Last week I happened to catch the movie Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour on an Encore channel. I very seldom watch a movie during the day, let alone turn on the television, but after reading the title on the menu guide, I thought I would give the movie a try.

The Paranormal Hour begins with a seventeen-year-old Sarah Landon (played by Rissa Walters) returning to Pine Valley, California to visit her grandmother, Thelma Shaw. Before she arrives at her grandma’s, she has car problems and stops by a local repair shop where she hears part of a disturbing story. She doesn’t get the full story until she asks her grandma about it, who was more than glad to tell the tale.

A young man, David Baker, is cursed! On his 21st birthday, which is only a few days away, he will be killed by his dead uncle, Ben Woods. Years ago, Ben’s son, on his 21st birthday, was killed in a car accident that David’s mother caused. David was known as a good kid and was getting ready to go to college, but then he learned of the curse and cut himself off from the world. He has become obsessed with the paranormal, and is trying to find away to stop his uncle.

The Thirteen
BY: Susie Moloney
PUBLISHED BY: William Morrow
PUBLISHED IN: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-211766-3
Pages: 330

    After being fired from her waitress job at a strip club, Paula Wittmore is notified that her mother has taken ill. She packs up her bags along with her teenage daughter, Rowan, and returns to her home town, a suburban called Haven Woods. Everything may look normal there, but Haven Woods has dark secrets at every corner, including several strange deaths and apparent suicides.

    Returning home is putting Paula on an emotional rollercoaster as she reunites with some of her childhood friends, not to mention her mother’s strange frenemies - twelve women bound by terrible secrets that requires a thirteen to be sacrificed.

Pages: 310
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Now for a twist, Sam asks Sookie for a favor - for her to ask the vampire Eric if Sam could borrow one of his vampire bartenders. Eric can never say no to Sookie, therefore the vampire pirate Charles joins Merlotte’s in Sam’s absence. Meanwhile, Tara is now in the control of the dangerous vampire Mickey.

Dead as a Doornail focuses more on the weres and shape-shifters than it does vampires. If you are watching the current season, you’ll realize that some of the plot elements in Dead as a Doornail are in it, mainly with Jason. Vampire favorites Bill, Eric and Pam have very little to do with the novel, and involves more of the Hotshots and werewolf clans. The death of Debbie Pelt is coming back to bite Sookie in the you-know-what, as private investigators are looking into her disappearance. I liked that the author laid out more of the werewolf mythology into the modern world. Sookie’s fairy-godmother, Claudine, is a riot and fun character unlike the fairy plot from True Blood. The fifth book in the series is great read.

PUBLISHED BY: Ace
PUBLISHED IN: 2004
ISBN: 978-0-441-01218-3
Pages: 310
Reviewed by Billy Burgess




With Sookie’s ex, Bill, out of the country, she calls her brother Jason for assistance, but he shortly disappears later that night. Now, Sookie must worry about her brother, and fight off her feelings for Eric.

I started reading the 4th book in the Sookie Stackhouse series last June. My plans were to read it before the third season of True Blood started, but I got sidetracked and the book eventually went back on the bookshelf. After watching the first episode of the 4th season, I decided to read Dead to the World. After a slow attempt, I managed to finish the book on July 4th. The basic ‘witches plot’ is the main plot of the 4th season of the television series. The subplot of the missing Jason is currently being used too, but Crystal and the Hotshots were introduced during the third season. I was disappointed to learn that Bill had a very limited role in the book, but I was glad to see ‘Bubba’ (who is absent from True Blood) had a part. I laughed out loud when Eric was watching Sookie’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer VHSs while she slept. I thought Charlaine Harris has done marvelous work showing Eric’s human side as he fell in love with Sookie. The only downside of the novel was the so-called ‘witch war’ with vamps, weres, and witches, as I thought it could have been longer. Overall, I enjoyed getting back into Sookie’s weird world.