Enter the Goodreads Giveaway for a chance to win an ARC e-book of Bryan Cassiday’s propulsive new psychological thriller with occult overtones about a serial killer terrorizing Los Angeles–Electric Green Mambas.
A Classic Horror Story on Netflix starts out in predictable horror fashion. Five strangers are riding in an RV in the middle of nowhere, they have an accident, and a nightmare ensues. Their cell phones don’t work. They can’t summon help when one of them breaks his leg in a car accident. They run into a cult whose members wear animal skins and worship three gods that demand torture and maiming as part of their religion. The five strangers fall into the cult’s clutches. And then the movie becomes unpredictable and even more bloody. I found it worth the wait with its twist ending.
Inspiration is nice. But what starts out as inspiration soon becomes nothing but grinding daily toil.
Here is the cover for Bryan Cassiday’s upcoming terrifying psychological thriller Electric Green Mambas, available for preorder at Amazon.
All the critics seem to be weighing in with vituperation for Gunpowder Milkshake, but I, for one, found it entertaining. Forget the superficial plot and comic book characters. Sit back and relax and enjoy the beautifully lit sets, well-choreographed action sequences, amusing dialog, and the soundtrack. I especially liked listening to Janis Joplin wailing “Piece of My Heart” as one of the heroines machine-guns the bad guys, cutting them to “pieces.” Excuse my pun. The fight scene in the bowling alley was pretty good. And don’t forget Lena Headey as the murderous mother who has racked up more kills than anybody else in this pernicious cohort of femme fatales. Lena Headey can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned, ever since she was in Game of Thrones. The action sequences aren’t as good as the ones in Gareth Evans’s The Raid movies, but they are fun to watch, especially with the imaginative lighting.
Sad news to report that author Joe McKinney has passed away, according to Hank Schwaeble. Joe McKinney was one of the good guys. I met him in Portland, Oregon, in 2014 at the Stokercon being held there and I thanked him for writing a blurb for one of my zombie books, Sanctuary in Steel. He was gracious enough to write the blurb after I asked him to by e-mail, even though we had not met at that time, and he didn’t know me from Adam. He was really nice when I finally did get to meet him in Portland. His Apocalypse of the Dead and Flesh Eaters were some of the first and best zombie books I ever read and inspired me to try my hand at writing them.
I saw Till Death starring Megan Fox. I liked it. It’s a situational horror thriller with Megan trying to escape her dead husband who is handcuffed to her wrist. I think the film could have used a little more lighting. It’s very dark and murky, as though the whole movie was lit with candles, and indeed there are many candles in Megan’s cozy hideaway. Even when the scene shifts outside, it’s murky and dark in the snow. I couldn’t find it playing in a local theater so I watched it on demand.
One of Jean Genet’s turnkeys ripped up the entire book Genet was writing in prison. This was Genet’s first encounter with an editor. What did Genet do? He rewrote the entire book.
I saw The Silence on Netflix. A compact little sci-fi horror thriller with some arresting, sadistic bat creatures lusting for fresh blood, especially the human kind. Being bats, they can’t see. They home in on noise. The ugly creatures look very realistic and are cringe-inducing. Meanwhile, a smiling reverend and his smiling congregation aren’t what they appear to be. Are they the ticket to salvation or to hell? Stanley Tucci and his family, which includes a deaf daughter, are about to find out. Perhaps a tad of a slow burn in the beginning, but be prepared for the tension ratcheting up toward the end.
