Saturday, June 29, 2019

Dracula by Bram Stoker 1897

DraculaDracula by Bram Stoker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dracula by Bram Stoker 1897
When a solicitor visits a Transylvanian castle, he soon realizes he’s the Count’s prisoner.
https://chadschimke.blogspot.com/2017...
Dracula by Bram Stoker

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#vladdracula #bramstokersdracula #hammerhorror #fangs #draculavlad #christopherlee #immortal #dracula #vampire #childrenofthenight #dracul #petercushing #belalugosi #vampires #castlevania #bramstoker #romania #nosferatu #boriskarloff #vampyre

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

WILDFIRES SPARK CREATIVITY IN HORROR WRITERS - SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE


California wildfires spark creativity in horror writers

Francis Scott Key wrote his poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry," the eventual lyrics of "The Star-Spangled Banner," while witnessing the shelling of Fort McHenry, and resulting fires, in 1814. As his words display, there is something about flames, impending doom and our resilience to both that makes people put pen to paper even as they hide from devastation.


Sunday, June 23, 2019

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)

The Picture of Dorian GrayThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)
A hedonist wishes his image would age instead of himself. He experiments with every vice, influenced by a morally poisonous French novel.
https://chadschimke.blogspot.com/2017...
The Picture of Dorian Gray A Graphic Novel by Oscar Wilde


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Thursday, June 20, 2019

THE PATRON BY ANTHONY DEROUEN


THE PATRON BY ANTHONY DEROUEN - Tall pines, drifting snowbanks, blue water and tourists, of either the summer or winter variety.  Those things come to mind when picturing South Lake Tahoe. And sometimes, supernatural entities from beyond the paranormal veil as well. In ‘The Patron’, a bartender serves a traveling visitor on a final visit to his favorite tavern. Many stories in the book are reprints, however Anthony DeRouen’s addition to Tales for the Camp Fire was written especially for the anthology. Good horror for a good cause, since profits go to victims of California’s greatest disaster. And here’s another good cause: DeRouen is busy organizing Death’s Parade Film Festival, taking place on October 5th, 2019 at Towne 3 Cinemas in San Jose. Featuring paranormal, killers, horror, monsters, gore and dark comedy. That sounds awesome! 

How do I know when to watch, you might ask? Easy, check out Anthony’s site. 



Monday, June 17, 2019

TOP SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES



TOP SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES - This is a subjective collection of best films: with dystopian, invasion, militaristic and mind-bending themes. As always originality is key, and appreciation for breaking new ground, which was taken into consideration when writing this listicle. Each of these flicks takes its place in the cannon of films which have propelled the form forward, in a genre where technology and innovation is key.

Metropolis (1927)
Wealthy citizens of Metropolis reign in luxury, while subterranean workers toil underground, operating machines which power the city.


The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
An alien emerges from a flying saucer and implores humans to join him in peace, or pursue their present course and face obliteration.


2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A scientist investigates a buried artifact on the moon. He hears a high-pitched radio signal when sunlight hits the obelisk.


Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
To his wife’s dismay, an electrical maintenance worker becomes obsessed by subliminal messages about/ begins to make models of/ a unique-looking mountain known as Devils Tower.


Star Wars (1977)
In the midst of a civil war, an apprentice discovers a hologram hidden inside an android/ recorded by a princess, with instructions to destroy a colossal space station.


Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Upon discovering underdeveloped bodies in giant seed pods, townspeople conclude they are being replaced while sleeping, and an extraterrestrial life form is responsible.


Alien (1979)
A commercial spacecraft receives a distress signal, crash lands on an alien moon, finds a derelict ship and enters it, to discover a chamber containing hundreds of large egg-like objects.


Blade Runner (1982)
A former police officer tracks down and retires bioengineered replicants who are on Earth illegally, in a polluted future world devoid of animals.


The Thing (1982)
On an Antartican outpost, recovered data leads a group of researchers to an alien spacecraft, which has been buried in the glacier for 100,000 years.


The Terminator (1984)
A cyborg assassin and resistance soldier time travel backward, to save the future mother/ leader of the resistance, against a mechanized army with plans to wipe out the human race.


Starship Troopers (1997)
A hostile species is discovered while colonizing new planets, and after the insectoids kill millions with a bomb, an invasion force is sent to battle them. 


The Matrix (1999)
A programmer is offered the choice of a blue pill, to return him to his former life, or a red pill, which will reveal the truth about the Matrix.


Minority Report (2002)
Prescient beings previsualize crimes when they receive visions of the future. But sometimes, one of them has alternative visions, known as minority reports.


Children of Men (2006)
When a husband is contacted by his estranged wife, he is called upon to protect the one and only woman capable of pregnancy, since a plague wiped out human fertility.


Inception (2010)
Extractors use experimental technology to infiltrate the subconscious, to gleen information through a shared dream world.


Gravity (2013)
An astronaut takes her first spacewalk and is bombarded by space debris, which sets off a chain reaction of events as she attempts to save her own life.


Interstellar (2014)
Unknown beings positioned a wormhole near Saturn. This left a path open to twelve potentially habitable worlds, located near a black hole.


Ex Machina (2014)
When a programmer wins a prize, he visits the isolated home of his company’s CEO. He forms a relationship with a human-looking female robot, who is locked up in a separate compartment.


Arrival (2016)
As twelve spacecraft surround the Earth, a linguist is called upon to communicate with two seven-limbed aliens, researching their complicated circular symbols.  

Saturday, June 15, 2019

RIVER TWICE BY KEN HUELER


RIVER TWICE BY KEN HUELER - In the short story entitled ‘River Twice’ Ken Hueler goes cryptid hunting, writing about an animal that may or may not exist. A Japanese student snoops in her father’s attic, leading her to a supernatural encounter, in which she uncovers the limitations of her father’s love. ‘River Twice’ first appeared in From the Corner of Your Eye, released by Great Old Ones Publishing in 2015. Ken has a new story out now, ‘The Calm’, in the June 2019 issue of Mystery Weekly Magazine. Besides this tale, there are a lot of really good stories in the anthology. All profits from Tales for the Camp Fire go to the victims of the November 2018 Camp Fire. Want to read more? 

Check out Ken’s site. https://kenhueler.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/new-charity-anthology/



Sunday, June 9, 2019

Comes the Dark by Michael Prescott (2013)

Comes the DarkComes the Dark by Michael Prescott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Comes the Dark by Michael Prescott (2013)
Time is running out for two siblings, orphaned by a double murder decades earlier. When a local girl's remains are discovered at the river, the sister retraces memories from her youth, and suspects her brother of murder.
https://chadschimke.blogspot.com/2019...
Comes the Dark by Michael Prescott

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Thursday, June 6, 2019

LEAVING THE #9 BY E.M. MARKOFF


LEAVING THE #9 BY E.M. MARKOFF - Today’s post features another writer from Tales for the Camp Fire. While some stories in the anthology are reprints, ‘Leaving the #9’ by E.M. Markoff was written especially for TalesAfter witnessing an incident involving her brother, a sister takes the #9 bus to the end of the line, to seek guidance from a curandera. Markoff provides a fresh take on the ghost story, imbued with Mexican folklore, and portrays instantly relatable characters. In particular, Miss Cire is unforgettable. Please remember that profits benefit victims of California’s greatest disaster, the Camp Fire of 2018. Want to read more? 

Sign up for her mailing list here: http://www.ellderet.com/campfire



Tuesday, June 4, 2019

REVIEW OF MIDWINTER BY MICK D


REVIEW OF MIDWINTER BY MICK D - ‘Short story about the bronze age origins of Christmas. Could very well serve as prologue of a larger work. Very well written and an enjoyable read.’




Saturday, June 1, 2019

MARY SHELLEY


MARY SHELLEY - Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin’s mother died only 11 days after her birth. In her later writing, death would become a pervasive fixture of Mary’s life. She was born to her father William Godwin, an anarchist and atheist, and her mother Mary Wollstonecraft, a radical feminist for the time. When her father remarried, she had a difficult relationship with her stepmother. Percy Bysshe Shelley, an influential Romantic poet, began a romance with Mary in 1814 while he was still married. When they returned to England from travels in France, she was pregnant with his child. After his wife’s suicide they married, and Mary also endured the death of their premature daughter. One historic day at the age of 18, Mary rented Swiss villa with her husband, joined by Lord Byron and his mistress/ Mary’s stepsister, Claire Clairmont. They were accompanied by John William Polidori, the creator of the vampire fiction, and author of The Vampyre. The group wrote, canoed on Lake Geneva, and talked late into the night. It rained incessantly, which forced them to remain indoors. So they gathered around the fireplace, telling tales of German ghost stories. Lord Byron, a well-known Romantic poet in his own right, urged everyone to write their own ghost story. Each morning, upon being asked what she came up with, Mary couldn’t articulate a new idea. But on one particular sleepless night, she was haunted by a waking dream, wherein she was paid a visit by a reanimated corpse. At first she thought it would be a short story, but her husband encouraged her to develop a novel. Frankenstein--or, The Modern Prometheus--was published in 1818. During their marriage she edited and promoted her husband’s writing. But after Percy drowned in a sailing accident, she devoted herself to a career as an author. She died at the age of 53, most likely from a brain tumor.