Film Review: The Craft – Legacy

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Growing up a teen in the very late 90’s, The Craft soon came my go-to movie about female empowerment and awesome style, and obviously, just like everyone else, I loved Fairuza Balk’s character Nancy Downs. Having said, it’s obvious that any sequel wouldn’t have done the original justice without the other witches from the first film, especially since Fairuza Balk’s reprisal of Nancy Downs only lasts a mere handful of seconds at the very end of the movie.

I like the protagonist Lily, but I’m not so enamoured by the rest of the coven who come across as watered-down Sabrina-esque witches than holding the true trauma, hardships, and pathos the witches Nancy, Bonnie, Sarah, and Rochelle from the first film. The biggest mistake is that we never got a chance to know much about the new coven or if they were facing any hardships or why they were outcasts. There was just no heart and honestly, that made caring about them less likely.

I was surprised to see that a women had directed the movie seeing that since Carrie came onscreen, many have used menstruation as a form of shame for teenage girls, and quite honestly I AM OVER IT. The first day of school has Lily unexpectedly bleed through her jeans (although honestly any woman with a vagina can assure you that Lily would’ve been the first to notice something was amiss before the students chuckled their mockery had her mishap). We need to stop correlating menstruation with shame, and it needs to stop being depicted as a source of bullying. For a movie that shoved woke soundbites every three seconds, you would’ve thought the director wouldn’t have gone into this tropey territory.

Whoever wrote the script must’ve seen Magnolia on repeat and then decide it’d be a good idea to reprise Tom Cruise’s character as a motivational speaker in the form of David Duchovny, and although I am a fan of Duchovny, his character raised more questions that left us wondering, how does he know about Manon, and did he steal Nancy’s powers from her? And since he seemed to target Lily specifically for her power, did he know who she was prior to him hooking up with her adopted mother? The movie didn’t explain any of this.

Instead, what we got was a witch movie that seemed less like The Craft and more like an episode of Charmed, injected with lots of 90’s trends mixed with Euphoria makeup moments. Honestly, the only good thing about the movie was them casting a trans actress to actually portray a trans girl. As a homage or sequel, the movie bombed, and as a standalone witch movie, the film barely delved into the rich history of paganism, witchcraft, or Wicca.

The Craft truly explored the perils of power and greed. Not to mention, accurately depicting the pain of being a real outcast and how deeply traumatizing it is to be betrayed by your close friends. The Craft: Legacy aspired to be so many things, but ultimately fell flat on its face. To put it simple, it was a mediocre film.

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Book Review: Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica

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Working at the local processing plant, Marcos is in the business of slaughtering humans—though no one calls them that anymore.

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Release Date: August 4, 2020

Publisher: Scribner

Price: $14.40 (paperback)

Plot Summary:

His wife has left him, his father is sinking into dementia, and Marcos tries not to think too hard about how he makes a living. After all, it happened so quickly. First, it was reported that an infectious virus has made all animal meat poisonous to humans. Then governments initiated the “Transition.” Now, eating human meat—“special meat”—is legal. Marcos tries to stick to numbers, consignments, processing.

Then one day he’s given a gift: a live specimen of the finest quality. Though he’s aware that any form of personal contact is forbidden on pain of death, little by little he starts to treat her like a human being. And soon, he becomes tortured by what has been lost—and what might still be saved.

Grade: A-

Review:

This book had Under the Skin vibes, and that was exactly why I chose to read it. If you can’t handle brutal acts of violence, then this book won’t be for you. But if you love dystopian societies then you may want to check this one out. We’re introduced to Marcos, who’s in the business of slaughtering humans ever since a virus has contaminated all the animals and can no longer provide humans the protein they once did. In fact, in this new world, all animals have been destroyed, and the world is silent. Marcos is still reeling from his son’s death, and only continues to work at the slaughterhouse because it’s what he’s best at, and needs the money to keep his dad who’s afflicted with dementia in a retirement home. But, he’s never consumed the new “special meat” himself. In fact, when he’s gifted a female head (as humans that are raised to be livestock are called), he begins to see her humanity.

This book can be triggering for some people (especially if you hate violence directed towards animals and can’t stomach descriptions of people eating humans). I enjoyed the book (although enjoyed probably isn’t the right term cause that’s going to make me sound like a sociopath), but I did like that the author pushed boundaries and made you question what exactly makes us decide that certain animals are deemed worthy of consuming and which ones are considered worth saving.

This is a brutal book, read it if you can deal with violence and triggering events, or you enjoyed Under the Skin.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Scribner for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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Happy New Year & 2021 Goals

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Although 2020 will definitely go under as one of the toughest years all of us had to live through in our lifetimes (and that’s saying a lot living in a post 9/11 world and economic meltdown of 2008 in which most of us are still trying to recover from). But for some creatives this year of solitude has somehow ignited a fire. And although I haven’t been in lockdown due to my job’s office being open throughout the whole pandemic, I suppose the possible threat to my own mortality and desire to hide away in a daydreams is what has turned out to be one of the most prolific years for me in terms of my writing.

What I accomplished in 2020

*Released Strange Girls: Women in Horror in February

*Some Kind of Monster will be published in Unburied 2021

*Baby Teeth was published in Midnight in the Pentagram for Silver Shamrock Publishing

*One for the Money, Two for the Show appeared in the Crystal Lake Publishing contest Summer 2020

*Boys of Summer will be published in 2021

*Fragile Fruit was published in Running Wild Stories in June 2020, and was also nominated for a Pushcart Award Prize 2020

*Lost Girls Go Everywhere: Poetry & Prose was released in October 2020

*Silent Ivy Hotel made the final Top Ten cut for a short story contest (still waiting for final results)

*I wrote over 15 new short stories

*I began writing a screenplay Terror! about the French Revolution

2021 Goals

*Complete my screenplay Terror!

*Complete my horror novella I Want Candy

*Finish editing Girl that You Fear for the nth time

*Read at least 50 books (I read only 46 this yr)

*Release Tainted Love: Women in Horror Anthology on February 16, 2021

*Be more active on Instagram (create more content)

*Maybe put together a collection of my short stories

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

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Top Ten Books I Read in 2020

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I should begin this by stating that this isn’t a list of books that were released in 2020, but books that I read in 2020 and enjoyed, which goes to say that some may have been released before this year, during this year, and some will be released next year. Having stated that, WHEW! I’ve survived 2020, thankfully, still healthy and somewhat mentally intact, although I must admit that finding solace in books and my writing has been a saving grace for me. This book list are the Top Ten Books I loved reading this year, and as you can tell the titles span across genres. Many of these titles I reviewed so this post will be filled with lots of links if you’re interested in learning more about them!

ONE. THE LIVING DEAD BY GEORGE A. ROMERO & DANIEL KRAUS

This was my absolute favourite book of the year! And not because it was about zombies or had horrific gore (it had both) but mostly because of the humanity and characters I found in this novel that I haven’t found in other books before. I loved everything about this book, and am saddened that George A. Romero passed away before he could see it in print.

TWO. TIGERS NOT DAUGHTERS BY SAMANTHA MABRY

I love, love, loved the Torres sisters! The book had the vibes of The Virgin Suicides but with a ghostly slant to it. I can’t recommend this book enough. I was lucky enough that I not only read an early ARC of this book, but the publishers then sent me a hardcover copy.

THREE. OPEN BOOK BY JESSICA SIMPSON

I’m not a fan of Jessica’s music, nor was I a fan of her reality show on MTV, The Newly Weds, however, I do enjoy Jessica as a clothes designer, and now after reading the book, even as a person. If you’re going to read a celebrity biography, I totally recommend this one, especially if you were a teen in the late 90’s since she talks about all the celebrities that were en vogue back then. Spoiler alert: John Mayer has always been a jerk.

FOUR. THE VINYL UNDERGROUND BY ROB RUFUS

This is another book that had a TON of soul. The setting is during the Vietnam War and now, in modern times we know how futile that war is so the fact that our protagonist has already lost a brother to the war and he himself may be drafted too, makes the reader feel this sense of unease throughout the whole novel. I loved the friendships in this book, they were credible and filled with so much heart.

FIVE. SURVIVOR SONG BY PAUL TREMBLAY

In a year where we’re still battling with a pandemic, Temblay’s novel about a virus may not seem like the best book to read in 2020. However, what’s amusing is seeing that the way he thought some humans and politicians would react to a pandemic, were a little too spot on at times.

SIX. THE BLACK KIDS BY CHRISTINA HAMMONDS REED

The year is early 90’s during the Rodney King riots. In 2020, it would’ve thought that such things would’ve been past us, however, after George Floyd’s death sparked worldwide protests and invigorated the Black Lives Matter movement, you soon feel like some things haven’t quite become past yet, and are still our present and must be dealt with.

SEVEN. THE PROJECT BY COURTNEY SUMMERS

A survivor of trauma collides paths with an enigmatic and charismatic cult leader, and soon neither of their lives will ever be the same again. This book will tear you apart.

EIGHT. INTO THE FOREST AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH BY CYNTHIA PELAYO

If you’re a fan of true crime, then you might want to pick up this poetry collection where each poem is dedicated to a girl that has gone missing. Some of these girls have been missing for more than forty years while others have recently gone missing. Reader take caution, this book will gut you open.

NINE. DARLING ROSE GOLD BY STEPHANIE WROBEL

If you loved The Act, that chronicled the life of Gypsy Rose, then you’re going to love this novel. A mother and daughter with a conflicted relationship, mirrors the one depicted in The Act, only on steroids. It’s a fun ride.

TEN. UNBOXED BY BRIANA MORGAN

A v-logger gets tempted by the dark web, only to find out that the mystery box he has ordered will bring about sinister things. A fast-paced fun read!

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Farewell, Daria

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On November 26, 2020, acclaimed horror actress, Daria Nicolodi passed away. I wanted to write a tribute to her, and originally, this tribute shouldn’t have come after her death. A couple of months ago, after exchanging a few tweets with Daria, she started following me on Twitter. I was planning on writing a feature about her for The Inkblotters to appear during February 2021 for Women in Horror Month which would’ve included an interview with the beautiful and enigmatic actress. However, in November she passed away and not only did we lose an amazing actress and voice for the horror genre, but I felt like I also lost an almost friend.

Daria was an avid reader and trailblazing feminist and I found myself talking to her about books on many occasions. She was also very intelligent and a creative in her own right, despite the fact that many have always sidelined her as Dario Argento’s sidekick. What some people may not know is that it wasn’t Argento who came up with the plot for the internationally successful cult film Suspiria, but Daria herself. She helped Argento pen the script for the film after she told him that her grandmother had been sent to a very prestigious boarding school, only to find out that Black Magic was practiced there, and thus the students were then sent back home. Inspired by both by the anecdote and their extensive travels throughout Europe, the duo decided to write a script together. In fact, Suspiria initially, was written to feature young girls, and not teenagers. But the fact that producers didn’t want to invest in a movie about little girls getting killed, the couple decided to make them older. But both Daria and Argento never revised the script’s dialogue, which is why sometimes the characters in the movie sound too childish for their ages. Suspiria is often dubbed to be Argento’s masterpiece, and he’s often praised for it, but few know or praise the real mastermind behind the film’s plot and that’s a tragedy.

Not only did Daria have starring roles in many of Dario Argento’s best films, she also helped change the face of horror forever. She was the one to suggest to Argento to use the band Goblin to score Profondo Rosso, which would later thrive in the scores for Suspiria, Dawn of the Dead, and Beyond the Darkness among others.

Italian horror isn’t known to be kind to its female characters, but Daria revolutionized the way we’d ever see females in horror ever again. She had a disarming charm, sex appeal, and intelligence to her that she quickly captivated audiences. It’s easy to think about the males of horror when we think about the masters of horror, but to deny Daria Nicolodi’s contributions to horror is to deny a whole revolution. She innovated the horror genre in ways others that have come after her haven’t been able to do.

Getting to know her on a personal level this past year was both illuminating and gratifying. This is why her death hit me hard and why I found it difficult to find the words to write about her. These words aren’t perfect, far from it, but I’m hoping that it will inspire you to want to watch her films because she’s got the presence of a true star. From her big sultry eyes to her beautiful smile, anytime Daria’s onscreen you know that you won’t be able to look beyond her because she is the focal point, no matter what horrors are happening.

Farewell, Daria, maybe in another lifetime our friendship will have the time to blossom, but I’m grateful for the seedling that I received because to know you was to know a true star. You are missed.

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Poetry: Unwanted Memories

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Photo by Fillipe Gomes on Pexels.com

I removed your mark from my skin,

They gave me pills to forget.

I begged the stars to stop

spelling your name

But they’re cruel,

So I blinded myself instead.

There’s peace in darkness.

**

Did you enjoy this poem? You can find this poem and many others in Lost Girls Go Everywhere: Poetry & Prose on Amazon!

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Book Review: We Are Wolves – A Horror Anthology

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Once upon a time, there was a woman, and she was tired.

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Release Date: December 4, 2020

Publisher: Burial Day Books

Price: $13.99 (paperback)

Plot Summary:

Tired of pushing. Tired of being pushed. Tired of feeling alone. Tired of so much.

So she gathered together a pack of wolves, a band of mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, partners, friends, lovers, survivors, victors and brilliant, shining things, and she told them to sing.

And sing they did.

Grade: A-

Review:

From the very beginning this anthology packs a punch. Gemma Amor’s introduction is both brutally honest and harrowing but gives the reader insight into what they’re going to expect from the stories found within this anthology. Many new talents from the horror community are found within its pages, and if you follow the new voices, you’ll be pleased by what they have to offer. The stories range from murder, revenge, sci-fi, and body horror, but what they all have in common is the will of the protagonists to rise above their adversaries and take hold of their narrative. I really enjoyed this collection and the proceeds of the sales go to charities involving survivors of sexual assault and abuse, so essentially it’s a win-win situation.

Standouts: The Black Wall Paper by Cynthia Pelayo, Though Your Heart is Breaking by Laurel Hightower, Angel by Gemma Amor, A Key For Any Lock by S.H. Cooper, and Doll House by Red Lagoe.

I recommend picking this book up if you’re a fan of horror and women-driven stories, you won’t be disappointed.

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Review: Glam Glow Bright Eyes

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What It Is: Hydrating Eye Cream

What It Does: Brightens dark circles, hydrates, lessens the appearance of fine lines.

Active Ingredients: Illuminating Spheres, Caffeine, and Hyaluronic Acid

Verdict: I love skincare, and eye creams are one of my favourite skincare products there are. I have hereditary undereye dark circles so no amount of sleep really does the trick to eliminate them (and why I’ve been wearing concealer since the age of 12!). I use this eye cream in the morning and I love that it’s very rich and moisturizing. Has it helped with the dark circles? Well, since I apply this before I put on concealer, I don’t know about immediate effects, and like I mentioned, I have hereditary undereye dark circles, so there’s not going anywhere, but at least they don’t look as dark as they used to. Should you try this product? Absolutely! It’s very rich and hydrating feels amazing. And for those of you that don’t have hereditary undereye dark circles, you can probably notice brighter eyes faster than me.

Price: $39

Where To Buy It: https://www.glamglow.com

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Book Review: The Project by Courtney Summers

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Welcome to The Unity Project.

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Release Date: February 2, 2021

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Price: $18.99 (hardcover)

Plot Summary:

“The Unity Project saved my life.”

Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo’s sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there’s more to the group than meets the eye. She’s spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it.

“The Unity Project murdered my son.”

When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its charismatic and mysterious leader, Lev Warren, he proposes a deal: if she can prove the worst of her suspicions about The Unity Project, she may expose them. If she can’t, she must finally leave them alone. But as Lo delves deeper into The Project, the lives of its members, and spends more time with Lev, it upends everything she thought she knew about her sister, herself, cults, and the world around her—to the point she can no longer tell what’s real or true. Lo never thought she could afford to believe in Lev Warren . . . but now she doesn’t know if she can afford not to.

Grade: A

Review:

The new publishing trend for 2021 must be cults, as a lot of novels with this theme are going to be released next year. But no one will deliver you a more chilling experience than Courtney Summers. This author is notorious for never having a happy ending and pulling all the punches. When you read a Courtney Summers novel you know you’re going into it with the notion that you will be emotionally wrecked once you get to the end. The Unity Project is much on par on delivering exactly that.

Lo has lost her sister, Bea, to the cult of The Unity Project headed by a very charismatic Lev Warren. Lo lost her parents due to a car accident, in which she was also a passenger in. Bea is convinced that Lev brought Lo back to life, and this begins her fascination and loyalty to the man and his visions. Lo, blames Lev for taking her sister away from her when she needed her most, and is hellbent on exposing The Unity Project for what they really are. But what if Lo is wrong?

This novel will have you question whether Lev is really the evil mastermind that Lo is convinced he is, mostly because from the moment we meet him, he’s described with very Jesus-like qualities of acceptance and compassion. But this being a Courtney Summers novel, we know that the horror will come, and when it will, it’ll be brutal. Without being spoiler-y, this novel is an emotional rollercoaster where you begin to question who to trust. If you’re going to read one book about cults, make it this one, as it had everything I’ve wanted and expected from a book about cults, a charismatic leader and some very disturbing scenes, but also perfectly depicting how anyone, even intelligent people can get sucked into cults.

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for Young Readers for the digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

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Review: Glossier – Balm Dotcom

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What It Is: Lipbalm

What It Does: Moisturizes and conditions lips.

Active Ingredients: Castor Oil, Beeswax, and Lanolin

Verdict: I’m a lipbalm addict and that means that nothing excites me more than to try out new lipbalms. What it also means is that I’m very picky when it comes to lipbalms. From previous blog posts you’ll notice that I’ve tried out other products from Glossier and for the most part have enjoyed them very much. This is probably why it’s taken me awhile before I decided to try their lipbalms, because I was certain that I was going to love it and feared that it’d be yet another product of theirs that I wouldn’t be able to live without. But Black Friday sales meant that I was tempted to give this product a spin, and I do love the way this balm feels on my lips. It’s like being hugged by an ultra soft pillow. If you’re incredibly pale-lipped as myself, then the cherry version that I selected will offer you a hint of colour. The balm is rich and leaves lips feeling very, very soft. It also doesn’t dry up right away (meaning it’ll feel soft on your lips for a few hours so you don’t have to constantly reapply). Right now with So-Cal Saint Ana winds making the weather be extra dry, this lipbalm has been a restorative godsend. If you live in cold climates you might want to make this your staple lipbalm, at least during the winter months. The only downfall of this incredibly amazing lipbalm is its retail price. But hey, no one is perfect.

Price: $12

Where To Buy It: https://www.glossier.com/

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