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Lou Grande (148 KP) rated The Apparition (2012) in Movies
Jul 9, 2018
There are two reasons to watch this movie, and only two: Sebastian Stan's goofy hair and you desperately need to kill an hour and a half. The Apparition follows the standard straight-to-video line: young couple moves into a new house, spooky stuff happens, everyone very easily accepts that it can only be caused by ghosts, they seek out "professional" help, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket. I watched this about two hours ago and I really can't tell you anything notable about it, except that Sebastian Stan cannot rock bangs, poor baby. It's PG-13, so you can't even get a little gratuitous nudity out of the deal. I guess Stan is half-naked in a few scenes, but I mostly just found myself staring at his larger-than-average nipples. But I digress.
Unless you have a penchant for Tom Felton (you know, as a wizard, you think he'd be used to these situations by now) or Sebastian Stan, your time is probably more valuable than this movie. I have one of those things, so I took the hit for you. You're welcome.
Unless you have a penchant for Tom Felton (you know, as a wizard, you think he'd be used to these situations by now) or Sebastian Stan, your time is probably more valuable than this movie. I have one of those things, so I took the hit for you. You're welcome.
Lyndsey Gollogly (2893 KP) rated Bewitched on Bourbon Street (Jade Calhoun #7) in Books
Aug 11, 2019
Loved it!
Jade loves her new apartment--until a ghost joins her in the shower.
When empath Jade Calhoun moves into an apartment above a strip bar on Bourbon Street, she expects life to get interesting. What she doesn't count on is making friends with an exotic dancer, attracting a powerful spirit, and developing feelings for Kane, her sexy landlord.
Being an empath has never been easy on Jade's relationships. It's no wonder she keeps her gift a secret. But when the ghost moves from spooking Jade to terrorizing Pyper, the dancer, it's up to Jade to use her unique ability to save her. Except she'll need Kane's help--and he's betrayed her with a secret of his own--to do it. Can she find a way to trust him and herself before Pyper is lost?
<strong>Loved it</strong>
I for one loved this book. It was funny , spooky full of eye candy both male and female. It was just fun to read. I enjoy reading books when the main female role has a backbone and Made has just that! Supported by some very strong characters.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommended

When empath Jade Calhoun moves into an apartment above a strip bar on Bourbon Street, she expects life to get interesting. What she doesn't count on is making friends with an exotic dancer, attracting a powerful spirit, and developing feelings for Kane, her sexy landlord.
Being an empath has never been easy on Jade's relationships. It's no wonder she keeps her gift a secret. But when the ghost moves from spooking Jade to terrorizing Pyper, the dancer, it's up to Jade to use her unique ability to save her. Except she'll need Kane's help--and he's betrayed her with a secret of his own--to do it. Can she find a way to trust him and herself before Pyper is lost?
<strong>Loved it</strong>
I for one loved this book. It was funny , spooky full of eye candy both male and female. It was just fun to read. I enjoy reading books when the main female role has a backbone and Made has just that! Supported by some very strong characters.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Recommended

Sean Lennon recommended Soundtrack to Fellini's Casanova by Nino Rota in Music (curated)
LoganCrews (2861 KP) rated The Grudge (2004) in Movies
Sep 21, 2020
Takes too long to finally get on its feet, though like something such as 𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 I'd argue that retaining the same director as the original film was ultimately the right move here. Because even though this is nothing more than a grimy slideshow of hilariously over-creepy imagery, it is also very successful at that (very pleased with the amount of jaws comically ripped off in this). The rest of it is practically a 60-75% finished story that suffices well enough but that you also *really* want to know more about (i.e. the entire Bill Pullman arc) - but that's because it takes hearty asides to have 5+ minute scenes of people slowly walking through haunting apartment complexes a la 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘋𝘰𝘵𝘊𝘰𝘮, which I'm often a sucker for when it's done well - and it is done so here. I also credit this for really exacerbating that mid-2000s dingy slime-green film that thickly coated the sizeable majority of horror films from this era that I also cop to digging (which, despite its metric fuckton of other flaws, at least Rings tried to bring back). Silly and spooky, decently pleased with it.
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.
ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Lighthouse Witches in Books
Nov 27, 2022
Liv Stay rents a Scottish lighthouse on the island Lion Haven, despite the fact that it carries a decidedly spooky reputation involving witch hunts and islanders who have disappeared. She doesn’t believe in these things, and only wants a home for herself and her three daughters. But soon, only one daughter will remain: Luna’s mother and two sisters will have disappeared without a trace.
And then one day, twenty years later, someone resembling Luna’s sister turns up - and she hasn’t aged a day.
This is an eerie, unsettling story, packed with history, ancient beliefs and paranoia.
There are three timelines: the 17th century explains the origins of the witches and their slaughter; 1998 where Liv comes to live on the island with her daughters; and the present day, when Luna returns to the island as an adult. These timelines are expertly woven together, and they explain what has happened in the past to form the opinions of the future.
I couldn’t put this down! The more ominous and creepy it became, the more I wanted to listen to it. You certainly won’t want to be visiting caves or lighthouses anytime soon after reading this!
And then one day, twenty years later, someone resembling Luna’s sister turns up - and she hasn’t aged a day.
This is an eerie, unsettling story, packed with history, ancient beliefs and paranoia.
There are three timelines: the 17th century explains the origins of the witches and their slaughter; 1998 where Liv comes to live on the island with her daughters; and the present day, when Luna returns to the island as an adult. These timelines are expertly woven together, and they explain what has happened in the past to form the opinions of the future.
I couldn’t put this down! The more ominous and creepy it became, the more I wanted to listen to it. You certainly won’t want to be visiting caves or lighthouses anytime soon after reading this!
ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Whistling in Books
Aug 3, 2023
Elspeth Swansome is escaping her past in Edinburgh and taking up a post as a nanny on the remote Scottish island of Skelthsea (it’s fictional, but I would really want to visit it if it was real!).
Elspeth is going to nanny Mary, a child who is clearly suffering from trauma. Her twin, William, is dead and her former nanny has disappeared. Elspeth is told that if she can’t get Mary to talk, she will be institutionalised.
I loved this - it’s the right kind of spooky, and you can’t beat a haunted house: lullabies are sung by someone who isn’t there, poppets keep appearing in random rooms, and whistling can be heard at night. It all added up to a book that sent shivers down my spine!
The characters were sometimes likeable, menacing, disconcerting and some most definitely had something to hide!
I listened to this on Audible, and the narrator, Lois Chimimba, kept me glued to my headphones. Her different accents were all spot on, and helped me to tell the different characters apart. I was never confused as to ‘who’ was speaking.
The tension built and built to the climactic ending - a truly delicious ghost story!
Elspeth is going to nanny Mary, a child who is clearly suffering from trauma. Her twin, William, is dead and her former nanny has disappeared. Elspeth is told that if she can’t get Mary to talk, she will be institutionalised.
I loved this - it’s the right kind of spooky, and you can’t beat a haunted house: lullabies are sung by someone who isn’t there, poppets keep appearing in random rooms, and whistling can be heard at night. It all added up to a book that sent shivers down my spine!
The characters were sometimes likeable, menacing, disconcerting and some most definitely had something to hide!
I listened to this on Audible, and the narrator, Lois Chimimba, kept me glued to my headphones. Her different accents were all spot on, and helped me to tell the different characters apart. I was never confused as to ‘who’ was speaking.
The tension built and built to the climactic ending - a truly delicious ghost story!
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated The Death of Mrs Westaway in Books
Mar 10, 2019
Spooky & fun read
Things aren't going well for Hal, who has been struggling financially and emotionally since her mother passed away. So when she receives a letter stating that she's a beneficiary to a well-sized inheritance, she thinks it may be the answer to her prayers. She also quickly realizes that the letter was sent to the wrong person, but she hopes to use her abilities as a tarot-card reader to claim the money. Once at the funeral of her supposed "grandmother," Hal finds herself drawn to her fake new family, something she never had growing up. She also starts to feel like something is off about the supposed situation and the odd, imposing home where they are all residing.
This novel wasn't what I was expecting, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a creepy, almost gothic book--not your typical whodunit--but more a slow-burning thriller in a Agatha Christie type style. The star of the show is Harriet, aka Hal, whom the book focuses on and who is our narrator for the majority of the novel. We get most of the story from her point of view, with the exception of excerpts of diary entries from the 1990s. Luckily Hal is an interesting character, even if she's in a bit of trouble, having borrowed money from some disreputable sources, and basically just being over her head since the death of her mom a few years ago. She's young and while it seems insane that she'd go off on this quest to claim an inheritance that isn't hers, you can sense and understand her desperation.
Once Hal arrives at Trespassen, the imposing yet decreipt mansion of the woman who is supposed to be her grandmother, the gothic style of the novel ratchets up, and it is really quite eerie at times. We get introduced to a trio of men who should be Hal's uncles, if she was who she claimed. The cast of characters is limited and the story isn't fast-paced, per se, but I found it quite compelling, as the reader, along with Hal, is trying to work out a variety of things. We realize that Hal does have ties to this family, but nothing is truly as it seems, and all is creepy and foreboding.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. It's a bit slow at times, but still quite interesting, and I enjoyed Hal's character. It's spooky and a fun read.
This novel wasn't what I was expecting, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It's a creepy, almost gothic book--not your typical whodunit--but more a slow-burning thriller in a Agatha Christie type style. The star of the show is Harriet, aka Hal, whom the book focuses on and who is our narrator for the majority of the novel. We get most of the story from her point of view, with the exception of excerpts of diary entries from the 1990s. Luckily Hal is an interesting character, even if she's in a bit of trouble, having borrowed money from some disreputable sources, and basically just being over her head since the death of her mom a few years ago. She's young and while it seems insane that she'd go off on this quest to claim an inheritance that isn't hers, you can sense and understand her desperation.
Once Hal arrives at Trespassen, the imposing yet decreipt mansion of the woman who is supposed to be her grandmother, the gothic style of the novel ratchets up, and it is really quite eerie at times. We get introduced to a trio of men who should be Hal's uncles, if she was who she claimed. The cast of characters is limited and the story isn't fast-paced, per se, but I found it quite compelling, as the reader, along with Hal, is trying to work out a variety of things. We realize that Hal does have ties to this family, but nothing is truly as it seems, and all is creepy and foreboding.
Overall, I enjoyed this one. It's a bit slow at times, but still quite interesting, and I enjoyed Hal's character. It's spooky and a fun read.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Designed for Haunting in Books
Oct 10, 2018
Designed for Your Halloween Reading Pleasure
It's a couple of weeks before Halloween, and Aurora “Rory” Anderson and the rest of her painting friends are working on the annual benefit they put on where they sell their work for charity. That changes when Rory gets an e-mail from Zelena, a friend in her painting group that says the e-mail is being sent to Rory because Zelena is missing. As Rory begins to investigate, she learns that no one has seen Zelena for several days. A dead body just increases the stakes. Can Rory figure out what is really happening?
This is a great mystery with several other mysterious happenings that help cloud the issue. Yet as Rory sorts through what applies to the main mystery, she leads us to a clear picture of what happened. It all comes together in a page turning climax. The characters are strong; the new characters do their job of keeping us wondering what is really happening while Rory and the other series regulars were a delight to be around. This book evoked a Southern California Halloween for me perfectly, complete with a potentially spooky sub-plot or two to add to the seasonal fun.
This is a great mystery with several other mysterious happenings that help cloud the issue. Yet as Rory sorts through what applies to the main mystery, she leads us to a clear picture of what happened. It all comes together in a page turning climax. The characters are strong; the new characters do their job of keeping us wondering what is really happening while Rory and the other series regulars were a delight to be around. This book evoked a Southern California Halloween for me perfectly, complete with a potentially spooky sub-plot or two to add to the seasonal fun.
Lee (2222 KP) rated Truth or Dare (2018) in Movies
Nov 24, 2018
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.
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.
