Book Impressions - Floating Staircase by Ronald Malfi

Simply put this is an incredible read. In a perfect world that would be enough for you to immediatly go off and read it, but it it isn't so let me tell you why I enjoyed reading this so much. We can start with the story as that's what really matters when you get down to it.

The book tells of Travis Glasgow moving back to the US, he's a successful author but has hit a blank with his latest working. He's also haunted by a terrible secret and he moves to a house with its own secret, just as dark as his own. So far nothing spectacular you might think and that is often the case with ghost stories, but the author manages to bring something new to the table.

The first is that while the overview may seem nothing new the story evolves in a direction that surprised me, and I can typically predict a book's ending quite accurately. So I like being surprised in a book, so that was a plus for it, but I didn't know the full outcome until the end, so what kept me enthralled throughout?

The actual writing itself is a work of art. The author has an elegant turn of phrase that would be a joy to read even if it wasn't telling a great story. There is almost a poetic nature to the language that I really enjoyed reading, it's not perfect and that was my only gripe with the novel. Occasionall;y it goes too far with the language, ladels it on a bit thick. Compared to the joy I had reading it I feel amost churliosh mentionming it, but in a good review you should always mention what you didn't like it.

That incredibly minor nitpicking aside this is a fantastic ghost story and a five star read if ever I've read one. Go on, buy it now and see what you think!

Following the success of his latest novel, Travis Glasgow and his wife Jodie buy their first house in the seemingly idyllic western Maryland town of Westlake. At first, everything is picture perfect—from the beautiful lake behind the house to the rebirth of the friendship between Travis and his brother, Adam, who lives nearby. Travis also begins to overcome the darkness of his childhood and the guilt he’s harbored since his younger brother’s death—a tragic drowning veiled in mystery that has plagued Travis since he was 13. Soon, though, the new house begins to lose its allure. Strange noises wake Travis at night, and his dreams are plagued by ghosts. Barely glimpsed shapes flit through the darkened hallways, but strangest of all is the bizarre set of wooden stairs that rises cryptically out of the lake behind the house. Travis becomes drawn to the structure, but the more he investigates, the more he uncovers the house’s violent and tragic past, and the more he learns that some secrets cannot be buried forever.

Floating Staircase is available from Amazon (and is an incredible read)

Film Review - The Pit and the Pendulum

I can't believe I've not watched this before! Lance Henrikson is always fun to watch in action and this is the dark and twisted role he excels in. He plays the infamous Torquemada, the bane of heretics and head of the Spanish Inquisition. He is bewitched by a young bakers wife and accuses her of witchcraft, this is a regime that only accepts confession if it is given under torture, which sets the tone of the film.

Torquemada becomes obsessed with the woman and blames her for his feelings and tortures her and her husband who attempts to rescue her. The story is loosely based on Poe's story of the same name, it's fairly predictable, but well told. For the most part everyone does a good job with their roles, Oliver Reed even makes a quick appearance to have a few drinks.

In fairness Henrikson carries the film, his portrayal of Torquemada is great fun to watch (I might have to watch Millennium again),l he plays the zealot very well and it's worth watching for that alone.

In the quest to save souls, the Spanish Inquisition will stop at nothing and knows no boundaries for its evil. Under the direction of Torquemada (LANCE HENRIKSEN - Aliens, Terminator ) the Grand Inquisitor of Spain, a young baker s wife named Maria (RONA DE RICCI) is falsely accused of witchcraft and dragged before the Inquisition and the Cardinal (OLIVER REED Gladiator , Three Musketeers ). Torquemada is enchanted by Maria s beauty and subjects her and her husband Antonio (JONATHAN FULLER Castle Freak ) to heinous tortures hoping to prove that his own desires for her are a result of her magic, and that she has bewitched him . With the help of Esmerelda, Maria s cellmate and confessed witch, Maria must find the power to save her husband Antonio from Torquemada s ultimate machine of torture: the inevitable, razor sharp PENDULUM poised over the inescapable PIT of hell. SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE: MAKING OF FEATURETTE, BLOOPER REEL, THEATRICAL TRAILER, FULL MOON TRAILER REEL.

The Pit & The Pendulum is available from Amazon (and is a fun watch)

Film Review - Deep Red

Deep Red is an Italian horror film from the mid seventies, it's considered a classic in the genre and with good reason. It tells the story of a pianist who becomes involved in the investigation of a murder committed by a masked killer.

In many ways the film shows it age, the acting is overly dramatic, the effects obvious (although no more so than some of the CG effects in recent films), but it does have a number of traits that stand the test of time. The first is the story, it is well paced and unfurls in an interesting direction.

The humour in the film also adds to the entertainment, it intersperses the strangeness and the horror of what is going on. For its time it's also quite gory and the effects must have been quite shocking. Like most good horror films it doesn't rely on shock and gore to make its point, there are a few creepy moments.

I mentioned strange and as well as creepiness the film has its surreal moments too. These use tricks familiar to us now, but again were novel for their time. All in all this is still a fun film to watch and also provides some good instruction in how a good horror can work.

Flesh ripped clean from the bone And the blood runs red

The bloody kills and red herrings come thick and fast as Dario Argento weaves a twisted web of sadistic intrigue in this classic Giallo from the genres golden era.

A black gloved killer hacks a psychic to death but there was a witness

Marcus Daly, an English pianist, rushes to the scene but hes too late to save her. He sets out to solve the murder but at every turn the mysterious slayer strikes, cutting off each line of enquiry with an acts grisly of violence, each more shocking than the last!

A surreal masterpiece from Dario Argento with a pounding score from cult prog rockers Goblin, Deep Red will leave you battered and breathless!

Deep Red is available from Amazon (and is an excellent watch!)

Out of my Window by Lisa Williamson

Image courtesy of Victor Habbick / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Lisa Williamson wrote the first prize winning story in September's short fiction contest, you can read her excellent story in full below, if you haven't read the other winning stories yet then you can do so here:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/september-short-fiction-contest-winners.html

October's short fiction contest is well underway, if you haven't entered yet then you can do so here:

http://thecultofme.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/october-short-fiction-contest.html

And finally if you're a fan of short and fan fiction then comer join our Facebook group, readers can discover great short stories and writers can post their stories too:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/shortfictionreadersandwriters/


Out of my Window by Lisa Williamson

https://suteko.wordpress.com/
 

I sit looking out my window at the blue lights of the city about me. How things have changed in my life. Once I looked out my window and it was filled with green and air, wood and animals. As I grew older first the animals disappeared, feeling from the advance of man. Then the tree disappeared, taken down to make homes for invading man. Slow this city grew, from a few buildings to acres of people stacked on top of each other.

 

I stayed; I was not sure why I did. Watching how the land became a town and then a city. As the years passed those who lived here changed too. They started out brave and brash, talking loudly as they hid their fear of the unknown but slowly their voices grew quieter as more and more came here.

 

Now the blue lights of the city block out the lights of the night sky. The city stopped growing out and started growing up. The higher in the city you were the better your position but I stayed here, in the place I was when man found my land. If I wait long enough do you think they might fly away into the sky?

 

I can only hope it will be so. For they have covered my land in so much steel and concrete. It is hard to breath in this bright new world. They have cut down all my trees, filled my streams and chased away my animals. Yet I still remain.

 

I will be here when mankind finally leaves my world. My fondest wish is that there would be something left for me to nurture; to have something to bring to blossom and return the world to green.

Guest Author Interview - Richard B Knight

In today's guest author interview we welcome Richard B Knight, find out what he has to say below:

 



Please introduce yourself, who are you and what do you do?
 My name is Richard B Knight and I like to write. (I know it's corny to introduce yourself with a rhyme, but I don't care). I teach English to seventh graders as a day job, and write for fun. I also sometimes get paid for writing, like when I write articles for Complex Magazine's online edition: http://www.complex.com/author/rich-knight. The Darkness of the Womb is my first book, though, and you can find it at amazon, Barnes and Nobles, or anywhere else eBooks are sold. Just search for it. :)

What first inspired you to start writing?
Nothing really inspired me. It's just something I've always done. But I have an interesting story. Back when I was in fourth grade, my teacher asked all of us what we wanted to be when we grew up. Well, wanting to be funny, I wrote "Drag Queen Garbage Man". But when all of my peers started reading off things like "Doctor" and "Lawyer", I figured I better change it. So I wrote "Author" instead. I've stuck with the title ever since.

And what attracted you to the darker side?
Everyone likes the dark side. It's why people go to NASCAR races hoping that a car flips over and somebody gets hurt (or killed). It's why people gravitate toward villains even though they themselves would never want to be in danger or get hurt. In short, the dark side is cool.

You also write comics (which is pretty cool), how does that differ from writing a novel?
First off, thanks, and secondly, it's not really that much different. You just have to think more of what action you want to show and how will it look best in the panel. Being succinct is key. You have to say a lot with a little.

Which author do you most admire and why?
I really admire Kurt Vonnegut. He wrote weird stuff and people actually read it! That inspired me to write whatever I had in my head and not worry if anybody thought it was strange. As long as it was good and had characters you could relate to and like, then people would read it. Mr. Vonnegut had a lot of guts to let his freak flag fly. Rest in peace, KV.

What is your favourite song lyric?
Wow...uh...I like a lot of music, just like everybody else, so that's a tough question. It'd probably have to be a line from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway by Genesis. One of my favorite lyrics on that album is "It seems they cannot leave their dream. There's something moving in the sidewalk steam." I just love that line. It's really creepy and reminds me of that second where you wake up and you're still somewhat stuck in your dream. You'll believe anything in that split second. Anything.

Where is your happy place?
My happy place is in my wife's arms. Oh, and Pizza Hut.

What are you working on at the moment?
I'm writing a YA novel called A Boy and His Corpse. It's, uh, weird.

Tell us about your latest work and how we can find out more.
Well, A Boy and His Corpse won't be done for awhile, but you can find more of The Darkness of the Womb at my website here: http://thedarknessofthewomb.com/. As you mentioned, there are comics for it. And the secret of the lost hummus. It's hidden, though. Be a good dear and find it for me, won't you? :)

The Darkness of the Womb is available from Amazon