Friday, October 25, 2013

EXCLUSIVE! A Perfect story for Halloween! FIrst, an excerpt from scariest, wildest story ever, like a "50 shades meets The Shining!"


An excerpt from "Join the Club" from

...Jessica told Alan to be there 5 minutes before 11, to bring a flashlight, and she would meet him.  He got there just as she asked.  She stood alone in front of the old house, but Alan could see a few of the other club members were standing across the street, watching.
When Alan reached her, she gave him a kiss.  “What’s with them?” He asked.
“They were betting me you wouldn’t come.  We’ve tried to recruit people in the past, that backed out at the last minute.  A couple of them are even jealous, because they’ve tried to recruit people they really liked, but I was lucky and I found you.  She smiled and kissed him again.  He leaned close to her ear and asked; “And when would I be giving you that spanking?”
She laughed and said, “You get in the club, and not only can you pick the time and place, but that will just be the beginning.”
“I’m ready,” he said and started to walk towards the house.  Jessica grabbed his arm.  “Not yet.  Here.” She gave him a strange flat silver dollar sized stone with a carved series of symbols.  “Keep that amulet with you.  And drink this.”  She handed him a small bottle.  He put the stone in his pocket, then opened the bottle and smelled it, and said, “Eww.  Do I have to?”
“Yes.  Do it for me, and you can tie me up when you spank me.”  Alan downed it before Jessica finished the sentence.  As he swallowed the awful tasting drink she quickly waved her hands around his face, holding a similar stone to the amulet she gave him, and said a few strange sounding words.  He looked at her with a ‘WTF’ expression.  “Part of the ritual.” She answered in response.  “If I don’t do all the role play, I’m sure I’d hear about it from the other members.” Then she kissed him and said, “Good Luck!”
As he opened the creaky old gate and walked towards the front door Jessica called out; “Please don’t quit Alan.  Join the club!”  He didn’t turn to answer, but raised his hand and gave her thumbs up...


As  one of the blogs helping the author, Larry Hochwald, to launch his new book, Not From Around Here, we get to publish this story and leave it up until Halloween.  (No other review site will have it.) But first, you just got to read a small excerpt from a new, full length horror story, included in the book, called "Join the Club".  I'll be talking about that story in my review of the book, soon.  In spirit, it's a little like a short version of "50 Shades meets the Shining" and was, page for page, the scariest thing I have read!  In the meantime, here is another wonderful and spooky story from the book: A Present for Mikey (in the newly rewritten and edited book version)  It's one of the shortest stories in the book, but I think you'll agree with me that good Halloween treats come in small packages!


A Present for Mikey

 

Losing a family member is never easy….  It was 11:50 PM on July 22 and the family sat awake huddled around a small coffee table littered with candles and pictures of the one family member not with them that night. The mother and the father and the older sister were there, but Mikey their young boy was only a memory now.  In 10 minutes, at exactly midnight, it would not only be his 7th birthday but also the first anniversary of Mikey’s death.  He had drowned in the family's new pool.  At that time he was turning six and everybody was saying what a big boy he had become.  When the rest of the family went to bed that night he was already sound asleep but he must've woken up soon after the last of them had drifted off.  It was a hot night and everyone was excited with the new pool.  Sure, he had been warned not to swim alone, but after all he was such a big boy now!
“I think what I’ll always remember most is that I have never known any kid more universally liked than Mikey,” his older sister said, breaking the silence.
“It's true,” his mother began, “little kids are cute and it's hard not to like them, though boys Mikey's age are often a bit too rambunctious for some people.  Mikey, though, had a way of engaging everybody. I never saw one of those sour expressions cross anyone's face like ‘this kid’s a little too much.’”
“I know. He was an absolute delight. Though he didn't have to be for us to love him as much as we do, but he was.  I think about him every day.  I miss him every day. I just want us to be a whole family again.”  As the father said that, the clock struck midnight. They all closed their eyes huddled around the table.  Tears streamed down the mother’s cheeks.  Soon tears stained the sister’s and the father's faces as well.
The stillness was broken, first by the sniffles and moans of the family, but then by something else.  The sounds were very low at first. Though each heard them, they assumed it was only their imagination and that the others couldn’t possibly hear.  It was splashing.  Splashing like someone struggling in the pool.  Then the voice, faint, yet filled with panic.
“Did you hear that?” The sister asked.  “Someone's calling for help.  It’s Mikey!”
“That’s impossible!” The father yelled as they all jumped out of their seats and ran to the large picture window overlooking the backyard and the pool. They stood frozen in shock and fear. There was a figure thrashing in the water. It looked like a little boy.
“Oh my God, how could this happen, how could another kid get in our pool this late?”  The mother cried out as she started running towards the back door.  The father, right behind her, put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her.  He pointed out the window as he turned on all the exterior lighting.  It did appear to be a little boy, but not just any little boy.  Though from the distance they couldn't be sure it was Mikey, they could be sure it wasn't just some other kid.  The figure was dark, and gray, despite the illumination.  And he wasn't just calling for help, now his voice, which sounded like Mikey’s, seemed louder and they realized he was calling for them: “Help me mommy, help me daddy, help me sis!” 
“But how can this be?” the mother asked.
“I don't know,” the father responded.  “Mikey, the kid that everyone loved, the child that no one found fault in, perhaps even heaven has come to love him as much as we do, and has decided to give him a special birthday present.  Another chance!
“Maybe it's we who are getting a second chance--- and I'm taking it!”  The mother cried out as she started running to the back door with the sister and father right behind. 
Without hesitation, they all jumped into the pool and swam to the figure bobbing in the middle. When they got to the ghostly figure they all cried out at the same time: “That's not Mikey!”  They looked at each other scared and confused. Suddenly, they realized they were surrounded by dark gray figures; men and women, girls and boys.  The figures started to grab the family and pull them under the water. They fought back, confused, filled with panic, their minds racing as they tried to resist, but still they were pulled under.  The gray, ghostly, assailants showed no emotion as they seemed inexorably driven to complete their grim task.  Despite the panic, or because of it, the family fought so very desperately, just as their lungs screamed for sustenance, but it was to no avail.  
Soon their thoughts and their struggles ceased.  The family now floated lifelessly in the pool.  The gray figures huddled around them.  One of the figures, an older man, gave the slightest hint of a smile and said: “This is a good surprise.”
“Yes,” one of the others, a middle-aged woman, agreed, “Mikey’s such a terrific little boy, so delightful, so endearing. It was unbearable to see him sad and suffering and missing his family.”
“I know it's just part of the territory, we've all had to deal, but he's such a great kid…we just had to do something,” a younger man said.
“We had to get him a birthday present,” another young man said.
“Not just a birthday present; the best present we could,” a young lady said.
His family.  We knew we had to get him his family!” the little boy who played the drowning kid, to lure the family into the pool, said with a smile. 
The gray, lifeless figures began to fade away.  Soon all that was left in the pool were the three floating bodies.  They were a complete family once again.
                                                        *    *    *

Thursday, October 17, 2013

"Gravity" takes off, mostly.

Am I the only one who didn't love "Gravity?"  I liked it.  I thought the effects, look of the movie and use of 3D were very good, but not incredible. It was suspenseful at times , exciting at times, and the acting was excellent.  It all came together for a---very good movie.  Some things were predictable, others became that way because they were a repeated pattern.  Maybe the 3D effects were too hyped and my expectations were too high but i thought they were very good, not mind blowing.

I can still recommend it as a very good movie and one of the best things out now, as well as a fine sci fi action movie that's more down-to-earth than a Star Trek or Elysium. 

If you've already seen it please let me, and the readers, know what you think!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Exciting News and some links!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just received the pre-publication review copy of a new fiction collection e-book/paperback that I think you're really going to love.  I have gotten to read some of this author's work on Yahoo and it's special.  No more to be said now, because I am working on an interview to publish right after the review appears.  Stay tuned...I expect it will appear within the week, once I know the official publication date.  However, check back here often from now until Halloween because I have been promised excerpts and a full story to publish here that will be spot-on for the holiday!

Follow up links for Leah Finkelstein.  I have received a lot of email asking if you guys should be going to stores or online for Leah's albums.  The CD for the first album, "Dear Claudia" is available from Amazon and the album as well as the second album, "Feigning Composure" are both available on iTunes and Amazon mp3.  Here are the links!






Wednesday, October 9, 2013

New Find Alert!!!!!!!!!!! Singer, Songwriter and Performer Leah Finkelstein.



I have two hopes for this blog. I am hoping to have some dialogs with my readers on this blog.  And I am hoping to discover new talent from my audience to enjoy as well as bringing you honest reviews of popular stuff. 
A writer that I've been following and hope to introduce you to very shortly, introduced me to the work of Leah Finkelstein.
Leah has two albums that are available on iTunes and Amazon MP3: “Dear Claudia” and “Feigning Composure.”  I can't believe how good she is, and that I never heard of her.  Leah has an amazing voice and if all she did, were covers of other people's work, I think eventually she would release something that would be a huge hit. We've seen it before with remakes all the time.  But she writes and there’s always the risk that you'll be a better singer than the material you're performing.  Luckily for Leah, this isn't the case.  Her skills and songwriting and arranging seem to be as talented and honed as her performance.
These are two great works and while I have to admit, I am slightly more partial to “Dear Claudia” though “Feigning Composure” is so great and close to “Dear Claudia,” it would be hard for me to recommend only one of the two.  I think most people would love either one and I think if you like one, you’ll like the other.  
Leah, and her songs, have that deep bluesy quality, of a Norah Jones.  In fact, like Jones, you might expect to have heard some of these songs on the radio in the 70's and 80's but Leah has a quality that transcends genre and time and would seem an exact fit on any radio; especially today's eclectic, soulful sounds.
I’ve enjoyed many indie albums and usually the sound is great but the writing leaves me flat.  Very rarely, it is the other way around.  Sometimes it is the production that falls short.  I am about as impressed as I could be with these albums.  If I first heard them played on the radio I would not have been surprised.  And if they ever managed to get the airplay they deserve, you’d all know about them already!



Thursday, October 3, 2013

Paging Dr. Sleep!

In case you don't know, Dr. Sleep is Stephen King's new sequel to "The Shining"; his classic horror novel.  In this book, a group called True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They're trying to stay immortal by living off "the steam" that children with the shining produce when they are slowly and gruesomely murdered.  Danny, the boy from "The Shining" is grown up and is now in a New Hampshire town, working at a nursing home where his  shining power provides comfort to the dying. Aided by a special cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”
Enter the new "Shining" Abra Stone, with the brightest shining ever seen and the True Know want her.
How is it, you ask?  It's everything most of us who enjoyed The Shining would have hoped for.  I give it  4.5 skulls (since it's horror and it's Halloween month and all, I'll use skulls for horror books!)
                      
Now, I have to admit it is a great sequel, but if you don't know The Shining at all i suspect it would not be as impressive to you.  So many millions have read the Shining that I'm sure that won't be an issue.  But it isn't a classic like the Shining.  And the action ending along with the young heroine, makes it feel like Mr. King jumped on the ride being driven by "Hunger Games" and all it's wannabe's.  It is a little slow in the middle and some things are handled a little too easily.  All in all, I would have probably given it a 3.5 skulls, 3 for the story and the extra half because Mr. King writes so well, but as a sequel, it is very nice to pick up the characters and have the flashbacks.  And it is very satisfying too.
--M