Book Review: Terror Cell - Tim Curran

Year: 2016
Pages: 142
Reading Time: January 2022 (1 days)
Rating: 4 Stars

Tim Curran is one o my favorite horror writers. I've got 23 of his books, I missing 9 to complete all his publish books accordingly with fantasticfiction or wikipedia. Probably he has some more.

This one is a solo book published by Severed Press in 2018. One thing I can honestly say, a after reading 10 of his novels is that the latter books are worse than the older ones. all of my good ratings are books publish 2014 and before, only the Devil Next Door really stands in the last few years.

What is this novel about? Your guess is the same of mine. So you've got 3 police officers who are hailing a distress call in a mine and the eerie feeling starts just after a couple of pages. It made me read 70 pages in one go. I was really invested in Dew, Woody and Jerry. Then enter in chapter 7 Jay and Tanya - oh my god... the black chick and white (undercover supremacist) guy - basically you've got a black woman who his trying to get into his pants (not figurately (or is it)) trying to make him say he is a racist because he didn't enjoy Obama.

Let me say something - this argument is horrendous. If a guy is a idiot - he is a idiot - no matter his skin colour. So if I think a black guy is a idiot - I am not being racist - he is a idiot! oh well this back and forth about her and him was awful but he does something interesting here and I quote "Any time white people speak the truth they're racists and any time they stand up for their own cultural identity or take pride in who and what they are, minorities scream they are the KKK and nazis..." Pretty well said Tim Curran. I can applaud this.

So this isn't woke and maybe I have to step out from our nowadays events and this would be comic but Alas I cannot and therefore this is cringe to me..

Back to the review... in the story we go every chapter through a different character who is facing his worse fears (being that there is a real enemy down in the mines) and as we follow I expected more but nothing really happens and it ends in a chapter so rush that made me feel WTF? bah...

I cannot give this in good conscious higher than 4 - the Underdwelling is my least favourite and I have to say something: I believe Tim Curran writes better in longer fiction. Short fiction is hard to get people invested - unless you gonna go full scary or eerie ambience... I have more books from him and this hear I will read more

Book Review: Pandemonium - Warren Fahy

Year: 2014 
Pages: 448
Reading Time: January 2022 (8 days)
Rating: 7 Stars

I totally remember making part of a review but losing...

Well this is a sequel of Fragment. In the beginning of the year I wanted to finish some books I started reading this since it was a fast paced book.

Basically this book follows the previous one but it's not as good. In the first book deals with exploration of a new ecosystem that was isolated from ours own. Here, the island is gone but they saved some of the beings - intelligent ones.

The book is divided in two;

- How the beings are trying to integrate to their own reality and celebrity

- How some mad scientist from Russia created his own ecosystem and why he needs the help of our scientists and beings...

First of all, don't go to this book unless you read the previous one. You will feel completely lost.

I enjoy the history parts; I enjoy the debates and issues. I didn't enjoy the characters (scientists) at all. I didn't enjoy the little girl at all.

But if you read the first, and you want to know more about this hidden ecosystem - at least the read the first. It's quite good.

Book Review: Pan Labyrinth - Guillermo Del Toro

Year: 2019
Pages: 296
Reading Time: January 2022 (8 days)
Rating: 8.5 Stars

Dear All,

Read and love it. It's so good. It's a new fairy tale enveloped in real life drama of Spain Francoism era. I remember watching the movie, but it was back in the day - we are talking 15 years ago so I don't remember that much to be honest.

This movie/story try to teach us that not all wolves wear pelt and not all that seems is and people are really good at asking questions but not as answering.

Here we have Ofelia a little girl of 12 who is going to have a new dad (stepdad) as her mother is going to marry an army official. He is an army official for Franco (nationalist spain) while the good guys are republic rebels (as per usual - read stars - imperial bad - rebels good)

Apart from that cliche the story is perfect. It has small chapters that really help the story flow, then there several intermissions that tell a grand tale of Ofelia and her earthly parents and not so earthly.

I really love it all. It was dark and beautiful. Well written and simple. So many layers, so simple story - yeah it's confusing. Read the first chapter, either you love it and continue or not. I don't believe I've read a bad review.

And although it is a fairy tale it's a dark fairy tale. IT can be to kids BUT as adult, and father I believe the story resonates even more (you're talking at someone who saw the movie at 25 or 26 and now I am 41 and with a child. It's awesome.

Book Review: Kothar: Barbarian Swordsman - Gardner Francis Fox

Year: 1969 
Pages: 153
Reading Time: January 2022 (3 days)
Rating: 6 Stars

Kothar is not conan, it doesn't try to mimmick or subsittute. Is another hero, or anti-hero who likes to party with the girls.

The first novel really brought things together with Kothat, the demon queen and his cursed sword that makes him powerful BUT it has a setback - he cannot amass wealth. We never understand why or what would happened but that's the 70's for you.

After reading everything now, before I make this review I would say to you - don't come here UNLESS you already read dozens others and want to try something different.

Movie Review: Terrifier 2 (2022) October Horror Fest (30/31)

Terrifier 2 is a very good movie. I have not seen the previous one, if there is one and it was a good tale. Int his tale we follow two young teens who are dealing with their father's death in different ways. The boy is being obessesed with death relates stuff, killers and such and the girl is well coping very nice, tryting to make an armor (angel boobs out kind of armor) that her father designed - which will be relevant in the tale.

Meanwhile we have a creepy clown killing people the most disgusting way you cold every imagine - it's splatterpunk kind of of stuff. Not like Jason. We are talking killing and depravity and joy seldon seen.

Either way, I am not going ot give you spoilers but I really enjoy it. Nice way to end the month. If I have to be nitpicking and that's why I won't give it a 10 or 9 was the end. A bit of deux-ex machina and supernatural stuff.

Movie Review: #Unknown / The Retreat (2021) Among Others - October Horror Fest (29/31)

So this season I watch much more than 30 movies. some were just too bad that I didn't made anykind of reviews...

So lets's start with ToolBox Murders from 1979 it's a real life inspired movie about a man that went around killing people in the same area.. Besides the first death where we see a naked woman with a perfect body everything is just bad.

Note: the actress is MARCIEE DRAKE 

The second Entwined (2019) a greek mythology inspired movie that had some interesting theme but in the end failed to grip my attention. It's not bad - it's just meh, skipable.

 

Next is Hurt from 2018. If there was a movie that I couldn't get into and had to drop was this one. It's just bad from the writing to acting stuff. There is a reason why the movie has a rating of 3.7 on IMDB.

#Unknown (2021)  this is a pyschological, tripping journey of a writer who is writing novels but stuff is not at all what it seems. IT's a bit of dark half of stephen King. Unfortunately I couldn't enjoy or connect with movie or characters

The Retreat (2021) is a woke crap. Just leave it to that. Everything here made me cringe and hate the main characters. No I don't hate LGBT people. I Hate cringe people.