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The Chocolate Lady (94 KP) rated The Phantom's Apprentice in Books
Oct 5, 2020
In Heather Webb’s latest novel, she re-envisions Gaston Leroux’s story from 1910 about Christine Daaé, the soprano haunted by the Paris Opera’s “phantom.” This original dramatic work is now best known from its adaptation as a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Webb, however, has new ideas about who Christine and her phantom were. You can read more about what I thought of this novel in my review of “The Phantom’s Apprentice,”
https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2018/01/28/mystifying-masquerade/
https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2018/01/28/mystifying-masquerade/
Sarah Betts (103 KP) rated Haunted House Murder in Books
Dec 31, 2019
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book is three stories by three different authors.
The first two weren't my thing as they featured doormat wives, terrible husband's, and intrusive neighbors.
But the third one was great. It featured a haunted house tour and a reenactment of a murder and the couple involved actually seemed to like each other!
Don't get me wrong the first two weren't badly written, just not my cup of tea!
This book is three stories by three different authors.
The first two weren't my thing as they featured doormat wives, terrible husband's, and intrusive neighbors.
But the third one was great. It featured a haunted house tour and a reenactment of a murder and the couple involved actually seemed to like each other!
Don't get me wrong the first two weren't badly written, just not my cup of tea!
Kim Newman recommended The Uninvited (1944) in Movies (curated)
Louise (64 KP) rated Horrorstör in Books
Jul 2, 2018
I was super excited about reading this book, when I first read the synopsis of a haunted Ikea style superstore I was instantly intrigued and couldn’t wait to pick it up. I showed my friend the book and she too wanted to read this book on the synopsis alone. There is something quite thrilling about a superstore being haunted especially as I have an Ikea around the corner from where I live.
Lets talk about the design of this book first of all, when I picked it up it looked and felt just like a shopping catalogue,the book also had french flaps and on the inside of the cover there was a layout of the store and list of areas, such as kitchens, bedrooms, wardrobes etc etc. Every chapter had a product advertisement that become more and more sinister throughout the book.
This book was definitely intense and got very creepy and definitely scary in parts but I didn’t feel any connection with the characters, This could be that it was told from a third person perspective or that none of them had personalities.All of the characters were just boring. The reason why it was haunted was quite interesting and I really liked that aspect of the story. The ending, I think is a bit 50/50 you are either going to love it or hate it and I didn’t like it.When I finished this book there was one question on my mind WHY? This book is described as a parody/humor which I found wasn’t the case at all and I perhaps sniggered once.
Overall I enjoyed the book and loved the aesthetic side of it but it just didn’t blow me away. I recommend this for people who want a quick read with elements of horror.
I rated this 2.5 out of 5 stars
Lets talk about the design of this book first of all, when I picked it up it looked and felt just like a shopping catalogue,the book also had french flaps and on the inside of the cover there was a layout of the store and list of areas, such as kitchens, bedrooms, wardrobes etc etc. Every chapter had a product advertisement that become more and more sinister throughout the book.
This book was definitely intense and got very creepy and definitely scary in parts but I didn’t feel any connection with the characters, This could be that it was told from a third person perspective or that none of them had personalities.All of the characters were just boring. The reason why it was haunted was quite interesting and I really liked that aspect of the story. The ending, I think is a bit 50/50 you are either going to love it or hate it and I didn’t like it.When I finished this book there was one question on my mind WHY? This book is described as a parody/humor which I found wasn’t the case at all and I perhaps sniggered once.
Overall I enjoyed the book and loved the aesthetic side of it but it just didn’t blow me away. I recommend this for people who want a quick read with elements of horror.
I rated this 2.5 out of 5 stars
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Walters Rifle (Haunted Collection #2) in Books
Mar 29, 2021
45 of 250
Kindle
Walters Rifle ( Haunted Collection book 2)
By Ron Ripley
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
The gleaming muzzle of a rifle burns with an insatiable desire, and its new owner is all too happy to comply....
Haunted items are traversing the country, and their ghosts are wreaking havoc on their new owners. At the center of the chaos is an old rifle possessed by a blood-thirsty specter, who dreams of massacres at every turn. Meanwhile, lurking in a nearby mailbox is an antique novel possessed by a monster who takes pleasure in agonizing, heart-stopping torture.
Stefan Korzh's plan is unraveling flawlessly, and he can't imagine a better way of seeking revenge on the world. But Victor Daniels and Jeremy Rhinehart won't let that happen. Recovering from their grisly encounters with the dead, they're more prepared than ever before. They work on finding the sources of bloodshed and imprisoning the crazed collectibles.
With murderous ghosts continuing to raise the death toll, Victor and Jeremy have their hands full. They race against time to stop the mayhem and save innocent bystanders. Fueled by their quest for revenge, each step brings them toward the culprit behind all the horror. But as they get closer to catching this madman, they discover how dangerous Stefan Korzh truly is....
So I’m such a drip and didn’t realise it was an ongoing series so that answers the end of my review of the first book! So more haunted objects are sold into the world with horrifying results. It’s getting a little more personal and now he has little Annie back. Also Stefan has seriously pissed off daddy! I still think it was very rushed like the first book. Walters rifle could have featured a little more. Still a decent horror read.
Kindle
Walters Rifle ( Haunted Collection book 2)
By Ron Ripley
Once read a review will be written via Smashbomb and link posted in comments
The gleaming muzzle of a rifle burns with an insatiable desire, and its new owner is all too happy to comply....
Haunted items are traversing the country, and their ghosts are wreaking havoc on their new owners. At the center of the chaos is an old rifle possessed by a blood-thirsty specter, who dreams of massacres at every turn. Meanwhile, lurking in a nearby mailbox is an antique novel possessed by a monster who takes pleasure in agonizing, heart-stopping torture.
Stefan Korzh's plan is unraveling flawlessly, and he can't imagine a better way of seeking revenge on the world. But Victor Daniels and Jeremy Rhinehart won't let that happen. Recovering from their grisly encounters with the dead, they're more prepared than ever before. They work on finding the sources of bloodshed and imprisoning the crazed collectibles.
With murderous ghosts continuing to raise the death toll, Victor and Jeremy have their hands full. They race against time to stop the mayhem and save innocent bystanders. Fueled by their quest for revenge, each step brings them toward the culprit behind all the horror. But as they get closer to catching this madman, they discover how dangerous Stefan Korzh truly is....
So I’m such a drip and didn’t realise it was an ongoing series so that answers the end of my review of the first book! So more haunted objects are sold into the world with horrifying results. It’s getting a little more personal and now he has little Annie back. Also Stefan has seriously pissed off daddy! I still think it was very rushed like the first book. Walters rifle could have featured a little more. Still a decent horror read.
Steve Fearon (84 KP) rated Found Footage 3D (2016) in Movies
Sep 19, 2018
Some Nice ideas, but a little less than good
Found Footage 3D is a fun idea...a meta horror about a small crew filming their own 'found-footage' horror, so you have a mixture of 'movie within a movie' scenes mixed with their own documentary about the making of their film.
The other aspects of the premise are all very much in keeping with tradition; the haunted cabin, the unseen "spectre", the paranoia etc
It is reasonably well made and well acted for a smaller budget film, and though the script offers few surprises, it is an easy watch, and makes some clever observations on the genre including a brilliant rant by one of the characters about how 'there have only ever been 2 half decent found footage movies, and one of those was 15 years ago!".
All in all, it is a good, fun, at times clever, at others predictable romp through a haunted cabin in the woods, with a self aware cast and an attitude of 'lets just enjoy the tropes'.
Worth a watch.
The other aspects of the premise are all very much in keeping with tradition; the haunted cabin, the unseen "spectre", the paranoia etc
It is reasonably well made and well acted for a smaller budget film, and though the script offers few surprises, it is an easy watch, and makes some clever observations on the genre including a brilliant rant by one of the characters about how 'there have only ever been 2 half decent found footage movies, and one of those was 15 years ago!".
All in all, it is a good, fun, at times clever, at others predictable romp through a haunted cabin in the woods, with a self aware cast and an attitude of 'lets just enjoy the tropes'.
Worth a watch.
Lee KM Pallatina (951 KP) rated The Haunting of Hill House in TV
Oct 15, 2020
Characters (1 more)
Story
Netflix's: a haunted Mansion
I was roped into watching this by my partner, but I wasn't disappointed.
NETFLIX as usual has given us a great horror story just in time for Halloween, haunting of hill house is a diamond in the dark that follows a group of distant siblings who are troubled and haunted by their childhood.
A brilliant offering with some very strong "the shining" vibes that were very welcome.
Dark, intense and deep with common issues.
After the death of one of their own, the siblings are forced to reach out and come face to face with each other....and their estranged father.
With storys of past, present & future dangerously entwined and nightmares clawing their way back in, time, trust & understanding may be their only means of surviving.
Although some parts seemed to drag a little, it more than made up for it with sub plot explaining and some great cliffhangers.
The show is an adaption of the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name from 1959.
It is definitely something I will watch again and something I'd like to see more of.
NETFLIX as usual has given us a great horror story just in time for Halloween, haunting of hill house is a diamond in the dark that follows a group of distant siblings who are troubled and haunted by their childhood.
A brilliant offering with some very strong "the shining" vibes that were very welcome.
Dark, intense and deep with common issues.
After the death of one of their own, the siblings are forced to reach out and come face to face with each other....and their estranged father.
With storys of past, present & future dangerously entwined and nightmares clawing their way back in, time, trust & understanding may be their only means of surviving.
Although some parts seemed to drag a little, it more than made up for it with sub plot explaining and some great cliffhangers.
The show is an adaption of the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name from 1959.
It is definitely something I will watch again and something I'd like to see more of.
Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated The Haunting (1963) in Movies
Oct 4, 2019
The Haunted House
The Haunting- is one of the best horror movies of all time. Its scary, spooky, haunting, terrorfying, horrorfying and more.
The Plot: Dr. John Markway, an anthropologist with an interest in psychic phenomena, takes two specially selected women to Hill House, a reportedly haunted mansion. Eleanor (Julie Harris), a lonely, eccentric woman with a supernatural event in her past, and the bold Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has ESP, join John and the mansion's heir, cynical Luke (Russ Tamblyn). They are immediately overwhelmed by strange sounds and events, and Eleanor comes to believe the house is alive and speaking directly to her.
From the great novel- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
In 2010, The Guardian newspaper ranked it as the 13th-best horror film of all time. Director Martin Scorsese has placed The Haunting first on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.
The film was remade in 1999 by director Jan de Bont, starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson, but that version was heavily panned by critics and audiences. Dont watch that film, but instead watch this masterpiece.
I would highly reccordmend this movie.
The Plot: Dr. John Markway, an anthropologist with an interest in psychic phenomena, takes two specially selected women to Hill House, a reportedly haunted mansion. Eleanor (Julie Harris), a lonely, eccentric woman with a supernatural event in her past, and the bold Theodora (Claire Bloom), who has ESP, join John and the mansion's heir, cynical Luke (Russ Tamblyn). They are immediately overwhelmed by strange sounds and events, and Eleanor comes to believe the house is alive and speaking directly to her.
From the great novel- The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.
In 2010, The Guardian newspaper ranked it as the 13th-best horror film of all time. Director Martin Scorsese has placed The Haunting first on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time.
The film was remade in 1999 by director Jan de Bont, starring Liam Neeson, Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Owen Wilson, but that version was heavily panned by critics and audiences. Dont watch that film, but instead watch this masterpiece.
I would highly reccordmend this movie.
Karla Dee (6 KP) rated Cherry Robbers in Books
May 10, 2022
I have already read the book Diet Land and was obsessed so I had to get my hands on this read. Looking at the cover I thought I would be reading a western and turns out this is more of a cursed ghost story about a family who made there legacy selling firearms. All the women in the family are curse and can't get married without death in the family. The book is set in the 1950s so the only way to escape their curse home is through marriage, so do the ladies have much of a choice? There are five sister in the book and after the first one gets married she dies and never gets to live life aftr escaping their mentally ill mother and alcoholic father. The mother is haunted by the souls of the people killed by the Chapel's firearm fortune and the sister's are close to one another since they didn't have parents who were able to care for them or keep them company. Will the sister's find a way to escape their haunted past?! So difficult to not give all the spoilers!!
Narrative (3 more)
Soundtrack
Concept
Design
Excellent game
This game is incredibly fun. The basic concept is something like a cross between the movie Frequency and Stranger Things with a fun synth score. A group of teens end up on a haunted island in a series of time loops and have to use radios to communicate with the ghosts and break free. It's an easy way to lose a few hours, and then play all over again with a few surprises. This is among my top IOS games for sure.