Haunting Reads

Earlier this year I had a rare opportunity to make some horror recommendations for a library user who likes creepy mysteries, horror, and ghost stories. What luck! I exploded with ideas. Since we're getting close to Halloween, I thought this would be the perfect time to pull out my choices for anyone looking for a last-minute haunting read.

 I’ve broken down my selections into classics, newer releases, and graphic novels, depending on what type of reading experience you’re looking for.

Book review: City of Bones

Young adult fiction isn't an area of expertise for me, but I've found myself enjoying some of the more popular sci-fi/fantasy series that have popped up over the last few years. I think the appeal for me is emotional, as there's an intensity to the protagonist that drives the story. Not that adult fiction can't be dramatic and emotional, but there's something about young adult fiction, some hook that you don't always find in adult novels. On the other hand, I also usually can't read one YA novel after another. I need a serious break from the teenage mind to read and think like an adult again. I'm currently rejoining the adult world with Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND after blowing clear through Cassandra Clare's CITY OF BONES in a matter of days.

Book review: Hemlock Grove

On April 19th, Netflix is launching another of their original series-- this time in the horror genre! HEMLOCK GROVE is based on the novel of the same name by Brian McGreevy, and the story is a modern gothic mix of horror, fantasy and mystery.

The Frighteners

I can't even call what I'm writing a review. It's pure, unabashed love. I can't be objective and talk about strengths versus weaknesses or first impressions, and I'm not going to rehash the plot. Instead, I am going to succumb to a gushing letter of praise to one of my favorite movies ever: THE FRIGHTENERS.

Film review: The Possession

I like figuring out how stories work. They all have histories, rules, connections and themes that are waiting to be unearthed. The difference between the good and bad ones, for me, is that the good ones have innards that make sense. They might not be obvious, they might require some work to figure out, and they might even surprise you. I always hope they'll surprise me, I like that part. If they're really good, the next time you go back to the story they'll even change.

The... not-as-good stories don't make a whole lot of sense.

Film review: Absentia

I find that horror fans are a much more diverse group of people than those not actively involved in the scene might otherwise guess. It says something about the wide range of sub-genres within horror that there is such a variety of tastes, preferences, expectations, and experience. But a big part of that is our own individual fears. I, for example, don't find clowns scary. I am 0% scared by clowns. I've seen IT, I've watched all sorts of horror with clowns in them, they remain fun and silly even at their most evil. But clown fear is very common, I've known people who have it. I, on the other hand, am terrified of spiders. One of the scariest movies I've ever seen is ARACHNOPHOBIA. I feel a chill run up my spine just thinking about it.

I say this before I delve into ABSENTIA because I was surprised that an award-winning film that was this good hadn't been rated higher on sites like IMDB.com or Rotten Tomatoes.

Women in Horror Comics: Nancy A. Collins

This feature is part of my Women in Horror Comics series in honor of Women in Horror Month. For more info on WiHM visit www.womeninhorrormonth.com

This week’s Women in Horror Comics feature, author Nancy A. Collins, has not only written for a variety of horror comics, she is also a horror novelist best known for her Sonja Blue vampire series. The first book in the series, SUNGLASSES AFTER DARK, won a Bram Stoker award for Best First Novel. Unlike some other paranormal fiction, Nancy’s vampires are as they should be: vicious killers.

The Unquiet Dead

While horror is my main passion, I have a lot of love for other genres like sci-fi and fantasy. It's not so far-fetched really, there's a lot of cross-over. Horror appeals much more to an emotional response, while the others focus on the characters, plot details or setting. But they share an interest in the fantastical or speculative.

Right now I'm allowing myself to get hooked on Doctor Who. I had never watched it before, but the only Doctor Who I've ever been familiar with was this guy:

Women in Horror Comics: Jenny Frison

This feature is part of my Women in Horror Comics series in honor of Women in Horror Month. For more info on WiHM visit www.womeninhorrormonth.com

The Women in Horror Comics series continues with local Chicago area cover artist Jenny Frison as my feature this week. Jenny has done a lot of wonderful covers, working with publishers like Dark Horse, Image, IDW and DC. It was honestly difficult to narrow down my choice of which artwork to show you as an example because it's all so good, but let me first tell you a bit about one of my favorite horror comics that Jenny has worked on.

Women in Horror Comics: Rachel Deering

This feature is part of my Women in Horror Comics series in honor of Women in Horror Month. For more info on WiHM visit www.womeninhorrormonth.com

I'm excited to kick off this series with writer, letterer and editor Rachel Deering. Rachel contributed to WOMANTHOLOGY, a comic anthology series brought to life by Renae De Liz to showcase the work of women in comics. Rachel also created and Kickstarted her own series, ANATHEMA, in which huntress Mercy Barlowe and her lover, Sarah, are discovered and doomed to be tried as witches. Mercy escapes, but returns in time to witness Sarah's soul being taken by monstrous ravens as she is burned at the stake. In her immense grief and guilt, Mercy seeks help and takes on her own dark powers in order to rescue the soul of her beloved from being used by a dark cult to resurrect a much more dangerous evil.

Book review: Fatale, Book 1

This first volume of FATALE collects issues #1-5, giving readers an introduction into the world of Josephine and the mysterious hold she has on man after man throughout the decades. Nicolas Lash meets "Jo" in the present day, and discovers that his godfather, recently deceased author Dominic Raines, had a secret manuscript which elaborated his own relationship with the same woman back in the 1950's.

Film review: The Apparition

(Even after seeing the movie, I still have no idea what that tag line means.)

More than anything else, I love a good ghost story. THE APPARITION tries to give the viewer one, but falls short in terms of plot and character while going for creative scares and creepy imagery.

It opens in 1973, with a group of parapsychologists attempting to make contact with a deceased colleague. They appear to be successful. Years later, a group of college students recreate this experiment with the benefit of modern technology that boosts their brain signals, making them over 400 times more powerful. The students are able to unleash an entity that attacks the group and pulls one the participants into a wall.

The story jumps to couple Ben and Kelly, who are moving into a subdivision to look after the house for Kelly's parents. Cue the spooky happenings, and our movie is officially off and running.

The Last Exorcism Part II

While I love the horror genre in all of its forms and sub-genres, I also have special interests. When it comes to plot, I primarily enjoy ghost stories and slashers. As far as themes go, I'm fascinated with the role gender plays in a horror film and how religion comes into play. One of my dream life goals would be to write an in-depth article, paper or book on religion in horror. It just makes my brain come alive.

I enjoyed THE LAST EXORCISM for this reason, although I can't say it was well received all-around. A lot of viewers were not happy with the ending, the ambiguity they felt left with, etc. I love being left with questions after a film is over, although there is a difference between being frustrated by them and being fascinated.

Book review: Your House Is On Fire, Your Children All Gone

A quick look at the book's description from its cover would indicate to anyone why I picked this up: "Shirley Jackson meets The Twilight Zone in this riveting novel of supernatural horror." They had me at Shirley Jackson, but the rest helped too.

I finished the novel feeling more perplexed than anything. I wondered, "Did I miss the horror? Was I not paying enough attention?"

5 Favorite Video Game Ghosts

Growing up in a video gaming household, I've played on a lot of different platforms and consoles, all the way from the Atari and DOS games through my current blood red Resident Evil 5 edition Xbox 360 Elite with Jasper chipset. While I am often drawn to horror games and have played many over the years, today I'm going to talk about five favorite video game ghosts that generally, have not been part of a proper horror game (the Seventh Guest is my only exception)

Book review: The Devil I Know

"It is possible to live in the logical world and the spiritual. The two are not mutually exclusive."

 - Jackie Barrett, "The Devil I Know"

If you plan on reading THE DEVIL I KNOW, you're going to need an open mind. I'm talking wide open, stretched to the max, maybe with something like those metal fasteners they held Alex's eyes open with in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. You'd better be ready for a heavy dose of spirit communication, ritual, astral projection, demons, exorcism and all manner of spiritual manifestations. And that's aside from Ronnie DeFeo's psychosis, which is its own kettle of crazy fish. I consider myself pretty open-minded and even I found a few things tough to swallow.

Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters...

...I said it three times, did that work?

If you keep even half an ear on the film world I'm sure you've heard about all the back-and-forth, will-they-or-won't-they, crazy stories about the GHOSTBUSTERS sequel. It's been going on for years. There have been scripts, there have been revisions, there have been issues getting Bill Murray involved, it's been a debacle. Some people don't want to see this happen, but I'm too curious to be against it. Besides, a sequel being a bad idea has never stopped anybody before! And I think this could actually be a good idea.

A few days ago there was an article from /Film that discussed an interview Dan Ackroyd did with Esquire where he of course, talked about the film again. No solid news out of it, but it sounds like he's had his fill on all this frustration and is calling on Sony to either do it now, or forget about it. I don't blame him, after all the work they did. Kudos to /Film for this line, though:

"The guy is on a marshmallow man fueled rampage and I love it."

That's one I'll have to start incorporating into my everyday speech: marshmallow man fueled rampage. Check out both the article and the interview for more on Ackroyd's Stay-Puft rage:

Dan Ackroyd Challenges Sony to Make Ghostbusters 3 via /Film
Q&A: Dan Ackroyd is Keeping Ghostbusters 3 Alive via Esquire

Rob Zombie's "The Lords of Salem"

THE LORDS OF SALEM is Rob Zombie's latest entry in the horror genre, after his less than successful remake of HALLOWEEN and its sequel. This film is about a radio DJ who triggers a curse on the town of Salem created by four real witches that were secretly killed back in 1692 at the same time many innocents lost their lives for claims of witchcraft. Check out the trailer below, along with some more info-- I especially recommend reading the review from TIFF.

Supernatural Sleuths from NERDIST

Today Nerdist put out a list of supernatural detectives from comics, if you're looking for something new to read in that genre I'd have a look. I've read many, but not all of the HELLBLAZER trades and love them. I really should read HELLBOY, since the movies already made me a fan. I'm not familiar with the other three, so they are fertile ground for new Librarian of the Dead reading material.