C.R. Langille's Blog, page 9

Author Interview: Jay Wilburn Received Payment for Zombies

We continue our trek into authorland with our next stop being, Jay Wilburn. 

What kind of books/stories do you write?

I write horror and other speculative fiction.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Probably in elementary school. I was writing bad knock-offs of the fantasy stuff I had been reading. Believing I could was when I came in second or third in some contest and got a check in the mail with the memo line "Payment for Zombies!"  

What do you consider the most influential book you've ever read?

The Stand by Stephen King. It changed the way I think and put me on a path to exploring the apocalyptic in all its forms.

What other authors are you friends with, and how have they helped you become a better writer?

Armand Rosamilia, Chuck Buda, Max Booth III, Brian Keene, Chris Larson, Jessica McHugh, Brent Abell, Jack Wallen, Sean Grigsby, Frank Edler, and the more I list here the more I realize I'm going to leave so many out. The biggest way they challenge me is by writing well and forcing me to strive to be a better version of myself in order to share the same air. Each has been generous with time, cross promotion, and support in a hundred different ways. They are good friends even when writing is removed from the equation. Moreso with it in, I suppose.

What’s the best way you've found to market your books?

Look for something different. I'm doing a lot of direct sales off my site instead of Amazon solely. I'm going to sell a few titles only from the site coming up here soon. I have supporters on Patreon and do exclusive material there. I've done holiday mystery boxes to package books which have done well. Connecting with other authors to do blog tours and shared promotional pieces has helped. Working together at conventions helps. Strategic advertising - when to use Facebook ads and when to use Amazon ads, etc.

What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?

It varies. I research a lot during the writing and the editing. Reading of all kinds is indirect research. I spend a lot of time writing short stories on the subject or in the genre as I'm attempting to work out ideas and rules for a new novel. Time travel, vampires, ghosts, a new kind of monster, gritty steampunk, or whatever. I find short stories help me explore when I am taking on something new.

Any last thoughts for our readers?

Readers are a precious thing these days. I love and crave all of them.

http://www.jaywilburn.com/books/

https://twitter.com/AmongTheZombies

https://www.facebook.com/jaywilburnauthor/

Hunter Interviews: Patrick and the Timber Ghosts

Along with authors, I'm also interviewing gamers and hunters. I'd like to introduce my good friend, Patrick. He's an outdoorsman and a hunter, and I love how he answered some of these questions. 

What is it about the outdoors that appeals to you?

Being in the outdoors makes me be fully present in the situation.  I immediately have to be in a "flow state" where I am fully immersed.  My mind doesn't wander and start worrying about paying the bills, work, etc.  It honestly gives my mind a break from the daily 9-5 grind.  Its challenging, fun, scary, and beautiful. 
 
When did you first start hunting/fishing?

I started fishing really young, I think I have some pictures of me fishing at 4 years old.  I started going deer hunting with my family as an observer pretty much from day one so it was ingrained in me.  I started hunting big game myself at 14 years old.
 
What is one of your most memorable outdoor moments?

Definitely killing my first big game animal which surprisingly was a bull elk.  It was on the 7th day of a very hard hunt.  It was 4.5 miles back in and a very hard pack out.  I had my best friend with me to help.  It was the single most rewarding thing and single most difficult thing I have ever experienced.  To finally accomplish something that I had put years and years of effort into and wanted so bad was a milestone that I will never forget.
 
What is your favorite animal to hunt?

Its still bow hunting for elk.  The ability for such large creatures to completely vanish in a couple steps amazes me.  I affectionately refer to them as "timber ghost".  I get humbled by hunting elk, especially hunting them on the Wasatch Front of Utah.
 
Why do you think hunting/fishing is important in today's modern age?

There is the argument for knowing where your meat comes from and being part of that process.   Its a fact that hunting and fishing accounts for hundreds of millions of dollars from the sales of licenses, tags, waterfowl stamps, excises taxes, etc. Those funds go directly to wildlife conservation and help run local/federal regulatory bodies.  Honestly its important for wildlife management and to attach value to these animals so there is a reason to keep their populations at stable numbers.  I think that hunting/fishing imparts a sense of personal responsibility on the individuals who participate in those activities and I think that trait is severely lacking in today's modern age
 
What is something you would like to share with non-hunters out there?
​
See above.
 
Any final thoughts you would like to share with our readers?

If you have never hunted and have any inkling in starting please do.  Seek out people who do hunt and ask to tag along.  Contact your local wildlife management agency in your state, many offer beginner workshops to help get you started. It's one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.  

Author Interview: Scott A. Johnson and the Mime Court

Check out the cover for Scott A. Johnson's upcoming book! What kind of books/stories do you write?
 
I write horror, dark urban fantasy, and sci fi.
  
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
 
I didn’t really want to be a writer until later in life. Most people write all through high school, or that sort of thing. Not me. It wasn’t until I got into college, and I took a critique class because it was the only thing that fit my schedule. So I wrote my first story, about a guy who wakes up in the middle of the night and discovers his whole family’s been butchered, and handed it in. Next class period, no one wanted to sit next to me. People were telling me that I scared them with my story, that I disturbed them, and I thought really?  So I tried again. I wrote a story about a guy who beat up a mime in Central Park. Then mimes come out from everywhere and drag him under the park to “mime court,” where they turn him into a mime and sentence him to life in the invisible box. And that was “Mimes,” my first professionally published short story. And I thought you’re kidding… People will pay me for this weird stuff I have rolling around in my head?  And I’ve been doing it ever since.
 
What do you consider the most influential book you've ever read?
 
The one with the biggest influence on me was Richard Matheson’s “Hell House.” But that’s also a very long list. Hell House would have to be at the top of it.
  
What other authors are you friends with, and how have they helped you become a better writer?
 
So many… Nikki Hopeman, Kristin Dearborn, Gary Braunbeck, Tim Waggoner, Gabrielle Faust, Cody Langille *cough*, Lucy Snider… There are so many that I know, and they help me by challenging me to continue to improve.
 
What’s the best way you've found to market your books?
 
Heh… I’ll let you know when I figure it out. Right now, I’m working through social media.
 
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
 
Depends on the book. I mean, I’m writing one right now about the first people to colonize a moon, so I’m doing a great deal of research on space travel, physics, environmental issues, etc. I do a great deal of research by doing, by which I mean if I need to know what it’s like to ride a horse, I go ride a horse. If I need to know what it’s like to be kidnapped, I have a buddy throw me in the trunk of his car and drive me about for a bit.
 
Any last thoughts for our readers?
 
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things: Read everything you can get your hands on, and write every day. No excuses. Those are what you have to do.

You can find out more about Scott A. Johnson by visiting his website: http://www.creepylittlebastard.com

Free Amazon Kindle Stories through Halloween!

I'm running a promotion on my two latest short stories. From today until Halloween, it will be free! Be sure to get them while they're hot.

In Brine and Blood, we follow a private investigator on the trail of a missing persons. During his investigation he stumbles into an occult ritual. Can he do what's necessary to stop the world from drowning in darkness, brine, and blood?

In All Aboard, a small Utah town wakes to find a set of train tracks have mysteriously appeared overnight. Some of the townsfolk begin to disappear while others find that they can't leave the edges of the city. Things heat up when the remaining people begin to get tickets for an incoming train. Where is it taking them, and why were they chosen?

Click HERE for Brine and Blood.

Click HERE for All Aboard.

​

Happy Death Day

I recently saw the movie, Happy Death Day. I went in with pretty low expectations but was pleasantly surprised. The story plays out much like the movie, Groundhog Day (in fact there is a nice little nod to Groundhog Day near the end of the show), where the main character relives the same day over and over. However, in this tale, the main character is killed at the end of the day by a masked assailant. Each time she dies, she wakes up in the same manner. This review will be spoiler free.

Right off the bat, the protagonist is pained in a certain light, showing the viewers that she's a shallow person with very little going for her other than good looks. She doesn't care about anyone other than herself, is mean to her roommate, and is trying to hoop up with the married professor. What's neat about this setup, is that we don't know who the killer could be, because 10 minutes in we've established half-a-dozen possible killers with motive.

The plot of the movie is that she needs to survive the night and find out who her killer is before it is too late because she doesn't have unlimited lives. Each day she wakes a little weaker implying that at some point, she'll cease to exist.

This movie has decent acting, and a well written story. Buried within the main arch is a sub-plot about the main character's relationship with her father that's both touching and heartbreaking...not something I expected to see in a slasher flick. The other nice part of this film, is it isn't gory. Not that I mind gore, but from the looks of the trailer I thought I was getting into a typical slasher movie in the same vein as Scream or I Know What you Did Last Tuesday When you Were at the Summer Cabin in the Woods. Most of the death scenes are implied, cutting away just as you would expect to see blood spraying from an artery. Plus, there is a lot of humor woven throughout the film. It livens it up when necessary, keeping the story moving along.

This film isn't without it's flaws. First and foremost, there was a weird gun scene that happened (TWICE) that really bugged me. There is a point where she gets a hold of the security guard's gun and empties it in three shots. Earlier, there was another scene where the gun was fired three times and then it was empty. The gun looked like a Berretta 92 which is capable of holding way more than three shots. So...what the hell over? 

Second, there were a lot of times that the killer was knocked down or stunned. Every time this occurred I heard Shang Tsung's voice from Mortal Kombat yelling, FINISH HIM! Instead, she runs around like a damned lunatic trying to figure out some way to freedom.   Third, the school's mascot is the Baycock Babies. A baby. Really? I guess they needed a reason for the killer to be running around in this creepy baby mask, but come on...that is one of the most horrible mascots I've ever heard of. Finally, I thought the killer's motive was pretty weak. I rolled my eyes during the explanation. It seemed a little forced, but whatever. All in all the flaws were minor and I walked away enjoying this movie quite a bit. If you get a chance to see it, I recommend you do so. I give this movie 3.5 repeated days out of five. 

Mother! Movie Review

It’s been a few days since I watched this movie and I still really don’t know what to think. It’s directed by Darren Aronofsky and he’s done some odd movies in the past. I remember watching Black Swan and thinking it was okay. I’m not entirely sure that I liked this one. This is going to be a long post, so strap in.

Going into it, I didn’t know what to expect other than it was an intense psychological thriller that was fairly polarizing with its audience. I knew it had to do with Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, and Michelle Pfeiffer and had to do with unexpected guests showing up to Jennifer and Javier’s home.

This first section will be spoiler free; however, the second section will be packed with spoilers as I get into the meat and potatoes of the movie. I will warn you before we get there though.

The concept was enough to pique my interest. I’m a recluse and somewhat anti-social, to begin with. Unless it’s a group of close friends, I don’t really like going to social functions, so the idea of a bunch of rando’s showing up to my house is uncomfortable.

First off, let’s dig into the story. It starts off showing us a burning image of a young woman crying, and a burnt out house. Javier places a glowing crystal in a stand, and the house reverts back to its former glory and we pan over to Jennifer’s character waking up in bed and finding herself alone. Odd right? But a neat hook because now I want to know more. Is it something that happened before, is it a portent of what’s to come? It’s a good hook regardless.

Jennifer’s character is married to the older, Javier and you get the sense that they have moved out to the middle of nowhere in an old family estate of Javier’s. The house had suffered through a fire in which we learn Javier’s family had died. Jennifer is there to offer him support while he suffers through a bad case of writer’s block. Meanwhile, she has been singlehandedly renovating the house and breathing light back into the darkness. We learn through interactions that Javier is a renowned poet, but hasn’t written in years. Things seem hunky-dory, although Jennifer suffers from odd hallucinations from time to time where she hears glass ringing/chiming and can see the burnt out vestige of the house underplayed beneath her renovation work. Every time this happens, she races upstairs to the bathroom and mixes a yellow powder into a glass of water to quash the visions. We never know what this concoction is. We can assume it’s to help her stop hallucinating; however, there’s a point in the movie where she stops taking it and I didn’t’ see any ill effects from that decision.

At first, the movie almost had a Yellow Wallpaper feel to it. That short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is one of my absolute favorites. I noticed some similarities between the two, as the main character from the story and Jennifer’s character both seemed to see things that weren’t there and were steamrolled by their male counterparts. Javier does a good job of dismissing some of the things Jennifer does in the movie, and when the “guests” begin to arrive, they constantly defer to Javier with the gratitude and appreciation, almost to the point of ignoring Jennifer’s existence. This movie, like that story, very much play into the misogynistic prejudices against women.

I felt as if Jennifer’s efforts to restore the house were downplayed in the eyes of the supporting cast, and when she mentioned that she did it all herself, she was met with disbelief that a woman could do something that extravagant.

There was a definite theme of vanity and pride throughout the film. Javier does a great job losing himself in his own work and success, and near the end of the film, we see almost a complete transition with his character.
Where this movie struggled, was with the story. I never got a clear picture on what the movie was really about. What was the plot? It seemed to flounder in spots, and once it was over, I felt like the entire first half didn’t really play into the second half at all. This is probably one of the biggest issues I had with the film, was the lack of plot. Perhaps I missed the point.

The acting was strange as well. Hats off to Jennifer Lawrence, I thought she did an excellent job, and Javier Bardem did well also. However, I felt as if everyone else was exaggerating their characters to the point that it was almost comical to watch, Ed Harris especially, although I couldn’t’ tell if this was done on purpose or not.
Finally, this movie was chock full of Christian symbolism. I don’t want to get into details in this section (we’ll save it for the spoiler section), but it goes out of its way to hit you over the head (pun intended, you’ll see why later) with its symbolism. The only reason I couldn’t quite figure out, was why?

Don’t see this movie if you have issues with seeing children depicted on screen hurt. There is a scene near the end that is very difficult to watch (details forthcoming in the spoiler section).

Even after writing all this, I still don’t really know if I liked this movie. I give this movie two and a half WTF’s out of five.

​Here there be spoilers. Ye’ve been warned. Also, this section is basically going to be a synopsis of the movie. 

​Okay, let’s unpack this movie. As I mentioned above, there is a lot of Christian symbolism. Let’s start off with the movie posters. Jennifer is made up to look like the Virgin Mary and Javier is sitting on a throne of fire looking all sorts of the devil.
In the beginning, there was darkness, then there was light. The movie opens with this motif, with the darkness being the burnt up house. Slowly it changes from ash and rubble to a cozy little cottage in the middle of paradise. Everything moves from dark colors to contrasting brightness. It’s their own little Eden. However, it’s Ed Harris and his wife, Michelle Pfeiffer that portray Adam and Eve. And if that’ the case, we are to assume the Javier is playing as God, and Jennifer while playing his wife, is really there because she adores him, and will be the mother of his child. There are also some interesting dynamics between Javier and Jennifer. He shrugs off her advances early on, unwilling to show her physical affection. It isn’t until later in the movie where she lashes out at him that he takes her in an uncomfortable sex scene that starts off very rapey. 

Anyway, I digress…back to Adam and Eve, Ed and Michelle. They show up to paradise, and immediately shit goes south. Javier starts to spend more time with Ed than he does with Jennifer, and even helps him out by removing some sort of tumor from his lungs? I dunno…there was a weird scene where he’s coughing and puking in the toilet and Javier is helping him. Jennifer walks in on the two. Ed is naked and bleeding from his side and Javier quickly covers it and yells at her to give them some privacy. The next day, Jennifer is cleaning up in the bathroom and there is some weird tumor looking thing stuck in the toilet. I suppose this is to show Javier’s healing powers?

Moving on from that, Michelle, Ed’s wife arrives and she embodies the very opposite of Jennifer’s character. She’s sultry, drinks, and smokes. She’s pushy where Jennifer is meek. At one point, she wants to go to Javier’s den and see the weird crystal thing, but Jennifer tells her to stay out of there. She has to warn her numerous times. Later, there is a crash from the den and Javier and Jennifer race up there to find Ed and Michelle standing by the broken shards of the crystal. Javier loses his mind and kicks everyone out. Later he comes out, locks the door and breaks the doorknob off (this is important), and then boards up his den stating that no one will get in there now. We just saw the comparison of Eve eating the apple and the both of them getting kicked out of Eden.

The next major scene that takes place, is when Ed and Michelle’s two sons arrive, bickering about their father’s will. A fight ensues and one of the sons picks up the discarded doorknob and caves in the other’s skull using the Cain and Abel finishing move. During the fight, the attacking brother’s forehead is injured and marked in the same way Cain’s is after killing his brother. Javier, Ed, and Michelle rush the man to the hospital leaving Jennifer behind to clean up the mess. And the Cain stand in rushes off into the wilderness.

It’s during this time where she is alone that we begin to see other things unravel. Up to this point, she had made some trips to the basement, but she ends up going down again and we really see some interesting comparisons. The basement is where the furnace is and I believe the representation of hell with its fire and brimstone (I know, hell isn’t always represented in such a way, but in this movie, I think it is). She’s cleaning up when the other brother returns to get his wallet that he lost during the altercation and he’s amazed that they left her behind. He can see what she means (or doesn’t) to Javier and wishes her the best of luck before departing. It’s at that time that Javier returns covered in blood and could really care less what happened to Jennifer, he’s more intent on telling her what happened to him. When she tries to tell him everything, he says he’s dirty and exhausted and wants to take a shower before going to bed. He invites her up, but she wants to finish one thing first. When she gets up there, Javier is already asleep.

Then, Ed and Michelle come back, and they have friends and family in tow. They are all dressed up nice for a funeral. Javier tells Jennifer that he invited them over to destress and have a place to hold a wake for the dearly departed. Jennifer doesn’t know what to make of it as guests continue to arrive in such a way that it reminded both my wife and me of the scene from the Hobbit where all the dwarves keep showing up at Bilbo Baggins’ home. The difference between the two was that the dwarves actually cleaned up after themselves and didn’t break anything, whereas the guests have no care whatsoever for Jennifer’s paradise and only care for themselves. In this scene, we get see Javier eating up being the center of attention when he gets to say a few words about the departed. We really see him revel in the wonder and awe that people throw his way while not caring at all about what Jennifer’s character is feeling. We also see a lot of reference between Sodom and Gomorra as the guests become more and more irreverent, sneaking off to bump the uglies, and guests even approaching her to fornicate and make merry (although the offer comes in a very forward, and disgusting manner). 

Finally, after asking folks several times not to sit on a sink because it hadn’t been braced yet, they sit on it and it breaks, flooding the house. This is the great flood that God sent to cleanse the world, and it’s the same in this movie. It isn’t until the flood that the people get the hell out of Dodge. After they leave, Jennifer confronts Javier about what happened and their life in general. They get into a heated debate and she says the reason they don’t have any children is because he won’t get it on with her. He takes that as a challenge and we get our rapey/love-making scene that’s about as uncomfortable as the rest of the movie has been. Afterward, she says she’s pregnant. Javier gets his inspiration back and begins to feverishly write again. We get a scene of her dumping the odd golden powder concoction that suppressed her hallucinations down the toilet, and we flash forward.

The next time we see her, she’s about ready to pop and the house is completely renovated. She’s putting the finishing touches on in the nursery and Javier appears saying he’s finished his poem. She reads it with tears in her eyes and confirms is a masterpiece and that it’s perfect. Next thing we know, we have a call from his editor (almost immediately) saying she loves it and it’s going to be huge. To celebrate, Jennifer makes a nice, candlelit dinner for the both of them, but before we can get to eating, more guests arrive. Fans of Javier’s come to see him and ask him about his writing. Instead of kicking them out, he embraces them, much to her dismay.

This is when shit goes from what the hell to dafuq quick. The crowd grows and grows, forcing their way inside. They set up a signing station for him to sign books. People shove themselves inside and soon they begin to take. They take anything they can, even ripping up boards because they want a piece of something that belonged to Javier. Things get violent and nasty. Then, the next thing we know, we’re seeing flashes from different places. Jennifer is standing next to some sex slave prison in Eastern Europe, then we’re in a war zone and people are dying in a hail of explosions and gunfire. The crowd is growing bigger and getting crazier, turning into a cult worshiping Javier, idolizing him. Jennifer is going into labor and fighting with the crowd at the same time. When all seems lost, Javier finds her and rushes her back to his boarded up den so she can give birth. Once she gives birth, the crowd outside grows quiet. Javier goes to see what’s up and finds that they have brought the baby gifts and are waiting to see him. We’ve just seen the birth of the son of god, and they are showering him with gifts just in the bible.

Jennifer has caught on to Javier’s bullshit now though and refuses to give the baby up. He wants to take the baby and show the crowd his creation. It becomes a battle of wills. He sits in a chair staring at her as she sits on the floor with the baby. Soon, exhaustion kicks in and the next she knows, is she’s awakening to find him with the baby walking out to the crowd.

This is where it gets very disturbing. She rushes after the child, but when she catches up to Javier, the crowd already has the baby. They are crowd-surfing the infant around like he’s a giant beach ball at a Smashmouth concert. Then, because the child’s head isn’t supported, its neck snaps. Jennifer rushes through the crowd demanding that they give her the baby back, sobbing with real emotion (props to Jennifer Lawrence again, her acting was superb). When she finally breaks through, her baby is gone, its body mutilated by the cult. People are eating bits of the child, ingesting it like it’s the body of Christ. She flips out and starts stabbing folks with a shard of glass and kills a few before they lay the smackdown on her. For a moment it looks like they are about to beat her to death and desecrate her body when Javier shows up and shields her. He says they are sorry for killing his son, and all they want is to be forgiven (hitting us over the head with more religious symbolism). He says that they need to find a way to forgive them so that his son’s death wouldn’t be in vain.

Jennifer has had enough and breaks free, racing back down to Hell, eh…I mean the basement where she breaks open a big gas/oil tank. Javier tries to stop her saying he loves her, but she’s seen through all his lies and states that he doesn’t love her, that he only loves that she loves him. She lights the place up and it blows, killing everyone and burning the house down.

After you see Javier walking through the rubble relatively unscathed. He picks Jennifer up and carries her to bed. In the end, she confesses that she still loves him, and he needs her sacrifice and love to start anew. She agrees and he plucks her heart out and turns it into the same crystal we saw before. When he places it up on the mantle, the house renews and there is a new woman in his bed: the cycle starts again.
​
Final thoughts.
To wrap up this journey, I really think the theme of this movie is about love and sacrifice in the name of God. I got the feeling that Aronofsky isn’t a big fan of religion and used his story as a metaphor to show how much craziness happens in the name of God. I also feel like Aronofsky perhaps sees God in a negative light with not giving and only taking. However, I like to think that Javier was playing Lucifer trying to recreate what God had made and failing miserably every time. I find that story more interesting. I’m not a religious person at all, but I still failed to find what the movie was really about (talking plot here). But, as I mentioned before, perhaps I missed the point. Was this movie a horror? Sure was. Was it disturbing? On many different levels. Will I watch it again? No. 

Where are the Elk?

Seriously, where are they? This year I didn’t draw any of the hunts I put in, which left my only option as over-the-counter elk. After a lot of debating, I finally decided to go with over-the-counter elk archery, mainly because I had a lot of fun last year and I felt like some of the spots would pan out this year.

I didn’t have much time to up and scout before the season, so I decided to go do some light hunting/scouting in late August. I figured I would go up with my wife and dad, check the area out, and maybe put up some trail cameras.

Well, that’s when shit started to go south. For starters, my dad hurt his back somehow and bowed out of the trip. Then, four days before I was supposed to go up, I passed a kidney stone…a bad one. As the days went on, I felt like I could go up the mountain as the pain was starting to subside. That was a bad choice.

My wife and I went up, set up camp and did an evening hunt at a spot that was alive last year, this year, it was completely different. There wasn’t very much sign of elk plus it had a different vibe than last year. No big deal, I had a pocketful of other choices. The next morning we’d get up early and hit a spot that I liked. Well, that night the train carrying the shit toward the fan left the station. I couldn’t sleep a wink and my kidney was killing me.

When morning came, I was feeling a bit better, so we decided to go check out the spot. We were a little late getting going because I couldn’t sleep until 0430, but it was better than nothing. On the way up I saw an elk through the trees but couldn’t range it and get a shot off before it was gone. Then we spooked another one as we were hiking to a spot. Overall, pretty good. On the way back, my kidneys started really hurting me. All the hiking with the pack was taking its toll. When we got back to camp, I laid down, but it was only making it worse. After some thinking, I decided to pack it up, which was a good call because on the way down the mountain the pain was getting worse. We ended up spending the night in Vernal. I think the shower and soft bed worked wonders because, after that day, the pain never came back.

Fast forward a couple weeks and it was time for the proper hunt. It would be me and my friend Page going up. The plan would be to head up Friday, hunt that evening and come back three to five days later depending on how things panned out. The fact that I saw one and spooked another gave me hope that they were up and moving around the area. Oh, how wrong I was.
​
Page and I hunted all over, hitting all my good spots and some we had heard about. We saw no elk and very little sign in the area that they were even there. The best we found was a few scat piles that looked like they could be a day or two old. They weren’t responsive to our calls, and we couldn’t ever hear them. This tells me that they just weren’t in the area other than the few rogue elk passing through. It was very frustrating, to say the least. The spots we were hitting were ideal for elk, and old sign said they had been through there before, but they just weren’t there now. 
For one, I think it was still too hot for the elk. The cold snap hadn’t hit yet, and thus, the pre-rut hadn’t hit yet which was why they weren’t vocal. Second, I think they just weren’t in the area. For whatever reason, they hadn’t ranged into the region yet, perhaps they were higher up (although I was camping and hunting at 9200 feet, and the peaks around me weren’t much higher than 10,000 feet.

At one point I think I may have been talking with another cow elk. I’d hit my call and it would answer, but when I tried to move closer, it got quiet and never started up again. Perhaps it was my mind playing tricks or even another hunter.
​
Now don’t get me wrong, even though the hunt was a bust, I still had a great time. It was great to come up and spend a night with my wife in the wild for the earlier portion, and it was awesome spending some time up here with Page roaming the mountains. It would have been wonderful to harvest an elk, but Fate deemed it wouldn’t happen this time around. I did find a couple more spots that could be promising for future hunts, especially a rifle hunt. Perhaps next year I’ll do rifle for the elk. We’ll see. In either case, being up in the mountains and the trees has helped relieve a lot of stress and refresh my mind, making it worth it. 

Review of the Movie, It (2017)

I recently watched the newest adaptation of Stephen King’s, It, directed by Andy Muschietti. Overall, I enjoyed. It was well done, and while it didn’t completely follow the source material, I think that the changes didn’t hurt the story at all, in fact, in some ways, I would dare say it made the story better. I’ll get into a spoiler section later, but for now this will be spoiler free.

First off, the movie is set in the 80’s, which for me, works. However, I will say this, it gave me a heavy Stranger Things vibe. Mainly because Finn Wolfhard was in it and played the part of Richie Tozier. Plus, on top of that, the town of Derry looked a lot like the town of Hawkins. On the surface, Derry feels like any sleepy town; however, there’s something floating in the background, something that wakes every few decades to feed. I’ve always loved the concept of It and what it does. Speaking of background, this is a movie to pay close attention to the background. There are small things going on that add to the depth and flavor of the movie. For example, keep an eye on the television when Beverly walks through her house. Another great background Easter egg what the name of the pharmacist. In the original made-for-tv movie, the pharmacist's name was Koontz, a nod to Dean Koontz. In this new version, his name is Keene, a nod to Brian Keene, a modern horror author.

There was a part in the movie where the background was creepy as hell, and I have no idea if it was intentional or not. It’s when Ben is in the library, shortly after the librarian gives him a book on the town’s history and tells him he should be outside playing. As he’s looking at the book, the camera pans out so you can see him reading, and it looks like the librarian or someone similar is standing the background grinning at Ben. Watch it and let me know what you think.

I thought that Muschietti did an excellent job with the feel of this iteration of It. The movie gave a nod to the original adaptation while still having its own vibe. There were also times that felt almost like a nod to the Evil Dead franchise, especially the scene with Beverly in the bathroom and with the leper attacking Eddie.

Another great part of the movie (as pointed out by my lovely wife), was the layering of real monsters vs. supernatural monsters. For example, Beverly’s dad and Eddie’s mother are both prime examples of real monsters, people who abuse their children. There are some moments in this film where they are way scarier than Pennywise. The bullies are also frightening, mainly due to the fact that they have been left unchecked (apparently by the power that Pennywise has over the town, making people ignore or look the other way at the bad things happening). Generally, bullies will scare or rough someone up, but I tend to believe that the majority of them would stop short at trying to actually kill someone.

I also liked how Pennywise did his best to separate the kids whenever they were together. I won’t get into details, but it shows how together they were strong, but separate they were easy prey.

The movie had faults though. I thought the editing near the end fell short. At one point one of the kids is suddenly in a different part of the sewers. There was no lead up to it, nor any explanation. A simple edit showing It leading him away would have sufficed.

There was another point in the movie where the kids find the shoe of a missing girl in the sewer…THEN NOTHING EVER COMES FROM THAT! It bugged me for the rest of the film. I mean, it would have been neat to see them take the shoe to the police, and then have the police (obviously under the influence of Pennywise) wave it off like it was nothing, or that they didn’t believe them. It would have added another layer as well as closed that loop.

Another fault was some bad CGI in the beginning of the movie. The opening scene with Georgie is way more brutal than in the made-for-tv show, but part of it was destroyed when Pennywise opens his mouth and his teeth grow. It didn’t look finished and took me out of the story.
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This leads me into another point, seeing the monster. In this movie, and story, we see Pennywise almost right off the bat. On one hand, I suppose it takes away some of the fear of the monster. Monster movies in general work better when the viewer never gets a full view of the creature, as we tend to fill in the blanks ourselves and fear of the unknown is powerful. On the other hand, this isn’t a traditional monster movie, and we need to see Pennywise. I did miss Tim Curry playing Pennywise; however, Bill Skarsgard does an excellent job bringing the dancing clown to life. He did great with the movements and general attitude. I give it three and a half red floating balloons out of five. Definitely worth a watch.
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Now, on to the spoiler parts…only go forward if you don’t care, or if you’ve seen the movie. You’ve been warned.
I liked Pennywise’s lair much better in this one. The pile of children’s things an all the floating children made a lot more sense than the spider’s lair in the original adaptation. Makes more sense when Pennywise says, “you’ll float too.” Also, I liked how the kids pretty much put the beat down on Pennywise. It works way better than a single slingshot of silver to the head, it also shows how strong the kids are working together.
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That’s about it for spoilers, go see the movie. I can’t wait for the next one.

Steel Empires Book 3: Steel Blood by J.L. Gribble

I love doing cross promotion on my site. Here's another one by the talented author, J.L. Gribble.
As her children begin lives of their own, Victory struggles with the loneliness of an empty nest. Just when the city of Limani could not seem smaller, an old friend requests that she come out of retirement for one final mercenary contract—to bodyguard his granddaughter, a princess of the Qin Empire.

For the first time in a century, the Qin and British Empires are reopening diplomatic relations. Alongside the British delegation, Victory and her daywalker Mikelos arrive in the Qin colony city of Jiang Yi Yue. As the Qin weredragons and British werewolves take careful steps toward a lasting peace between their people, a connection between the Qin princess and a British nobleman throw everyone’s plans in disarray.

Meanwhile, a third faction stalks the city under the cover of darkness.

This is not a typical romance. It’s a good thing Victory is not a typical vampire.

Buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2pPShZH
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/steel-blood-jl-gribble/1126268372
From the publisher: http://rawdogscreaming.com/books/steel-blood/

About the author:

By day, J. L. Gribble is a professional medical editor. By night, she does freelance fiction editing in all genres, along with reading, playing video games, and occasionally even writing. She is currently working on the Steel Empires series for Dog Star Books, the science-fiction/adventure imprint of Raw Dog Screaming Press. Previously, she was an editor for the Far Worldsanthology.
Gribble studied English at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She received her Master’s degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, where her debut novel Steel Victory was her thesis for the program.
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She lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, with her husband and three vocal Siamese cats. Find her online (www.jlgribble.com), on Facebook (www.facebook.com/jlgribblewriter), and on Twitter and Instagram (@hannaedits).

Movie Review: It Comes at Night

I want to talk about the movie, It Comes at Night. Released June 9th, 2017 and directed by Trey Edward Shults, the movie is about a family dealing with a post-apocalyptic survival situation. The official synopsis reads as follows:

Secure within a desolate home as an unnatural threat terrorizes the world, the tenuous order a man (Joel Edgerton) has established with his wife and son is put to the ultimate test with the arrival of a desperate family seeking refuge. Despite the best intentions of both families, paranoia and mistrust boil over as the horrors outside creep ever-closer, awakening something hidden and monstrous within the man as he learns that the protection of his family comes at the cost of his soul.

I’ll get into a detailed review which will contain some spoilers a little later. You’re safe to keep reading for now, and I’ll warn you before the spoilers arrive.

First and foremost, I thought this movie was excellent. It’s everything I’ve come to love about slow-burn, psychological thrillers. Even more, it really plays upon the concepts of the unknown as well as trust (or mistrust).
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As the synopsis said, it takes place in a desolate home built deep in the woods. The movie opens with husband and son killing the son’s grandfather because he’s become ill with a horrible disease. The disease is part of the problem plaguing the world, because the family takes precautions to always have gas masks and heavy rubber gloves on whenever they interact with the outside world.
Right off the bat we know a few things. One, there is a horrible disease out there that can kill fairly quickly (days). Two, the disease is highly contagious as we can tell by the way the family interacts with the sickened grandfather. Three, they have to burn the body.

The tension and dread continues to increase as you see the family secure themselves back into the house at night. The windows are all boarded up, and there is only one entrance/exit into the house. With them as well, is a family dog that acts as an alarm whenever anything is near.
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The shit hits the fan when a man breaks into the house looking for supplies. You learn the man was scavenging for his wife and young son who he left at an abandoned house some miles away. They are running out of water and will die soon without any help. Long story short, the two families decide to help one another, and they all join forces in the rural homestead.
What happens next can only be best described as a slow descent into distrust, tension, and desperate acts. The movie begs the questions: how far are you willing to go to save your loved ones; what happens when two men, willing to do anything to save their families collide; and what’s out in the woods? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Here’s a fair warning, this movie doesn’t hand you everything on a silver platter, and it will leave some questions unanswered or up to viewer interpretation. If you’re someone who can’t stand not knowing for sure what happened, then this probably isn’t the movie for you.

I give it a 4/5 stars.
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Now…onto the spoiler section. You’ve been warned.
As I mentioned earlier, this movie doesn’t answer everything. For example, you never know what is out in the woods. It could be more people looking to take what others have amassed, or it could be something even more horrific. The family has a teenage son who is struggling with his identity and his hormones. He is also struggling with disturbing dreams. The dreams in this movie are important, and here is why I think so.

Early on, the boy’s grandfather dies when they drag his body outside, shoot him in the head, then burn the body. The movie never tells you why they burn body, so we are left to wonder if it is to stop the spread of the disease, or if it is to maybe stop the dead from coming back. There’s another scene with the man burning the bodies of a couple of dead highway who he had to kill.
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The boy dreams about his grandfather after his death, and sees him as thing with all-black eyes and a bloody mouth. It could be post-traumatic stress manifesting, or it could be something else. I like to think his dreams are almost prophetic, and here’s why.
At one point, the boy’s dog runs off into the woods chasing after something. We never see what that is. However, that night, the dog returns to the house and is found by the boy’s father in the entry room. The dog looks like it had been gutted and is bleeding out, still alive…so it’s not sick. Something attacked it. He lies to boy, not letting him look at the dog in such a state, and says it’s really sick. The man kills it with a shot to the head and burns the body much in the same manner as the grandfather. Here’s the main reason why I think the boy’s dreams are more than just dreams. Before the dog arrives all tore up, the boy dreams of walking through the woods trying to find his dog. We can hear the dog barking off screen, and as he comes up to it, we hear it start whelping in pain in a violent/horrible manner. We never see what he sees (which, in my opinion, is more effective). Did he dream of what happened?

We also see some of the boy’s drawings, one of which depicts two shadowy figures with black eyes crawling through the woods. I think this hints towards the possibility that the disease changes folks into deadly creatures, and that’s what is out there, hence the reason to burn the bodies.

After the dog incident, there is suspicion that the other family’s child had gotten too close to the dead dog, because when they found the dog, the front door was already open. This raises the suspicion that perhaps the child may be infected, so, as a precaution, the families separate and quarantine themselves into separate rooms until the threat of disease has passed (in this story, the disease can manifest symptoms as early as a day).

At some point the second family tries to leave. We are led to suspect that perhaps the boy is sick. The original family knows they can’t let them go, because the family knows too much about the location of the house, what’s here, plus they are afraid that the family will want to take too much with them. A confrontation ensues resulting in the death of the second family to include the child. The child was only four or five, so it was hard to watch being a father myself. You never see any details, but it was still effective, more so if I’m being totally honest. Yet the movie never confirms whether or not the child had the disease, we never see proof.
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In my opinion, this tactic was way more effective, as it will drive multiple versions of the story depending on who is watching it. There is a lot more going on in this film than I have put down in this review, but if you like slow-burn horror that doesn’t rely on gore and jump scares (there were a couple), then this is the show for you. See it.