up of 31 of his fiction and non-fiction pieces.[2][1] The Vanishing of Archie Gray[30] was named Critics Choice by the Chicago Reader. 6 the Rise (2000) and City of Human Remains (2008) were re-published by Hudson & Hader in 2020 with new art, text, and design. Callahan's other novels include Unsettled and Deep Freeze.[citation needed]

Personal life[edit]

Callahan lives with his wife, son, and daughter in Los Angeles.[4][20]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Sterzinger, Ann (2003-09-25). "Local Lit: DIY author Darren Callahan". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Shriekfest Radio! Denise Gossett interviews writer, director Darren Callahan!". 2018. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  3. ^ a b Adler, Tony (2014). "Desperate Dolls". Chicago Reader. Archived from the original on 2016-04-05.
  4. ^ a b c d e Thrasher, Don (2020-07-24). "Dayton native Darren Callahan shares his journey with COVID-19 and how it's affected his Hollywood career". Dayton.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  5. ^ Sterzinger, Ann (25 September 2003). "Local Lit: DIY author Darren Callahan". Chicago Reader.
  6. ^ "City of Human Remains Review". www.darrencallahan.com.
  7. ^ Frothingham, Linda (2015-02-16). "DVD release for Klein's award-winning horror movie". Reel Chicago. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  8. ^ a b Metz, Nina (2014-12-01). "REVIEW: 'Desperate Dolls' at Strawdog Theatre". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  9. ^ Behrens, Web (2007-10-26). "13 Reasons to be afraid... very afraid". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  10. ^ "Polarity Ensemble Theatre Opens Season with Long Day's Journey Into Night". Theatre in Chicago. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  11. ^ "About the Perpetrators". Great Northern Audio Theatre. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  12. ^ "Under the Table" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  13. ^ "DON'T CALL ME LORETTA by Nancy Gall-Clayton". International Centre for Women Playwrights. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  14. ^ a b "Shriekfest interview: Darren Callahan". Shriekfest. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  15. ^ Hughes, Barnaby (2014-11-27). "Chicago Theater Review: DESPERATE DOLLS (Strawdog)". Stage and Cinema. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  16. ^ Essif, Amien (2014-11-26). "Strawdog's Desperate Dolls Gets Evil Wrong But Suspense Right". Gapers Block. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  17. ^ "Desperate Dolls Debut". NEIU Independent. 2015-01-13. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  18. ^ Schecter, Noel (2014). "Desperate Dolls Review - Motel, Money, Murder, Madness". Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  19. ^ Barnidge, Mary Shen (2014-12-10). "THEATER REVIEW Desperate Dolls". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  20. ^ a b c d "Darren Callahan's quarantine recommendations". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  21. ^ "Rough Cut". DarkArts Books. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  22. ^ "Announcing the 2018 ScreenCraft horror screenplay contest semifinalists". ScreenCraft. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  23. ^ "2019 ScreenCraft sci-fi and fantasy screenplay competition quarterfinalists announced". ScreenCraft. 2019-09-25. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  24. ^ "2022 ScreenCraft horror competition quarterfinalists". ScreenCraft. 2021-12-10. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  25. ^ "The 2019 PAGE Awards finalists". PAGE Awards. 2019. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  26. ^ "Austin Film Festival announces 2019 Script Competition semifinalists & second rounders!". Austin Film Festival. 2019. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  27. ^ a b Thrasher, Don (2021-06-13). "From the vault: Unused drum tracks inspire new album". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  28. ^ Bigos, Justin (2012-10-21). "An Interview with Matt Hart". American Literary Review. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  29. ^ "Exclusive interview with 'The Loud Bangs'". Illustrate Magazine. 16 August 2022. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  30. ^ Sterzinger, Ann (4 November 2004). "Darren Callahan". Chicago Reader.
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