Hal C. F. Astell

Hal C.F. Astell While he still has a day job to pay the bills, Hal C. F. Astell is a teacher by blood and a writer by the grace of the dread lord, which gradually transformed him into a film critic. He’s reviewed the sort of films that most people don’t at Apocalypse Later Reviews for a decade and a half. He posts two album reviews every weekday. He writes book reviews for the Nameless Zine.

Born and raised in the rain of England, he’s still learning about the word “heat” over a decade after he moved to Phoenix, AZ, where he lives with Dee, his much better half, in a house full of assorted critters and oddities, a library with a ghost guard ferret and more obscure DVDs than can comfortably be imagined. And he can imagine quite a lot.

He runs the Apocalypse Later Empire, which can be found at apocalypselaterempire.com. He has eight books in print through Apocalypse Later Press with more on the way and he’s launched a monthly Apocalypse Later Zine. The Apocalypse Later International Fantastic Film Festival (ALIFFF) is in its sixth year of providing a dedicated annual genre film festival to the fifth largest city in the United States. He brings quality films to new eyeballs at conventions across the southwest through the Apocalypse Later Roadshow.

He’s usually easy to find at film festivals, conventions and events because he’s likely to be the only one there in a kilt and his fading English accent is instantly recognisable on podcasts and panels. He is friendly and doesn’t bite unless asked.