The Haunting Season

I just finished The Haunting Season by Michelle Muto. I picked it up on Kindle (on the iPhone) after a Tweet of hers stating that the novel was available for a mere $2.99. Wanting to recharge my reading passions and support an author I follow on Twitter, I didn't think twice about it. I just clicked the link and made the purchase. I didn't want to have a preconceived notion. I wanted to go into it cold and knowing nothing about it.

I dove in that night, sinking my teeth into it straight away as my toddler struggled with falling asleep in her bed. ("I know you don't want to sleep, Sweetie, but it's bedtime. Daddy is just going to sit and read now.") I started down the path and liked it, but got a vibe from it that I could not put my finger on. Was it the characters? The story? I just could not place the...distance?...I was going through with the book. I liked it - liked it a lot, actually - but, there was just something there. Like the lone, locked door of a mansion. What was there?

Of course it became clear a few days later when Michelle Muto posted that her novel won an award, evidently....for Young Adult Horror. THAT was the door. However, it didn't matter. I'm not sure I would have made the purchase if I had known it was a Young Adult novel, but after I was into it I didn't really care because I really enjoyed it up to that point and was drawn in. I was hooked and the intended audience didn't matter. I'm very happy that I kept reading.

It's a great, quick read with some fun characters, situations and a plot that was far from "Potter-like" tween fiction. No spells or magic or kid drama. Muto paints a fantastic picture a la LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE with a team of young adults tuned in on the paranormal testing out their abilities under the leadership of an older, wiser doctor. However, things go sideways as they should in a novel like this.

Low on blood, gore and violence but surprisingly high on tension, this fun haunted house jaunt is well worth a read through. (Especially if you prefer your horror on the less visceral and bloody side of the spectrum.) I don't want to say much more about it for fear of mentioning something that may set you off on a course. Suffice it to say that I tore through it and found myself nodding and smiling at some of the fun little twists and turns in this "Old, Dark House" gem!

CHECK IT and help to support Madame Muto! 
I want to see her doing a screenplay or two at some point! 

Rebound

Again with the undead? Really?

Oh...wait...but you're doing it right and with a focus on story and good acting?! That's a different matter. :)

France's REBOUND  is looking wondrous with an emphasis on story. Based on the 2004 movie Les revenants (They Came Back) , the series focuses on the mysterious events that bring the dead back from beyond. It looks like it's playing heavy on the dramatic with a twist to the side of not everyone who is coming back is a lovely, angelic being. Some of them were murderers and villains.

I love the concept of the dead coming back in this way, not just hungry monsters. I also welcome story based plot and some good situations playing out. I have to say it...but, basically everything I didn't get from WALKING DEAD. But....that horse as sailed. :)

The series was picked up by the U.K.'s Channel 4. 

VARIETY article can be FOUND HERE

Check it

Don Henley - Everything Is Different Now

Have you SEEN this nugget from 2009?!?!?!   One of my favorite videos and so damn strange. I really need to do some research on this to see who came up with this idea - Henley or the studio. Headless strippers, zombies...and Don Henley?

Well, he was ahead of the curve, that's for sure. Way to go, Mr. Henley!

:::stumbles around the Internet for a minute....:::

Ah, the song was written for his wife Sharon Summerall. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, sadly. The song makes a little more sense now, though the video still seems out of his wheelhouse.

::::more digging::::::

...and, directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino! Ahhhhh.....
Videos for Madonna, Bowie, Björk....


Check it! It's dark!

Don Henley - Everything Is Different Now (Official Music Video). Watch more top selected videos about: Don Henley

The Pact

THE HORROR SHOW needs to go back to "short, sweet and to the sharp and scary point" with these reviews. That way we can get more reviews in. Of course, that means watching more movies...hmmm...



So, THE PACT almost didn't get watched, honestly. I saw the image for it on Netflix and it looked like it was going to be some cheesy, ghostly toss away. However, the folks over at the Horror Etc Podcast mentioned it on a podcast and I gave it a shot, thankfully.





The Pact ticks all the boxes. It's a fun mystery wrapped in dread and despair in such a fantastic way. And the topper - ghosts helping the main character solve the mystery. Perfect storm for me - I love these films. The story meanders a bit, taking it's time to let things unfold. It worked on a creepy level as well, playing up the bumps in the night without a dependance on special effects or faux-tech visuals. No night vision. No recordings of creepy voices. But, there are some cool visuals and interesting tricks here and there and move things along nicely.

The film has a tight story with an independent feel to it - it works really well. Nicholas McCarthy's Direction is solid and screen writing is grand. It's his first feature film and I can't wait to see more from him.

Caity Lotz knocks it out of the park. She's such a beauty and she plays along the line of scared and wanting to run and driven to find out the truth very well. ( You may remember her from her small role in MAD MEN. ) In some of thee films, this is a fail point. I find myself saying, "Why don't you just...walk away from there?" It breaks the film entirely. This has none of that - it works perfectly.

Now, the film is a little rough around the edges at points, but I think the overall take away is well worth a viewing. Especially late in the eve...in the dark...alone. 

Love mystery? Love ghosts? You need to take a look at The Pact and let me know what you think.

CARGO

BRILLIANT short film. Really well done. It manages to breath new life (...so to speak...) into a tired genre. Mere minutes is actually better than the WALKING DEAD on AMC. Honestly, if I had to pick one to stay and one to go....well...buh0bye Walking Dead. :)

This is only a short and at a scant 7 minutes long, it's a testament to great story writing.

Horror fans and story fans alike will love this grand effort. Fantastic. As a parent...wow.

Ry Legit - NIGHTMARE

More DUB-HORROR

Ry Legit's NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET DUBmix

Fun stuff!

SLICEY - Dead Silence Dubstep Remix

Dubstep is everywhere, like it or not. I just love it when Dub and horror music come together - especially if I love the movie. Give it a listen.

Mary Shaw approves.