It’s been a little while since I posted an update on here and just wanted to let everyone know what I’ve been up to. I have been uploading daily film reviews, which have gone down pretty well. Thank you for all of the feedback that I’ve received. I’m going to continue doing a review every day for as long as possible. I’ve got today’s ready and it will be going up later in the day.

I’ve also finally finished writing a short story, now titled ‘A Knock at the Door’. I started writing it last year, aiming for around 2000 words. It’s ended up being longer than that, at around 5000. I need to re-read it and edit it. To be honest I’m a little nervous about uploading it here. It’s very dark. A lot darker than I planned it to be. I will be uploading it either later this week or early next, with a warning that it’s extreme. I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out. I’ve also started on a new short story, that is going nicely. The working title is ‘The Teeth Fairies’. So far around 300 words in. I’m not sure how long this one is going to be, but I know where it is going roughly. Much like the one I’ve just finished I expect it to change along the way. The ending for ‘A Knock at the Door’ changed as I was writing the final lines.

I’ve also been watching a lot of films recently. Not just the ones I’ve reviewed and put on here. Altered States was something I didn’t write about, but I did enjoy it. A horror film from the early 80s about gene regression and sensory depravation. A mind-trip of a movie. I just didn’t get round to writing about it fully. It’s good and I would recommend.

I’ve been on a 1980s horror kick after making my way through In Search of Darkness. A 2 part documentary about 1980s horror. Each part is around 4 hours, and I’m currently half way through part 2. There has been quite a lot of interesting films, that I’ve never even heard of, so I’ve been searching them out. So a fair few of the reviews that will be coming will be from this period. Most have been disappointing, to be honest. They are dated, with poor effects and acting. Finding something like Altered States, or Road Games which I did write a review for, makes it worth it though. The documentary is also generally interesting as well. It has a lot of interviews with actors, directors, special effect guys from the time. If you’re into horror, especially from the 1980s then it’s well worth checking out.

Another thing I’ve been doing is watching all of the Fast and Furious films. I’ve never seen these before, apart from Hobbs and Shaw. I did like that one, but it was too long. I’ve been writing a short paragraph for each one after watching it. I know next to nothing about these films. So far I’ve seen 6 of the 8 main films. I should be watching 7 today and then 8 tomorrow, so will be uploading the post on Thursday. It’s just quick thoughts.

I’ve also been reading. I read Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King. Even though the story is incredibly well known, and I knew everything that happened without reading it, I still enjoyed it. King’s characters are always worth reading. I also read Ring by Koji Suzuki, which is the basis for the horror films. I did really enjoy this one. It’s absolutely a page turner. I was surprised at how different it is to the films, the video tape is still there, the death threat is. People do die, but the tape also gives instructions on how to survive. The problem with this is that someone has taped over it. It’s more thriller than horror in the book, but absolutely worth reading. There is a whole series of books in the series and I can’t wait to pick up the other ones.

As it had been a while, I just wanted to give a quick update on how things were going. I’m still writing. A short story will be coming very soon, but be warned it’s a little extreme. There will be a review uploaded today. I’m on a late shift, so probably around half 8.

Thanks for reading and until next time,

Ashley