Under a Black Rainbow

Today was the fifth anniversary of my father's passing. Just like that day five years ago, today was my writing session with my writing partner. I didn't get much done, but that's how it goes sometimes. This Atlas of Bone & Sorrow project has a way of suckerpunching me repeatedly while trying to make my way through it. I may need to focus on something else for a little bit, return to it in short spurts here and there so I don't get caught up in my own swamps of despair.  After our session, I finished sorting through old boxes I'd pulled from the storage unit I emptied last week. Old photos and letters and report cards and art projects - from myself, my siblings, and even old shit from my mother's youth - have been sitting in my living room for over a week waiting to be sifted through and given some level of importance: keep for later review or toss in the trash.  Weird day of marinating in things of the past. Wasn't intending to do so, but here we are.  ...

  OCTOBER  (5 books | 909 pgs) 94.)  The House of Slaughter, Vol. 4: Alabaster (Graphic Novel, 160pgs) |  5/5 95.) Critical Role | The Mighty Nein Origins: Beauregard Lionett (Graphic Novel, 56 pgs) | 5/5 96.) Critical Role | The Mighty Nein Origins: Cadeucus Clay (Graphic Novel, 56 pgs) | 5/5 97.) A Guest in the House by E.M. Carroll (Graphic Novel, 256 pgs) | 3/5 98.) Anthology of Emo, Vol. 1 by Tom Mullen (Nonfiction, 381 pgs) | 3/5 *     *     * August and September were super anemic on the writing front. Between being sick for much of August and then having so many events happening in September, I just never got back into the swing of things. Really tried to do more with October as I took the last week off for vacation, but other life stuff got in the way and I was forced to spend much of my free time handling that.  I remain in a creative rut, at least somewhat. There are little sparks here and there every so often, but the dam is sturd...

  Sorry this one's a little late y'all. I ended up getting sick for a couple weeks in September, which put me out of commission for a little bit. But, as promised, here's a follow-up to my last batch of horror movies for the fall. Some I saw earlier this year, but the majority are new for me. Some of the older classics may surprise you, even though they've been on my "to watch" list for a good long while. It's been difficult to watch a lot of long-form content the last few years, so this has been a fun endeavor. Hopefully you're finding some good stuff amongst these selections.  My aim is to do this weekly for as long as I'm able to watch enough content leading up to, and including, the week of Halloween. I'm open to recommendations if you've got'em! *     *     * Late Night with the Devil (2024) 3/5 [Shudder] The pacing, set design, and cinematography on this one were top-notch. The story gets marks for being interesting, as does the a...

Over the last decade or two, we've been absolutely blessed with an embarassment of riches in terms of great television to choose from. Granted, it's all stupid and spread out across various overpriced providers now, but at least the shows are there (for now...).  Here are a few of the full shows that I've enjoyed during that timeframe that make for good watching during the spooky season. Is it all of them? No. I haven't seen every great show out there; I simply don't have the time for that. There will be plenty of great options missing from this list, but feel free to leave a comment about those worth checking out so others might know what else is good to put on the tube.  Most of the titles mentioned below (save for the first one) are single seasons, and were meant to be, so you won't have any trouble enjoying them for what they are. They were written as is and all have solid conclusions that don't leave nasty cliffhangers to a second season that never got ...

I always say I'm going to watch a ton of horror during the year and there usually ends up being a few things that tickle my fancy, but rarely do any of the previews make me yearn for more. A few movies piqued my interest in the last few years, but I've also not been watching a ton of movie-length stuff recently.  I'm trying to change that.  So here are a few of the horror/suspense/terror movies I've had on my list to watch for awhile and have finally gotten around to watching. I'll try to do one of these a week purely so you can have good options leading up to Halloween.  *     *     * "Cuckoo" (2024) 3/5 [In Theaters] I wouldn't consider this pure folk horror, but it definitely leans pretty heavy toward that way. The trailer was good, the movie was...interesting. The pacing was good and, while there were some interesting concepts within, I left the theater feeling pretty 'meh' about the whole story. Some smoothing out of narrative heavy-handed...

AUGUST  (0 books | 0 pgs) Obviously, I was unable to read as much as I have in prior months. September, however, is looking nice and ripe for some catching up on the books I meant to complete this month. If nothing else, I've already read 93 books and had planned on reading 80 for the entire year, so...not a bad time to take a break for a minute while life has its way with me.  August found me busy with two of the remaining four stops on the 2024 "Book Tour" I've tried to complete, with one event in Blue Springs netting me 16 book sales and my reading/signing event in St. Louis netting me 8 more book sales. I had the pleasure of meeting a ton of great people at the local event and can't wait to meet more at the Phantom Pages Festival on Saturday, October 5th .  I was inspired by several of the authors seen at the Blue Springs event, and decided to up my own self-promo game by buying a collapsible vinyl banner and creating some excerpted bookmarks.  I began helping...