All the news that’s fit to capsulize!

‘MEG’ WANTS YOU
If you’d like to be immortalized in print – as a character in Steve Alten’s sharkarific MEG 4: HELL’S AQUARIUM, to be more specific – head over to his website and sign up for his newsletter for details.

GOLD MEDAL LANDS AT STARK HOUSE
Ed Gorman reports that indie publisher Stark House Press will be bringing some the old Gold Medal crime paperbacks back into print in omnibus editions. The first, to appear early 2007, will combine three pulp novels in one volume: Dan J. Marlowe’s THE VENGEANCE MAN, Fletcher Flora’s PARK AVENUE TRAMP and Charles Runyon’s THE PRETTIEST GIRL I’VE EVER KILLED. They had us at “tramp.”

‘DRESDEN’ GETS GREENLIT
Based on reaction to the as-yet-unaired pilot, Sci-Fi Channel has ordered 11 episodes of THE DRESDEN FILES, the Nicolas Cage-produced series based on Jim Butcher’s bestselling fantasy detective series. Of which the latest is PROVEN GUILTY, which we reviewed here.

SNAKES, HERETICS & HARTNETTS
Three quick bits o’ comic book news:
• This summer’s insta-cult-classic SNAKES ON A PLANE will be adapted into a two-issue miniseries by DC Comics. I’ll read it, but something tells me it just won’t have the same effect.
• Joe Nasisse’s genre-hopping HERETIC: THE TEMPLAR CHRONICLES novel (read our review here) is coming to comics in a six-issue miniseries from Markosia. And from the looks of the preview pages, it won’t be shying away from the gore. Awesome.
• The screen adaptation of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith’s acclaimed Alaskan vampire comic 30 DAYS OF NIGHT has landed a lead in Josh Hartnett. Produced by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, 30 DAYS will be fairly low-budget, but I hope they have enough in the budget for Hartnett to get a real haircut for a change. In the meantime, read our review of the first 30 DAYS novel, RUMORS OF THE UNDEAD.