Testing December 19 2011

Checking in on blog status....O.o

Alive and Kicking!

My goodness, July 2010, really?? I am almost ashamed at how long I have neglected this blog....almost. You know how it is, life gets busy and all that.

Wanted to drop by and let you all know that I do have some new material to post, just need to create some room for posting into my schedule.

Keep your eye on this spot!

CJ

The Stranger

Here is something I wanted to quickly write:

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The Stranger

When it smashed through the gate in the front yard you thought it was just a man who had too much to drink. Stumbling up your walkway, you couldn't make out his face since the sun had already set. You turned on the porch light and that is when you first saw what made you think this was a nightmare. It's eyes sunken into its head looking at you with a primal hunger. Pieces of flesh hanging from different places on its exposed skin which was the color of a nasty days old bruise.

It came up the stairs and onto the porch and from behind the safety of your front door you stared through the window in disbelief and scrutinized the horrific figure making its way towards you. It looked back at you and made a sound you would classify as being something one might hear in Hell. Something between a moan and growl made between gnashing teeth. It raised its hands as if trying to grab you and its mangled hands crumpled against the window. The brown and black goo smeared on the glass was more than enough to make you step back.

Like the proverbial bad accident you cannot look away from, you stared at it as it drew its arms back and came at the window again with a little more force. The sound of the breaking glass was drowned out by your scream. You stood there screaming, seemingly unable to move, frozen in that moment as it broke more glass and pushed its body through the opening. The broken window shards sliced and shred the clothes its wearing and the rotting skin beneath as it fell into your living room.

It begins to stand up and the stink of it filled the room. The smell of decayed flesh, putrid gases, and muddy earth hit you in a wave and assaulted your senses. Even as your body buckled with nausea and you felt sure you would vomit, you realized it was reaching for you again and you ran. You fled down the hallway and into the first room with an open door diving onto the floor on the other side of the bed.

Now you just hear your own soft breathing. If you don't make any noise it wont hear you. But your heart pounds in your chest and makes you feel like the sound could be heard throughout the house. From where you are almost hidden, crouched beside the nightstand in the bedroom, you can barely see the hallway through the slightly open door. Nothing moving, not a sound. You swallow some of your fear with an ounce of saliva but your throat is so dry, it makes you cough. Immediately your heart thumps faster as you think to yourself, "Did it hear me?"

The answer comes in the form of a shadow that falls across that last sliver of light. Your next breath is caught in your lungs as you dare not breathe, dare not move, you wish your blood would stop pumping because even that seems like it can be heard. Why didn't you run for the back door? Why did you think hiding in this room would be good enough? More questions threaten to slam against your mind but suddenly you see it as it stops just outside the door.

"It can't be real, this can't be happening." But even as those thoughts race by, the illusion that this might be some kind of dream is shattered when the walking corpse pushes open the bedroom door. More light is coming into the room now, but it brings no solace. Only the form of what used to be a man standing in the doorway. It almost looks like it could still be alive, just a stranger with slumped shoulders and head tilting to one side, but you know better.

Before you can think of anything else, it turns its head and looks right at you. It moans again, and steps inside the room.

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That's it. A super short story just to creep you out. What happens next is all in your imagination. Can you get away? Be a hero? or Does it get you? Its all in your head.

• Today's Cure song is Sinking from the Head on the Door CD - (1985) From the piano keys slammed at the beginning through the steady bass line, it is a haunting tune.

"So I trick myself
Like everybody else
I crouch in fear and wait
I'll never feel again"

CJ

Population 436

Okay, once in awhile it is a treat to review a movie that is not strictly horror but right up there in the same neighborhood. Listed as a mystery/thriller, the movie "Population 436" is a pretty wicked film.

Let me pause here to tell you how I found out about this little gem. I am currently working for our illustrious United States government as a 2010 Census enumerator. So one day last week my crew leader mentions this movie and tells me the quick synopsis which went something like this..."It's about a census worker who goes to a small town where the population never changes. Every time they check the numbers it remains 436" I was intrigued and fortunate to find the full length movie on the internet.

Jeremy Sisto {(Probably best known for his roles in Six Feet Under (HBO series, 2001-2005) & Law & Order (TV series, 2007–present)} stars as a census taker assigned to count the population of a small town. He quickly discovers that things aren't quite right in Rockwell Falls. After a little research he finds that the population has been exactly 436 for the last hundred years. Finding out why that is becomes a bizarre journey for him. Very similar in plot to the literary classic "The Lottery" written by Shirley Jackson and the 2004 M. Night Shyamalan film "The Village".

What I enjoyed most was the acting. Sisto does a great job of playing the average joe caught in a very not so average circumstance. And who do we find playing the role of the somewhat helpful sheriff's deputy? Why its none other than lead singer of Limp Bizkit, Fred Durst. These guys do such a good job, that by the middle of the movie I was anxious to see how it turned out. Not a bad movie for a quiet afternoon.

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• Today's Cure song is "Homesick" from the upcoming highly anticipated remastered Disintegration CD-(1989/2010) A sad love song that threatens to make you cry from the slow melancholic beginning:
  

"And i forget when to move when my mouth is this dry
and my eyes are bursting hearts in a blood-stained sky.
Oh it was sweet it was wild and oh how we..."

CJ

Midnight Meat Train

Flipping the channels one night a couple of weeks ago, I saw the title "The Midnight Meat Train" and hit record hoping it would be the movie adaptation of the story I had once read. Sure enough, it was indeed a movie adaptation of the story by the same title written by Clive Barker.

Varying only slightly from the written story, the movie is a fantastic adaptation thanks to relatively unknown writer Jeff Buhler. What really pulls the story right off the pages is the superb acting job of Vinnie Jones who is famous to American audiences for his role in "X-Men: The Last Stand" as the Juggernaut. In this film,he is a ruthless butcher.

For those of you who have never read the story, let me tantalize your imagination with this brief synopsis:

Our protagonist is a photographer, Leon (who is brought to life on the silver screen by Bradley Cooper, recognized from his more recent film appearance in "The Hangover") looking for an inspired edgy subject matter. He finds more than he bargained for when he discovers a killer stalking the late night subway lines. Now when I say killer let me tell you the character played by Jones uses a classic meat hook and a large meat tenderizer with one end that is larger than a softball. Enter graphic gore here!

Leon begins to track the killer's movements and finds that countless people who have been simply reported as missing persons have been victims on the midnight meat train. Drawing Leon deeper into the mystery is that this appears to have been going on for nearly a hundred years. His journey leads him to the killer's lair where he makes the most disturbing discovery yet. Something ancient and horrible.

A not too bad movie for late night viewing. It may not keep you on the edge of your seat, but it will keep you moderately entertained.

CJ