Review: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

This is the second book I have read by this author, and honestly, I really did not like The Cabin at the End of the World. I didn't enjoy that book due to the story being told from multiple perspectives which made it really redundant and annoying after a while. So I decided to give this author another shot and decided to read his take on possession/ exorcism fiction. I will review this so as not to mention anything that is not already mentioned in the overlay.

First off I have to warn you....if you are deciding to read this because you watched or read the Exorcist and were hoping this would be similar. Stop! The only similarity this book has to that one is the "possessed" is a young girl. Next, if you are looking for horror in this you will be greatly disappointed. While the title suggests demonic possession it is a completely different animal. What you the reader is offered by Tremblay is a downward spiral of a family. The Barrett's are struggling financially, as the dad has lost his job and are down to one income. While this is not enough to stress them out. They are also struggling with the newly developing mental illness of their elder daughter. Hence the title of the book...see what he did there?

The already stressed and divided family seeks counsel from a Catholic priest and then he decides that the daughter, Marjorie is possessed by a demon and they should have an exorcism performed. He also decides to bring in a reality TV crew to film the events. This reality TV show while it provides some financial relief it also puts the family into even more stress as they become a public spectacle and protesters are outside their house daily.

I enjoyed this book much better than the Cabin but felt a little ripped off as I was expecting a horror novel but instead got a thriller/drama. I appreciated that the story was told from only one perspective of the younger daughter, Merri. It also jumped through time periods as it was told from her older self as she was trying to remember the events of this happening to her family. I liked that the author acknowledged and kind of tributed possession/haunting references at times. Also, the twist and somewhat sinister ending made this also much more enjoyable. At one point I thought the book was done but offered up a much better ending than I had anticipated.

I rated this 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com and may read a few more of this author's books. I will have links down below for those looking to pick this book up for themselves. UK & Canada click here - A Head Full of Ghosts. All others can shop through this link.

 

Review: The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (audiobook)

It's been quite a long time since I had read a collection of short stories by Stephen King. As a matter of fact, the last collection I read by him was Four Past Midnight, which I honestly didn't care for and was the last King book I read until a very long time later. For those who are curious Doctor Sleep the sequel to The Shining is what made me come back to his writings.

I decided to partake of this lengthy collection of short stories as an audiobook format, which clocked in around 12 hours total. I will admit it took me a few days to listen to it in its entirety, and can only imagine how long it would have taken me to read it out if I had stuck with the regular book or Kindle format instead. There were a total of 21 short stories in this collection, and I rated each individual story with a 1-5 star rating. Upon completion of the book, I averaged out the total and got an average rating of 3.23, which translated to a 3-star rating on Goodreads.com. I enjoyed the majority of the stories and rated them 3 stars. But only one was rated with a 5-star rating.

Batman and Robin Have an Altercation was the story that I rated 5-stars. I really enjoyed this one. It was about a father and son. The father who was a senior citizen suffering from Alzheimer's, and the son who came to visit him and try to keep him coherent. Not only was the phrasing that the author uses great, but the recollections of the father were pretty funny at times. I really enjoyed the ending of this one too. Road Rage D-bags is all I will say.

There were a few others that were nearly as good, such as Premium Harmony about a man who goes out with his wife on a shopping trip and things do not go quite as they plan. Another great one was The Dune about a site the gave premonitions of peoples upcoming deaths. The Bad Little Kid was a shocking one that at first I didn't think I would like, but it quickly grew on me as it went by. One of the last few stories Drunken Fireworks was a humorous tale about two families and fireworks competitions to see who could outdo the other.

Some of the stories I thought were not as good and felt that they were way too short to have any sort of meaning like Mister Yummy. This one involved senior citizens nearing their time seeing the most attractive person the had ever seen in their lives before dying. Kinda weird and creepy if you ask me. Or the Obits story about a guy who could kill someone by writing their obituary.

As I have said before the choice of narrator does either help or hinder a great book, and this collection had a nice selection of narrators. Yes, plural...narrators. I can only imagine the production cost to have made this into an audiobook. But they chose some great people to narrate individual stories.

Even though this got an average rating I still want to read some more of the author's books that I have yet to read. You see I thought he had lost his touch way back when I read Four Past Midnight, but maybe that book just wasn't for me.

 

Review: Cujo by Stephen King (Audiobook)

It's been a very long time since I had last read this book. I was very young and was just plowing through the classic King books. Now that I'm an adult I wanted to re-read some of these classic King books to see if I feel the same about them as I did back then.

This was the longest audiobook I have listened to ever. It topped in at over 14 hours. Now I'll admit I took at least a week to listen to it, and even back up some parts to relisten to some scenes. The version I listened to was narrated by Lorna Raver who is an actress. I think she did a pretty good job of narrating and did a pretty good New England accent.

For those who do not know this book is about a saint bernard that becomes infected with rabies, and murders a few people in the small Maine town of Castle Rock (that almost all of King's stories take place). The meat of the story takes place near the end which I call the siege as it's the stand down between the main character of Donna Trenton, and her 4 yr old son, Tad. A few people have criticized King for the length of this book and felt that it would have been better off as a short story or a novella. I kinda have to agree somewhat.

One of the things I remembered about this and why I enjoyed reading King's work was his way with words. Not many authors can eloquently swear or describe things in such a crude way as King, but yet skillfully. Especially describing a scene about the postman farting while delivering the mail...yeah that was pretty funny. He also has a way of setting up the scene and leaving you the reader hanging on for more. But I do think he branched off into too many side stories with this one. It would have been a much better novel if he had focused primarily on the dog. Instead, King decided to stray off and describe lengthy scenes regarding the marriage of the two main families in the book. And also about Vic Trenton's business being on the brink. In retrospect, I feel that these kinda tied up into the general idea that sometimes things happen that are out of our control much like a force of nature that we can only sit back and suffer through. But some of these scenes really want on a tangent. I later learned that the author was in the grips of alcoholism and didn't even remember writing this book. That kind of made sense after reading this.

I do think that this book made much more sense as an adult than when I was a teenager. I have more life experience and could relate a lot more to the relationship issues that the two couples were going through. I also got the main idea of the book that sometimes "shit happens" such as a good dog getting rabies and going on a killing spree. Sometimes life just isn't fair. I still decided to rate this book with a 3 out of 5-star rating on Goodreads.com. It could have been much shorter and got to the point instead of trailing off on tangents. But it still is one of those classic King stories I would recommend reading.

 

Review: Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin (Audiobook)

I'll admit that I saw the film from 1968 that was directed by Roman Polanski. I enjoyed it very much, but I didn't feel compelled to rush out and read the book it was based on right away.  Lately, I have been giving audiobooks a chance and have listened to a few in the last few weeks.

Rosemary's Baby came up as a recommendation from another audiobook that I had listened to, and I figured I would give it a listen as I had enjoyed the film adaptation. This was narrated by the main star of the film, Mia Farrow. I thought that this was very cool that she narrated the book. Those not familiar with the film or the book is about a young couple who choose to move into a ritzy/popular apartment building with a somewhat eery past. While there they meet some strange neighbors who Rosemary later thinks are witches.

The beginning is rather slow to start, and for anyone familiar with American Pyscho there is a similar feeling with the descriptions of the apartments in NYC. For some reason, the author felt it necessary to emphasize this part of the story which I found a bit tedious and kinda boring. But once the young couple settles on their new apartment the pacing of the story starts to pick up. Things get creepy slowly at first and then they really ramp up after the first interaction with the neighbors. For those who have seen the film only you may want to read/listen to this book because there were bonus scenes which were not included in the film version. Of course, these extra scenes lead up to a sequel which I didn't know existed until listening to this book. On a side note, there was also a film version of the sequel which is hard to find in DVD format, as it must have not been as good as the first film.

Being read by the star of the film helped me to enjoy this more, and let's be honest a good narrator makes an audiobook more enjoyable especially if they are an actor. I listened to The Haunting of Hill House and found the narrator of that to be atrocious. The audio was also souped up with music at times to emphasize thrilling scenes. I will not go into too much detail as I do not want to spoil the book for those who have yet to read/listen to it.
I really enjoyed this audiobook, and I am considering giving its sequel (Son of Rosemary) a listen in the near future. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodread.com. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of psychological thrillers, and books like the Exorcist. Of course also to those who have seen the film but have yet to read the book....get out and check this book out!

Review: Hellboy: Oddest Jobs

I totally thought this was a graphic novel at first, and it was a subtle surprise. I say this as I tend to avoid reading novelized books about comic book characters. Come to find out that this is the 3rd book of a trilogy of books about the title character. The fact that this was a collection of short stories really helped for me to get into and enjoy this book. Had it been one big novel about Hellboy I don't think I would have liked it that much. don't get me wrong I like HB, but like I said I tend to avoid those kinds of books. Of course, I rated each individual short story using a 5 point star system and came to an average overall rating for the collection based on those total sum ratings.

Each story was written by a known author such as Garth Nix, Joe Lansdale, and a few others who I had never heard of but after reading their tales of HB I may have to look them up. The story I enjoyed the most was by an author I had never heard of named Stephen Volk. His short story was called Monster Boy which was about a little boy who seemed to be in the spectrum based on his description who shared a common interest in movie monsters with his grandfather. The story I disliked the most was called Feet of Sciron by Rhys Hughes which featured a very strange character named Foggy Dicks. Apparently Foggy has an ectoplasmic power and he left the BPRD team to pursue a career in porn...yeah you heard me right....porn.

Each and every story could be read out of order, and I'm assuming the same could be said about the previous 2 volumes in this series. So I will have to go ahead and read the previous volumes. I rated this collection of short stories 3 out of 5 stars based on the above calculation. It is a decent collection of stories some of which I really enjoyed and some not so much. The majority I felt were just okay, but overall this book is worth checking out if you are a fan of the Hellboy series.

Review: The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

This is my first time ever having read this author. I only heard of this author because I recalled something I read about Stephen King and he had mentioned this author. Of course, I had seen a few films based on Ketchum's books. Which were not for the faint-hearted. One thing I learned about this book was that it was based on a real-life murder of a young girl named Sylia Likens. Upon completing this book the author writes his thoughts on this book and he wanted to bring attention to child abuse and how tragic it is. Warning this book is very graphic in detail....even more graphic is what the real girl had gone through.

Jack Ketchum's writing totally sets up the environment like no other author I have read. He really puts you there and you feel like you can really envision the place and people he describes. This adds to the horror of the abuse the girl suffers and as if you were not already sickened by the pure evil of an adult over a child. He also reminds you what it feels like to be a child and to be powerless because adults rule over them. You would never imagine that things of this nature are even possible, but they are and have happened. The author captures the feel of the time period and how a lot of people were not even thinking this can happen. This was definitely a page-turner and one that I couldn't put down. You are in shock and awe most of the time wondering and even when you know how it will turn out you are still caught like a deer in headlights. The scenes were very gruesome in details and how cruel the characters could be when they would torture an innocent girl were beyond shocking. If you cannot easily stomach things of a graphic nature I would avoid reading this or the original case notes. I rated this 4 out of 5 stars based on how well the author has with words and really capturing an event. I intend to read a few of the other books by him in which I have seen films.

Review: Clean Room Vol. 1 Immaculate Conception

This was on my recommendations list for quite awhile before I finally got around to reading it. I mean the title seems not to lead to any real clues as to what it's about and the cover seems kind of generic. So that was why I was not in a big rush to read this. But this is not too bad. I totally did not expect it to be what it is. Which is kind of hard to explain and even harder to pinhole this into one genre alone. I would say Weird fiction is the best match as it combines elements of horror, the supernatural, and possibly science fiction....along with a good dose of mystery and suspense.

The story revolves around a few major players who are apart of the mystery which I will not go into detail as that would spoil part of the charm of this book. Others have compared this to Fatale, and I can see the comparison being a worthy one, as that series also relied heavily on supernatural and mystery elements to keep the reader interested. But with this being said this is not a book for everyone. It does contain mature subject matter and at times disturbing scenes/imagery. I rated this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Some folks loved this and others just didn't like it. I thought it's a decent enough read and I will continue on with the next 2 volumes although I did find some things kind of silly.

Click the above link to purchase your own copy. 

Review: Lost Boys Vol.1

So I'm pretty sure like others who are fans of vampire fiction and the classic cult film of the same title ...I was super excited when I saw that Vertigo was publishing this. First off I have to say I loved the film. This not so much. The art was kinda blah. None of the characters looked like the people from the film. I mean didn't the artists reference the film this was based on??? But as if just the art was the only bad thing about this dream turned into stale reality. The plot was very rushed and just kind of felt dull. I do not know that I will rush out to read the next volume if this series continues. I was generous with my Goodreads rating and gave it a 3 out of 5 stars.

Get your copy here -

Review of 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill

I recently just finished reading 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill.  If you have been following my channel you know how much I like Joe Hill's other works, and could not wait to read this collection of short stories. This book is actually his first published work. I did a review of his first published novel, which came out after this publication, and I was very impressed by how deep that book was. That was my first impression of this author, and that review can be seen here  down below -

Besides that review I had also reviewed his newest book NOS4RA2, and made a tribute page on Squidoo. So I have been a fan of this author for quite a while now.  Below is my progress, and a brief synopsis of each story contained within this book.

If someone were to ask me just what were my favorite stories from this book I would have to say 20th Century Ghost, and The Black Phone were the best in my opinion.  The main title story was really sad, because it was a bout a girl who was a movie fan, and just happened to die from an aneurysm while watching the Wizard of Oz. She never got to see the end of the movie, and her ghost had a special relationship with the theatre owner. So the ending of that story was very touching.  The Black Phone was good because it was the fantasy of the pedofile getting what he deserved in the end.

While I love Hill's other works I just found this book to be an average book, and he has written much better works since this. If you are a fan of his other novels or perhaps a fan of his father than I do think you should give this book a fair chance.

04/19	page 30		9.0%	"Best New Horror- creepy. life imitating art."
04/21	page 54		17.0%	"20th Century Ghost- the ghost of a young girl haunts a movie theater. too fast,but nice ending."
04/23	page 70		22.0%	"Pop Art- Jewish balloon boy,literally a balloon. strange and weird."
04/24	page 92		29.0%	"You Will Hear the Locust Sing- teen turns into a giant bug..."
04/26	page 113		35.0%	"Abraham's Boys- strange. Van Helsing and are vampires real or a sick fantasy of the father."
05/02	page 139		43.0%	"Better than Home- About a kid with anxiety and a drooling problem. ...zzzzz."
05/04	page 173		54.0%	"The Black Phone - Pedophile kidnaps the wrong kid... In the Rundown - euphemisms about running bases, and a run for help."
05/09	page 200		63.0%	"The Cape- Slightly different than the comic series, but still very good. Loser whose only talent is that he can fly while wearing this cape."
05/10	page 256		81.0%	"Last Breath - Creepy Doctor keeps last breaths in a museum...saw that ending coming. Dead Wood - Can trees be ghosts? The Widow's Breakfast- Sad story about hobos, and a widow. Bobby Conroy Comes Back From the Dead - Love story well sort of man reminisces about an ex girlfriend."
05/12	page 270		85.0%	"My Father's Mask- A very strange tale of the masquerade house,and the playing card people."
05/15	page 313		99.0%	"Voluntary Committal - With the imagination of a child he can build mazes that people literally get lost in."

Mignola's Vampires

There are so many varieties of vampires in fiction nowadays. From sparkly Twilight vamps to vicious rip your throat out 30 Days of Night by Niles. I have read so many books about vampires, and some have rather impressed me while others were just okay.

One book series that has impressed me by being different, but remaining entertaining are Mike Mignola's take on the vampire myth.  I will admit that I read the sequel first before I read the starting book to the series.  I liked the classical feel that he used to tell the tale of a vampire hunter set during the early 20th century.  Mignola's vamps are not just undead who drink blood, but are shape shifting ghouls who also feast on the flesh of the dead, and near dying. He describes them as carrion creatures.

The volume shown above is a graphic novel, and is drawn very similar to the style that Mignola is known for in his Hellboy comics. So when I picked up which I later discovered to be the start of the series I expected it to be a graphic novel too. The starting book to the Baltimore series is actually an illustrated novel that he had co written with another author. This book tells the story of how Lord Baltimore came to be a vampire hunter, and also reveals some other supernatural mythology as told from the point of view of a few people that know him. Even though it was different than I had expected I still found this to be a very good read, and one that I would recommend to others who enjoy the vampire genre.

I have also written a list of vampire books that I feel are worthy of being read found here - Best Vampire Books

2 Free Ebooks

As I mentioned in my last #fridayreads video upload I was thinking about mentioning some free ebooks that I thought were worthy of mentions. Mind you they are not free forever so the sooner you get them the better. I do not know how long they will be free. Below I will include the links to them.

Reign of Coins

If It Kills Me

Great Horror Films That Were Based on Books

Horror Movies and the Books That They Were Based On

Horror films, scary movies, and stories about things that go bump in the night. While not for everyone some of us just can't get enough. There are countless great horror films out there, but this lens is dedicated to shedding some light on the ones that were books originally. I don't want you to confuse these with books that are released just prior to a film release as book adaptions have become common lately. This is just a list, and I'm sure it will be a work in progress as there are so many. Also these are in no particular order. So read on, and enjoy. Maybe you will learn something you didn't already know. 

The Movies & The Books That Spawned Them

1. Ghost Story - The story of a group of old men who recall how one night a lady they all knew died, and now she haunts them. Released in 1981, and starring Fred Astaire . Was based on a book of the same name by Peter Straub.

2. Rosemary's Baby - The 1968 film by Roman Polanski and starring Mia Farrow was based on a book of the same name by Ira Levin. Satanic neighbors, and devil babies. This cult classic was a book first.

3. The Exorcist - The book is just as scary as the movie. Capt. Howdy, vile imagery, and catholic priests. The 1973 film directed by William Friedkin and starring Linda Blair was also based on a book of the same name by Ira Levin.

4. Hellraiser - The 1987 film about the mysterious puzzle box that brings out Pinhead and all of his friends was based on a novella by Clive Barker called "The Hellbound Heart".

5. Midnight Meat Train - From 2008 is another story from Clive Barker, and can be found in Books of Blood vol 1. A man unwittingly discovers a secret society found under the streets of his city. Someone needs to serve them.

6. Candyman - What happens when you try to track down the truth to an urban legend. Filmed in 1992 another work from Clive Barker can be found in another volume of Books of Blood vol. 5 under the name "The Forbidden"

7. House on Haunted Hill and The Haunting - Both of these films came out in 1999, and an earlier version of The Haunting came out in 1963. All 3 of these films are based on a novel written by Shirley Jackson called The Haunting of Hill House.

8. Psycho - The film made famous by Alfred Hitchcock about a crazed momma's boy killer from 1960, was based on a novel of the same title written a year earlier by Robert Bloch.Also great to read for the fans of the prequel  tv series, Bates Motel.

9. Re- Animator

1985 film about a medical student, named Herbert West who brings back the dead with an experimental chemical process with gruesome consequences. This was based on a novella by H. P. Lovecraft called "Herbert West - Reanimator". For more info on Lovecraft please go to my other lens found here - http://www.squidoo.com/gothic-author-h-p-lovecraft .

The Walking Dead TV Series : Leaving Behind the Prison

Well it looks like The Walking Dead is going to start following the comics again, as the new poster for the rest of season 4 (found on the shows website) shows the Grimes leaving to destination unknown, and new actors have been hired to fill in the roles of characters from the comic series. I hope they discover the walled in city from the comics. This was a new approach to their survival, and I thought it was a great way to show that they are not alone. If you are wondering what I am talking about I just finished reading The Walking Dead Compendium 2, which I rated 4 stars on goodreads. While the tv series has been slightly different from the comic books it seems to be following the major themes from them. For more info about the rest of the season and quotes from Kirkman check out this story - The Walking Dead Season 4b .

2 New Reviews : Super, IFC film, and Dr. Sleep ( The Shining 2)

SO this past holiday weekend I was pretty busy writing a few reviews. I watched the IFC film, Super on Netflix over the holiday week, and I got an opportunity to write a review of for Squidoo.  I had seen the trailer for this from a movie I had rented from Redbox, and it looked interesting. I am not a fan of The Office, but I noticed that the main character is from that popular show. It also stars a couple of other well know actors, such as Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon (who was rumoured to be a last minute replacement), and Ellen Page. People have compared this to Kick Ass, and it is about a vigilante type of anti-hero who wields a pipe wrench to take out wrong doers.

Super Review

Another book review of one of my top 5 books from 2013-

Dr. Sleep (The Shining 2 )

I really enjoyed this book and I rated it 5 stars on goodreads.com It really reminded me of the classic King that I remember reading as a teen. If you are looking to either follow up on the The Shining or just looking to read a thrilling book feel free to read this. I will leave a link to where this book can be purchased down below.

NOS4RA2 : One of my Top 5 Books of 2013

Joe Hill is one of my favorite authors, and I even think that he writes much better than his father (Stephen King). So I had the opportunity to read his newest novel NOS4RA2 when it came out. Here is one of my reviews of that book - NOS4RA2.

Below is a link to the special Christmas edition of this book -