SUPPORT STEPHANIE MIHM'S ROAD TO RECOVERY!
On her way home from work on January 10th, 2025, the first lady of the Mihmiverse, Stephanie Mihm, was involved in a potentially fatal car accident. By the grace of God and the power of seat belt technology, she survived, but not unscathed. Her left ankle was severely dislocated and fractured in three places, five of her ribs were broken, and her body was covered in deep bruises and lacerations. She was taken to a local hospital where they were forced to sedate her and reset her ankle. She was then taken to a Level 1 Trauma hospital where she underwent surgery to fix her ankle, which left her with many screws, pins, and plates. She was finally able to go home several days later, where she's now being lovingly taken care of and doted on by her husband and children.
Stephanie is slowly recovering every day but, due to the extent of her injuries and a medically-mandated inability to bear any weight on her ankle, she is unable to return to her job as a Special Education teacher for at least a few months. She continues to experience a decent amount of pain (five broken ribs are no joke!) and, given how difficult it is to move around, is mostly confined to her bedroom. The Mihm family car was totaled and left them with an ancient (by car standards) mini-van that's currently being held together by luck and good intentions!
With bills starting to roll in and the desperate need to replace the destroyed car, it was deemed necessary to start a
GoFundMe campaign. So many wonderful people have reached out to the Mihm family and asked what they could do to help. It was decided that this was the easiest way to give everyone a way to do just that!
To visit the
GoFundMe campaign, go
HERE!
JOIN THE MIHMIVERSE PATREON
Do you love the films of writer/director Christopher R. Mihm? Do you want to help ensure that the Mihmiverse continues to survive and thrive into the foreseeable future?
AND do you want to experience exclusive Mihmiverse content? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you absolutely
MUST join the
Mihmiverse Patreon!
The
Mihmiverse Patreon is fully sanctioned and personally curated by writer/director Christopher R. Mihm. Every "
basic monster" member is granted access to a treasure trove of Mihmiverse-related stuff, including recurring audio content like
An Oral History of the Mihmiverse and
Bad Poetry Wednesdays, behind-the-scenes photos and video, first-look news, the ability to watch the entire Mihmiverse catalog, and hosted content like live interviews and film watch-alongs—with more being added all the time!
PLUS,
members will have opportunities to have their voices heard with online surveys, live chats, and interactive events!
The "indie movie biz" is a tough one, and it's getting more difficult to maintain every year. Thankfully,
Patreon is the answer to helping alleviate some of the strain modern filmmakers and artists find themselves under in this increasingly chaotic creative environment. If you're a true fan of the cinematic world writer/director Christopher R. Mihm has created, we highly recommend you join the
Mihmiverse Patreon today!
THE MIHMIVERSE MONTHLY AUDIOCAST
The latest episode of the
Mihmiverse Monthly Audiocast has arrived!
This month, host writer/director Christopher R. Mihm talks about why everyone should live like there's no tomorrow, encourages everyone to come to next month's
world premiere of "
Three Bad Girls Who Find a Gun and Become Vampires," and makes it clear why
EVERYONE should join the
Mihmiverse Patreon!
Also included: The beginning of the end of "
Atomic Tales," a monthly short story from the author of "
The Canoe Cops vs. The Mummy," Stephen D. Sullivan!
The
Mihmiverse Monthly Audiocast is hosted by writer/director Christopher R. Mihm and is focused specifically on what's going on
RIGHT NOW in the Mihmiverse. In addition, Mr. Mihm will discuss the monster movie-making process, touch briefly on the future of the 'verse, pontificate on random subjects, and be joined by guests from within and without the Mihmiverse.
PLUS, each episode will include something unique you won't find anywhere else!
The
Mihmiverse Monthly Audiocast is now hosted, free to the public, at the
Mihmiverse Patreon! To download an .mp3 of the latest episode or to listen online, go
HERE!
Here's a list of the exciting Mihmiverse-related events currently scheduled for the next few months!
March 5, 2025 - doors at 6:30PM, movie at 7:30PM
"
Three Bad Girls Who Find a Gun and Become Vampires" holds its world premiere at the historic
Heights Theater!
In addition to the main attraction, attendees will enjoy a program complete with hand-picked, era-appropriate newsreels, classic trailers, appearances by most (if not all) of the cast and crew, autographs, photo opportunities, and a silent auction!
DVDs, Blu-Rays, posters, and other exclusive merchandise will also be on sale!
Advance tickets are now on sale! Go
HERE to purchase yours now!
The Heights Theater, 3951 Central Avenue NE, Columbia Heights, MN
March 19, 2025
"
Three Bad Girls Who Find a Gun and Become Vampires" will screen at the Wrigleyville
Alamo Drafthouse in Chicago!
Wrigleyville Alamo Drafthouse, 3519 North Clark Street, Suite C301, Chicago, IL
May 31, 2025
Are you ready to spend all day watching cheesy movies
FOR FREE? Let's hope so, because the
Time Community Theater in Oshkosh, WI is excited to bring you
Schlock the Block III: The Monsters of May, a day's worth of B-movie blocks which concludes with writer/director Christopher R. Mihm presenting a screening of his own giant bug movie, "
The Giant Spider!" And again, this event is 100%
FREE!?
Time Community Theater, 445 North Main Street, Oshkosh, WI
Who Writes This Stuff?
It's no secret that some of the most classic of all horror and sci-fi movies were adapted from stories by famous authors, but who wrote what?
What we have this month is a list of films and a list of authors. If you can match the author with the adaptation, you are smarter than the average bookworm.
NOTE: Some of these films have been adapted several times dating back to the silent era... but for the purpose of this quiz, the dates reference the first version to be filmed with sound.
FILMS:
1. "Frankenstein" (1931)
2. "Dracula" (1931)
3. "War of the Worlds" (1953)
4. "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956)
5. "House of Usher" (1960)
6. "
2001 (A Space Odyssey)" (1968)
AUTHORS:
A. Edgar Allan Poe
B. H. G. Wells
C. Mary Shelley
D. Arthur C. Clarke
E. Jack Finney
F. Bram Stoker
Scroll to the bottom of the Mihmiverse Monthly for the answers.
— Mike Cook
In this column, we'll be digging through old issues of the
Mihmiverse Monthly and
Phantom Lake Almanac (which was the original name of this newsletter!) and presenting interesting bits and pieces from the past! After all, this newsletter has been around since the release of "
The Monster of Phantom Lake" back in 2006, so there's a
LOT to choose from!
This month, we peer back to July of 2013 when a bit of "major" news broke about writer/director Christopher R. Mihm's follow-up to "
The Giant Spider!"
CURRENT NEWS
MAJOR exclusive news concerning writer/director Christopher R. Mihm's next film, "
The Late Night Double Feature!"
According to Mr. Mihm, the first half of the film, "
Reform School Girls vs. The Space Monster," has been canceled. Mr. Mihm gave several reasons as to why but, according to him, the only one that truly matters is that he was never 100% satisfied with the final script. And, with the story being so dependent on fair weather, it would take too long to mold the script into something that would live up to his standards before the colder Minnesota weather sets in. Thus, the film has been tabled, but
NOT scrapped forever!
What does this mean for the future of "
The Late Night Double Feature?" Mr. Mihm tells us that the "double feature" angle will survive, as will the second half, "
The Wall People." As of publication of this newsletter, plans are to replace the "
Reform School Girls vs. The Space Monster" half with "
X: The Fiend from Beyond Space," a story rumored to take place further in the future (2014 to be exact!) than any Mihmiverse story to date, though still told from the perspective of the 1950s (naturally). Mr. Mihm has also hinted at the return of a certain character (again played by the same actor) from 2011's fan-favorite Mihmiverse film, "
Attack of the Moon Zombies!" Who that is, we don't know yet! When we know, we'll let you know!
EDITORIAL NOTE: As most of you know, "The Late Night Double Feature," was released in April 2014 and it included both "X: The Fiend from Beyond Space" and "The Wall People." Though "X: The Fiend from Beyond Space" was set in the "far-off future" of 2014, it did not remain as the latest-set Mihmiverse film for very long after "Guns of the Apocalypse," which is set in the 22nd century, was released in 2018. Lastly, the "certain character" mentioned turned out to be Captain "Ace" Frehley played by Daniel R. Sjerven.
CLASSIC MOVIE OF THE MONTH
The Creature Walks Among Us (1956)
Directed by
John SherwoodStarring
Jeff Morrow,
Rex Reason and
Leigh Snowden
While almost everyone has heard of "
Creature from the Black Lagoon," few know that it was actually part of a trilogy of films. "
The Creature Walks Among Us" is the third and final film in the series and marks the biggest departure from the previous two. After the events of 1955's "
Revenge of the Creature," the creature is again captured—this time by a heartless scientist who is interested in nothing more than experimenting on it. The creature attempts to escape, but is stopped and badly burned. The scientist and his staff save its life but quickly realize it has human-ish, air-breathing organs that could be "nudged" into taking over and giving the creature the ability to be more like us. Not-so-unexpectedly, this is exactly what the scientist does and, in the process, destroys the creature's ability to breathe underwater, thus dooming it to live amongst the human race for the rest of its life. Naturally, the creature is extremely pissed off about this. After being stuck in a zoo-like electrified enclosure on a rich weirdo's property, the creature eventually escapes (again), only this time he goes on a killing spree (offing only those who deserve it) before returning to the ocean. Granted, he can no longer breathe underwater, so going back to the sea would mean certain death, right? "
The Creature Walks Among Us" is a strange little movie that almost feels like it doesn't belong in the series. It's certainly not as good as the previous two but it
IS a good movie. It also has the saddest, yet most perfect, ending—an ending that surprised me with how emotionally resonant it truly is. If you're a fan of the science fiction and horror films of the 1950s, this one is
DEFINITELY not to be missed!
— Christopher R. Mihm
If you're like most people these days, you tend to stream your favorite TV shows and movies, particularly because it's way more convenient and you have access to them in more places! Did you know there are now several places to stream the entire Mihmiverse catalog?
From the movie that started it all, "
The Monster of Phantom Lake," to its musical offshoot, "
The Monster of Phantom Lake: The Musical!," and the upcoming release, "
Three Bad Girls Who Find a Gun and Become Vampires," everything you need to "visit" the denizens of Phantom Lake County is available for your streaming pleasure!
The
ENTIRE filmography of writer/director Christopher R. Mihm (including "
Three Bad Girls Who Find a Gun and Become Vampires") is available through the Mihmiverse
Vimeo VOD portal!
Every film is presented using the same ultra high-quality renders used for the official Blu-Ray releases and actually feeds video content to the
Drive-in Monsters Roku channel. Most importantly, the Mihmiverse
Vimeo VOD portal is the
ONLY PLACE to legally own the films digitally!
Retro-style monster movies from the wild & weird imagination of cult filmmaker Christopher R. Mihm! From giant, rampaging spiders to alien invasions and bug-eyed horrors, the
Drive-in Monsters channel includes the entire catalog of Mr. Mihm's films, exclusive extras, and long lost special features originally released on currently out-of-print physical media! Explore the worldwide underground cult phenomenon known as the "Mihmiverse" and enjoy the rebirth of the golden age of "drive-in cinema" with the
Drive-in Monsters channel!
As of right now, the channel is free... but, that most likely will not last forever! So make sure to enjoy the
Drive-in Monsters Roku channel while it's still completely free of charge!