Category: Nonfiction

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Wacky Wednesday: May 12

We have another day of too many holidays. I’m not sure where they all come from anymore. First, we’ll continue learning the slang terms from the 1920s. Our first word/phrase today is the Big Sleep which references death. It’s also the name of a 1946 film with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Next, we have Bim referring to a woman, though I think most people said babe instead. Bing was jailhouse talk for solitary confinement. And Bit was another term for a prison sentence. These are just a few of the wacky words used back in the 1920s.

Now for the many, many holidays to celebrate today. Like last week, you can look these up on your own if you’re interested. Our token food holiday today is National Nutty Fudge Day. We also have National Limerick Day, National Odometer Day, and National Fibromyalgia Awareness Day. That’s an unusual combination of things to celebrate. Every second Wednesday in May we celebrate National Receptionists’ Day and National Third Shift Workers Day. And on the Wednesday of National Nurses Week, which is this week, we celebrate National School Nurse Day. Sometimes I don’t know what to do with so many holidays to celebrate. Maybe I should only focus on food holidays.

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Coffee and Contemplation: Horns by Joe Hill

This is the second novel of Joe Hill’s I’ve read. I enjoyed this one so much more than his first novel “Hear-Shaped Box.” You can read my opinion of that at This Post from back in March. The writing and the story in “Horns” was superior to Hill’s first novel and compared to most novels I’ve read. It is one of my all-time favorites. The was a movie adaptation starring Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple. The first time I saw the movie, I enjoyed it. When I saw it years later after reading the novel, I felt the movie was terrible. Don’t watch the movie.

I wouldn’t call this novel scary though it does deal with a lot of adult content. The horror aspects are more supernatural than gory. The monsters in the story are only humans. The story may give the reader a different view of the devil and its purpose. This novel was a lot of fun to read. It has a strong suspense, thriller vibe in some parts. If there were no supernatural themes to the story, it could have easily been film noir mystery. I am definitely looking forward to reading more by Joe Hill. 

I recommend this book to everyone. It may not be for younger teens or children.

Spooky Spider Scale (How scary was the book?): 7 spiders 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️

Overall rating: 5 stars ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

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I’ll be at the Mad Monster Party in July

If you’re not familiar with Mad Monster Party, I suggest you check out their website. This is a horror themed convention and I’ll have a vendor table. It’s happening in Glendale, AZ on the Fourth of July weekend. They have a great list of celebrities who will be in attendance. It looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. What will I be doing there? At my vendor table, I’ll be selling copies of my book “The Morbid Museum,” a collection of short horror stories framed around a curator and museum of death.

I’ll have paperback copies and a few hardbound copies. I will also have an exclusive collection of spooky haikus available for those spooky poetry fans. “Haunting Haikus” has 23 haikus along with some images. It’s a quick read but fun. I will also have a few bookmarks for sale. These will have spooky themes like skulls, pumpkins, and witches. I’ll post some photos once I have everything collected and packaged. I’m still waiting on a few deliveries. I’ll post more details as I get them. If you’ll be in Glendale, AZ on the Fourth of July weekend, come to the Mad Monster Party, find my table, and say hi. I’m looking forward to hanging with my fellow horror enthusiasts.