Posts Tagged ‘authors’

October Events with the Ohio Horror Writers Association

Posted: September 11, 2019 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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Some of you may remember that back in June, I attended a reading with fellow members of the Ohio chapter of the Horror Writers Association. It was a lot of fun, we had a few laughs, probably a few nightmares, plenty of guests, and maybe even a new fan or two. It probably helped that we were at a bar too, and there were plenty of drinks.

And now Ohio HWA is getting together again not once, but twice for the month of October! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year (and don’t worry, I will write a blog post before too long about why the Halloween season is the true most wonderful time of the year). And in the spirit of this time of year, I thought it might be a good idea to spread the word in case any of you are able to make it to either event. So without further ado, let’s get into it!

The first event is Evil at the Overlook Lodge in Cincinnati. This is being held at the Overlook Lodge, a bar modeled after the bar in the Overlook Hotel from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. Now, as much as I dislike that movie (His Royal Scariness and I both agree on that), I have to admit, that sounds awesome. Not to mention, there will likely be a number of Shining-inspired drinks to be had.

The second event will be taking a bit closer to home: A Night of Horror with the Horror Writers Association, hosted by the Bexley Public Library (yes, the same location we did that book fair last month). Obviously this won’t have alcohol, but it will be held at a beautiful location in the suburb of Bexley, Ohio. I’ve been working closely with the Bexley Library’s staff to get this off the ground, and I can’t tell who’s more enthusiastic, them or us! Anyway, the artwork above is what they created, and it’s absolutely stunning. I’m so happy we have such great hosts to partner with.

Anyway, I hope you’re able to check at least one of the events out. And if not, I’ll hope you’ll be there to cheer us on in spirit. We have lots of talented writers within our ranks, and we’re always ready to terrify you with our tales.

That’s all for now. I’m going to get dinner on the table and then do some editing (though I might try to put out a blog post tomorrow if I’m in the mood). Until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

Review: IT: Chapter Two

Posted: September 8, 2019 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Do I really need to say anything? No, we all knew I was going to see this movie opening weekend, and that I would post a review soon afterwards. The only question is, besides what did I think of the movie, is why the review is being posted so late at night. Answer: I went with a couple of friends to Oktoberfest Columbus for drinks and only just got back a little while ago. Now onto the review.

IT: Chapter Two picks up the story twenty-seven years after the ending of Chapter One. A violent gay-bashing reawakens It, who begins another reign of terror upon the people of Derry. Mike Hanlon, the only member of the Losers Club still in Derry, calls back his friends, who have forgotten most of their memories and need to recall what they’ve forgotten in order to stop It once and for all. Unfortunately, It wants them to come back. It enjoys having enemies. And It wants to finish what they all started twenty-seven years ago.

I’ll be honest with you: I was disappointed with this movie.

There’s stuff here to enjoy, don’t get me wrong. The adult versions of the characters not only look like grown up versions of the kids we met two years ago (who show up a lot in this movie, and I really can’t tell they’ve been digitally de-aged, even though that’s what happened), but they put their all into the characters and do it so well. Bill Hader as the adult Richie Tozier, for all his inexperience in the horror genre, does scared very well, and steals just about every scene he’s in. Bill Denbrough is given a decent character arc tackling his ongoing guilt regarding his brother’s death. They actually do the giant spider form some justice in this film, as well as the scene with Adrian Mellon being beaten to death by homophobes.

Stephen King himself has a great cameo in the movie, and they managed to work in an in-joke about King’s writing (namely that he doesn’t know how to end a book)* by having people say Bill doesn’t know how to finish a novel. And I approved of some of the changes to the story for the film, especially one involving a secret of Richie’s and putting Stan Uris’s suicide in a new light.

However, there was a lot I didn’t care for in this film. One thing I didn’t like was how everything just seemed to be spelled out for our protagonists. In the first film, you watched the characters figure out everything–It’s 27-year cycle, how all seven of them need to be together to fight It, how It has many different forms, including a clown–and that was great. People who knew the source material got to see them figure out the puzzle (I’m told this is called dramatic irony) and those who weren’t pieced things together with the characters. But in Chapter Two, EVERYTHING gets spelled out, mostly by Mike. He’s practically one big info-dump, which takes away some of the sense of mystery.**

Not only that, but It’s power in Derry seems to be downplayed in this film. In the first film, they do a great job conveying how much power It has over Derry and its inhabitants, but I did not get that sense as much during this film. I could’ve also used further exploration of It’s origins. I’m not asking for Maturin and the Macroverse (I’m not unreasonable), but I would’ve loved to see a bit more otherwordliness and maybe a scene going into how the form of Pennywise arose (fans were teased a scene like that after the first film). Kind of made Pennywise less threatening to me, actually.

We also get a lot of CGI in this film, which is ugly and comes with enough flashing lights that I left the theater with a strong headache. And while the final battle was awesome at times, the way it ended left me feeling less than impressed (really? That’s the final shot of Pennywise you went with?).

Oh, and before I forget: the tone. One criticism of the first film is that the tone’s a little inconsistent at times. However, it’s worse in the second film, with jokes and music that doesn’t fit popping up every other minute. I mean, can we leave the joking to Bill Hader and just keep things consistent? I want to be scared, not giggling at one-liners.

There are other things I could say, but I’m going to just leave it at that. On a scale of 1 to 5, I think I’ll give IT: Chapter Two a 2.5 out of 5. Perhaps I psyched myself up too much for this film, but it did not fulfill my expectations. Also, don’t see this film if you have any sort of photosensitivity.

I bought this Pennywise doll after the movie. No matter what you think of the second movie, this is the best version of Pennywise, and I wanted something to celebrate that.

On the bright side, Chapter One still holds up, and will for years to come. We may never get an adaptation of IT in any format that will satisfy everyone, but at least Chapter One will always be the closest to doing so. And of course, Joker and Doctor Sleep come out next month. Those should settle our scary clown and Stephen King itches, respectively.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Goodnight, and pleasant nightmares.

*Which I don’t agree with. I can count the number of his books I’ve been disappointed with the ending with on one hand, but that’s just me.

**Also, wasn’t he supposed to be a recovering addict in this film? I mean, they kept saying in promotional interviews that he was, but the only evidence I saw of that was an empty beer bottle and one Native American vision journey. He comes off more as obsessed to me: obsessed with Pennywise and his childhood friends. Worrisome, but not evidence of a recovering addict.

The Bexley Local Author Festival 2019: My First Author Festival

Posted: August 25, 2019 in Living and Life, Writing
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My seat at the Bexley Local Author Festival. Photo courtesy of my mother., who came by to support me.

I’ve never been to an author festival or book fair or whatever you want to call them, at least not in the capacity of an author. But then a month or two ago, I spoke to the owner of Gramercy Books Bexley, one of the local bookstores, who asked if I would like to be one of the authors at Bexley Local Authors Festival.* Of course, I said yes.

I arrived at the location earlier today a little after 1:30, with extra books, my cloak (gotta sell that horror writer vibe, don’t I?) and a few props packed up in a box. The past two years the author festival has been held at the Bexley Public Library, as Gramercy doesn’t have enough room inside its store to hold all those authors. Even still, it was pretty crowded: there were forty authors in the library”s auditorium, in four rows of tables, with two authors per table. We kept having to jump over one another to get to our seats! And that was before the people were let in.

Despite how crowded it was, it was a lot of fun. I sat next to another author, Robert Turner, who was also here for the first time, and he was pretty cool guy. We talked quite a bit while we were trying to attract customers, and he told me about his book, which he summed up as “a suicide note from Judas Iscariot.” You couldn’t help but feel a little bit curious after hearing a synopsis like that (and if anyone wants to check it out, click the link here)!

And on my other side were two people close to my age who wrote memoirs about their experiences living abroad. One was a guy who lived and taught English in South Korea for two years, and what that was like. The other was a young woman who wrote about a book about the people she came across while traveling through Japan, China and other countries. They joked to attendees that they were the Asian travel section, and between the two of them, they had the entirety of Southeast Asia covered. It was kind of funny.

And now, for those of you who are wondering, how did Rose do? Well, it’s not easy to sell books in any location. The festival had a huge mix of different authors selling every type of book under the sun, from memoir and self-help to children’s books and historical romances. And believe me when I say, many folks were there to say hi to people they knew selling books at the festival. Add in that space was pretty tight, and it’s a lot to work with and get people interested in your work.

That being said, I still managed to sign and sell some copies of Rose. One even went to one of my professors from college. And for every book sold, I think about ten people got a business card, where they could find more information about me and order a copy of Rose if they wish later on. Many of the people who took cards seemed genuinely interested, so I think they’ll end up buying a copy at home. On the whole, I think you could call today a success.

And if I get invited back again next year, I think I’ll go. I had a lot of fun, talked to some great people, and maybe found a few new readers and fans. What more could a guy ask for?**

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to dream up more terrors for you all. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

*For those unaware, Bexley is a suburb of Columbus, with a range of house types and sizes and well-known for its high Jewish population. I grew up there for a number of years, and I’ve been back several times for a number of reasons since I’ve moved out.

**Plenty, actually, but I count my blessings.

Rose: Two Months Since Publication

Posted: August 21, 2019 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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It’s hard to believe we’re in the second half of August, and October (AKA the Halloween season, AKA the most wonderful time of the year), is right around the corner. Soon, we’re going to have to get ready for witches and goblins and more candy than is probably healthy. But before we go into all that (as well as some of what I have planned for that month), I have to mark a milestone. That’s right, my novel Rose has been out for two whole months!

So for those of you who know, Rose is a fantasy-horror novel I wrote as a college thesis project. The novel follows a young woman named Rose Taggert who awakens with the past two years missing from her memories. She quickly undergoes a terrifying transformation into a plant-like creature, which begins a saga to ensure her survival as she realizes people in her life are hiding dark secrets from her.

It took a lot of work, about seven drafts, and more than a few anxiety attacks, but after five years, Rose was released on June 21st, 2019. And I’m proud to say that it’s been doing well. Everyone I’ve talked to who’s read it seems to like it, or at the very least, not hate it. Just this past Sunday, for example, I received two new reviews of Rose, each from very different reviewers. For example, The first came from Angela Yuriko Smith, editor of S’pace and Time Magazine, who shared her thoughts on her personal website (which apparently she read the same week she put in a garden. Now that’s synergy!). The other came from Elle Turnpitt of Dead Head Reviews, who found it terrifying and gave the novel as a whole a 4 out of 5.  Nice stuff.

Me at the reading on Sunday. Yes, I am wearing a black cloak. Does that surprise you at all?

Also on Sunday, I had my very first solo author reading* at Brothers Drake Meadery in Columbus. I’ve loved that place since my college years, and I was super excited to have my reading there (plus, the mead!). A small but very enthusiastic crowd showed up for the reading, only three of whom were related to me, and they liked what they heard. After the reading, they asked me a lot of questions (my favorite was if I’m a LARPer–I wish I had the time for that!) and a few people even bought signed copies. It was an amazing experience, one I hope to do again with them someday.

Did I mention the owners of Brothers Drake messaged me on Instagram today to let me know they’re reading it? I’m really excited to hear what they think.

Anyway, if any of this has made you curious about Rose, I’ll leave the links below so you can check it out, read some of the other reviews people have left, and then decide to get a copy. And if you do get one, please let me know what you think. Positive or negative, email or online review, I love feedback and it helps me out in the long run.

The table featuring the copies of “Rose,” which I enjoyed signing books and talking to people at.

Oh, and before I forget, I’ll be at the Bexley Local Author Festival at the Bexley Public Library on Sunday, August 25th, in Bexley, Ohio. I’ll be selling and signing copies of Rose, taking photographs, and probably not sacrificing the lives of the innocent in order to start a terrifying plague. Hope to see you there if you can make it. And if you can’t, I’ll likely be blogging about it, so you can read that. Should be a good time.

Well, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have to torture the souls of famous personages from history who were secretly serial killers (you’ll never guess which American Founding Father is among that group) and then work on a possession story before heading to bed. Until next time, happy reading and pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

*Sort of. I had one in college in my dorm, but given that I bribed or blackmailed most of the five people who showed up and it didn’t really result in any sales of The Quiet Game, I’m not sure it counts anymore.

Some Ideas on Marketing a New Book, Part 1

Posted: August 7, 2019 in Reflections
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Quite recently, Rose received its sixteenth review on Amazon’s US site. This is a big deal for me, because the only other book I’ve published with that many reviews is the first book I ever published, The Quiet Game: Five Tales to Chill Your Bones. Guess how long it took for that one to get that many reviews?

Six years.

Why did it take so long for The Quiet Game to get that many reviews, when Rose was able to do it in less than two months? There are a number of factors at play, in my opinion. My writing has vastly improved since 2013, and my audience across different platforms has grown as well. But the big difference, if I’m being honest, is my marketing plan. Unlike my previous works, I had an actual marketing plan in place when I published Rose. And it seems to have worked pretty well so far.

Given that, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned from having an actual plan in place. And given all the lessons to impart, it’ll probably take a few posts (hence the “Part 1” in the post’s title). Hell, sponsoring a YouTube video will probably take up its own post. But if it helps a promising author with a new book coming out from making the same mistakes as I did, then it’ll be worth it.

So without further ado, let’s go over some essentials for having a marketing plan.

Rose wouldn’t be doing as well as it is without a marketing plan.

First, don’t expect your book to just take off without putting in any work. I know it’s tempting, after all the writing and editing and either finding a publisher to work with or putting in the time, effort and even cash to self-publish, to just sit back and hope that word of mouth will be enough. You may do a couple of blog posts, some boosted Facebook ads, and a friend’s podcast, but in your mind, the reviews and good word of your friends, family and some blog followers will be enough. Eventually, more and more people will discover your story and things will snowball from there and your book is doing a steady business with a few new reviews every month and you suddenly have a little extra spending money.

In my experience, that doesn’t work. I used that approach for the first four of my books, and three of those still have less than ten reviews on Amazon. Books rarely, if ever, snowball like we dream. These days, you need a detailed plan to get people interested in your book, and that requires work. It requires research, identifying places to send your book for reviews or promotion, talking to people and places (e.g. bookstores) that might be interested in what you’re published, maybe even making new business cards or bookmarks. Anything that can get your book noticed and get readers interested.

In other words, expect the work to keep on going long after your book is released to the public. If you want the public to give a damn about your book, that is.

Second, know your niche. Companies like Coca-Cola, no matter how they market, can afford to market it to thousands of random people. They’re Coca-Cola, they can afford it. You, however, can’t afford it. After all, your book is a particular type of story. So what do you do? You figure what audience you’re aiming to get reading your books, and you try to stick to that. Know what language in an ad or in a description would entice for them. What kind of mood are you trying to convey? Are they more likely to be pulled in by mentions of the grotesque and macabre, or by descriptions of beautiful men and women and scenic locales?

This seems like common sense, but you’d be surprised how easy it is to forget. More than once I’ve tried to interest people in my stories who are more fans of Parks & Rec or Ten Things I Hate About You than serial killers or the demonic. Sure, occasionally you find people who step out of their comfort zones and will read your story, but they’re a minority.

So, identify your niche and what’s likely to get them interested. You’ll save yourself a lot of trouble (and a few business cards) if you do.

And third, talk to your network. I’m not saying ask every Facebook friend to read your book. That doesn’t work, believe me. But most likely you know other authors whom you can ask for tips. They probably know quite a bit about finding your audience and getting them interested, or where to send your book for a possible review, or a hundred other ways to market your story.

And even if you don’t know other authors, there’s likely someone in your circle who knows a bit about business or marketing. After Rose was accepted for publication, I actually called up and met with a friend who’s been involved with a number of successful start-ups. He gave me some solid advice for reaching readers which I tried to keep in mind when I started the marketing machine for Rose.

No matter who you work with though, make sure to take down notes so you can refer back to them later. After all, it may take a long time between when you ask and when the book gets out there. Believe me, I know (fifteen months between acceptance and release).

Write advice down, or there’s a chance what you’ll learn will be forgotten later on.

So now this post is getting a bit long, I think I’ll cut it off here. Suffice to say, before you even start the marketing, there’s a lot of things to keep in mind and to work on. However, they’re part of a successful start to getting your book noticed by more people than your mother and a few friends. And once you have those down, you’ll have the start to your marketing plan.

That’s all for Part 1 of this series. Next time I’ll talk about more concrete tactics. In the meantime, you have until October 16th to submit questions to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com for an AMA in honor of this blog’s eighth anniversary. Ask me (almost) anything about writing, horror, Rose, or myself and if I get enough responses, I’ll be happy to answer them in a special blog post.

And if any of this gets you interested in reading Rose, I’ll include the links below. And if you do read the book, let me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love reviews and it helps me in the long run.

Until next time, Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

An Evening of Horror Stories with Rami Ungar at Brothers Drake Meadery

Posted: August 6, 2019 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I’m very excited to announce that I will be doing my very first professional solo author reading on August 18th at Brothers Drake Meadery! And of course, one of the stories I’ll be reading from is Rose.

Now I think I’ve mentioned them on this blog before, but if you’re unfamiliar with Brothers Drake, they’re a local maker and purveyor of mead, or honeywine. I’ve loved their mead since college, and celebrated both finishing up the third draft and the publication of Rose with their product and posting pictures and videos of said celebration on my Instagram.

This has led to the owners of Brothers Drake and I building a relationship, and earlier this week, they agreed to host a reading for me at their bar in the Short North area of Columbus.*

Anyway, I’m so grateful to Brothers Drake for having me. I can’t wait to be there on the 18th and I hope it’s a wonderful experience for all.

And if you happen to be in the Columbus area on the 18th, head on down to the trendy Short North area and arrive at Brothers Drake a little before 5 PM (parking in the Short North area is a cutthroat competition). You can buy some wine unlike anything you’ve likely ever had before, and then sit back as I read from not just Rose, but other stories that are either coming out soon or I hope will come out someday. Afterwards there will likely be a Q&A and then I’ll be selling and signing copies of Rose. And after that…who knows? I’m no fortune teller, despite my many other supernatural talents.

Anyway, if you’d like to RSVP, you can hit up the event page on Facebook by clicking this link. I hope I’ll see you there. It’ll be a spine-chilling good time.

And speaking of Q&A, there’s still time to participate in this blog’s Q&A (or would AMA be more accurate?). In honor of my blog’s eighth anniversary, between now and August 16th, you can send me any questions regarding writing, horror, my stories or myself and, unless I have a good reason not to, I will answer them. Just send your questions to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com and if I get enough questions, you might see yours.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

*This is why you support local businesses, because you can end up building incredible relationships sometimes, and it can lead to extraordinary things happening.

Review: “Kinfolk” by Matt Kurtz

Posted: August 2, 2019 in Novel, Review, Scary Stuff
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I saw this novel featured on Red Lace Reviews and got interested, so I asked my library to order a copy. Lo and behold, they ordered one, and I got through it in about two weeks (it would’ve been sooner, but I had to skip some lunch breaks due to workload or illness). And as often happens when I get my hands on new horror, I have to review it.

Kinfolk follows Ray and Eric, two brothers who have been brought together after years of separation to wrap up some unfinished business. However, while traveling through the backwoods of Texas, they get lost and stranded, and find themselves at the mercy of a twisted, cannibalistic clan who have way more firepower than they do, as well as enough bloodlust to match. In a moment, the brothers’ thoughts of revenge are pushed out by a much greater need to simply survive.

So if “backwoods of Texas” brought to mind images of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, don’t worry, because that’s been a lot of people’s impressions. In fact, it wouldn’t be too far off to call this book an updated TCM without the chainsaws. And given my own dislike of the original TCM (bite me, Tobe Hooper fans, that movie’s shock value has waned after forty-five freaking years!), I’m happy to say that I enjoyed Kinfolk a lot more.

Kinfolk does a very good job of freshening up the “rural, cannibalistic, in-bred family” trope. Rather than portray all of the members of the clan as outright crazy and obviously dangerous, a lot of them on first glance seem normal, which plays into a sense of false safety before we’re given a rude awakening. And the concise language helps evoke the story in your head so you can plainly see (and occasionally feel) the Texas setting, with all its hidden dangers.

The main characters are also fun. Ray and Eric are by no means saints. They won’t win any awards for intelligence, and they don’t come off as even the romantic sort of criminals one might find in a novel like this, but there’s something about them that makes you want to root for them and hope they survive whatever’s about to befall them. Maybe it’s because they’re underdogs, just trying to get by and find some peace in a world that doesn’t always allow for peace or sense for any length of time.

If I had any problems with the novel, I’d say that it did play into a few tropes a bit too much, and that made it at times a little predictable. Especially when you’re like me, and you’re used to trying to guess how things will play out from the writer’s POV.

However, Kinfolk was, on the whole, an enjoyable read that I had trouble putting down. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’ll give the novel a 4. If you want a fast-paced horror story that manages to put a fresh coat of paint on a certain horror story, then fill up the tank and drive right in. You won’t be disappointed.

Rami Ungar the Writer’s Eighth Anniversary!!!

Posted: August 2, 2019 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections
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Happy Birthday to the blog.
Happy Birthday to the blog.
Happy Birthday to Rami Ungar the Writer.
Happy Birthday to the blog.

So as you can probably tell by now, today’s a special day. About eight years ago, in a library near my mother’s house, an eighteen-year-old me eager to build an audience before his first book came out created a WordPress blog on a public computer. Since then, a lot has happened. Hell, in the past year alone, a lot has happened. I got my first car; Rose went through several more drafts; I wrote a bunch of new stories, some of which may see the light of day; Rose got a release date; I went on my first vacation where I drove everywhere and had more independence and freedom to explore than ever before; I did an overnight ghost hunt at the Ohio State Reformatory; Rose got published, and started getting reviews; and so much more. It’s been an interesting time.

Oh, and stuff happened at the office that were cool, but at times also stressful. I won’t go into that stuff.

I’m grateful for this blog. So many people have followed this blog. Many have become regular readers of my work, including my published work, and have even become good friends. I’ve learned from other writers and bloggers, and their stories have inspired me as well. Plus, it’s nice to get my thoughts out to such a great audience sometimes. A lot of you have told me over the years that my reviews have been helpful or spot-on and you trust my opinion. And on the occasion where I need to write an essay on storytelling or the rare rant about problems in the world, you all listen respectfully, and even help add to the conversation.

And when I’ve suffered from anxiety, or when I expressed my fears regarding the rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the US and abroad, you’ve all been there to comfort me. I can’t thank you enough for that. It’s a great kindness, what you’ve done for me.

So what’s up for me and for this blog in the next year? I honestly don’t know. I think the blog will continue to grow and find people who want to have conversations with me about horror and writing. I can promise that since I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year, I’ll be posting about that pretty regularly once we get to November. And I’ll of course let you know what I think about the latest horror releases or if I have any thoughts or good news worth sharing.

As for me, I would like to continue writing and finishing stories. I might even figure out how to finish them in a timely manner without getting distracted or bored. And of course I would like to publish more stories. Hopefully, with Rose out and a couple of short stories coming out soon, that will happen. I want to have more amazing ideas for stories, and I want to see and read amazing stories by other creators. And I’d like to have some amazing experiences in the future, like traveling to a place I’ve never been, or meeting/impressing someone whom I’ve admired for a long time, or doing more ghost hunts.

I don’t know how much of that will happen, but I’ll try to make it happen.

In the meantime, in honor of the eighth anniversary of Rami Ungar the Writer, I thought it would be nice to have a Q&A. From today, August 2nd to Friday, August 16th, you can send any questions you have for me to ramiungar@ramiungarthewriter.com. Depending on how many questions I get, I’ll post them and the answers. Of course, any questions I deem out of bounds won’t be answered, so no asking me what my address is or for dirty stuff. But other stuff–daily life, writing, Rose, horror, etc–are free for the picking.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I look forward to receiving your questions in the near future, and hopefully having enough to post an answer. I’ll write again soon.

Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Review: “NOS4A2” Season One

Posted: July 29, 2019 in Review, Scary Stuff
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I listened to the audio book of NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (aka Stephen King’s son Joe King) about a year or two ago. I liked it: it had several scary moments, awesome characters, and trippy psychic phenomena his dear dad probably approved wholeheartedly (the only real downside was the narrator. Just totally wrong for that book). When I heard a TV adaptation was in the works, I got interested, especially since the book doesn’t exactly lend itself to adaptation. But adapted it was. And whoo-boy, what an adaptation.

NOS4A2 follows Vic McQueen, a teenager whose motorbike allows her to access the Shorter Way Bridge, a supernatural wormhole that helps her find lost things. She later finds out that there’s another like her out there: Charlie Manx, a man who kidnaps children in his Rolls Royce Wraith (the license plate of which is where the title of the show comes from), transforms them into vampiric monsters, and takes them to a place in an alternate dimension called Christmasland, where it’s Christmas Eve every night and Christmas Day every day. In exchange, he gets to stay young. And whether by choice or by fate, Vic must face Manx and stop him, or he’ll keep taking kids forever.

Let me just say, the cast of this show is the best part. Every actor fully becomes their characters, so that it becomes hard to remember anything else you’ve seen them in. The best, of course, are Ashleigh Cummings as the protagonist Vic McQueen and Zachary Quinto as antagonist Manx. Cummings truly makes you believe she’s a teen just trying to get out of town and out of poverty, preferably by going to art school in Providence. And oh my God, whether as his normal self or under a lot of make-up and prosthetics to look a hundred years old, Quinto is creepy as heck. He comes off as charming on the surface but underneath is a psychopath hungry for power and totally convinced of his own line of altruistic bullshit. I swear, if he goes in character at a convention, every parent who’s seen the show is going to scream and grab their child out of instinct before remembering he’s an actor in a role.

Of course, the show itself is nothing to sneeze at. There are several creepy and tense moments, and more than a few scenes where Vic is in danger that kept me on the edge of my seat. Even better, there are no episodes where things slow down and get unnecessarily boring. There was one episode where Vic had to go to a hospital where I thought it would get slow and boring, and she’d spend the whole book sorting her life out before deciding to fight Manx. Without getting into details, my expectations were subverted (and not in a bad way, like what I hear happened to the last season of Game of Thrones).

The only issues I had were that some things the writers included just didn’t feel necessary or make sense to me. In one episode, Vic’s got twelve hours to meet up with Manx, who has kidnapped a kid she knows. What does she do in the meantime? She parties at a rich friend’s house, gets drunk, and talks with a cute boy before getting sick. Whaaat?

And what was with the halfhearted love-triangle? They just kind of didn’t go anywhere with that, so why would they include it?

But on the whole, NOS4A2‘s first season is a strong start for the series, and I can’t wait for the second season. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving this season a 4.4. An amazing cast and great storytelling mixed with taut atmosphere and mystery. Grab your reality-cutting knife, get some hot chocolate and candy canes, and dive into the Highway of the Mind. You won’t be disappointed.

And until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares.

101 Facts About Stephen King: A YouTube Video I Was Lucky Enough To Sponsor

Posted: July 20, 2019 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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It has been difficult beyond belief to keep this under wraps for so long. Hell, I even dreamed about this last night, I was so excited! But today, I can proudly announce that I had the opportunity to sponsor the latest video from YouTube channel 101 Facts, in honor of the release of Rose. 101 Facts puts out a new video each week listing off–you guessed it–101 facts on different subjects, ranging from the latest in movies and TV shows, celebrities, historical events, countries, topics in science and literature, and so much more. And they do it in such a way that’s engaging and hilarious, might I add. At the time I’m writing this, they have over four hundred forty-two thousand subscribers on YouTube, which goes to show how well they’ve been doing with this series.

And I was lucky enough to be able to sponsor their latest video, centered on His Royal Scariness, Stephen King!

Honestly, I’ve been hoping for them to do a video on King since I first became a subscriber to the channel. And when Rose was accepted for publication by Castrum Press and they asked me to start looking into ways to advertise the novel, I knew I should see about sponsoring a YouTube channel, as other brands have done that very successfully. And 101 Facts was at the top of the list of YouTube channels to inquire working with, especially if I could do it on a subject I love.

It took A LOT of emails, but Stephen King was available as a subject, and after a few more questions and emails, we struck a deal. The results were uploaded today, “101 Facts About Stephen King,” which at the time I’m writing this has garnered twenty-three hundred views within a few hours (for context, the video on my YouTube channel with the most views has forty-one hundred views, and that took over a year to achieve). And if you’re interested in watching the video, you can watch it on YouTube (perfect for liking and commenting on the video itself) or by watching the embedded video down below.

I would like to thank the crew over at 101 Facts for agreeing to work with me and make this happen. The final result is freaking amazing, and I love it so much. I’m looking forward to bragging about it on Monday at work. And I hope someday, depending on what I publish in the future and what you guys release in the future, we can do it again. After all, neither of us will ever run out of subjects to write stories or make videos about, will we?

And to the people reading this post, I highly recommend you watch the video if you haven’t already, and maybe consider supporting 101 Facts with a subscription. As this video evidences, they put out great content, and it’s always nice to support creative types by supporting their work.

Speaking of which, if you’d be interested in checking out my novel Rose, I’ll include the links below. Rose is a fantasy-horror novel follows a young woman who starts turning into a plant creature (and that’s just the start of her problems). In the past month since it’s release, it’s gotten a lot of positive feedback, and I’m eager to introduce it to more and more people. And if you do end up reading it, I hope you’ll be kind enough to leave me a review letting me know what you think. Positive or negative, I love feedback, and it helps me out in the long run.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll probably have one or two more posts out very soon, so keep an eye out for those. In the meantime, I’m off to take care of some things that need doing before the end of the weekend, including something that terrifies even me: cleaning my apartment!

Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Rose: Amazon US, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada

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