Darling has its demons. Cherry LaRouche escaped the claws of Darling, Louisiana at sixteen. When she is forced to return after her mother’s death, Cherry and her children move back into her childhood home where the walls whisper and something sinister skitters across the roof at night. While Cherry tries to settle back into a town where evil spreads like infection, the bodies of several murdered children turn up. When Cherry’s own daughter goes missing, she is forced to confront the true monsters of Darling.
Mercedes skilfully fleshes out all her characters and the backstories that have shaped their lives, slowly filling in the gaps and presenting each as distinct and unique.
Read the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE
A family with buried secrets reunite at a farmhouse after two decades to pay for their past sins.
Josiah is a well-made film. The direction and cinematography are suitably dark and oppressive, and I would definitely be up for more written by Dilts or directed by Grashaw.
Available at AMAZON ISBN-10: 0981297897 ISBN-13: 978-0981297897
When a father loses his son and his wife leaves him, he cannot tear himselfaway from the small fishing village where the boy’s memories reside. They’re all he has left. Thinking that his life is all but over, he takes to wandering the cliffs, carrying broken things that he always promised his son he would fix, but never did. They’re a sign of his failure, and they keep little Toby close. And then he meets the thief of broken toys, and everything begins to change…
I must confess, I was not very familiar with the work of Tim Lebbon before this volume hit the door mat. A prize involving a competition with The Last Storm and a Tarantula (I might tell you more when I review Storm) I had no real idea what to expect, but the cover blurb is intriguing so I got on with reading it as soon as I could.
Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today’s top horror talent edited by John F.D. Taff. Within these pages you’ll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harbouring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You’ll encounter terrible monsters―both human and supernatural―and be forever changed. These stories run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown―possibly unknowable―threats.
Dark Stars is a celebration of the diversity, variety and joy of horror, an escapist delight to die-hard fans, and the start of a slippery, yet attractive slope for newbies.
Mysterious disappearances. An urban legend rumored to be responsible. And one group of friends determined to save their city at any cost. Stranger Things meets Jordan Peele in this utterly original debut from an incredible new voice.
Vincent Tirado’s prose is smooth and unfussy, but evocative and it draws you in. BDRU is a gateway drug for horror, perfect for any budding horror fans.
Stories of famous monsters in a new horror anthology featuring Joe R. Lansdale, F. Paul Wilson, Jonathan Maberry, Ramsey Campbell, and many others. Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, the Headless Horseman, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Wicked Witch of the West–they’re all here, in this collection of horror short stories that reimagine, subvert, and pay homage to our favorite monsters and creatures.
There is nothing too terrifying or too extreme here which feels fitting in many ways. Those classic films I was raised on, showing on BBC2 at 6pm in the UK when I was a kid, were never that scary. However, they were fun and still come with a reassuring element of nostalgia which is the same here. What we have is collection of stories that have the same source of influence but, with such a variety of writers, presents us with an eclectic mix of tributes to the Golden Age of Monsters.
A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city and the Assassin emerges from it to explore a labyrinth of bizarre landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens.(IMDB)
Mad God feels like the result of a collaboration between the creators of the “Little Nightmares” video game and “2001: A Space Odyssey” after a drug-fuelled trip through Dante’s Inferno – with maybe even a nod to Stephen King’s Dark Tower.
Created as an homage to the 1980 classic horror anthology, Dark Forces, this collection contains 12 original novelettes showcasing today’s top horror talent edited by John F.D. Taff. Within these pages you’ll find tales of dead men walking, an insidious secret summer fling, an island harbouring unspeakable power, and a dark hallway that beckons. You’ll encounter terrible monsters―both human and supernatural―and be forever changed. These stories run the gamut from traditional to modern, from dark fantasy to neo-noir, from explorations of beloved horror tropes to the unknown―possibly unknowable―threats.(Amazon)
…Dark Stars is a celebration of the diversity, variety and joy of horror, an escapist joy to die-hard fans, and the start of a slippery, yet attractive slope for newbies.
In post-civil war Arkansas, a young doctor is mysteriously summoned to a remote town in the Ozarks, only to discover the utopian paradise he expected is filled with secrets and surrounded by a menacing, supernatural presence. Starring Tim Blake Nelson and David Arquette, Ghosts of the Ozarks is a thrilling new take on the southern ghost story.(IMDB)
Overall, I enjoyed Ozarks, I just didn’t find it original enough to be great. If you like the sound of the premise and the cast list, then it is definitely worth a look, just be prepared to be underwhelmed by the final act that probably won’t take you anywhere you haven’t been before.
A weedy charity-shop worker is set on winning the big national talent show. But when the actions of 5 selfish people cause him to miss his audition, he sets out to seek deathly revenge. It’s 1 lunch break, 5 spectacular murders. (IMDB)
This is low-budget filmmaking at its best. Paul Dood won’t trouble the Oscars, but it was never meant to and although, it’s a bit rough around the edges, much like its lead, that just adds to its charm.
See the full review at Ginger Nuts of Horror HERE
Theoriginal link to Ginger Nuts of HOrror is now broken, so the full review is now posted below.
A weedy charity-shop worker is set on winning the big national talent show. But when the actions of 5 selfish people cause him to miss his audition, he sets out to seek deathly revenge. It’s 1 lunch break, 5 spectacular murders.(IMDB)
People see Paul Dood (wonderfully played by Tom Meeten) as a bit of a loser. He works in a charity shop with other misfits and lives at home with his elderly mum (June Watson). But his heart is in the right place, and he loves his mum.
And she loves him.
So much so that she supports his dreams to win the big talent contest Paul is obsessed with. Paul is so invested in the talent show that he posts videos and live streams charting his journey to stardom on the social media site “Trend Ladder” a popularity contest where everyone is vying for the top rung. However, when Paul realises he has mixed up his dates, he has just a few hours to get to the audition or his dreams may end up in tatters.
With his mum in a wheelchair, Paul embarks on a hero’s journey that is thwarted at every turn by officious railway staff, frustrated shop-owners, dodgy church-folk and celebrity judge, Jack Tapp (Kevin Bishop) who makes Simon Cowell look like Charlie Brown.
Paul’s dream ends in disaster, and he finally cracks a few days later as he sets out on a poorly planned rampage of revenge against all those he holds responsible for his audition failure, live-streaming his deadly lunch break all the way.
Paul Dood’ Deadly Lunchbreak is a mildly gory, light-hearted look at one man’s limits; it’s Falling Down in the English suburbs mixed with interpretive dance. It is, on the whole, a silly film, played for fun, but with an underlying warmth and love for its lead character. Regardless of whatever you think about Paul’s actions on his deadly lunchbreak, you are on his side all the way as he fights to overcome the arseholes in life who won’t let people just be who they are.
As Paul livestreams his lunchbreak, his popularity on TrendLadder soars, propelling him into the stardom he wanted from his audition, but for hugely different reasons. As the reality of his spree becomes evident, he is elevated to local hero, before a final standoff where…. Well, you will have to watch to find out, I don’t want to spoil anything!
Ultimately, Paul Dood’s deadly lunch break shows him that he doesn’t need to seek adoration from the faceless people on social media, that the important people to him have always been right there in front of him, it just takes a few deaths to figure that out.
I loved this film and can’t recommend it highly enough. It not high art (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean) but is an hour and a half of pure fun and joy with a great cast of characters played by some of our greatest domestic talent. Paul Dood mixes with the likes of Katherine Parkinson, Kris Marshall, Johnny Vegas, Mandeep Dhillon, Craig Parkinson, Pippa Haywood, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram. And there are some great minor characters mixed in as well; keep an eye out for the women who stumble across Paul in the local skate park!
Visually, the film looks great. It is mostly intimately shot, with a lot of interiors so you don’t get sweeping vistas and widescreen photography, but you don’t need it. You need to be intimate with Paul to understand him and empathise with his journey. The way the film is shot and written does that perfectly.
Not only is it very funny in places, but it also loves its lead. It would be easy to criticise Paul Dood for scoring laughs at the expense of Paul and his life. But it doesn’t. The main “digs” at Paul come from the arsehole characters around him who see him as a joke, but the film is never directly cruel to Paul. It is an interesting take on the impact of Talent Shows and the dubious value of entertainment that encourages you to laugh at “losers.” It is everyone other than Paul that is the problem here. Paul is harmless, loving and caring and many of those around him don’t deserve him.
The style and feel of the film (and some of the cast) reminded me a lot of Sightseers so, if you had a good time with that couple (who also show up here) then I think you are going to enjoy spending a lunch break with Paul Dood. This is low-budget filmmaking at its best. Paul Dood won’t trouble the Oscars, but it was never meant to and although It’s a bit rough around the edges, much like its lead, that just adds to its charm.
Unlike Jack Tapp, why not give Paul Dood a chance?
Dark Mark Writing 