Flames Rising » Steven Dawes

Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows Review

Steven Dawes — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:49:58 +0000

Available at Amazon.com

“Video never lies Kim… film does though.” – Jeffrey Patterson

Blair Witch 2 holds a special place in my black heart. No so much because of the movie itself, it happens to be the first movie my wife Lilly and I went to see together (somewhere along the lines of a 3rd of 4th date.) We were both fans of the 1st film (me more so than her), and as it was the autumn/ Halloween season so seeing a scary movie seemed like the thing to do at the time. It was incidentally the inaugural “dinner and a movie” date ritual that became a cornerstone of one of our favorite things to do together to this day. During the few times I’ve watched it since, I get a twinge of nostalgia, and did so again during this last watch for reviewing purposes. But does nostalgia a good movie make?

It’s hard to think that both BW and BW2 came out over a decade ago. I still recall the buzz the BW phenomenon created like it was yesterday. While BW drove the masses to new horizons in fear and terror, BW2 didn’t get the same kind of love. Looking back on BW2, I recall how much people hated it and bashed it up and down with lead pipes and whatever they could grab to hit it with. I remember such critiques along the lines of “It’s not a Blair Witch Project film”, “It made no sense” and “It’s not very scary”.

And to be fair, these are all valid arguments. Heather and company from the 1st film are nowhere to be seen here and the movie has nowhere near the amount of shaky camera footage to even feel Blair witchy. And I also agree that this wasn’t a very scary movie (especially when compared to the 1st one). And while I understand the notion that BW2 made no sense, I feel that this line of thought stems from my belief that people came out to see BW2 expecting it to be a direct sequel, and people were so frustrated that it wasn’t that they failed to really watch what was going down on screen.

In my opinion, BW is one of the most misunderstood flicks in horror history. It wasn’t meant to be scary, it wasn’t meant to be more of the same; it wasn’t even meant to be like a documentary. What it was meant to be was an unsettling mind job, it was meant to be play with the concepts of reality, it was meant to aim the shaky camera back at the audiences and the craze of the first film, but most of all it was meant to play with the idea of truth. A few of my horror savvy pals caught on with multiple viewing and have appreciated it since, but I was lucky enough to enjoy and relish it for what it was the first time around. I gave this movie a lot of accolades in the day, and I sailed a lonely ship doing it.

At its core, this film is a statement about our perceptions of reality. The film goes into subjects such as hysteria, a variety of observations and deductions concerning the obsession and phenomena of the first movie, thoughts about the camera fetish society the world was becoming at the time (and in an eerie way foretold how obsessed we would get with “reality” on film when you look at the schlock of reality shows we’ve been plagued with since BW2’s release), and the angle of “real life” vs. “recorded events”. The story is told in flashbacks and bits and pieces, and a series of quick shots while turning the “documentary” angle of BW on its head. This last aspect was probably where most of the audience hated it movie so much.

But to those who didn’t like it years ago and haven’t seen it since, I say you need to see it a second time. And for those who haven’t ever seen it, you should give it a go. Either way, when you do watch it, keep an open mind and an understanding that BW2 intentionally separated itself from the 1st movie. That may sound like a strange angle to take (this film sells itself as a “reenactment” of real events instead of a documentary) when the 1st one was such a unique film experience at the time and could have easily gone the route of “wash, rise, repeat” (like the Paranormal Activity franchise is doing). But I applaud the direction and angle the director and writers took with this one. I think you might appreciate them as well if given a fair chance.

And while on the surface it’s about perception and reality, there is an underlining theme that leaves you with unanswered questions. Specifically, the story behind BW2 , which could be taken as a “psychological” one where paranoia, mass hysteria, hallucinations, mental black outs, insanity and other mental conditions are to blame for the events that take place. Or could it have all been “supernatural” related? Were all of the weird events spurred on by the witch’s involvement after all? All of their weird perceptions and actions are staples of “possession” and “induced hallucinations” and other aspects common to the supernatural (which at times mirrored some of the things experienced in the 1st movie). This flicker show leaves you to draw your own conclusions, and it does so with in a very spooky fashion the more you think about it.

But while I praise this movie lots, there are issues I still have with it to this day. There are angles this movie throws at us that I still don’t get as to why they were there. Jeffrey’s trip to the nut house a year before brought nothing to the movie save for an easy plot angle for the sheriff to hate him. Erica’s lie about her parents didn’t make any sense to me either. Also note that “Book of Shadows” in the title doesn’t make any sense since there is no sighting or even a mention of said book to begin with. And while the main cast all delivered fairly solid performances, some of the lines were bad and at times doesn’t gel with the plot until you get more details later in the film (this works sometimes, but it didn’t here). Oh yeah, the guy who played the sheriff could be a contender in the “worst actor in movie history” league. Finally, I think the quick shots and revelations later on in the film went way too fast and it ruined some of the impact it should have had.

But on the whole it’s a very solid film and pulls off what it wanted to do in a very chilling manner. It’s also perfect for Halloween season viewing, now is the time to watch it. So open your mind, don’t take your peepers off of the screen (you might miss something), and let it all play out before you try to understand what took place in those woods, and what the group brought back with them.

4 out of 5 Rising Flames

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Trick ‘r Treat Movie Review

Steven Dawes — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:25:02 +0000

Available at Amazon.com

Chip: “You must really like Halloween.
Rhonda: You mean Samhain?
Chip: What?
Rhonda: Samhain, also known as All Hallows’ Eve, also known as Halloween. Pre-dating Christianity, the Celtic holiday was celebrated on the one night between autumn and winter when the barrier between the living and the dead was thinnest, and often involved rituals that included human sacrifice.
[awkward silence]
Rhonda: I like your eye patch.
Chip: Oh…”

The DVD

I had no idea what I was in for a year ago when I rented “Trick ‘r Treat” on Netflix. I‘d hear nothing about this film from anyone, but I read on the Netflix site that it starred Anna Paquin, Brian Cox and Dylan Baker (three actors whom I dig mucho) and the story description went like this: “In writer-director Michael Dougherty’s fright fest, Halloween’s usually boisterous traditions turn deadly, and everyone in a small town tries to survive one night in pure hell … but who will still be alive in the morning? Several stories weave together, including a loner fending off a demented trick-or-treater’s attacks; kids uncovering a freaky secret; a school principal — who moonlights as a serial killer, and more.” To me, this sounded like a potentially good time and I added it to the list.

It worked out however that the DVD didn’t arrive in the mail until November 2nd, and being as I missed the Halloween boat, I didn’t watch it till the next day. And when I did, I watched it with no real excitement or anticipation. But once the credits rolled, I was left a freaking basket case that’d just been taken on one hell of a hay rack ride! I’d just sat through and witnessed what I think is the best Halloween tale since John Carpenter’s “Halloween”, and I was blown away by it! What the hell?!? Where did this flick come from? Why hadn’t I heard of it before? I sprang into detective mode to find the story behind this baby.

Turns out that it was produced by Brian Singer (which explains Anna Paquin’s and Brian Cox’s involvement), but was directed and written by first time writer-director Michael Dougherty. Brian and screenwriter Michael met while working together on “X-Men 2” and became friends, working on “Superman Returns” together and eventually collaborating on this bad boy. Per a note I read in the Trick ‘r Treat movie book (which I’ll review in a few paragraphs), Brian stated that “I’d catch him (Michael) furtively scribbling twisted and demented sketches off in a corner of the set. One of them was a pumpkin-headed figure crawling up the margins of his shooting script, which led me to do a quick mental inventory. Was there an X-Man that I’d forgotten?” This little devil became the inspiration and one of the main characters of the movie.

And what did Michael do with this movie? Why, he created an incredible love note to all things Halloween! And as Halloween is in a close race with X-mas as my favorite holiday, I felt all the love he was sending out. The autumn season colors have never been captured better, the oranges and reds of the lit Jack-O’-Lanterns never looked more vibrant or inviting, and the tricks-N-treats the film gives out were all eye poppingly priceless! I just couldn’t stop gawking at all the Halloween beauty! And what an iconic character “Sam” is! This is the impish character Brian commented on above, and he is poised to become a Halloween icon for ages to come. I see he’s already available as a collectible figurine and a statuette on various sites, so he’s well on his way.

Plot wise, he delivered (as promised in the description) a series of short stories, all weaved into each other over the course of one Halloween night in a small Ohio town. Anyone who can appreciate small stories in batches like those found in the movie “Creepshow” or the 1985 Twilight Zone movie, or enjoys fun and creepy TV shows like Tales from the Crypt, Tales from the Dark Side or the before mentioned Twilight Zone will be in good hands here. It is so hard to make horror movies where I’m having an absolute blast one minute, only to be terrified and freaked out the next! Even when some of the stories were fairly predictable, the way they played out was priceless and I felt like I was watching these kinds of tales for the first time! The getting there is all the fun in this flicker show!

Sadly, while this film was scheduled to hit the big screens back in 2008, it never made it. Somehow the idiots that be over at Warner Brothers dropped the ball with this one, and it eventually became a direct to DVD release in 2010 (which is why I’d not heard about it till last year.) Honestly, when compared to all the crap that comes out of horror Hollywood while such a gem like this one gets ignored and forgotten, it feel outright criminal that this beauty wasn’t given its chance to shine! Sigh, perhaps a local theatre will show it someday. If so, you can bet your bag of candy that I’ll be there!

Lastly, be sure to check out the special features for a cartoon short Michael made back in the 90’s, which stars an early version of Sam. It’s a treat that any Halloween or horror fan can appreciate.

The Musical Score

Some of you may know from past reviews that I’m a soundtrack collector. Whether it’s for background music while I write (like I’m doing as I write this review for example), for use when I’m running a role playing game (NERD ALERT!), needing music while doing my chores, or to just to sit back and enjoy the emotions the music invokes, I love me some soundtracks. So it’s no surprise that my sudden obsession with this movie included getting a copy of the soundtrack.

This soundtrack was created by Douglas Pipes and its spooky and chill inducing; therefore it’s a perfect complement to the movie. It sounds fiendishly beautiful on its own (my family and I carved our pumpkins while listening to it last night) and I could detect inspiration from such haunting but beautiful scores as The Omen, Tales from the Crypt, Poltergeist, Creepshow, The Exorcist and other horror classics. One minute it’s creepy and tense, the next it adds on a quirk or pulls at the heart strings when it needs to. This film needed (and rightfully deserved) an old school horror movie sound as opposed to the barrage of high pitched sounds, strings, white noise and synthesized sounds that blare out during most modern day horror films. Fortunately Mr. Pipes was up to the task and made a truly memorable score that manages to stand on its own despite its many inspirations. I’m only familiar with one other score he created for the movie “Monster House” (which was also a great score worth listening to), but I look forward to more of what he has to offer in the future.

P.S. You can get this CD for nearly a song ($4.98). They’ve been good to me over the years, so here’s hoping I’ll bring them a few sales (via you the reader).

The Behind the Scenes Book

My obsession hit full stride with getting this book in my grubby mitts. While it’s pretty expensive (I got lucky and got it half price on eBay somehow),it’s worth it as it’s over stuffed with art, pictures, anecdotes, and all the information you could want concerning this movie (along with the history of Halloween itself).
The book tells the story behind the movie, and it’s very personal and interesting as it’s told through Dougherty’s eyes. From his initial inspiration through the development process, the painstaking production design and the roots of Halloween traditions. It celebrates the yearly ritual that we all participate in but only dimly understand, explaining why we do all the activities associated with the holiday.

The book is beautifully crafted, pulls all the love and the vibes of the movie right off of the screen and into the pages, and is loaded with extra treats! By treats I mean an 8 page comic of the cartoon short with Sam is included (titled “Seasons Greetings”), post cards depicting images from the movie, a costume sketchbook, pumpkin carving templates based on some of the ones used in the movie, stickers, a “Sam” mask, and more are all hidden throughout the book! It’s the third leg to the stool that holds my cult like devotion to this movie, and if you’re a fan (or become one after reading this review and watching it) it’s a great coffee table book to have out during the season as much as it is to enjoy whenever the mood strikes you.

What else do I have to say? This one to me is now the definitive ode to the Halloween season. It fully captures all the mischievous fun, the seasonal beauty and the spook inducing feeling that makes Halloween such a magical time for both children and adults. This bag of candy is full of both tricks and treats, and I can’t get enough of them! Can you?

5 out of 5 rising flames!

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Insidious Movie Review

Steven Dawes — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:25:43 +0000

Available at Amazon.com“I don’t think bad wiring is the problem here.” –Elise Reiner

Josh, Renai and their 3 children are the typical middle class American family. In what feels like a cliched setup, the Lambert family has just moved into a house, only to learn soon enough that it happens to be haunted. Various staples of ghost story elements follow, which are seemingly set up to where you feel a “poltergeist” clone coming on. But then… the entire feel and angle of the film is turned on its head, creating one of the best ghost story films released in years!

I intended to review INSIDIOUS when I saw it at the theater months ago. I so dug the hell out of this flick, so much so that I went to see it twice, which was a big deal as I’m currently a full time student who really has to mind his funds. So I REALLY wanted to see this movie a second time and I took my 16 year old daughter with me to share in the fun and frights this film insidiously slaps you with. Coincidentally my daughter suffered a great lesson in fearful humility, nearly begged to leave the theater the moment the credits began rolling, and ironically I snagged her a “Casper the Friendly Ghost” plush toy out of the crane machine in the theater lobby on the way out. I think school duties just kept me from putting in the time in to write the damn review.

But now is my chance to make up for it as I’ve recently purchased the DVD (again, I had to really want it as my funds are limited). INSIDIOUS had the right tools for frights from the get go with the dynamic duo of director James Wan and Screenwriting genius Leigh Whannell. Genre fans may recognize these guys as the creators of the first SAW movie (which Leigh co-starred in), and then the creepy fest DEAD SILENCE. From the screenwriter side of things, I’d read that Leigh said when he wrote the film he made a list of horror movie clichés posted on his desk so he could avoid using them. I can believe this as he makes you think he’s going one way, only to take a series of 180’s on how the events play out. James Wan’s contribution to the film shined as well, starting with a series of creepy images (grandfather clocks never looked so unnerving) and Kubrick inspired shots before unleashing a insidious barrage of visual treats and frights.

Then there was the family angle itself. Underused and underrated actress Rose Byrne played a very convincing mother of three and wife to an equally adept Patrick Wilson (whom I still have a hard time not seeing in the “Night Owl” costume he wore so well in “The Watchmen”). They all had great chemistry together and I bought this family unit early on. This helped to suck me into the heart of the film and feel for the family’s plight early on. As believable as they all were, even the earlier, subtler scares (spooky sounds, doors opening on their own) were working on me. So as the tension was cranked up, my frights was cranked up with them.

While trying to keep as many spoilers out of my review as possible, I can only say again that this flick rode the “poltergeist” train for about the first 30-45 minutes or so before jumping off to fire up its own train. From there it went in directions I’ve not seen in movies before (although Twilight Zone and Outer Limits fans will find some familiar ground here). It all felt fresh and unpredictable to me and I applauded everyone involved for it!

The movie also hit me with an unexpectedly awesome performance by veteran actress Lin Shaye. I recall her in goofy roles like the land lady in “Kingpin” and the mom in “Detroit Rock City”, and I was worried she’d bring the same goofiness here. But I say nay to thee, she kept the role grounded and restrained, and she blew me away with her performance. She could have easily gone a goofier of kookier route (ala Zelda Rubinstein in “Poltergeist”) with this role, but she ran with this role like a champ and outright stole the show during her scenes. Once all is said and scared silly, by the time the completely original third act was followed up with an ending that also blew me away, I found to it be the scariest film of the year thus far (and I feel that it will stay that way as I look at its competition this year).

But as I consider myself to be a fair reviewer, I have to point any holes of issues I find, and there was minor few here. Foremost, I felt that the film should have been longer (at least 10-15 minutes). There was a lot going on in this haunted house and the film just felt rushed at times. Had it gone a little slower at certain moments and covered some the angles a little better, I feel that it would have only made the film even better. And after watching it a few times now I noticed a continuity flaw here and there, but I can’t mention them without ruining potential plot points, so I’ll let you spot them for yourself. But these are all minor peeves and really didn’t distract me from enjoying such a great film.

INSIDIOUS is an insidiously stark reminder to me that horror films are best when they are small indie productions, relying on the creativity of the parties involved (and not studio involvement) while giving the actors opportunities to shine and stand out with their craft. It also reminds me that “less is more” when it comes to ghost stories, and that there’s plenty of new angles to be explored in ghost movies, for those brave enough to explore them. And yes, for those of you who’ve seen it, I know there’s more than ghosts going on in this film, but at it black heart it’s a ghost story.

If you’re in the mood for a tension filled ghost story movie that takes you to places you’ve never been to before, INSIDIOUS is your movie! Turn out the lights, turn on the TV and enjoy the frights!

4.5 out of 5 rising flames!

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Dark Night of the Scarecrow Movie Review

Steven Dawes — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:25:20 +0000

Available at Amazon.com

There are only a few films from my childhood that fills me with nostalgic glee every time I reminisce about them. The 1981 made-for-TV horror movie “Dark Night of the Scarecrow” is one of those movies. There are a lot of movies that I can sort of remember watching the first time, but I can still recall in vivid detail the first time I watched this one, and it’s a good memory for me.

I was at my best bud Ken’s house, who’d seen DNS a year earlier with his folks, and was so taken by it that the boxer puppy they adopted a few weeks later was named after the main character (Bubba). I recall watching his dad lighting the fireplace (it was a chilly October already) as Ken and I got ready for the movie. We were both sitting on the floor in front of the TV, had had a bowl of popcorn and was semi wrapped up in blankets (partly for warmth, partly for security if needed), and “Bubba” decided to sit in between us. I was on edge within a matter of minutes of the movie starting, and by the time the hauntingly original and unforgettable ending came about; I was a near basket case, blown away by such a great ghost flick!

I’m my opinion, this is not only THE BEST made for TV flick ever made, and it’s one of the better horror films in existence, Period! It all starts with Bubba Ritter, who is the town idiot and a blight according to postmaster and bigot extraordinaire Otis Hazelrigg. At age 36, the mentally challenged but harmless Bubba’s only friend is young Mary Lee. When Mary Lee is nearly mauled to death, Otis becomes the ring master of a gang of crony bigots who hunts down and kills Bubba via mob justice, who was hiding in the guise of a scarecrow in a field. Only afterwards do they learn that not only did Bubba not harm Mary Lee, he saved her life!

After their case is thrown out of court, the group believes that they’ve gotten away with murder. Or have they? It seems that the group is now being picked off in acts of revenge, seemingly by a scarecrow that’s now haunting them! Does someone know their secret and is now taking revenge upon them all? Or could it be the ghost of Bubba, back from the dead and looking for vengeance?

Considering that this scarecrow was a flick that was made for the TV while on a small budget back in 1981, it’s held up remarkably well and is still as chill inducing now as it was to me twenty six years ago! Front and center of the credit goes to director Frank De Felitta, who creates plenty of tension and spooky atmosphere while getting the most out of his actors, and screen writer J.D. Feigelson, who wrote a multilayered, chilling and mystery laden script that even Stephen King could sit back and admire! It’s a script that deserved the feature length movie treatment, and still holds up like an champ when compared to most of the horror crap that Hollywood churns out these days.

Adding to the pile of accolades goes to the actors, who all gave credible to incredible performances. One of the standouts include Charles Durning, who as far as I’m concerned delivered this greatest performance as the vile and bigoted Otis, who’s other dark secrets only make him even more vile as the film progresses. Opposite Charles D. is Larry Drake (whom you might recognize as “Dr. Giggles” or as the villainous Durant in the movie “Darkman”) who plays Bubba convincingly and charmingly; you felt bad for Bubba from the get go and Larry made damn good and sure that you did. Bubba’s mother was played with extreme finesse by Jocelyn Brando, Marlon Brando’s older sister.

The ghost story angle of this flick was handled in a classic mystery “who dunnit” method. Several suspects are considered along the way as the possible killer, all of whom have an axe to grind against the group of killers. In the meantime, the guilty group themselves are running scared, seeing scarecrows in nearby fields that shouldn’t be there, and they’re turning on one another as panic sets in.

The last act of the film plays out its conclusion with a dignity and grace that’s worthy of the incredible production the film started with, and I honestly can’t think of any improvements that could be made on this one. I’m thankful that after all these years were finally treated to a DVD/Blu-Ray release of this gem, including some unexpected goodies like a writer and director commentary.

If you’ve never seen this one, check it out! If you’ve got kids 10 and older, watch it with them as it’s not a gore fest, it least the atmosphere and implied moments do all the chilling. And if you have seen, don’t you think it’s time to spend another dark night with the Scarecrow?

Review by Steve Dawes

Related posts:

The Changeling Movie Review

Steven Dawes — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:25:53 +0000

“That house is not fit to live in. No one’s been able to live in it. It doesn’t want people.”

As Flames Rising is looking for ghost related posts for this year’s Halloween season, I found this to be an opportune time to dive into some ghost flicks. And while I’m the kind of mook who’s all about “saving the best for last”, I’m going completely opposite with this one. “The Changeling” was chosen as my first ghost story flick to review, and honestly, it’s the movie that I hold all ghost movies in terms of masterpiece quality.

The story centers around John, whose wife and daughter die in a tragic accident before his very eyes. Six months later he tries to move on with his life, taking a job as a music teacher and moves into an old house. However, he’s not residing there alone. Something ghostly is trying desperately to communicate with him. What exactly does it want from him? The story sounds very “Haunted House cliché” these days, but DO NOT judge this one by its cover! This one is the real deal! This is the one all the others haunted house movies strive to be!

I was ruined at an early age to ghost story movies when I first watched this masterpiece, due to having parents who possess true film savvy. It’s one of those rare films that cost me a lot of sleep after watching it. And to the films credit, this wasn’t even its intention. At its heart, The Changeling is a mystery film; the hauntingly creepy aspect that worms its way into the darkest recesses of your memory is unintentional.

Before I go any further, I must tell you that I have NOTHING but good things to say about this movie, it’s that good! First and foremost was the amazing work of George C. Scott in the lead role, who delivers what I consider his best on screen performance (and yes I’ve watched Patton). This role required a demandingly skilled actor who subtly displays his skill, and George footed this bill with interest. This was important to the film as George has about 95% of the screen time. I honestly cannot see anyone else pulling off this role at all, much less as masterfully as he did. One scene in particular pitted him against Melvyn Douglas (another quality veteran actor), and watching these two genius actor hash out a scene together still engrosses and grabs me to this day.

As for the mystery of this film, it’s clever, it’s gloomy, and it’s messed up. And yet, the mystery is delivered at a pace that keeps you engrossed until all is revealed at the end (nothing is given away too soon here). The precision involved in delivering the mystery at the just the right pace made the haunted house angle that much more disturbing when it comes out to play. The house itself is a character in this piece, and it’s initially beautiful, antique atmosphere hides the inherit creepiness and disturbing visuals that are to come. This is not a gory film, and it didn’t need to be. The moments of its disturbing imagery alone still haunt me to this day (something most gore fests never accomplish). This house gets under your skin while begging you see solve the mystery with John, and I applaud its efforts for it!

The direction of Peter Medak is also all quality here. His use of the camera (can’t say I’ve ever seen better use of swooping in a film), backed up by a subtle musical score (that’s chilling on its own merits) and his master use of sound effects only made the film that much better. I don’t know whatever happened to this guy, his work is incredible! Checking into IMDB shows a history of him becoming TV show director fodder, with the exception of directing Species 2 back in ’98. Such a waste of talent is shameful in my book.

As far as I’m concerned, they DO NOT make them like this one anymore, if they ever really did at all. This one is a treasure and reward for the patient film watcher, and reminds us just how scary and yet captivating a ghost story can be. Its goes at its own pace, while holding you hostage to its charm on all levels. If you haven’t seen this one yet, it’s the perfect time of year to sit down and experience it (and what an experience it is). This one sits proudly in my DVD collection and I watch it at least once a year. I encourage you to purchase it (if you haven’t already) and take the time to get chilled to the bone with this one soon.

P.S. If you can still look at wheelchairs the same after watching this, you’re either a tougher hombre than I am, or your soulless.

5 out of 5 rising flames!

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Fright Night (2011) Movie Review

Steven Dawes — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 15:25:30 +0000

“Let’s Kill Something” –Peter Vincent

So with summer coming to a close, I’ve finally got some days off from school before I’m back again this fall. After all the HTML learning, numeric coding, interface designing, networking essentials and even Human Relations (only cause it’s required), I was ready for some time off. It seemed to be fortuitous that Fright Night came out in the middle of my break, for I am REALLY in need of some horror shenanigans to blow off some steam.

Now, before I continue on, I have a horrible confession to make. I’m very ashamed to admit this, and my fingers are shaking in fear of this revelation so much that it’s difficult for me to even type right now. But they say the truth shall set you free… so here it goes… *exaggerated gulp* … I’ve never seen the original 1985 Fright Night… *the sounds of crickets can be heard clearly in the distance*.

Are you still there? Hello?

If you’re still with me, I apologize across the board. I know, I know… I deserve all the rocks you can throw at me for this one. This mook right here, this horror movie aficionado and long time reviewer of horror flicks, has never seen what is considered to be a cornerstone horror flick to many fans. I have buds who swear by the original, some claiming it the best vampire movie ever made. And yet somehow I’ve managed to miss the original. It’s not like I even set out to avoid it or anything, I just never hooked up with the original F.N.

That being said, it puts me in a unique position for a change. Usually I’m one who can compare the remakes against the classics as I’ve seen them all. But with this one, I won’t be able to do that, I’m going to have to perform the odd job of reviewing a remake on its own merits, without considering its inspired source. So with all that baggage out of the way, let’s light this candle.

On the whole, I fought F.N. to be very entertaining. First and foremost worth mentioning was the cast, whom all seemed to have great chemistry together and great acting chops on their own. Anton Yelchin was stellar from the word “Fright” as Charley Brewster. He played the “dweeb turned vampire hunter to save his mom and his girl” role like a champ. I’ve seen him do good work previously as a young Kyle Reese in Terminator: Salvation, a young Chekov in the Star Trek reboot, and as a young David Duchovny in an art house favorite of mine titled The House of D, but this is his best performance to date. I see a lot of good things in this kid’s future.

He was especially impressive as he had to hold his own against Colin Farell, who took a bite out of every scene he was in (yes, pun intended). Colin has been underused for some time now in my opinion (his performance in the Daredevil movie is always worth watching, especially the superior Directors Cut version), and it’s great to see him chewing up the silver screen where he belongs. His presence, his improvising, his knack for scene stealing, he simply owned the night!

But it didn’t stop there, for we also got a heaping helping of David “Dr. Who” Tennant as “Peter Vincent” to go with his meal. The man cussed up a hilarious storm, he drank Midori like a man in need of another Midori, he made a great impression of a Chris Angel wannabe, and had me in stitches more than once. He pulled off the feat of being a hysterical character without ruining the semi-dark feel and tone the film was going for. Rounding out the great cast was Toni Collette as Charley’s mom (who added a lot more depth and charm than what the character offered on its own), and Imogen Poots as Charley’s main squeeze Amy. I’ve only seen Imogen in a small part in V for Vendetta and a co-starred spot as “Tammy” in the finely crafted zombie-ish flick 28 Weeks Later, but she provided a solid acting job for this character with lots of zing when it was needed.

I also grooved over the energetic directing provided here (courtesy of Craig Gillespie, who directed a recently discovered personal favorite flick of mine titled “Lars and the Real Girl”). Under his direction, the movie stayed pretty much in your face the entire time, managed to keep the suspense going, made great the use of the rising and setting sun scenery (good use of the Vegas setting in general), and the vampire effects were stellar. Way to go Gillespie, looking forward to more of your work! The script was a put together well, with lots of memorable quotes and some really neat ideas (they make have all been ideas from the original version for all I know, but I liked them all the same).

On the other side of this frightful night, not all of the wooden stakes aimed for the heart in this vampire flick. The most obvious issue at hand was the blindingly fast pace. This movie was petal to the floor the whole way, and if you blinked you’d miss something. Only after the movie was over could I digest it enough to realize that I zipped past some gaping plot holes and the realization that the events simply moved way too fast to feel like a truly organic story. The events seemed to be strung together in a hurry to begin with, so the tour guide decided to race by them all faster than the tourists could take them all in. I’d like to think that adding in a little more scene time to let the tale flow a little smother would have positively affected of the film (and my movie rating). Oh yeah, I almost forgot, while there was ample gore and blood to be had, the CGI blood was way overdone, did the film crew run out of squibs or something?

Lastly the character “Ed”, played by Christopher “McLovin” Mintz-Plasse was a complete waste of film time. Who was this dope? Was he a reference to the original version in some way? Perhaps he was part of a joke from the original version that I don’t get? This flicker show didn’t need this lame character, lousy dialogue or that irritating voice of his. In fact, now that I think of it, this character’s responsible for starting the rush hour this film became; I can land most of the movies faults squarely on this character’s shoulders.

When all is bitten in the neck and sucked dry, this was a fun ride of a film. It’s the kind of film to kick back to some night and just enjoy the ride of frights, perhaps with a few brewski’s in a bucket of ice sitting next to you and a few of your buds in tow enjoying the show with you (who’d better bring their own brewski’s and stop mooching mine… schmucks). It was probably a smart move to release it during summer’s last gasps as it won’t hold up against the crop of upcoming hardcore horror flicks this Halloween season. I can recommend it at the theatre if you’re in need of a light horror appetizer before the hard core meal shows up this fall. Otherwise it’s an absolute rent and a possible purchase when it comes out on DVD (which with most movie studios these days will probably be sometime next week).

3 out of 4 tongues of flame rising

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Hell House Novel Review

Steven Dawes — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:45:09 +0000

Available at Amazon.com

Hell House
Written by Richard Matheson

Good evening… and welcome to another episode of “Horror Masterpiece Theatre”. I am your host Steven Dawes. As some of you may know, I’ve always found ghost stories to be entertaining and interesting. I find them so interesting in fact that was a co-founder and the general manager of local ghost hunting group for a few years. While I’ve since retired my ghost hunting days, I still enjoy a ghostly tale or three. And it was here where my unexpected visit to “Hell House” began.

Over the last few semesters at my school, a fellow student (who by night is known as “Craig”) has been in several of the same classes I’ve attended. As fate would have it, we were partnered up for a project together last semester, and as we worked on our project we got to know each other and discovered our mutual appreciation for the paranormal. In a surprise gesture of coolness, Craig handed me a copy of the book “Hell House” and asked me to consider reading it over break and returning it to him with my thoughts on it next semester (we discovered that we’re attending two of the same classes again next semester).

While reading the back cover of the book, something about it seemed familiar to me somehow, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I was vaguely familiar with the name Richard Matheson, but again I couldn’t pin point why. The book mentioned that Mr. Matheson is the author of I am Legend, but I’ve only seen the movie (never read the book) so I was still in the dark as to why I knew his name. Needless to say I was intrigued and accepted his proposal.

I’d gotten about fifty pages into Hell House when again I was struck again by that familiar feeling that I knew of this story somehow. Then I thought of my mom, who’s an avid book reader and fan of the paranormal as well. I suspected that she may have an answer to why this story was familiar to me, no matter how vague and I was correct. My mom has been a fan of this particular book since she was fourteen years old. She enjoyed the movie “The Legend of Hell House” when it was released back in 1971 and searched out the book it was based on to read it soon after. This is why I was faintly familiar with both Hell House and Richard Matheson; I vaguely recall the movie (haven’t seen it since grade school I think) and as a writer of some of the old Twilight Zone episodes and author of a few other books in my mom’s collection (like “Stir of Echoes” for example), he was something of a household name growing up for me. With one curiosity sated, I set out to settle another curiosity; what is the secret of Hell House?

For over twenty years, the Belasco house has stood empty. Regarded as the “Mount Everest of haunted houses”, it’s an ominous and isolated mansion that’s witnessed every sort of unimaginable acts of horror and depravity through its owner Emeric Belasco and his many deviant house guests and visitors. Nothing was taboo or sacred in this mansion it seems, and the endless days of debauchery continued right up till the literal end as eventually starvation and death claimed the lives of everyone inside. Interestingly, Emeric Belasco’s body was never found.

In the years since then, there have been two paranormal investigations conducted inside the Belasco house; both of which ended in disaster. Every member of these two expeditions into the mansion (with one exception) has been destroyed by murder, suicide or insanity. For these reasons, the Belasco mansion has earned a fitting nickname, the “Hell House”. Well, it’s now under new ownership, and its new owner has arranged for a new team of paranormal investigators to seek out the secrets of Hell House, including a Parapsychologist with his assistant wife and two mediums, one of which happens to be the sole survivor of the last failed expedition. What follows from here is simply the best haunted house story that I’ve ever read!

It’s a quick and easy read, and yet it’s very imaginative and unique in its approach and catches you off guard on a regular basis! Startling images, horrific visions, waking nightmares and lots of scares are generously peppered throughout the book! I suspect that Hell House was probably a very innovative story in its day and many haunted house tales written have since have taken notes from it. Where ghost stories older than Hell House generally relied on the mysterious and gothic nature of the house itself (and while Hell House itself is intriguing in its own right), the characters take the center stage in this story. They are all unique people who have their own reasons for going into Hell House and each one finds themselves battling their inner demons as much as they do the ghostly residents of the house in an effort to survive their five day expedition.

One of my favorite angles of the book is how Matheson spends equal time with both the parapsychologists and the mediums. Being a former ghost hunter myself, I fully appreciated and understood the scientific methods of conducting the parapsychology investigation aspects. The audio recordings, the debunking methods, the theories of how and why psychic energy exists within a house were all a familiar joy to me. And yet on the other hand, the way the mediums conducted their work were just as interesting. Their methods of “opening themselves up to the supernatural”, the use of spirit guides to help them during a séance, and their personal methods of communicating with spirits were treated with dignity and respect in Matheson’s hands while making their efforts easily readable and understandable for the audience.

Another favored memory was how Matheson caught me off guard with some of the narrative angles and therefore his unexpected ending. Honestly, the book could potentially have ended thirty or forty pages sooner and would’ve been an adequate story. But nay, Matheson is up for an endurance challenge and hit me with a completely unexpected plot twist and drew me right back in his boat of horror like a fish on a hook. Well played Mr. Matheson… well played!

After finishing the book I did a little more research into it and I’ve found it to be common mention amongst ghost story fans. I’ve even found it mentioned in a few of my “how to write horror” styled books as required reading for any hopeful horror writer, and quite frankly I couldn’t agree more. The simpler writing style of Matheson’s scribes while being able to switch from subtle one moment to shocking the next is a feat to witness. Some of these books mentioned that Matheson is considered to be one of the finest horror writers ever. This book offers strong evidence to support that claim in my eyes.

I enjoyed this book so much that I’m sorta reluctant to return it back to Craig next semester. Fortunately my mom mentioned that she’s got several copies of the book and will gladly give me one of them for my collection. I look forward to it as I may try to read this one again in the near future. I also plan to watch the before mentioned “Legend of Hell House” movie to complete my experience. I encourage any fan of haunted house stories to pick this one up and read it, or re-read right away it if you already have.

Well, that’s all the time we have for this episode of “Horror Masterpiece Theatre”, I am your classic horror host with the most, Steven Dawes. Until next time, remember to keep the lights on and never wander through a Haunted House alone.

Reviewed by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Dead Stay Dead Novella Review

Steven Dawes — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 14:55:54 +0000

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

Written by Paul Jessup

Hello again fellow horror hicks! I know, it’s been a long time since my name graced the pages of Flames Rising. But my school duties have been a greedy bully with my time as of late. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve not have much time for anything else I enjoy doing either. And perhaps as further punishment of my not being around more often, the latest book I was given to review, titled “Dead Stay Dead”, was simply insufferable and punished me harshly for reading it.

From its description, it wanted to be blended mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Shaun of the Undead and Zombieland. But what it turned out to be was a plain mess to read that completely missed its mark. I hope my past reviews show that I’m not a snobby or picky reader. I’ve read many different styles of horror books and have found ways to enjoy them all.

And while I usually call them out in my reviews, I can forgive and sometimes even ignore a lot of short coming in any book, as long I enjoyed the narrative. But this one… it was disjointed, confusing to follow, and between the poor editing (missing words like “a, and, of, but, it” and others in sentences on a regular basis) and using incorrect words (like using “here” when he meant to use “hear”) it was nearly unintelligible at times.

The story begins with a trope “Ghost Whisperer” in college character named Tasha, who meets a zombie wondering down campus hallway. While she had the intelligence to run away from it, she has a sarcastic response to it rather than a horrified one (like she deals with these things daily), only to have a sarcastic, yet calm discussion with another student who was also sarcastic and calm about a zombie trying to eat them both as they dispose of it. And quite frankly, it all goes down a steep hill after that.

I don’t know who the intended audience is for with this one, but I am NOT that audience, and I don’t know who would be. The commentary felt like a bizarre version of a “Seinfeld” episode, if Seinfeld and Kramer ever had to deal with zombies, Aklo letters, and poorly design horror tropes. But I wasn’t getting the jokes in this episode. If I hadn’t been handed this book to review, and wasn’t a professional who reads the entire book regardless of how bad it is, I wouldn’t have made past the first twenty pages. If I had purchased this book, I’d have stopped early and demanded my money back.

Beyond the odd commentary and actions between the odd characters, the very structure of the sentences was just as grating to get through. Take this one for example;

“A sound broke through conversation. A knocking on the door. Pound. Pound. Pound. Melissa spun around and scowled at the door then gave it the middle finger.”

“Pound. Pound. Pound”… really? Really? Wasn’t the knocking at the door enough to get the message across? And if not, couldn’t you have worded this more intelligently? How about adding in the word “the” or “their” between “through” and “conversation”? And what kind of response was that Melissa?

You like that one? I’ve got another one to chew on;

“No response. Just silence. Then: Knock. Knock. Knock.”

Here’s one more to shake your head at:

“Her faced contorted into an angry glare. She stomped her foot impatiently. Tap. Tap. Tap.”

Okay, I lied… one more for good measure;

“Melissa reached over, swung it shut. Slam.”

And these are all found in the first few pages in a book bloated with these kind of lines.

I’ve not read anything from Paul Jessup before, and I don’t think I ever want to, critically acclaimed writer or not. While he’s got a good head for gore filled prose, his method of writing a fast paced novella here was a mess. Fortunately it was only 82 pages long and I was able to finish it quickly.

Well, I’ve got a few more days off till school starts. Here’s hoping that I’ll get a chance to review some more item before then. I especially hope that they are more entertaining and put together than “Dead Stay Dead” was.

Reviewed by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Asylum Novella Review

Steven Dawes — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:45:13 +0000

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

“The last thing I want to believe is that we’re in some queer version of Night of the Living Dead”

I read the short novella “Dead Stay Dead” before I realized that it was the second story in the new “Zombie Feed” series from Apex Book Company. After a bit of research I found the short story “Asylum” was the first story released in the series, which also happened to have recently arrived as a reviewers copy book in my mail. Feeling kinda sheepish that I hadn’t done my home work before hand, I set out to read “Asylum” to cover my bases. And I’m glad that I did as this story was unexpectedly interesting to read and author Mark Allan Gunnellis got a lot of mileage out of a mere 80 pages.

The story is centered on several homosexual men who barricade themselves inside a gay bar when the zombie apocalypse begins. The main character Curtis is a twenty year old virgin from a small town and has gone out to a gay club in the big city for the time, at the urging of his very gay friend Jimmy. From here the story switches between several characters as they battle their personal demons as well as the zombies that have surrounded the club.

At first glance, this one sounded like it would be a dark comedy piece, and in less capable hands it may have turned out to be just that. However, Mr. Gunnellis treats the characters and subject matter with dignity and depth of character. These men are not the cornball gay characters you see on sitcoms (“Will and Grace” this is not), these are real people. Some of these men are unabashedly proud of their gay lifestyle, some of them are long term committed partners that are living their lives together like any hetero couple would, while others are haunted by the ignorance, hatred and oppression of homophobia they’ve dealt with all their lives.
Each of the characters had unique backgrounds which in turn made their traits and actions make sense, something not easily done in such short stories. While the theme of the zombie apocalypse isn’t treading any new ground these days, seeing it from the angle of a cast of gay men was a fresh take on the subject. In fact, me thinks that I detected a hint or two of the zombie apocalypse making a parallel on the ignorance and hatred of homophobia (similar to how “Night of the Living Dead” made a statement about consumerism).

While the subject matter didn’t bother me, I feel it’s only fair to mention that this story is very much for mature audiences only! Outside the ample amount of gore described (as you would expect in any self respecting zombie tale) the homosexual angle might prove to be difficult for some readers to get through. That being said, the erotic portions of the story were treated with respect and in fact added some extra depth and characterization to the story. These characters felt real to me and I believe that if given the chance, anyone can see past the “gay” aspect of the story and sympathize for these characters as the human beings they are. In my opinion, Mark shows good talent as a writer and did a great job spinning a unique take on the “people trapped in a building with zombies outside” storyline and I wouldn’t mind reading more of his work in the future.

Reviewed by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Dead Stay Dead Novella Review

Bigfoot War Review

Steven Dawes — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:45:59 +0000

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

Written by Eric S. Brown

I’ve been put through the literary meat grinder recently with really great & really intense books like Darkness on the Edge of Town and On the Third Day. So I figured it was time to read something a little lighter of subject; something not quite so epic this time around. You know, something frightening… but fun! To that end, my reviewer’s copy of Bigfoot War couldn’t have come in the mail at a better time!

I’ve never read a Bigfoot horror story before; to be honest, most of my experience with Bigfoot comes from either watching Harry & the Henderson’s or watching the car crushing eponymous monster truck. I knew nothing about author Eric S. Brown either, but fortunately he spilled his own can of beans in the book’s introduction. Growing up in rural North Carolina, Eric apparently had Bigfoot as his mythical neighbor when you consider all of the sightings and stories about the big cuddly lug in his hood. No doubt this was the sort of fertile ground where Eric’s garden of terror would allow a story like Bigfoot Wars to sprout from!

Our story begins with young Jeff Taylor, who lived in the small rural town of Babble Creek. Notice that I used the word “lived” (as in past tense.) You see, according to Jeff, he witnessed his family being slaughtered by the legendary Sasquatch! Understandably, he fled the small town… but he left as a soon to be ”man on a mission”. Fast-forward fifteen years later; with two tours of duty in the Iraq War under his belt, Jeff has now returned to Babble Creek a very different person, and he has a score to settle with ol’ Bigfoot.

Jeff’s return to town understandably concerns the town proper immediately. Between his old friends, the Police department and other locals, an unfortunate series of events takes place which stirs up the proverbial hornets’ nest. It seem that “the one and only Bigfoot” isn’t quite so one & only. As fate would have it, a whole tribe of Sasquatch lives in the nearby woods… and they’re enraged & aiming to put their collective bigfeet in Babble Creek’s hinny!

At only sixty two pages, this is a short story that starts fast, goes straight to warp speed and doesn’t hit the brakes till the last page. Its fast, it’s furious, it’s frightening, and it’s fun! Eric turns the theories and beliefs of this popular cryptid on its head as these are not the docile, gentile creatures were led to believe they are. They are fast, they are strong, they are dangerous, and they’re just fuming & frothing at the mouth over their homonid neighbors. Game over Babble Creek… game over.

For all the fast paced fun I had while reading this tale, Eric still found the time to add a few patches of visceral, primal horror to grimace and groan over. This clan of Bigfoot is taking no prisoners and the town is woefully unprepared for them, so you can imagine the potential carnage being set up here! I’ll never look at a Sasquatch the same way again (not that I’ve ever spotted one before, but you never know!)

Any bones to pick with this war? The only bone really worth picking at is the editing department. It didn’t happen often, but I do recall a few times where a period was missing, and once or twice a word was either missing or incomplete (Example: used “some” instead of “someone”.) I noticed these mistakes enough that they tripped up the tale a few times, not the best thing to do with a story that wants to race you to the finish line. One other bone to pick is a personal one, but I would have loved to have read a more fleshed out version of this story. I know and fully understand that this was supposed to be a quick and enjoyable tale (and it’s appreciated as is), but the mook who’s typing this slop here wanted more; MORE I TELL YA! So really, this is a positive bone that I’m picking on, but I still had to say it.

When all is said and slaughtered, Bigfoot War is a very fun and entertaining ride. With its new spin on the Sasquatch, the truck load of brutality and carnage dumped in your lap and the quick pace of the story, you can get in and get back out (hopefully in one piece) within an afternoon! Sign up for this war, big feet are not required to enlist.

Review by Steven Dawes

No related posts.

Darkness on the Edge of Town Review

Steven Dawes — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:45:46 +0000

Available at Amazon.com

Let’s start this one by taking a trip in the way back machine about several months ago. While hanging with a buddy of mine, I came across his just read copy of Urban Gothic by Brian Keene. I’d never read any of Keene’s work before, but after reading the back of the book and being given the thumbs up from my pal, I read it for myself. It was a blunt and gritty ride on the horror express that I dug mucho and vowed never to enter a vacant house again. It even became one of my earliest reviews posted here on da’ Flames. Since then I’ve read several more of his books and have become quite the little fan.

I can tell you via my experience that Brian has carved out a gritty and gory name for himself. His work has proven to be violent, voraciously vicious, visceral, eviscerating, evil, vile, violating, villainous, venomous, vexing, and any other appropriate word with “v” in them can be added to this vichyssoise of horror. Feel free to read his work for the veracity of my last sentence. And now that this verbose overuse of “v” words is out of my system (and I have no idea where it came from), I’m happy to announce that Brain’s latest work, Darkness of the Edge of Town stopped by my crib to scratch my reader’s itch. The timing was perfect as my sick laptop kept me away from my pile of e-books that are waiting to be read & reviewed, so a good old fashioned physical book was a welcome sight for this knuckle head.

First off, our story is told in journal format, so those familiar with such books as The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer (for us Twin Peaks fans), and the short story The Mist from Stephen King’s book Skeleton Crew (which coincidentally, there will be a lot of comparison between The Mist and Brian’s novel, but I’ll get into that later), you will be on familiar ground here. The journal is written from the point of view of Robbie, pizza delivery guy extraordinaire from the small town of Walden, Virginia. The story’s premise is a simple one; the residents of Walden wake up one morning to find their town surrounded by a wall of inky, oily blackness. No sun, no stars, no sky, no running water, no electricity, no radio or TV signals… they seem to be cut off from the rest of the world.

However, beyond this simple set up is a tale that takes a long walk off the short pier of “a bad situation” and falls into the pit of despair, without a parachute no less. As the story goes on, we discover that the wall of darkness is not quite so solid and people can walk freely into it. But no one who’s gone into it has returned; only their muffled screams of terror seem to make it back into town. Even worse, it seems as if the wall of darkness is alive… and hungry. As if all this still wasn’t bad enough, the resident-prisoners trapped within Walden are going feral and primitive in a hurry. Robbie tells a merciless tale of witnessing the human spirit buckle and collapse like a faulty bridge as time goes on.

Robbie isn’t one to just give up and join the ranks of the lord of the flies however, and with the help of his girlfriend Christy, a few neighbors within his apartment building, and a few of remaining town residents, he tries to find a way of re-connecting with the world, and to help the town keep some order and control amongst themselves. His trials and tribulations however become harder and harder for him to keep up as the city collapses in on itself and the trust and safety between his group (and even himself) is jeopardized. In my useless opinion, it gets to the point where it might be safer going into the darkness than to stay in town! This is not a happy little tale Mr. Keene has spun here folks. It’s oppressive and downright depressing to read, especially as you begin to realize that his scribes probably aren’t that far from the truth where human despair and depravity are concerned. This is horror of the most horrible kind having a fire sale, and everyone must go!

Fans that’ve followed Brian’s previous books are in for a few extra rewards in this book. This book follows the “mythos” Brian has been building with his books, such as Castaways, Dark Hollow (my favorite of his works that I’ve read thus far), Ghost Walk (which introduced the ex-Amish, powwow magus and bad ass Levi Stoltzfus.) and possibly others that I’ve not read yet. Through the character of Dez, a homeless guy who seems to have the only clue as to what’s going on with the darkness, you come to realize that this book reads something along the lines of “this is what would have happened in Ghost Walk if Levi wasn’t there to save the world.” After reading this, all I can say is god bless Levi!

Like I mentioned earlier, I can’t imagine people reading this and not noticing the similarity between it and The Mist. Well, to that I say that this is not a form of “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” as there are plenty of differences and situations. The biggest difference I’ll give offhand is that I’d rather face “the mist” over “the darkness” any day! In fact, Brian cleverly adds a reference to The Mist at one point (I won’t spoil what or where it is; it’s worth reading for the humor.) So while there are plenty of similarities (it’s even open ended like The Mist), it still comes off as being unique enough to stand on its own, especially under Brian’s raw and brutal writing.

The last note to bring up gives me all sorts of gleeful smiles. The end of the book includes an advanced look at Brian’s next novel, A Gathering of Crows. It’s more then an advanced look actually, it’s the entire first chapter. And not only was the first chapter enough to get me excited and looking forward to reading it, it hints at the return of that ex-Amish, powwow magus bad ass Levi Stoltzfus I mentioned earlier. I loved the character Levi from Ghost Walk and so I’m thrilled to see him coming back to deliver more cans of powwow powered whoop ass!

For those who dig Brian’s work, or for those who enjoy a good bashing of the nerves and heavy weighing on the heart as you witness humanity collapse like a house of cards in an avalanche, this one’s a must read! Mr. Keene is still in as fine and horrific form as ever with Darkness on the Edge of Town, and I for one solute his efforts at beating the literary crap out of me in the short span of a mere 264 pages.

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

On the Third Day Review

Steven Dawes — Tue, 11 May 2010 12:45:45 +0000

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

I became an instant fan of David Niall Wilson’s work when I had read This is My Blood a few months ago. Since reading and reviewing this new personal favorite book of mine, I’ve kept in touch with David here and there. During one of our chats he’d mentioned one of his latest books titled On the Third Day and its subject being deep-rooted in religious themed horror, much like This is My Blood. I was immediately intrigued and I set off to read it as soon as possible.

My original intention was to read it during the week of Easter as the novel revolves around Easter Sunday. Sadly however, this was not to be as my laptop went ill for a few weeks, delaying my reading it (or any of the other books in my E-library waiting to be read and reviewed.) I was finally able to read it this last week, and I’m happy to say that whether you read it during the Easter season or not, the story and the messages contained within it are just as powerful!

The story begins with Father Quentin Thomas, a priest who leads a congregation that worships at San Marcos by the Sea, a small cathedral in San Valencez, California. While Quentin is leading Easter Mass one Sunday, something extraordinary happens: Father Thomas experiences what can only be described as suffering the stigmata! Out of a mixture of fear and confusion of what happened to him, he seeks the help and advisement of his immediate supervisor, Bishop Tony Michael’s. The Bishop however, is not amused anymore than he believes that Quentin experienced any sort of “incident”. The Bishop’s status quo and quiet lifestyle is threatened by this unexpected turn of events and reacts with disbelief and hostility. Needless to say, Father Thomas’ cries for help and explanations fall on deaf ears.

A year later, during the following Easter Sunday, the Bishop decides to attend Father Thomas’ Mass, armed with a more than healthy dose of disbelief and a video camera, determined to discover what chicanery the Priest is up to and debunk it. Not entirely unexpectedly, Father Thomas not only repeats the miraculous experience, but it’s more pronounced and powerful that the year prior! While still vehemently disbelieving in the miraculous nature of these events, Bishop Michael’s is at a loss to explain it. He goes up the chain of command, requesting to bring in a professional to figure out this little mystery. Enter Father Donovan Prescott.

Father Prescott works for the Vatican as a professional miracle hunter, spending his days researching claims of modern miracles to either confirm of debunk them. But more than that, Father Prescott’s a hard boiled seeker of truth, making him the ideal person to get to the bottom of whatever is going on here. However, with the next Easter Sunday looming overhead, all three of these men of god have different stakes invested in Father Prescott’s findings, and each one feels differently about the possibility of a miracle taking place. Each one of them has a battery of questions concerning these events; questions that will offer them no easy answers, and in some cases the answers might be too horrible to contemplate!

Author David Niall Wilson proves once again what a vivid and agile writer he is with On the Third Day. The details are lush and descriptive; the questions he asks the reader to contemplate are engaging and thought provoking; and the antagonists are just as intriguing as the protagonists (never an easy feat in my experience.) I’ll also say that David’s direction with the horror was so subtle and sneaky, that for awhile I began to wonder if this book was mis-shelved when being labeled a horror novel. However, when it was ready, the horror slinked out of the darkness, tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me that it was indeed lurking about, taking me by complete surprise. And when it showed, it came with church bells on!

There are numerous themes the book goes into during the course of the story, such as “faith vs. religion”, what it takes to consider an event to be a bona fide miracle, and what ramifications a bona fide miracle taking place could bring and the effects it can have on someone’s faith. The title even offers multiple meanings throughout the story, but I will leave you to discover them for yourselves. There’s a lot going on in this book, something you just dont see a lot in horror stories, much less performed with as much finesse and magic as David performs here.

For those who haven’t read This is My Blood as of yet (and really, what are you waiting for?), I can say that that On the Third Day is an ideal book to read either before or after you do (I encourage to read this one after it). But on the other hand, this book stands perfectly on its own. You’re not required to read This is My Blood to be able to enjoy On the Third Day or vice versa, the experience of reading both is simply preferred and encouraged by this reviewer.

As seems to be David’s style, this is neither a gore fest nor a visceral, gritty horror experience. It’s subdued and multi-layered, coming on so quietly and unexpected that you may be well within horror’s dark grasp before you even know it. It’s a book that makes you think while it unnerves you to pieces, a feat rarely accomplished these days. Whether you’re a person of faith or not, this book has something to offer everyone, and I’ll end this review the same way I did with my review of This is My Blood; by encouraging you to take a leap of faith on it.

Review by Steven Dawes

Look for more David Niall Wilson and Macabre Ink Digital books at DriveThruHorror.com.

Related posts:

This is My Blood Fiction Review

Supernatural: Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons Review

Steven Dawes — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:45:57 +0000

Available at Amazon.com

Ok everyone, take your best “Wizard of Oz” impression out of the closet and chant along with me: “ Monsters, Spirits, Demons and ghouls, OH MY!”

As of this last weekend I read “Supernatural: Book of Monsters, Spirits, Demons and Ghouls” and thus wrapping up my three part supernatural quest. If you haven’t been keeping score, my first venture into the quest was tangling with a book that forgot that it was based on the Supernatural TV show and did its own thing. My second part of the quest proved to be an improvement that led me into the depths of John Winchester’s history, mind and research via his journal. So how did the last part of my quest go? Let’s just say that I managed to save the best for last.

I didn’t read these books in any particular order; I literally just picked them at random. In retrospect that may not have been the best way to handle it. Both “The Journal” and “The Guide” were written by Alex Irvine, but the Guide was written first, and you could tell that it was. Besides this small insight, I had a great time reading this particular book. Now THIS is how you write a “Supernatural” book! The Guide was written from the point of view of the Winchester boys and was much more believable than how John’s memoirs read. The boys went into their experiences in dealing with the particular fiends they were discussing, they sometimes took jabs at each other and shared other insights unique to them and it was all just plain fun to read.

And the greatest compliment I had to give to the Journal is carried on here as the research into the supernatural and the occult were simply spot on! Alex (or whoever gave him the details) REALLY did their homework and managed to dig up all sorts of obscurities and oddities concerning monster lore. All the knowledge brought up in the TV show was here in detail, but Alex was sure to add an impressive amount of info that while not necessarily relevant to the show, it’s relevant to the creatures detailed within the guide.

The how impressive was the compilation of creatures here? I’d say it was quite impressive, considering most of the creatures discussed make their way onto the show at some point. The menagerie of menaces ranged from all parts of the globe; from the Far East to the Middle East to the East coast of the USA… all types were fair game. Included in their details were the legends, folklores and superstitions that our ancestors practiced to stay safe from them. The last section of the book offered appendix’s for easy demon hunting research and tips. The first appendix details a variety of oils herbs and their common uses in your everyday demon hunting and occult practices while the second one gave the names and details on lots of demonic legions a demon hunter may deal with on a given day.

If there a gripe I could cough up on this otherwise excellent guide, it would that there are references from “The Journal” I mentioned earlier. Now, while the Journal is an important part of the show and it only makes sense to include passages from it, the issue I had may have come from the fact that I’d read dad’s journal first, so the notes from it here felt duplicated. But again, I read the journal first and this may be an over exaggeration because of that, but I still wanted to mention it.

But when all is said and slain, this is the ideal book for fans of the TV show to read and enjoy. Lots of monsters, spirits, demons, ghouls and the Winchester brothers are splattered all over the guide and makes for a good read (even if you’re not a fan of the show.) And as for me, now that my supernatural quest is over, I will now return to hunting down and dissecting the many legions of horror and dark fantasy books that terrorize the world over for your reviewing enjoyment.

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

The Queen of Crows Review

Steven Dawes — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:45:33 +0000

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

Written by Monica Valentinelli

I’m not only a reviewer for FlamesRising.com, I am a fan. From the features and articles to the reviews, I read and enjoy it all. I’ve even gone as far as purchasing Instant Antagonist: Selfish Succubus, the first product from Flames Rising Press. Therefore, it should go without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) that I read all of Monica Valentinelli scribes on da’ flames, and I believe that she’s one of the best contributors on the site (and coincidentally puts my feeble writing talents to shame). So you can imagine how honored and excited I was to have been given a reviewer’s copy of “The Queen of Crows”, written by Monica V. and published by Flames Rising Press (their first published fiction no less).

Outside of her writing on the flames, I’ve read Monica’s short story titled “Pie” from the horror anthology Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas, which was one of my favorite tales if memory serves. However, I knew nothing of Monica’s work in progress, the “Violet War”, an Urban Fantasy setting in which the Queen of Crows takes place in. So, in preparation of reading this story, I decided to do a bit of homework and discover just what the Violet War is all about. And honestly, I couldn’t describe her world and do it justice, so I implore you to take a look for yourselves (you can do so by clicking here). After getting familiar with her world I felt ready to get down to business with Monica’s tale.

So after all that build up and preparation, how did my audience with the Queen of Crows fare? Well, I do have one small quibble; this short story was just too short folks! I want more, MORE I tell ya! I really enjoyed this tale, and yet Monica followed the cardinal rule of the audience; always leave them wanting more. Excellent work Monica!

Rather than rehashing up same lame description, I’ll let the announcement of Monica’s story from Flames tell you what it’s about;

“The short story, which is entitled “The Queen of Crows,” takes place during the 1860s and focuses on the tough decisions that a Navajo elder named “Tse” must make to save his people. Will he summon Mahochepi, the Queen of Crows, without knowing who–or what–she is?”

The short story on its own is worthy of the $4.99 price tag. However, neither Monica V. nor Flames Rising Press was content with just offering you a short story. This is an entire package of goodies! Following the story, Monica’s wrote about the inspiration behind her short story, offering both insight and information about her ideas. Hot of the heels of this portion, there’s a very nice illustrated portrait of Mahochepi herself from the obviously talented Leanne Buckley (I’m not familiar with her work, but I should familiarize myself ASAP). The illustration depicts the queen in all her power and magnificence, and quite frankly trips an old trigger of mine, my attraction to dangerous women (hey Mahochepi, if you’re reading this, call me… I’m in the book.)

Up next is “Who is Mahochepi?” Beyond the story itself, this is my favorite section. As a long time RPG player and freelancer designer (and my interpretation could be way off here) I felt that this portion was the game designer in Monica coming out, which is a good thing in my book. This section spilled the beans in such a way that I found myself thinking that Maho (I think I’ve known her long enough to give her a short name) would be a great reoccurring character in any modern horror, historic or urban fantasy setting. In fact, I found myself jotting notes to use her in my Beyond the Supernatural game. Monica, if your reading this, the Violent War series might make a great RPG series someday (I planted a seed, we’ll see if it grows one day.)

I had to chuckle to myself when I got to the “Letter to the Reader” portion. Remember how I said that I did my homework before I read the story? Well, it turns out that I didn’t have to as Monica told all about the Violet War here. Sigh, live and learn I guess. But as a sweet consolation prize, Monica did mention on her website that the soundtrack for the Violet War series was the “Grimm Tales” album by Nox Arcana. As a fan who owns all their fine music, I did indeed plug in the headphones and listened as I read. And yes, it is indeed a great album to read her story by. If you’re not familiar with their work or this album, check out Grimm Tales out by clicking here.

And last (and probably least the way Monica explains it) Monica tacked on her first draft of “The Queen of Crows”. She “warns” you ahead of time that it’s raw, ugly and underdeveloped, but I think she’s being a little hard on herself as it’s not quite as bad as she made it out to be. Since she was brave enough to publish it, I’ll be brave enough to say that it’s better than most of my first draft attempts. Regardless, it was interesting to read how different of a direction the end result was from her first attempt and I appreciated reading it all the same.

Anyone who purchases the Queen of Crows should be arrested for piracy. For all you get in this book, the measly price tag of five clams is plain stealing in my eyes! It’s a very interesting read, it gives an appetizing taste of things to come from the upcoming series, has lots of addition material, and its wrapped up with in a keen looking package (the cover art, interior layout and designed comes courtesy of Shari Hill btw and did a great job.) And now, I will zip my beak so you can make your own audience with the Queen of Crows.

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Notes on Designing THE QUEEN OF CROWS

Interview with Jason Dark Author Guido Henkel

Steven Dawes — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:42:03 +0000

A series of bizarre deaths leaves the victims unnaturally desiccated and decaying, sending Jason Dark into the dangerous world of the London dockyards in search of a supernatural murderer. But is the paranormal investigator prepared to duel a full-fledged demon on a Hell-bent mission to create chaos and catastrophe throughout the earth, a fiend determined to wreak more death and destruction than his even more ominous Master?

Steven Dawes had recently come across the new gothic horror series “Jason Dark” (Click here to the read the review) available now in paper and e-book format. After taking the time to read the first two volumes of the “Jason Dark” e-series, Steven Dawes was fortunate enough to have a great conversation and interview with Jason Dark author Guido Henkel about his new series.

SD: First off, thank you Guido for mailing me the first two volumes of the “Jason Dark” series to read and enjoy. Can you tell us what inspired you to use the “dime novel” format for the Jason Dark Gothic Horror series?

GH: “Dime Novels” are a large part of the literature culture in Germany where I grew up. They are fun, action-packed, easy to read and every type of story is told within them. I knew early on that I wanted to use the dime novel approach for my stories. To me, the current culture seems to constantly produce extremely large and physically cumbersome books that require a serious commitment to read them, which seems to scare away more potential readers than it attracts. In today’s world, people more than ever just don’t have the time to commit to books with page counts that range anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand pages. I wanted my stories to be something you could sit down to read and enjoy in an afternoon, which made the dime novel size of sixty four pages ideal.

SD: Can you tell us what inspired you to come up with the Jason Dark Series?

GH: Well, I‘ve always been a classic horror buff, from the classic Universal monster movies to the Hammer films, they have a style that you just don’t see in more modern day horror movies. I especially enjoy the rich and distinct flavor of “gothic horror” in both movies and books, and so I’ve wanted to write adventures in a gothic horror setting with that classic style for many years. My idea for creating Jason Dark himself was to design an intellectual character similar to a Sherlock Holmes, but someone who dealt specifically with the supernatural menaces that find their way to Victorian England.

SD: Can you tell us why you chose Victorian England as Jason Dark’s hunting grounds?

GH: Victorian England is a very unique and distinct setting. From the clothing and mannerisms of the time, to the fog shrouded London streets to the gas lamps that light them, there is a distinct “feeling” about Victorian England that’s all its own. This historic era perfectly matches the gothic horror setting that I really wanted to place my stories and adventures within. This period is also where many of the classic horror stories I enjoy take place in and I wanted to use that particular “feel” in my stories. I really wanted to romanticize this time period, if not make the era itself seem like a tangible character in the story.

SD: I noticed while reading the first two volumes that you use very specific locations and a lot of the unique details of Victorian England. Did you put a lot of research into the series?

GH: Honestly, I spent about as much time researching the story and Victorian London in particular as I did writing the first book. I didn’t want to invent London, I wanted people to be able to look up a map of Victorian England and be able see exactly where the specific scene takes place. In this respect the stories have something of a historic fiction feel to them. Coincidentally, I also tend to get a lot of my story ideas while I do my research. So yes, research is a big part my preparation and more often than not the streets, locales and names you encounter in these stories are actually authentic to a degree. To me it not only bases the story in reality but it is also a lot of fun to weave these elements into my writing in a sensible way that doesn’t feel tacked on.

SD: I enjoyed the cameos of both the historic and iconic literary characters of the time period. Will all of the Jason Dark adventures have cameos peppered throughout them?

GH: Absolutely! In fact, like the research I mentioned earlier, that’s an important part of the formula of the series to me. I really want people to read these stories and find familiar contexts through the cameos as much as I want them to enjoy the fresh ideas and aspects of Jason Dark and the other protagonists. It’s my hope and intention that people will read and talk about the stories to one another and will discover things they hadn’t before. For example, if you didn’t recognize a particular cameo, you might talk to someone who did, and after explaining who they were, you may feel compelled to re-read the story with the new insight or even seek out the original material where the reference comes from. I feel that fan participation in a series is more important than ever, and to encourage this I also added a forum on www.jasondarkseries.com to give the fans and the community a place to talk about the stories, characters and cameos.

SD: Jason Dark finds a partner in Siu Lin in the first volume, and by the second volume they almost have a “Green Hornet and Kato” style of partnership, was that intentional?

GH: (laughs) No, I’m not much of a comic book reader I have to admit. I simply intended to create a dynamic pair of protagonists, who would have a good balance between them to where their strengths and weaknesses would allow them to rely upon on another to survive their adventures. Going back to Sherlock Holmes being an influence, I never liked how the relationship between Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes was portrayed. Dr. Watson was always treated as a well meaning, but bumbling idiot who never really offered a lot of help or strength to Sherlock when solving a case. In fact it almost seemed that Sherlock kept him around to have someone to talk down to and outright insult at times. This relationship was especially prevalent in the books and the old black & white Sherlock Holmes movies from the 1930’s.

In my case, I really want Jason and Siu to feel as though they can depend on each other, if not need the other’s help. This is an angle that will become more important in upcoming volumes.

SD: Speaking of protagonists, there was a person by the name of “Herbert” mentioned in the second volume, but we didn’t get to meet him. Will “Herbert” make an appearance in future volumes?

GH: Yes, that was simply a teaser foreshadowing things to come. Not only will Herbert make an appearance, but he will also become a prominent character and will add another dynamic angle to the series.

SD: I really like the cover artwork of the books, especially volume #3 (titled “Ghosts Templar”). Can you tell us how you found cover artist Gary Crumb?

GH: I ended up having an epic online search for someone who had the artistic style that I was looking for. The cover artwork was especially important for me to get right as its part of the dime novel mentality; it has to be dramatic and grab the reader’s interest right away. It is a style more reminiscent of classic movie posters than modern day book covers and an art form that seems to be almost lost.

SD: Jason Dark is referred to as a “Geisterjäger”or ghost hunter. Can you tell us if you have any plans on diving further into the history and nature of this aspect of Jason Dark?

GH: Absolutely! In fact, quite a few people have asked and want to know more about this aspect. It’s been hinted at that Jason comes from an ancestral line of ghost hunters. His father did it, his grandfather did it, and so on. “Geisterjäger” is the German term for “ghost hunter” and it gives already an inkling of Dark’s ancestral origins. His family dedicated their lives to fighting evil for generations. I have even considered writing a prequel or perhaps have Jason tell an old story of him and his father hunting supernatural evil together. I have some exciting ideas floating around my noggin’ on that and we will most definitely see some adventures taking a closer look at his family history.

SD: So far Mr. Dark has dealt with Demons and vampires in the first two volumes. Can you tell us what other kinds of supernatural villainy Jason will deal with in the future?

GH: Anything that you and I could think of. Currently I can tell you that the next four volumes will include ghosts, angels and demons, mad scientists, curses and people making deals with devils. Some of them will even become reoccurring villains. I really want to use familiar monsters and evils, but at the same time I want to inject new ideas into them. In the stories I have planned for the future, I expect to also inject add a lot of the classic monsters like werewolves and mummies.

We’d like to thank Guido once again for taking the time to speak with us. To stay up-to-date with news about the Jason Dark series, we encourage you to visit www.jasondarkseries.com.

You can purchase the Jason Dark e-series at www.drivethruhorror.com.

Related posts:

Supernatural: John Winchester’s Journal Review

Steven Dawes — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:45:27 +0000

Available at DriveThruSciFi.com

Written by Alex Irvine

You may recall that I’ve received a couple of reviewer books based on the “Supernatural” TV series to shoot my way through (if you don’t recall or you just didn’t know, you can click here to read all about it.) If you do, then you may also recall that I was disappointed with my first contestant and was concerned that the WB exec’s had sold out with gusto to earn a quick buck on some lame books at the expense of the fans and their beloved show. Well, I’m happy (and relieved) to report that my second foray into the book series was better than the first. But then again, that’s not saying a lot.

I was sorta jazzed about reading “thee” coveted journal of papa Winchester. I could imagine all sorts of potential and information that could be contained within these pages. I mean, this journal has been pivotal to the hunky Winchester duo since episode 1; it’s just GOT to have a lot of goods worth reading, right? Am I right? Well, I was sorta right. This book is a mixed mojo bag to be sure. So lets open the bag and see what’s inside, shall we?

The good mojo? There are plenty of references to main events, places and people from the show. While they don’t really add any news insight for the fanatical fans, the casual and newbie fans may find some of the details from John’s point of view interesting. Quite a bit of it was told in a prequel fashion and included some interesting anecdotes about the Winchester boys growing up with their dad and his growing obsession to find and kill the yellow eyed demon. Being told through John, he has sincere moments of realization about how “the family business” has robbed them of a childhood and a place to call home. A hunter’s life is full of driving, research, greasy spoons, hotels and hunting the supernatural. Sure some of this seems obvious, but it was interesting to read all the same.

But what I found even more interesting was the OVERWHELMING amount of random trivia on a variety of religions, alchemy, the occult, demons, monsters, haunted locations, various theologies, methods of protection from evil and more. As a lifelong paranormal enthusiast, an armchair occult historian and a former manager of a ghost hunting group, I’ve come across a lot of occult trivia and information in my life time. And yet I’m still impressed by the amount of obscure details that I’d never heard before that author Alex had dug up and crammed in. For those interested in historical trivia of the paranormal / supernatural, the price for this book is most justified. Nice work on this portion Alex!

(Sigh), and now the bad mojo. First off, there wasn’t enough original material for the diehard fans that would be the most likely peeps to purchase this book. As mentioned before, there’s plenty of info that correlates to events in the show, but the material really didn’t go much farther than this. Throwing salt in the wound, what scraps were added didn’t really feel very “John” like to me. In the show he’s shown as capable, brave, tough as nails and ready to die for his family (which he eventually does.) But in his scribes here, he comes off as haunted by memories and uncertain of his situation and his raising the boys, he’s whiny, and seems to keep wanting to try to escape his past while keeping a single-minded (even obsessive) search for the yellow eyed demon. Why was so much material given on this angle only? And why was he constantly rehashing the same thoughts year after year? Why not include more info on the culture of the hunter’s life? Why not include more on the hunters he worked with? Why wasn’t there more info on the yellow eyed demon? Why did he believe this guy was a demon and yet he refused to believe in “demons” as much as he did “angels” in the first place?

The other issue I have with the book is a double edged sword. While I really enjoyed reading into all the supernatural/paranormal trivia and history notes, some of it was presented in a way that didn’t make much sense to me, or it wasn’t explained well enough, or lacked any organization or proper perspective. I understand that this is a journal and you write things in as you go, and that’s fine with me. But if you’re going to note something, you should put them in a sensible context.

For example, the first entries in the year 1991 were two lists, under “DAY” and “NIGHT”. The list goes into a dozen foreign words, and these words are numbered 1 through 12 (coincidentally, later on you’ll read about the theological significance of the number twelve). No explanation or annotation was given as to what these words are used for or where and when they come into play. I read the rest of the book, hoping for some answers as to what this list is about amongst other equally confusing notes, but no such luck. In the end they are worthless notes thrown in as filler, taking space that could have been used for either trivia than made sense of more journal entry opportunities from papa John.

So in the end, I’m not sure who to recommend this book to. This book would have been better serves being split into two books with more information in each. However, for the theology & occultist enthusiast and fans of the supernatural & paranormal who don’t mind digging around a journal to find the random trivia, this one is for you. There’s a LOT of occult material here that’s not easily found and almost seems excessive, and yet it was welcome as these notes were more interesting than the journal entries themselves. It might even be great reference book for the Supernatural RPG game; I’ve never seen the RPG to know what info it contains on the subject so I can’t be sure.

But on the other hand, the lack of original information about the Winchester’s themselves only allows it to be interesting to the casual and new fans looking to learn a little more about the Winchesters and their life growing up with a vengeful minded father. The lack of original material on the characters just screamed wasted opportunity to me. And I’d also be willing to bet my last bag of beef jerky that the casual fan won’t give two hoots about all the trivia I that found so interesting.

So there’s my paltry opinion on this one, it’s a mixed bag that didn’t know if it wanted to be a sourcebook on the occult or a journal about the life of John Winchester.

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Jason Dark: Ghost Hunter Review

Steven Dawes — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:45:28 +0000

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

Series written by Guido Henkel

I’ve not experienced “Dime Novels” before. I’ve never really even seen one before, although growing up my mother owned a “collector book” composed of several dime novel reprints that I once looked through. They’re a format that seems to have died out here in the union long ago. It looks like however, that the “Dime Novel” format could be on the verge of a comeback.

My dad happened upon a new gothic horror series while visiting one of his favorite websites and asked me to check it out. Following his queue I did a little homework and indeed I’d discovered a new book series titled “Jason Dark: Ghost Hunter”, a series written in the spirit of the “Dime Novel” format. This initiative brushed my interest with a fine tooth comb and I inquired further with Guido Henkel, the author of this series in progress. Guido turned out to be a really cool guy and was kind enough to send me the first two novels to read and review.

When they came in the mail, I was a little surprised by their physical size. They are about half the size of a comic book with a page count of only sixty four pages each. Again, I’ve not read nor ever held a true “Dime Novel” before, so this was a new experience all around. In a world of large and epic stories taking tons of space on your book shelf, can something this small be entertaining and enjoyable? Can the experience of such a short story be worthwhile? Are these “fun size” stories really fun to read? YOU’D BETTER BELIEVE IT FOLKS!

My first opportunity to sit down and read the first volume came while waiting for my wife, who was having surgery on her sinuses (she’s doing fine, thanks for asking). I had a few hours to kill in the waiting area, which made cracking open Volume I an ideal opportunity. What Jason Dark offers is a fast paced, action packed adventure that reads quickly. It’s not Shakespeare, it’s not Stephen King, nor is it an engrossing mind job of a horror story that mentally beats you violently and senselessly. But you know what? It didn’t have to be. It was just plain fun and easy reading, something that I found surprisingly satisfying!

I don’t recall the last time I was able to sit down to a book and get through it so quickly and have such a lax and fun time doing so! The adventures are told in a dramatic, fast paced and yet simplistic method and the pages just flew by. So my experiment with Volume II was to read it over my lunch hours at work. Its size allowed me to slip it into my back pocket, freeing a hand to allow carrying my drink and lunch bucket without juggling a book in the mix. I finished reading it over two sittings, and again it made for a smooth, fun and easy read. In a way it was a gratifying experience to be able to just read through them at my own pace and not have to worry about remembering all the details that a large and epic story that takes weeks to read over my lunch hours require.

Then I tried another experiment, I asked my daughter (who turns fifteen next week) to read the two volumes and let know what she thought of them. Guido’s method of telling a horror story (or perhaps its just the way of “The Dime Novel”) is to be direct and matter of fact in the violence and moments of horror. There is no lavishing on the gruesome and disgusting here, making it an ideal read in my opinion for teenage horror fans in training as much as they are for those who don’t enjoy the hardcore horror story. I’m happy to report that my suspicions were correct as my daughter, who’s really into “manga books” right now, was able to enjoy these tales as well.

And what of the protagonist, the “Geisterjäger” Jason Dark? What can I say, I dig this cat! Imagine a setting in the heart of Victorian England and an intellectual character in the vein of a Sherlock Holmes type of hero who hunts and confronts supernatural evil and you’ve got the idea. There are a lot of classic horror elements to these stories and the familiar backdrop makes getting in and out of such a quick story that much easier to enjoy. Volume I has him dealing with demons while Volume II brings on the vampires (in a more “Nosferatu” style of vamp no less). The city of London is depicted in surprising detail and there are some great cameo’s of both historical and literary significance from the time period sprinkled in as well. In short, they are quick stories, but they can offer features that you can discuss with other readers afterwards.

I’ve been enlightened to the world of “Dime Novels” just as much as I’ve been enlighten to the world of Jason Dark. I encourage you to pick up and enjoy these stories as I have, unless that is, your afraid of the dark. You can either purchase the ongoing series in paperback format by visiting JasonDarkSeries.com (free shipping no less) or you can collect them in e-book format by visiting DriveThruHorror.com. I happened to notice that the series made the “Staff Favorites” list on the front page of this site. It seems that I’m not the only one who’s been enjoying this new series.

Side Note: I had the opportunity to sit down and enjoy a phone conversation and interview with series author Guido Henkel. Keep an eye out (or both of them if you prefer) for the interview here on Flames Rising.

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Dark Places RPG Review

Steven Dawes — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:45:12 +0000

Available at NobleKnight.com

Dead Reign Source Book Two: Dark Places
Written by Kevin Siembieda

Review’s note: It’s only fair before I start this review to mention that I’ve been a fan Kevin Siembeida’s work for nearly twenty years and been fortunate enough to be called his friend for five of those years. I’ve attended a few Palladium Open House outings as one of their freelance writers, I once attended a con where Kevin was a special guest and got to play in a play testing group for the Dead Reign game itself and I even co-wrote one of the zombie variants detailed in this book. Now, all this being said I believe I’m capable of unbiased criticism when it comes to material written by Kevin.

The Dead Reign RPG from Palladium Books presents a story that details a lot of familiar territory where zombie survival games are concerned, yet added lots of interesting twists, zombie variants, survival tips & guides, weapons & equipment, great adventure ideas, several quick roll tables, and a partridge in a pear tree! I personally LOVE (not like, LOVE) the bleak tone and style of the setting and the theme of the “survival of humanity” while maintaining your humanity (and sanity) the core book delivered. As an added bonus, fans of Palladium’s “Megaversal role playing system” are in good shape here as it’s just as loudly and proudly displayed as ever!

Where the core book detailed the setting, themes and tones of the DR world, the first sourcebook “Civilization Gone” went into a lot more detail and information concerning what the average person will face daily in a world that’s suddenly without civilization to protect and nurture them. The game’s setting takes place about five to six months after the apocalypse started, and already plenty of peeps are devolving into unrecognizable and dangerous beings. Also included are new zombie variants, new player character classes, details on creating survivor communities and lots of game tips useful to both gm and player alike to sum up a great first sourcebook to an already great RPG.

Now, I hold in my filthy mitts the second sourcebook to Palladium’s zombie apocalypse masterpiece. Is it worth the price? Is it worth the time reading and using at your next game outing? Did Kevin & company go three-for-three with Dark Places? Strap on your boots and load your shotguns my fellow survivors, its time to start scroungin’ through this bad boy!

“Now that the dead reign, the whole world has become a dark place.” –Except from the Road Reaper’s survival guide.

Indeed, Dark Places is appropriately titled, for the entire sourcebook is all about dark places in several metaphoric ways. For those not familiar with the Dead Reign game, most of the knowledge of zombie survive comes in the form of the “Road Reaper’s Survival Guide”. This guide is written from the point of view of Brad Ashley, whose sage like advice will keep your fat out of the fire if you practice what he preaches. This first reference to the dark places is the most “enlightening” (enlightening… get it?) potion of the sourcebook.

In the first excerpt, Brad goes into details about how the zombies see us humans. In short, they see us by our life energy (or aura), which glows like a neon sign to them. This light isn’t much of an issue during the day, but at night were all effectively biped glowworms. To make matters worse, the zombies are smart enough to follow any and all light sources as they seem to know that we NEED light to get around and therefore use it. You see, modern society really took all the lighting we had at night for granted. Street lights, TV’s, glowing signs, headlights, flashlights, fire… in our day we cant seem to escape the light. But in this world it’s a precious commodity and a double edged sword.

Continuing on with the dark places angle, Brad goes into providing tips about night time survival tactics. While some of the tips seem obvious, there are a few interesting methods of survival. For example, as the zombies see both out aura light and normal light, we have to learn to cover any and all holes and cracks when hiding (windows, cracks under the door, covering yourself with a blanket, etc.) Another interesting idea is to go down into the sewers for safety. Now I know that nearly any other game out there tells you to never go in the sewers for any reason, but in this setting its very sound advice for several reasons. Other notes like the advantages of using light in this world and some random encounter tables finish up his section.

The next section goes into four new zombie variants. Here Kevin decided to get in touch with his inner “gross factor” to churn out some of the most disgusting zombies yet. For example, the “Bug Boys” zombies are basically decaying and rotting to the point where they are infested with a variety of insects. Included with this dead guy are revulsion tables, infestation penalties, and descriptions of the pestilence each type of insect inflicts on the player characters. These descriptions are topped off with some really awesomely gross artwork by zombie artist extraordinaire Nick Bradshaw, who coincidentally is another good friend of mine (were working on a Beyond the Supernatural sourcebook together in fact). There’s also the “Worm Meat”, the “Sewer Crawlers”, and “Impersonator Zombies” to torment your player characters with. The Impersonator Zombie was my contribution to the sourcebook (with Michael Mumah providing a great illustration of one hiding in a child’s room), which specialize in setting up ambushes and traps for unsuspecting characters by impersonating people in need of help.

Next up is a section on traveling in the DR world, which again provides really useless and interesting information. According to Brad, it seems that zombie-kind has retained some deep down memory on locations people frequented in life. So hospitals, offices, building, churches, military bases and so on are now the worse places to visit as the largest zombie numbers are found there.

Therefore, the safest methods of traveling are railroad tracks, which Brad states are used extensively by the “Road Reapers” to travel about. Kevin provides TONS of information about railroads, boxcars, depot stations and more along with lots of ideas and random encounter tables. I personally loved this section and for those who currently play other zombies RPG’s, I encourage you to get this book as the information here is fitting for any zombie game and is worth the price of the book alone. I’ve NEVER seen another book that goes into this level of details on the rails like Dark Places has; genius work!

“The Urban Underground” is living proof that not all dark places are bad places. Some of the most heavily used location nowadays include steam and utility tunnels, sewers, storm drain tunnels, caves, mines and so on. Lots of description, information and more random tables are given for these locations, which are again welcome by me as I don’t think I’ve seen them covered quite this extensively before and again they would be of value to any zombie RPG out there.

The last “dark place” is certainly not the least as it goes in to the darkness of the human soul in these dangerous times. This section Brad talks about a disturbing trend that’s taking place more and more often in the DR world… using live bait. In other words, trapping live human in locations to attract nearby zombies hoards to them. And while the zombies are distracted, the bait setters can scrounge for food and items in what are usually zombie crowded areas. This section was written with a sharp edge that got under my skin as I read it. It’s yet also another great section for anyone who runs a zombie game as it’s a method that I can easily see desperate and evil people using in any zombie setting.

Kevin’s goal with this book was to really push the envelope with the DR setting… and I say he pushed and shoved that envelope around like a school yard bully! From the informative and at times chilling writing, to the million adventure ideas and encounter tables, to the amazing and grotesque artwork; this book has it all and then some. I can’t wait to see what future DR Sourcebooks will bring!

P.S. The Dark Places cover is one of my new favorite covers from the Palladium Books line up (which depicts a live bait trap scene). But I gotta ask you; doesn’t that guy on the cover remind you of Robert Duvall?

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

Patrick D’Orazio tells us about Comes The Dark

Supernatural: Nevermore Review

Steven Dawes — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:45:51 +0000

Available at Amazon.com

Written by Keith R.A. DeCandido

One of the perks of being a reviewer on Flames Rising are the free E-books. I’ve been given some great books to review that I probably would have never come across and enjoyed otherwise (see my last review of This is My Blood for a great example). Fate and da’ flames have now granted not one, but four advance reader books for yours truly to read and review. Even more interesting is that these books are all based on the “Supernatural” television show!

I really enjoy watching the “Supernatural” show. I’ve been watching it since it first started, I got a few of the seasons on DVD and I’ve been considering checking out the RPG as I am a modern horror RPG junkie. I know that the show is a flawed one at times, but the great character development, the interesting stories and “monster of the week” premise, the “road trip” angle and the plain fun of this show keeps me in the game as an eager player. So reading a set of books based on the show sounded like an ideal position for me to be in.

Well, now I find myself questioning this position.

The first book of the “Supernatural” series is simply titled “Nevermore”. As a fan of Edgar Allen Poe’s work, I could envision a lot of potential using his material in some shape of form in this book. I envisioned the potential of putting Sam, Dean and the Impala (yeah, I’m the mook who sees that swank car as a third character) placed in such a situation involving Poe’s work. But after reading this book I only wish the author was as interested in potential as I was. What do I mean by that? Get your rock salt and hunky supernatural exterminators ready, were goin’ hunting!

The storyline goes something along the line of the Winchester boys heading out to the New York City area to check out a rocker house as he thinks it’s haunted. And which deciding if there is even a haunting, they catch word of a couple of college students finding their lives cut short in a macabre kind away. Even more interesting is that this is but one of a string of seemingly related killings that have ties to the scribes of Mr. Poe. Sounds like it has potential right?

So what went wrong?

Well, it seems to me that the author was more interested in the setting than in the characters. Honestly, this book serves as more of a tourist guide to the Bronx and Brooklyn than it does a story about Sam, Dean and Impala. I have nothing against the author’s love for the city or if it’s his hometown in which he’s fondly familiar with (probably both) and wants to tell all about it. But this book size is too short to be going into such details on the city as everything else suffers. I mean I get it; Edgar Allen Poe once lived and died in the Bronx, but all the education on his home was wasted text as it didn’t add anything to the story about the Winchesters or their two cases.

The next issue was the errors and the continuity issues in places. I won’t go into all the details, but as a lukewarm fan of the show (I don’t live for it or watch it over and over again); even I could pick out character errors the author gave about the bro’s. I can imagine that the diehard fans will chew this book up and spit it out for its bitter tasting errors.

The last big issue with me was the lame characters presented around the Winchester boys. While the brothers themselves were written fairly credible to the show (as little as they were actually in it), the remaining cast in this book felt like clichéd cookie cutter characters whom you’ve seen a thousand times before. The book featured these goobers with more book space than the Winchesters got (who’s story is this anyway?) And yet, their extreme amount of trite detailing was even further diminished in the all the exuberant and lavish details of the city itself.

I formed a theory of how this book was written while I read it. I believe that this book was a story written by the author long before he got the job of writing a Supernatural novel. Then he watched maybe a handful of episodes to get an idea of the characterizations of the Winchester Boys, and then shoehorned them into the book. This book feels like the boys were an afterthought in a story that should be about them and their dealing with the supernatural baddies. And finally, the ending was just flat and lame. Was there really even an ending? Did the boys really solve anything? Questions like this does not a good book make.

I can really only recommend this book to those who want to know more about the city of New York as there’s plenty of info about it. Perhaps the author should consider a career as a tour guide; the man knows his city, I’ll give him that! But if you’re looking for a “Supernatural” book, then this is not the droid you’re looking for.

Sadly this book has caused me to lose some of my zest to read the other three. Where was the clever, witty and imaginative nature of the show? Did the WB give any thought to whom they let write this book based on their beloved show? Did they sell out this badly? Well, were gonna find out as I’ve got three more to go. On a bright note however, the other books are all written by different authors, so who knows? This one could have just been a rough start. But I won’t bet the Impala on that thought at this point.

Review by Steven Dawes

Related posts:

This is My Blood Fiction Review

Steven Dawes — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:45:09 +0000

Available at DriveThruHorror.com

Written by David Niall Wilson

I’ve only been a reviewer on da’ flames for about a scant 6 months now (my, how time does fly), but I’ve already read and reviewed some good books within that time. In one particular case however, I decided to read and review a book (Personal Effects- Dark Art) after reading a featured preview. As it turned out, this was a good book and was worth taking the leap and I told myself I would review more featured books in the future. And now I’ve recently read the featured preview of This is My Blood. This preview also grabbed me by the attention and I took another leap of faith. Was my faith rewarded?

Well before I answer this question, I feel a need to explain my review style. For those of you who’ve read my past reviews, I hope you’ve enjoyed them. If always been a philosophy and goal to make my reviews as enjoyable, including adding what I think are sometimes witty and/or silly bits of humor, sarcastic remarks, different points of view, where I am coming from on a given subject and so on. I feel that if I can’t keep you interested or entertained along the way, you probably won’t acquire the interest to look into the items that I’ve enjoyed nor think twice about looking into the items that I didn’t. Well, I’m scraping this method this time around for a more serious review.

So why am I traveling along a more serious route today? The answer ties into the first question when I asked “was my faith rewarded?” In a word I could say “absolutely” or even “completely, but I don’t feel that either of these words (or any group of words in general) will do this book justice. This is My Blood is nothing short of amazing, and I believe that no matter how hard I’d try, I won’t be able to give it the praise it deserves. So instead of my attempts at long winded goofy commentary in the hopes of encouraging you to sit down to this book, I’m simply going to implore you to read this extraordinary piece of literature. And to that end, I’m going to attempt to obtain your interest by stating the facts and I see them. So please follow along with me on this one, I wouldn’t just ask if I didn’t feel so strongly about this book.

-Fact #1. Even when I knew what This is My Blood was going to be about via the preview, this book continually surprised, impressed and amazed me. For those of you who haven’t read the preview yet, I ask you to click here to read it before continuing on with this review. The preview basically spells out what will happen and even hints at how and why it happens, so I won’t rehash it here. What I will say is that the story quickly becomes a personal adventure unlike anything I’ve ever read before.

One of the aspects that got my attention right away were the two main characters themselves; specifically Jesus Christ and a vampiress created and sent by Lucifer to tempt and ruin him. While I’ve read plenty of vampire stories and stories of the life of Jesus Christ, in my experience there’s never been a story involving both. I know how blasphemous this idea sounds; I am not a spiritual man by nature and I’ve only read the stories of Jesus from a “parable” and a “good reading material” point of view, and I still felt that this story was probably going to boldly drive into restricted areas.

But I couldn’t have been more wrong. The author wasn’t interested in ruffling any spiritual feathers. Once the story moved to a personal level I realized that the vampire angle was only the catalyst. In the end this story is really about faith (both spiritual faith and faith in one’s self), love, hope and sacrifice. I never saw any of this coming and I was simply blown away by it all. Such a tale in lesser hands may have been seriously flubbed with such a volatile mix of themes and loaded subjects, but David proves to be a master of the written word and treats the subject with a subtle and graceful finesse that only builds and adds to the profound depth of thought and feeling this book has to offer.

-Fact #2. I don’t think Mr. Wilson had any interest in trying to question, convert or re-affirm anyone’s faith. I believe that his interest was in telling the story of Jesus Christ through a very different and unexpected point of view. While that idea in and of itself is an interesting one to ponder, what’s more amazing is how inspirational this book was to me. Like I said, I’m not a spiritual man, and I think a large part of that is because I don’t truly “get” what the stories are trying to convey anymore than I can really “feel” the faith and inspiration they’re supposed to invoke in me. In short: I don’t really believe in the faith, I don’t even understand it.

However… as I read, something switched a light on for me. I’m not entirely sure how or where it happened during the story, but I’m honestly seeing Jesus and Christianity itself in a whole new light. Maybe it was something in the way Jesus was portrayed in this book, or the method of experiencing his life through the eyes and insights of such an unorthodox protagonist; but along the journey I learned new things, I saw events from the bible in a light that made sense where they hadn’t before, I had moments of teary eyed revelation and insight about Jesus and the all-father, and by the end of the book I truly felt like I’ve had some kind of spiritual enlightenment. I’ve even considered taking my very first “voluntary” step into the local church this Sunday. That has to speak volumes about this book!

-Fact #3. I keep a small library of books on a shelf at home that I call my “books that I wish I’d written myself shelf”. While I cherish lots of books, it’s a short list that makes this shelf. Some examples off the top of my head include Dracula (an annotated and a regular copy), A Christmas Carol, Shade (written by Neil Jordan), The Road, The Last Unicorn, anthology books with H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe and others.

While I possess an e-book version of this story, as of this morning I purchased a copy of this physical book on eBay. I paid several times the cost of the e-book, but it’s a first edition, it’s autographed, and it’s worth every penny in my opinion. As soon as it arrives, it will find a place amongst my list of books that I wish I’d written. To me, this fact has to be another sterling example to how incredible This is My Blood really is.

I also need to give praise to Mr. Wilson’s writing prowess. This book might not have been half as effective as it was without his writing style. As I read, I honestly couldn’t help but wonder if the man knows more than he’s telling in his fiction. This story was simply good enough to make me think that this could have really happened! I recall in the preview that this was his first novel. I’ve never read any of his other work, but if they are even half as potent as this one, consider me an instant fan who will be hunting down his scribes very soon!

While rooted in the realm of horror & dark fantasy, This is My Blood is in reality a personal journey more complete and deeper then nearly anything I’ve read. It’s been an incredible experience for me, and I believe it will be for you if you take a leap of faith on it.

Review by Steven Dawes

Look for more David Niall Wilson fiction at DriveThruHorror.com.

Related posts: