Competition Winner!

Hey Guys and Gals

Just to let you know I had a great calibre of stories to rifle through and read after my competition launched, and I had to get Mr Scary Movie Sunday involved to help me choose between two very strong stories!

Please read below the story that won, and congratulations to Dice Rollen who wins the Amazon Gift Voucher!

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Name: Dice Rollen

Story Title: The Attic

Story:

I had been sick for three days with a cold. The worst part about the colds that I got were the sore throats. I could deal with a stuffy or runny nose, even a cough. But I hated having to deal with a sore throat. This one had gotten to the point where I almost could not use my voice at all & had to resort to writing what I wanted to say on a whiteboard if it was not something I could just nod my head to answer.

I had been laying in bed for most of the morning when my mom came in to say goodbye.

“Hey, sweetheart. We’re going to go to work now, okay? We’ll be gone for most of the day. So take it easy & call us if anything comes up. Okay?”

I just nodded my head to respond since that’s all I really could do.

“Alright, see you later.”

She walked over to my bed & kiss my forehead before she left.

When my parents went to work I was the only one in the house. My brother usually went with them to help out with some heavy lifting & whatever else they needed. It was good. For them & for me because I got the peace & quiet I needed to rest. I heard the truck pull out of the driveway & drive off before I closed my eyes to settle back into bed.

I was drifting when I heard it.

A scratching sound.

I opened my eyes & took a look around my room. It was not my cat because my door was open, plus he was not even close by. When I heard the noise again I realized where it was coming from. I thought it must have been the wind blowing in through the vent that made those weird sounds. That happened sometimes so I did not think much of it. I laid back down & relaxed. I don’t know when exactly I fell asleep, but I must have been asleep for a few hours.

It was getting late & it was still quiet around the house so no one was home yet. My parents would work late sometimes so that was pretty normal. It just meant that I would have to make dinner for myself. So I got out of bed & ignored the dull ache in my head. I went to the kitchen & grabbed a can of chicken noodle soup.

Then I heard the scratching again. Now I knew that was not the wind. It was louder & different from the noises I knew the wind could make. Maybe something had gotten into the attic & was trying to get out. I did not heard it again for a while so I went back to heating up my soup. I’d have to tell my parents when they got home so my dad could investigate it. I barely finished the thought before I heard another scratch. Maybe it could not wait. I went to only opening to the attic in the pantry & looked at the door. Maybe it was a squirrel or a raccoon or something. Whatever it was it definitely sounded like it wanted in. I’d never been up in the attic by myself before. But I needed to find out what the hell what making this noise.

I grabbed a flashlight from the shelf nearby & climbed up to the door. I pushed it open & pulled myself up into the attic. There was only one light bulb hanging from the ceiling so I turned it on. It only helped a little & I could not see the parts of the attic that were farther away. I looked around at the area was illuminated. So far nothing. I might have scared it off. I actually hoped I had, but just in case I decided to check the whole attic. I turned on the flashlight & started walked around. I had to be careful where I stepped because the attic was not completely finished. And we mainly used it for storing old things we hardly used anymore. After a while of searching I had not found anything. No scratch marks. No holes where something could have come in. No mess. Nothing.

I started to head back to the door when I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head & the flashlight to get a better look at what it was. I completely froze once I got a good look.

A hand. It was a hand. And it was touching one of the ducts.

But more importantly it was attached to someone. Someone alive. I could not move any close but I did manage to move my flashlight to see who it was. I could not believe what I saw.

In the corner of the attic were my parents & my brother. They looked sick & practically lifeless. Like animals that had been kept in a cage without being fed. Of all the jumbled thoughts that were running through my mind at that moment, one stood out like a blaring sign.

If my family had been in the attic for so long…

Then who the hell was pulling into the driveway now?

Let's Talk Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno)

Hey Guys and Gals!

It came to my attention recently (via the medium of Facebook) that the movie Pan's Labyrinth turned ten this year.

I for one, can't believe this darkly magical masterpiece is ten!

It only seems yesterday that I saw trailers for it, thinking, 'MAN I need to see that!'

I'f you haven't seen the trailer and/or the movie, here you go!

Just look at the pretties!

Apart from Pale Man - he kinda scary.

But anyway, I love fantasy movies - you kow the type, The Lord of The Rings etc... So to mix two of my favourite movie genres, Guillermo del Toro has created the perfect movie for me.

It's mine.

I'll let you watch it though because I like you.

I know it seems like a cop-out but I know if I don't have some structure to my blog posts I ramble on and on and on and on... so without further ado here are my top 5 favourite things about Pan's Labyrinth:

1. Ofelia

The young actress who plays Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is such a stunning little beauty, she really encapsulates how the young mind works in such troubling times. The movie is set in 1944 in Spain which is in the just post civil war; which in itself would be traumatising for such a young girl. Her mother is heavily pregnant and is suffering badly which is upsetting for Ofelia, she just wants her mother and younger sibling to be ok. This is most prevalent in the scene where Ofelia puts a mandrake root bathing in milk underneath her mother's bed.

It's that cute thing in the bowl in case you're wondering.

This of course was never going to work, but this young girl is willing to try ANYTHING to make her beloved mother better.

Another thing about Ofelia that I love is her fear - and how she puts it aside to complete the tasks that the Faun has set for her. She has seen terrible atrocities in her real day to day life, her step father is a totally evil and brutal man - and yet she STILL has to courage to fight another day. I cannot stress enough how much I love this character and how she is brought to life by Ivana.

2. Doug Jones

The guy is a total and utter acting legend. That NOBODY knows about.

If you've seen the movie and you're thinking - well sh*t I don't remember this pasty son of a gun in the movie... The reason is that he plays these two characters.

The Pale Man

The Faun

And you may have guessed by this guy's name, he ISN'T Spanish - so on top of having to go through hours upon hours of makeup for the Pale Man costume, having to learn to walk in the faun costume (if you want the magic spoiled, there is a picture of how he had to wear this costume here); he had to learn HIS lines and also Ivana's lines so that he knew when it was his turn to speak.

Pretty darn impressive if you ask me.

Even though one of the characters is non-verbal, he holds himself completely different to the other, so until I looked into who the actors were in this movie when it first came out (which is something I do with every film that I watch and enjoy) I was absolutely flabbergasted to find that this was THE SAME DUDE.

3. The Bottle Scene

If you have a weak stomach, look away when you see the bottle come out.

This scene is so incredibly violent, gory and shocking that my breath was simply taken away.

My morbid sense of humour also made me chuckle a little after thinking that some parents (who DID NOT READ what the movie rating was) took their children to see this. Fools.

Basically the Captain is brought some guerillas who are fighting against oppression, and one of them unfortunately gets a face lift á la beer bottle.

I was totally unprepared for the unbridled voracity in which his face was so easily caved in, and the guy who plays the Captain, REALLY went for it. (See GIF below, don't worry it's just the Captain).

4. The Pale Man

I have not seen in a long time a monster who has made my skin crawl and made me think about it waaaay after I've finished watching the movie.

The Pale Man did just that.

He was just so... hideous.

If you want to know the whys and wherefores about this predator, please go to this link

I really don't want to spoil the scene for you, but the link above goes into great detail what the scene is all about etc so if you don't want to watch the movie but want to know what happens... You're welcome.

I do however want to go into why I love the Pale Man

1. His grotesque skin is so unnatural - the Faun warns Ofelia that the thing that lurks where she is to go isn't human - and when he stands up you see the sagging and streched skin which is just... Gross. He looks like he is wasting away due to malnutrition - I think maybe he is having trouble finding food which leads me to my next point...
2. HE EATS CHILDREN.
3. His gosh darn SCARY ASS eyes. You must have seen the below picture:
   
   
   

5. Mercedes (The Character, not the car.)

Mercedes is an ally to the resistance that is trying to attack where Captain Face-Smasher is based, but she is a mole as she is working for the Captain. How very courageous of her!

She looks out for Ofelia and she can see the good in the little girl's heart and soul.

She has got a lot of fight in her and she is so feisty!

I would like to think that although she may be seen as a 'secondary' character I think her role is pivotal in showing that people who believe in what is right will be at the forefront and will do anything for the struggle for justice.

I watched this film again whilst writing, and I must admit, it is still as beautiful as ever - and if you have a strong stomach and a great imagination, then I would definitely give this a watch!

And remember, 

Have a Scary Movie Sunday!

American Horror Story - Season 6 ep. 1-3 **Possible Spoilers**

Hey Guys and Gals,

I'm baaaack!

Did you miss me? Or did you not even notice I was gone? Either way, I'm writing a new blogulicious *grin*

I was in high anticipation for the new season of American Horror Story (AHS) and to be honest, I feel a little disappointed.

I've held off writing this blog, because with Stranger Things I didn't really have a lot to write about by the first episode and I didn't want to give everything away in one hit!

So, I shall set the scene a little for episode one (I'll try to leave out as much immaculate detail as possible).

The two main characters are called Shelby and (hits Google as the guy's name is forgettable) Matt and they are an interracial couple, Shelby is white and Matt is black.

They were living in L.A. when Matt was set upon by some miscreants who basically beat the sh*t out of him and left him in a coma. Not good at all. To top it off, the couple had learned that morning that they were going to be parents, only to have this joy snatched away when Shelby miscarries, possibly from the stress of what had happened.

So they move out to the woods, to an absolutely glorious house - and that is kind of where things take a nasty turn.

As the couple have moved to North Carolina, and it seems to them that the racist history of the Deep South is still apparent, and that they are being tormented by the 'Hillbillies' that they outbit for their new creepy-ass abode.

Obviously that isn't how AHS works.

Another way that AHS doesn't normally work is how the story is being told to us - we are watching a fictional docu series called 'My Roanoke Nightmare' which has the same characters being protrayed by different actors (as it would be in real life)

Lily Rabe here, Sarah Paulson there.

I personally wasn't too impressed with this layout (hence my disappointment) however as the episodes have moved on, this has been a great way to tell the story, and of course - involve all of our AHS favourites.

At the time of writing I am yet to clap eyes on the gorgeous man-beast that is Evan Peters.

Mr Scary Movie Sunday who?

We are introduced to Shelby's sister in law (Matt's sister, obviously) and she has got a very troubled past, she's an addict and an ex cop who lost her job and marriage due to addiction amongst other things.

She is a very interesting character in my opinion and a lot of episodes 1-3 is to do with her relationship with her daughter, Flora. Which, may I add, is a beautiful name.

I won't go into detail with this story line, but it is tantalising and you can't stop wondering what has happened to this little girl - but sometimes I feel that the actual story telling regarding this is a little bit juddery. Whether that is due to the format of the series or not, I'm not sure.

Ok, so episodes 2 and 3.

We learn from flashbacks that there is a band of nasty and cutthroat spirits that reside in the surrounding areas of the house where the couple live - the leader of these being known as 'The Butcher'. It's catchy. We get to see the back story of this 'missing' group of people (which has stemmed from an American story about a colony that disappeared in Roanoke) and this also teaches the non-American viewrs who may not know this history so that we are all up to speed.

10 points to House AHS!

There is one SERIOUSLY bad point about these 'settlers' - and in main, the character The Butcher.

WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS
HOLY IS THAT ACCENT SUPPOSED TO BE?

I've discussed this frequesntly with Mr Scary Movie Sunday and we have come to the conclusion that the accent is meant to be a Lancashire accent. I think the point may have been missed and is in the far distance behind the cast. It bugs me so much because this character is awesome and so badass with her cleaver. 

Maybe I could just mute the parts that Kathy Bates has dialogue in.

We also have visions of murderous sisters that appear in the house, a psychic who has got THE best accent ever and is camper than a row of tents (100% my favourite character) and a guy who is camping out in a cellar by the woods. 

There is one more character that I would like to mention.

Took me until episode 3 to realise this is Lady Gaga.

Now I probably will write another blog after the season has ended - and we can talk about the fabled 'connection' theory - but I would like to say that the quality of the story and the familiarity with the new layout of the series is starting to get really promising, and I also am very excited to see the next episode (which has Evan Peters in it!)

Are you watching this season? And what do you think about it all?

And remember,

Have a Scary Movie Sunday!