Film Review: The Conjuring (Had Trouble Sleeping After Watching)

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Emma

Films involving possession freak me out, and The Conjuring was no exception. Atmospheric and Chilling. I’d recommend it in a heartbeat to anyone who enjoys a spooky haunted house story.

conjuringI didn’t get to see The Conjuring on the big screen. Similar to the Ethan Hawke horror film, Sinister, family and friends refused point blank after seeing the trailer, and there was no way in hell I was going alone. After watching it on the small screen, I am glad I never got to see it in the cinema.

Carolyn and Roger Perron (Lily Taylor and Ron Livingston) move with their five daughters to a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere. It’s 1971, times are tough for the family and they’ve put all their investments into the house. When things start to go wrong, there’s nowhere for them to go.

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson play real life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren. The Warrens do their best to help the Perron family deal with the malevolent spirit in their house, despite the fact that Lorraine is still recovering from a demonic attack. Before we get to the Perron’s story, we see the Warrens at work, helping a couple of young women who have been targeted by a demonic force. The doll, “Annabelle”, with its wide smile and evil eyes gave me the chills. The fact that the Warrens keep every item touched by demonic energy or spirits in their basement, in the house they share with their young daughter, horrified me. Surely that’s asking for trouble, I thought. Surely they’re going to pay for that sooner or later…

What sets this apart from other haunted house stories are the performances from all actors, both the adults and the children. As a viewer I liked this family and wanted them to be safe. The parents are deeply disturbed and fearful for the safety of their kids. The paranormal investigators also come across as sincere and genuine. I found myself grateful that they were helping this family. One of the daughters wakes up nightly to find the sheets being pulled off her bed. She sees a terrifying presence standing behind the bedroom door, but her sister can’t see anything. What happened later kept me from sleep the night I watched this. When the investigators arrive, they see glass picture frames broken. Carolyn explains she gave up hanging them on the walls as something would just throw them off. Her husband, Roger, talks about the knocking, always coming in sets of three,  a demonic sign.

The costumes, the house, the music, all add an authenticity. The tension is palpable. If you’re a fan of haunted house movies that genuinely provide scares, then go watch this. To sum up, The Conjuring = Delicious Spookiness. *****

Has anyone seen this one?

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Blog Tour: The Wind Whisperer by Krista Holle

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Emma

The Wind Whisperer by Krista Holle is on tour with Dark World Books. Krista’s here with a guest post “Looks count in every culture”.

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The-Wind-Whisperer-CoverThe Wind Whisperer

At fifteen, Anaii is the most important member of her tribe—and the most mysterious. Ever since Anaii can remember, the spirits of the wind have whispered of fertile hunting grounds and imminent enemy attacks. But when her people are ambushed by a brother clan without any apparent cause, the spirits remain eerily silent.

As the village prepares to retaliate, Anaii is pressured by her best friend, Elan, to marry him. It’s an old plea—Elan has spent a lifetime loving her, but Anaii only sees a childhood playmate out of an imposing warrior. Stifled by Elan’s insistence, Anaii escapes into the forest where she meets Jayttin, the beautiful son of the enemy chief.

Enamored by Jayttin’s carefree spirit and hope for peace, she repeatedly sneaks away to be with him, but when her deception is discovered, Elan is devastated. Pledging his lifelong affection, Elan gives her a passionate kiss, and Anaii begins to see her friend in a new light.

While Anaii is tormented over which man she must choose, the wind whispers of a new threat that could destroy both tribes. Only a union will afford a chance at survival, but the reality of that union is based on one thing—which man Anaii chooses to die.

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Guest Post: Looks Count in Every Culture

Looks count. In fact our society is obsessed with beauty and keeping ourselves looking young. During the Renaissance, women plucked their hair so their hairline would be much higher. During the 18th century, it was all about powdered wigs and big black moles. During the 60’s we went braless and makeup free in lieu of a much wilder look. Where’s the common theme? There is none.

So what the heck makes a beautiful woman? This is very difficult to pinpoint since beauty is subjective. If the earth was one big episode of The Simpsons, we’d all think the best life had to offer was lipless, chinless women with exactly four eyelashes!

While researching my newest release, The Wind Whisperer, a young adult novel about Native Americans, I wanted to know what made an 18th century Native American woman beautiful. The answer to this question was as varying as the tribes I ran across. For one U.S. tribe, I discovered that young woman were not allowed to grow their hair long—this luxury was reserved for men only. This custom was so fascinating I adopted it into my novel.

I also learned that most Native American women were tattooed with geometric designs, birds, and flowers. It was a practice that usually began at the onset of womanhood. Most of us have heard the saying that the cost of beauty is pain. Times were no different 400 years ago. A tattoo started with first a painful cutting and then a smearing of black ash. As custom dictates, you’ll find my fifteen-year-old heroine, Anaii, tattooed in several places.

Native American women also loved to decorate their bodies with paint. Think of it as body make-up and applied as faithfully as one applies make-up today. One particular fashion during the 18th century in western U.S. tribes was painting one’s hair part red. Paint was made from egg yolk, clay, blood, crushed sea shell, berries, ect…These ancient women were as innovative with their beauty as we are today.

Just as we adorn with jewelry today to “doll up”, the ancient natives were equally as adorning—but not always in the ways that you think. Of course they used beads and feathers to beautify themselves, but sometimes they also used dead birds, beetles, bones, and strings of human hair. I wonder what beauty treatment we do today will be considered barbaric in 400 years—injecting our faces with paralytics? No judging. Looks count and we’re all obsessing together.

Krista-Holle-300x225Krista Holle

Krista Holle is an award winning author who stepped up her writing after reading Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. It occurred to Krista that there is an insatiable audience of women and girls who want to read books filled with stories about true love—not just vampires. When Krista is not writing, she loves to collect seashells, watch movies, and eat obscene amounts of pizza. Krista currently resides in Montpelier, Virginia with her husband, four daughters and an eccentric cat with a weird attachment to the family’s socks.

Website/Blog – Twitter – Facebook – Goodreads – Amazon

Giveaway PrizesIf you fancy entering a fabulous giveaway, click here. Prizes up for grabs are below.

GRAND PRIZE: 1 Kindle Fire, $25 Amazon Gift Card and a printed copy of The Wind Whisperer

Runner-up 1: Printed copy of The Wind Whisperer

Runner-up 2: Ebook copy of The Wind Whisperer

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Thanks for the guest post, Krista. Beetles as part of an outfit? Crazy. Good luck with The Wind Whisperer. This is going on my Goodreads list. Native American culture fascinates me.

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Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , | 12 Comments