Roll camera… action! Let’s take a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the making of “The Abandoned Curse,” our 30-minute Japanese indie horror movie. A masterpiece or a travesty? You decide. (The movie is posted here.) Then, at the end of this post, I’ll ask a small favor of you…

Crazy as it sounds, we filmed the classroom scenes inside Yukiro’s school. Some teachers stumbled across our cross-dressed crew and kept on walking, unfazed — that’s Tokyo for you. A few Japanese students participated in the shoot, even though they didn’t understand a word of the English script. Still, they pretended to listen to sexy teacher Spetza (above, she’s yelling at Rolle for not appreciating her boobs).

Many of you commented that Yukiro’s high-pitched, evil laugh made your brains spill out. All I have to say is: imagine listening to that cackle an inch from your eardrum, over and over, take after take!

To add to the drama, the summer heat was unbearable, mosquitoes were sucking our blood by the gallon, and several of the spooks were late or couldn’t stay overnight. At one point, Yukiro SCREECHED and ran out of the room to commit suicide. Glam rock star X-Ray found him in the bathroom, trying to hang himself with toilet paper.

Things improved once more people showed up and more drinks were consumed. The karaoke room scene was total win, from the police officer’s “Nothing to see here” wave to us falling on the floor and waving our feet in the air. And how about X-Ray’s singing? “I want to f*** with you! / You want to f*** me too! / We’re all f***ing f***s / So let’s f***ing f***!” (He’s singing along to a David Bowie track; do you know what it is? The answer is the Song of the Day.)

I kind of enjoyed being a gay emo boy. I tied my hair in a ponytail and flipped it over my forehead for that classic emo haircut. My top is h.NAOTO Blood from Closet Child.

Oh Yootju the Village Elder! He is in practically every scene of the movie, like Where’s Waldo. Did you notice that in the classroom scene, he was in every single shot?

This lot was the perfect setting for the birthday scene, other than that it was a breeding ground for mosquitoes! By the end of the shoot, I had swollen welts all over, including four on my behind.

If you haven’t seen our movie yet, gather your friends around and check it out here. A bloopers reel is coming up soon.

Finally, I was wondering if you could do me a favor? Would you consider asking your local library to order my books for their collection? It’s easy: just go to your library’s website and find out how to request a book. (Usually, there is an email address or form to fill out.) You can pass on the information about my books found here. Alternately, you can call or visit the branch — it’s always good to support libraries!