M.R. Gott's Blog, page 5
November 2, 2013
Embrace of the Vampire 2013 remake
Back in High School or Junior High I remember seeing Embrace of the Vampire. It was beyond abysmal even to a young audience, though I did not feel totally slighted as the main reason for the rental was to see Alyssa Millano without a shirt on. That did happen a great deal and I remember little else about it.
Trailers for the new one showed up everywhere to me, and looked like it had some potential so relenting to the seemingly supernatural forces I added it to my netflix list. I am very interested in finding a supernatural horror flick that is legitimately scary and sexy. Alas this film is not the one and Animals the poorly cast and budged Skipp and Spector adaptation is still in the lead.
The film follows Charlotte Hawthorne(
Charlotte begins to have nightmares and lustful dreams that soon begin while she is awake making it nearly impossible for her to tell reality from the illusions.
Embrace the Vampire is a disappointing movie because it shows some real promise with the nightmare sequences. There is even a very well shot vampire stalk and kill scene that has a few great moments of misdirection. The plot however is cliched and horribly predictable. Even the effort at a red herring is just wasted. The dialogue emphasizes that it was male writers with probably few female friends behind the words, forcing me to wonder if The attempts at eroticism fail worse than the horror elements. With nearly no developed relationships between the couples it is just random nudity thrown in for no other reason.
The film's greatest accomplishment though was it's ability to offend me. Equating virginity to a magical pureness (for women of course) is just wrong. Also from a script/plot perspective getting laid will mean you are no longer in danger. Oh yeah and sex with a woman doesn't count. This shit is just offensive.
I can't remember where I heard it but I will leave you with another's thoughts on this idea.
PARAPHRASED "If you believe touching a woman makes her un-pure, you probably shouldn't touch one"
October 31, 2013
October 30, 2013
Halloween Bash...Alternative Halloween Viewing Material.
So you've been watching slasher tear through teenage fodder, old houses creak coyly and creatures jump from the darkness and the Halloween season is almost over but you want a final Halloween film that is a tad different from the others. Here are two ideas.
Donnie Darko, taking place throughout October with an eerie intelligence, somber atmosphere and great soundtrack. It even ends with a Halloween Party.
The Crow, Alex Proyas' masterpiece of goth-pop sensibility. Halloween is a constant reference, you have trick or treaters and figure of the Crow is iconic and a go to for so many lazy costume goers.
Donnie Darko, taking place throughout October with an eerie intelligence, somber atmosphere and great soundtrack. It even ends with a Halloween Party.
The Crow, Alex Proyas' masterpiece of goth-pop sensibility. Halloween is a constant reference, you have trick or treaters and figure of the Crow is iconic and a go to for so many lazy costume goers. 
October 29, 2013
Halloween Bash...Scott M. Baker
When M.R. asked me to write a posting about what Halloween means to me, at first I was stymied. Anybody who knows me knows that I am a certified Monster Kid, and have been as far back as I can remember. I live, eat, and sleep this stuff. Most people wake up from a nightmare and turn on a light to drive the demons away; I wake up and jot down the details for my next short story. However, this year Halloween means something more to me.
Let me explain. Several years ago, shortly after the publication of The Vampire Hunters, I received a message from a young lady who had read the book and wanted to tell me how much she liked it. She was from Florida and, at the time, I lived in northern Virginia. We struck up a conversation, and during the course of time this young lady mentioned that she was writing her own vampire novel. I volunteered to read it, and provided her honest and critical feedback.
As time went on, this young lady and I became good friends. She agreed to be one of my beta readers. We exchanged plot ideas, and would review sections of each other’s work that were causing us problems. As time passed, we discovered that we also had similar interests. We both loved vampires. We were both fans of World War II history. We both loved it when you mixed vampires or zombies with Nazis. And we both had a twisted sense of humor.
Even more important, this young lady offered me comfort during a very difficult time in my life. She challenged me to be a better person and to stand up for myself. She made me realize I was special, and I deserved to be happy. She supported me when I needed it, and kicked me in the butt when I needed it more.
Through it all, me and this young lady shared our love for horror. She read the next two books in The Vampire Hunters trilogy and Rotter World, and beta read the various short stories I wrote (including the one about the giant spider from space, even though she hates spiders). We started watching The Walking Dead and True Blood together on Sunday nights. Well, not physically, but we texted each other during the shows as if we were together.
Once the difficult time in my life had passed, she suggested that we meet and see what happened. That was in November 2011.So what does this have to do with Halloween and why the day is special to me? Two things.First, the young lady whose manuscript I reviewed is Alison Beightol. Today, her second vampire novel (Blood Betrayal) is being published. I am very proud of her, and am confident her career will be a success.Second, Alison and I met because of horror, and it has been a constant through our relationship. Which is why, this afternoon, the two of us are getting married. Of all the dates to get wed, Halloween seemed the most appropriate. So am I still the creepy little Monster Kid who enjoys Halloween because it represents something that is very near and dear to me? Yes. But now I have someone special and even more dear to me to share it with.
Born and raised just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, Scott M. Baker now lives in Florida with his fiancee and fellow author Alison Beightol, his stepdaughter, two house rabbits, two boxers, and a cat. His first zombie novel, Rotter World, was released by Permuted Press in April 2012. He has also authored The Vampire Hunters trilogy and several short stories, including “Dead Water,” “Rednecks Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things,” “Cruise of the Living Dead,” “Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly,” "The Hunger," and "Last Flight of the Bismarck." He is currently working on a post-apocalyptic Young Adult novel titled Hell Gate and a sequel to Rotter World.
Let me explain. Several years ago, shortly after the publication of The Vampire Hunters, I received a message from a young lady who had read the book and wanted to tell me how much she liked it. She was from Florida and, at the time, I lived in northern Virginia. We struck up a conversation, and during the course of time this young lady mentioned that she was writing her own vampire novel. I volunteered to read it, and provided her honest and critical feedback. As time went on, this young lady and I became good friends. She agreed to be one of my beta readers. We exchanged plot ideas, and would review sections of each other’s work that were causing us problems. As time passed, we discovered that we also had similar interests. We both loved vampires. We were both fans of World War II history. We both loved it when you mixed vampires or zombies with Nazis. And we both had a twisted sense of humor.
Even more important, this young lady offered me comfort during a very difficult time in my life. She challenged me to be a better person and to stand up for myself. She made me realize I was special, and I deserved to be happy. She supported me when I needed it, and kicked me in the butt when I needed it more.
Through it all, me and this young lady shared our love for horror. She read the next two books in The Vampire Hunters trilogy and Rotter World, and beta read the various short stories I wrote (including the one about the giant spider from space, even though she hates spiders). We started watching The Walking Dead and True Blood together on Sunday nights. Well, not physically, but we texted each other during the shows as if we were together.
Once the difficult time in my life had passed, she suggested that we meet and see what happened. That was in November 2011.So what does this have to do with Halloween and why the day is special to me? Two things.First, the young lady whose manuscript I reviewed is Alison Beightol. Today, her second vampire novel (Blood Betrayal) is being published. I am very proud of her, and am confident her career will be a success.Second, Alison and I met because of horror, and it has been a constant through our relationship. Which is why, this afternoon, the two of us are getting married. Of all the dates to get wed, Halloween seemed the most appropriate. So am I still the creepy little Monster Kid who enjoys Halloween because it represents something that is very near and dear to me? Yes. But now I have someone special and even more dear to me to share it with.
Born and raised just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, Scott M. Baker now lives in Florida with his fiancee and fellow author Alison Beightol, his stepdaughter, two house rabbits, two boxers, and a cat. His first zombie novel, Rotter World, was released by Permuted Press in April 2012. He has also authored The Vampire Hunters trilogy and several short stories, including “Dead Water,” “Rednecks Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things,” “Cruise of the Living Dead,” “Deck the Malls with Bowels of Holly,” "The Hunger," and "Last Flight of the Bismarck." He is currently working on a post-apocalyptic Young Adult novel titled Hell Gate and a sequel to Rotter World.
October 28, 2013
Halloween Bash... with Vampirella
Writer: Shannon Eric DentonArt: Dietrich SmithColors: Wes HartmanLetterer: Marshall DillonCover: Joe JuskoPublisher: Dynamite EntertainmentPrice: $4.99Release Date: October 23, 2013
"Vampirella once again joins forces with Dracula and Eva in order to confront a Doomsday Cult intent on releasing one of the Ancient Ones back upon the Earth. The trio, empowered from their previous successes, will confront these evil forces head on! These three warriors race from threat to threat in order to stop the apocalypse but will learn that even their immense power may not be enough. Whether they accept it or not, some battles cannot be won…"From Dynamite Comics
With Eva and Dracula by her side Vampriella the ultimate hit and miss horror icon embarks in an action packed and lightening paced one shot adventure. The script by Denton spends little time establishing a mood, confident his audience is familiar with these characters.
Dietrich Smith's art is slick, but never breathtaking or greatly detailed. His panels are large, but not as intricately detailed as many other splash pages. The result is that despite the larger than average page number of the issue, this is an incredibly quick read. The sense of movement however works very well and you can follow the massive amount of combat in the issue.
Overall this isn't a bad Halloween Special, it's just not great either.
October 27, 2013
The Thing: Collector’s Edition DVD, starring Kurt Russell...
The Thing: Collector’s Edition DVD, starring Kurt RussellDirected by John CarpenterReview by Wayne C. Rogers
I picked up a fairly new copy of the DVD for John Carpenter’s The Thing: Collector’s Edition, which was released in 2004, last week for a couple of bucks. The movie itself came out on June 25th, 1982. That was the summer filled with blockbusters, or at least great movies: Blade Runner, E.T., Poltergeist, and John Carpenter’s The Thing. I’d already read John W. Campbell’s short story, Who Goes There, several years before the Carpenter movie came out and had also seen the original 1951 film, The Thing From Another World, that was directed by Howard Hawks and starred James Arness as the creature. John Carpenter’s The Thing also blew me out of my seat. The special effects for the creature were awesome, and the actors had me believing I was right there with them at the Antarctic research station, trapped in a snow blizzard with the Thing coming after my sorry ass.
Anyway, when I purchased the DVD I hadn’t seen the movie since it had been out in the VHS format, which was at least fifteen years. I also saw that this particular edition of the film had an 80-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, and I wanted to see it. That's what caused me to buy it on DVD.For those of you who don’t know the movie, it’s about a group of American scientists and a helicopter pilot who find themselves stranded at an Antarctic research station during a snow storm. What creates the tension for this movie is that a very aggressive alien is also at the station with them. The alien and its space craft were discovered by a Norwegian station several miles away. The alien wiped out everybody there, except for two men who chased it in the form of a dog across the snow to the American station. The two Norwegians die, and then the Americans take the animal in, not knowing a pissed off alien is inside of it.I mean the alien was frozen in the snow for like 70,000 years, so it was a little cranky when the Norwegians thawed it out.
The alien is a shape changer and can take any form it desires. So, it doesn't take long before the scientists realize the alien is amongst them. They just don't know who's real or who's an alien. In other words, they know whom to trust. The film is therefore filled with a strong sense of claustrophobia and distrust, not to mention violence when the alien rags on someone. To add to the utter sense of isolation is a great musical score by Ennio Morricone that’s both haunting in nature and adds to the sense of loneliness at the research station.Besides Kurt Russell who plays the helicopter pilot, MacReady, John Carpenter was able to assemble a strong cast of secondary actors who brought their superb skills to the set and delivered performances that were Oscar worthy. You have Wilford Brimley (before he grew his white mustache) as Blair, Keith David (Platoon, Marked For Death, Pitch Black) as Childs, Donald Moffat as Garry, Richard Masur as Clark, and Charles Hallahan as Norris, whose head rips off during the movie, falls to the floor, develops crab-like legs, and then scuttles hurryingly out of the room, hoping to escape the flame thrower.The great Stan Winston did the creature/dog special effects as a favor to Robb Bottin (The Howling, The Fog and Robocop), who was busy doing the special effects for the rest of the movie. In many ways, this was Robb’s picture because without his special effects, it would’ve been just a good film, instead of a great one. His creatures (remember, this was pre-CGI) took special effects to the next level with their awe-inspiring believability and astounding gruesomeness.Though a lot of the movie was filmed on sound stages with the temperature turned down, much was also filmed in Stewart, British Columbia because of the snow there. Though it was a grueling shoot, the actors loved it and felt it made their character’s reactions more real to the audience.The Thing was John Carpenter’s first big studio project, and everyone was expecting great things from it at the Box Office. When it didn’t happen, it was a letdown for all involved as they tried to figure out what went wrong. Of course, the movie has since become a classic and has sold a ton of DVDs to its legion of fans.
I need to point out that the screenplay was written by Bill Lancaster, who is the son of the late Burt Lancaster, and who had written The Bad News Bears. He gave the film its foundation, and then it was up to the cast and crew to bring the movie to life.The Collector’s Edition of this DVD has a great documentary that’s nearly an hour-and-a-half long and tells you everything you need to know about the making of the movie and about its after affects. There's also a look at the production design, some other special effects, and trailers.
This is a great horror movie that still holds up well after thirty years with special effects that will knock you right out of your little white cotton bobby socks. It’s good that the movie has finally found its audience and the deserved recognition for such fine directing, acting and mind-blowing special effects. The Thing is a true classic in every sense of the word and a fantastic movie to watch on Halloween night!
Wayne C. Rogers is a Las Vegas casino employee who has been writing professionally (with the intent to sell) for twenty-five years. It's only been within the past three years that Mr. Rogers (no, not the famous TV host of programs for children) made the decision to work towards being a full-time writer of horror, suspense, psychological, and erotic horror fiction.He has written several novellas (three of which are posted on Amazon's Kindle), dozens of short stories (some of which are also on Amazon), an erotic/horror novel--The House of Blood--for the wild crowd that lives on the kinky side of reality, and five completed screenplays based on his stories The Encounter, The Tunnels, A Step in the Shadows, Trick or Treat, and The Garbage Disposal (the last three are short screenplays). He is currently at work on a sixth screenplay, The Code of Honor, as well as a seventh, Dolan. During the year of 2012, Mr. Rogers sold over twenty short stories with some of them appearing in the paperback anthologies: I'll Never Go Away, Grindhouse and Peep Show, Volume 2.Being somewhat of a couch potato at his old age of sixty-two, Mr. Rogers enjoys the pastime of writing, reading (he has over a few hundred books stored in boxes a few feet from his writing table), great movies from any time period, and well-made television programs such as Justified, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Game of Thrones, Justified, and American Horror Story. Finally, Mr. Rogers is rather unusual in that he doesn't own a house or a car, A friend just recently bought him a cellphone, but he hasn't turned it on as of yet. He spends his free time at the computer writing his stories, and usually doesn't leave his apartment till it's time to head to work. Thank God for ham & cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup!!!
I picked up a fairly new copy of the DVD for John Carpenter’s The Thing: Collector’s Edition, which was released in 2004, last week for a couple of bucks. The movie itself came out on June 25th, 1982. That was the summer filled with blockbusters, or at least great movies: Blade Runner, E.T., Poltergeist, and John Carpenter’s The Thing. I’d already read John W. Campbell’s short story, Who Goes There, several years before the Carpenter movie came out and had also seen the original 1951 film, The Thing From Another World, that was directed by Howard Hawks and starred James Arness as the creature. John Carpenter’s The Thing also blew me out of my seat. The special effects for the creature were awesome, and the actors had me believing I was right there with them at the Antarctic research station, trapped in a snow blizzard with the Thing coming after my sorry ass.
Anyway, when I purchased the DVD I hadn’t seen the movie since it had been out in the VHS format, which was at least fifteen years. I also saw that this particular edition of the film had an 80-minute behind-the-scenes documentary, and I wanted to see it. That's what caused me to buy it on DVD.For those of you who don’t know the movie, it’s about a group of American scientists and a helicopter pilot who find themselves stranded at an Antarctic research station during a snow storm. What creates the tension for this movie is that a very aggressive alien is also at the station with them. The alien and its space craft were discovered by a Norwegian station several miles away. The alien wiped out everybody there, except for two men who chased it in the form of a dog across the snow to the American station. The two Norwegians die, and then the Americans take the animal in, not knowing a pissed off alien is inside of it.I mean the alien was frozen in the snow for like 70,000 years, so it was a little cranky when the Norwegians thawed it out.
The alien is a shape changer and can take any form it desires. So, it doesn't take long before the scientists realize the alien is amongst them. They just don't know who's real or who's an alien. In other words, they know whom to trust. The film is therefore filled with a strong sense of claustrophobia and distrust, not to mention violence when the alien rags on someone. To add to the utter sense of isolation is a great musical score by Ennio Morricone that’s both haunting in nature and adds to the sense of loneliness at the research station.Besides Kurt Russell who plays the helicopter pilot, MacReady, John Carpenter was able to assemble a strong cast of secondary actors who brought their superb skills to the set and delivered performances that were Oscar worthy. You have Wilford Brimley (before he grew his white mustache) as Blair, Keith David (Platoon, Marked For Death, Pitch Black) as Childs, Donald Moffat as Garry, Richard Masur as Clark, and Charles Hallahan as Norris, whose head rips off during the movie, falls to the floor, develops crab-like legs, and then scuttles hurryingly out of the room, hoping to escape the flame thrower.The great Stan Winston did the creature/dog special effects as a favor to Robb Bottin (The Howling, The Fog and Robocop), who was busy doing the special effects for the rest of the movie. In many ways, this was Robb’s picture because without his special effects, it would’ve been just a good film, instead of a great one. His creatures (remember, this was pre-CGI) took special effects to the next level with their awe-inspiring believability and astounding gruesomeness.Though a lot of the movie was filmed on sound stages with the temperature turned down, much was also filmed in Stewart, British Columbia because of the snow there. Though it was a grueling shoot, the actors loved it and felt it made their character’s reactions more real to the audience.The Thing was John Carpenter’s first big studio project, and everyone was expecting great things from it at the Box Office. When it didn’t happen, it was a letdown for all involved as they tried to figure out what went wrong. Of course, the movie has since become a classic and has sold a ton of DVDs to its legion of fans.
I need to point out that the screenplay was written by Bill Lancaster, who is the son of the late Burt Lancaster, and who had written The Bad News Bears. He gave the film its foundation, and then it was up to the cast and crew to bring the movie to life.The Collector’s Edition of this DVD has a great documentary that’s nearly an hour-and-a-half long and tells you everything you need to know about the making of the movie and about its after affects. There's also a look at the production design, some other special effects, and trailers.
This is a great horror movie that still holds up well after thirty years with special effects that will knock you right out of your little white cotton bobby socks. It’s good that the movie has finally found its audience and the deserved recognition for such fine directing, acting and mind-blowing special effects. The Thing is a true classic in every sense of the word and a fantastic movie to watch on Halloween night!
Wayne C. Rogers is a Las Vegas casino employee who has been writing professionally (with the intent to sell) for twenty-five years. It's only been within the past three years that Mr. Rogers (no, not the famous TV host of programs for children) made the decision to work towards being a full-time writer of horror, suspense, psychological, and erotic horror fiction.He has written several novellas (three of which are posted on Amazon's Kindle), dozens of short stories (some of which are also on Amazon), an erotic/horror novel--The House of Blood--for the wild crowd that lives on the kinky side of reality, and five completed screenplays based on his stories The Encounter, The Tunnels, A Step in the Shadows, Trick or Treat, and The Garbage Disposal (the last three are short screenplays). He is currently at work on a sixth screenplay, The Code of Honor, as well as a seventh, Dolan. During the year of 2012, Mr. Rogers sold over twenty short stories with some of them appearing in the paperback anthologies: I'll Never Go Away, Grindhouse and Peep Show, Volume 2.Being somewhat of a couch potato at his old age of sixty-two, Mr. Rogers enjoys the pastime of writing, reading (he has over a few hundred books stored in boxes a few feet from his writing table), great movies from any time period, and well-made television programs such as Justified, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Game of Thrones, Justified, and American Horror Story. Finally, Mr. Rogers is rather unusual in that he doesn't own a house or a car, A friend just recently bought him a cellphone, but he hasn't turned it on as of yet. He spends his free time at the computer writing his stories, and usually doesn't leave his apartment till it's time to head to work. Thank God for ham & cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup!!!
October 26, 2013
Wayne C RogersReviews Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Dr. Sleep by Stephen KingScribner, Hardcover, 531pp, $30.00Review by Wayne C. Rogers
For those who grew up with Stephen King as a stable in their reading curriculum, Dr. Sleep is to be savored like an exquisite meal. Unfortunately, you’ll probably find yourself flipping through the pages as fast as you can, unable to put the book down. That’s what I did. I love it when that happens!
The journey of Dr. Sleep starts out with Danny as a young boy, coping with being a fatherless child and the horrible things his dad attempted to do to him and his mother at the Overlook Hotel. It then advances in years to when Danny’s an adult, drinking and fighting, unconsciously carrying his dad’s legacy with him wherever he goes. In time, Danny bottoms out as an alcoholic. It’s only then that he’s able to make a decision to change his destructive ways.
Over the next few months, Danny Tolerance travels to Frazier, New Hampshire. This is a fine, New England town where he eventually gets a job in the local hospice, while discovering AA meetings. Though Danny does many things around the hospice, it’s his specialty for helping the dying to pass over that draws the attention of the nurses and the cat, Azzie, who can sense when a patient is in the last stages of life.
As the years pass by, Danny begins to receive visions of a child with strong psychic abilities. The little girl, Abra, is born close to Frazier and gradually grows into a lovely teenager with strong powers of the shining. Think of Carrie on steroids. Unfortunately, Danny isn’t the only one who becomes aware of Abra. Rose, the beautiful leader of the True Knot, also has the shining. In fact, all the members of the True Knot have some degree of the shining, but Rose is the strongest. Once she becomes aware of Abra, she gets it into her mind to kill the child and to use the girl’s powers for the benefit of the group. When Abra begins to suspect the danger she’s in, she seeks out Danny’s help. He knows firsthand what it’s like to be a child and to have an unimaginable evil hunting you down. Once he’s called in to help, Danny will devote himself to destroying the True Knot.
For readers expecting an out-and-out horror novel, this isn’t it. Though there are plenty of frights in Dr. Sleep, the book deals more with the personal journeys of Danny Tolerance and Abra Stone and how they cope with the changes within themselves. Danny’s journey is one of redemption. It begins at rock bottom and then gradually works its way into sobriety. It’s only then he can find his true calling, which is to help the dying to pass over. Abra, on the other hand, experiences a journey of understanding in how pure evil can manifest itself within our world. She learns how to fight it, using her gift of the shining for both revenge and to protect the helpless.
The two journeys are filled with indispensible meaning and personal growth as each person overcomes tragedy and heartache to push beyond their imagined limits. You see there can be no growth without handling the challenges placed before you. Each individual must do this on their own, even if they have the full support of their family and friends. Most of life is an internal struggle that one battles every single day. Dr. Sleep is certainly Stephen King’s masterpiece. It’s a story that will resonate within a reader’s mind long after the last page is turned. This is what great storytelling is about. Not the horrors of mankind, but rather the connections we make with each other that are filled with love and giving.
Highly recommend!
Wayne C. Rogers is a Las Vegas casino employee who has been writing professionally (with the intent to sell) for twenty-five years. It's only been within the past three years that Mr. Rogers (no, not the famous TV host of programs for children) made the decision to work towards being a full-time writer of horror, suspense, psychological, and erotic horror fiction.He has written several novellas (three of which are posted on Amazon's Kindle), dozens of short stories (some of which are also on Amazon), an erotic/horror novel--The House of Blood--for the wild crowd that lives on the kinky side of reality, and five completed screenplays based on his stories The Encounter, The Tunnels, A Step in the Shadows, Trick or Treat, and The Garbage Disposal (the last three are short screenplays). He is currently at work on a sixth screenplay, The Code of Honor, as well as a seventh, Dolan. During the year of 2012, Mr. Rogers sold over twenty short stories with some of them appearing in the paperback anthologies: I'll Never Go Away, Grindhouse and Peep Show, Volume 2.Being somewhat of a couch potato at his old age of sixty-two, Mr. Rogers enjoys the pastime of writing, reading (he has over a few hundred books stored in boxes a few feet from his writing table), great movies from any time period, and well-made television programs such as Justified, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Game of Thrones, Justified, and American Horror Story. Finally, Mr. Rogers is rather unusual in that he doesn't own a house or a car, A friend just recently bought him a cellphone, but he hasn't turned it on as of yet. He spends his free time at the computer writing his stories, and usually doesn't leave his apartment till it's time to head to work. Thank God for ham & cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup!!!
For those who grew up with Stephen King as a stable in their reading curriculum, Dr. Sleep is to be savored like an exquisite meal. Unfortunately, you’ll probably find yourself flipping through the pages as fast as you can, unable to put the book down. That’s what I did. I love it when that happens!
The journey of Dr. Sleep starts out with Danny as a young boy, coping with being a fatherless child and the horrible things his dad attempted to do to him and his mother at the Overlook Hotel. It then advances in years to when Danny’s an adult, drinking and fighting, unconsciously carrying his dad’s legacy with him wherever he goes. In time, Danny bottoms out as an alcoholic. It’s only then that he’s able to make a decision to change his destructive ways.
Over the next few months, Danny Tolerance travels to Frazier, New Hampshire. This is a fine, New England town where he eventually gets a job in the local hospice, while discovering AA meetings. Though Danny does many things around the hospice, it’s his specialty for helping the dying to pass over that draws the attention of the nurses and the cat, Azzie, who can sense when a patient is in the last stages of life.
As the years pass by, Danny begins to receive visions of a child with strong psychic abilities. The little girl, Abra, is born close to Frazier and gradually grows into a lovely teenager with strong powers of the shining. Think of Carrie on steroids. Unfortunately, Danny isn’t the only one who becomes aware of Abra. Rose, the beautiful leader of the True Knot, also has the shining. In fact, all the members of the True Knot have some degree of the shining, but Rose is the strongest. Once she becomes aware of Abra, she gets it into her mind to kill the child and to use the girl’s powers for the benefit of the group. When Abra begins to suspect the danger she’s in, she seeks out Danny’s help. He knows firsthand what it’s like to be a child and to have an unimaginable evil hunting you down. Once he’s called in to help, Danny will devote himself to destroying the True Knot.
For readers expecting an out-and-out horror novel, this isn’t it. Though there are plenty of frights in Dr. Sleep, the book deals more with the personal journeys of Danny Tolerance and Abra Stone and how they cope with the changes within themselves. Danny’s journey is one of redemption. It begins at rock bottom and then gradually works its way into sobriety. It’s only then he can find his true calling, which is to help the dying to pass over. Abra, on the other hand, experiences a journey of understanding in how pure evil can manifest itself within our world. She learns how to fight it, using her gift of the shining for both revenge and to protect the helpless.
The two journeys are filled with indispensible meaning and personal growth as each person overcomes tragedy and heartache to push beyond their imagined limits. You see there can be no growth without handling the challenges placed before you. Each individual must do this on their own, even if they have the full support of their family and friends. Most of life is an internal struggle that one battles every single day. Dr. Sleep is certainly Stephen King’s masterpiece. It’s a story that will resonate within a reader’s mind long after the last page is turned. This is what great storytelling is about. Not the horrors of mankind, but rather the connections we make with each other that are filled with love and giving.
Highly recommend!
Wayne C. Rogers is a Las Vegas casino employee who has been writing professionally (with the intent to sell) for twenty-five years. It's only been within the past three years that Mr. Rogers (no, not the famous TV host of programs for children) made the decision to work towards being a full-time writer of horror, suspense, psychological, and erotic horror fiction.He has written several novellas (three of which are posted on Amazon's Kindle), dozens of short stories (some of which are also on Amazon), an erotic/horror novel--The House of Blood--for the wild crowd that lives on the kinky side of reality, and five completed screenplays based on his stories The Encounter, The Tunnels, A Step in the Shadows, Trick or Treat, and The Garbage Disposal (the last three are short screenplays). He is currently at work on a sixth screenplay, The Code of Honor, as well as a seventh, Dolan. During the year of 2012, Mr. Rogers sold over twenty short stories with some of them appearing in the paperback anthologies: I'll Never Go Away, Grindhouse and Peep Show, Volume 2.Being somewhat of a couch potato at his old age of sixty-two, Mr. Rogers enjoys the pastime of writing, reading (he has over a few hundred books stored in boxes a few feet from his writing table), great movies from any time period, and well-made television programs such as Justified, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Game of Thrones, Justified, and American Horror Story. Finally, Mr. Rogers is rather unusual in that he doesn't own a house or a car, A friend just recently bought him a cellphone, but he hasn't turned it on as of yet. He spends his free time at the computer writing his stories, and usually doesn't leave his apartment till it's time to head to work. Thank God for ham & cheese sandwiches and chicken noodle soup!!!
Halloween Bash...Daddy's Got You free on Amazon
Click the image below to jump to Amazon to get a free copy of Daddy's Got You
October 25, 2013
Halloween Horror Bash...Evil Dead Maze
For those of us who can't make it to Universal Studios for Halloween Horror Nights, here is the Evil Dead Attraction.
October 24, 2013
Halloween Bash...with James R Tuck
HALLOWEEN AND BROTHER HANK (or my weirdest association with October 31st)
Okay, some of you will relate to this. You will know where I am coming from immediately because you will have a similar back story. Some of you won't and this will be just a strange glimpse at life in the South in the early eighties.Here's some things you need to know going in:I grew up attending a Pentecostal church. No, we didn't handle snakes but folks did speak in tongues and fall out during service whenever things really got to humming. Other than that we were pretty much just excited Baptists.This was before everyone had a magic, instant communicator device with the power of Google in their hand. We weren't ignorant, but information was harder to come by and if someone stood on a stage and spoke to you authoritatively on any subject, their words had more weight than today.And lastly, this is about the time period and what happened to me, not a knock against religion.With that set up here is what would happen around Halloween every year from the age of 12 (1982) to about 15 (1985) for me.The weather turns in Georgia every October. It may be 80+ during the day, but as the sun drops so does the temperature. It's as if the whole state loses its ability to hold heat. Some nights it will drop to below 40 degrees, requiring a jacket. Also during October in the Eighties the Marietta Church Of God would bring in the (at the time) honorable Brother Hank Davis to hold forth a revival designed to save the immortal souls of the young people in their pews.Now Brother Hank Davis was a fucking rock star to us wide-eyed church youth. He was young, meaning he was under 40, and had a full head of thick hair that swept up and back like some feathery helmet of awe. Many of the girls and some of the boys fancied him, finding him handsome. Most of this was the simple fact that he was ON STAGE which puts a sort of Gaussian blur filter on anyone, lifting their attractiveness level several notches.
The other thing that made him a rock star wasn't his cool, casually hip way of talking, it was the lurid subjects he spoke on, subjects that when strung together should have blared out from a grindhouse poster in a psychedelic carmine red.ROCK N ROLLBACK MASKINGSATANISMDRUGSand since it was October when he visitedHALLOWEEN: THE DEVIL'S HOLIDAY.Can you see the movie tear sheet in your mind?He would stand on the stage in rolled up shirt sleeves, his jacket tossed to the floor, discarded like a shed skin. The subject of All Hallow's Eve was far too serious for staid dress clothes. He began with the shocking "history" of trick or treating. You know this old story: Druids would wander from castle to castle demanding a young woman that they would then sacrifice to the Devil. If a castle refused, because, you know, it was their children and all, then the Druids would place a carved turnip outside the castle door that held a candle made from rendered human fat . This jack o' lantern would call down a demon who would enter the castle and kill the youngest person there before the sunrise. (those damn dirty druids!)Brother Hank would tell us these stories, explaining that if we went to our neighbors and asked them for a Kit Kat Bar while dressed in our rubber masked finest then we would be carrying on the satanic tradition of Halloween and we would be guilty of trafficking with the Devil's own bastard children. Why we would be performing satanism!Strangely enough, even the year that Brother Hank preached the night before Halloween, we all were out in the streets, begging candy by virtue of our costumes bought and homemade and our tightly clutched pillowcases. I never bought Brother Hank's alternative history of All Hallow's Eve, I know some folks at my church did, but I knew better. I read widely and even without the internet I knew who the druids were. I did find it all very fascinating. His sermons of warning were like super condensed, audio stage versions of a Hammer Horror film. In the end, you could never have that perfect combination of misinformation, showmanship, and religious fevor in this day and age. Brother Hank survived in a world without wikipedia. But even today, the 31st of October doesn't roll around without my mind turning back to those revivals. They did form some kernel of what I write about today, just like Elvira's Saturday afternoon show, the Munsters, and Hammer's psychadelic, lesbian, vampire flicks. It's all in there if you look hard enough.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Things have been very hectic for me lately, lots going on. I've written a LOT, remodeled my tattoo shop, and taken up photography. I know your life is just as busy as mine. That's why I appreciate you taking the time to read this and, hopefully, review the e-arcs I've sent. I'm very proud of these two books. These are completely mine. I wrote them and laid them out and published them all myself. It's a weird turn as an artist when you craft something that is so completely in your control. The artwork you see on the covers is mine. I drew the image for THAT WAY LIES MADNESS and I took the photograph I used for HIRED GUN. The layouts are mine. The font choices are mine. These are the most personal books I've put out so far.But you know how I feel. You do the same thing with your blog. YOU choose the things you cover. YOU choose the images and the look of your blog. YOU put yourself in it. I appreciate that. I really do. I did the same thing for these two books.I certainly hope you enjoy them, they are a bit different than my Deacon Chalk stories, but you can still tell they are born of me. If there is anything I can do for you just ask. If I can I will. If you would like a guest blog or an interview just drop me a line at James@jamesrtuck.comYou completely rock. Thank you.James R. Tuck
James R. Tuck is a Professional Tattoo Artist, Photographer, and a multi-published author. He lives outside Atlanta with his lovely wife and cool kids. The DEACON CHALK series (Kensington Books), The CHAMPIONS OF HOLLOW EARTH series (Pro Se Press forthcoming 2014), the editor of the double anthology THUNDER ON THE BATTLEFIELD Volumes 1 and 2 (Seventh Star Press), and his short fiction has appeared and will appear in several anthologies such as: ONE BUCK ZOMBIES (One Buck Horror), THE BIG BAD (Dark Oak Press), HOOKERPUNK (Dark Oak Press forthcoming), ROBOTS UNLEASHED! (Mechanoid Press forthcoming), and BADLANDS:TROUBLE IN THE HEARTLAND (Zelmer Pulp forthcoming).
Okay, some of you will relate to this. You will know where I am coming from immediately because you will have a similar back story. Some of you won't and this will be just a strange glimpse at life in the South in the early eighties.Here's some things you need to know going in:I grew up attending a Pentecostal church. No, we didn't handle snakes but folks did speak in tongues and fall out during service whenever things really got to humming. Other than that we were pretty much just excited Baptists.This was before everyone had a magic, instant communicator device with the power of Google in their hand. We weren't ignorant, but information was harder to come by and if someone stood on a stage and spoke to you authoritatively on any subject, their words had more weight than today.And lastly, this is about the time period and what happened to me, not a knock against religion.With that set up here is what would happen around Halloween every year from the age of 12 (1982) to about 15 (1985) for me.The weather turns in Georgia every October. It may be 80+ during the day, but as the sun drops so does the temperature. It's as if the whole state loses its ability to hold heat. Some nights it will drop to below 40 degrees, requiring a jacket. Also during October in the Eighties the Marietta Church Of God would bring in the (at the time) honorable Brother Hank Davis to hold forth a revival designed to save the immortal souls of the young people in their pews.Now Brother Hank Davis was a fucking rock star to us wide-eyed church youth. He was young, meaning he was under 40, and had a full head of thick hair that swept up and back like some feathery helmet of awe. Many of the girls and some of the boys fancied him, finding him handsome. Most of this was the simple fact that he was ON STAGE which puts a sort of Gaussian blur filter on anyone, lifting their attractiveness level several notches.
The other thing that made him a rock star wasn't his cool, casually hip way of talking, it was the lurid subjects he spoke on, subjects that when strung together should have blared out from a grindhouse poster in a psychedelic carmine red.ROCK N ROLLBACK MASKINGSATANISMDRUGSand since it was October when he visitedHALLOWEEN: THE DEVIL'S HOLIDAY.Can you see the movie tear sheet in your mind?He would stand on the stage in rolled up shirt sleeves, his jacket tossed to the floor, discarded like a shed skin. The subject of All Hallow's Eve was far too serious for staid dress clothes. He began with the shocking "history" of trick or treating. You know this old story: Druids would wander from castle to castle demanding a young woman that they would then sacrifice to the Devil. If a castle refused, because, you know, it was their children and all, then the Druids would place a carved turnip outside the castle door that held a candle made from rendered human fat . This jack o' lantern would call down a demon who would enter the castle and kill the youngest person there before the sunrise. (those damn dirty druids!)Brother Hank would tell us these stories, explaining that if we went to our neighbors and asked them for a Kit Kat Bar while dressed in our rubber masked finest then we would be carrying on the satanic tradition of Halloween and we would be guilty of trafficking with the Devil's own bastard children. Why we would be performing satanism!Strangely enough, even the year that Brother Hank preached the night before Halloween, we all were out in the streets, begging candy by virtue of our costumes bought and homemade and our tightly clutched pillowcases. I never bought Brother Hank's alternative history of All Hallow's Eve, I know some folks at my church did, but I knew better. I read widely and even without the internet I knew who the druids were. I did find it all very fascinating. His sermons of warning were like super condensed, audio stage versions of a Hammer Horror film. In the end, you could never have that perfect combination of misinformation, showmanship, and religious fevor in this day and age. Brother Hank survived in a world without wikipedia. But even today, the 31st of October doesn't roll around without my mind turning back to those revivals. They did form some kernel of what I write about today, just like Elvira's Saturday afternoon show, the Munsters, and Hammer's psychadelic, lesbian, vampire flicks. It's all in there if you look hard enough.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Things have been very hectic for me lately, lots going on. I've written a LOT, remodeled my tattoo shop, and taken up photography. I know your life is just as busy as mine. That's why I appreciate you taking the time to read this and, hopefully, review the e-arcs I've sent. I'm very proud of these two books. These are completely mine. I wrote them and laid them out and published them all myself. It's a weird turn as an artist when you craft something that is so completely in your control. The artwork you see on the covers is mine. I drew the image for THAT WAY LIES MADNESS and I took the photograph I used for HIRED GUN. The layouts are mine. The font choices are mine. These are the most personal books I've put out so far.But you know how I feel. You do the same thing with your blog. YOU choose the things you cover. YOU choose the images and the look of your blog. YOU put yourself in it. I appreciate that. I really do. I did the same thing for these two books.I certainly hope you enjoy them, they are a bit different than my Deacon Chalk stories, but you can still tell they are born of me. If there is anything I can do for you just ask. If I can I will. If you would like a guest blog or an interview just drop me a line at James@jamesrtuck.comYou completely rock. Thank you.James R. Tuck
James R. Tuck is a Professional Tattoo Artist, Photographer, and a multi-published author. He lives outside Atlanta with his lovely wife and cool kids. The DEACON CHALK series (Kensington Books), The CHAMPIONS OF HOLLOW EARTH series (Pro Se Press forthcoming 2014), the editor of the double anthology THUNDER ON THE BATTLEFIELD Volumes 1 and 2 (Seventh Star Press), and his short fiction has appeared and will appear in several anthologies such as: ONE BUCK ZOMBIES (One Buck Horror), THE BIG BAD (Dark Oak Press), HOOKERPUNK (Dark Oak Press forthcoming), ROBOTS UNLEASHED! (Mechanoid Press forthcoming), and BADLANDS:TROUBLE IN THE HEARTLAND (Zelmer Pulp forthcoming).
