Lee
Of the assortment, these were the stories I liked and would recommend:
- 1) The Mouth of Hell by Cody Goodfellow
- 2.) The Fourth Scene by Brian Evenson
- 3.) The Forgotten Valley by CB Jones
- 4.) In Thrall to this Good Earth by Hailey Piper
- 5.) Deus Volt by Ethan Yoder
-6.) A Dark Quadrivium by David Worn
Killer on the Road is great, The Babysitter Lives…not so much. The prior is like The Hitcher blended with Stephen King’s The Outsider. Babysitter is unfortunately another haunted house type beat that doesn’t reach the same entertainment and twist value as something like We Used to Live Here. I will say that this one did read faster than the usual SGJ’s book, and I really love the dual book combo pack format. More authors should do these double bill features where you have to flip the book over to start the backup story.
Super-Cannes Fancast:
- Dr. Jane Sinclair (young, dark hair, 5head, bold, independent, curious, hands-on, dark humour, workaholic): Alicia Vikander
- Paul Sinclair (mature, pilot, leg brace, calm, introvert, curious): Michael Fassbender
- Dr. Wilder Penrose (“robust bull-browed”, suited, boxer’s form, “minotaur” of a man, cheeky, snarky): Henry Cavill / Luke Evans
- Dr. Greenwood (went crazy, shooting spree, murderer, suicide, charming, ladies man): Tom Hiddleston / Dan Stevens
- Frank Halder (security, uptight, rules, east African, “narrow nose and steep forehead”): Babs Olusanmokun
- Pascal Zander (Black, police, corrupt leaning, bigger build, aggressive): Idris Elba / Abraham Popoola
- Simone Delage (older, sensual, classy, judgmental, stares, stern, Paul’s neighbour): Isabelle Huppert / Elizabeth Debecki
- Frances Baring (femme fatale, cleavage, fashionable, bold, forward, curious, blonde, upper class, tricky): Demi Moore / Cate Blanchett
“The media landscape of the present day is a map in search of a territory. A huge volume of sensational and often toxic imagery inundates our minds, much of it fictional in content. How do we make sense of this ceaseless flow of advertising and publicity, news and entertainment, where presidential campaigns and moon voyages are presented in terms indistinguishable from the launch of a new candy bar or deodorant? What actually happens on the level of our unconscious minds when, within minutes on the same TV screen, a prime minister is assassinated, an actress makes love, an injured child is carried from a car crash? Faced with these charged events, prepackaged emotions already in place, we can only stitch together a set of emergency scenarios, just as our sleeping minds extemporize a narrative from the unrelated memories that veer through the cortical night. In the waking dream that now constitutes everyday reality, images of a blood-spattered widow, the chromium trim of a limousine windshield, the stylised glamour of a motorcade, fuse together to provide a secondary narrative with very different meanings.”
~
The exploration of the inner psyche in the aftermath of the pop culture explosion and media saturation of the 1960s offers a complex interplay between collective trauma and cultural phenomena. The connectivity of events such as the JFK assassination and the Vietnam War contrasts sharply with the fascination of cars, brutality architecture, and the idolization and lust of figures like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Jayne Mansfield, Elizabeth Taylor, and even Ronald Reagan. With equal parts medical history, sexual fantasy, warmongering, and psychopathic obsession, J.G. Ballard navigates this fragmented landscape, probing the depths of taboo within a disintegrated reality in search of meaning and belonging. This leads to a critical inquiry: do our most chaotic thoughts and desires constitute the final frontier of original thought in a homogenizing herd mentality society?
As Ballard once aptly noted in an interview, “Psychopathology is the last reservoir of the human imagination.” In his provocative work, The Atrocity Exhibition, he presents a compelling depiction of modern "doom-scrolling" reflective of today's algorithm-driven engagement on platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Insta; not literally, but in reading this nonlinear narrative, it felt like one of the best portrayals of such. This overwhelming submergence of global life marking events at each turn, of varying significance yet inescapable to your senses. It doesn't matter if you don't listen to Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter, you're going to be bombarded with whatever they're up to at all times, just as you're going to be waterboarded with whatever the current political dirtbag is spouting regardless of how hard you try to censor seeing him. Ballard captures the essence of the social media and dark web interconnectivity and deviance—perhaps unintentionally. The material traverses a spectrum of hyperviolence, political dissension, celebrity scandals, sexuality, mental health, and the entwined nature of materialism and capitalist allure—all wrapped within a surreal encapsulation of contemporary existence. At times, it felt like you were listening to the rants of Brad Pitt’s character in 12 Monkeys.
The novel's fragmented structure poses challenges that stem more from its unconventional form and frankness than its content. Upon its initial publication, The Atrocity Exhibition was likely met with an unprepared audience, one not yet fully desensitized to the overwhelming media landscape of today. But in a contemporary mind state, I argue that it holds more palpable value and resonance to its weight. Its experimental narrative served as a precursor to his later work, Crash, which was also controversial and seen as taboo by the masses on release—but perhaps adhering more to a metamodernist condition. Regardless of your stance on his works, like his fellow literary predecessors Wells, Huxley, and Orwell, Ballard demonstrates an uncanny ability to foresee societal issues and trends ahead of their time.
While The Atrocity Exhibition tends to exhibit repetition—particularly in the latter third "who shot who" segments—its capacity to provoke thought and introspection remains significant. Ballard’s oeuvre challenges readers to reflect critically on their positions within the sociocultural climate, a rare feat among contemporary authors.
The Meg meets Journey to the Center of the Earth, with a heavy focus on dinosaurs. Simple action fun with some decent yet unexpected character development. I would very much like to read a teased sequel.
Fancast
- Mackenzie: Charlize Theron
- Ian: Jason Statham / Aaron Pierre
- Babo: Djimon Hounsou
- Nash: Sharlto Copley / Chris Hemsworth
A vibrant portrayal of life presented in jazz form: messy, loud, improvised, collaborative, and irreverently original. This is what you would expect from a literary icon who helped found an entire movement. Jack Kerouac's iconic novel On the Road truly lives up to its positive reputation and embodies a life-affirming joie de vivre. This is my first Kerouac read, though I am familiar with various quotes from him, with one of my faves being: “Nowhere to go but everywhere, so keep on rolling under the stars.”
Like the quote, On the Road unfolds like a stream of consciousness as the author embarks on a somewhat autobiographical journey across the country several times. Each journey features a unique assortment of supporting characters, inspired by real figures from Kerouac's life, who enhance the reverie of existence. Figures of the Beat generation such as Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, among others who embody the sentiment of the free spirited and unconstrained of their generation. Ultimately it’s a story about embracing life to its raw fullest; to live in the moment without hesitation or judgment amidst all its highs and lows.
Film Recs:
- Easy Rider
- Babylon
- Y tu Mama Tambien
- American Honey
- Kill Your Darlings
Stoner fancast:
- William Stoner: Timothée Chalamet / Adam Driver
- David Masters: David Jonsson
- Gordon Finch: Harris Dickinson / Paul Dano
- Archer Sloane: Ethan Hawke
- Edith Stoner: Florence Pugh / Jessie Buckley
- Grace Stoner: Emily Carey
- Hollis Lomax: Cary Elwes
- Charles Walker: Fred Hechinger
- Katherine Driscoll: Nell Tiger Free / Lily Sullivan
John Williams presents perhaps one of the most profoundly human protagonists in his classic novel Stoner, effectively contrasting romanticism with stark realism through the decades of William Stoner's life. Williams meticulously crafts a narrative steeped in poignant naturalism, revealing a sincere authenticity in the portrayal of our mundane existence. This theme resonates with Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human, although it navigates through a somewhat less oppressive lens. Just as smilarly, Wim Wenders’s Perfect Days film echoes in its exploration of everyday life, although Wenders finds a bit more nuanced optimism.
As a character, Stoner embodies the intricate balance of stoicism and relatable ordinary humanity, serving as a cautionary figure against the perils of indecision and complacency. It is essential to clarify that this portrayal does not imply that Stoner squandered his life or allowed his aspirations to dissipate; rather, it encapsulates the quintessential struggle of seeking a meaningful existence as opposed to the hazards of passively drifting through life with a mindset of mediocrity and inaction. As much as Stoner comes off as likable, there were myriad a chapter where I found myself infuriated by his inability to take charge when it mattered.
This resonates with the sentiment of Hippocrates: "Ars longa, vita brevis," emphasizing the enduring nature of art against the ephemeral nature of life, inviting inner reflection on the pursuit of fulfillment amidst the brevity of our mortal existence.
“The problem was you had to keep choosing between one evil or another, and no matter what you chose, they sliced a little more off you, until there was nothing left. At the age of 25 most people were finished. A whole goddamned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, like voting for the presidential candidate who reminded them most of themselves.”
Vulgarity, pessimism, realism, indifference, and unjustified suffering, greatness and/or simple lives are not guaranteed for every person; life is not fair, and your born into circumstances cannot always be escaped. But that doesn't mean you should just give up. Charles Bukowski would probably tell you to start drinking yourself blacked out drunk, gamble, and to go have plenty of sex. Do whatever the hell you like, and don't be so scared or shy away of it. Be honest to yourself through the regret, the shame, the pain, and the mes; no love without heartache, no meaning without sacrifice, no guts, no glory. You can spend 50 years with no purpose before it finally clicks through the raw pain, but you'll never find it by doing nothing. You need to do something even if it will hurt and cut deeply. “Don't try.” But when whatever urge flowing through you just bursts out on its own without you willing it into existence, then perhaps “If you're going to try, go all the way.” The important things in life should not feel like a choice to you. And other times, maybe the best thing for you in the moment is to get whooped by a young Mexican boy in an arcade game.
Undeniably influenced by the telekinetic elements of Stephen King’s Carrie and End of Watch, Psychic Teenage Bloodbath is exactly what it says on the tin. I'd actually even throw in some similarities to Stephen Graham Jones’s Night of the Mannequins and I Was a Teenage Slasher. You get a, well, psychic teenage bloodbath. Alrighty then, thanks for reading! Ok, seriously, as my first Carl John Lee (side penname for Scottish horror afficiando and writer, David Sodergren) I must say it did not blow me away. Granted, I have an incredibly high tolerance for all things violent and disturbing—actively searching for things to gross me out—but I was expecting things to get far more out of hand in its marketed extreme gore. In fact, the book opens up with a forward from fellow horror writer Judith Sonnet who goes into non-spoiler detail about things to expect, paired with a trigger warning list at the back: effectively a warning to the reader. Now don't get me wrong, very messed up things do take place within this revenge tale (including but not limited to attempted rape, necrophilia, cannibalism, castration), but it just wasn't enough to get a blip from my clearly dark soul.
I'm relatively new to the Splatterpunk scene (the best I've liked so far being Dead Inside and Brainwyrms), so take my subjective critiques with grains of salt. I did enjoy my time with Psychic Teenage Bloodbath, but in the words of the iconic Colin Farrell, “Not to sound pear-shaped, but I wanted it to be a little spicier.” The scenes of gore weren't necessarily added just for the sake of gore, as many of them fit the character motivations and mental states, but most if not all of them were also seen coming. Additional fair warning, this does get more sexual than most of the Sodergren books I've read so far.
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Film Recs:
- Carrie
- Tragedy Girls
- Freaky
- Malignant
YA Annihilation that spends too long getting to its point, that by the time we get to the existential nitty-gritty, we’re already packing up. I do like the setting and initial mystery, but the author did not capitalize on the saved timed he had from skipping the actual apocalypse. Endgame Gantz had similar themes with more depth.
Stephen King explains that he believes Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, and Nightmares & Dreamscapes to all be one trilogy of his shorts. The latter of which consisting of some shorts he didn't think were entirely ready on the same level as the other two collections at first.
- Crouch End (Lovecraftian horror)
- Suffer the Little Children (feels Clive Barkerian)
- Sorry Right Number (Hitchcock would've loved this Twilight Zone style ep)
- Popsy (the recent Abigail movie definitely read this)
- Chattery Teeth (feels like parallel to The Monkey)
- The Night Flier (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet if the plane also landed)
- 10 O'clock People (King's They Live)
- Rainy Season (Shirley Jackson's The Summer People meet The Nest)
- The End of the Whole Mess (could be a Twilight Zone ep)
- Ummey's Last Case (great Barton Finkish concept that should be adapted)
- Home Delivery (small island community zombie short)
- The Moving Finger (guy loses his mind locked in his apartment type beat)
- Dolan's Cadillac (might be the most screen adaptation potential, which it does have one)
- Doctor's Case (King's jab at Sherlock & Watson)
- The Fifth Quarter
- It Grows on You
- My Pretty Pony (feels like a brief flashback of a bigger story)
- Sneakers (incredibly underwhelming given the potential)
- You Know They've got a Hell of a Band (bland despite the premise)
- Dedication (as usual, King is rather odd when writing Black characters, and this is an entire Black narrative here)
- The House on Maple Street (forgot it instantly)
- The Beggar and the Diamond (not a King story, but added in)
I don't count the poem Brooklyn August, or Head Down, as that was King sitting about his son's real baseball game.
After watching the German adaptation of his book, Cut Off, I've been very intrigued by Sebastian Fitzek. He seems like the perfect fit for fellow fans of David Fincher and the Dragon Tattoo series. And so far, I can wholeheartedly say he is 2/2 in terms of dark mysteries with the tendency to dip into the unpredictable depravity of humanity. I was a little let down by how little Rebecca Hall is in this audiobook, but that isn't to say she nor the cast did a bad job.
If like me, you were expecting some cool horror/thriller twist based on how the book markets itself, avoid this. In a Dark Dark Wood is one of the most basic books I've read in a while, and the protagonist is one of the most idiotic. Really?!? 10 years from a teenage relationship, in addition to answering this decade old long cut off friendship invite?? Really? What are you thinking, and move the hell on.
Finished this in one sitting on account of it being brisk to read through, and having a consistently tense pace. Predictable—especially given the artistic choice to have a cold open essentially telling us the fates of the main cast—but still entertaining to read. It's a strong debut horror book, and one that will surely keep my eyes at attention for Kiefer's next book. My only primarily point of critique, would be that the characters could have been fleshed out better and made to be a bit more relatable: I didn't connect to any of the characters, and found one of them to have quite the drastic and unearned shift.
I strongly recommend this to fans of Briardark, The Ruins, and maybe even a little bit of the Wrong Turn remake.
Very much the Samurai oriented Game of Thrones that word of mouth sold it to be. I'd go an additional step further in specifying a more acute comparison to House of the Dragon, as Shogun leans more into the socio-political aspects of its feudal 16th century Japan. It's over 1000pg count allows the characters to breathe and develop through its various revelations, fights, betrayals, and romantic ties. While I would say that author James Clavell gets a little trigger happy with his assumption that seppuku was committed on the fly left and right, Clavell does take detailed pauses to showcase the stark cultural differences between the English, Portuguese, Spanish, and of course, Japanese. It's a tome to get through, but I did enjoy my time with it—possibly the longest I've taken to read a single book ever.
Fancast
Director: Ben Affleck
Ted: Matt Damon
Lily: Riley Keough / Meghann Fahy
Miranda: Blake Lively / Anne Hathaway
Brad: Casey Affleck / Bobby Cannavale / Wyatt Russell
Eric: Callum Turner / Jacob Elordi
Det. Henry Kimball: Joel Edgerton / Clive Owen
Det. Roberta James: Jodie Turner-Smith
David: Michael Douglas / Timothy Dalton
Sharon: Sharon Stone / Susan Sarandon
Weird Tales ranked:
- The Call of Ctulu
- The Third Guy
- Disappear Donna
- The World Breaker
- Black God's Kill
- Up from Slavery
- Bait
- Church at the Bottom of the Sea
- The Damp Man
- Dead Jack and the Case of the Blood Fairy
- The Game
- Blood Moon
- Prezzo
- Legal Rites
- The Vengeance of Nitocris
- Jagannath
- Worms of the Earth
- The Scythe
- How to Make the Animal Perfect?
- Slaughter House
- Cupid is a Knavish Lad
- Vampire Chaser
- Lady Cataract Comes to the Mosque
Stories Ranked:
- Everything's Eventual
- The Man in the Black Suit
- 1408
- Autopsy Room Four
- The Road Virus Heads North
- Lunch at the Gotham Cafe
- That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French
- Lucky Quarter
- LT's Theory of Pets
- All That You Love Will Be Carried away
- In the Death Room
- The Death of Jack Hamilton
- The Little Sisters of Eluria
Judging as a whole, I much preferred Shirley's Dark Tales collection more. The middle section of this one was a bit of a drag.
Ranked:
The Daemon Lover
The Lottery
The Witch
The Renegade
Like Mother Used to Make
The Tooth
Pillars of Salt
Men with Their Big Shoes
The Villager
My Life with R. H. Macy
Trial by Combat
The Intoxicated
After You My Dear Alphonse
Flower Garden
Seven Kinds of Ambiguity
Charles
Dorothy and My Grandmother and the Sailors
Afternoon in Linen
The Dummy
Of Course
Elizabeth
Colloquy
Got a Letter from Jimmy
A Fine ol Firm
Epilogue
For a book that markets itself as being scientific and based in realism, I couldn't help myself from laughing at the ridiculousness throughout. Also, the weird shifting from first person to third person and narration is very off-putting, amplified by the author's obsession with reiteration and repeating phrases for emphasis—seriously, even Drake & Josh wouldn't put so much emphasis...EMPHASIS. Not sure how Gillian Flynn and Stephan Graham Jones gave this such appraisal.
Far too long, gets incredibly tedious until maybe chapter 35ish—which really had me wanting to file this under a DNF. To Nat Cassidy's credit, he—yes, I too was surprised to discover the author was a man—writes the role, perspective, and struggle of aging menopausal women very well and with respect. That said, you'll have a funner time with The Haar, Rouge, and/or Sister, Maiden, Monster in regards to somewhat similar plot tones. Mary was nothing like American Psycho or Midsommar, which is how it was marketed for me.
