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Meddling Kids: A Novel
Meddling Kids: A Novel
Edgar Cantero | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
8.1 (15 Ratings)
Book Rating
I fell in love with the cover of this book and immediately downloaded it. The amazon page showcases a review from the USA Today that says “…it scratches a nostalgic itch for those who grew up on Saturday morning Scooby-Doo cartoons and sugar-bombed breakfast cereal.” I started reading and then opened good reads and noticed that it suggested a bunch of Steven King books as similar reads.

I panicked. I don’t read horror. I was sure this book was going to leave me terrified. I wouldn’t let my husband leave while I was reading it.

I shouldn’t have worried.

This book was great. It was about as scary as a Scooby-Doo movie (think Scooby-Doo! and the Witch’s Ghost). It was funny and fun with a great nostalgia factor.

I loved the representation in this book. It was nice to see minorities represented and normalized.

The way the book is written could turn people off. It’s either going to be something you love or something you hate. It’s prose mixed with stage directions and random author(?) interjections which makes it feel a little haphazard and messy.

Over all, I loved it and though it hearkens back to mythical horror themes it’s not too scary just like old time Scooby-Doo.
  
The Screaming Staircase: Lockwood & Co. #1
The Screaming Staircase: Lockwood & Co. #1
Jonathan Stroud | 2013 | Children, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
7.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
Everything; characters, descriptions, plot (0 more)
Pacing can be off (0 more)
Amazing junior mystery
For a Junior fiction novel, this was dang scary! It was also an incredible read. It's thoughtful, scary, and really held my interest (which is hard these days). I immediately picked up the next one to read.

As far as supernatural mysteries go, I didn't have high hopes. It sounded run-of-the-mill and it almost lost me in the beginning because there are multiple parts to the story. They wrapped up a case but it's all intricately tied together in a way even I (who is very good at guessing what's going to happen) didn't see coming. It kept me guessing all the way until the last sentence.

I really got attached to two of the characters, and the third was slowly growing on me. They're relatable, even though they're around 10 years younger than me, and very well written. Stroud also did a fantastic job of not revealing too much more than what we need to know. It can be frustrating for others, but it was the perfect balance for me.

Overall, I am extremely impressed and pleased with this book. It actually scared me. I look forward to starting the next one!
  
28 Days Later (2002)
28 Days Later (2002)
2002 | Horror, Sci-Fi
Unique (4 more)
Zombies aren't zombies
The acting
The violence is creative
Scary
Very disorienting (4 more)
Can't settle on a mood
The ending kinda falls apart
Doesn't develop the characters enough
Not always scary
Okay zombie movie but disappointing Danny Boyle movie
Okay so I saw 28 Days Later when I was 14 and had no idea what the hell I was watching. It was way too different from other zombie movies out, in fact it never really says zombie at all. The film works with it's settings, actors, and violence but it doesn't when it's telling the overall story. The ending kinda gets distracted and uninteresting fast at that point as I kinda stopped caring. Danny Boyle has directed alot of movies that are great like Steve Jobs, Slumdog Millionaire (yes it's a great movie), and Trainspotting but this reminded me of Sunshine so much. I mean there's a great premise that takes new twists and turns that the kind of story doesn't do. It works well for most of the movie till the very end that doesn't stick the landing cleanly. I still say this is worth a watch considering how stupid 28 weeks later is... And believe when you get done with the beginning of that one, you'll k know what I'm talking about...
  
Prom Night (2008)
Prom Night (2008)
2008 | Horror
Good cast (0 more)
Boring plot (2 more)
Characters were not well developed
Tried to rely on bad jump scares
All the clichés, none of the fun
So this was a pretty bad movie and I quite like this genre mostly.

The plot was way too boring and predictable. It's something you have seen hundreds of movies like this. It's a typical slasher movie. You knew everything that was gonna happen pretty much.

Too bad they try to move things along way too quickly so no characters were fleshed out. They just ended up boring but given enough time they could have gone into backstory about why this is happening and it would have made the characters a lot more interesting. Don't get me wrong I did like the cast, they had good actors. It was just the writing that was not good.

It was not at all scary and tried to rely on jump scares alone which were not actually scary. The deaths could have been entertaining but were just boring and the ending was expected.

I cannot recommend this. It's not a good movie. Not sure what else I can say but if you read the plot, it's basically what it says it is. You can guess the rest.
  
Truth or Dare (2018)
Truth or Dare (2018)
2018 | Horror, Thriller
Average, not really scary at all
A bunch of spring breakers visit an old abandoned mission building in Mexico one night and play a game of truth or dare. Unfortunately though, the game follows them back home and they must continue to play or face the consequences. The supernatural game follows the same order of play from the night they first played, and when it's your turn you either see the words 'truth or dare' written wherever you go, or people around you take on a weird grinning face and say the words until you answer. If you refuse to play or fail your dare, you die a gruesome death.

The trouble with this movie is that it's not remotely scary. The face that everyone pulls when possessed by the spirit running the game is like some weird Snapchat filter, more funny than spooky. The acting is ok, but everyone plays their roles deadly serious. It's a ridiculous concept and it should have played on that more as pure entertainment rather than as a horror, which this most definitely isn't.

It was watchable enough though, and I was happy to see it through to the end. Unfortunately though, that ending builds up to a big, ridiculous cop out leaving you very disappointed.
  
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Dean (6925 KP) Nov 27, 2018

Yes the ending was terrible and didn't fit the earlier actions in the film.

Contagion (2011)
Contagion (2011)
2011 | Drama
The Outbreak
With all of this news about the coronavirus, i thought i reviewing this movie. This came out when the swine flu was around, so back in 2011. When the trailer came out, it looked really scary, because it was about a deadly virus speading. Now thats happening right now with the coronavirus. Its scary, but if you wash your hands with soap and water/hand Sanitizer, keep away from sick people, cover your mouth when you snezze and dont touch your eyes, you will be okay.

Anways to the plot:

When Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minnesota from a Hong Kong business trip, she attributes the malaise she feels to jet lag. However, two days later, Beth is dead, and doctors tell her shocked husband (Matt Damon) that they have no idea what killed her. Soon, many others start to exhibit the same symptoms, and a global pandemic explodes. Doctors try to contain the lethal microbe, but society begins to collapse as a blogger (Jude Law) fans the flames of paranoia.

It has a all-star cast: includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, and Jennifer Ehle. Plus Steven Soderbergh directed it.

If you like medical action thriller film, than you will like this film.
  
    Road Hopper

    Road Hopper

    Games, Entertainment and Stickers

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    App

    Hop your way through this new, insanely funny arcade hopper, where you hop to survive all kinds of...

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Anders Holm recommended Scary Monsters by David Bowie in Music (curated)

 
Scary Monsters by David Bowie
Scary Monsters by David Bowie
1980 | Rock
8.4 (8 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Beastie Boys and David Bowie are two of my favorite artists. The David Bowie album I am going to choose is Scary Monsters, which is kind of different. He always reinvented himself and he was doing something in the 1980s with Scary Monsters that nobody was doing. You can kind of hear stuff on that album that a lot of groups are doing now like, 'Aw, yeah I know where you got that from. That’s off that album.' It’s not one of his most popular albums to everybody, but I think it’s my favorite. There was a song on that, ‘Teenage Wildlife,’ and if you don’t like that, we don’t have to associate with each other. If you don’t get that song—it's cool man, I’ll see you around. “‘Teenage Wildlife’ is just epic. It’s like five or six minutes long and it kind of crescendos and builds into this insane vocal of Bowie wailing. I think I would pay $5,000 dollars to see footage of that recording session. I don’t know how he hits the notes that he’s doing and how long he does it but he’s just belting it out. You know he was feeling something when he was doing it. It’s just a cool song."

Source
  
Home Before Dark
Home Before Dark
Riley Sager | 2020 | Mystery, Thriller
6
7.8 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
Contains spoilers, click to show
To the best of my knowledge, I've read all of Riley's books. I've enjoyed them, for the most part. This one felt similar to Lock Every Door, but I think I liked it better. Unfortunately, I did not like it was much as Final Girls or The Last Time I Lied. The back and forth was a tad bit confusing, but it was interesting to see the parallels in The Book and Maggie's life. I think the most interesting part was trying to determine whether or not the house is truly haunted or if her father was making everything up. To be honest, I was a little disappointed in the ending. I was kind of hoping for the house to actually be haunted - but the scene at the end of The Book (when Maggie is lifted up to the ceiling and dragged around) didn't strike me as scary so much as cliché. While the story was spooky, it certainly wasn't scary or disturbing. I conjured up so many different theories, I don't think I'd have been satisfied with any ending. But as a whole, it kept my attention and made me curious about how everything would tie together, so it was still worth reading. Not necessarily sure I'd recommend, though.