Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts

Friday 17 January 2020

Friday Fics Fix - Undead, Not Unreasonable



'There is a key scraping the inside of the lock, and the door was swinging open, the monster standing inside of the doorway, blocking any other view. He is smiling, his horrible fangs fully shown, in the flickering candlelight of the room.'



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The established king of vampires is, and always will be, Dracula.

Since 1897, it's been adapted time and again, becoming the fundamental core of vampire fiction and media.


Friday 20 December 2019

I Watched The Film First! *Gasps* - 5 Books That I Read Because I'd Seen The Adaptations

 ***All Amazon.com links in this post are commission links. This means I earn commission from purchases made in the US*** 

Please do not use my links to make UK purchases.



You know the voice that's just like: 'you've read the book, now see the movie!'


...that voice doesn't know me at all.


'I Watched The Film First!' projected on a screen at the front of a cinema


I read a butt-tonne of books. 

Like, I read at the 200-per-year kind of speed.

But I watch loads of film and TV adaps. before I read the book.


Sunday 15 December 2019

Nerd Church - Hope, Politics, and the Zombie Apocalypse

**This post contains affiliat links for Amazon.com (US) which earn commission when you make purchases**

(Please do not make UK purchases with my Amazon links)





Something important happened on Thursday, dearest nerdlets!

What..? The UK election..?

Yeah, that happened too.

We now know which brand of f**ked we, as a country, are stuck with *sighs*



What I'm talking about, though, is yours truly watching a truly bizarre, but amazing, film, called Anna and the Apocalypse.



'Hope, Politics, and the Zombie Apocalypse' with a sprig of holly on the left-hand side, and the silhouettes of 3 zombies on the right-hand side. The first zombie has a santa hat, and a wreath around his neck. The second zombie has a reindeer antler headband. The final zombie has a gift tag and a bow. (...And I clearly got carried away making this graphic!)



Have you ever thought, 'wouldn't High School Muscial be better if it was combined with Shaun of the Dead... and it was in Scotland... at Christmas...?'

No? Well apparently someone did!

No, really. That is what this film is.


Friday 8 November 2019

Friday Fics Fix - Haunted


'Diego was still screaming but his voice was drowned and consumed, overtaken by the dead that hung around him, but Ben was screaming too...'


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It's Umbrella Academy time!

...I think a lot of you will have guessed that I couldn't resist an Umbrella Academy fanfiction post for much longer (especially since I read a butt-tonne of Umbrella Academy fanfiction!)

Friday 20 September 2019

Friday Fics Fix - Some Scary Stuff... Sort Of


'Richie is sitting on the corner of the porch, legs dangling over the side. He looks up when he hears someone approaching and almost goes to hide the ashtray full of cigarette butts, but then decides he doesn’t want to go through the effort of lying.'


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OK, so my fanfiction reading this week has been... well, honestly, I despair of the human race sometimes 😅

I mean, I know that the pumpkin-sex fics will appear eventually in the run-up to Halloween, but come on people, IT'S NOT EVEN OCTOBER!


Friday 6 September 2019

Friday Fics Fix - Something Followed




'He can feel something else coming through, something uninvited.'


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I love horror.

...You may or may not have noticed.

Generally speaking, the less-realistic and more fake-looking the horror is, the more I'm freaked out.

There are some notable exceptions (Pet Sematary *shudders*) but overall, the more realistic and convincing the horror is, the more I'm like: meh, it's a ghost.


Related Reading: Nerd Church - My Real-Life Ghost Stories



Wednesday 28 August 2019

Review Time! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Watersnakes by Tony Sandoval


This post contains affiliate links for Amazon.com (USA.) I earn commissions from qualifying purchases.


Watersnakes title graphic, with a sword shape underlining the word




Title: Watersnakes

Author: Tony Sandoval

Genres: 
Watersnakes book cover showing girls in armour and holding swords
Graphic Novel, Fantasy*, Young Adult, Magic Realism, LGBTQ+ (F/F), Horror*, Ghost Story* (*ish) 


Buy Now USA





Friday 12 July 2019

Friday Fics Fix - 3-For-1 Boarding-School Special



I normally recommend one fic a week in these posts. This week, I'm gonna rec three.


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Why? Because I can't choose between them.

And now I've given up trying - I'm just gonna give 'em to you, with a bit of info about each!


Friday 28 June 2019

Friday Fics Fix - Murder House Party!



“You guys seem really chill about all this,” observed Ben. “By this point most people are running around screaming.”

“Occupational hazard,” said Klaus.

“I’ve lost a lot of blood,” said Diego. “I’m just accepting everything at face value right now.”


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If there's one thing that Netflix has got me obsessed with as much as Umbrella Academy, it's American Horror Story.

(Only on season 2 #NoSpoilersPlease!)

Friday 24 May 2019

Friday Fics Fix - In 2009, There Was a Girl Named Jennifer Check



'Because there is blood. And there is black stuff all over the floor.

And Jennifer is eyeing her like a dog does a bone, paws twitching and lips being licked.'


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A decade ago, there was a film about two high school girls. And one of them ate boys.

And because it was unapologetically about Queer girls (this film is so Gay,) and because it was at least ten years ahead of its time, it was hated by critics and went unnoticed by the public for too long.

I've seen reviewers (mainly dudes, might I add,) talk sh** about it recently, of course, but the fact remains: this film is a f**king Queer Classic!

Friday 19 April 2019

Friday Fics Fix - Easter in Haven

(Warning: discussions of chronic illness and ableism)

'Audrey and Nathan dashed into the Grey Gull, each imagining terrible scenarios. None of their fears involved Duke with a spatula in hand, staring at the bar.'


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One of my favouritest TV shows of all time is Haven.

If you haven't heard of it, then I'm not angry, just disappointed (not in you - in Society in general! 😅)

Sunday 24 March 2019

Nerd Church - The Dilemma of Morally Dubious Media (Ft. American Psycho, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter)


Warning: this post discusses morally dubious media, including but not limited to: rape, murder, incest, general violence.



'First learn the rules then break them' written on a chalk board
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay


American Psycho is about a serial killer that takes pleasure in raping and killing women in the most horrible ways, and the narrative goes into gratuitous detail about it.



Do I have your attention? Buckle up, dearest nerdlets!


No matter what, there is always gonna be media - books, films, TV series, whatever - that is kinda dubious on the ol' morality front.

Is that ok? Is that something we should be consuming? Is that something that people should be creating?

And if it isn't, is that something that we should be supressing?

Should we be, to put it bluntly, censoring it?

Wednesday 29 November 2017

Wednesday 8 November 2017

Tuesday 24 October 2017

Release Day Review!!! - Strange Weather by Joe Hill





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Title: Strange Weather

Author: Joe Hill

Genre: Novellas, Anthology, Horror

Release Date: 24th October 2017

Amazon: UK - USA















Premise:


Strange Weather is a collection of four novellas or short novels by writer Joe Hill.

Snapshot, Loaded, Aloft, and Rain are connected by bizarre weather events, providing a backdrop - or a catalyst - to the events which unfold.




Wednesday 22 March 2017

Review Time! - The Voices of Martyrs by Maurice Broaddus

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Title: The Voices of Martyrs
The Voices of Martyrs book cover

Author: Maurice Broaddus

Genre: anthology, short stories

Genre (of individual stories): historical fiction, contemporary, sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, vampires, urban fantasy, horror, dystopian, magic realism

Amazon: UK - USA








A few starting notes:


I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

Honestly, I like me some short stories - and I never fail to be impressed by Rosarium Publishing - so I figured, why not? And decided to give this a shot.





Premise:


A collection of voices - an unforgotten collected memory that encompasses the past, present, and future.

These short stories are tales of strength, pain, sacrifice, and life. These are the voices of martyrs.



Tuesday 25 October 2016

5 Spoopy Book-To-Film Adaptations For Halloween

Hello dearest nerdlets! Halloween is coming up (which, if you've spent 5 minutes on social media lately, you've probably noticed,) so I decided to give you a little list of 5 book-to-film adaptations in the Halloween-y spirit!










1. The Crow


The adaptation of James O'Barr's amazing graphic novel is a) violent and b) awesome. Not for kids, this is... rough... but is still, most definitely, worth the watch.

Brandon Lee played the title role of Eric Draven, and, infamously, was sadly killed on set by a freak set of circumstances which resulted in live ammo being used. He was amazing in this film.





Amazon: UK - US







2. Secret Window


This comes from a Stephen King short story/novella-type-thing called Secret Window, Secret Garden, and stars Johnny Depp.

Book nerds will especially love this one (yes guys, I know my audience dammit!) because it follows a writer, and deals with imagination, the power of stories, and characters/plot.

The denouement (fancy words!) is different in the short story - but, to be honest, I love both (but did find it ironic that a plot obsessed with story endings changed the ending of the story.)





Amazon: UK - US







3. Harry Potter (series)


Yes, this counts! There are witches and wizards and sh**!

And not everyone wants things to be too scary on Halloween - so, to them, I give the notion of a Harry Potter marathon. My gift to you. ;)





Amazon: UK - US







4. Interview With The Vampire


My friends, Lestat started my love affair with all things vamp, and to that I will always thank this film (which I saw before I read the book! Shocking! But I actually do that a lot.)

Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt playing two exceptionally sexy vampires - truly, what more could you want?

And yes, the queer aspects of the story are toned down - but there is no denying* the homoeroticism here. (Fans self.)

*although, someone I went to school with did think they were 'just being friendly' - because, y'know, we all stroke our friends' faces lovingly and breathe lustily in their faces every now and then. (Eye rolls.)





Amazon: UK - US








5. Constantine


The Bestie would kill me if this wasn't on the list.

Therefore I give in to the higher power that is my friend's wrath, and give you this comic-book-based tale of hell and damnation. Plus Keanu Reeves. #JobDone.

Oh, and I've actually reviewed this! (I really need to do more bookish film reviews... I just keep forgetting!) You can check out that review here.





Amazon: UK - US








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Thursday 13 October 2016

Comics Wrap Up - Things Are Shaping Up To Be Pretty Odd






Film Trailers



Marvel made a Doctor Strange trailer that makes 2 different trailers! One when it's played forwards, and one when it's reversed.

It's called 'Strange's Time' (yes, the trailer has it's own title, but to be fair, whoever made it is probably pretty chuffed with themselves right now.)




Here it is played forwards:









Annnnd here it is in reverse:









And just because I like your robot, dear nerdlets, here's the new TV spot for Doctor Strange too:











TV Trailers


Dudes, the next series of DC's Legends of Tomorrow looks EPIC!!!!

As a reminder: this is the series which totally shouldn't work but does - a ragtag spinoff with minor characters from CW's DC pantheon, along with him-off-Dr-Who (otherwise known as Arthur Darvill, here playing Rip Hunter,) and a flying time machine.




We also have one of the only LGBTQ+ superheroes to ever make it on screen (and still be LGBTQ+ - Harley Quinn, Mystique, Loki, et al. had that part of their identity erased when transferred to screen) - the amazing and beautiful Sara Lance, aka the White (formerly the Black) Canary.






Yes, my dearest nerdlets, this looks pretty damned cool:











Graphic Novels


This week I read and reviewed Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead (UK - US.)





This is a fun and zombie-filled kids/all-ages graphic novel, which I enjoyed a helluva lot more than I thought I would!







So that's it for my week in comics, dearest nerdlets: on to the next week!







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Wednesday 12 October 2016

Review! (Graphic Novel Edition!) - Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead








Title: Ghoul Scouts: Night of the Unliving Undead

Author: Steve Bryant

Contributors: Mark Stegbauer, Jason Millet

Genre: Kids, Horror, Zombies

Series: Ghoul Scouts #1-#4

Release Date: 18th Oct 2016 (US); 20th Oct 2016 (UK)

Amazon: UK - USA





A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via Edelweiss. Edelweiss provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

In honesty, I thought this would just be OK, and nothing more. Turns out, it was really freaking awesome! :)




Premise:

Full Moon Hollow - Paranormal Capital of the World. But of course, those are just stories.

A scout jamboree. Fun, right?

Until the zombies show up, and the remains of two scout groups have to fight to find their way to safety...

What the hell is going on in Full Moon Hollow?





Best bits:

Have you ever thought what would happen when you smoosh a multi-racial Scooby-Doo style gang of kids (unfortunately, without the dog,) into Brian K Vaughn's Paper Girls, with the more family-friendly parts of the film Zombieland?

Nope, me neither. But clearly someone's been thinking about it - because here it is.

And it's really fun!

Bright, spoopy ('spooky' to the purists amongst you,) and with an adventure that really scoops you up and drags you along with it, this is a really involving book.

The artwork was effective - bright, but not too in-your-face.

And the main characters are pretty evenly split between white characters and people of colour (PoCs). Overall, the split may even be slightly in favour of PoCs - depending on who you count as main characters.

It's done well - not forced; it simply is (as it should be.)




Not so great bits:

While the kids were relatively well-drawn characters (in the metaphorical sense - though in the literal sense too, I suppose,) I think they still could do with some character development - though this may be expanded on in continuations of the series.

I also think that things maybe weren't tied up correctly...?

Like, how did the kids explain the zombie attack to the adults? And where the hell did the zombies come from in the first place?

Again, this is possibly just a symptom of first-volume restrictions - and it's entirely possible that this'll get sorted in later instalments.

OK, so I'm nit-picking a little... but someone has to ;)





Verdict:

This was so fun! A well-rounded kids' story (and big kids, like yours truly, of course,) with a diverse cast and zombies!

With room for growth, and perfect for Halloween, I really do recommend this one guys - I enjoyed the hell out of it! :)














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