Lord Samper's Library

Yep, it’s ‘Movie Time’ again. I haven’t done too badly on the reading front, over the last week, but there have been a couple of occasions where, for whatever reason, it didn’t happen so I watched a movie instead. Most of these were ‘re-watches’, the kind of thing you have on in the background but don’t pay too much attention to, but I did manage a few that I’d never seen before. Let me tell you about them, one sequel and two examples of my ability to watch any movie if the title is daft enough. Oh yes, and a ‘Killer Chimp’ movie as well… All high-brow viewing here ;o) ‘Night of the Demons 2’ (1994) Six years after the last party thrown at the Hull House funeral parlour, another group of teenagers decide that it’s way past time for another one. Good idea? Not when the original host is back from from Hell and determined to put in an appearance… I had a quick re-watch of ‘Night of the Demons’, the other day and while I’m still not a hundred percent convinced , I had enough fun with it to...

  Page Count: 52 Pages It’s not just zombie movies that I’ll watch, regardless of quality… If a film, or book, starts with the words ‘Earth vs.’? I’ll be there for it. And now I’ve said that, I’m just going to have to read ‘Earth vs. the Nudist Camp Freaks’ and ‘Earth vs. the Star Mummy’ (the two other novellas in this series) as well. I wouldn’t want to make a liar out of myself (dammit). Anyway… One of my ‘daily blog visits’ is ‘Paperback Warrior’ and that’s where I first saw that 1950s Earth had a problem on its hands with a big ol’ horde of Lava Spiders . Well, I had to head to Pine Grove and check out the situation… Tonight’s special features takes place on a quiet Friday night in the small coastal town of Pine Grove. Strange lights appear over Shasta Island and an explosion rocks the beachfront. Fireballs rain down from the sky as lava bubbles from the hidden volcano, unleashing a nightmare of hellfire and blood on the town. Watch in horror as the Lava Spiders surge across ...

Yesterday was an absolute write-off in terms of getting anything read. I mean... I got some work done, got my eldest over to an interview (for 6th Form) and then hung out with both of my daughters, so I can't really complain, but... You know ;o)  Anyway, fingers crossed that reading happens today, we'll see. In the meantime, I came across this trailer yesterday and thought I'd share it here; mostly because of the movie title (made me laugh) but also... Look at it and tell me that you wouldn't watch it. Keep an eye open for 'Hungry' in June... 

  Page Count: 128 Pages Despite all my best intentions, my reading plans pretty much collapsed, over the last few days, and there was only one thing left to do… Rip up all my plans and start again! It’s not like I don’t have plenty of other books to choose from when I hit a slump ;o) And where better a place to pick myself up and start again than another old ‘Doctor Who’ Target novelisation? Nope, me neither ;o) For far too many years, ‘The Power of Kroll’ had sat, filed under ‘Hadn’t read it since I was a very young Graeme, vague memories of not being that impressed’ but I saw a cheap copy and had to give it another go. I mean, it couldn’t have been that bad… Could it? Well… ‘Six or seven year old me’ was a far harsher critic than ‘middle-aged, just wants a little fun with his reading’ me but I can kind of see where he was coming from… The huge, octopus-like Kroll lived deep in the swamps of the humid, steamy planet. To the native swamp-warriors, Kroll was an angry, mythical god. ...

What with one thing and another (including Cat 2 who is lovely but lets just say that looking after her is very much a full time thing), Friday night and most of yesterday was pretty much booked solid. And that was cool but my reading took a hit. Lets see how I do today :o) In the meantime, I try not to leave the blog unattended for too long (unless I absolutely have to) so when I came across the trailer for 'Primate', soon to hit cinemas, I thought I'd post it here while I got on with the reading side of the weekend. Will I give the film a go? I most definitely will, looks very much like my kind of thing. Will I see it in the cinema? Unlikely, my overtime got cut so I've got to be a little more selective about any trips to the cinema, that's the way it goes... Anyway, check it out...

Bit of an odd day yesterday… I had a day all to myself which was cool (natural loner and all that ) but also awkward, at the same time, as I can be pretty bad at spending time in my own company (because apparently, I’m that much of a loner...) I’ll get there but yesterday, all I was good for was sitting in front of the telly and watching horror movies. I’ve got a couple of books on the go, at the moment, but nothing close enough to finishing that I can post about. While I try and solve that, let me quickly tell you about those movies… ‘Brain Dead’ (2007) No, not that ‘Brain Dead’ or the ‘Brain Dead’ that sometimes goes by ‘Dead Alive’; this is the ‘Brain Dead’ where two students, a pastor and his assistant are held hostage by two escaped convicts in a cabin, while murderous zombies prowl outside. ‘Brain Dead’ very much sits in the ‘low budget movie’ end of the scale but is still a hell of a lot of fun, staying well clear of creating any suspense and going full on with the practical eff...

It hasn't been a bad week for reading, fingers crossed for more of the same next week. Lets see how it goes. Work is still intense but I've got a days leave on Tuesday, for my birthday, and a chunk of that will definitely be spent reading in the comfy chair :o)  For now, lets catch up with a couple of movies that I've watched over the last week. Two movies, with one thing in common; a moment where I did a little double-take and said to myself, "did I really just watch that?" And the answer was 'yes, I really did', although for one movie, I really wished that I hadn't... 'Humanoids from the Deep' (1980)  When mutated salmon starts walking on two legs, the residents of a fishing town find out that neither sea nor land is safe... Especially if you're a lady in a bikini. The residents must fight back to stand any chance of survival. 'Humanoids' also goes by the name of 'Monster' (for its original European and Japanese release) b...

  Wednesday evening was a bit of a blur (school parents evening and then moving furniture), and so was yesterday actually (work…), and that’s why there was no post. Sorry about that. Anyway... When giant mosquito-like alien creatures invade a rural seaside community, a frustrated sheriff and two oddball exterminators end up being the town's only hope for survival. A comedic and gruesome story for fans of Slither, Arachnophobia, and other classic creature-features! To be honest, I’m more of an ‘Eight Legged Freaks’ fan than ‘Arachnophobia’ (‘Arachnophobia’ is not a bad movie, it’s just that giant spiders will always trump any other kind of spider, simple facts) but I love ‘Slither’ and well, just ‘Creature Features’ in general really so the blurb still managed to sell itself rather well and… Here we are :o) And… There’s not a lot to say about ‘Skeeters’ really and despite what you’re thinking right now, that’s not a bad thing at all. ‘Skeeters’ doesn’t mess around, it knows what yo...

Page Count: 131 Pages If I should ever happen to bump into G.P. Nedloh, I will shake his hand and buy him a pint at the nearest pub. Why? Well… Up until last night, I’ve had a nightmare trying to stay the course with any book that I’ve picked up. Didn’t matter what the book was or who had written it, I was good for about ten pages (ish) and then I’d either be asleep or watching the telly. There are reasons for this, I’ve got a few things going on at the moment, but you don’t need to know about that ;o) Lets just say that for a chap who lives in a flat chock full of books, I was starting to get a little concerned. And then my copy of ‘The Woodlice’ arrived, yesterday, and I couldn’t put it down until it was done. Had I rediscovered my reading mojo or had I discovered an awesome read? A little bit of A but mostly a generous helping of B. Well played Mr Nedloh, well played :o) When a secret chemical experiment goes horribly wrong at a remote lab, a horde of woodlice, once harmless, mu...

Flat hunting and work are vying for every scrap of my attention this week so I thought I’d step back from the longer books, just for a bit, and see out the week with some short story action instead. The TBR pile is giving off reproachful vibes but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Once work settles down a bit, and I’ve found somewhere to live, I’ll take a look at some of the longer books on my shelves. Right now though? We’re all about ‘Ankle Snatcher’ today, one of those short reads that Amazon likes to recommend to me while I’m in the middle of buying something else entirely. I’m very glad I gave it a go and would absolutely recommend you do the same. Obey the rules. It’s the only way to survive the night. Marcus grew up believing his father killed his mother—then blamed it on the boogeyman under the bed. Always leave the lights on, his father warned, or the boogeyman will get you. Marcus still heeds the superstition, especially when he invites his new girlfriend over. Is Marcus ha...

Brian Keene is making a selected title, of his, 99c (or the equivalent) every week. It goes without saying that you should be all over that anyway (it’s tough times out there and speaking from personal experience, Brian Keene’s books get you through tough times) but I’m also reading each book as the discount hits. It’s not like I need an excuse but I’m looking forward to revisiting some old favourites and maybe catching a few that I haven’t read yet. ‘The Girl on the Glider’ was a ‘first time read’ last week (review Here ) and this week I’m revisiting ‘Scratch’, a book that I haven’t picked up in a long old time. Let’s go.   April showers bring May flowers. But as the rain-swollen creeks recede, the residents of one rural Pennsylvania town learn that April showers bring something far worse than destructive floods and property damage. This year, the April showers have brought a crypto-zoological nightmare named Scratch, and only pain and terror follow in his wake. You’re getting...

Well, today was going to be a ‘Doctor Who’ post but this book has been bugging me, since I finished it, so I figured that now was the time to post about it. This one will be a short post but not for the normal work related reasons. The simple fact is that there’s very little that I can add to this tale that I haven’t already said about it’s predecessor. Let me tell you about it, as much as I can anyway… Nightmare black and hideously armed, they came scuttling and swarming from underground. Ever hungry, ever vicious, they hunted down their prey, clawing, biting, stinging. The scorpions have returned, this time grown huge, irradiated, mutant. Their claws could strip the living flesh of man or woman down to the white bone. Could snap and splinter the bone into tortured fragments. Gouging, tearing, blinding, they could hold their bloodied victims while they pumped spurts of venom into the agonised body. The scorpions have returned, and the stench of death seeped out over the countrys...

It's not often that I push the TBR pile to one side and start reading a 'new find' straight away; there are unspoken rules to observe after all and some of those books have been in the pile for literally years... ;o) It's also not often though that I get a weekend to myself and find an intriguing little slice of 'early eighties creature feature'. Creatures, I should say, loads and loads of radioactively mutated scorpions. Well, that was my weekend pretty much booked solid (yes, I went straight on to read 'Scorpion: Second Generation' as well) and here I am to tell you all about it... A high shrill cry of terror ripped from her throat. Thousands of black scuttling insects, curving tails arched over their backs and pincered arms splayed out... They surged towards her, sensing her warmth. The promise of food. In moments, her body was covered by a flowing blanket of scorpions... A couple of things before we get onto the book itself. Cast your eyes over...

I have the worst habit of buying books for my Kindle and then promptly moving on to another read, leaving said book to sit on my Kindle, probably wondering what it did wrong. Don’t worry book, it’s not you. Every now and then, I just can’t seem to settle on a read. The upside of this though is that when I’m on the bus home, and have finished reading a book, I can open up the Kindle app and surprise myself with books that I had completely forgotten that I had. Books like David Haynes’ ‘The Skittering’, for example. I picked this book up back in July last year and only got round to reading it over the last week, mostly on the way home from work but, as the story progressed, I was getting stuck in every chance I got. Let me tell you all about it… Crease is known in Weaver as ‘the bug guy’, the man who takes care of insects and other critters. But what emerges from the shadows of the town’s waste plant is beyond anything found in nature. Fist-sized cockroaches. Bird-sized wasps. Spiders,...

I know, it's another 'Movie Night' post... My neighbours, downstairs, had a big ol' party, on Sunday night, that went on until at least three on Monday morning (well, that was when I finally managed to get to sleep) and I really wasn't up for a book post by the time Monday evening came round. I'll try and get something bookish posted tomorrow, promise ;o) All I really wanted to do was crawl into bed and watch movies, so that's exactly what I did :o) I did give myself a little challenge though... The two movies I picked had to be completely different movies. I've got quite the tower of unwatched DVDs and a couple more or less chose themselves. A horror and a 'creature feature' it was then... 'Hellraiser: Judgment' (2018) Detectives Sean and David Carter are on the case to find a gruesome serial killer terrorizing the city. Joining forces with Detective Christine Egerton, they dig deeper into a spiraling maze of horror that may not be of ...