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Erika (17789 KP) rated Twelve Nights at Rotter House in Books

Oct 31, 2020

Twelve Nights at Rotter House

J.W. Ocker | 2019 | Fiction & Poetry, Horror

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Book Rating

This book has stuck with me. I read Ocker's non-fiction book @Cursed Objects: Strange but True Stories of the World's Most Infamous Items, the other day, so I decided to try out his novel.

In the first chapter, we find out that the original title of the book was 13 nights, rather than 12. So, obviously, something happened. The main character is a travel writer (like the author), and a skeptic (like the author), who decides to spend 13 nights in a supposedly haunted house.
There were hints, dropped throughout, as to what is actually happening, various movie and book references. Crimson Peak was the most obvious one.

After one night spent alone, the author's best friend comes to visit. There's some unspoken thing that happened a year ago, that's not all that hard to figure out. When things begin to happen, screams, apparitions, etc, the author explains them away. He is a skeptic after all.

The woman character/ghost, has a head that's split down the middle... wonder what that symbolizes.

Towards the end, the author gradually unravels. The end, with the twist... Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. That's why I just rated this as ok. It was entertaining, and haunted me for about three days,

Kudos

Awix (3310 KP) rated Proxima (2019) in Movies

Aug 3, 2020

Proxima (2019)

2019 | Drama, International

6.0

(1 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Slightly arty space drama with Eva Green. A female engineer is delighted to be selected for a mission to help prepare for the first manned landing on Mars, but does not anticipate the strain this will place on her relationship with her daughter.

Not really a science fiction film in any genuine sense of the word, but one which combines a very realistic portrayal of life as an astronaut in training with an examination of what it means to go off into space leaving your children behind. Doesn't quite ring correctly on a number of levels: we are invited to dislike the American mission commander, who is a chauvinist alpha-male in some ways, but on the other hand the film is about the extra difficulties of being a mum on the way to orbit. Mmm, I don't know - is it really that different from being a father and going off into space? A definite sense of maternity being idealised - a key sequence sees Green's character breaking mission protocols in a pretty major way just to keep a promise to her daughter. (Then again I'm neither a woman or a parent.) A bit of a shame as the film is engaging and well-played, but it's much more about Mas than Mars.