C.A. Verstraete's Blog, page 20

Stephen King Movie Bonanza!

If you're a Stephen King fan, (I am!) then there's lots of good stuff coming up. Can't wait!



 Pet Sematary is one of my favorite books.  (I should read it again; it's been a while.) The original movie was good, so this one will be fun to see.  The tagline says it all - They don't always come back the same. The movie comes out April 5.

King's epic apocalyptic novel, The Stand, also another

#Zombie Movie Review: Cargo

I'm usually late to the party, so this may be old news to some and hopefully new to others.

I'd seen the trailer to the movie Cargo a while ago and finally got to see the film itself.

Wow!  The zombies were scarce in the film as it's more a personal story about the lengths a father goes to protect his daughter, but it makes it no less worth watching.

The zombies, when they come on scene, are

Review: The Lizzie Movie

Lizzie Borden is a person that continues to fascinate and is always open to new interpretations. But as often happens, the hype doesn't always match the end result.



 I'm always behind everyone else, so I just watched the recently released Lizzie movie with Chloe  Sevigny as Lizzie and Kristen Stewart as Bridget Sullivan.

Well. It's nothing new really. The movie focuses on the rumored

Best Books of 2018 #horror #mystery #zombie

A nice way to end 2018 and start 2019!





Here's a great list of King's River Life Magazine's Best Books of 2018 by its reviewers.

 An eclectic selection including Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2. Yay!

January Reading List: Bird Box #Apocalyptic Fiction #Anthologies #Horror

It's January (despite it being in the 50s in the Midwest!) and I have a baker's dozen-plus of new reads in various genres that look intriguing, so fire up that Kindle or get a print copy and dig in!


Anthologies






 

 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles, Kevin J. Kennedy - Lisa Morton and other authors offer horrifying 100 word bites of terror. 

Hellhole: An Anthology of

Some fun free reading, Happy New Year!

I like to read in all genres, and if you're a writer, it's always good to see what someone else is writing.

Here's a list of great stories published by the Saturday Evening Post they listed as their year's Most Popular Contemporary Fiction. Included is prolific short mystery writer John Floyd's story. Be sure to check them out.

Have a great new year! Hope you have health, great publishing and other successes,,  and peace in 2019!



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Merry #Christmas!

Hope you enjoyed my Eight Days of Christmas Reads. You can see the whole list on the pages tab at the top of the blog or on the Day 1 post.

Hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year. Wishing you any other holiday greetings as well! Stay tuned for more posts later and some new direction in the new year!

 All animations are from  https://www.fg-a.com/

#Christmas Reads 8: Merry #Ghostly and #Gothic #Christmas Eve!

A Merry Christmas Eve to all!

I'm sure everyone is busy celebrating, but if you have a break or quiet time here are a few other holiday reading suggestions. 

This time, I've included a few "darker," Gothic and ghostly-type reads that looked interesting. Maybe you'll even want to stage a short Christmas play between the Egg Nog and gifts?
 
A Gothic Christmas: A Collection of Three Stage Plays, G.R. Linden - Demons, vampires and grizzly takes on that traditional Christmas.

Dark Celebration: A Carpathian Reunion, Christine Feehan - Noted romance author brings Christmas to the latest in her seductive vampire series. as the prince of the Carpathians fears he can no longer protect his species from extinction by their immortal enemies. 

Ghostly Winter Tales: A Fourth Collection of Ghostly Stories for Christmas - Collection of 23 ghostly Victorian and Edwardian stories of macabre mischief and the supernatural, some reprinted for the first time since their original publication.

 
Miss Marley: A Christmas Ghost Story, Prequel to A Christmas Carol, Vanessa LaFaye - Orphans Clara and Jacob Marley live by their wits, scavenging for scraps in the poorest alleyways of London, in the shadow of the workhouse. Every night, Jake promises his little sister ‘tomorrow will be better’ and when the chance to escape poverty comes their way, he seizes it despite the terrible price.

And so Jacob Marley is set on a path that leads to his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge. As Jacob builds a fortress of wealth to keep the world out, only Clara can warn him of the hideous fate that awaits him if he refuses to let love and kindness into his heart… In Miss Marley, Vanessa Lafaye weaves a spellbinding Dickensian tale of ghosts, goodwill and hope – a perfect prequel to A Christmas Carol.That, of course, leads to the classic story of  Christmas ghosts, greed and redemption in  A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. 


** And if you want something non-Christmas-related try my...



Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter series and  The Haunting  of Dr. Bowen

* Back to Day 1.  

#Christmas Reads 7: Color it #Horror!

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

It amazes me sometimes what is a book category! Yes, there are Christmas Horror - and Zombie -  Coloring Books! Get out those crayons, paints and markers!


   
Frightfully Festive - 61 pages
The Beauty of Horror: Ghosts of Christmas Coloring Book - Alan Robert -Ghouliana sinks her fangs into the North Pole. 64 pages

The Beauty of Horror 2: Ghouliana's Creepatorium  - More creepy horror from Alan Robert. 88 pages. And there is also The Beauty of Horror 3: Haunted Playgrounds.  



The Zombies that Ate Christmas - 24 pages.

I've also included a few other Christmas coloring books that I thought looked interesting and had pretty designs. 


    
Adult Coloring Book: Nice Little Town Christmas -  32 unique images. 90 pages.

Magic Christmas Adult Coloring Book   Vol. 8 -  62 pages.

Mandala Christmas Things - 30 patterns to color.  64 pages.


** And if you want something non-Christmas-related try my...



Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter series and  The Haunting  of Dr. Bowen
* Back to Day 1. 

#Christmas Reads 6: #Horror Anthologies

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....



** Assorted anthologies. Christmasy little tales of holiday horror! **

   
Bah! Humbug! An Anthology of Christmas Horror Stories, Matt Shaw, Jaime Johnesee, Thomas S. Flowers and others - Reprint and original tales of holiday horror and weirdness from over 20 authors. Plus 400 pages. Proceeds benefit different monthly charities. 

Collected Christmas Horror Shorts - Tim Curran, Michael Arnzen, Lisa Morton, John R. Little and others - Twenty-four stories of a "different" kind of Christmas...

Collected Christmas Horror Shorts 2 - (Recently released!) More tales of not-so-happy Christmases, the ones they don't tell you about in the movies and songs...


    
Deadly Night: A Twisted Christmas Anthology, (Releases today!) - Twenty-one scary, sexy and definitely twisted holiday stories by 25 authors, including USA Today Bestsellers. 

Merry Krampus Anthology - from Gothic Bite Magazine. (Recently released!) When Krampus appears at Christmas, the legendary creature won't be bringing gifts. A little history across cultures and some Krampus tales of holiday terror.

RED Christmas - (Recently released!) Tales of suicide, kidnap and horror guitars from authors across four continents. 


 
The 12 Terrors of Christmas: A Christmas Horror Anthology - Claudette Melanson, Lynn Lamb and others - Twelve terror stories of Christmas, vampires, ghosts, a rampaging Krampus and more.

The 13 Frights of Christmas: The Horror Authors' Carnival -   (Recently released!) Jingle My Bells and you'll attract the wrong kind of attention.. and more.  ** Proceeds benefit the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, A Haven for Elephants and Rhinos.**


** And if you want something non-Christmas-related try my...



Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter series and  The Haunting  of Dr. Bowen

* Back to Day 1.