Kingbeast's Lair

-== What is it? ==-

Origin:Spirits Of The Past is an anime movie from FUNIMATION that tells the story of two teens from different times who become caught between a deadly forest and a man trying to destroy it.

I purchased the standard edition version of the DVD. There is a “Special Edition” available with additional features that I have not seen. The version I have does not have any extras. The movie is 90 minutes long.

-== What I Like ==-

The story in Origin is not too revolutionary but it is VERY nicely conveyed. The story has a strong environmental message but I did not find it “preachy”. The basic story is simple…man plays with nature, nature slaps man in face, man tries again but this time stops himself. Then ending is full of true love and hope. Who does not like a movie with a happy ending!?! 🙂

The environmental, background, and setting design in this movie is outstanding. The settings change from a buried high tech underground city, to a ragamuffin cliff village, to an industrial monster city, to a fantastic multi-railed train. I was literally on the edge of my seat waiting to see the next place they were going to visit. Beautiful stuff.

I liked the fact that the bloodshed and nudity was essentially non-existent as it is not needed in a movie with a story like this to tell. RightStuf has it rated at 13+ which is probably right on the money.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The pacing of the movie is slow at times especially during the middle of the movie. For the younger crowd it might be tough for them to maintain interest at this stage.

The main bad guy in the movie is really weak. His motivations are terrible and there are really not enough reasons given to hate him. In general his was a one of the biggest let downs of the movie.

The animators used CG for the forest effects and I actually thought it came across badly. I SO wanted to like watching the raging forest going off on the puny humans but the CG effects left me cold. I think if they did the entire thing in regular animation the effect would have been stronger.

-== Summary ==-

Origin: Spirits Of The Past is an enjoyable movie with a feel good ending that you can watch with your family or with people who may not be anime buffs. You can purchase the standard edition version of the movie from RightStuf at this URL for $11.24. You can get it at Amazon.com at this URL for $13.49. This movie is well worth the $11.24 price tag. 🙂

I give it 7 out of 10 paws.

-== What is it? ==-

The Hualapai Cycle is a collection of eight intertwined adult horror stories that take place in a fictitious version of the Black Rock Desert. It is written by Jason Walters and is published by BlackWyrm. Before I get into the review I wanted to mention a couple of disclaimers. First off, I am not a huge fiction reader and even less so of horror novels. I was given an advance reading copy by Jason at a local gaming convention. Jason is a friend of mine that I have gamed with in the past. I have also reviewed some of his other RPG works (i.e. Scourges Of The Galaxy by Hero Games which is excellent BTW). I will try to not let my friendship or the fact that I was given a copy of the book bias my review.

The book has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 6? x 9? and is 173 pages in length.

-== What I Like ==-

Even though there are technically eight short stories in the novel each story contains at least one smaller narrative inside. While telling one story another character is introduced that impacts that story AND appears later in other stories. The way it is done is quite nice. You really want to see a how a character from one story is used in another. Even though you might think that this would disrupt the flow of a story it does not. One tale flows nicely into the next and characters move and distort as the book progresses. This technique shows a lot of craftsmanship.

The author has a great way of getting inside animal’s heads. This is done with horses, wolves, mutant dogs, and lot of other twisted creatures of the desert. I thought it was very fun.

The book shows how the harsh Black Rock Desert climate breeds survivors. Some of the characters are likable and others are twisted but all of them are tough. It really adds to the horror feel when someone you think is nice turns out to be just as twisted as everyone else.

The book is jam packed full of great lines like these…

-== What is it? ==-

The Holler: Tales Of Horror From Appalachia is a collection of 24 “delicately short” horror stories written by Marge Fulton and published by BlackWyrm. Before I get into this review I wanted to acknowledge that I am not a horror literature buff or even a horror literature fan to any large degree. I was given an advance review copy to read by a friend of mine who is a publisher/editor/writer at BlackWyrm. Even though I was given a copy of the book I will try to not let that impact this review.

The book I received has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 6? x 9? and is 87 pages in length.

-== What I Like ==-

I think the thing that I liked most about The Holler is the way that some of the stories stick with you days after reading them. I might be walking along and I’ll see something that reminds me of a story from the book…BAM…I am back in that story. In some cases I even felt like I needed to take a shower to try and get that “sticky horror feeling” off of my person. In my mind that is a sign that the book worked.

Here are some quick blurbs about some of the stories that I enjoyed:

• An obese traveler on a mission into space.
• A drug trip painting.
• A ghost tale at a drugstore greeting card rack…Hallmark would not approve. 😉
• A recycled killing.
• Husbands diced, served, and sold.
• A twisted unity candle.
• A splinter sharp tale in the vein of Pinocchio.

I liked the fact that the stories in The Holler are very short (aka “delicate”). Most of the stories are only 3 to 5 pages in length. This makes the book extremely easy to pick up and put down. Even with only a 5 minute break in your day and you can read a story. I like that in a book. The copy I got was soft cover and very easy to transport which works well when the stories are short. I also think this book would be great in PDF or ebook formats as it would be great to pickup quickly on an iPhone or similar reading device.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

My biggest complaint with the book is that I did not get the ending of some of the stories at all. As I mentioned, I am not a horror literature buff so maybe that is why some of them left me confused.

The cover layout and background coloring is not great. In the version I have the cover uses red text that lapses over a sepia picture on a gray background. If the background color was changed to a slightly lighter sepia color to match the photo that might help. The photo is perfect for the book. It shows a young disheveled girl grasping a black rag doll. Excellent fit for the book.

-== Summary ==-

If you are looking for a collection of short horror stories that stick with you in a good way then I suggest checking this one out. I do not know what the final price of the book will be but I’m going to give my rating assuming that the price is on the low side. I think a low price fits a product like this where the focus is on “delicately short stories”.

I give it 7 out of 10 paws.