Dark Horror Tales

  Plot Summary: Cristina is a journalist who visits a forbidden place in the jungle. She is then captured by locals who claim she is now possessed by a demon.  Tradition demands that you adhere to a set of rules that is passed on from generations and will keep on being distributed to the descendants. There's much to like about how things were done in the olden days. Things were simple, methods that were thought to be painstakingly slow brought better results. There's much to appreciate about progress and modern society, especially how everything is about convenience. But what we think is convenient is what sometimes makes us lazy.

  This week’s Horror Book of the Week is Hidden Pictures: A Novel.  The book is written by Jason Rekulak and the book has already garnered praise from Stephen King and Joe Hill. 

  SHINING VALE has been renewed for another season! This comes as no surprise because Shining Vale boasts of an impressive star cast and has a delightfully funny and spooky story.

  PLOT SUMMARY: Chris is nervous about meeting his girlfriend's parents at their vacation home. When he reaches there, he realizes that things are just not what they seem to be.  We live in a world that thrives on progress. With progress comes change and these changes mostly better our lives to a large extent. The most important reform was the tolerance level where races were concerned. It became important to accept people from all cultural backgrounds. Of course, not everybody welcomed this change and there are still people out there with prejudices.

Plot Summary: Madison thinks the murders she sees are nothing but dreams. But soon she realizes the murders are real and is shocked to discover she's connected to them.    When you think of the word malignant,  the first thing that comes to mind is something that is harmful and dangerous. So when the movie trailer came out, there was this curiosity as to what exactly is the threat in the movie? What exactly is Madison scared of? Malignant is one of a kind horror movie that has the potential to be a cult horror movie. The third act of the movie is what will cement its place as the most craziest, effective, and mind-twisting movie ever made.

  This week’s Horror Book of the Week is BOOK OF NIGHT By Holly Black.  Published on May 3, the books has already climbed the bestsellers list and is number one in Occult Horror and is listed in the top ten for Occult Fiction and Ghost Thrillers. 

  Netflix is bringing back the horror/sci-fi anthology series BLACK MIRROR for Season 6. The critically acclaimed show is known for its unique blend of storytelling and social commentary, and casting well-known actors.  Season 5 was thought to be the last season for this show as it ended in June 2019. Since there was no news regarding the show's renewal or continuance, the show was thought to have ended. 

  PLOT SUMMARY: A book dealer is hired to track down two rare books that are thought to be supernatural in nature. Netflix recently added the movie The Ninth Gate and naturally, the summary had me intrigued. However, the running time of more than two hours did make me hesitate. A thriller should ideally be taut, the story must not meander and based on other successful thrillers, not be more than two hours. Still, one could be surprised and a movie could be an edge-of-the-seat thriller regardless of the running time.

  PLOT SUMMARY: When Norman takes in a girl called Phoenix and she gets kidnapped, he realizes that his past has finally caught up to him.  For a movie that warns you not to breathe, there sure is a lot of encouragement given to breathing. Take for instance the scene where a man's nose and mouth is glued shut. His friend uses a tool to create a hole in his face to make his breathing easier. Later, the man slices his mouth to make breathing easier. Then there's a scene where a girl is trapped in a bunker full of water and almost drowns. Her saviour performs CPR on her, saving her. And what does he say while doing it? "Breathe. Breathe."

  T.C. Weber’s newest release, a Dystopian Horror The Survivors , is this week’s Horror Book of the Week. The book was published on May 4th 2022 by Solstice Publishing. The book is already climbing the Bestsellers list. 

  The Nun 2 is happening! It’s no surprise that there is a sequel and after THE NUN came out in 2018 and proved to be a hit, there were talks about a second part.  But when COVID hit and so many projects were shelved, and shootings were halted, there was speculation that The Nun 2 might either be further delayed or not happen at all. 

Excerpt from Chapter Six   The Legend of Amara Book I It took a little more than a week before school reopened. The incident sparked an outcry by parents who asked if their children were truly safe. The mayor, Mr Adesh Sarbhan, a forty-five-year-old man, replied that the investigation had yielded only one result: Ruchi had been attacked by an animal. She had gone into the woods and been attacked by a wild animal and had barely managed to run away from it. HarborOne High School was the closest to the woods so her first instinct was to go there. The citizens weren’t fully convinced because it wasn’t revealed what kind of animal had mauled Ruchi to death. There never had been any sightings near the woods, and some of the citizens swore they had never seen a bird enter the woods. A few kids claimed that they had seen ants turn away from the woods because they were afraid of what was in there.

  PLOT SUMMARY: A family moves into a new house that seems haunted only to Pat. The ghost wants to help Pat finish her book. Then her true intentions are revealed. A fresh start, a new home, isn’t that all we desire sometimes? To get a break? To leave behind a painful past and mistakes made? A new city and a new house certainly helps, unless you find out that the house is haunted. Now, what are the chances that the ghost will be helpful? Pretty slim, right? In Shining Vale, the ghost does turn out to be helpful, for a while at least. Or that is what she wants the protagonist Patricia to believe, anyway.

PLOT SUMMARY: When Carly is presented with an opportunity to contact her comatose mother, she finds herself in a terrifying situation and learns that her mother is actually possessed.    Remember when the Sims games came out? How much fun was it creating characters and dressing them, and giving them careers? And then we had to design homes and furnish them...and then give them social lives. Basically, make them do all the things we won't necessarily do in real life. These games were used for entertainment purposes. Who knew simulation games could also be used to tap into memories of coma patients and help with exorcisms? Demonic has an interesting premise but the weak execution takes out all the fun and robs it of its potential to be a solid horror movie. 

  Camilla Sten’s gripping psychological thriller is this week’s Horror Book of the Week! THE RESTING PLACE is on the bestseller’s list and has garnered rave reviews for its storyline. 

  Bollywood will soon come up with even more Horror and thriller movies. Balaji Motion Pictures, Dark Hell and Steven Schneider have come together and signed a multi-film production deal. 

  PLOT SUMMARY: A writer is sent to a remote village for inspiration and finds inspiration from a local legend only to realize that the danger may be all too real.  You know you're watching a terrible film when the background score is playing louder than the dialogues. Also, if the first scene has bad lighting, and the night scene looks like it's shot in an aquarium, then you know better than to continue watching. Seriously, all I could think of was why everything was so blue.

  PLOT SUMMARY: When Chloe is gifted a teddy bear by her friend, she soon finds out that all her wishes are starting to come true and the people close to her go missing.  Bears have got to be the most popular animals in stuffed toys. At some point, we all had teddy bears, whether we were gifted them by our parents or someone else. Teddies are one of the popular gifts to give anyone at any age. Who doesn't like Teddies? The movie Bearry will make you question, however: Do Teddies like you?

  Horror Suspense fiction THE GROOMER has found its way into our Horror Book of the Week list. Written by Jon Athan, the book is on the bestsellers list for Horror Suspense and Horror Fiction.