The Following - Part 7

      Hey guys, happy Thursday! Sorry it's a little later in the day than usual, but I came home for part of the week and had a really great day out with my mum, and a lovely meal with both parents. 

      Did you know, starting yesterday it's National Crime Writing Month? So I guess that makes this post quite apt, being as it's about stalking and violence etcetera...

http://www.stepaheadsecurity.ie/door-reinforcement-steel-plates/

I was winded, but resolved to win this fight, whatever the cost. The knife had flown from my hand as he took me down and I tried to shuffle away from his writhing body to get it. He slammed me into the cupboards, a glass on top wobbling so hard that it fell and smashed right by his head. As he shielded his eyes from the splintering glass, I heaved myself backwards and wrenched my left arm from his grasp. He regained his grip and as I lowered my face to him once again, I felt the full fury behind his fist collide with my jaw – my teeth sunk into my tongue, pain exploding across the flesh, the taste of blood soon followed the pain and began seeping down my throat.

I made a move to grab the knife’s handle but he launched himself forwards and in one swift movement he pinned my arm to the floor and knocked the weapon from my grasp. The force of his movement threw us both into the leg of the table, a sharp pain cracked through my skull as my head made impact with the furniture, a second crack swiftly followed as the table toppled over and a third was emitted as his fist reconnected with my jaw for a second time. This time I spat out one of my back teeth and a gob of bloody spit.

The sound of knocking at the door was almost drowned out as he mounted me and began punching my face alternately from left to right. It came again, louder this time, along with a statement that is was the police, and if the door was not opened in the next ten seconds, they would have to use force. I tried to cry out, but could only gurgle through the blood and saliva which were gathering in my wind-pipe. One of my eyes was beginning to swell so much that I could barely see through it and my head was fuzzy. The light escaped from the world just as I saw the door fly open, and shards of wood splinter through the air – one piece grazing my temple before I lost grip of the last minuscule tendrils of consciousness.

Hopefully you enjoyed this bit of the story - I'm not sure how many pieces of the story are left, but I think we're near our conclusion, so if you have any suggestions for new stories you'd be interested in, either suggest it in the comments or tweet me @EmphaticPanda, I'm also pretty interested as to whether you'd want more stories in parts like this, or one off pieces like I used to do a lot - again, tweet me of comment on the post what you'd like, and I'll do my best to accommodate everyone :)
            See you on Tuesday for a feature of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 'trilogy of five' etc. etc. 

                  Have a great weekend and thanks for reading! Laura

                                                                                        xoxoxoxox 

James Herbert's Portent - Book Review

            Hiya, I hope you had a great weekend - it was really sunny in London from Saturday to yesterday, and in true English style - it's been tipping it down with rain today. That being said, it's quite relevant to today's review! So, here goes!

http://ebooks.muracco.net/calibre/_catalog/book/book_231.html

       Portent: (noun) A sign or warning that something, esp. something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen.
 

Marketed as ‘Fiction/horror-thriller’, James Herbert’s Portent was first released in the UK in 1992. I would add a sub-sub-genre of sci-fi to the already eclectic mix, as the story follows British climatologist James Rivers as he attempts to uncover the reasons behind the freak weather occurrences which are happening all over the world. Herbert introduces characters in his unique way; utilising free-indirect speech (writing as the character speaks/thinks) so that the reader gets a clear idea of the personality of the characters, without really having to be told.

As with so many other novels by James Herbert, (dare I say all of them?) the characters are complex, they are flawed, endearing and likeable; they seem as though they could be real people – someone you just met with for lunch. Rivers’ reluctance to believe the seemingly insane theories set forth by geophysicist Hugo Poggs and his family - despite the evidence being presented to him in abundance – is a clear mirroring of the scepticism possibly felt by the reader that the supernatural is having an effect. Personally, I like this aspect a lot, it makes it seem so much more real because he’s not saying ‘this is happening, deal with it.’ But rather implying ‘this could be happening, here’s something that happened, here’s something else that happened on the other side of the globe – you decide.’ Throughout the novel, and in fact, many of his novels, Herbert is merely planting seeds which he carefully waters and diligently feeds, giving them bamboo shoots to cling to as they grow and strengthen until they are strong enough to stand alone as ideas. As metaphorical as that may be, I am often left irritated by writers who weave an interesting enough idea, but don’t give it a strong enough base or sufficient back grounding, (for the sake of the plant imagery let’s go with nutrients) so that the narrative ultimately falls flat.

In particular, I appreciate the way that Herbert moves all around the globe to tell this story – no freak weather incident is merely reported, he takes to you the barrier reef to watch it explode, he shows you a Chinese village being swallowed by a sandstorm – in short, you are always at the forefront of the action, never once having the details dimmed or embellished by a news reader or any other character. Due to this, the action is always present; there is a steady level of tension which remains with you until (almost) the last page. There are moments in which Hebert’s description is genuinely disgusting, it actually made me cringe at some points and at others, feel slightly sick. You see, in his descriptions, he will never say ‘this thing looks like this’, but rather, he’ll bring in all of the senses so that you can tastes it, smell, hear it, see it, and feel it crawling on your skin.

Aside from the attack on multiple senses, and without giving too much about the novel away, the real horror in Portent lies in the idea that this could really happen in the future, or even could be happening as we speak. (Or type/read, you get the idea) Overall, I think it’s pretty clear that I adore this novel (and James Herbert) and I’ll be happy to read it again and again; that said, I give it the whole five pandas.

The only negative I have with this book is that I over-analyse the weather now, expecting disasters to happen around me.

Yes, I did sit and make this myself for the purposes of reviews.

So, Thursday will be part 7 of The Following, then next Tuesday - by request - will be more of a feature than a review on The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I say feature because I can't just talk about the books - after all, it's been a film, a radio series, a 'trilogy of five' etc., and I want to take all of those elements into consideration, otherwise I just don't think I can do it justice! 

Have a great week, I'll see you on Thursday and thanks for reading! Laura

                                                                                                       xoxoxoxox     

The Following - Part 6

     Hey there, here's part six of the Following. If you missed it, my review of Evil Dead went up in the early hours of Wednesday so that's further down the page. Next Tuesday will be the first book review to feature on here; so without much more waffling - enjoy the story, and I'll see you on Tuesday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/britain-renewable-energy-2050-target

 He stared straight at me; his eyes boring into mine, I almost felt the need to shield myself from his glare. Other than this, he looked completely calm.

‘Was that you I saw near my girlfriend’s flat this morning?’ I stared blankly at him, that wave of icy fire moving through me once more, caressing my heart and making me rigid. ‘I asked a question.’ I wanted to run. ‘Well?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I responded slowly and deliberately. His fists clenched and his shoulders became tighter; my knees buckled.

‘So that thud I heard on the landing below, the one that was supposed to seem like someone tripped – that wasn’t you?’ I felt dizzy, my head was starting to spin and I was fighting a surge of nausea.

‘No.’

‘But you know what I’m talking about?’

‘No.’

‘So when the person who…tripped, started whistling – that wasn’t you either?’

‘No.’ I felt like a petulant schoolboy who had been caught shooting spit balls at a teacher. I felt five years old and I didn’t like it, my fear was beginning to turn into anger.

‘That’s strange though, isn’t it? Because in the seconds before you opened the door to me, you started whistling. You started whistling the same tune, in the same way that the person who tripped earlier did. The person who I suspect jumped from my girlfriend’s balcony, and by extension – the person I saw sitting on the balcony last night in the rain, before I passed it off as a bin bag. You may as well just come clean.’

‘I didn’t jump from the balcony.’ I began to move away from the door now, anger bringing a new confidence to me. I could take this guy, he wasn’t anything special. He just looked bigger because he’d puffed out his chest and squared his shoulders. I was stronger. I moved into the kitchen and placed my hands nonchalantly on the counter top. ‘Tea?’ I offered. I saw a new level of anger come into his eyes. I almost laughed.

‘So you’re saying it wasn’t you? You’re lying to me?’

‘No, I’m not lying to you at all, I simply said I didn’t jump from the balcony. I jumped from the guttering.’ I clicked the button on the kettle, he stood there staring, a heavy silence weighing down the air between us. The kettle began to shake as the water inside reacted to the searing heat emitted from the heating element within. Steam began to rise from the kettle, creating a cloud between us. I took the chance to reach to the knife holder to my left. ‘You know, I never actually came into your girlfriend’s property. I sat on the side-lines, watching her, adoring her. You, on the other hand, I don’t remember inviting you in here. I wonder what the police would say if I called them now, I can prove you’re in here, what can you prove?’ The steam had cleared by now, and I felt a pang of terror when he looked up at me again, for the rage in his eyes was more evident than I had ever imagined it could be.

‘How long have you been following her?’

‘A while now – long enough to know all of her friends by name, long enough to know her parents, long enough to know the best way onto her balcony without being seen…’ He lunged at me now, his aggression carrying him over the counter-top. His shoulder made impact with my chin and his bear-like arms wrapped themselves around my waist, slamming me down onto the linoleum floor with the force of our combined weights.

Hope you liked this piece, the next bit will be up next Thursday. There probably aren't very many instalments left of this, so we'll be onto something new in a few weeks. Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Tuesday.

                                Thanks for reading! Laura

                                                               xoxoxoxox

Evil Dead - Film Review

        It's a bit later in the day than I would have hoped, but I have mitigating circumstances. My computer decided yesterday at 7pm that it would be really really fun to have a complete meltdown, with constant crashes and 'bluescreens' and all sorts of other fun computer-based activities. It culminated in my losing everything, basically and I have since spent the day putting things back onto my computer. So - as promised, and only just after Tuesday - my review of Evil Dead.

http://www.dreadcentral.com/reviews/evil-dead-2013

             Originally released in 1981, Evil Dead once again took to cinema screens on the 18^th of April 2013 (UK) Directed by Fede Alvarex and featuring a not-so-well-known cast, my initial reaction to this film was simply that I didn’t have much of a reaction to it at all, and if someone were to ask me what I thought of it, I actually found it difficult to verbalise my thoughts. (Short of ‘meh.’)

I didn’t review it straight away, as generally if I come out of a cinema feeling underwhelmed, I find that the film grows on me, and I end up thinking it’s great – or alternatively, I come to the realisation that the film was just bad in itself and I don’t agree with critics or the general public in such a case. However, after a significant amount of time, I still had no positive or negative adjectives for it, something which I noticed was a trend both among the people I saw the film with, and the general population of the internet.

Almost in desperation, I watched the 1981 original, directed by Sam Raimi. This changed my opinion of the 2013 remake considerably. In 1981, cinematic effects were just not what they are today, and it makes the most tense moments of the film almost laughable, with its genuinely terrible ‘possession’ make-up, and poor acting. (Actually laughable – I laughed) With regards to the possession make-up and general effects, the 2013 version wins hands down, with the demons being extremely creepy – moving into scary. However, the acting still leaves a little to be desired, with over-exaggeration of lines and all of those other horror movie tropes.  (Exaggerated screaming, making lots of noise when they could clearly benefit from being quiet, someone reading an ancient language which awakes demons despite glaring scribbled messages which state DO NOT SEE THIS, OR SPEAK IT OR HEAR IT, which would be some level of a deterrent to the average human being, especially one who is supposed to be intelligent, like Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) is, but that’s a different rant. Then there’s the strong-willed individual calling the demon ‘motherf***er’ before brandishing a chainsaw, etc. etc. etc.)

Not obvious enough.
http://nitehawkhatched.com/2013/04/12/one-sentence-review-evil-dead-2013/

One thing which is a massive improvement in the 2013 version is the back story of the characters. Although I came out not knowing any of their names, and not really caring either; after watching the original, I can honestly say that Mia (Jane Levy) – the new version of Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss) – as the initial unfortunate soul who runs into the wrong demon is far more logical in terms of the storyline. For one thing, she is a recovering drug addict, which makes her erratic behaviour more understandable, and of course makes it more logical that she’d not be taken seriously when she is terrified of what she has witness and been through.

Something else which I really thought was a great touch with the remake is the inclusion of a sort of prelude, in which we are introduced to the book which outlines the possession process and how to get rid of the demons. This was effective to me simply because it starts the film with an element of tension, which seemed to come out of nowhere in the original.

Despite these comparisons, I’m still not prepared to say that the 2013 remake is good; it absolutely is better than the original on many levels; however as a single entity, it still left me feeling distinctly underwhelmed. I found the blood too much - it made it all seem slightly less serious when it appeared to be a film which does take itself seriously. Overall, I’d give it two and a half pandas, maybe edging towards three if I really compare it to the original. I may watch this film again, and next time I may appreciate it more, however for now, I just don’t think it’s for me.    

That said, this...                              

http://www.totalfilm.com/the-evil-dead-2013

http://www.themaninthemoviehat.com/trailer-happy-what-watching-evil-dead/

        

            is far better make-up  

                           than this...

            Next Tuesday I'll be reviewing a book which is about 30 years old, but I love it and I think it needs to be spoken about, especially since the author is one of my biggest literary heroes and he died a couple of months ago. 

                       Anyway! See you Thursday (which is technically tomorrow by now) and sorry for being late,

                                                               thanks for reading, Laura

                                                                                            xoxoxox

The Following - Part 5

Hey beautiful, here's the fifth installment of The Following, it's just a short piece of the story, but it's only a week until part six! 

http://www.wikihow.com/Burglarproof-Your-Doors

I slumped onto the sofa as soon as I got into my flat. I fell into a fitful sleep and awoke to the sound of knocking on my door some hours later. I was in a state of semi-consciousness which added to my confusion. I was not accustomed to visitors – even the postman didn’t knock anymore. I made my way across the room as quietly as possible, so that the would-be intruder may not hear my approach. Peering through the peephole in the door, my heart seemed to spasm, and my breath caught in my throat. He was standing there, a mixture of concern and anger in his face. I put my hands against the door and it bumped against the frame faintly. He stiffened at this, placing his ear against the wood and obviously concentrating. Was it worse to open the door and act ignorant; or to ignore him completely now that he’s more than likely aware of my being home? I wonder how he got the right flat.

I decided to open the door, but first I took a few silent steps backwards, so that he’d assume I hadn’t been near the door in the first place. I opened the window to my left so that the breeze could have been the culprit in making the door move before. Just as I was about to move back towards the door, he knocked again.

‘Just a second!’ I responded jovially. I began whistling and made my way to the door, making sure that my feet made a sound on the floor – another measure intended to remove his suspicions that I’d been so near to him already.  When I opened the door, he didn’t wait for an invitation. I felt a rush of freezing heat as my blood responded to the notion that I’d been caught. I closed the door and turned to face him. 

I'll be back on Tuesday to review Evil Dead, so have a really great weekend and thanks for reading!

                             Laura

                                     xoxoxoxoxox

Star Trek: Into Darkness - A Review

        Hey hey! I've had a think - reviews on here in the past seem to have gone down reasonably well, and as a way of bringing some sort of structure to my own blogging habits, I thought it may be worthwhile to make them a more regular thing. I thought it could work if I post reviews on Tuesdays, and creative pieces on Thursdays. I should say now that the reviews may not always be of brand new things, of course if I see a film on or close to its release date, I'll try and review it on here around that time. What I mean though, is that with regards to other reviews such as books, the book may not be a new release. So, without any further delay...

http://collider.com/star-trek-into-darkness-banner/

        Star Trek: Into Darkness made its appearance in UK cinemas on Thursday the 9th of May, 2013 - It is the follow up to the 2009 film Star Trek, both directed by J.J Abrams. It begins with a mixture of comedy and tension with Captain James T. Kirk, (Chris Pine) Bones, (Karl Urban) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) trying desperately to prevent a huge volcanic eruption on Planet Nibiru, which is threatening its primitive inhabitants. The tension continues with the dramatically ambiguous introduction of Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) The main story line begins here, with many twists and turns - the tension remaining at more-or-less the same level throughout, with some big peaks, and moments of comedic relief once again from Scotty (Simon Pegg)

        The inclusion of Carol (Alice Eve) I felt was almost unnecessary; I personally felt that her acting didn't quite live up to the standards of the other actors, and on her part there was no major character development or any sort of epiphany. Perhaps if she is included in future Star Trek films, she will have her moments of greatness, but for me, they just weren't there in this one.

        One really stand-out element of the film which I found absolutely fantastic, was Cumberbatch's portrayal of Khan. I'm a pretty massive Cumberbatch fan anyway, and truth be told - I went to see this film because he was in it. I was blown away though, honestly. He was dark, mysterious, brooding, evil, lovable, untrustworthy, a bit trustworthy; and just all around ambiguous and wonderful.

           There is one pretty big plot hole, but unfortunately, it is a bit of a spoiler, and I'd hate to ruin this for anyone. What I will say, is that it is quite near the end and involves resuscitation. I can see why they did it the way they did though, and the plot hole doesn't take anything away from the actual story. 

             Finally, I thoughts the character development which was shown with regards to Kirk in particular, and Spock to an extent; was their own character development. While Kirk remains young and fun-loving, he has a new edge of maturity - something which is very present near the film's conclusion.

              Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and am looking forward to the next installment, which has been announced, and should be on our screens some time in 2016. 

Next week's review will be on Evil Dead.

                                        Thanks for reading! Laura

                                                                       xoxoxox 

The Following - Part 4

Hello for the second day in a row! If you didn't see my post yesterday, it was basically a photo of Mel Gibson declaring my freedom. Anyhow, as I said, I have a fair bit of free time now, so I thought I'd get back on the horse and post the fourth part of this fun story, enjoy!

http://news.domain.com.au/domain/real-estate-news/laundry-loathers-cross-the-line-20120817-24c0g.html

I think I fell asleep at some point, because all of a sudden, there was no rain and the first signs of the morning sun were glinting across the horizon. The blinds were drawn across the doors, so they must not have seen me when they went to bed. After a few hours, I decided it was time to leave – he would probably see me if he opened the blinds now, and it wasn’t likely that he’d be nice to me. I got up, my limbs stiff, and a pool of water fell from my coat where it had been collecting between my legs. I stretched out and heard movement in the flat. I could hear their voices from behind the wall of glass, his voice was harder to hear than hers, being deeper. I think he must have gotten closer to me then though, because I heard him telling her that he was sure he’d seen something outside last night. She asked him what, exactly, and he replied uncertainly;

                ‘Well, from the looks of it…a man’

                ‘A man? Are you sure?’

             ‘No, no I couldn’t be sure, it was so dark and when I looked back, it just looked like bin bags.’

                ‘Well I don’t leave my bin bags out there, check now, see if there’s anything there.’

He began to pull the blinds back and I froze – What could I do? I was too high up to drop down without at least breaking my legs, and they’d be sure to see me if I climbed onto the gutter. The blinds were moving slowly and I just caught a glimpse of his head facing away from the window when I noticed in the window’s reflection that part of the balcony was boarded up. In less than a second, I threw myself over the railings and held on for dear life. I heard the key moving in the lock and then came the sound of the door being slid along its runner. I began to panic that he’d look over the balcony, of that they’d see my fingers grasping the edge of the railing. I heard her ask if he could see anything; I heard him reply no. Then the door slid shut again.

I was just about to climb back onto the balcony when I realised that he probably hadn’t closed the blind – it was shaping up to be a lovely day and I could hear them moving plates and cutlery around; probably making breakfast. I was beginning to lose my grip, but I leaned as far as I could to my right, and eventually caught a glimpse of the door. To my horror, the blinds were still open, and he was standing on the end of the balcony smoking. My heart lurched into my throat and I almost fell there and then. I had to be careful now. I began shuffling my hands along the railing in the opposite direction to him, until I was opposite his back. I was in shit-street; if he looked around now, that was it for me – that would be a lot of explaining and I just didn’t have the answers. My foot found a small ledge beneath me then, and I relieved some of the weight from my fingers. I grabbed the guttering above me and sidled along it a bit, before dropping down to the iron walkway below. That made a noise, but I pretended that I’d tripped in case he came to look. I began to whistle as I walked along to the ladder. As I turned to begin my descent, I looked up to the ledge I’d just left. He was looking down at me, curiously. I smiled to him, waving a hand as if I were wishing him good morning. He blew out a last lungful of smoke and put his cigarette out on the wall. I was glad to be at the bottom of the ladder, and I ran to the front of the building. When I got to the road, I turned to look back at her flat. I saw him there, in her bedroom window, staring down at me. I couldn’t see the exact look on his face, but I knew he suspected something.

So, I hope you enjoyed this installment, I'll be on the next bit soon enough! Before I go, I just want to say a huge, huge thank you to anyone who has been kind enough to Google+ any of the posts on here, you cannot fathom how much I appreciate it and how much it makes me love you angel-faced humans :)

Lots of love, and thanks so much for reading! Laura

                                                                      xoxoxoxox

So, it's like this...

http://www.empowernetwork.com/marketwithme/blog/why-i-stopped-messin-around-and-decided-to-join-empower-network/braveheart-freedom/

         Yep, I had my last exam on Friday, which was...interesting at best. So now I'm done for the summer, and as Mr Gibson is expressing, I am free. It was suggested that my next post after exams and coursework were done would just be the alphabet typed out repeatedly, seemingly as a result of 'revision insanity' - if you're a student, you will know of 'revision insanity', if you are going to be a student (uni) in the future, you will come to know it. It is a bit of a blessing in that you bond more with people, and Gollum impressions are totally acceptable. Anyway, I've been away for so long and I didn't want to freak you all out too much, so I thought I'd just post a massive photo of Mel Gibson; (interpret that as you will)
       Anyway, I realised that I just don't know how to do nothing, so I ordered some screenwriting textbooks and have planned my dissertation screenplay. I'll hopefully have something new and shiny and fictional and lovely for you all to read really soon, I'm just sorry I've been away for so long!
       I hope any of you who still have exams/coursework to do are feeling good about them - you'll be fine, and I wish you good luck! Anyone else who's done like me, welcome to freedom, my friends!

                                   Catch you later, thanks for reading! Laura
                                                                                         xoxoxoxoxox