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Dahlia DeWinters - Author

Quirky Heroines, Happy Endings

Horror Movie Review – Grave Encounters (2011)

Title:  Grave Encounters
Genre:  Horror, Found Footage
Director:  The Vicious Brothers
Writers:  The Vicious Brothers

NO SPOILERS

Plot Summary: (from imdb) For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that’s supposedly haunted – and it might prove to be all too true.

How do much do I love watching “found footage” horror movies? I don’t know why…it’s a strange addiction indeed. Something about the first person perspective, the shaky cam and the odd angles appeal to me.

As a huge fan of those ghost hunter shows – I’m looking at you Ghost Adventures and Ghost Brothers – I was especially eager to see this film. Cynical “ghost hunters” who will pay people to say they’ve seen a ghost? Check. “Haunted” insane asylum? Check. Found footage? Whooo, baby! We got ourselves a movie!

Do not come to this movie expecting high art, a never-before seen twist or some other movie technique that will blow you out of the water. This movie is a horror movie, designed to scare you. It’s like those live haunted house experiences. You know something is going to jump out at you, it’s just a matter of when and how gross it’s going to look.

The plot is basic. Ghost hunters lock themselves in overnight to experience all that a haunted asylum has to offer. And boy, do they so get what they think they’re looking for. The movie begins with a producer explaining the found footage and how it mysteriously appeared, blah blah. You know the whole set up….now let’s get to the haunting!!

Don’t expect much from film angles and the like. This is found footage and surveillance camera footage. Most of it is in glowy black and white and shaky cam. However, when I compare it to other found footage movies, it’s pretty good! The jump scares aren’t over-done and there’s some serious creepy stuff going on.

For a good fright, watch this with the lights off and with no distractions. Being a scaredy-cat, I had to watch it in the morning, but I was still scared.

Don’t think too much about the how and why of the movie. Just let go and enjoy the ride!

I am not posting the trailer as I usually do, because it gives far too much of the movie away. Just watch it!


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Horror Movie Reviews, Movies--Books--Music--Television Tagged: black girl nerds, blerd, blogtoberfest, dahlia dewinters, found footage, ghost adventures, ghost hunting, grave encounters, haunted asylum, horror movie review, horror movies, movie review, scary movies

Blogtoberfest – Zombies!

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

October is the month of being scary, right? But I’m a romance author, so I found a way to combine the two. Loving Among the Dead is the answer that I found. A mix of erotic romance and scary zombie adventure, it’s sure to get your blood racing in one way or the other. Here’s a blurb.

A survivor of a zombie apocalypse that’s ripped her world apart….

Nothing in her graduate history courses prepared Judith Graham for the monotony of her existence in the weeks following a zombie apocalypse. Hiding from the rotted world in her makeshift fortress, she subsists on dehydrated food and lonely thought.

When she gives up and decides to satisfy her need for a break in routine, she crosses paths with Sky Beckett, a high school physics teacher making his way to his Southern childhood home. Several passionate encounters coupled with Sky’s assertion that things are only going to get worse not better, spark Judith’s doubts about the isolated life she’s chosen.

But can an ever-cautious Judith find the strength to leave the false security of her past behind to create a new future with Sky in an uncertain world?

Click the book cover below to purchase:
Please note, this is an erotic romance with a heat level of 4.

Here’s an excerpt:

Judith Graham buried her parents on a Sunday. After a brief prayer, she placed her mother’s favorite plant at the head of her grave, and her father’s pipe—still full of tobacco ashes—at the head of his.

She brushed the dirt from her jeans, tucked the work gloves in her back pocket, and sat on the back deck sipping from a can of warm soda, watching the sun set. There were no tears. Her mother’s pistol was at her side, the gunmetal gleaming in the fading orange light.

Would it have made a difference if she had gotten home sooner?

The letter, written on her mother’s heavy monogrammed stationery, had been propped on the mantel, addressed to “Judith” in even, no-nonsense script. A marked contrast to the pale lavender paper, the black words indicated her father brought home the infection. She shot him in the back of his head when he started making gurgling, groaning sounds at the static on the television. Then she dug their graves, dragged him into his, and shot herself.

Stay hidden. Don’t trust anyone. Her mother’s final words to her. Jude was alone.

Her brother was south, somewhere, Alabama, the last she’d heard. Marcus did what he wanted, when he wanted. She was the good daughter who minded what her parents told her.

It wasn’t so bad at first. Between the initial shock of her parents’ deaths, and making defensive alterations to the house, there was no time or energy to think or feel much of anything.

Once the house was safe, the dehydrated food, water bottles, and toiletries arranged in the first floor den, the camp shower with its battery pump working and the lanterns loaded, there was lots of time to be lonely. Rereading favorite novels, patrolling the inside of the house, and searching for elusive ham broadcasts on the shortwave radio only filled up so much time.

She stopped looking at family photos because they made her cry, leaving her exhausted and listless, lying on the bed or the sofa or the floor for hours until the urge to pee roused her enough to move.

Her neighborhood was deserted. No walking dead bodies roamed the streets. Either her neighbors had gotten out or had been zombified in the confines of their homes, unable to juice up the physical memory necessary to open a door and escape. For that she was grateful. She’d had to smash too many zombie heads on her way back home from Philadelphia for her to revisit it with people she once knew.


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Movies--Books--Music--Television, Uncategorized Tagged: blogtoberfest, erotic romance, horror, loving among the dead, romance, the walking dead, zombies

3 Vacation Horror Movies

Vacation! Hurray, right? Who doesn’t love going on vacation? it’s a time to relax, have a good time, and drink fruity drinks on the beach or beside the pool. Traveling to a different country, a different atmosphere, it’s enough to give anyone peace of mind, right?

But….things can go horribly wrong, even on a wonderful vacation. You only have to check out these films to see what could possibly happen.

Aftershock:

A film starring Eli Roth, the mastermind behind the wonderfully gross Cabin Fever. Here, he and his friends take a vacation to Chile, where of course they want to party and drink. All the fun goes to hell, however, when there’s an earthquake and the physical infrastructure of the city falls apart around them.

Not a great movie, but it’s a different enough disaster film to keep you interested. I was brought up on disaster movies like Earthquake, The Towering Inferno, and the (original) Poseidon Adventure that I was able to enjoy this effort with “the young folks”. Get some popcorn and have some fun.

Turistas:

I’ve seen this film titled also as Turistas: Go Home, so don’t be put off if you see either title. Again, a group of young people go on vacation to Brazil on what was supposed be a fun vacation. Instead a bus accident maroons them somewhere and well, bad things happen. Again, the premise is interesting, the setting of the jungles of Brazil is lush and beautiful, and of course some of those friends on vacation don’t make it out alive.

Fun fact: The director of this movie, John Stockwell, played the “best friend” in the movie “Christine” based on a Stephen King novel.

The Ruins:

Ah, The Ruins. One of the creepiest, crawliest movies I’ve ever seen. I might be extra squeamish, but I really can’t watch every scene of the film: some of the sequences are too much for me. Take from that what you will. However, this film, which is based on a book by Scott Smith (who also wrote the book A Simple Plan), centers around, you guessed it, a group of friends on vacation. They leave a perfectly good resort to go into some jungle to see some Mayan ruins. And, well, they got ruined.


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Uncategorized Tagged: blogtoberfest, dahlia dewinters, film review, horror, horror movie review, vacation horror movies

Three Scary Stories to Read Online

There is a lot of horror out there, to be sure. Movies, short films, novels, two-sentence horror stories, flash fiction, etc. I’ve realized that my favorite medium of horror on the printed pages is the short story. I absolutely loved Stephen King’s Nightshift anthology, and I am always on the lookout for those older, “classic” stories that were innovative for their time.

Thus, I have three scary stories for you that you can read online at your leisure. Shall we begin?

‘At the Mountains of Madness’ – H.P. Lovecraft – 1931

If you’re a fan of science fiction horror in the vein of The Thing from Another World, the Alien series and the Blog, etc, you will like where this story is coming from .

Briefly put, it’s the story of a group of explorers in the Antarctic, who discover the remains of a civilization that came from space, plus alien bodies. Now that you know what direction the story is going, go read it now. You won’t be sorry.

‘They Bite’ – Anthony Boucher – 1943

So you like weird westerns? Odd events in the wide expanse of the desert, where there is nothing but cacti and the sounds of your screams for miles? Then “They Bite” is for you. I first read this story in an Alfred Hitchcock magazine as a teenager. I will say, this story has stuck with me through the years, and even as I read it again, it’s still scary.

Such a simple premise: how greed and killing can lead to a very odd end.

Check it out here.

‘Patient Zero’ – Tananarive Due

I absolutely love stories like these. The premise is a little boy who is in the hospital. He’s also in isolation and those that deal with him have to wear what he calls “hot suits”. To say anymore would give the story away, so check it out here.

So there you are, three stories you can read online right now that are perfect for the spooky month of Halloween or anytime.

Enjoy!

Dahlia


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Uncategorized Tagged: blogtoberfest, halloween, scary books, scary stories, short stories, stories that scare

Decorate for Halloween – Family Friendly Inflatables

Yes. It’s barely fall. It’s 75 degrees outside. I realize all that. But also realize, even as we still sip iced lemonade and eat salad for a dinner, the cool season of Halloween is right around the corner. Don’t get caught out. Even with one or two day shipping, some places might just run out of inventory by the time you’re wearing that awesome orange scarf and sipping mulled apple cider.

What I’m trying to say is the time to prepare is now!

What I like about inflatables is that they not only make a great impact on a lawn, but they are also easy to store for the next years. Deflate, pop it into a bin, and you’re done. I also like the ease of setup. Two or three inflatable can make your house look Halloween with a minimum of effort. They also range in scare factor; you can have a cute Halloween setup, or you can go full out scary.

Let’s take a look of some of my favorite Halloween decorations: inflatable edition.

Haunted Tree

I am partial to owls, and this is cute little decoration. Scary on a cartoon level, but nothing that may deter a little one from approaching your house. If you like kid friendly decorations, this is definitely one to start with.

Stack of Pumpkins with Cute Ghost

How cute is this? I have a picture of my daughter when she was only about six or seven at a Halloween party with this particular inflatable, so I suppose I’m partial to it. Click the picture to purchase!

Inflatable Spooky Cat

How cute is this? This will certainly be a great centerpiece for your front lawn Halloween decorations. Again, not too scary, so it’s family friendly. Click below to purchase.


Filed Under: Blogtoberfest, Uncategorized Tagged: blogtoberfest, halloween, Halloween fun, halloween party, inflatables, scary fun

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