Tag: horror

Upcoming new book release: ‘Ghost Station’ by S.A. Barnes

‘Ghost Station,’ the new horror novel by S.A. Barnes will be released April 9, 2024. Photo: Amazon

S.A. Barnes works in a high school library by day, recommending reads, talking with students, and removing the occasional forgotten cheese-stick-as-bookmark. The author has published numerous novels across different genres, but “Dead Silence” is the first published as S. A. Barnes. She writes YA and romance under Stacey Kade. Barnes lives in Illinois with more dogs and books than is advisable and a very patient spouse. In her upcoming new horror novel, “Ghost Station,” a crew must try to survive on an ancient, abandoned planet. It will be released on April 9, 2024 and is available for pre-order on Amazon. (Amazon, 2024)

“Ghost Station” – An abandoned plant. A hidden past. A deadly danger.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of ERS—the most famous case of which resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. It’s personal to her, and when she’s assigned to a small exploration crew who recently suffered the tragic death of a colleague, she wants to help. But as they begin to establish residency on an abandoned planet, it becomes clear that crew is hiding something.

And Ophelia’s crewmates are far more interested in investigating the eerie, ancient planet and unraveling the mystery behind the previous colonizers’ hasty departure than opening up to her.

That is, until their pilot is discovered gruesomely murdered. Is this Ophelia’s worst nightmare starting—a wave of violence and mental deterioration from ERS? Or is it something even more sinister?

Terrified that history will repeat itself, Ophelia and the crew must work together to figure out what’s happening. But trust is hard to come by…and the crew isn’t the only one keeping secrets.

Photo: Amazon

New movie release: First Contact

First Contact is set for a June 6 digital and DVD release. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Uncork’d Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Wendigo and Monstrous director Bruce Wemple’s First Contact. The creature feature, which features strong practical effects and an outstanding performance by Wemple film-staple Anna Shields, premiered to raves at Panic Fest in April. James Liddell, Chris Cimperman, Caitlin Duffy, and Paul Kandarian also star and is scheduled to premiere on digital and DVD on June 6, 2023. (October Coast, 2023)

First Contact is a movie about two estranged adult siblings, Casey and Dan, who travel to their late scientist father’s farmhouse to make sense of his incomplete work. They soon learn that their father’s work was far more dangerous than they could ever imagine. An evil entity, buried in time and space for millions of years, has been released and has begun wreaking havoc on the locals. One by one the bodies start to pile up. Now, Dan and Casey must figure out the secrets of this extra – dimensional monster before it’s too late.

“Bruce Wemple’s latest film has it all – a strong script, incredible effects, terrific performances, and brilliant direction. After a such strong response at Panic Fest, we expect the film to do very well when we release it in June.” – Keith Leopard, President of Uncork’d Entertainment

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New horror television series release: The Dead Hour

The Dead Hour is a 12 episode horror series available for streaming now. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

There is a new horror series available now on Tubi, Amazon, and the YouTube channel Kings of Horror. Terror Films is getting into the horror television business, premiering a new 12-episode horror series titled The Dead Hour on digital platforms. (October Coast, 2023)

Creators Daniel B. Iske and Scott Coleman say classic The Twilight Zone was their key inspiration for the limited series, which premieres May 12 globally. It is an anthology series featuring a creepy tale each episode bookended by a twisted radio announcer (Melissa Holder) introducing each episode.

“We created our setup, a delightful yet twisted radio DJ in a dark booth late at night telling her audience creepy tales. We would start each episode with her opening setup monologue and then we’d jump into the story as it plays out on screen. For over a year we would come up with hundreds of short story ideas before finally narrowing it down to the dozen or so that we wanted to do first. Each episode has a different cast which gave us an opportunity to work with a vast array of talent. Our stories definitely are rooted in our commentary on today’s world and culture. We have our external monsters but also, we delve into the monsters inside us as well.”

Iske and Coleman wrote and directed the low budget horror film Fields of the Dead which enjoyed a run-on Redbox and OnDemand before turning their sights to the episodic realm.

Book review: ‘The Bazaar of Bad Dreams’ by Stephen King

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‘The Bazaar of Bad Dreams’ is Stephen King’s newest collection of short stories.

Stephen King is the bestselling author of more than fifty books and is known the world over as the master of horror. He received the 2014 National Medal of the Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. His body of work includes everything from short stories to full size novels that can be more than 1,000 pages long. Most recently he has written The Bill Hodges Trilogy: ‘Mr Mercedes,’ ‘Finders Keepers’ and ‘End of Watch,’ ‘Doctor Sleep’ and the collection of short stories ‘The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.’

This collection of stories have the universal themes of mortality, the afterlife, guilt and the questions of what would people do if they could see the future or go back and correct mistakes that they have made. Long time King readers, who he describes as ‘Constant Readers’ know that he starts each book with an introduction that describes what they are about to read. In these introductions he addresses the ‘Constant Reader’ and the tone is familiar, as if they have known each other for years.

“Everything you see is handcrafted, and while I love each and every item, I’m happy to sell them, because I made them especially for you. Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth.”

In this particular collection he also starts each story with comments on when, why and how each story was written, or in some cases rewritten. There is a total of twenty stories including Mile 81, Premium Harmony, Batman and Robin Have an Altercation, The Dune, Bad Little Kid, A Death, The Bone Church, Morality, Afterlife, Ur, Herman Wouk Is Still Alive, Under the Weather, Blockade Billy, Mister Yummy, Tommy, The Little Green God of Agony, That Bus Is Another World, Obits, Drunken Fireworks and Summer Thunder. As with any other collection of works, some appeal to readers while others may miss the mark completely. Standouts include Mile 81, which is similar to ‘Christine,’ Afterlife where the main character repeatedly relives his life and death with no chance to change anything and Ur where a Kindle is a portal to a parallel world. There is even a narrative poem in the mix ‘The Bone Church’ which proves that even Mr King has written poetry. Overall ‘The Bazaar of Bad Dreams’ will appeal to his faithful readers even though some stories are weaker than the others. It makes a perfect addition to any Stephen King library.