
Douglas Branden (7 KP) rated Betrayal at House on the Hill in Tabletop Games
Mar 7, 2019
I have played this game quite a bit now and have a pretty good feel for this game. It comes with some glaring flaws such as the quality of the game pieces and sometimes overwhelming odds stacked in favor of the betrayer or hero. However, it is undeniable this game is fun for the constant exploration and not knowing what is going to come next.
The bad: Betrayal has some of the worst game pieces I have seen. The character molds are extremely ugly and the character cards are already starting to tear apart after multiple uses. The game play can also be dragged out a little too long especially for people not used to playing these games. I have noticed it is very hard for new players to understand how to play if they happen to become the traitor. You can't help out the traitor understand either as this can reveal the traitors gameplan and ruin the game play.
The Good: I love working as a team and exploring this house together. The events are often interesting and the items you get are usually useful. The scenarios are always interesting and remind me of low budget horror movie plots. You never know what is going to happen everytime you start a new game. I have seen this game also get people to come out of their shells if they are shy because you often have to consult with each other on strategy to defeat whatever comes up when the traitor is revealed.
Overall this is a fun game that should be in anyone's board game collection. Best when you have at least four people. Great for introducing to beginner board game players to board games outside of the popular board games that have been around for ages.

Fred (860 KP) rated The Haunting of Hill House in TV
Oct 24, 2018
I am not one to binge watch shows. My time is limited & I watch lots of stuff. But I was immediately hooked on this show. I watched half the season in one day & the rest the following.
The show does a very good job in taking the original movie's plot, changing things around & creating a terrifying tale that takes the psychological horror of the original, mixes it with some minor jump-scares & a compelling story of a family dealing with it's own demons as well as the spirits that live within Hell House. Yes, that was a very long sentence, which reminds me of the 6th episode, which is filled with long shots. The camera spins around, while things change around them. in fact, throughout the series, things change all the time. Sometimes statues turn their heads, ghosts appear in the background, faces appear in the furniture. Once I noticed one of these faces, just there, staring at the family. My fiance didn't even notice. I backed it up to show her. She went "Ooh! How did I not see that?"
The story does jump around in time, showing when the family first moved into the house, with 5 children & their parents & then in current day, still being haunted & compelled by the house. Every actor in the show is fantastic. Even the children really pull it off.
The ghosts in the show are creepy as all hell. My favorite is the tall man. I haven't been freaked out by a movie or TV show in decades, but I held my breath & stared as he...well, just watch.
I have recommended this to all my friends & those who watched it all got back to me to thank me. So, I'm recommending it to all of you too.

Meddling Kids: A Novel
Book
With raucous humor and brilliantly orchestrated mayhem, Meddling Kids subverts teen detective...
Fiction Horror Humor Dark Fiction Mystery Paranormal

ClareR (5950 KP) rated The Animals at Lockwood Manor in Books
Apr 3, 2020
This is no fast-moving thriller, but it is creepy, haunting (in fact, is Lockwood Manor haunted?) with a malevolent undercurrent. It’s like the Manor itself is alive. It’s also a story of secrets: family secrets and secret love.
This was a pleasure to read; it’s richly descriptive language described the house, people and the time in history beautifully. If you enjoy a creepy, slow burner, you’ll love this book. I did.

The Secrets You Keep
Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wrong Man and Eyes on You comes a harrowing new...

Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days
Book
This is a Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year. "Packed with charm and beautifully illustrated, it's a...

Shine
Book
Monsters are in the eye of the beholder. Rosa suffers from a rare condition that renders her...

Pine
Book
They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the...
Literary Fiction Scotland

Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2395 KP) rated Halloween Party Murder in Books
Sep 1, 2021 (Updated Sep 1, 2021)
Out of these three authors, I only regularly read Barbara Ross’s Maine Clambake mysteries, so that story, featuring Julia Snowden, was my favorite. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy all three of the novellas. All three feature a strong assortment of characters and a solid mystery. Even if I figured out a part of the story early, I didn’t have it all pieced together until the end. My only complaint was the politics brought into the first novella in the collection. Even then, I’m a bit torn since it did play a part in the story while also feeling like I was reading a lecture. Still, if you are in the mood for a murderous Halloween party, you’ll be glad you picked up this novella collection.

David McK (3600 KP) rated Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) in Movies
Aug 14, 2022
Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World has it's moments (the raptors in the long grass), but also has the annoying-kid-doing-gymnastics-while-a-Raptor-watches.
Jurassic Park 3 takes some scenes from the original novel (most noticeably the aviary) that were left out of the previous films, but also has the stupid ringing phone that a dinosaur has swallowed that remind the viewer too much (and not in a good way) of Peter Pan and Captain Hook crocodile.
Jurassic World follows the same format as Jurassic Park, except goes larger. It's not a bad movie.
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom goes in a completely different direction, going the haunted house route in the second half, and ends with the dinosaurs released on the mainland.
Which is where Jurassic World: Dominion picks up, roughly four years on from the ending of Fallen Kingdom. Lots have been made of the fact that this also reunites the original cast - Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum - alongside the newer duo of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
The problem, however, is that more is quite often less, which I found to be the case here - plenty of action (and dinosaurs), yes, but also, well, just missing something :(