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The Darkest Evening of the Year
7.8
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With each of his #1 "New York Times" bestsellers, Dean Koontz has displayed an unparalleled ability...
9 Clues: The Ward HD (Full)
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70 % OFF - LIMITED TIME OFFER! Don’t miss out! Plunge into the creepiest edition yet in the...
The Mystery of the Real Letters of the Canadian Artist Alex Colville and Biographer Jeffrey Meyers
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The work of Alex Colville, O.C. (1920-2013), one of the great modern realist painters, combines the...
TL
The Land of the Green Man: A Journey Through the Supernatural Landscapes of the British Isles
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Beyond its housing estates and identikit high streets there is another Britain. This is the Britain...
The Restless Dead
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'Composed of over sixty per cent water itself, a human body isn't naturally buoyant. It will float...
Love in the Time of Cholera
7.7
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A poignant meditation on the nature of desire, and the enduring power of love, Gabriel Garcia...
Hazel (2934 KP) rated Secrets of a Serial Killer in Books
Jul 5, 2020
This is the chilling, creepy and unnerving story of a serial killer, his victim, her mother and 2 young children out for a bit of an adventure amongst the ruins of an old mental hospital in the north west UK city of Lancaster.
Told from multiple points of view, this is a pretty fast moving book, once the usual introductions to the various characters has been completed, and what a great cast of characters the author has created here. The author is also clearly adept at describing the eerie setting and at creating atmosphere ... I was transported to the old hospital, the derelict caravan and the woods surrounding them. The tension and fear in each of the characters is really well told and builds and builds throughout until the gripping and nail-biting conclusion.
Although I enjoyed this book, I do have a few issues that prevent this from being a 5 star read - there was next to nothing regarding the Police input or investigation and they came across as being inept and pretty useless, particularly at the end but I won't go into it here as it would be a spoiler but you will see what I mean when you read it. Also, the blog posts inserted at various points didn't really do anything for me or add to the story that much and I wonder if they were put there as a red-herring?
Despite the niggling issues, this is a creditable and decent debut and even though there are a few unanswered questions, in addition to the cliff-hanger, they are either left to the imagination of the reader or are going to be resolved in another instalment? If so, I would definitely read it.
My thanks go to HarperCollinsUK and One More Chapter via NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.
Told from multiple points of view, this is a pretty fast moving book, once the usual introductions to the various characters has been completed, and what a great cast of characters the author has created here. The author is also clearly adept at describing the eerie setting and at creating atmosphere ... I was transported to the old hospital, the derelict caravan and the woods surrounding them. The tension and fear in each of the characters is really well told and builds and builds throughout until the gripping and nail-biting conclusion.
Although I enjoyed this book, I do have a few issues that prevent this from being a 5 star read - there was next to nothing regarding the Police input or investigation and they came across as being inept and pretty useless, particularly at the end but I won't go into it here as it would be a spoiler but you will see what I mean when you read it. Also, the blog posts inserted at various points didn't really do anything for me or add to the story that much and I wonder if they were put there as a red-herring?
Despite the niggling issues, this is a creditable and decent debut and even though there are a few unanswered questions, in addition to the cliff-hanger, they are either left to the imagination of the reader or are going to be resolved in another instalment? If so, I would definitely read it.
My thanks go to HarperCollinsUK and One More Chapter via NetGalley for my advance copy in return for an unbiased and unedited review.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Girls of Brackenhill in Books
Nov 5, 2020
As a kid, Hannah spent several summers at Brackenhill, her aunt and uncle's beautiful mansion in the Catskills. Joined by her older sister, Julia, they enjoyed a peaceful time away from their troubled mother and her boyfriend. But that final summer, Hannah made the journey home alone after Julia disappeared. Now, seventeen years later, Hannah is back at Brackenhill, accompanied by her calm and steady fiance Huck, to deal with the aftermath of her Aunt Fae's death. Her uncle Stuart is quite ill and Hannah must handle the necessary affairs. But once at Brackenhill, long buried memories flood to the surface, along with some undiscovered family secrets.
"She'd escaped Brackenhill once. She could do it again."
I read this completely captivating thriller in one breathless day. It's such a wonderfully eerie and ghostly mystery that excellently captures the spooky atmosphere of Brackenhill. I'm all for a read with a creepy castle, ghostly happenings, and a history of missing girls. Told in a then (Hannah and Julia's summers at Brackenhill) and now format, Moretti sucks you in from the beginning, making the reader feel as if they are a part of the haunted happenings at Brackenhill.
"The Ghost Girls of Brackenhill are an urban legend."
The result is a twisted and dark story--a true Gothic ghost tale. I figured out a few pieces, but still found this impossible to put down. Moretti excels at weaving in the devastation of family secrets and small town mystery. As Hannah unravels the mystery of her family history and her sister's disappearance, we do as well, and you'll share her sense of dread and the overall foreboding that sweeps across the pages.
I wished the ending offered a bit more resolution, but this is an excellent, haunting, and spooky supernatural read. You'll be madly flipping the pages (with the lights on)! 4+ stars.
"She'd escaped Brackenhill once. She could do it again."
I read this completely captivating thriller in one breathless day. It's such a wonderfully eerie and ghostly mystery that excellently captures the spooky atmosphere of Brackenhill. I'm all for a read with a creepy castle, ghostly happenings, and a history of missing girls. Told in a then (Hannah and Julia's summers at Brackenhill) and now format, Moretti sucks you in from the beginning, making the reader feel as if they are a part of the haunted happenings at Brackenhill.
"The Ghost Girls of Brackenhill are an urban legend."
The result is a twisted and dark story--a true Gothic ghost tale. I figured out a few pieces, but still found this impossible to put down. Moretti excels at weaving in the devastation of family secrets and small town mystery. As Hannah unravels the mystery of her family history and her sister's disappearance, we do as well, and you'll share her sense of dread and the overall foreboding that sweeps across the pages.
I wished the ending offered a bit more resolution, but this is an excellent, haunting, and spooky supernatural read. You'll be madly flipping the pages (with the lights on)! 4+ stars.
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Underwater (2020) in Movies
Sep 11, 2020
Fair play, Underwater doesn't fuck around - 2 minutes in and all hell starts breaking loose and shit hits the fan pretty relentlessly until the credits roll. It's clear that director William Eubank wants your attention from the beginning - unfortunately it doesn't quite stay like this throughout...
I actually enjoyed Underwater for the most part, it's just that somewhere in the middle, it really starts to drag a bit, and I'm not even quite sure why - there's always something going on but it just lost me a bit.
Fortunately, the up and down middle act is book-ended by a very strong and tense first act, and one hell of a final third - no spoilers here but holy fuck!!!
The ending 'reveal' honestly elevates Underwater to loftier heights.
It also benefits from a good cast. Kristen Stewart has really grown on me in recent years and she's a fantastic lead in this. Always a pleasure to have Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher Jr. onscreen as well.
As per usual, I couldn't really get on with T.J. Miller - there's just something about that dude that always feels a bit too try hard - people liked him in Deadpool and now he's just typecast as the comic relief - Underwater doesn't really need comic relief.
There are some genuinely tense moments here and there, and the Aliens vibes are prominent - it's of course a few tiers under Aliens, but the bottom of the sea feels just as empty and otherworldly as space, and the creature designs are suitably eerie. The low light levels cover up a lot of CGI, so it never looks too fake either, with the exception of a couple of dodgy gore effects.
Underwater is a decent enough sci-fi-horror thriller that suffer a bit from pacing issues, but a good watch for those of you who like movie monsters.
I actually enjoyed Underwater for the most part, it's just that somewhere in the middle, it really starts to drag a bit, and I'm not even quite sure why - there's always something going on but it just lost me a bit.
Fortunately, the up and down middle act is book-ended by a very strong and tense first act, and one hell of a final third - no spoilers here but holy fuck!!!
The ending 'reveal' honestly elevates Underwater to loftier heights.
It also benefits from a good cast. Kristen Stewart has really grown on me in recent years and she's a fantastic lead in this. Always a pleasure to have Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher Jr. onscreen as well.
As per usual, I couldn't really get on with T.J. Miller - there's just something about that dude that always feels a bit too try hard - people liked him in Deadpool and now he's just typecast as the comic relief - Underwater doesn't really need comic relief.
There are some genuinely tense moments here and there, and the Aliens vibes are prominent - it's of course a few tiers under Aliens, but the bottom of the sea feels just as empty and otherworldly as space, and the creature designs are suitably eerie. The low light levels cover up a lot of CGI, so it never looks too fake either, with the exception of a couple of dodgy gore effects.
Underwater is a decent enough sci-fi-horror thriller that suffer a bit from pacing issues, but a good watch for those of you who like movie monsters.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated Silent Hill (2006) in Movies
Oct 28, 2020 (Updated Oct 28, 2020)
Radha Mitchell (4 more)
Sean Bean
Laurie Holden
Jodelle Ferland
Deborah Kara Unger
The Evil Within
Silent Hill- is a great movie. Its a great movie based off of a video game. One of my favorite movies based off of a video game. Maybe even my favorite. The atmosphere, the visuals, the horror, the charcters, Pyramid Head, does a excellent job knowing the atmosphere of silent hill and the video game itself.
The plot: Unable to accept the fact that her daughter is dying, Rose (Radha Mitchell) decides to take the girl to a faith healer. On the way, the pair drive through a portal in reality, leading to an eerie town called Silent Hill. The town is surrounded by a potent darkness, and the human survivors fight a losing battle against it.
Development of Silent Hill began in the early 2000s. After attempting to gain the film rights to Silent Hill for five years, Gans sent a video interview to them explaining his plans for adapting Silent Hill and how important the games are to him. Konami awarded him the film rights as a result.
Director Christophe Gans attempted for five years to obtain the film rights to the Silent Hill series from Konami. He sent a video interview to them explaining his plans for adapting Silent Hill and how important the games are to him.
In order to maintain the feel of the games, Gans had the sound designer of the original Silent Hill, Akira Yamaoka, flown to the set several times. Additionally, Gans had a 40-inch television brought onto the set, to which he attached a PlayStation 2; Gans then played the original Silent Hill on the system so that the actors and cinematographers could see how Gans wanted to emulate various camera angles and movements.
Its a excellent movie and a must see.
The plot: Unable to accept the fact that her daughter is dying, Rose (Radha Mitchell) decides to take the girl to a faith healer. On the way, the pair drive through a portal in reality, leading to an eerie town called Silent Hill. The town is surrounded by a potent darkness, and the human survivors fight a losing battle against it.
Development of Silent Hill began in the early 2000s. After attempting to gain the film rights to Silent Hill for five years, Gans sent a video interview to them explaining his plans for adapting Silent Hill and how important the games are to him. Konami awarded him the film rights as a result.
Director Christophe Gans attempted for five years to obtain the film rights to the Silent Hill series from Konami. He sent a video interview to them explaining his plans for adapting Silent Hill and how important the games are to him.
In order to maintain the feel of the games, Gans had the sound designer of the original Silent Hill, Akira Yamaoka, flown to the set several times. Additionally, Gans had a 40-inch television brought onto the set, to which he attached a PlayStation 2; Gans then played the original Silent Hill on the system so that the actors and cinematographers could see how Gans wanted to emulate various camera angles and movements.
Its a excellent movie and a must see.