Merry Christmas!

Have a scary, Merry Christmas! Be safe and wishing good thoughts for the new year!

Wednesdays on the Trail(er)--The House of Dead Maids (6)

***You will find the music player in the right sidebar and there you may turn off the auto play music before enjoying the trailer***

A Wednesday feature showcasing a favorite or newly discovered book or movie trailer in the horror and/or speculative fiction genre.  I'm cross hosting this feature with The True Book Addict.  Please feel free to join in every week, if you would like.  I hope you enjoy it!

This is a book I've been wanting to read for a while now.

Book Review: Jane Was Here by Sarah Kernochan

My thoughts:
This is one intriguing book.  From page one, it grabs hold and doesn't let go until the very end, and even then it's not easily forgotten.  It's atmospheric and the characters add to that atmosphere.  I was very impressed with the characters; very fleshed out and interesting.  Centered around Jane, the enigmatic figure we are introduced to in the first few pages as a figure on a road, narrowly avoided by a swerving truck, these characters bend as if directed by an unseen will.  Jane seems to be the force behind that will.  The minute she stepped foot in Graynier, things started to change.  What I like best, I think, is Kernochan's no-holds-barred, in your face prose.  Don't be expecting a light read here.  This book is gritty and honest.  And the subject of reincarnation, endlessly fascinating to me, is very much present.  Jane Was Here is a book that should be on some best of lists.  It certainly is one of the best books I've read in 2011.

About the book:
A thriller that explores reincarnation, Jane Was Here follows a mysterious young woman, who calls herself Jane, who turns up in a small New England town. She claims a fragmentary memory of growing up in the town, yet she has never been there before in her life. Upon her arrival, strange and alarming things begin happening to some of the town's inhabitants. As Jane's memories reawaken piece by piece, they carry her back to a long-buried secret, while the townspeople hurtle forward to a horrific event when past and present fatally collide. A centuries-old mystery will resolve, and karma will claim its due.

This review is part of a book tour with





DISCLAIMER:  I received a copy of this book in conjunction with a tour for Crazy Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.  I received no monetary compensation.

Bag of Bones Read-a-Long...Wrap-up and Final thoughts

First of all, I must apologize for not doing this read-a-long by the book, so to speak.  I know others had trouble staying caught up and I was the same.  I guess it's not the best time of year for a read-a-long.  Darn A&E for airing the mini-series in December, one of the busiest times of the year.  But I digress....

As I mentioned, Bag of Bones is a reread for me and it is one of my favorite Stephen King books.  Now I remember why it is a favorite.  It is such an atmospheric ghost story, truly creepy to its depths.  I like my horror subtle and that is exactly what this book is.  It comes at you from the gut.  The part where Mike is on the cellar steps and knows that there is a presence down there and the presence starts thumping the wall, it had me literally crawling in my skin! So, Bag of Bones is not blatantly scary or in your face with horrors, but it's a book that has you looking behind you to see what's there.

The chills aside, Bag of Bones is just a great story.  The incorporation of a bitter custody battle with a back story about the bad doings of ancestral descendants makes for a very interesting read.  Throw in a buried vein of racism and a secret crime (I'm not going into detail because I don't want to spoil it for others who have not read and those who are going to watch the mini-series) and you have the makings of a riveting story.  I have really come to expect no less from King.  Bag of Bones is truly one of his best novels, in my humble opinion.

I must thank A&E for airing an encore presentation of the movie at midnight, as I only just finished the book.  So I leave you to go off and watch in an hour and a half or so and I can't wait! If you read along, or not, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, even if you finish at a later date.  I will do a write up on the mini-series some time after I've watched.

I am recording the movie and will be forwarding the tape to Shalaena at Moirae (the fates).

If anyone else in the U.S. who was not able to watch it wants to watch it, she will forward the tape on to you.  Just let me know.

Stephen King's Top 20 of 2011

The Walking Dead

Here is Stephen King's top 20 in books, movies, television, and music for 2011.

1. Breaking Bad (television show on AMC)
2. Margin Call (motion picture)
3. How Do You Do--Mayer Hawthorne (music)
4. Sons of Anarchy (television show on FX)
5. Skippy Dies by Paul Murray (novel)
6. Sky Full of Holes--Fountains of Wayne (music)
7. The Debt (motion picture)
8. Ready for Confetti--Robert Earl Keen (music)
9. Talk, Talk by T.C. Boyle (novel)
10. Crossers by Philip Caputo (novel)
11. Revenge (television show on ABC)
12. The Accident by Linwood Barclay (novel)
13. The Tree of Life (motion picture)
14. The Lincoln Lawyer (motion picture)  *
15. "Get that Snitch"--Mikis Michaelidis (song from the Attack the Block soundtrack)
16. The White Devil by Justin Evans (novel)
17. Final Destination 5 (motion picture)  
18. The Hour (televison show on BBC America)
19. The Walking Dead (television show on AMC)  *
20. "Rumor Has It"--Adele (song from her 21 album)  *

I put stars by the ones I agree with.  The Lincoln Lawyer...AWESOME! The Walking Dead...also AWESOME! I adore Adele.  Most of the others I do not watch, have not seen, heard, or read, or have seen (Final Destination 5), but was not fond of.  I will take very seriously his book recommendations though!

The source for this list is Entertainment Weekly.

Go HERE to see the slide show of the list and read King's explanations for his choices.

Wednesdays on the Trail(er)--Extended Sneak Peek of Bag of Bones (5)

***You will find the music player in the right sidebar and there you may turn off the auto play music before enjoying the trailer***

A Wednesday feature showcasing a favorite or newly discovered book or movie trailer in the horror and/or speculative fiction genre.  I'm cross hosting this feature with The True Book Addict.  Please feel free to join in every week, if you would like.  I hope you enjoy it!

I found out from Lilja's Library--The World of Stephen King, that A&E has posted an extended sneak peek of the Bag of Bones mini-series! You can view it on Amazon HERE.  It is amazing, although a bit different from the book, if you're reading along.  I apologize for not being able to embed the video here.

On a side note, the paperback movie tie-in version of the book was released yesterday.  It's a nice cover, but I still think the original cover is more creepy.