Oktoborror Fest 05 - Blood Flower (2022) - Movie

This is a 2022 Malasya movie. It's very interesting one. IT deals with the supernatural Islamic faith. If this was a catholic movie this would be the equivalent of book with a exorcist.  I am not verse on Islamic but from what I've know by watching Indonesia and other south Asia movies it mixes old folk from a time before the Islamic faith and current Islam. The mix is quite good and really gives some odd Tenebrae (is this a word) and encompasses the humidity odd forests/jungles. All of it combined really provides some interesting Folk Horror. This is not the first and won't be the last to watch.

There is a family which is basically are somekind of exorcists and the mother is killed in front of her children. The boy starts seeing strange stuff and being confronted with the paranormal, although he does not want it. He just wants to be a child. 

After releasing a demon it starts killing people and then a bunch of fast pace chase and exorcisms happen.

Not everything is good, the pace is kind off, sometimes too fast , sometimes too slow. I was interesting in the tale but everything was happening so fast I was a bit lost. And the action of some of characters just don't make sense. It's a okay movie to see but don't expect much.

There is no nudity.

👿👿👿👿👿

Oktoborror Fest 04 - The Monkey (2026) - Movie

 

This movie was very enjoyable. We've got this monkey that every time it drums someone will be killed. Simple as that. We've got this two brothers who find the monkey in the cellar after their father "went" away and start playing with it. Of course their mother died. And then another person and another and so on... We jump into the future where they are now adults and estranged. One is trying to safeguard his son while the other is bent on revenge. 

If you enjoy gore and strange deaths akin Final Destination please watch this. If you think those are stupid , you won't enjoy this.

The characters were okay, nothing major although I enjoy the development  of the brothers. 

There is no nudity.

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

Oktoborror Fest 03 - 10:37 by Jacqueline Druga (2017) Book

 This is the tenth book I've read from Druga and this is probably my least  favourite alongside with Torn. It still is a good tracking with only 2 books with 2 stars. 

This one follows a event, like most of her books, that kill the vast majority of population. Is it explained? No.  

People suffocate and died. But some did not. Some lived and thus we find out following 4 people (two groups of two).  I enjoyed their interactions mostly Morgan and Ross as they are quite different personalities and clash. 

After 99% of population died, it started to rain endlessly. After some deus-ex-machina stuff they hear some feedback that this is worldwide and they must escape to high ground. 

Then our survivors meet other people who basically just woke up and had no expression. Just being on the rain and so on. Like zombies but without the carnage. They are just there.... 

So our adventurers or survivors just go to a place told in a vision of one child OR following the communication. They meet other two survivors and that's it. The book is disjointed , nobody really talk about issues that arose.  Per example the priest they met had a bookcase on top of him, it takes around 30 pages so he finally says what happened. Nobody deemed worthy of asking. Ross & Morgan leave one another after one of them betrayed the other and smack on the head. Later one meet the remaining duo and after the  second one appear they are hostile against the other - noone ask, why are you like this with that other person? It's absurd. Then it just ended. This book could have been 400 pages and better. Some connections to stephen king the stand btw.

OH well, you can't win them all

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Oktoborror Fest 02- The Last House (2026) - Movie

 

I watched the movie and I enjoyed. IT's a funny little family movie that deals with something unexplained. The story is simple, it started to rain and people inside the house could not leave, the water was "blocking" / "controlling" it. No matter what they did nothing worked. This was the same throughout the neighbourhood and soon the family had to arrange things to do , food to have as this prolonged for days, weeks months and years. The family soon invents a way to cultivate stuff and the husband finds a way to catch animals through the roof.

Not everything is good. In terms of character, well they lack emotions and the wife was a bit of... drag. She was always complaining and the way she treated her husband was just abhorred. She expected him to do everything and the way she felt entitled it's absurd.

The kids were good on this.

There are some inconsistencies and plot holes like okay we understand there is strange monsters out there, first why wait 5 years? They could have killed them before without issue and then just drop the act after ONE boy has a good intention? The idea behind this is that this "aliens" are not really aliens but beings from the planet that just want it back - I get a hint of something here regarding colonizers...

And then the ending, okay they are free now, only this family or everyone? Who knows...

The movie has some strange situations that made it boring, predictable and preachy BUT I will say it was entertaining.

- I mean why trying to kick down a door that opens inwards?

 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of 10

Oktoborror Fest 01- Humanoids from the Deep (1980) - Movie

 

Interesting movie from 1980. It's one of those monster horror that the 70's and 80's really shine. It was release in 1980 and it has some interesting costumes. 

We've got this small town that is in a turmoil due to some american indians wanting to shut down a fish factory as they believe it's destroying nature while the vast majority of inhabitants do not as it's the best source of income. We are introduce to several characters who are pro and against and stuff really is boiling over with people killing dogs of the other faction.

Meanwhile there is a monster, the one in the photo which is killing dogs and men and raping woman - not graphic.

This remind me of one of the cthulhu mythos stories where the deep ones from insmouth are attacking.

I enjoyed it. It will never win any awards but for people who enjoy lovecraftian tales this is a very good addition.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080904/

Nudity - Indeed there is. Some boobs of several characters. No sex situation. Just some breasts by Lisa Glaser, Linda Shayne , Lynn Theel

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Book Review: The X-Files: Skin (The X-Files #6) Ben Mezrich

A new X-Files book read. It's the fourth now. Only Antibodies & Whirlwind to read.

I want to re-watch the series again. I've watch a couple of episodes here and there over the years and some hold up others do not. But I will prevail!

This one starts interestingly with a person receiving a skin transplant and becoming a berserk like creature. Mulder and Scully heard of it and they travel New York to investigate.

This leads to a bunch to the skin, medics the company which created and to Thailand. It was very interesting cat and mouse chase. It was ok book but nothing major. Some stuff was never answered and there were some plotholes that made me wonder why happened what happened in New York because it has no semblance with the chase to thailand. Overall, it's another good addition.

Mulder & Scully did sound more like "them" than to author vision of them like other books I've read.

Book Review: The Titan Probe (Eismond #2) Brandon Q. Morris

This book follows the first one. It's almost impossible to talk about this book without spoilers. So I am going to provide minor spoilers - nothing major as you discover in a couple of pages (and even on the back cover).

This book follows the previous one, the morale is low after Marchenko being stranded on Enceladus after saving Martin & Francesca. OF course they think he is dead so this book follows two main plots. One with our astronauts as they travel to Titan after a strange transmission is captured on earth. The second part we follow Marchenko that it seems he didn't die and now it's trying to do everything to inform Earth & ILSE that he is dead yet. At the same time he is trying to meet up with the strange beings we discovered in the first novel.

This is a good book, nothing major. Sometimes it's dry reading and while the first focus a lot on the perspective of Martin, this one is more on Francesca. My issue is the not the story. It's the characters and the dry way the book was written. It does not mean I am not eagerly waiting to read the third novel. 73/100

Book Review: Sea Sick (Ravaged World #1) by Iain Rob Wright

I will give this book 5 stars. IT served the purpose it was supposed to do. 

This is the 5 book within the damnienverse which include Sam, Asbo, Final Winter, Housemates (already read), then we've got Ravaged World series which this one is the first and finally there is another series called Hell on Earth.

In this book we follow Jack Wardsley which is a police officer but due to some past offences in the force had to take a break. So on he goes in a cruised called The Spirit of Kirkpatrick (which was something hinted on The Housemates). Apart from that mention, there is also the mention of Black Remedy company - think Umbrella Corporation. You can enter this novel without anything else read.

Right from the start we are introduced to a couple of characters like Jack, Claire a young woman  who has a brute of a boyfriend, holly a young girl and her parents (who it hinted to be connected to another novel or my name isn't Paulo) Tally the romani waitress & Joma (another waiter) then all hell breaks lose and we have zombies all around us.

In the second day he kindy feel deja vu, but on the third day , he understand something is happening. It's groundhog day on a ship with zombies. So with each day you follow Rob trying to find out what is happening but soon after several dozens times you see him change and even killing himself just to wake up at 14h as alwalys. After a while he understands that there is one of the persons he met that is like him and remember the day and so they talk and he is told that there is a being resetting time again and again. IT seems it's something that must be done so something can be change. After several dozen days or probably hundred he meets Donovan which is a security guard guarding some money and medicine in the last deck.

After he meets all of these people he understand that something must be done and the story goes berserk with the pace - although all the book reads quite fast. I read this book under 3h. I started on the 29th of august for a hour and finish on the 30 within 1h30. 

I enjoyed and I want to read the second novel on the trilogy. Probably going to buy the remaining books. 92/100

Book Review: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller (post apocalyptic)

I read this book in under four hours. I woke up at 6h30 started reading , then pause a bit around 8h00 to 9h00 and continue until 11h00.

366 pages in under 4h. That's amazing I would say. IT helps that the way it's written is very accessible and fast paced it does not help the way it was written \ chosen. Allow me to explain, this was written like a memoir of some sort where our main protagonist Hig is trying to survive an apocalpyse that killed 99% of the world population. It was a flu kind of disease and then some blood issue. Flu thing you would think - influenced by covid? Well, no as this book was written in 2011. IT was probably influenced of the Avian influenza that has been around for a number of years in our collected mind.

So, as I was saying, you've got this man (Hig) that is trying to live his live in this post apocalyptic scenario where humanity has perish. He is accompanied by a dog and another man called Bangley which is a survivalist (guess he stroke gold).

The first half of the book, the book is divided in several "books", is more about some backstory and is day to day life while flying the plane around his "base". We also meet the "families" which are a bunch of Mennonites (you have to search what it means, not going to tell you, this is what I most enjoy on books, the discover of new things). The second part of story comes after one pivotal incident - that may shocked people - and he starts investigating what exist behind is place. In there he finds a woman called Cima (35+/-) and her pop.

Not going to delve much more on the plot but suffice to say - and this my opinion on the book - it's... MEH!. I have seen it done better and worse, and this falls on the worse, just because on how it's written. You've got a phrase of 10 lines, you've got lines than end with "and." and other non-written rules. I mean I kind of understand as this how would it felt to be a talking memoir BUT it's written and so it felt weird and please don't get me started on the dialogue - what a bunch of... feces. It's bad, it's weird, it's confusion. Was the author trying to emulate José Saramago? He wrote a book , well worst than that as that one don't have any punctuation. This had but not to my enjoyment.

So having said that, I cannot remove the idea I read 366 pages in 4H but I cannot give more than 50/100. Again meh.

PS: Buy Coca-Cola. Wonder if he made a deal to say Coca-Cola a bunch of times.

PS2: Lividian Publication edition with the artwork of Vaillancourt is very good. It enhanced my enjoyment or else I would have given 40. I will sell it as it's not one of the most beautiful they made and it's not to my liking.

Book Review: She Courts Darkness (Bartram's Maw #2) - Morgan Stang

This is the second book on the series, or third if you consider the prequel but for the sake of coherence , this is the second book of the trilogy. 

The book follows several months after the first one and it follows Victoria & Samantha and while Samantha was the main protagonist of the first novel, here Victoria takes the great stage and  to me it felt better and read better than Samantha. Samantha was kind of straightforward do-gooder while Victoria is conflicted and right until the end you don't know what she is going to do.

So Punkin vanished and Victoria, Samantha & Kirby are tasked to finding her. They go to a strange city that basically  it's PAris or London with all the mix races and creeds - which is kind of odd. The author tries to hint that this works but you get the feeling that it does not. But among this vast city there is a cult which Punkin belong and they think she was captured by them. Victoria tries investigating one way while Sam & Kirby another. 

You can expect violence and sex. We kind understand Morgan Stang leans but it does not affect my reading enjoyment after all all the main characters are women and lesbian (kind of)  BUT again, it did not deter me of enjoying the book and you know me, so I can advise it if you enjoy grimdark stuff. So far everything she wrote was either 4 or 5 stars.  93/100

Book Review: Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson

This book took me over a month to read. To be fair I was on vacations for fifteen days and so I had a break and started a couple of other books, then return this after a month and finish it. IT's quite easy read.

In this tale we follow in the beginning three characters, a priest a rabi and fallen nurse. Each chapter is divided in several parts each with one of those characters or other less important characters.

The story begins with Europe, Asia and Africa fallen to vampires and now conquering several parts of the US. One of the most interesting things on the first half is the talks and discussions between the priest and the Rabi. So different but friends. It was very interesting to see a Rabi questioning his faith because it seems the cross deters the vampires while is Judaic faith does not. Using a cross means that his faith has been wrong all along and Catholicism correct which means that Christ was the Saviour. 

There are some other theological debates which enrich the tale either by the priest, rabi and even the nurse. One of the most interesting things, and please learn you woke authors, this is how you do a Lesbian character. Yes she is lesbian, yes there is debates and conversations but she is also a great character whom happens to be lesbian and not the other way around.

I believe the last confrontation was not well done as it seems the author just wanted to get the book done.  And some things are kind of odd. The book action scenes were not to my liking. IT felt rushed.

You get a ending , or if the author needed he could have written a sequel - which he didn't. There is also an interesting introduction by the author. 80/100

Book Review: Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi (Horror)

I started this book last month, stop for weeks and then finish the last two hundred spaces this week.

First of all, this is a slow pacing book. Don't expect the thriller part to be fast.

in this story we follow Jamie a recovering alcoholic which is returning home after his mother died. With a disabled (mentality) sibling he must return home to help him out. We are then introduced to two other characters (Carl & Mia) and we start to have glimpses of life back when they were teens and why they are what they are.

When they were child, they met a magician which brings a cat to lifee. They become so ensorcelled by it they became his appendices. You , as an adult kind of know something is off but the children being children, they capture everything the magician shares or tells. Until one fateful day where he asks something of Jamie and Jamie does not comply and a fire brakes out.

This tale is a tale of uncovering this magician which is still ongoing (with a new crime just a month prior) and at the same time a self-discovery journey.

There are several themes here and we kind understand the dramas, damage adults vs what the children had to go through. The abusive alcoholic father, Mia the tomboy girl that uses the trauma and experiences into film and Clay that becomes a social worker to help other children from what he had to go through.

The Magician is an evil character. He is a predator (not sexual) that make children do things preying on their vulnerabilities and fears - interesting or not, the only one he did help was Clay by giving him confidence with his condition - (he had a skin disease that while he was black he had white patches all over his body).

Then we've got Dennis which has special needs, not all good on the brain as they say, but he kind of the heart of the group and by the end he also changes - he doesn't become "normal" but we see changes in all of them.

The way Malfi writes kids is quite good and it draws you in. IT feels nostalgic although you were not really there, it's a kind of magic....

If you know Stephen King's IT, this book draws a lot comparisons. Grown ups going back to their old town to face their teenage demon while mysteries unfold. IT's the same premise. The difference is that Malfi does not lose himself like Stephen King does. Although I understand the value Stephen King had in horror, like Lovecraft, my main issue with him is the length of the books. What he can write in 400 pages he turn to 800. If you edit "It" you would see that you only needed 400/450 pages to tell the story.

Now, why the 1 stars on goodreads - well after reading I kind of understand them, mostly is that they are either waiting to be a pure horror spooky fest and it isn't it. It's a slow burn slice of life with a sprinkle of horror. Also the comparisons of IT are all over the place. Some people consider IT the best King book or one of the best horror books every written - well though luck. In my mind you should enter this with open mind and this is more a Slice of Life Mystery book. BUT BUT, saying this is DULL and enjoying IT is a bit of contradiction in my mind opinion. 92/100

Book Review: Sisters of Mercy by Yuval Kordov (Novella linked to Dark Legacies) - Horror & Sci-Fi

I read this novella in one day and this was my first foray into Yuval Kordov work. I've bought all of his books after reading a interview and what he believes.

This is a novella as I've said that is set on the same universe as the the trilogy "Dark Legacies" he wrote a couple of years ago. In the end he explains the reason behind the interest on writing it.

First of all, let me take two cats out of the back. This feels 40K universe - a bit less dark with the mix between human-machines symbiose & the all machine spirit feel. The praying itself remind of Catholicism mantras.

We are thrown into the action right from the bat and not much explanation is provided - probably dark legacies should be read BEFORE this , although I didn't felt lost or that some spoilers existed.

So the world is at war with some demons and some young girls are bonded with robots called god-engines (the parallelism with 40K). They go in pairs to patrol and kill those demons.

The prayers and lithurigies are very good and they give an interesting vibe to this world. It's does not feel like the author is hinting of something or educating you on religion. It's part of this characters but is well so done.

The conversations between the two characters are scarce but give them both personalities within a 80 page book. The most developed part of the novel is the world itself. It's bleak, you've got people trying to survice (that unfortunately don't get much screen time), you've got Rachel-3 which has been alive for 300+ days and can have still have faith yet piety on the people in the wasteland which turns Hannah off.

I would say that probably the 3 and 9 are version and that may hint something, because they "reincarnate" in some sort so maybe being hopeful (that's the feeling I got from Rachel) vs Hannah which has a more pessimistic view on the world - although they love one another and do anything for the other.

I enjoyed it and gives me hope to read his books in the next few months. I am really enjoying incense punk. So far , so good. 87/100