It feels like the last week is just a place holder for the rest of the year, like I’m just waiting for that other proverbial piece of footwear to hit the floor. This is a ridiculous thing to say since the week was absolutely filled with such horribleness that it is hard to even process it. California is on fire and rather than deal with the issue — or the underlying issue of climate change — politicians are using the tragedy as an excuse to spew their usual venomous rhetoric. Politicians and CEOs alike are toadying up to the incoming government, going out of their way to just be the absolutely worst people they can possibly be. And speaking of being the worst people, we learned more about an author I used to adore being an utter dirtbag…

Is it too late to return 2025 for a refund?

Sorry, sorry. I don’t want to turn this into a huge doom thing.

It has been super cold up here in Michigan. I still haven’t taken down the outside lights; in fact the icicle lights had actual icicles on them the other day. I did unplug them so we don’t look like complete white trash.

Full disclosure, I spent the other day in a gray shirt that looks kind of like long johns and bib overalls so I was really just a trucker cap and a plug of chaw away from looking the part. The beauty of country life and working from home.

I also haven’t taken down any of the indoor decorations because sometimes you just want to sit in a darkened room where the only illumination comes from the fire and the lights on the tree. I’ll get to it. Eventually.

It was kind of an up and down week. Tesla turned 14 the other day, but we also had the two year anniversary of when we said goodbye to Titus. Tesla dealt with all of the extra snuggles pretty well, but she is sitting more than an arm length away from my right now…

The big thing I have been working on this year is an attempt to do more creative writing. I got into a bad habit of focusing solely on non-fiction over the past couple of years. I’m trying to rectify that this year. I have picked up the threads of a cryptid based project I started a few years ago — the most detailed outline work I have ever done. Spreadsheets people. Multiple spreadsheets.

Because accountability translates to tracking progress in my brain I have also started using a website called Trackbear. I hope to keep up with the numbers so I can have some cool stuff to report come the end of December. I can tell you that it is already working, as I have been forcing myself to work on stuff just to keep my writing streak going.

Tomorrow I will be part of a panel discussing the movie Last County. This is a different type of podcast for me as all of the speakers will be talking about the same flick. Tune in for the discussion.

Listening To: “APT” on repeat like everyone else in the world. Even The Mrs thinks that this is a catchy tune. It’s just bouncy enough to get me out of my mood and for that I am thankful.

Currently Reading: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix. OK, so I’m not reading it yet, I just picked it up today. I could have sworn that I pre-ordered it but I don’t see it on any of my accounts. Fortunately, I found a Barnes & Noble gift card to technically I only paid $3 for it. (Of course I picked up another book as well, but we won’t say anything about that.) I plan on starting it as soon as I finish today’s work. I fully expect to love it, as I have everything else by Hendrix I have read. Also, in case you haven’t seen me mention it before, you should definitely see Grady Hendrix in person if you have the chance. He is absolutely hysterical and creative in person. The real estate based discussion of haunted houses that accompanied his How to Sell a Haunted House release was hilarious. The Paperbacks from Hell presentation had me laughing until I cried all three times I saw it.

Current Obsession: The Mrs had an extra day off last week so we did spend a bit of time vegging out on the couch (her with her quilting and I with my laptop). High Potential is a fun, quirky detective show in the vein of Monk, Psych, and the other “oddball helps the cops solve crime” shows that populated TBS and TNT a while back. On Call is a gritty glimpse into the cops on the beat. I was happy sad to watch the final episode of Lower Decks which tied everything up so well. I haven’t watched much of the recent Trek based TV, but I loved that one.

Dragon’s Roost Press News

We are working behind the scenes on the first couple books which will be coming out in 2025. If things go as planned, we will probably be putting out five or six in 2025. Stay tuned for more official announcements.

My Confusion schedule has been updated to accommodate the fact I have to leave early on Saturday. In addition to the panels mentioned last time around, I will also be doing a reading at noon. My full schedule can be found here.

As I write this, Amazon dropped off a package which I suspect is the other half of the new display method I plan on trying out this year. I think that the racks I have been using may have been hindering sales as we now have so many titles that they are a bit crammed in together. We purchased two sets of folding shelves which will allow us to display all of the beautiful cover art. They will make their first appearance at the Michigan Oddities and Horror Expo on 1 February.

This Week’s Rambling: Wolf Man

I was once again fortunate enough to score access to an advanced screening of The Wolf Man (GLAHW — membership has its privileges). Please note the space and lack of the article “the” as this is not another retelling of Lawrence Talbot’s tale (thank Dagon), but the tale of Blake (Christopher Abbott), a father who has to return to the farm of the father who tormented him as a child after said father’s passing. Along for the ride are his wife Charlotte (Julia Gardner) and young daughter Ginger (Matilda Firth). Blake’s dad was a survivalist, off the grid type so the film nicely sets up the isolation that the trio will be in — no neighbors, no phone, no mobile service, city folk out in the country.

Without walking into spoiler territory, the family ends up stranded at the old farmstead where they are attacked by something. The movie does a nice job of keeping the creature in the shadows at first, which does ramp up the unease. As the night progresses the group must fight off the beast outside while dealing with the rising tensions mounting inside the house. If this sounds a bit like a zombie movie, that’s because Wolf Man does have that feel at times. The film also reminds one of Cronenberg’s master of body horror The Fly. Some of the most impactful scenes in the movie come from the body horror elements present in the movie.

While there were some nits that I would pick, overall Wolf Man is a perfectly serviceable creature feature. The special effects are good, the acting also good. It doesn’t quite pack the punch of some other trapped-in-the-house-while-attacked-from-outside movies (for a better example of this check out 2002’s Dog Soldiers). There are some beautiful shots, but I wouldn’t say that this is one that you have to rush out and see at the cinema.

TLDR Rating: An entertaining addition to the werewolf genre, but doesn’t supply anything brand new. Good body horror elements. You should watch it, but not until it comes on streaming.

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