GHOSTS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF HORROR FROM THE BEYOND HAS BEEN RELEASED

Ghoststest

 

 

 

The long awaited anthology has finally been released.

Pick up your copy at Amazon here: Ghosts

Here is the blurb:

Thirteen authors from around the world bring you fourteen dark and disturbing ghost stories. With over 64,000 words that will chill your bone and keep you up all night, this anthology brings horror to a new level.
The Seventh Step by Judi Calhoun- A boy starts seeing eyes from the seventh step of his house which leads to horror unimaginable to him.

The Hat Man by Earl Bartel- A ghostly entity called the Hat Man must perform his duty again, but who is the Hat Man?

Chinese Buttons by Aaron Smith- “Furniture is the product of the thoughts of evil men” A man’s grandmother dies and the world will never be the same again.

Already There by Jeffrey Todd- A woman still mourns the death of her husband and child but have they really left?

The Inheritance by Kay Glass- A death of a baby in 1804 and a childless couple inherits a house in 2014. The darkness of what happens will leave you speechless.

House of the Goat Monster By Jim Goforth- Kathryn’s car broke down as she was lost. A ghostly child leads her to a house where one of the darkest stories in the anthology begin. Be warned this is not for the faint of heart.

Incorporeal Beings by Jonathan Nichols- Young adults go visit the haunted Denwood Manor where the spirits take a keen interest in them.

Drains in the floor by M.J. Pack- A ghost hunter at a campus tells a young student a horrific tale with horrific implications.

The Moat by W. Whitethorn- A cottage across the moat harbors a horrific secret and something does not want people to cross the moat.

Cherry Creek by Arthur Doweyko- Minnie lives in a town in Nevada in the year 1881. A series of events occur which leads to a ghostly realization.

The Broadcast Circle by Aline Boucher Kaplan- A woman driving home on a back road realizes her gift and a mystery ensues with a spiritual encounter.

Rapid Departure by Christopher Davis- Dean departs on a late flight and a man recounts a gruesome tale.

The Goldfield Hotel by David Tyson- Two college students explore the Goldfield Hotel and discover that local stories just might be true.

The Hitchhiker by David Tyson- John drives through the small town of Goldfield, NV and picks up a strange young girl.

 

 

GHOSTS Anthology Submission Guidelines

Ghoststest *There is more to the cover. Had to crop to because of limitationsGhosts

Who we are:

We are a upstart anthology press looking to publish stories by established and new authors via ebook. Our focus is on newer authors. We plan to have a yearly or bi-yearly anthology published with a certain theme

 

What we are looking for:

We are looking for stories that have a ghost or multiple ghosts in it. The stories also must have an element of horror to it as this is an anthology of horror. However, the setting can be anything you want and genre (fantasy, sci-fi, romance, true story, urban legend etc) as long as it has a ghost and there is horror or something dark. We want something unique that send shivers down someone’s spine. Adult themes and gore are accepted but please refrain from graphic sex.

The word count should be between 2000-5000 words, however if the story is really good we are pretty flexible.

We are looking for original stories and will not accept reprints of stories that you have previously had published. The Anthology as a whole may be licensed by the Anthologist to other publishers for foreign language. This permission constitutes first World-English rights, first World Electronic Rights, as well as non-exclusive world anthology rights to the story. We ask that the story not be published anywhere else until three months after the anthology has been published.

Simultaneous submissions are fine but please let us know if the story was accepted somewhere else.

If accepted you will be paid $10 via paypal and you will receive a free copy of the book. We wish we could pay more but we are starting out and hopefully will pay more in the future. You will get a page in the book to talk about yourself and plug any work, website, social media, blogs and such you want. We want the people who read the book to know who you are and get your name out there in the world.

Also if accepted, every month on our blog will feature an interview of one of the authors from the book. This will also help get your name out there.

 

How to submit:

Please submit your stories to davidmichaeltyson@hotmail.com with a file of your preferred word processor (.doc, .docx, .rtf etc.) in standard manuscript format. An example of the format can be found here:  Standard Manuscript Format

In the subject of the email please put the word Submission, the title of your story and your name. In the body of the email please state your name, title of the story, your address and contact info. Also please let us know of any previous work published

The deadline for submission is September 28th, 2014.

 

What to expect:

 We will respond in approximately 2-3 weeks. If you do not hear from us within 4 weeks feel free to query us.

Once we accept your work we will send out an agreement form detailing the rights and allowing us to publish your story.

We will ask for you to send a little author bio and any plugs you wish to have for your other work, blogs, social media etc. This will be put into the book.

You will receive a payment of $10 and a copy of the book once it has been published.

After published once a month we will spotlight one of the authors in the book with an interview of the author posted on the blog.

 

We look forward to reading your stories and getting them published. Good luck.

Richard Bachman Book Review- Rage

Wait what is this? This is not Stephen King. Who is this Richard Bachman guy? I thought I was reviewing Stephen King book on this blog? Well for those of you that do not know Richard Bachman is a pen name Stephen King when he published this book. I mean he was popular at the time with supernatural horror hwo would the public react to a grounded story that could happen at anytime? Well for whatever reason he published Rage under the name of Richard Bachman. He would do this a few more times in the course of his career.

Rage is about a troubled teen in high school named Charlie Decker. He has an abusive father, not popular and as I said is troubled. He once took a wrench to one of teachers. One day he is set off and grabs a gun from his locker. He ends up killing two teachers and taking a classroom full of students hostage for hours. The story shifts as Charlie has the students open up about personal stories of their lives and the horrors of high school. It also has flashbacks of Charlie’s life especially with encounters with his abusive father. The big shot of the high school, Ted Jones, is also one of the hostages and tries to reason with Charlie to let the rest of the class go. [BEGIN SPOILERS] With all of the talking and opening up, the class eventually wants to stay with the gunman. One student is allowed to go to the bathroom and returns to the classroom when she could of ran. The whole class could of left but stayed with Charlie. Finally Ted Jones stands up and the whole class beats him down and he has a breakdown and sent to a mental institution. Charlie is shot but lives and ends up not guilty by reason of insanity and won’t be released until he fit to return to society. [END SPOILERS].

This was a good story. It was weird the way the students ended up being like but all in all this was a down to Earth story of the horror of life. The story touches close to home in today’s political world with the issues of guns and school shootings. Now I am going to say straight up that I am for gun rights and I feel it is bad or mentally disturbed people that are the problem not the guns themselves. Yes I know assault weapons can cause mass murder but so driving your car through a crowded area. It the act of the person doing it that is at fault not the weapon of choice. Yes I don’t think people should be running around with tanks but guns should not be banned or taken away especially in this world. There is my little politcal rant on that.

The story as I said has to do with a gun and a school shooting. This is a true horror in today’s world. I finished reading this story two days before the Sandy Hook shooting so it really hit close home to me after reading a book from one of my favorite authors. It obviously hit close to Stephen King because of claims that this book was linked to school shootings. He hated that so much that he discontinued publication of this book which is why it is rare to find this book. Especially on its own. Again this book shows someone who is very disturbed and has problems and because of that he decides to commit a horrible act. There were signs of his problems before the shooting using a wrench to harm a teacher. Signs that he needed real help but no help was there. It was because of his troubled mental state that he decided to perform the horrible shooting.

The second horror of this story is high school itself. This time period could be very hard on teens especially with bullying. Not only that but stuff that just happens in high school. Weight issues, sex, popular, unpopular and so on. You hear these through the stories the other students tell while being a hostage. You can see the pain these kids feel when they tell their stories and the shock of what high school is like. It also leads to wonder why at the end the students did what they did to the popular Ted Jones.

The third horror of this story is the theme of abuse. This is presented through the relationship between Charlie and his father. Was this rage because of how his father always treated him? How he thought the principal abused him? The kid had a lot of anger and rage.

I give this book three and a half stars. It was a pretty good read and everyone should pick it up if they can find it.

Moral of the story: Watch your kids, whether you are a parent or a teacher or something. Watch for the signs especially during the troublesome time of high school where change happens all the time. Watched for disturbing signs. Be responsible about your guns and remember it is currently a right.

Well that is my first review of Richard Bachman (who is Stephen King). Have you read this book? What did you think about it? If you read it what did you think how the kids ended up being like at the end? Did you end up rooting for Charlie or were you against him the whole time? What did you think of the kid’s stories? What do you think of gun rights? I could not find a movie based on this book so there will be no movie review. The next book I have lined up is Night Shift which is a collection of short stories. These short stories also have a lot of movie attached to them with many sequels to them so it will be a awhile before I finish all of them but I will be up to the task. Please comment below and lets have a discussion. I want to hear from you.

Like I said in the past I will have a tracker of the final ratings of each book or movie I reviewed to show what I liked or didn’t like. It is a rating based out of five stars. For previous reviews if you missed it you can click on the title and it will link to that review for you to read.

Books Reviewed:
Carrie ***
Salem’s Lot ***1/2
The Shining *** 
Rage ***1/2
 
 Movies Reviewed:
 Carrie (1976) ****
The Rage: Carrie 2 ***
Carrie (2002) ½* (Yes a half of a star out of five) 
Salem’s Lot (1979) **
A Return to Salem’s Lot *
Salem’s Lot (2004) ***1/2
The Shining (1980) **
The Shining (1997) ***1/2

Stephen King Movie Review- The Shining (1997)

Here is my last review of The Shining saga (or is it? **cough** Doctor Sleep). There won’t be much detail to this review as it the same story but this one actually follows the book real close.

We have our usual setup. A recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (Jack Weber) after been fired from his teaching job from beating a kid gets a job at a hotel. He brings his family along with his wife Winifred Torrance (Rebecca De Mornay) and son Danny Torrrance (Courtland Mead). His son of course has a power called the shining.

Jack Weber plays a pretty decent Jack Torrance in this. He does a lot of actions as the character does in the book and he is believable as a recovering alcoholic and someone that does seem to care for his family. He has some wooden moments in there but he pulls it off very well. He portrays the book Jack Torrance very well.

The wife is played well also by Rebecca De Mornay and is pretty strong. It matches also the book’s counterpart. I thought she held her own pretty well. The son did well also although he got on my nerves sometimes. He wasn’t the best actor but he did good catching the character from the book.

Basically what I am saying this was a good mini-series and I can see why it is called Stephen King’s The Shining as it has almost everything in the book from it. Of course it is toned down because it was on broadcast TV and could not show the more intense violent or sexual parts but the creepiness is there and follows the vision of what Stephen King’s story. They included such scenes as the beehive scenes, the hedge animals and the ending to the actual book. SPOILER—-You saw when the dad snapped out of it and wanted to redeem himself—–END SPOILER. It was a good representation and if you read the book you will enjoy this movie mostly. Yes it is mini-series quality but it expresses the best of what has been made what Stephen King wanted in the story.

As I said before this show is about a beacon of evil being the hotel where bad things have happened which seems to pop up in some Stephen King stories. However, the heart of the story is addiction, obsession, abuse, and family. You can see the journey of Jack Torrance as he tries to fight his demons both literally and inside of him. This movie could be a metaphor for addiction and what it does to your life even if there are evil things trying to get at you and your family. The supernatural element is there but it is the addiction that is the true horror.

Sorry these last two reviews have been short but it has been a few months since I watched these movies as I didn’t have time to blog them. Hope you enjoyed the little I did put there. Next up I will stray from Stephen King and review a book by Richard Bachman (who is that guy and what does he have to do with Stephen King?) called The Rage. It is a very controversial book.

Did you watch the mini-series of The Shining? What did you think about it? Did you like it better than the 1980 version of The Shining? Do you feel this is the true version? Let me know with your comments below. I want to hear from you. Since this movie was close to the book and had decent acting and creepiness to it I give it three and half stars. Here is a trailer for the movie in case you want to check it out.

Like I said in the past I will have a tracker of the final ratings of each book or movie I reviewed to show what I liked or didn’t like. It is a rating based out of five stars. For previous reviews if you missed it you can click on the title and it will link to that review for you to read.

Books Reviewed:
Carrie ***
Salem’s Lot ***1/2
The Shining *** 

 
 Movies Reviewed:
 Carrie (1976) ****
The Rage: Carrie 2 ***
Carrie (2002) ½* (Yes a half of a star out of five) 
Salem’s Lot (1979) **
A Return to Salem’s Lot *
Salem’s Lot (2004) ***1/2
The Shining (1980) **
The Shining (1997) ***1/2

Stephen King Movie Review- The Shining (1980)

Wow has it been a long time since I did one of these reviews. I actually watched the Shining movies back when I did the book review but have been so busy that I did not have time to review them on this blog. Well as I said I am going to try to write in the blog more along with my other projects I have going on. So with that in mind here we go.

Why oh why did I read the original book and then see this movie? Growing up this movie was an awesome freaky movie that I enjoyed. It had some good scares in it and what I thought was a great Stephen King movie. However, I can see why Stephen King was a little upset and it is now known by a lot of fans as Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.

The basic premise is there. A troubled recovering alcoholic Jack Torrance (played by the amazing Jack Nicholson) gets a job as a caretaker of an old hotel in Colorado with a dark history. Like the book he brings his family along, his wife Wendy Torrance (Shelley Duvall) and son Danny (Danny Lloyd), to the hotel to stay with him during the winter. Again like the book Danny has a special power called the shining and he also meets the cook Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) who also has this power and explains to Danny. The hotel’s dark history is there also as in the book and in turn causes Jack to lose his mind to want to murder his family.

With the basic premise there it follows the book in that manner; however that is where it stops. While it has great atmosphere and an amazing performance by Jack Nicholson it is very different from the book. For starters Jack Torrance is a recovering alcoholic but from the onset you already think this guy is not right in the head. He already seems crazy (probably because Jack Nicholson is crazy) and it does not see like a big jump he lost his mind completely. He already seems to hate his family as expressed in the drive up to the hotel and seems annoyed of them also. The addiction story is there but it does not seem like the major driving force as it is just the ghosts and the supernatural turning him more. Then [SPOILER] at the end of the movie there is no redeeming factor to the character or redemption as there was in the book, he is just on his rampage. The ending was changed totally from the book and left with a strange image of him in the painting [End SPOILER].

The character of Wendy played by Shelley Duvall was a letdown. She does not even portray Wendy as she was in the book. She was weaker and quite frankly a little annoying. It was just hard after reading the book to see the character of Wendy portrayed like that. Danny did not seem like he had much character development. You get a little here and there but not like the book. Plus his shining powers are not much displayed and of course it was not revealed as it was in the book where he was getting his messages from.

The beacon of evil is still there in the form of the hotel. You could say that the evil is stronger in this movie as it was more of a ghost story then of addiction and such. It further shows that a place can be a place of evil.

It is very hard on me to bash this movie but I can see why Stephen King and his fans do not like this movie a lot. There was just too much deviation from the story and major things were changed by the director. Do not get me wrong this movie still has a special place in my heart but I will only have to give it two stars because of the divergence from the book. However, not taking the book into account I would give it four stars because it is a pretty good horror movie with great atmosphere. So what did you think of the movie? Have you read the book and compared it to this movie? What is your favorite part of the movie? Is there a beacon of evil in your life? Please leave comments and discuss below I want to hear from you. Next movie is the TV Miniseries of the Shining so be sure to look out for that. Also yes I know there is a new Carrie movie coming out and I will see that and review it on here also. Here is a trailer for The Shining.

 

Like I said in the past I will have a tracker of the final ratings of each book or movie I reviewed to show what I liked or didn’t like. It is a rating based out of five stars. For previous reviews if you missed it you can click on the title and it will link to that review for you to read.

Books Reviewed:
Carrie ***
Salem’s Lot ***1/2

The Shining *** 

 
 Movies Reviewed:
 
Carrie (1976) ****
The Rage: Carrie 2 ***
Carrie (2002) ½* (Yes a half of a star out of five) 
Salem’s Lot (1979) **
A Return to Salem’s Lot *
Salem’s Lot (2004) ***1/2
The Shining (1980) **

Top 5 “Man Movies” That Are Actually Romantic (in a sense)

I was thinking about these guy movies that if you peel some layers on them there is actually quite a but of romance to them. They are advertised as action or horror but when you look at the subtle context or certain scenes you can see romance and motivations of the movie are because of some kind of romance. Yes I know this is not shocking as a decent movie has to have some plot. It is just some of the movies you think of you or how they were advertised you do not even think of the romance but associate it to violence or something of that nature. Well below are five movies that are consider guy flicks (is that a real category) but have romance in them that drive the plot or are actually a romantic movie with a lot of explosions. Now be warned there are a lot of SPOILERS below about the movies I am going to talk about so if you haven’t seen them and don’t want to be spoiled then skip their section.

5. Rambo First Blood Part II

This is my weakest entry in this list but it is to prove a point. What expression from the 80s and 90s is a term for a one man army destroying machine. No it was not Liam Neeson but one word and that was Rambo (especially after Part II and Rambo 3). Yes Rambo was a character known for action and explosions and a lot of killing. The ultimate action movies. However, in Part II Rambo had a female companion with him and actually shared a kiss. Here is the romance and the aftermath of the romance below:

Now I know you are thinking that this was only a few seconds of the whole movie but listen to what they say. Rambo and the girl (Co) was going to sneak to safety and go back to America and live a happy life. However, as you saw that was not the case and because of the actions of killing Rambo’s girlfriend well he went Rambo on all of them as you can see.

So because he lost his girl he went back to get revenge, rescue POWs, and basically be the one many army he was known as. I will leave you with this last act of revenge from Rambo for the killing of his girl:

 

4. The Village

This movie was marketed to people as a horror movie. All the trailers and TV spots I saw said this was going to be a movie about some villagers and monsters that keep them there. This movie was basically a romantic movie that had the Shyamalan twist that he was known for in his earlier films. Everyone I knew expected a horror film but it was a romantic film. This is evidenced by the two main characters of Ivy Walker (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Lucius Hunt (Joaquin Phoenix). They are obvious in love with each other but do not really come out and say it but their actions and motivations prove otherwise. For an example when the “monsters” attack the village look at the two characters and Ivy reaches out for her man and how determined Lucius is to make sure she is safe.

A pretty powerful scene but the whole movie is basically about their love story. The climax deals with after Lucius was stabbed Ivy has to brave beyond the boundries to the “towns” to get medicine to save her love. Remember she is blind (which is why the elders let her go) which shows her determination and strength to save the one she loves and would risk anything for him. Again something very romantic. Here is an example of this (warning the video spoils the twist):

So I included this movie as an example where advertising shows you one thing but it is really somethign else. In this case a romance story.

3.The Matrix Trilogy

When people think of the Matrix they think of science fiction, action, fighting, special effects. This is all true but throughout the trilogy there was one contstant which was the romance between Neo and Trinity. Lets go through some spoilers about this. In the first movie Neo dies and is brought back by a kiss from Trinity and it was told she would fall in love with the One. The second movie Neo has a dream of his love Trinity dying and it affects through the movie and in the end she does die but it is his powers and love that brings her back to life as she did in the first one. He stuck his hand into her heart but similar concept. The you have the third movie where it about them together going on a mission to save humanity and they have a soft scene when she dies in the real world. Between all the action, special effects and philosophy there is the love story of Trinity and Neo. You can see this love in their final moments together right here:

You see romance played a lot with the motivations and drove the plot in these films. Don’t believe me that there was a lot of romance in these films then take look at this fan made video that shows a lot of moments between the two loves:

2. Braveheart

Braveheart was a movie known for it’s violent war scenes and is considered a big epic. It has a lot of violence but it you break the context of the film you will see the romance through it all. William Wallace wanted to come home and settle down and marry a girl he has loved all of his life. Again spoilers but the reason he goes to battle with the British was because they killed his wife. He did not like the British and wanted Scotland to be free but he was going to settle down with Murron and be a farmer. So basically all the fightign we see in the movie and the war was because of love. I will not go into details more because it is pretty obvious but even today people do not see that it is basically a war because of romance and loss and even before his death he still thinks of her. The next three clips is one of the romantic scenes and two fan made tributes showing the romance in this bloody violent movie that is known more for that then the reason and motivation of the war which is love.

1. The Terminator

Like Rambo when people think of an action movie from the 80s and 90s they bring up the Terminator. I mean come on it about a killer robot from the future to kill the mother of human’s leader before he is born. Lots of guns and shootouts and of course action star Arnold Schwarzenegger. There is no time for romance right? Nope the whole reason the human protector goes back in time is because he loves Sarah Connor even though he never met her. He came back in time for her. You can see this in the clip below but be warned it is not safe for work. Somehow youtube allowed some nudity in this video so it will probably be taken off soon but it is a powerful scene:

Now tell me ladies what if a guy told you what Kyle said above? Well you would probably call the cops because you would think he is psycho. However, just imagine you believed him. Someone would travel back in time not knowing if they would survive the unstoppable machine to try to protect you because he loved you? See his whole motivation is love so this in sense is more of a love story than an action movie. It could be argued either way. Here is another fan video about the love aspect of the movie that even bleeds onto Terminator 2. Again a movie known for action has a very strong romantic tone to it once you peel it back a little.

 

 

Well there you have. Now I know there are many movies with examples of this and probably better movies to show the point but these are some I thought of on the top of my head. Yes I know not all action or horror films are mindless fun with no plot but this just shows that some movies that are knwon for somethign else does have a strong romantic theme to it in the background. So ladies the next time you want to go see a chick flick maybe follow your guys suggestion to see this action film. If you can block out the explosions and violence you might see the romance of the story that could suprise you. Or not and you guys might be dragged to a chick flick but I thought it was interesting looking at these movies a different way than what they are known for.

Comment and let me know what you think. Do you agree with the examples above or am I just reaching a little? Do you have some examples of movies that were presented as this big action or horror but really was a romantic film at heart? Let me know and we can discuss.

GFPRS?

Below is the first promo for GFPRS. What is it you ask? Keep checking back to find out. You may have an idea but is it really what you are thinking? GFPRS is coming soon. Please comment on your thoughts about it and what you think it is. Like the video and subscribe to my youtube channel because more videos will be coming and reveal more. It will be a great project for Goldfield. Stay tuned…

 

Short Story Release

Thank you for reading here are two short stories I released on Amazon.

The Hitchhiker

SONY DSC

Blurb:

John Sanders is driving on a business trip from Las Vegas to Reno, NV. He picks up a young ghostly looking female hitchhiker in the small town of Goldfield, NV. A tragic discovery is revealed through the encounter with the hitchhiker.Read this 2000 word short horror story by David Tyson set around the small town he grew up. A chilling tale in the ghost town of Goldfield, NV.
 
 
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Blurb:
 
Rich Anderson had it all. A great career, a loving family and a wonderful life. This changed one day after a tragic accident caused his world to go in a different direction. Now he is the shell of the man he once was and is always working late until one night his past catches up to him and someone starts stalking him.Read the 6000 word short horror-thriller story by David Tyson. A tale that could happen anywhere to anyone. A tale where your past can come back to haunt you. A tale to chill your bone.
 

Stephen King Book Review- The Shining

My next Stephen King book review is The Shining. A lot of people I talk to has never read this book and only know it from the Stanly Kubrick movie. It is a pretty interesting book and that has a slow build to a fantastic ending. Like Salem’s Lot this movie also has a place serving as a beacon of evil where horrible tragedies occurred. It produces some supernatural spirits inhabiting the property. However, it has a much deeper evil that is much more real to the average person being of an addictive nature.  

The story is about a former teacher named Jack Torrance who was fired from his teaching job because he beat up a student who slashed his tires. He is also recovering from being an alcoholic. He has a wife and son name Wendy and Danny. Wendy in this story is a house wife who is strong but stays with her husband. She is always fearful that her husband will go back to drinking and snap like he did one night when he was drunk and dislocated his son’s shoulder out of anger. Danny is five years old and is very intelligent. He also possesses a sort of psychic ability which is referred to as the shining.  

It is obvious at the beginning of the story that Jack does care for his family; he is just fighting his demons and addiction to alcohol and his temper. The story continues as Jack gets a job as a winter caretaker for the Overlook hotel in the Colorado Rockies with his family coming to stay with him even though they would practically be cut off from the world when it snowed. He also plans to write a play while up there. Before they travel Danny has a vision from his friend “Tony” who warns him of the danger of the hotel and he also hears a voice of someone that wants to kill him and his mother. 

They travel to the hotel and before all the staff leaves for the winter Danny meets Dick Hallorann who is the chef of the Overlook. He also has the same ability as Danny and even comments that Danny may even have a stronger ability then him. He warns Danny that he may see things at the hotel but tells him to look away because they are not real. He also tells him to use his shining ability to contact him if he ever needs help. 

The story continues and focuses on the family and their time at the Overlook hotel. Like in great Stephen King fashion it slowly builds up. You get little pieces here and there with enough to keep you reading to find out what is going to happen. Even though I knew what was going to happen because of how The Shining is in popular culture it still held my interest. You find out the horrid history of the Overlook hotel. You see a troubled man slowly go off the deep end and the claustrophobic feeling of being “trapped” in the hotel. Yes there are some ghostly encounters and parts about some hedge animals that I really enjoyed. While some may know the ending already it is a little different than in the popular movie and I suggest you read it to find out. 

This is another great example of Stephen King’s writing. At first you don’t know anything about the characters (of course) and Stephen Kings gives you bread crumbs along the way until you completely know and feel what the character is feeling. He even writes from the perspective of the five year old kid and his understanding of the world which I find a good talent.  

The story keeps you wondering what is going to happen even if you know the ending. You learn something knew or experience a scary moment and you want to keep reading. It makes you wonder about some hotels you stay at and the history behind it. Just like in my small town of Goldfield, NV and the famous Goldfield Hotel. I could see The Shining be set there if it was more secluded but with the history it has I am sure it would work out. 

As I mentioned above there is a much deeper evil then a beacon of evil or ghosts. There is the addictive nature of people that can make even the nicest person into something evil. A person could be addicted to alcohol, drugs, sex or anything bad of that nature. This can lead them to bad things to hurt themselves, family or friends. The story really shows this in the character of Jack Torrance who through the whole narrative craves to drink even though the hotel does not have any. The ghosts might have some maybe but not the hotel. What I find interesting and this is my opinion and might not even been Stephen King’s intention but as Jack Torrance becomes more obsessed or addicted to the hotel and wanting to “be accepted” by it he starts to do traits of what he did when he was drinking. For example he would wipe his lip with a handkerchief when he would drink. Now that he is addicted to the hotel he started doing that also.  

Addiction can be bad and it shows in the story. Like for example the incident with the abuse towards his son after drinking. This unfortunately happens a lot in world. I know people who ruined their lives because they were addicted to something. People have lost their families, hurt people or even killed people. It is unfortunate that it is common for a human to be addicted to something. However, I am proud of the people that overcame that addiction o those who did not give into the addiction. Those are strong people and ones that wanted to change their ways and life. Even if they realize to change their ways sometimes it is too late. Check out The Shining and you will see what I mean. 

Moral of the story: Even with a beacon of evil like the Overlook hotel or troublesome ghosts, a deeper evil is the addictive nature of the human psyche which can cause a lot of harm to those you love or yourself. 

I have two movies based on the book to review also. Look for those coming up soon. I also heard Stephen King is writing a sequel to The Shining. That should be interesting but it will be a long time for me until I get to read that. I give this book three stars out of five.  Who here has read The Shining? If so what did you think about it? Do you know people that are addicted to something and ruined their lives? If so let me know to hear your stories? If you are someone that was addicted to something and bad things happen please write in the comments section. Sometimes it is good to talk about it. Those are some questions for everyone and want to hear from you in the comments so let me know.

Like I said in the past I will have a tracker of the final ratings of each book or movie I reviewed to show what I liked or didn’t like. It is a rating based out of five stars. For previous reviews if you missed it you can click on the title and it will link to that review for you to read.

Books Reviewed:
Carrie ***
Salem’s Lot ***1/2

The Shining *** 


 Movies Reviewed:
 
Carrie (1976) ****
The Rage: Carrie 2 ***
Carrie (2002) ½* (Yes a half of a star out of five) 

Salem’s Lot (1979) **

A Return to Salem’s Lot *
Salem’s Lot (2004) ***1/2

   

Computers and the Internet

Have you checked your Facebook or Twitter today? Did you pay your bills online? Did you make a stock transaction, read the news or applied for a job online? Did you send an email? Are you currently reading my blog? Answering yes means that you probably have a device that has the internet whether it is a computer or some mobile device. Also this means that this technology probably is part of your everyday life. Now imagine that all computers and the internet are taken away from you for a month or two. How would you react? 

In today’s society computing devices and the internet are a part life. A lot of people would go crazy without this for over a month and it is sad to say that I would probably be one of those people. We use it for personal, entertainment, and business reasons. My whole job (database administrator) and college degree (computer science) is based on this technology. Without it what would I be today, probably a writer or something… wait a minute. 

Anyway not only is this technology a part of my career it is also my personal life. I use my cell phone to text my wife to always talk with her since I travel a lot. I use Facebook to communicate with others and to let them know about my blog posts. I read and look up stuff for education or entertainment purposes. Computers and the internet are a great thing and makes life easier and more convenient. I do all my banking and pay almost all the bills online. I probably spend 80% of the day on the computer during a work week and that is the minimum. It is sad but it is true. Believe me I would love to go out to travel more and see things but don’t have the time. I am writing this now with this great and wonderful technology that I am sorta dependent on in my life. 

That is the problem though. The majority of the world is dependent on computers and the internet. If it was all taken away in a quick flash the world would go in chaos for a while. I am sure the world’s markets would crash. Communication would be close to a standstill and so on. Think that new series Revolution or Falling Skies or even Walking Dead.  We need it because we conduct so much business with it in our lives.  

The other side of that is as we come more dependent on it could eventually eliminate a lot of things we do in our life. It would be in a world where we never have to leave house and conduct our life from there. Everything could be delivered to us, we could work from home, and we could take special supplements to keep our bodies healthy. We could end just hooking up to a machine to experience life outside of the house similar to that movie Surrogates. Or the computers and the internet could become self-aware and become a life form of their own. Then they would probably take over the world like in The Terminator or Matrix movies.  

Now I know in the three examples above are extreme cases but it is true that most of the world is dependent on computers and the internet. Who knows this also may be a cause of the obesity problem in America right now because everyone wants to be on the computer. Also how it seems the social scene is getting more regulated to the internet and not the “traditional way.” People need to check their Facebook in case they missed something or need to talk to someone. TV shows will tell you to #that and #this just because now it is important to be trending. People need to check their Twitter to see what their favorite celebrity is talking about. People need to hurry and pay that bill online. Don’t forget to check on sports shows or download a movie while you are waiting at the airport. Also don’t forget to read this blog and comment on it because why not? 

I am not saying the technology is bad. I mean I love and I said I use it every day. I just feel that the world is too dependent on it and it seems like it is going to get even worse in the future. I guess that is true though with any invention and advancement in society that makes things easier because humankind seems to like to go the easy way and not the hard way. I do imagine a simpler life and wish the world could go in that direction but I know that will never happen. Now I have to go post this on my blog and let my friends know on Facebook and Twitter that I posted a new blog while texting my wife and listening music I downloaded from iTunes on my iPod while waiting for a database to restore at my work. 

What are your thoughts on computers and the internet in society? Do you think we as a people are now too dependent on it? Do you think one of the three scenarios I mentioned could happen? I think being taken out by Cyber Warfare will be the future of wars and markets will crash and countries overthrown. That is just my thought. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.