Don't Turn Around - Short Film Review

Don't Turn Around

A Short Film

Written and Directed by Christopher T. Wood

Click here to watch video

With Halloween vastly approaching, are you looking to watch some horror movies? Before you do, be sure to check out this short video about how NOT to watch a scary movie at night. “Don't Turn Around” is a short film written and directed by Christopher T. Wood starring Paul Haitken. While the short film does not contain supernatural elements or strong violence, it very much fits the atmosphere of a horror movie.

The lead character is introduced as a bit of a jerk, ignoring his neighbor's complaints by shouting “I can't hear you” three times. Bored and seeking thrills he looks out his window to see a shadowy figure on the sidewalk below. He sees a newspaper title that describes a series of apartment break-ins throughout the neighborhood and gets the idea to leave his front door open. He then watches a scary movie and becomes terrified when he hears a noise in his apartment. In fear, he runs for the front door but stubs his foot on a kettlebell and hits his head on the door. Crying out for help, his neighbor replies with an eerie “I can't hear you.”

Despite the simple premise, this is a well-directed short with good production quality. The movie sets the right tone and atmosphere that a good horror movie with excellent use of lighting and a soft but creepy score. Visually the story establishes shots that pay off in the end. For example, the kettlebell is shown early on and a few times to set up how the character falls. The newspaper is shown twice, which gives the character the idea to leave his door open as he watches a horror movie. The best part is the bookend of “I can't hear you”. Spoken three times at the beginning and then at the end. I think the lines speak to a part of our society where we try to shut out other people's problems. But in doing so we sometimes set ourselves up as the victims of someone ignoring us. The idea that the man will bleed out due to his head wound while the neighbor shuts the door on him, is quite chilling.

Ultimately it was the character's bad attitude and desire for external stimulation that becomes his downfall. It's implied that the shadowy figure outside is responsible for the break-ins and does come into the main character's apartment. Lesson learned here is to make sure you lock your doors at night, the thrills are not worth your life. Overall, this is a well put together short film, just in time to amp up your scares for Halloween. If you're a fan of short films or want to know how not to watch a horror movies be sure to check this one out and follow the director on Twitter @Ctwood137 and be sure to follow me @BelleArboreus to leave your feedback and thoughts on the film. Thanks and Happy Halloweend!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elpiDe3oSE0&feature=youtu.be

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Horror Books Top 50 List

With Halloween coming up it's a good season for reading horror books. The site Goodreads.com has posted their top 50 horror books. Read here for the complete list. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online, “horror” is defined as “painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay” or an intense aversion to something (Merriam-Webster, 2019). So, when we read horror or thriller works we expect to read something that we might be afraid of or disturbing. I'm not someone that reads horror or watches it either, but I have read three of the works on the Goodreads list. A few books on the list that I want to read and a few that I've not read but seen the movie versions.

Books I've read

Edgar Allen Poe (various stories)

Mary Shelley Frankenstein

Bram Stoker Dracula

Books I want to read

Robert Louis Stevenson - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Shirley Jackson The - Haunting of Hill House

Ray Bradbury – Something Wicked This Way Comes

Richard Matheson – I Am Legend

Movie versions I've seen but not read.

World War Z

Warm Bodies

Flowers in the Attic

Here are two reviews I've done for Edgar Alla
n Poe. The Masque of the Red Death is my favorite work of Poe, because it not only sets up the eerie location and atmosphere but the story of the prince and the townspeople. It's filled with wonderful imagery and symbolism, that I go over in my review.

https://fantasticlr.blogspot.com/2016/08/review-for-masque-of-red-death.html

https://fantasticlr.blogspot.com/2016/09/review-for-fall-of-house-of-usher.html

How many of the books on this list have you read? What are some of your favorite horror/thriller books? Leave your comments below or tweet to me @BelleArboreus and share your thoughts on this list. 

If you are looking for a Children's book for Halloween check out mine, up on Amazon Kindle. It's called 'Who Scared Jack?' It's about a pumpkin named Jack and on Halloween night he gets terrified of a scary creature. Follow Jack around his mansion filled with ghosts, vampires and more to find out exactly who scared Jack. Link here https://amzn.to/33SatmE 

Sources:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horror

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1369-50-most-popular-horror-novels-on-goodreads?content_type=articles

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Pt.1

Frankenstein: Or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

After reading Dracula by Bram Stoker, I thought I should read another story about a classic literary monster. I started reading Frankenstein on ebook a while ago and got about 3 chapters in before I gave up. I couldn't keep track of what was going on in the story. For this read I am doing audio from the website Lit2Go. There are two versions of the book, one published in 1818 and a second revised edition in 1831. Lit2Go uses the original 1818 version. The second edition adds a new introduction by Shelley and changes a few details of the characters as well as the structure of the book.

Not knowing what to expect from this book, I'm surprised to find it more like Dracula than I thought and in some ways very different. I find Victor Frankenstein to have similar characteristics to Van Helsing, both strong willed, full of conviction but conflicted with what they have done or have to do.

The first four chapters of the book set up Victor's family life, his adopted cousin/sister, and his interest in the medical sciences. One quote caught my attention; “Fairer than a garden rose among the dark leaves brambles” (Frankenstein, Shelley). It reminds me of the saying “fairest of them all” but put more elegantly and I find it to be romantic.

One thing that I find interesting is Victor's realization that he could possibly create life. He has experienced the hardships of death, so it would seem that creating life is something he would be intrigued by. I like that he is conflicted with his decision, but ultimately his knowledge and curiosity win out and he indeed does create life. Another good quote is “to examine the cause of life, we must first have recourse to death” (Frankenstein, Shelley). To understand life means to understand death, and death is some thing that he has experienced in his young life.

Something that I noticed while Victor is studying at school, is that the book talks a lot about science, but nothing is actually explained. A hard contrast to modern works of science-fiction, where the science is explained, even if it's not accurate. It is implied in the story that Victor uses electricity to bring his creature to life, but never outright stated, just him observing lightning and what drives life. After he brings his creature to life, Victor is horrified not only by the monster but by what he has done.

The book then jumps ahead two years and Victor is notified of his younger brother's death. On his travels to his hometown of Geneva, Victor sees his creature on the hillside and is immediately convinced that the monster is to blame for the death of his brother William. Much of this book early on, is about Victor's guilt and deals with the philosophical questions of responsibility in the creation of life. A similar question posed in the movie Jurassic Park, being that just because you can do something or in Victor's case, create life, doesn't mean that you should. But the book goes one step further and asks if scientists can then do they have a responsibility to follow through? The book doesn't really provide an answer other than Victor's initial choice of choosing to follow through. But it's a good question that comes up in real life, about should the progression of science be limited by our morality.

The emotional journey of Victor gets more complex after his friend Justine is tried and wrongly convicted of the murder of his brother. Victor becomes depressed, until he encounters his own creation. The book then shifts perspective and tells the creature's story after leaving Victor. This was an approach to the story that I did not see coming. As some one not familiar with the story of Frankenstein, I haven't even seen the classic movies, I wasn't sure how much of the monster we we're going to get in the book. I like the idea of transitioning from Victor's guilt to showing the creatures life and his motives. It makes for a sympathetic character that was almost turned into a villain and asks if Victor (or people) in general make someone a monster. I like this shift, and look forward to finishing the rest of the book to see what happens with Frankenstein's monster.

If you have read the book please leave your comments down below, or tweet @BelleArboreus. Would love to hear your thoughts and interpretations on the book. Stay tuned for my comments on the rest of the book. 

Shelley, M. W. (1818). Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. London, England: Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor & Jones.

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The Empty Pizza Box

The Empty Pizza Box

A Short Story by Ashlie K. Manger

It seemed to be a normal gathering like every other night. My friends came over, we swam in the pool and played some games until it got dark around six. Then we wanted to settle in for a movie, but we were hungry so we decided to order a pizza. I told the pizza man on the phone that there were eight of us and we were all starving. He sounded like he understood, so I told him to give us the biggest pizza they had. Not exactly what I had in mind.

The hot box of pepperoni pizza came to the door and that should have tipped me off sooner, for the delivery guy gave me a wink and said, “I hope this satisfies your hunger.” Other than being weird, I didn't think much of it. Being that we were starving we ravaged the giant box of all 18 slices, in less than ten minutes.

So, I closed the empty box and went to wash up. I was going to throw the box away, until I realized that it felt heavy when I picked it up. Curious, I opened the box and there it was. Another whole, freshly hot pizza. All 18 slices. I couldn't believe my eyes, I closed the box then opened it again. It was still there, a fresh new pizza. I told my friends to come by and they thought I was playing a prank on them. I admit I thought someone had replaced the pizza when I wasn't looking.

Over the next hour we ate the entire pizza, as we watched a movie. This time I was cautious. I closed the box slowly, waited a minute keeping my eyes on the box the whole time. Then opened it again. I couldn't believe it. Another fresh new pizza had emerged. But this time there was no time for someone to replace it. I asked if anyone wanted more pizza and a few had a couple of slices but most of us were full. My friends didn't believe me, and honestly I thought I might be crazy as well.

The next day, I ate the remaining slices for breakfast. I hesitated to close the box, for fear a new pizza might arrive again. So, I just left it on the counter and went about my day. Later, I called the pizza company and asked to speak with the man that delivered the box. I asked him if he knew that the box regenerates the pizza after you're done eating. To my surprise he said 'yes'. Why would he give this me? He said since we were hungry it should satisfy us. And it did. But now what do I do with the box? I asked him. He said to eat until we were fully satisfied, then hung up the phone.

So, I invited more people over to help eat the pizza. And by the end of the week we had eaten another four whole pizzas. I wasn't sure what to do with the box. I wasn't hungry and didn't want to eat more pizza either. I thought I should just hand it to a homeless person on the street. Food is food and they need it more then me. I had given up on the pizza box. No more fore me. So, I closed the box and set it on the counter. I figured I'd would drop it off when I leave the house. But when I went to grab the box it felt light. I opened the box again, and this time to my surprise, there was no pizza. 

Did the magic box stop working? I closed the box again then opened it. Still nothing. Was there a limited supply and we ate it all? I was happy to be rid of the pizza but not sure why it stopped. I thought about what the man said. 'Eat until you are fully satisfied”. Maybe that was the key. I was satisfied by the pizza. I had eaten as much as I could. Although the endless pizza became annoying after a week, I still think sometimes, “what if I had pizza all the time?” Then I remember how crazy it was, and I'm thankful that I can eat more than just pizza now. Maybe next time I'll be more careful what I wish for.