Scare Me! Blogfest

Today is the Scare Me! Blogfest, where each participant will talk about a scary movie, scary story, scary book, and/or write their own scary story in honor of Halloween.  It isn't too late to join in the fun, just sign up in the linky below. 

For my entry I will talk about a book and a movie. 

Book-  Salem's Lot:  This was the scariest book I have ever read.  Stephen King is at his best in this book painting scenes that scare you to your core.  I had just graduated high school when I read this book.  I was at my grandmothers house and was reading late at night.  I was getting tired, so I put the book down.  The images King created kept running through my head.  I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep and got up and watched comedy central for an hour until I felt I could safely get to sleep.  The movie for this one is okay, but the book is super creepy and has a place on every bookshelf. 

Movie:  Thirteen:  I am pretty sure you will find this one classified under the drama heading, but that just isn't true for anyone with a daughter.  This movie is the type of scary that keeps you up all night trying to come up with ideas to keep you kid from turning out like lead character Tracy.  It hits all the scary notes, drug abuse, delinquentism, sexual activity...  This story is also semi autobiographical, so it actually, somewhat, happened to the person that wrote it.  Knowing kids that went through semilar stuff growing up and this movie starts looking like something that will happen instead of could.  Sent shivers down my spine.  If I were hard pressed for a genred horror movie I would go with Event Horizon or Amityville Horror (1979). 

Hope you enjoyed my entries and I can't wait to read yours.  Please stop by all the other entrants sites and enjoy their scares as well.  Please post the code on your blog with your entry. 

Super Shorts: 20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill

I admit that I had a certain amount of skepticism about Joe Hill as a writer. Being the son of Stephen King, I couldn’t help but think that just maybe he hadn’t quite earned his entrance into the world of publishing the way that other writers had.

I felt a little vindicated with this feeling when I read his novel Heart Shaped Box, because I liked the book well enough, but I didn’t feel it was really ground-breaking or noteworthy in particular.

So, it was with a bit of a raised eyebrow that I noticed his short story collection 20^thCentury Ghosts had won the Stoker Award for Best Collection in 2005. Based on that award, I decided to give Hill another shot.

And I’m glad I did. 20^th Century Ghosts is stellar collection of short stories. As you might expect, there’s a good portion of horror, other “supernatural” type stories, and even a couple that are surprisingly sweet natured.

20th Century Ghosts, by Joe Hill

There are two trends in the stories throughout this collection that set it apart from other “good” horror collections. The first is the sheer imaginativeness behind so many of the ideas. For example, Pop Art was based on perhaps the most absurd-sounding premise I’ve heard in a long time, but in the end was probably one the best and most emotional stories in the book. My Father’s Mask was disturbing in that it portrayed a don’t-look-too-closely world that seemed like ours, but had some damn unsettling things going on behind the scenes.

The second thing that Hill excelled at in these stories is breaking the expected “horror story” formats and cadences. Hill even pokes fun at this in the first story, Best New Horror, which is about a horror magazine editor who has seen it all and read it all a thousand times. Like that jaded and cynical editor, I found something new, interesting, and occasionally truly horrific in Hill’s stories. They are constantly taking unexpected turns leaving the reader (or in my case, the listener) off balance. They also tend to end at unexpected times, almost in mid-story sometimes (or at least that’s the way it felt), leaving the reader to stop, put away their expectations, and consider that ending — and the entire story in a new light.

Just a superb collection. I will definitely re-visit these stories again and again.

Five stars.

Book Review: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

At the end of 2011, I was surprised to see Stephen King’s latest book 11/22/63 on a number of “Best of the Year” lists. And not just best “Horror” or best “genre” type of lists – but honest-to-goodness “Best of the Year” for literary fiction lists.

That sort of praise has been hard to come by for King, who despite his enormous popularity is often dismissed as not a “real” writer because he produces a lot of horror books. Coupled with that. I know that a lot of readers out there don’t like horror and might normally ignore King’s offerings. Hopefully, this book’s positive reception will help some readers look past their preconceptions.

Because 11/22/63 is a damn fine book.

From the title, it’s not hard to guess that the story revolves around the assassination of President John Kennedy. In it, a school teacher named Jake Epping has the chance to return to the past and is convinced that he could make a better “today” by changing the past – namely, preventing Lee Harvey Oswald from killing the president.

There are, of course, a couple of hurdles. First, Jake needs to be convinced a friend (who’s dying or he would have done it himself) that time travel is possible and that events can be altered for the better. Another is that this particular time-warp-rabbit-hole goes back to a specific day in 1958, more than five years before the assassination.

One standard character in King’s universes is the person with an obsession. And here, King smartly mixes it up by making Jake (and his past-persona George) less certain that the goal can and should be attained. But Jake has five years to figure it out, right some other wrongs, determine if Oswald acted alone, and if so, stop him. And as it turns out that the past might not like being altered…

11/22/63 was meticulously researched and that comes out in all the tiny details within, which gives the past an almost tangible feel. There is a great nostalgia in the writing that reminds you (whether it’s true or not) that the sky was cleaner, the food tasted better and people were more honorable. Actually, that’s not always necessarily true – King makes a point to contrast the sepia-tinted feel with splotches of the very real and ugly racism and sexism of those days.

In the end, like all of us, Jake is forced to make choices. Choices about people and life and love without knowing what effect those choices will have on our – or anyone else’s – futures.

There was a time in my life when I gave up on King. Several of his bloated books of the 1980s really turned me off and I thought the thing he needed most in the world was an editor with some cajones. Then, maybe 10 or 12 years ago, I tried The Green Mile and loved it. Since then, I’ve read most of his recent works (though the thick books still make me wary) and liked them. Of all his stories, this one reminds me most of The Green Mile, and to me, that’s a good thing. I think King aficionados will very much enjoy this book and if you’re one of those who’s stayed away from King and are looking for an introduction, 11/22/63 would be a great place to start.

Four stars out of five.

Dark Tower Comic- NCCW

Happy Birthday, Stephen King!  You are 64 years old today.  As it is Wednesday I will bring him into the new comic content fold with his Dark Tower Series.  I have not read the comics but I have read the first three books.  The art from the comic is gorgeous.  Below you will see some of these images.

5 Reasons Why I Don't Care About Harry Potter



Not the best picture but you get the point.

 Wow, that title is a little harsh.  It isn't that I don't care, it is more like I haven't been consumed for hype about the conclusion of the movie series.  Well on to the list.

5.  Edward died in the 4th movie.  So that is already done. 
4.  The actors are like 30 or something now.  They have to shave Ron after every scene, Emma Watson has to debeautify (should not be allowed) in order to look younger (plus she has to snog Ron, Yuck!)  Radcliffe still only looks twelve and it makes it hard to take him seriously when he is the only kid in a movie full of adults.
 
3.  Order of the Pheonix killed the magic.  Harry was tolerable before then, but I never could really like him after that book.
 
2.  I am not in my early twenties.  Harry Potter isn't my Star Wars;  Star Wars is my Star Wars (all three and 1/2 movies).  I didn't read the books until I was majoring in English in college.  While Rowling is a good writer and improves throughout the series, the series and writing are just okay.  Full of tropes and cliches, they are very formulaic.  Shakespeare it isn't.  Jane Austen it isn't.  Heck, Stephen King the early years plus his short stories it isn't. 

1.  I have read the books.  I know exactly what happens.  While I read a movie plays in my head.  Since I saw the first few HP movies before I read the last book, the movie in my head has all of the stars except that Hermione wears a bikini throughout.  Also in my head version there is Hermione and Cho Chang make out scene (Cho also wears a bikini(sorry, couldn't find a picture of that)).  I would say my head version is the better version. 

Did I miss anything? Disagree?  Let me know in the comments. 

Cell Spoiler Free Book Review-A to Z Challenge

I went into cell knowing nothing about the book except that it was by Stephen King.  Imaging my surprise when I saw that the book was dedicated to George Romero and Richard Matheson.  I knew exactly what kind of book it was going to be at that point. 

Plot-  This is a survivor's tale.  I am unsure why survivors feel the need to travel, I mean for one character it is obvious why he wants to walk across two states, but the others made me wonder.  The story borrows from The Stand somewhat, which is okay because The Stand was an excellent book and very well done.  The Stand was better though.  Not sure that the book has aged well.  Cell phones are so different now then they were upon the writing of this book.  The story does start off lightening fast and then slows down into a strolling past and then kind of rushes to the finish.  Of course the ending will leave you guessing. 

Characters-  There is a comic book writer/illustrator, a religion hating gay guy, and a teenage girl that knows about Neal Stephenson (I strongly doubt that this is possible).  Not completely stereotypical yet they completely are.  We don't really get to know the characters all that well.  This story is plot driven and we get reactions of the characters but no real characterization.  In other words, you won't feel connected to these characters. 

Overall-  It was entertaining.  I have read better King and I have read better survivor tales, I have read better King survivor tales.  It isn't bad.  This book was about the idea and I get that, but I wish he would have fleshed it out a bit more.  It may have added a couple of hundred more pages, but it would have been a better book.  Kingophiles will have read this arlready,  but for everyone else I say you aren't missing anything by passing it up, but it is somewhat entertaining. 

Book Review: "Full Dark, No Stars" by Stephen King

Good things, when short, are twice as good. ~Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom

Sometimes when I’m perusing the books at Costco, I see the hardback copy of Stephen King’s mammoth novel Under The Dome and I think to myself, “Maybe… maybe…” And then I pick it up.

I’m sorry, 1000+ pages is just too many and unfortunately reminds me of the giant tomes from the 1980s (The Tommyknockers, IT, and their ilk) that turned me off to King for at least a decade. Recently though, when I was considering what was going to be my next audiobook, I opted for his most recent novella collection Full Dark, No Stars and am glad that I did.


After listening to these stories – each one of them gripping and creepy– I want to ask King why he doesn’t explore the novella form more often, because clearly he’s great at it (think of The Body, Shawshank Redemption, Secret Window Secret Garden, Apt Pupil).

The four stories in this collection focus on revenge and retribution and represent a very human (rather than supernatural) exploration of the impulses and consequences around these driving forces. I won’t give away any spoilers or go into the details other than that each story had its gut-dropping moments – some that you can see coming and others that come as an (un)pleasant surprise.

Highly recommended 4 stars out of 5

Horror Quiz part 2

All answers must be in the form of a question, answer in the comments, and no cheating.  First person with the most correct answers will get a SciFi Media "no prize" button to display on their website. 

1.  This indie horror film was shot in Tennessee and launched Bruce Campbell's career.

2.  This entity was the star of the film An American Haunting, inspired The Blair Witch Project, and was witnessed by President Andrew Jackson.

3.  The killer in the first Friday the 13th movie was not Jason, but this character.

4.  Ridley Scott teamed up with Sigourney Weaver to make this SciFi horror classic. 

5.  "Don't go into the corn" was the tagline for this 80's Stephen King adaption.