Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Monday, October 22, 2018

Blu-ray Review: Flora

Mill Creek Ent., NOT RATED; 100 minutes; Amazon

Now available on Blu-ray + Digital from Mill Creek Entertainment is 2017's science fiction horror film Flora. Written and directed by Sasha Louis Vukovic, the film stars Teresa Marie Doran, Sari Mercer, Miles G. Jackson, and Caleb Noel.

The low-budget film has been an "Official Selection" in over 10 International Film Festivals.

Flora centers around a group of Ivy League botanists students going on a months-long expedition in a forest. Soon after their arrival, they learn that their professor has disappeared, leaving them with the choice of staying or leaving to get help.

To make a somewhat long story short, the students have no choice but to stay at their camp. It seems there's a deadly organism growing in the forest and if you eat it or breathe it in, you'll quickly die.

The students must either work together to find a cure or find a way to escape the horrors of the forest.

Special Features include:

Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Commentary with Sasha Louis Vukovic, Teresa Marie Doran, and Dan Lin

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Billy Burgess #IMWAYR ,

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by The Book Date.

What am I currently reading?

I just finished reading Return to Fear Street: You May Now Kill The Bride earlier this morning, which my review will be posted sometime today. Next, I'll be reading Return to Fear Street: The Wrong Girl by R.L. Stine. My review for it will be posted tomorrow.

America Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell is more of a passion read. I'm currently on page 26 (Chapter Two). I'm reading it one chapter at a time or one chapter per week.

What am I reading next?

13 Days of Halloween: Campfire by Shawn Sarles

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Halloween 2018

Jimmy Patterson; 296 pages; Amazon

Does you remember the Point Horror young adult books that were published in the late 1980s and throughout the early 1990s?

Well, I stumbled upon the Point Horror book shortly after I started reading the Goosebumps franchise in 1992! While a few of the books got lost over the years, I still have a pretty decent size collection. Once in awhile, I will find a Point Horror title at a thrift store and add it to my collection.

The young adult horror novel Campfire by Shawn Sarles was released during the summer through Jimmy Patterson (Little, Brown, and Company). Let me just say this book was a difficult for me to find. I looked at three Walmart stores and a Barnes & Noble store and none of them had the book in stock. I ended up ordering it!

I can't put my finger on it, but Campfire's art cover looks very familiar. I could of sworn I've seen a similar cover on an old Point Horror novel. Does anyone else agree with me?

Campfire is a fictional slasher tale with three separate short stories included in it - "Beware When The Fair Comes To Town," "Red Raven," and "The Mountain People." No, the book isn't an anthology.

The plot centers around sixteen-year-old Maddie Daveport, her family, her best friend Chelsea, and a few friends going on a camping trip in the mountains. To kill off the time during the nights, they gather around the campfire and tell scary stories (the three stories I have already mentioned about).

"They say that stories told under a full moon come true," Caleb said.

To make a long story short, let's just say one of the stories becomes real. Now Maddie, her family, and friends are being hunted down one by one, and they must find a way to survive.

Sunday Post: October 21, 2018

Billy Burgess Sunday Post ,

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Morning, Everyone!

My Current Reads

For the rest of the month, I will be reading a book per day. No, this isn't a personal challenge. I'm slightly behind on my 13 Days of Halloween posts, so I'm having to read the books a day before they're supposed to be published. Is it stressful? Surprisingly, no, it's not stressful at all, though reading nearly 1,200 pages in three days has put a little strain on my eyes. Nevertheless, I'm going to push through it and finish the event on time.

Today, I'm reading Return to Fear Street: You May Now Kill The Bride by R.L. Stine. The book has been out for a few months and I've been holding back my urge to read it, just so I can feature it during my Halloween event.

Tomorrow, I will be reading Return to Fear Street: Wrong Girl by R.L. Stine. Tuesday, I will be reading Echoes in the Walls by V.C. Andrews. Wednesday, I will be reading Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel. Thursday, I will be reading the anthology Scream and Scream Again!. Friday, I will be reading Monsterland Reanimated by Michael Okon. And on Saturday, I will be reading The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs.

Update: I'm now on page 26 of the nonfiction book "American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell" by Deborah Solomon. WHOOPEE! I read one chapter!

Last Week's Reviews

Blood Communion by Anne Rice (book)
Hunting Prince Dracula by Keri Maniscalco (book)

Escaping From Houdini by Keri Maniscalco (book)

Talk About Love: Music from the Motion Picture No Postage Necessary (music)

Down a Dark Hall (Blu-ray)

The Resident: The Complete Season One (DVD)

In The Mail

Books

I had received a press release earlier this month about the upcoming anthology 18 Wheels of Science Fiction edited by Eric Miller. While I don't read very much science fiction, the premise intrigued me, so I request to review the book, which arrived in the mail on Friday. I'll probably be posting my review on November 4th, which is when the book is being released.

FYI: I have an uncle named Eric Miller, so the editor's name caught my attention right away.

Music Albums

13 Days of Halloween: Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Halloween 2018

Jimmy Patterson; 440 pages; Amazon

Reading 900 pages in two days can put a bit of strain on a reader's eyes, but nevertheless, I have pushed through it and "Voila!"

Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco is the third novel in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series, though it should be called the Audrey Rose series instead. Stalking Jack the Ripper was the title of the first book, followed by Hunting Prince Dracula, which I just reviewed yesterday. Since Jack the Ripper was only in the first novel, why would the series be named after the first book? Yes, I'm nitpicking!

Anyway, the ending of Hunting Prince Dracula had Audrey Rose Wadsworth, her love interest Thomas Cresswell, and her chaperone Mrs. Harvey being detoured from returning to London in favor of America. Since this is set 1889, the only way of traveling to the United States is by sea, and in their case, they're traveling aboard the luxurious RMS Eturia.

You would think traveling on an ocean liner would be relaxing, especially after catching two serial killers in a row, but that isn't the case for Audrey Rose and Thomas, who are once again tossed into a murder mystery when a young woman is murdered. The duo must use their forensic skills to hunt down the murderer.

Music Review: Talk About Love: Music from the Motion Picture No Postage Necessary

Billy Burgess music ,

Satya Records; 41 mins 51 secs; Amazon

Available now from Satya Records is Talk About Love: Music from the Motion Picture No Postage Necessary, the first soundtrack singer/songwriter/composer Charleene Closshey, who composed, orchestrated and recorded the film’s musical piano-based orchestral score.

No Postage Necessary was the first movie to released via the Blockchain, which allowed customers to stream the film using cryptocurrency. The movie was released to select theaters and VOD over the summer. It was released to Blu-ray and DVD earlier this month.

Produced by award-winning songwriter, engineer and producer Brent Maher, the album features a duet between Closshey and George Blagden (who costars in the film) on the song "Til I Loved You." "Give Me Your Heart" features a duet between Closshey and Irish singer/songwriter Gareth Dunlop.

The tracks/songs on the album include:

Talk About Love
Give Me Your Heart featuring Gareth Dunlop
Galileo
‘Til I Loved You featuring George Blagden
Sam’s Theme (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
The Letter (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Josie’s Theme (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
In Sam’s Defense (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Twistee Treat (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Sam Sneaks, Ames Lurks (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Live (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
What is it You Want? (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Walking Towards Grace (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
The Truth (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Stanley’s Bible (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Acceptance Letter (score from “No Postage Necessary”)
Falling Backwards (score from “No Postage Necessary”)

13 Days of Halloween: Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Billy Burgess 13 Days of Halloween , Halloween 2018

Jimmy Patterson; 448 pages; Amazon

To celebrate Halloween this year, I will be featuring 13 horror themed posts. (Hint: They're mostly books!)

Today, I'm reviewing Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco, which is the sequel to Stalking Jack the Ripper (you can read my review here).

Picking up shortly after the events of the first novel, Audrey Rose Wadsworth, her friend Mr. Thomas Cresswell, and her chaperone Mrs. Harvey are traveling on an orient express headed to the Academy of Forensic Medicine and Science (Institutului National De Criminalistica Si Mecicina Legala), which happens to be located at the

Book Blogger Hop: Halloween Edition! - October 19th - 25th

Billy Burgess book blogger hop , Halloween 2018

Book Blogger Hop: Halloween Edition!

Instructions: Select all code above, copy it and paste it inside your blog post as HTML

Welcome Ghouls and Goblins
to the
Book Blogger Hop: Halloween Edition!

If you want schedule next week's thrilling question, click here to find the next prompt fright-fest.
To submit a question, fill out this form.

How to participate in this week's creepy meme:

1. Post on your blog answering this haunt:

If you were to dress up as a literary figure {author or character} for Halloween, who would it be?

(This week's question is submitted by Michelle @ Life Among the Pages.)

2. Enter the link to your terrifying tale in the haunting list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in a curse).

3. Visit other haunters in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new creeper. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

Billy's Answer!

I would dress up as Dr. Frankenstein's monster from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel, Frankenstein.

Linky List:

The Friday 56: Escaping From Houdini

Billy Burgess The Friday 56 ,

Rules:

Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it).
Post it.
Add your (url) post below in the Linky at: www.fredasvoice.com
Add the post url, not your blog url.

Blu-ray Review: Down a Dark Hall

Billy Burgess Blu-ray , movie

Summit; PG-13; 96 minutes; Amazon

Now available on Blu-ray from Summit Entertainment is the supernatural horror flick Down a Dark Hall. Directed by Rodrigo Cortés and produced by Stephenie Meyers (author of the Twilight Saga), the film stars AnnaSophia Robb, Uma Thurman, Victoria Moroles, Isabelle Fuhrman, Taylor Russell, Rosie Day, and Noah Silver.

Based on the book of the same name by the late Lois Duncan, Down a Dark Hall centers around a troubled teenager girl named Kit Gordy (played by AnnaSophia Robb) who is sent to the Blackwood Boarding School, which is ran by headmistress Madame Duret (played by Uma Thurman). Blackwood isn't your normal boarding school. There are only four other students - Ashley (Taylor Russell), Izzy (played by Isabelle Fuhrman), Sierra (played by Rosie Day), and Veronica (played by Victoria Moroles).

Shortly after arriving, Kit's ability to play the piano surfaces, which thrills the headmistress and her son Jules Duret, the music teacher (played by Noah Silver). However, Kit' sudden music talents scares her to death, as she hasn't played the piano in years and when she did, she wasn't very good at it.

The other students have "talents" that suddenly emerge, which slowly drives them crazy. As Kit begins to investigate the secrets of Blackwood, she unveils a hidden evil that wants to devour the students.

Special Features include: