By : Billy Gil | Posted: 22 Jul 2009
bgil@questex.com

Similar to the Overlook Hotel in the horror classic The Shining, the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel is reportedly haunted by the ghosts of fallen Hollywood stars.

Such lore makes it the perfect place for the 2009 Reaper Awards, presented by Agent DVD parent company Home Media Magazine and DreadCentral.com. With hundreds of horror films made each year, “The Grimmys” honor the best DVDs and Blu-ray Discs of the oft-maligned genre, according to Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton, co-founder of DreadCentral.com and emcee of the awards show.

“Horror fans are absolutely rabid about consuming every little bit that we can,” Barton explains. “We watch these DVD features and we listen to the commentaries. With The Grimmys, we want to really recognize and legitimize the genre.”

Horror fans will have the opportunity to choose Grimmy winners in an online consumer vote held Sept. 1 through Oct. 1 at www.ReaperAwards.com.
Visitors to the site can sign up to be notified when voting begins and find more information about the awards show and the nominated films.

“I think this kind of recognition will inspire filmmakers to do a little more and go a littler further than they would have,” Barton says. “And in the end, the fan is going to get really stellar packages as a result.”

Grimmy winners will be presented with their awards Oct. 13 in the famed Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where Barton, a paranormal buff, hopes he sees Marilyn Monroe in the lobby mirror she supposedly haunts.

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