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Movies, Movies and… More Movies.

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My reading has kind of stalled over the last few days; there’s a few reasons for it but honestly, nothing that you’d be interested in hearing about. I’m just going to dust myself down and take another shot at it this week instead; that’s all you can do sometimes ;o) As is often the case here; when I’m not finishing books, I tend to watch more movies instead. That’s what happened over the last week and it ended up being a bit of a mixed bag. Let me tell you all about it… ‘Society’ (1989) A Beverley Hills teen feels increasingly alienated from his wealthy family but there’s far more to it than even he realizes. I love ‘body horror’ and I’ve been meaning to watch ‘Society’ for years now, so when I saw the movie was on ‘Shudder’, watching it was inevitable ;o) Now that I’ve seen it, I have to say… erm… You watch ‘body horror’ movies for the practical effects (well, I do) and ‘Society’ does not disappoint. I got what I came for, that’s the bottom line. Plot-wise though, that’s where the fi...

Books for the TBR Pile... 'All It Took Was A Payday' Edition

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It been quiet on the 'Books for the TBR Pile' front just recently but like the title says, all it took was last week's payday (and a rough week at work, mustn't forget that) to kickstart the whole thing again :o) At least for now that is, I've actually been having fun 're-discovering' books and don't want to lose that. Anyway... The blog was all quiet yesterday, mostly because I made a concerted effort to sleep as long as possible (didn't set any records but that's ok) but also because I took myself into Greenwich for a little book browsing that inevitably became book-shopping. Lets have a little look at what came home with me... Three books from the Greenwich Oxfam and one from the Waterstones over the road :o)  Regular visitors to the blog will know that I already have a copy of 'The House On The Borderland' but what I didn't have was a copy of 'The House On The Borderland' with cover art by Ian Miller. I will never pass up...

Trailer: 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day'

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I'll be honest... At this point, I'm so far behind with the MCU that I don't think I'll ever catch up. There are just too many movies now to get my head round (do the ones with Kang in them even count any more?) and that's before we get to all the stuff on Disney+... And that's a bit of a shame really because it always looks amazing when you see it in a trailer (although that's kind of the whole point of trailers, isn't it...) And 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' looks pretty cool in the trailer (maybe more so because of the Punisher, that's just me though) so, maybe, I'll jump back in. We'll see...

‘Something is Killing the Children: Volume Three’ – Tynion, Dell’Edera, Muerto (Boom Studios)

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  Page Count: 144 Pages NOT ALL MONSTERS HIDE IN THE DARK. Archer’s Peak is in lockdown, as Erica Slaughter has lost control of the situation and news of the killings has spread outside the town. But as the House of Slaughter arrives to clean up the situation by any means necessary, Erica will find that the true threat to those around her isn’t who - or what - she ever expected. And the cost of saving the day may be too high for anyone to pay... So I didn’t quite make a ‘short story a day’ but given the way that this week has panned out, I think I did well spnning it out as long as I did. Work has just got very ‘interesting’ (and not in a good way, dammit) but last night balanced things out a little. I didn’t get any reading done but I did get to hang out with my youngest daughter and that is always a lot of fun (she absolutely has my weird sense of humour). Anyway… I had a great time with volumes one and two of ‘Something is Killing the Children’ and didn’t wait too long before ...

‘The Lesser Horsemen’ – Keith Rosson (From ‘Folk Songs For Trauma Surgeons: Stories’)

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  Page Count: 17 Pages My journey, through this week, continues with another short story that I managed to squeeze in, last night, between bouts of looking for my youngest daughter’s Geography school book. I finished off ‘The Lesser Horsemen’ but I’ve got no idea where her school book is; oh well.. That’s a 50% success rate, I’ll take it. Anyway. Sometimes you can go for ages, reading books that are perfectly fine (even brilliant) but aren’t quite the right book at the right time. And sometimes… Sometimes you find yourself reading a short story that turns out to be exactly the right story at exactly the right time. And that’s what happened to me when I picked up ‘Folk Songs For Trauma Surgeons: Stories’, opened it up and started reading ‘The Lesser Horsemen’. Three out of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse can’t stand each other, the fourth is off pursuing an inevitable solo career but God really needs the other three to buckle down and work together. It’s time for a week’s cruise...

‘Ill Met In Mordheim’ – Robert Waters (from ‘Tales of the Old World’ – Black Library)

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  Page Count: 42 Pages I’ve had a good run, finishing full length novels, but I think it’s time to take a little breather and make this week all about short stories instead. I’m pushed for time at the moment, and I have plenty of anthologies to choose from. Lets see where the journey takes me. Well, the first stop is pretty obvious, not only because you’ve already read the title but also because ‘Warhammer’ has become a real ‘go to’ for me these days, the Old World most of all. I’ve travelled a fair way through the Old World but I’ve never made it to the outskirts of Mordheim, let alone behind its walls. That changed last night though with a tale of friendships lost and found, a horde of rat-men and possibly the best dog ever… Captain Heinrich Gogol is a man on a mission, a mission that will take him into the cursed heart of Mordheim to locate the Heart of Sigmar. The only problem is that the Skaven already have the Heart and they’re not interested in giving it up. And who is the m...

‘Exile of Atlantis’ (or ‘Untitled Story’…) - Robert E. Howard

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  Page Count: 10 Pages I had a great weekend, thanks, but I somehow didn’t get any time to make headway into what I’m reading right now. It happens :o) So, after my ‘Kull’ post from the other day, I thought I’d dig out my ‘Kull’ collection and read a little more about the man himself. Turns out that I actually have two ‘Kull’ anthologies, it’s an occupational hazard in my flat… Anyway, the best place to start is always at the beginning so last night, I ended up going back to the first recorded sighting of Kull, having a meal by a camp fire... If you’re reading the ‘King Kull’ collection, from Lancer Books (1967), you’ll know this story as ‘Exile of Atlantis’. If you’re reading it in the more recent Del Rey collection (funnily enough, titled ‘Exile of Atlantis’…) you’ll know it as ‘Untitled Story’. For the sake of this post, I’ll be referring to this tale as ‘Exile of Atlantis’; it feels a bit weird to refer to it as ‘Untitled Story’ but maybe that’s just me… ;o) Everyone’s story ha...