I should just listen to my gut. Just because my brain isn’t initially sure I’ll enjoy a Stephen King book that doesn’t fall into what I think is my ‘usual fare’ doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy it. In fact, my gut constantly reminds me of titles that have surprised me, and we can add Joyland…
Tag: terror
V/H/S/ 94 (2021) – Simon Barrett, Steven Kostanski, Chloe Okuno, Ryan Prows, Jennifer Reeder, and Timo Tjahjanto
The V/H/S/ series is a fairly reliable found-footage anthology franchise that has its hits and misses, and this time out is no different. A wrap-around narrative loosely connects four other stories that show up on video throughout the main plot line. The wrap-around story I found really interesting (tracking issues and all) until its final…
Gwendy’s Button Box (2017) – Richard Chizmar, and Stephen King
I’m always delighted to dig into a Stephen King story. Equally so when it takes me back to Castle Rock (not sure I’d want to visit Derry anytime soon). He pairs up with author Richard Chizmarto to deliver a unique coming-of-age tale. Gwendy Peterson is a young girl who encounters the enigmatic and vaguely unnerving…
Coherence (2013) – James Ward Byrkit
Coherence is a fascinating and engaging science fiction mystery, exploring a number of theories of quantum physics. It’s even more incredible when you learn it was shot chronologically over five nights, and was mostly improvised, with the actors receiving notes to guide them through each scene. Mainly set in one location, the story follows eight…
Mission: Impossible (1970) – Phantoms, and Terror
The IMF are working to stop a brutal dictator by haunting him, and making his staff think it’s time for him to retire this week in Phantoms. Written by Laurence Heath, this episode first debuted on 8 February, 1970. Leo Vorka (Luther Adler) is getting older, but his hold on his country remains iron tight….
The X-Files (2001) – Per Manum, and This Is Not Happening
Series creator Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz pen Per Manum, a tale that puts Gillian Anderson’s Scully front and center, as Doggett (Robert Patrick) brings her a case that seems to match her own abduction experiences exactly, and plays out horrifically for the abductee. First airing on 18 February, 2001, the episode also featured an…
Edge of Tomorrow (2014) – Doug Liman
Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Brendan Gleeson and Bill Paxton star in this fun sci-fi action film that plays like an alien war version of Groundhog Day. Cruise stars as Cage, a major in the American army, working as a media adviser, following the beginnings of an alien attack that has taken over most of Europe….
The Conjuring 2 (2016) – James Wan
The second film in the Conjuring series once again focuses on a case investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren (portrayed in the film by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) and unlike the Annabelle stories, these films lean towards the smarter, filled with a well-crafted story, and some legitimate jump scares and actual terror. The film…
The Ballad of Black Tom (2016) – Victor LaValle
H.P. Lovecraft gets a fantastic spin in this novella by Victor LaValle. Lovecraft is hard to admit you like, because his stories of cosmic horror and old ones are so good, and have become such a cornerstone of horror fiction, but he was just so racist and that permeated all of his writing. The Ballad…
Lovecraft Country (2016) -Matt Ruff
This week I dove into Matt Ruff’s brilliantly entertaining Lovecraft Country, which takes all the things you love about a good Lovecraft story; otherworldly horror, science fiction mixed with horror, and some other familiar horror tropes, the creepy doll, the haunted house, and deliver it without Lovecraft’s far too prominent racism. As much as I…
The Mind Reels 