Book Review: Black Helicopters - Caitlin R. Kiernan (October Horror Fest 21/31)

Well, what we have here it's the second novel in the Tinfoil series.

I've read the first a couple of months ago and I didn't enjoy it. But I know Caitlin is well received as a Lovecraftian horror master but alas, I just couldn't get into it. The book is 200 pages long and it's boring and pointless. First of all, I may be at fault here. Maybe I am not erudite to fully understand the novel but I couldn't. Of course I understood the plot - overall it follows the first but I guess you can read it without having read the first - although it makes zero sense to start at book 2 of a series.

So what is the story and why I didn't enjoy it. - first of all the constant changing of timelines every chapter. This confuse me. Then you've got the plot itself and I couldn't understand anything. You've got spies in Dublin, you've got ships, you've got the black and white queen stuff, you've got the future where the writing was even more incomprehensible  (probably just saying that writing from the 1800 it's different from nowadays so probably the future will sound/read differently.

Bear in mind that by the descriptions I hope something more akin Lovecraftian but what I got was some weird stuff- probably Weird Fiction is all about? I didn't felt any kind of horror or fear - nada that I could say it's Lovecraftian. To mention Shoggoths and labelling as Lovecraftian it's like saying that anything has four tires it's a care. It doesn't work like that. It could be a wagon or anything in-between. The only connection is that a car and a wagon has four tires...

Then why the chapter with people speak in French? Damn... Those non-translated sentences... I thought okay they are talking in French and in-between someone will explain what it means... Well, nope.
Sucks to be you - who don't know French haha... 

Overall I will read the third one but coming from the 1 and 2 maybe i will be disappointed... I hope not.

Movie Review: Halloween Kills 2001 (October Horror Fest 20/31)

This is the second movie in the trilogy. I've seen some comments that this movie sucked and steer away fromt he first and so on... well I don't agree at all.

This movies follows the first one, as you are probably aware Myers were basically defeated by the trio of woman (grandmother, mother and daughter)... But this fucking Myers! He does not die. And we start one of the most bloodiest movies on the Halloween franchise to this day.

Having seen all Myers movies we get several stuff form it... First of all he was first just a mutant kind of guy who killed people but was "human". Then there were other movies that made me almost supernatural being.

Bear in mind that are four timelines this franchise really goes far in terms of scope and Myers is what you want him to be -and that's something Friday the 13th or nightmare on elm street didn't really got to do it.

This one we get him a bit supernatural and the police officer arrived to the conclusion that Mers just want to go home and will kill anyone who steps in his way.

Again , maybe the reasons to kill for Myers also changed. this movie they tried to get all the previous survivors and giving them a stage for the big finale (well for now since there were at least 2 endings already) Not as good as the first but not the worst. 7 out of 10

Book Review: Autumn - David Moody (October Horror Fest 19/31)

Author: David Moody
Book: Autumn
Year: 2001
Pages: 284
Part of Series: 1st of  6 books on the Autumn series
Reading Time: 8/10/2021 to 9/10/2021 (2 days)
Rating: 8 Stars

This was my second reading of this novel. I've read this novel when it was released online back in 2002. I was not working so i had no money. I didn't even read in English that much. I have no doubt that this was one of the 10 first books I read in english so there is a connection.

First of all let me say that this novel was written in 2001. If you know anything about zombie books I will say upfront that this was one of the first authors to write zombie stories. That's how important this is.

Is this the best book in zombie fiction? Nope. But you cannot deny the importance. It gave rise to a bunch of author horror writers write zombies. To put in perspective World War Z (2006), Mira Grant Newflesh (2010), Carry Ryan The forest of hands and teeth (2009); Walking dead (2004), Stephen King's Cell (2006); Joe Mckinney (2006) or Brian Keen (2007). BTW I am not saying that there aren't zombie books before - Resident Evil is one example, Lovecraft probably the first with Reanimator. But in terms of literature as zombies as plagues in book fiction this is it.

So credit should be given when credit is deserved - yeah!

Some spoilers, well full spoilers to be quite honest....

In this tale we follow three people Carl, Michael & Emma. In one instance 99% of the population of earth died. Survivors started to come together (where these 3 meet) and initial they are just buckle up waiting for rescue. Then some of the dead, started to rise (after some days). Those three characters start wondering that this was not a safe place and wanted to go to another place. They arrive at a empty farm where they amass food and other supplies and try to cope with everything. This is where the psychological part takes place and we see Carl falling deep and deeper in depression because he had lost his wife and child. As time progress the dead are changing, they seem now to follow some patterns, joining in bands and so on - still not attacking. Carl, starts pondering that maybe they should not be there and he goes back to where all it started where he finds everyone dead. He comes back but it seems the noise is drawing the dead - after all, with all silence a small noise echoed throughout the night. The dead are now thousands surrounding the house. Carl is almost delusional, without purpose to live, only to get revenge and die whilst the other characters want to live. Carl do something stupid like opening a door and its engulf by the dead but that gave possibility for Emma & Michael to escape and thus our story ends...

What is interesting about this?

Well, it's simple, it focus on characters psychological effects - most zombie fiction don't dwell more on the psychological effect of seeing everyone you love dead. This one really focus on that. It focus less on survival skills.

The writing is nothing to brag about - it is fast pace - I read 160 pages in 1h (which is awesome to me) and I notice some repetitions reading - It seems in Britain everyone says "Bloody Hell". It's your favourite swear expression?

Asking, is there a finish line ? Well yes and no. Its open ended but you can read and never read the second - I read this in 2001 and never read the second and still remember fondly of it.

Don't expect this to be like Brian Keene or some zombie movie. It's not. There is none or almost none zombie killing (by both parts). it's slow but good. Solid 4 stars. I cannot give a full 5 stars because , the writing is not the best there is, the characters sometimes behave some very "WTF" moments - like doing something that was not supposed to be that character that should be saying that (I notice this in the beginning when we've got 10 characters). Other thing was the action scenes which were confusing. Hey it was his first book. I will read the next 2 ( I can't seem to get the human condition which is 20€ plus - used)

Movie Review: The Crucifixion - 2017 - October Horror Fest (18/31)

Well here is an interesting movie about demons and exorcisms. You've got this priest who was convicted of killing some girl. A Newporter from the USA wants to investigate the issue and goes to Romania. There she tries to uncover what the meaning of all. If the priest is to blame, if it's something to do with church and other factors.

The meaning for this is that she has lost her mother several years before, and when she dying, the reporter found out a treatment that would have a great percentage of possibilities of surviving but her mother said that she was in gods hands and didn't make the treatment and dies.

Now she hates the church and all that entails. 

As the story progress we get to know more and more characters and that not everything is telling all that they know and not everything is at it seems.

This tale could be less supernatural and more human relations -church and the modernization of church (how they see exorcisms) but then it change and become more and more supernatural.

I enjoy the tale, mainly the development of the main character. Nice story that didn't try to shame or dump on the church. It tried to understand the church position.

Reading Challenge October Horror Fest (Half Month)

So, we've now arrive at half the month so how I going?

Well, I finish the following:

- Edward Lee - Trolley No 1852 (102) (3.88 rating)
- David Moody - Autumn (271) (3.66 rating)
- 40K & Sigmar Anthology - Anathemas (345) (3.61 rating)
- The Devourer Below 316 
- Alien: Sea of Sorrows 352
- Alien: River of Pain 352

(Total pages read so far 1738 - WHICH IS AWESOME!)

I am now reading the following:

- Caitlin R. Kiernan - Black Helicopters (202) (3.45 rating)
- Frank Peretti - This Present Darkness (508) (4.22 rating)

The following are to be read:

- Bentley Little - Summoning (542) (3.71  rating)
- Christine Morgan - The Night Silver River Run Red (212) (4.09 rating)
- Daniel Barnett - Nightfall - Nightmareland Volume 1 (141) (4.31 rating)

So with 1605 pages to go, that's around 100 pages per day - LET's GO!

Btw, the next month I will try reading more sci-fi novels. I've already chosen the following:

- Speaker For the Dead - Orson Scott Card - 378 Pages
- Alien Game - Rod Walker - 209 Pages 
- The Lost Fleet: Victorious - Jack Campbell - 330 Pages
- Artemis - Andy Weir - 302 Pages
- Blindsight - Peter Watts - 361 Pages
- Echopraxia - Peter Watts - 389 Pages
- Superluminary - John C Wright 472 Pages (3 novels - The Lords of Creations, The Space Vampires, The World Armada)
Total Pages 2441 
If I can I will add a 40K novel.

Movie Review: Like Dogs (2021) (October Horror Fest 17/31)

 Finally a good movie.

This story is set on an USA where you can make human experiments (Well you can do it today) but life-threathening psychological experiments. 

We start this movie with a woman being kidnapped and put on a penhold (for dogs) where she has little sapce to move and must eat, drink, poop and so on as a dog. Basically she is being trained to be a human-dog.

The first 20 minutes or so it's this girl being well treated like that (probably how you treat a dog). After a while this guy appears in another pen like the one she is and they start talking and conspiring in escaping. After a while he tries to escape but she intervenes and he is knock out.  We then see the first twist - she is the designer of the place and she wants to make broke him. She is being helped by a man and a woman scientists.

After a while they return her to the pens and she twists his mind so he thinks that everything was a hallucination. Another situation of escaping prompts the higher ups to close the project since they discovered that the guy was not a volunteer and had been taking drugs (given by the scientist).

She doesn't want her experiment to end and so knocks out the lead scientist and convinces the two colleagues to continue. BUT nothing else really work that way and a new twist comes out. It seems the male scientist is conducting his own experiences with all the guys that he think have wrong her. He also loves her and his twisting her to accepting his "love" obsession.

The ending we get yet another twist making this an interesting fast pace movie. 8 stars.

Btw, the main character has such a beautiful smile...

Book Review: The Devourer Below - Arkham Horror Anthology (October Horror Fest 16/31)

Author: Anthology (7 Authors)
Book: The Devourer Below
Year: 2021
Pages: 320
Part of Series: Arkham Horror Novels
Reading Time: 3/10/2021 to 6/10/2021 (4 days)
Rating: 5 Stars
 

Stories Within -

Running the Night whiskey -  Evan Dicken 

Shadows dawning - Georgina Kamsika

The Hounds Below - Josh Reynolds

Labyrinth - Thomas Parrot

All My Friends Are Monsters - Davide Mana

The Darkling Woods - Cath Lauria

Professor Warren’s Investiture - David Annandale

Sins in the Blood - Thomas Parrot

This was the first anthology in Arkham Horror series published by Aconyte

On contrary of most people here I didn't receive this book for free. I have to purchase them so my review will be , as always true... well to myself at least.

What can I say? This is a collection of short stories most of them interconnected by two things - one some characters do jump around from one tale to another and the monster of the week is Umôrdhoth and all stories are connected to him our his cultists.

To be quite honest there isn't a single story I should say it's brilliant. To be quite honest they all seem bland with except of Thomas Parrot duology (there are two linked stories). The last story joins most characters from other stories and finish (some kind of finish - status quo must be maintain as you are writing in a share universe).

Well, all of these stories had some characters that we can play as investigators and others as carts. They all have somekind of background and the writers, I believe, are free to conjure the rest and give adventures BUT maintainingthe status quo. So, an investigator cannot be killed or become crazy and so. When you make a character like that your main character as a reader you know nothing bad will happen and thus the tale looses a bit of magic. The same happens with the main villain (villains). If you kill them the game ends and Call of Cthulhu never ends.

So, what did I think of the stories...

Some were more revenge, others more investigation kind of stories, one was back in time story , one was a more in a perspective a of a cultist . The last tale is the best one of the bunch.

First of all, these authors know that this tales are set in 1920's? Yeah? Gay Rights were not a priority ye know? But at least two of our characters were gay (lesbian). Why had you the need to add lesbian characters in tales they have no meaning whatsoever?

Besides the lesbians in two stories, no other characters (I would say non-gay) mentioned their loved ones OR even their sexuality. But Lesbians? The authors had to say several times about them. You know what this means correct? Pandering. It's like now they can go on twitter and say - hey my story had a lesbian couple. Next one will have a POC and I will feel all the boxes and you shouldn't cancel me, right?

That's it.

That part was un-necessary, unrealistic (yeah people didn't care about gay people back in 1920's. If these authors thinking they are the fringe because they are advocating the rights of LGBT - I mean LGBT is everywhere nowadays, everyone defends their rights and revindication. You are not the fringe by writing stories of gays and lesbians - you are the norm. You are the estabelishment.

But overall they are just okish stories. Nothing to praise a lot but reading about the characters you usually play it was good. 

Movie Review: Black As Night - October Horror Fest (15/31)

 Dear White People,

No matter the movie comign out since 2017 or so, you are either the evil (99%) or at most you are crappy. 100% are racist, just because you exist. Just because you were born with that pigmentation. You probably are mysogist, hater of lgbt etc.

You are what you are because you are white.

Signed
Some black folk & LGBT community united (BLM?)

Well, the movie Black As Night is a amazon movie that delves deeper in the Katrina survivors (black people survivors) while being plague by Vampires.

You've got a black girl & lgbt hispanic friends who tangle themselves in a wide conspiracy where vampires are rising in great numbers and getting ready to take over the world. Alas, I was very interesting because it was a different approach. And on contrary you may believe I am not racist and I don't mind watching films with full black cast. What I hate is using tropes, woke, white-hateful plots just to further your goal.

What we have here is a black slave that is building an army to conquer the world (or New Orleans, whatever come first) and the two friends with the help of a third black character & a white know it all girl battle the evil. Again, all in all it was very interesting take on the vampire genre BUT the problem is the white hate that serve no purpose. Of course the ones who plague the vampires were white. You even have the white chick saying (after some comments) that "white people are terryfing". WTF? Amazon, have you gone so low that you this kind of hateful stuff?

Now white people let's make a movie where we have some hateful comments against black - like called them niggers (like most of the black characters do to one another) and complain they are evil and scary and unsafe? What say? Do you think this would sell? 

Enfin.. I cannot give this movie a good rating because of all the hate against white. If you had skip those parts (even if it was the white character part) this would be a solid 7. But, alas, this serve no purpose whatosever - no going forward , no plot place- nada. Just hateful racist...

In terms of plot it's copy paste from other movies out there, nothing new. Beforehand I thought they were going through some social stuff, like homeless, poor drug users kind of stuf - that would be mildy better but after 20m it's all garbage and focus on action. 

Movie Review: V/H/S/94 - October Horror Fest (14/31)

All of the stories within V/H/S/94 were bad. Well to be true not all but the vast majority. Bear in mind that this is 4 on the series.

Well, so what's the series about you ask? Well it's about "lost" tapes that are found and weave into a story meanwhile in-between all of stories you follow another story. (It's the classic story within a story).

The tale being told in-between the stories is about a group of people entering a house and discover a massacre and gore everywhere. Very dark.

The first tale and the only one that captivate me was a tale about a woman trying to get some audience for her show so she goes to the sewers with her cameramen to find a strange hybrid of rat+human. Alas all goes sideways (or else it wouldn't be here) and the ending was quite cool. The monster sure look like Alien.

The second tale it's a very gory and violent - at times I thought that I was seeing some images from a first person shooter videogame. And, we arrive at the last story and the White Supremacist dumb militia guys. It's so bad so cringe that really devalues all the remaining tales. Please stop doing this kind of shit. The time is wrong. Not all white people are supremacist. You know that? If you want to do somekind of interesting horror make some BLM members being horrendous and racist. That would be very interesting and different.

3 Stars for the lack on innovation. The first two VHS are far better - even that dreadful third is better than this... I wonder why the critics love it so much - oh I know, white men bad - since half of them are white it's a bit of oxymoron - probably they are just like that blind moron oxyen

Book Review: Trolley No. 1852 - Edward Lee -October Horror Fest (13/31)

Author: Edward Lee

Book: Trolley No. 1852

Year: 2010

Pages: 103

Part of Series: Solo 

Reading Time: 1/10/2021 (1 day)

Rating: 8 stars

I never enjoy reading erotica or pornographic scenes. I don't consider myself a conservative kind of guy but reading is different than watching (LOL) so I started this month of horror with the book that would made me less comfortable. Sometimes you have to indulge on that.

What we have here is a tale of Lovecraft himself - told in his perspective. What would Lovecraft had to do to survive if his horror tales were not sufficient? Well he would write pornographic horror tales of course - that's the premise of this book.

Lovecraft is struggling in terms of finance and a letter comes from the mail saying that if he writes a erotic story they would give him 500 dollars x 2 (bear in mind that this was 70 years ago so it was a lot of money). He then, being Lovecraft he makes a story with horror elements. Basically you've got a guy Morgan Philips (wonder where he got those names ?) goes to the city of new york to find his sister -after several time not knowing where she is he meets a guy called Erwin (Robert E Howard) who tells him of a place where he can try since it's a whorehouse - but it's a strange one riddle with mysteries and time bending stuff.

There, is where the majority of this tale passes and you've got all scenes of sex, it seems Lovecraft has a member with 12 inches that basically destroys everyone of the girls (5 of them in a row). It's like watching pornhub but reading in the same writing style of Lovecraft - and that's something I wanted to talk about - the writing - this was marvellous reading material - he change the way the characters spoke with such ease that was really a delight

" and after a few more moments of recapturing her wind, she manipulated herself around, to look flabbergasted at my still-stiff-as-a-baker's-pin-penis

"Did you come?"

I elevated a brow. " If by that you mean did I experience an ejaculatory release and sequent orgasm? No."

This is some example, it reminds me of one character of Walking Dead franchise way of talking...

Either way, good take - I will not be a fan of pornographic Lovecraftian tales BUT I am now a fan of Edward Lee. I bought the other two books he wrote in Lovecraftian tale "The Innswich Horror " And "The Haunter of the Thresholdold".

TV series Review: Freakish (2015/2016) October Horror Fest (12/31)

 I watch the all two seasons in 2 days. 10 episode each with 23 minutes it's an easy watch to be fair. 

Well what's the story and why didn't I ever heard about it? This story is about several people being trapped in a school after an explosion in a nearby chemical plant. This chemical didn't kill people but made them like freaks - zombies if you will (although alive not dead).

So must of the people initial try to leave only leaving 8 or 9 there. These boys and girls are all different yet feel all the same. You got the jockey, the nerd, the mysterious one, the rich one and so on. You understand the drill. 

So, the first impact you have with the characters it's one of hatred toward each one - for different reasons. There is not a single really "root" kind of guy/gal. All are crap. BUT to me that's no problem - after all these people have to do everything to survive and don't like all do-gooder people.

But as the days go by their difference become a strength (how poetic) as they have common goals. Unfortunately the changes are so major in only a couple days. People that are the most hateful enemies now are the best and change again and so on. It feels a teen drama at times - which it is since they are all teens. Then the dialogue makes no sense. This is high school almost all of them look they are at least 24 or so...

Unfortunately the drama focus a lot more on the romance than the plot because it really never got going - I mean we know the plant is responsible and you've got this guy who supposedly came to help but instead he was there to kill all witness while taking one of the survivors away (he was the son of some lead scientists) but we never really learn that why was he in school since he wasn't on detention- was it to investigate? was it on purpose? We never knew. Most storylines had no conclusion because the series was cancelled.

Is it worth watching? Nope.. Just because of the open storylines - it made me upset I bet you too. 

Movie Review: Terapia do Medo (2021) October Horror Fest (11/31)

Ora ora ora...

Here it is a good Brazilian movie , pretty predictable to be honest but good considering it's Brazilian) and completely screw because it try to be woke.

So, basically you've got this two sisters who play beach volley. They are twins and one has some supernatural elements with her (at least she thinks so). This last sister starts going to a psychologist to control her dark thoughts and something started to change within her. Later she has an incident and her boyfriend and manager dies. She becomes catatonic and the psychologist asks if the sister wants to start a new radical procedure which she accepts.

And thus enter supernatural stuff... and this movie stars to be boring.

So basically she is seeing a little girl and then a boy. What does it mean? Well it seems our adopted psychologist adopted mother had another a girl (Which we knew) and that girl died in the sea with the father.

But since not everything is at it seems, the girl seems upset killing other people while taking the body of the sister. Alas, after some mystery solving and visions we learn that the female child they had - was instead a boy! She or He was a hermaphrodite and they had to choose one of them and the mother choose a girl - unfortunately the memories remain. With the power of psychologist with hypnotises and sleep deprivation (among other non-legal stuff) the girl killed the father and then the mother killed the girl.

And thus ending the story... with the woman possessed with the girl spirit - or not.

Enfin

Woke plotline but not that bad overall. I enjoy it. I think the actress that made the two parts is very good. We know it's one real person and two fictionalized BUT she was portraying both.

Movie Review: There's someone Inside your house (2021) October Horror Fest (10/31)

 So you all know that movies can become crap due to woke media and this is one of them.

It's boring plot and it's fill of an agenda that destroy everything.

So, what should you expect from a woke movie?

White guys are either the Badies or crappy people - no redeeming qualities unless they are gay or some member of their community.
Black folk are always the good guys, marginalize by white folk and so on.
LGBT are usually the good guys and so on.

You get the picture right?

This movie is all of this tropes with a boring plot.

Stay way from his unless you are parte of this groups. If you are a white guy (normal not the ones that hate being white) then you will not enjoy this one.

No picture will be put here.