Review - Hell House LLC: Director’s Cut DVD #WitchSeasonCM

I have a special treat for you today...on my birthday of all days! Why is it special? Well, I haven't done a horror movie review on this blog for a LONG time. I was sent this film for review by the director, Stephen Cognetti. Here is the synopsis and following that, some words from the director himself.

15 people died on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house attraction. A documentary crew revisits the scene of the tragedy to find out what really happened.

"Hell House LLC was shot in May of 2014 while working full-time at another job. I was only able to edit a little each morning or a little at night. That lead to a year-long editing process until I had my locked version of the film.

My intent for Hell House LLC was to produce a slow burn of subtle, yet building scares. I have never been a fan of jump scares or music aided scares. My favorite type of scares in horror has always been the little things caught in the background that the protagonists are not immediately aware of. I worked to embody these sensibilities in Hell House LLC." ~Stephen Cognetti

My thoughts on the film
A "slow burn of subtle, yet building scares" is exactly what this film is, and it's what makes it so good. At first, the viewer might think, "Oh great...another found footage film." Personally, I tend to like those types of films. I'm a huge fan of The Blair Witch Project. This movie is similar to that in some ways, and in others, it's much more scary.

Of course, the hotel where the attraction is put on, the Abaddon Hotel, has a creepy back story. This is the point where any horror movie buff (I don't care who you are) is saying, "Why would you want to put on a haunted house attraction in a location with such a past?" We always say/think this, but there wouldn't be any horror movies if the people in them were really smart...or maybe just had some common sense. All the more fun for us.

This movie just works. There are isolated (subtle) creepy moments right from almost the beginning and these build to a killer crescendo. Anyone who has ever enjoyed going to haunted house attractions, something I've always loved doing, has probably wondered what would happen if the attraction turned deadly. Come on...you wouldn't be a horror buff if you didn't. Putting yourselves in the shoes of the protagonists is what makes the fear more palpable. Even if the horror is ultimately caused by a supernatural force, there is a part of us that still thinks "what if?"

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves horror movies. My fourteen year old son, and my sixty-seven year old mom, watched it with me and they thought it was great too. Perfect movie for this spooky, season of the witch time of year.

This film is a DVD-Only Release...

Here is some important information about the DVD:

1. Extended feature includes Director Commentary
2. Additional footage showing the chaos in the basement near the end. The original cut was scripted to be a much bigger payoff. We shot green screens for some VFX, but due to budget and other reasons, we had to use alternative shots. For the Director’s Cut, we brought on a visual effects expert to finish the VFX. 
3. Additional character development scenes. My original rough-cut ran almost 100 minutes and was screened in fall 2014 in New York City. While the film was received well and the scares were effective, the run-time bothered some of the producers. So, I spent the next few months trimming the film by eight minutes. We didn’t lose our best scares but we lost some character development that I was reluctant to part with. I added some of these scenes to the Director’s Cut.
4. DVD Release Date: October 1, 2017 – DVD only. Purchase at http://hellhousellc.com

 Check out the website and support the sequel: Hell House LLC 2: The Abaddon Hotel (Yes, there's going to be a sequel!) DVD sales will help fund the production costs for the Hell House LLC sequel!

This post is a part of...

Shirley Jackson's The Witch - Discussion #WitchSeasonCM

A couple days late with this discussion post. I'm sure you're not surprised.

There are spoilers ahead so if you haven't read the story yet, tread lightly.

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What a strange little five page story! I look at this one as a horror story for parents. The man with the cigar, or as the little boy calls him, "a witch" is a parents worst nightmare. Whether he was teasing or not, one could not deny sharing the mother's unease when she heard what the man was saying to her son. I mean, who sits down next to a four year old and starts telling a story like that? Such a conversation might be looked at as comical until he starts going into the (literally) gory details..."and then I took her and I put my hands around her neck and I pinched her and I pinched her until she was dead...And then I took and I cut her head off and I took her head..." Of course, the four year old gasps and yet he's still curious, as any four year old who doesn't quite know yet what a threat is would be. The man goes further with this talk and that's when the mother steps in.

So, not quite the "witch" story I was thinking it would be, but no less interesting with its underlying meaning. Shirley Jackson has a true knack for subtle horror.

What did you think?

This post is part of...

Season of the Witch - October means #WitchSeasonCM

First, an update on Gothic September. I really dropped the ball there. I couldn't even keep up with reading short little Poe stories. Well, I read the first three. I just have one to go. I will post my final thoughts on the four some time this week.

Now on to the late start of Season of the Witch. As mentioned in my earlier post, we will be reading the following (thank goodness The Witch is only five pages!):

The Witch by Shirley Jackson
Ancient Sorceries by Algernon Blackwood
You can download a PDF copy of the story, or any of Blackwood's stories, at Blackwood Stories (the site is up and running again), or you can get a Kindle copy of Blackwood's Complete Works on Amazon for 99 cents.
The Witch of Ravensworth by George Brewer for Kindle on Amazon $2.99

 I'm going to try to keep to this schedule:

The Witch - Discussion post up on October 11
Ancient Sorceries - Discussion post up on October 20
The Witch of Ravensworth - Discussion up on October 30

I hope you will read along with me!

Also, I would love some guest reviews on some scary reads...or if you have a spooky story to share, or a spooky memory...I would love to have you. Just shoot me a message via the contact form.

Don't forget...the FrightFall Readathon is going on ALL MONTH LONG! Join us here 

Come read along with us at Gather Together and Read...Anne Rice's The Mummy, or Ramses The Damned. All the info here! 

Happy October!

Gothic September - Edgar Allan Poe #GothicSept #Poe (and more upcoming events)

Gothic September is here...and that means fall is just around the corner! One of my most favorite times of year! It has become a tradition for us to read Poe during this month and so that is what we're doing again. The stories and schedules are listed below.

Week One - Berenice: A Tale
Week Two - William Wilson: A Tale
Week Three - The Imp of the Perverse
Week Four - A Descent into the Maelstrom

Discussion for each story will go up by the weekend at the end of each week on this blog.

More upcoming events this fall here at Castle Macabre, over at Seasons of Reading and at Gather Together and Read!

In October, Season of the Witch is back. We will be reading stories about witches by Algernon Blackwod, George Brewer (a short novel) and Shirley Jackson. I will post the reading schedule and more specific details in the starting post on the first of October.

The Witch by Shirley Jackson,
Ancient Sorceries by Algernon Blackwood - You can get a Kindle copy of Blackwood's Complete Works on Amazon for 99 cents. The Blackwood Stories site is back up! You can download a PDF copy of the story, or any of Blackwood's stories, at their site here.
The Witch of Ravensworth by George Brewer for Kindle on Amazon $2.99

The FrightFall Readathon is back and I've made it a month long event! Sign up is open now so head over and add your name. Would love to have you join us!

Everyone knows I'm a huge Anne Rice fan (my favorite author) and she has written a sequel (with her son, Christopher Rice) to one of my favorites of her books, The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned. The new book is titled Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra. So, I've decided to host a read-along of the first book (October) in honor of the sequel's release in November. This will be a reread for me and frankly, I'm pretty excited. Rereading a favorite is always fun! Check out the announcement post and express your interest HERE.

That's it! Let's get the fall fun under way!

#Lovecraft Read-Along - The Dunwich Horror (Season of the Witch conclusion) #witchseasoncm

Well, folks, I really dropped the ball on the read-alongs this year. I started reading The Dunwich Horror and got stuck. I hate to say it, but I'm not a fan of this story. Not boding well for my first Lovecraft read. Not that I won't still read more of his. So, I had to bypass reading  Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum and Lovecraft's The Dreams in the Witch-House. I'll have to pick them up later, or maybe next year.

SPOILER ALERT - DO NOT KEEP READING IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS STORY

In my reading of various analyses of Lovecraft's work, one thing seems to be said more often than not. His short stories are too long. I would have to agree. I honestly thought Dunwich was never going to end.

What I did like was the whole mystery of what was going on at the Whateley house, and the weirdness of Wilbur with his strange appearance and accelerated growth. And his horrible death when attacked by a dog...the reveal of what he really was...was a shocker.

I also liked the parts regarding the Old Ones and Wilbur's efforts to bring them into this world. What I don't quite understand is what kind of monster is Wilbur's twin. It seems to be some tentacled, octopus type creature. I really don't think it sounds very scary. Is that weird? I know others know a lot more about Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos than I do, and so would understand this more. Apparently, Lovecraft introduced the entity Yog-Sototh as one of the extra-dimensional Old Ones in this story.

Strangely enough, what made things anti-climactic for me was that I knew all along that the creature who was locked up in the house, and that they were expanding the house for, was Wilbur's sibling. So the big reveal at the end just wasn't that big of a deal for me.

What did you think? Is this a Lovecraft favorite for you, or are there others of his you like better?

Kicking off Season of the Witch featuring #Poe and #Lovecraft Read-Alongs #witchseasoncm

Today's the day! Happy October and Halloween season! For some reason, I'm especially psyched this year. How about you?

Here's a refresher on the Poe and Lovecraft stories we will be reading and the schedule.

Week One - The Mask of the Red Death, Poe - Discussion on October 7/8
Week Two - The Dunwich Horror, Lovecraft - Discussion on October  14/15
Week Three - The Pit and the Pendulum, Poe - Discussion on October 21/22
Week Four - The Dreams in the Witch-House, Lovecraft - Discussion on October 28/29

In addition, I'll be reading a TON of scary books this month and sharing reviews. I'm also looking for guest reviews on scary reads, and/or guest posts on favorite spooky topics. Get in touch!

It's going to be a frightfully awesome Autumn!

Don't forget, the FrightFall Read-a-Thon starts Monday. You can sign up here at Seasons of Reading.

I'm also hosting a read-along of Stephen King's Salem's Lot over at my new reading community site, Gather Together and Read. Check it out here.

Guest Review: Jinx High by Mercedes Lackey #witchseasoncm

Book Cover Photo Credit: TOR

Book Review: Jinx High by Mercedes Lackey
Publisher: TOR
Publication Year: 1991

By Steven Arellano Rose, Jr.

Mercedes Lackey is mostly known for her high fantasy novels such as the Collegium Chronicles. Her settings are often Medieval-type, magical worlds. However, in her novel, Jinx High, Lackey deviates from her usual high fantasy elements and instead focuses on those of horror and dark fantasy in a modern day urban setting. It’s a deviation she does well.

Jinx High is a story about a witch who hunts down an evil force that is threatening the lives of a several teens. The witch is north-east coast romance writer Diana (“Di”) Tregarde. Di travels to Tulsa OK, the hometown of old college friend and fellow magician Larry Kestrel to teach a series of creative writing lessons in his teenage son Derek’s (“Deke’s”) high school English class. However, when she senses an evil magic that is trying to destroy Deke and several of his schoolmates, her mission goes beyond that of a teaching assignment. The evil force that Di must seek out and defeat? (Warning: potential spoiler ahead.) Deke’s fellow student and girlfriend, Fay Harper.

Published in 1991, Jinx High is probably one of the earliest horror stories to utilize the “monster” as hero--“monster” in that the character is of a type that has traditionally been portrayed as evil, such as a witch, vampire or zombie. So this twist comes at a time that predates the trend that it has become today in horror fiction.

The horror element climaxes in the prom night scene making the novel a tinge reminiscent of Stephen King’s Carrie but is far different from it. Still, the mood of the dark side of adolescence permeates and the black magic definitely enhances it. Yet the novel can hardly be classified as YA. Not only are they’re strong adult concepts and language, but the story is structured around the adult characters more than the teen ones. But even so, the 16-to-18 crowd can probably relate to it since that’s the age range of most of the adolescent characters.

Besides black magic, there are also plenty of monsters that it conjures in this story, such as demons that attack kids and spirits that possess a garage band’s guitars putting a curse on the kids at the prom.

The other element that makes this novel horror is that we are in several of the victims’ heads when they are attacked by the monstrous forces. Yet the story is also a quest to protect a population of students from being taken over by an evil sorceress. Because of this, we shouldn’t be too surprised if Fay is named after Morgan le Fay of Arthurian legend who has been portrayed as an evil enchantress. So the novel overlaps with the dark fantasy genre as well. However, interestingly enough, there is a bit of a science fiction element. Computer terms of the time (some that have survived through today) are applied to the magic such as the “construct”, the artificial human that Fay makes and that poses as her “Aunt Emily” but is really her slave.

The characters in Jinx High are well-developed and sympathetic, including Di. This is played out good in her relationship with Deke’s female friend and fellow classmate, Monica Carlin whom Di defends from a horde of demons. Also, Monica looks up to Di as both a model writer and mentoring friend. So the reader gets the sense of security through the interaction between Di and Monica. The story also does a good job balancing out the scenes of the teenagers with those of the adults. We both get the teen culture of the novel’s time period, such as in a scene with a group of kids playing a Nintendo, as well as that of the adults which particularly reflects a nostalgia for the ‘60s hippie culture so popular in the latter half of the ‘80s and through early ‘90s. After all, the kids’ parents are baby boomers.

The few flaws that I had with Jinx High were actually in Di’s character as much as she was among my favorites. For one thing, the story stays in her head too much when she thinks up solutions to challenges. For another thing, her verbal tick, “Jesus Cluny Frog”, though well utilized to distinguish her character, is overused to the point of annoyance on the reader’s part. But these flaws are out-weighed by the strengths mentioned above.

Even though Mercedes Lackey is mostly a storyteller of high fantasy set in medieval-type worlds, her Jinx High is really well-told as a modern day horror story. I recommend it to my fellow readers of dark supernatural fiction. It shows you that an author does not have to regularly write in a particularly genre to write it well.

Amazon/Kindle Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LHCFW5M

Visit Steven at his blog, A Far out Fantastic Site.

This post is part of...

#Poe Read-Along - The Mask of the Red Death #witchseasoncm

Yesterday was the anniversary of Poe's death.
On September 27, Poe left Richmond for New York. He went to Philadelphia and stayed with a friend named James P. Moss. On September 30, he meant to go to New York but supposedly took the wrong train to Baltimore. On October 3, Poe was found at Gunner's Hall, a public house at 44 East Lombard Street, and was taken to the hospital. He lapsed in and out of consciousness but was never able to explain exactly what happened to him. Edgar Allan Poe died in the hospital on Sunday, October 7, 1849. (PoeStories.com)

I was first curious abou the spelling of the title of this story, as I was seeing it spelled online as "Masque" of the Red Death. However, in my unabridged anthology (published by Running Press in 1983), the title is The Mask of the Red Death. I believe it is a play on words on Poe's part. At the beginning of the story, he says, "The scarlet stains...especially on the face of the victim, were the best ban which shut him out from the aid and from the sympathy of his fellow-man." There is a kind of scarlet "mask" that is a dead giveaway of someone with the disease. But then, Prince Prospero also holds a masquerade (masque) within his seclusion. I feel that was Poe's intent...for mask to represent both.

I'll admit to this being one of Poe's stories that was pretty deep so I did some analysis reading about it online. The first thing I read was the symbolism of the seven rooms of seven different colors representing the stages of life, the black room with the scarlet windows representing death. It makes sense and is quite clever, especially when the Red Death makes its appearance, walking from room to room, blue room all the way to finally black. When Prospero and his revelers follow, it is like they are going through life, and then they finally reach death at the hands of the disease.

There has been much analysis of Poe's works and this one is no different. They really dig in deep with the symbolism. For instance, the line "a thief in the night" is from the Bible and many scholars align the Red Death as the apocalyptic Jesus figure and the castle with Prospero and his revelers represents the world. And so, the Red Death brings about the end of the world. Interesting idea.

My final take is that these wealthy people seal themselves away to escape the Red Death, only to succumb to it in the end anyway. The lesson...you can't escape what's inevitable, or what proves to be a virulent disease. I'm quite sure I remember reading about households during the Black Death that sealed themselves off from the rest of the city/town, but ended up contracting and dying from the disease anyway.

A great story, in my opinion, but not overly scary. What did you think about what I discussed above and/or did you like the story?

On a side note, and I'm sure I mentioned this last year, but I'm a huge Vincent Price fan. Price starred in a bunch of films based on Poe's works. This one was no exception.

The Masque of the Red Death/1964
A European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land.

I'm not sure if I have seen this one or not. If I have, I don't remember it. You can watch it on Amazon Prime for $2.99, or here's the full movie from YouTube. Fun!

This post is part of....

Gothic September/Season of the Witch - Read-Along Info/Schedules #MissPeregrines #Poe #Lovecraft

Gothic September is just around the corner! Can't wait to get started reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Below is the reading and discussion schedule. On discussion days, I will do a general post of my thoughts and you can post yours in the comments, or on your blog and post the link in the comments, or you can do both. It's all casual.

Here's the schedule...

September 1st - Start Reading - through the end of Chapter 4 (page 103)
September 9th - stop by here for a discussion over the first section
September 9th - start reading section 2 - Chapter 5 through the end of Chapter 7 (page 206)
September 16th - section 2 discussion
September 16th - start reading section 3 - Chapter 8 through the end of Chapter 9 (page 268)
September 23 - section 3 discussion
September 23 - start reading section 4 - Chapter 10 through end of book (page 382)
September 30 - final discussion (section 4/book as a whole)

Note: My edition of the book - trade paperback, 382 pages
This post will be linked to the event button in the sidebar.

In addtion to the read-along, I'm hoping to share a little bit of Gothic all month so if you happen to be reading other Gothic literature (or poems) and would like to do a guest review, or write a guest post, let me know. Would love to have you!

Season of the Witch is going on here in October for the scariest month of the year. I'll be hosting read-alongs of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft stories each week.

Here's what we're reading:

Week One - The Mask of the Red Death, Poe - Discussion on October 7/8
Week Two - The Dunwich Horror, Lovecraft - Discussion on October  14/15
Week Three - The Pit and the Pendulum, Poe - Discussion on October 21/22
Week Four - The Dreams in the Witch-House, Lovecraft - Discussion on October 28/29

Note: I will post a reminder closer to October and share the schedule again.

I'm hoping to share the scary all month long so I'm looking for guest reviews on scary reads, and/or guest posts on favorite spooky topics. Get in touch!

It's going to be a frightfully awesome Autumn! Don't forget, the FrightFall Read-a-Thon will be going on the first week in October over at Seasons of Reading.

Upcoming Fall Events - Gothic September and Season of the Witch in October

Fall is just around the corner and it's time again for two of my favorite events of the year.

Next month is Gothic September and I'm hosting a read-along of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I've been wanting to read the book for some time and with the film coming out at the end of September, I thought it was the perfect time. Yet I wondered if the book could truly be considered Gothic (I think so). I found this article which confirmed my thoughts.

So, mark your calendars. Leave a comment if you think you might want to participate, and I'll post the reading schedule on the first of September.

October is my annual event, Season of the Witch. This year, I'm going to host some short read-alongs of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft short stories. I will announce which stories later in September to get ready for October.

I would love to have some guests during either event, so if you like Gothic or spooky, feel free to contact me via the contact tab. Would love some guest posts or guest reviews.

Can't wait for...