October is almost upon us and that means spooOoOoOOooooky! In Episode #34, coming this Thursday, we’re going to give the low down on a few of the haunts and other events going on around the Seattle area this month including interviews with the people behind the Stocker Farms Field of Screams outdoor haunt and Blood Squad, Seattle’s improv horror comedy troupe. Shannon will also be reviewing the first of the horror movies on her list of suggestions from you, the listeners. There is still time to add your suggestion to the list of horror films and have a chance to win a Seattle Geekly prize package!

The Monday news is under the fold.

Boardgames

The two winners of the 2009 International Gamers Awards have been announced. Uwe Rosenberg’s Le Havre won in the multiplayer category, ending Dominion‘s domination of the 2009 awards, and Day & Night by first-time designer Valentijn Eekels won in the two player category.

Comics

♦E-comic reader comiXology has released a free version of their iPhone app. The free version allows you to download titles from Image, Slave Labor Graphics, Moonstone and several other publishers along with a number of creator owned titles.

♦The winners of the Ignatz Awards honoring achievement in comics and cartooning were announced this weekend at the Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland. The winners were

• Outstanding Artist: Nate Powell, Swallow Me Whole (Top Shelf)
• Outstanding Anthology or Collection: Kramer’s Ergot #7, edited by Sammy Harkham (Buenaventura)
• Outstanding Graphic Novel: Acme Novelty Library #19, Chris Ware (Drawn & Quarterly)
• Outstanding Story: “Willy,” Papercutter #10, Damien Jay (Tugboat)
• Promising New Talent: Colleen Frakes, Woman King (self-published)
• Outstanding Series: Uptight, Jordan Crane (Fantagraphics)
• Outstanding Comic: Uptight #3, Jordan Crane (Fantagraphics)
• Outstanding Mini-Comic: Stay Away From Other People, Lisa Hanawalt
• Outstanding Online Comic: Year of the Rat, Cayetano Garza

♦The motion comic version of Joss Whedon’s run on Astonishing X-Men hits the iTunes store today. Check out the trailer –

Manga

♦The New York Anime Festival was this weekend and there was a lot of news from the publishers about new titles coming to the U.S. in 2010. Tokyopop announced that it will be getting .hack//Link, the final chapter in the .hack series as well as Song and Laughter, Ratman, and Seikon no Qwaser. Publisher Viz Media confirmed that it will be publishing The Book of Heroes, Loups-Garous, Slum Online, The Next Continent, Gente, Library Wars: Love & War, Vampire Knight Official Fan Book, Grand Guignol Orchestra and Nice to Meet You, Kamisama. Publisher Del Rey picked up Rave Master which had previously been published by Tokyopop and will also be publishing, Arisa, and Yokai Navi Runa.

Movies

There is a new trailer for The Book of Eli, the post-apocalyptic action epic featuring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Michael Gambon, Ray Stevenson, and Tom Waits. Check it out –

TV

♦The Friday night TV audiences showed no love for the season 2 premier of Dollhouse. TV By the Numbers is reporting that Dollhouse had only 2.56 million viewers, beating only America’s Next Top Model in its time slot. The poor ratings have prompted Sci Fi Wire to renew their Dollhouse Death Watch.