Leisure

Chain Reviews and World Conquest

November 5, 2013 by fpdorchak

ERO (© 2013, F. P. Dorchak and Lon Kirschner)

I had this idea while walking, yesterday, in the quickly growing darkness of our recent Daily Saving (not “savings“) time change:

Chain reviews.

Oh, and World Conquest.

I did an Internet search and didn’t find the term “chain reviews” there, so I’m going on record as coining the term, though I’m sure someone’s already thought of this. But, if not, here’s the idea:

I give you a free (signed) copy of one of my books (ERO or The Uninvited) and you review it…and it can be a

The Uninvited (© F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design)

single sentence or as long as you want, but, you have post it online (or elsewhere if you have methods…). Now, you can post it wherever you like, but I’d at least hope it would be on Amazon and Barnes and Noble—but, as I said, I’m not mandating where it has to be, just that it be posted somewhere for others to find it. Hopefully you would also send me back a link to said review, but I’m not gonna mandate that either. I am just looking to get reviews and put them “out there.” Then, according to my crazy scheme (henceforth herein referred to as “Evil Plan”), you (temporarily!) give your copy of the book to one other person, and have them do the same. When they’re done, they return your book back to you. That’s where the “chaining” comes in. Once they’ve posted their review, if they’d like their own signed copy, they can contact me for their own copy—or a copy of a different book of mine. So, theoretically, this would go on ad infinitum…but, I can’t give away free books ad infinitum, so I’ll have to limit this to the one “other person.” I’d like to see if this Evil Plan of mine can gain any traction and become “a thing.”

So. For now. I’m limiting this “special offer” (aka “Evil Plan” or “Crazy Scheme”) to the first five who contact me for ERO and the first five who contact me for The Uninvited, and see how this goes. If it my Evil Plan “comes together,” I’ll consider additional campaigns—I mean installments (after all, all Evil Plans are to Take Over The World, and mine is no different…). Ignore that man behind the curtain, over there….

Oh, and it’s purely coincidental that my Evil Plan is initiated in November. Coincidence. Nothing more.

To get said free-and-signed-book, contact me at “fpdorchak at fpdorchak dot com” (use approved e-mail format, as in “blahblah@blahblah.com”).

Fine Print (read very fast and run all words together in one breath!): I have a limited supply of books to give away, so I cannot give any additional “chained” reviewers beyond the second reviewer, also known as the “book borrower,” free copies at this time. But stay tuned! And if anyone has already purchased a copy of any of my books, and would like it signed, also contact me at the above e-mail address, and I will autograph my Evil Signature upon said title page. With the date of said Evil Act. There’s nothing legal about any of this, just an Evil Plan hatched in the deranged mind of a deranged author trying to get by. Oh, and THANKS! :-]

You can use any book images you want from my posts.

The Mummy (1932)

October 30, 2013 by fpdorchak

Sir Joseph Whemple: [translating inscription on Scroll of Thoth box] “Death…eternal punishment…for…anyone…who…opens…this…casket. In the name…of Amon-Ra…the king of the gods. Good heavens, what a terrible curse!

Ralph Norton: [eagerly] Well, let’s see what’s inside!

I love this movie!

The above clip is my favorite scene in the entire film…I love the absolute subtly of it! The slow, weary opening of the mummy’s eyes as it’s

being summoned back to life (the eye is opened sooo slow!)…the movement of the hands away from the chest…the dessicated hand entering the scene to touch the scroll…the sloughing away into the darkness by only showing the trailing mummy wrappings (and at a mummy’s gait!)…and the gone-mad stare and laughter from our forever traumatized “Oxford chap” archeologist, Ralph Norton (Bramwell Fletcher)!

“He went for a little walk! You should have seen his face!”

I love the whole black-and-white atmosphere, the story partially inspired by the real Tutankhamun (or -amen) discovery in 1922. I love how much is left to the imagination through use of light and dark…shadows. Implication.

And then there’s the line uttered by Zita Johann and made famous by a Rob Zombie song: “Do you have to open graves to find girls to fall in love with?”

Ah, the eternal question for some!

Click here for some additional The Mummy info.

The above link mentioned there was a reincarnational scene deleted from the movie. The slideshow creator (see “Reincarnation Deleted Scense” slideshow video, below) said there had been downright animosity between the director, Carl Freund and Zita Johann (who played Helen Grosvenor), hinting that might have played a part in the removal of the scenes. I wonder if it may have taken movie goers “out” of the movie, the “mummy atmosphere” that had already been created. There is also a scene where David Manners (Frank Whemple character) tells Zita/Helen, in the scene where Zita is brought to the elder Whemple’s home and couch that there was something about “her head” (“I say…now, I know what it is about you…there was something about her head…”) and the head of the discovered mummy of Princess Anck-es-en-Amon…implying she’s got the same body (and head…face…) as the ancient Egyptian princess…while in the deleted scenes there are different actresses playing some of her different reincarnations. I know about the ideas of reincarnation for both the souls taking on new bodies, but also keeping various “versions” of their previous bodies (and every variant in between)…but it could have been a problematic issue, just the same. Anyway, for me, watching this slideshow had a “weird feel” to it, perhaps it was the contemporary video composer’s composition…including music and included contemporary slides to complete the deleted tale…but I’m not sure it would have lent anything “more” to the movie. Who knows….

In any event, here is the slideshow, showing some of those deleted scenes (again, intermixed with more contemporary scenes for “completeness” sake, I can only assume):

The only drawback (and it’s a minor one) I can find to the movie is that there aren’t many mummy-in-wraps scenes beyond the opening (minus the flashback). However, in direct contrast to that statement, I do love how the film transcends the mummy-ness into a character who interacts with the living, beyond deadly brute force! So, there lies the dichotomy. There are other mummy movies I love, like the Christopher Lee version, where he stays-as-mummy and terrorizes, but this 1932 film, with its “intelligent” script, remains at the top of my list!

And, lastly, enjoy this 1957 Boris Karloff, This Is Your Life, interview:

Where’s Mummy? (fpdorchak.wordpress.com/)
The Mummy Trilogy (fpdorchak.wordpress.com/)
The Mummy (1932): “Do you have to open graves to find girls to fall in love with?” (carfaxabbey.blogspot.com/)
Zombies v. The Undead (fpdorchak.wordpress.com/)

The Uninvited—Now In Paperback!

October 26, 2013 by fpdorchak

The Uninvited - Paperback (© F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design) — The Uninvited – Paperback (© F. P. Dorchak and Duvall Design)

“The images invaded my thoughts when I wasn’t reading the book.”

CDurandette (The Uninvited reader)

Just in time for Hallowe’en, The Uninvited is now available as a 6 x 9 trade paperback!

Right this moment (October 26th), it’s just available through CreateSpace’s link, but keep checking for the Amazon link update. Though the page counts differ between the e-book and paperback (327 for e-book, 282 for paperback), nothing is lost. Same story, just different formatting

Karen Duvall, of Duvall Design, designed this cover. I will be interviewing her next month. Thanks for the bang-up job, Karen! My interior formatter was Pam Headrick, of A Thirsty Mind. I plan on interviewing her in no short order, too. Pam is quite patient and ever so thorough—thanks, Pam!

Recent events have forced me to reconsider my earlier timeline of releasing some other work, this year, so I no longer plan on releasing anything new in the remainder of 2013. Further releases of pending novels will now be sometime next year.

So, if you’re looking for another creepy read, please do check out the paperback version of The Uninvited! I’ve written with you in mind….

Praise for The Uninvited:

“This book was quite an unexpected pleasure. I began by following a journalist into a gruesome crime scene in Florida and in a short time I found myself thinking about this novel when I was shopping, having coffee or doing chores. The characters are interesting and well developed through the book to the very end. The development of the storyline was unanticipated so I hate to tell you too much about it here in the review, but I highly recommend this novel as a good way to spend your time.”

CDurandette (an Uninvited reader)

“I get the chills… a most impressive work.”

Rob Butts, Seth Material Facilitator/Author, The Seth Material, The Early Sessions, The Personal Sessions

“At some point in our lives we contemplate, among numerous things, the demise of past souls and the inexplicable ‘natural’ comfort (or immediate aversion) we feel with some upon first meeting. F. P. Dorchak’s The Uninvited presents the possibilities through an ominous tale that explores and may provide reason for such sensitivities, while explaining the evil borne (and perpetrated) by society’s sinister few.”

Jan C.J. Jones, CoExecutive Producer – Researcher/Writer, Forest Rose Productions, LLC

“The Uninvited is a dynamic, intense novel. F. P. Dorchak weaves his story adeptly, with skill and precision. He easily intertwines the worlds of reincarnation and quantum physics to create a powerful, suspenseful experience for the reader.”

Sydney Heflin, Ed. D. Former Research Chair, International Association for Regression Research and Therapies.

“If psychological and even physical characteristics can follow us from lifetime to lifetime, can revenge and retribution be far behind? In his chilling novel, The Uninvited, author F. P. Dorchak explores the dark side reincarnation. It’s a good read. Hard to put down.”

Dr. Robert T. James, author of Passport to Past Lives. The Evidence.

“I found I could not stop reading… I became totally fascinated by the depth of Dorchak’s exploration into the many influences beneath the hostilities performed. I was especially delighted with his reference to the modern pioneer in metaphysics and philosophy, Jane Roberts—right there beside the famous psychic Edgar Cayce. Today’s police and lawyers need this novel!”

Madelon Rose Logue, Editor/Publisher The Black Sheep

The Uninvited (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)
The Uninvited—Deleted WTC Scene (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)
Crazy Ants Invade! (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)
Music of The Uninvited (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)
KA_BAR and The Uninvited —Not For The Squeamish (fpdorchak.wordpress.com)

Pizza Never Weeps

October 17, 2013 by fpdorchak

Hard-Boiled Private Dick Sam Spade mysteriously wakes up 70 years after the case of the Maltese Falcon to a world he’s not quite prepared for…but not afraid of, either. Another short from my Renaissance Man brother, Greg, of Class Clown Pictures.

Pizza never weeps.

My Favorite Horror Novels

October 10, 2013 by fpdorchak

Please, Let Me Show You A Few Of My Favorite Things.... (Nosferatu Photo credit: Wikipedia) — Please, Let Me Show You A Few Of My Favorite Things…. (Nosferatu Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Since I listed my favorite horror films, I decided, why not list my favorite horror novels? I don’t consider myself any kind of “well read”; Most of my recent reading has been for my own novel research, and since I no longer write a lot of strict “horror,” I don’t read a lot of it. I will state this, however: I love [most of] Stephen King’s horror/supernatural work.

Now, having said that, there was one book of his I’d started and never finished, because I found it to be so mean-spirited I just didn’t want to read any further. That book was Full Dark, No Stars. Loved the title, but didn’t want to be subjected to what I was reading. It was too real. Too nasty. Mean. It surprised me that he’d written such a novel. It was about revenge and the nastiness that can reside inside people. As one Amazon reviewer said, it was “just gratuitous nastiness.” And that so many people loved this book is kinda unnerving. Really, people love reading about that kind of stuff? Granted, this question can be levied at horror fiction, in general, but holy shit. At least to me, reading horror (and supernatural) fiction is about a release from the real world, of entering a fantastic world of The Weird…about experiencing something that engages the fright mode in each of us—but in a comfortable way. Full Dark, No Stars, however, was like reading real accounts of Mankind’s Inhumanity To Mankind. Or getting inside the heads of these people who commit crimes, and that simply doesn’t interest me. I don’t read true crime and have no interest in getting inside any mean-minded individual’s heads. I don’t enjoy that kind of material…it’s not a release, not cathartic, and certainly not entertainment for me. Sometimes fiction can be too real, and while I applaud King’s ability to write like no other (and incite these feeling in me with his work), that doesn’t mean that I have to like everything he writes (same goes with any writer’s efforts—including mine).

So I returned the book, unfinished.

On to more fun reading!

Below is a list of those novels (no anthologies) I’ve read over the years and really enjoyed. Most I have not read again since the first read, sometimes, years and years ago, but, again, like the movies I’d written about, they stuck with me for some reason. In once case, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, I’d read it four times, and still love it. There are also several books out there from King and some others, like Anne Rice and Susan Hill’s The Woman in Black, I have yet to get to, so they may yet be included in future editions of this list….

And given my one extreme, with Full Dark, No Stars, I can honestly say that my other extreme, my most favorite horror read of all time (so far), was Pet Sematary. When I read it, it was the scariest horror novel I’d ever read, and everything I’ve read since, I measure against it! Nothing has come close…but again, I don’t consider myself “well read.” But, the feeling of utter creepiness was and still has stuck with me as the best all-time creepiness I’ve ever read. Dracula would tally in as the most atmospheric novel.

So, feel free to check out any of these great reads—and suggest some of your own favorites—maybe I’ve read them and simply forgotten about them, as I did with The Ring, in my favorite horror movies (I have a saying that “I’ve forgotten more than I ever knew…”)!

Now…enter my library…if you dare….

If You Could See Me Now

Interview With A Vampire

My Favorite Horror Movies!

October 5, 2013 by fpdorchak

I will take you places you have never been…and I will show you things you have never seen….

Well.

I don’t think I’ve yet done a post on my favorite horror movies, I’m quite surprised to say (though I did touch on some last year)! I was inspired for this post by Chiseled in Rock. Thanks, Gusto!

You’ll also note that not many of my favorites involve more recent fares. There’s a reason for that. I just don’t like most of the recent crop. I know my tastes have changed over the years, perhaps the current horror films are too nasty (like the Saw flicks—just cannot bring myself to see any of them, no matter what people try to tell me about how “psychological” they may be), but nearly ever time I go to a new horror flick, I leave disappointed. So, I pretty much have stopped going to them, unless something really grabs me, like The Woman in Black. There are other films I like, but at the time of writing this, they didn’t come to mind. If I think of them, I’ll add. And I am only talking horror/supernatural films, not SF or anything else, like Village of the Damned, which I also really like.

Curiously, I haven’t seen any of Rob Zombie’s films/remakes. I need to do this…but it just doesn’t seem “to happen.” I love his music, his artistry and imagery in his songs, but have heard some of his work is kinda graphic, and (not to be a wimp…), but graphic isn’t usually my thing, though some of those on my list can be graphic. I think the graphic-ness has to be balanced by story and amount…even humor, however black, like Bill Paxton’s killer bar scene in Near Dark (“Finger lickin’ good!”). And there are undoubtably those films, like Gothika or maybe even Ghost Ship (I give them honorable mentions and links, because I do seem to remember really liking them) that I’d seen and really liked at the time, but I just don’t remember that much about them any more….

Also, I must admit, I haven’t seen most of these movies in years. As of a year or so ago (when I last spent some time looking), some are extremely hard to find, like Nomads. I’ve looked for the movie for years and haven’t been able to find it, and I don’t belong to any movie subscriber services beyond our cable provider, so that may be an issue. I hope as time goes on, more and more of these older films will resurface. I’d love to see some of them again, to see if I would still enjoy them in my current mindset, like The Other (I last saw this film when I was a kid, and though I don’t remember a lot about it, the overall feel of the film has stuck with me all these years!).

So, here, in alphabetical order, are a list of my 20 favorite horror films! I’ve linked their trailers to them. Feel free to mention a few of your own! And since it’s early October, there’s still plenty of time to catch these before Hallowe’en!

An American Werewolf in London

Night of the Living Dead

Nightmare on Elm Street