R.I.P. Wes Craven

I discovered Scream when it aired on TV a few years after it was released; I loved it and made a special trip to Kmart the next day to buy Scream and Scream 2 on video the next day. Wes Craven is the reason I bought a DVD player in college...the Ultimate Scream Collection was getting ready to come out and had a whole disc of special features, and I had to have it. I've watched a ton of horror movies, and Scream is one of the best ones I've seen and one of the few I've watched multiple times. I'm sorry the world won't get to experience any new Wes Craven movies, but he left us with some great ones.

Book Review: That Crazy Lady Down the Road by Judy Messoline

I visited the UFO Watchtower near Saguache County when I went to Colorado a few months ago (you can find my post about it here: http://paranormalcrystal.blogspot.com/2015/05/visiting-ufo-watchtower.html), and when I was trying not to buy out the entire gift shop, I picked up That Crazy Lady Down the Road by Judy Messoline, who created and runs the Tower.

The UFO Watchtower overlooks the San Luis Valley, which is known as a UFO hot spot, and the first sighting at the watchtower occurred in June 2000. Judy was born in Colorado, grew up in Wheat Ridge, and moved to the San Luis Valley to raise cattle on 320 acres of land. Soon after moving there, many of the people Judy met told her about their encounters with UFOs (and she learned that cattle mutilations weren't uncommon in the Valley); she began joking about the area needing a UFO Watchtower and made it a reality in May 2000.

The book is full of information about the history of the UFO Watchtower, UFO encounters that visitors have told Judy about, and other fascinating stuff.  Chapter 6 ("The Aliens") is fascinating, and Chapter 8, which is about people who have visited the Tower and told Judy about their experiences with alien abduction, is especially interesting. The book also includes more than 100 pages of transcriptions of Tower visitors describing UFO sightings they've had. That Crazy Lady Down the Road is a great read, and anyone interested in UFOs will probably enjoy it. You can order the book or find out more about the UFO Watchtower here:

http://www.ufowatchtower.com/

My rating: 8/10

Movie Spotlight: It Follows

It Follows is a 2014 movie starring Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe. After nineteen-year-old Jay (Maika Monroe) sleeps with Hugh (Jake Weary) for the first time, she wakes up (after being chloroformed) tied to a wheelchair. Hugh informs her that he has passed a curse to her: a sexually transmitted entity (STE) that only Jay will be able to see. The STE will follow her and can change its appearance to look like a loved one. Hugh warns her that if the STE catches her, it will kill her, then go after him, so he advises her to sleep with someone ASAP to get rid of the curse.

I enjoyed It Follows and thought the idea of a sexually transmitted curse was an interesting and unique idea for a movie.  All of the actors were great, especially Maika Monroe, and the movie was creepy and full of tension. The moral of this story: Practice safe sex. ; )

My rating: 7.5/10

The Ghost of Ted Bundy

Rumor has it that the ghost of Ted Bundy haunts death row in the prison where he was put to death (as well as a few other places). That's one ghost I wouldn't want to run into, but he can't do as much damage as a spirit as he did while he was alive. Even if this isn't true, it's an interesting story...though I definitely don't believe the part about him supposedly wanting to redeem himself by helping solving murders since Bundy doesn't seem like the type to feel bad about the horrible things he did.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/shadow-boxing/201210/ted-bundys-ghost

My Ghostbusters Display

I recently moved some stuff around in my living room and decided to display my Ghostbusters toys all together...it's mostly Funko Pop! Vinyls, but I also have two old-school Janine action figures and my brother's Ecto-1. I'm guessing that after the new movie comes out, I'll find some more toys to add to my collection. : )

"Weird Al" Yankovic: The Saga Begins

I was lucky enough to see "Weird Al" Yankovic in concert last weekend (and I got to meet him and give him some of my books!), and he played "The Saga Begins," which is about Star Wars...and I thought, "Hey, that's something I could post on my blog!" I don't think I've ever posted about Star Wars, but it does have aliens in it, and if you're one of my regular readers, you know I like to write about aliens. ; ) Here's the video for "The Saga Begins"...enjoy!

https://youtu.be/hEcjgJSqSRU

Movie Spotlight: The Selling

The Selling is a 2011 movie starring Gabriel Diani (who also wrote the movie), Janet Varney (who you know from Burning Love if you're a cool person who watches awesome shows), Jonathan Klein, Etta Devine, Barry Bostwick, and Nancy Lenehan.  Real estate agent Richard Scarry (Gabriel Diani), who always tries to be honest with potential buyers, must try to sell a house that is haunted and used to belong to a serial killer.  He does a fairly good job of reluctantly keeping the truth hidden until the walls of the house start bleeding during a showing when Richard is confronted by Ginger Sparks (Etta Devine), who runs "Ghost Blog, a website that's devoted to protecting the rights of the non-living."

Often when I watch a paranormal movie that I randomly find on Netflix or the Chiller network, it turns out to be...not very good.  Luckily, I didn't have this problem with The Selling...it was much better than I expected, and of course I liked the fact that one of the characters is a paranormal blogger.  It's a funny movie with a great cast and script and interesting characters, so if you want to watch an entertaining paranormal movie that won't give you nightmares, check out The Selling. : )

My rating: 7.5/10

Book Review: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

A Head Full of Ghosts is a 2015 novel by Paul Tremblay, and if you're planning on reading it, make sure you don't have anything important to do that day because this one is hard to put down (also, maybe don't read it right before you go to sleep).  When doctors are unable to prevent the more serious symptoms of schizophrenia in 14-year-old Marjorie Barrett, her desperate parents turn to Father Wanderly, a local priest who concludes that Marjorie's behavior may be the result of demonic possession.  In need of money, the family agrees to let a camera crew film their experience for a reality TV series (The Possession), and fifteen years later, a writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry, about that terrible time in her family's life.  The novel is told from Merry's point-of-view, both as an 8-year-old and a 23-year-old, and I really liked that Tremblay chose to tell the story that way so we could experience everything as it happened around young Merry and then learn more about what was going on from adult Merry fifteen years later.  Despite the fact that most people have never had to deal with one of their family members possibly being possessed by demons, I felt that the Barrett family was pretty easy to relate to, and I really cared about what happened to them.

I loved A Head Full of Ghosts, and if The Possession were a real show, of course I would watch it (what kind of paranormal blogger wouldn't watch a show like that?).  The novel had a great, surprising ending that I'm still thinking about long after finishing it, and that's something I always appreciate in the books I read.  I'm looking forward to reading more of Tremblay's work, and I hope someone makes a movie out of this novel ASAP. : )

My rating: 9/10

Book sale!

The Kindle versions of both of my Greek mythology books are on sale for 99¢ August 4th-8th. If you read them, I hope they make you laugh. : )

For I Am Zeus: A Collection of Plays About Greek Mythology

http://www.amazon.com/For-Am-Zeus-Collection-Mythology-ebook/dp/B0085H0MH6/

Goat Herpes and Other Problems

http://www.amazon.com/Herpes-Other-Problems-Crystal-Smith-Connelly-ebook/dp/B00KNDYRXA/