#felt more like a short film. amazingly written and very well acted

[seodongjae]

in a just world, gong yoo would be submitted for emmy consideration for the first episode of squid game season 2, and in a just world, he would be easily taking that award home.

[janiedean]

(sorry I didn’t want that person to search for themselves and find this reply xD I can’t with discourse rn)

... that the OP hasn’t read a single king book nor actually watched a single tarantino movie because nah tarantino doesn’t singlehandedly control anything and he made NINE movies and if everyone copied him maybe we’d have better films around because technically he’s better than 90% of the ppl in american cinema regardless of what you think of him as a person, re king:

if you read lisey’s story or any king book with a female POV and you still think he hates women sorry but what the fuck, also while carrie white is no brienne when it comes to that rep I can 100% assure OP that carrie was the closest I came to Shitty Experiences Re How You Look In Literature until I read asoiaf and that’s saying all

half of the books he wrote where he had an obvious self-insert happened when he was using/drinking/obviously needing to cope with stuff and OP obv. hasn’t read the dark half but I’ve got news for them, his stand-in never comes out of it looking good or like the hero of the story

I went to elementary school with people who swore and used slurs all the time which makes that entire point about the slurs moot because it’s realistic dialogue not wanting to use slurs, and half of the stuff they classify as such was not when he wrote those books IN THE 70s/80s learn some context pls also if the villain uses them guess what IT’S THE VILLAIN HE MAKES THE VILLAIN AN ASSHOLE WHO USES SLURS pls it’s so weak I can’t even

everyone and their pals has written about tarantino’s fetishes and same re king but I mean it’s fucking horror books, what the fuck do you expect? stuff that’s not weird? I thought that was what I was signing up for

king is hardly the only horror writer around and if he’s successful it’s bc he’s better at it than most people obviously, so OP can wonder why (hint: maybe he actually can write, more on that later) instead of complaining that he somehow controls a genre when all he’s done is publish books that people buy

also: king has a lot of things I don’t particularly like about his approach ie that his endings suck on a rate of three on five depending on the book’s length (the longer it is the higher is the risk it sucks which is why he’s that good at short stories), he has a really serious problem with that trope where the protagonists forget the whole story which is2g it’s one of my major pet peeves and I’ve cursed him for years for that, sometimes he forgets coherency within the plot is a thing and sometimes he writes about stuff I don’t care for in theory but guess what, other than the fact that he made me care for that stuff (guys if you told me I’d ever gaf about a plot like cujo’s when I was thirteen I’d have laughed in your face and when I read it I couldn’t put it down, it means it’s good), the thing is: king is the best writer I ever read when it comes not just to character work but to make you feel like you’re 100% with that person even if you don’t like them particularly which guess what is exactly the main thing I want in a book. like guys I read the body when I was fourteen and that sent me into the king spiral but at that age I had never ran across a piece that described so well exactly how I felt when I was twelve (and I remembered even too much thanks) and guess what I was projecting like hell on the pov..... WHO IS THE PSEUDO-STAND IN THAT THE OP COMPLAINS ABOUT bc he’s a writer when he grows up (and I wanted to be one - still do for that matter) and it didn’t matter that it was king putting himself partially into the story, because he was good enough at it that it really spoke to me down to my damned molecules, and I’m 100% sure that most people who read king and find him so enjoyable/the reason why he sells all the books he sells is that he gets people and it makes you see yourself in most of his characters or if not he gets you to be with them and he drops on you some seriously amazingly written truth bombs every other moment, and guess what I think that what I have in common with king is music taste, politics and very partial literary taste. the end. we’d probably wildly disagree on a hell of a lot of things including how good was shining as an adaptation and/or how much hp is actually a good book, but I didn’t need to have shit in common with him except maybe wanting to do the same job to read that damned short story and feel like he had looked right inside my damned brain.

and I’m a woman, but nvm. also lisey’s story was one of the best female povs I’ve ever read in my entire life hands down and king has a long-ass list of amazingly well-written and conceived female characters that he certainly doesn’t hate, so my opinion about that post is that op sorely needs to read a king book from start to finish without prejudices. and they also need to realize that if you watch a tarantino movie you know it’s him in the first five minutes and no one else could shoot any of his movies the way he does, which is the trademark of actually having a personality as a director and a personal style.

also idk how the hell they think tarantino self-inserts in his movies without dying because the one time he actively acted in one of them he died before the first twenty minutes but I’m done trying to discuss anything on this hellhole of a website when people obviously talk without knowing the material they’re discussing and that’s my tea.

(ps: this is not about the personal issues one might have with tarantino after the whole weinstein scandal got down and fyi the way it went really lowered my opinion of the guy as a person, but that doesn’t mean he can’t make good movies, because guess what art =/= artist and I’d like to keep the discussion separate. anyway they don’t have near the same personality and king spends his time posting pictures of his corgi on twitter never mind that anything terrible you could say about him was valid for the time when he was an alcoholic/using and he’s been dragging himself about it in his own books since forever and now he’s been sober for years and I really don’t think it’s the case to blame addicts for being addicted especially when they come from his background so can we really fucking not go there, thanks.)

[official-brennivin]

Until Dawn review

I’ve recently finished my full playthrough of Until Dawn and after going through the main story of the game multiple times and experimenting, I’ve compiled my thoughts! This action-visual novel was extremely interesting to play.

Firstly, the game is marvellous in terms of atmosphere. The sound design, acting and music all create a very strong mental image of the cold environment and the intensity of the action sequences. This game has hit the nail on the head in terms of tone and setting. The environments are crafted wonderfully, and a lot of the gameplay segments feel relatively realistic. When a character pulls off a feat, it’s never unfeasible or totally impossible in real life. When a character is hurt or feels the cold, they react in a pretty normal way. The choice of a ski lodge during winter as a setting really enhances the tension of the story, and even with occasional slivers of dark humour the tone is very much under control. I never felt like my immersion was broken because the game became “too ridiculous” and this can happen with action-VN games. From the moment the opening theme started and that intense and overpowering “Oh Death” started playing, I was hooked. It was amazingly put together.

The decision to use the wendigo as the antagonistic species was a bold move. It’s not often that we see the wendigo adapted to games or films, and I think the decision to use them instead of werewolves or some other cryptid was extremely creative. I already have an interest in wendigo from playing RPGs and reading myths about them, so seeing them in media always makes me happy. The wendigo were also animated in an extremely masterful way. They’re absolutely terrifying. The gory deaths they cause are extremely creative and intense, and they pose a very real threat. One wrong move and the wendigo can easily be the end of you. Those that know me through this blog are aware of my penchant for creative and unique gore, so naturally this made the game very captivating.

Onto the game design, I thought that even though there were a lot of playable characters it was handled quite well. No matter who I was playing as I never felt like I switched control too quickly, or like it was jarring. Each segment was introduced with care and getting into each character felt organic. I do wish that the game was not divided into arbitrary chapters, though. The reason I say this is that whenever I wanted to collect an item I’d missed I had to replay an entire section of the game right from the beginning. Other Action-VNs and even regular VNs either allow you to skip segments of dialogue you’ve already been through or to jump into different sections of a chapter to get to specific points more quickly. Having to play through an entire chapter again just to get a totem that is right at the end of the chapter is very tedious. This did make the game frustrating at times, as the gameplay is so unforgiving and precise that it’s very easy to make mistakes and miss the item you’re looking for. That means starting the whole chapter again and again.

The game is difficult, and I like that about it. It doesn’t hold your hand and doesn’t give you arbitrary button presses all the time. The quick-time inputs feel natural because the button that you will have to use often corresponds to a direction. (for example, if you’re climbing then triangle will be used while launching yourself upward whilst X and square will be used to control your legs) Sometimes, the best thing to do is also nothing - not acting on a quick time event can save your life, if the action is too dangerous. This was also very well-implemented.

My absolute favourite game mechanic is the “stay still” mechanic. Wendigo can not see you if you stand still, so the game requires you to hold your controller very still to avoid detection. Not only is this a very unique way to use motion controls, but it’s also very well-tied into the lore. This is an example of an innovation that pleasantly surprised me. The tension it creates is unparalleled by any other horror game mechanic I’ve seen. The first time I encountered it while facing a wendigo, my heart raced. I genuinely felt fully immersed in the fear of the situation. This was an amazing choice that ultimately made the game for me.

I also loved how the game adapted to me as a player. During the “therapy” segments of the game, while you’re being psychoanalysed by Dr. Hill, the decisions you make influence the game you’re playing. The fears that you express towards Dr. Hill will impact the scares used in the game. This is really interesting and I was really pleasantly surprised by it as well. Games that adapt to your psychology are far and few between, but I think analysing the fears you have and changing the content accordingly makes for a really unique experience for each player. I loved this personal touch.

The characters in this game are fantastic. They’re all very balanced and unique. Not one of them is an all-round likeable person. They all feel like very real young adults with flaws and their own motivations. The way they react to certain interactions is very natural and organic, and I’m really impressed by how well they are characterised and developed. Throughout the story their emotions and experiences feel very relatable and human. Their personalities are all so unique and fun that I found myself quickly latching onto certain characters such as Chris, Josh and Jessica. I really cared about what happened to them, and the way they were written influenced the way I played quite a lot.

My feelings about the dialogue are complicated. On one hand, I love that it was written as a homage to corny 80s horror films. That was a great touch. However, some lines felt off. Sometimes characters would say things that didn’t feel natural. For example, I don’t think it would be typical for an 18-year-old boy to call his girlfriend “hon”. I also didn’t like Mike’s little “oh hell yeah” catchphrase whenever something suggestive happened. Talk about cringeworthy. The dialogue corresponded quite nicely to the characters’ personalities and was believable for American suburban teenagers, but there were points where it felt a bit jarring. Another thing that stood out to me as irritating is that Mike makes a pretty tasteless homophobic joke at one point and it’s not addressed as bigoted - the other characters just kind of let it happen. It’s only one short moment, but I hated it. Whilst the dialogue is quite flawed and I can see a lot of players finding its corniness annoying, it had its charms.

The acting in this game is phenomenal, and it’s clear that the actors had a great time working on it. Everybody on the cast of this game loved being in it, and believed in the project’s creative vision. The facial and physical acting is extremely well-performed. The voice acting is spot on, and they portray their young and naive characters very well. Rami Malek did an especially good job at portraying Joshua Washington, as the role had a lot of emotional range to it and I can only imagine how much work he put into that performance. I also want to mention Peter Stormare’s portrayal of Dr. Hill, which was mindblowingly intense and extremely intimidating. He is a phenomenal actor and the way he pulled off the character’s mystery and powerful aura was amazing.

Overall, while there are times that the game feels corny or unappealing in its dialogue or slightly tedious to replay, it’s very worth playing for those that enjoy horror and/or action-VNs. The very first playthrough is always an intense experience. Even my partner, who normally hates action-VNs enjoyed it purely because the horror was that effective. This game was a really unique experience, and one of the better action-VNs I’ve played. If you haven’t played it and you’re interested in experiencing a creative and wild horror plot with very interesting execution, go ahead! I highly recommend it.

[moved-strabius-strawberry]

Who are the Top 10 worst villains you've ever seen in media?

Top 10 Worst villains I have ever seen? Hmm... I can certainly think of villain cliches that bother me. I guess I can narrow my dislike of those cliches down to certain villains. I won't do a Top 10, though, just 5. Also I won't list it from least-worst to most-worst, these don’t have an order because they all equally bug me.

1) Bellwether from Zootopia. The twist villain cliche started to bother me by this point with Zootopia. She wasn’t bad in the beginning, so we can feel neutral or even like her character at first, but towards the end we're expected by the film to no longer like her and be glad for her comeuppance. I wanted to put Hans from Frozen here because he was the first of the twist Disney villains, but then I remembered my jaw dropping when I first saw it happened in theatres, so it was kind of effective in what it did, thus I can't entirely fault it for succeeding. I also wanted to put Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco, because he was so obvious to me that I found it incredibly disappointing, but then again he killed a man, so I guess that's decent villainy, still it sucks that he has to be bad because his character seems fun. So that's why I listed Bellwether, since she is the most forgettable of the three. Also, while typing this, I asked my mom who likes Zootopia a lot if she remembered Bellwether's character, and she asked "who?"

2) The short corporate business man from The Lorax. I forgot his name, I'm looking it up right now... Ah, it's the mayor of Thneedville, O'Hare. Yeah, this evil corporate business man cliche is amazingly annoying to me. It just seems really cynical and lazy, especially since the animation studio who made this movie, Illumination Entertainment, basically is this villain. If I go into any more detail of my thoughts on this company, I'd be detouring from the topic in hand. Okay, so O'Hare, what do we know about him? He is short. He is greedy. He likes money because he is greedy. He hates trees because they make air for free, because he wants to charge people money for air, because he is greedy. I have so many gripes with this movie as a whole, but all I will say is O'Hare is every single evil corporate business man character ever made wrapped up into one. I hate every single one of them... Except Christopher Walken in Country Bears. That was.... Interesting.

3) Snoke from Star Wars: the Force Awakens. So in January, I finally saw all three original Star Wars films, and they were all good. Then I saw the Force Awakens for the first time, and it was a lot like A New Hope. There were tons of similarities, and at times they felt like a bit of an improvement, except for Snoke. Snoke is the Emperor Palpatine of these new Star Wars films, and he doesn't strike me as an interesting character. I'm willing to forgive Kylo Ren for being very much the Vader of these new films, but Snoke? Palpatine was already a weak villain to me, I didn't care for him at all, Vader was already a great villain, but then Palpatine showed up and was like "this guy is merely my puppet, I am the true villain", and I was none impressed because Vader was already really cool to me, there didn't need to be a "greater villain", cuz Vader was already a great villian. I don't care if it's accurate to the books. Lets pretend there were no prequels and the original films were their own trilogy: if something doesn't work in an adaption, you remove it. Palpatine, in my opinion, was not a necessary character, which makes Snoke an even more unnecessary character. I haven't seen The Last Jedi yet, but whatever they end up using his character for will most likely not change my mind about him. I probably could have put Palpatine here, but I'll still put him on reserve until I actually do see the prequels (which I'm looking forward to snortsnort). Also, what is up with this guy's name? Snoke. It doesn't look or sound threatening in the slightest, it sounds like the name of a Care Bears villain. Look out, Grumpy Bear, here comes Snoke!

4) Venom/MaloMyotismon from Digimon Adventure 01 & 02. Myotismon was a decent villain at first, he was definitely an improvement compared to the first villain Devimon, who was pretty generic run-of-the-mill bad guy. He might have even been better than the villains that show up towards the end of 01, more specifically Piedmon/Apocalyptomon. The inclusion of VenomMyotismon, though, was pretty unnecessary. It's like "YOU HAVEN’T DEFEATED ME YET, THIS ISN’T EVEN MY FINAL FORM" and it literally wasn't because then 02 happened with one of the worst Digimon villains: MaloMyotismon. There really isn't anything to add or say about him, he is exactly the cliche I just described, and it's pretty shit. He also doubles as a "twist villain", and it adds nothing new, it's just unexpectedly bad.

5) Lysandre from Pokemon X/Y, as well as Lusamine from Pokemon Sun/Moon. Lysandre was okay at first, kind of intimidating but I didn't suspect him as the Team Flare boss just yet. Then when I found out that he was the boss, I was like "okay, let's see where this goes", and it was all downhill from there. He does that "final form" cliche by you defeating him in battle, and then almost immediately he returns into the room with stupid glasses and robot arms and a slightly stronger team, and its like "wtf is happening?" And my team was so OP that I defeated him almost instantly, and he threw his glasses down like a child upset from losing a game. Overall, his character became very non-threatening towards the end. Then there is Lusamine. Like Lysandre, she was alright at first, but it only got worse. By the time you have your final face off with her, she fuses with the Ultra Beast and has a literal "final form". She started acting like a crazy person and it was the dumbest thing ever, I was laughing so hard. But uh, yeah, these were some pretty awful Pokemon Bosses. Oh, and Lusamine also falls under another cliche I can't stand, the "I'm crazy for no reason now" villains. They laugh whole-heartedly at their own wickedness even though they were nothing like this in the beginning... cuz they're crazy now. They start acting erratic and irrational even though they weren't like this at all in the beginning... cuz they're crazy now. The only time this kind of writing should ever be utilized is if the writer actually wants to have some kind of commentary on psychosis, which is a sad disorder, and thus should not be villainized and needs to be completely rewritten to fit the tone better. This kind of villain would need to be rewritten either way because it's terrible.

And those are all the characters that I personally think are bad villains. Again, it all stems from the villain cliches that I don't like: the twist villain, the evil corporate businessman, the "master of the puppet" villain, the "not even my final form" villain, and the "I'm crazy for no reason now" villain. There are definitely times where these cliches won't bother me too much, as I implied with Walken in Country Bears, and Hans and Ernesto, but for the most part I really don’t like these ones in particular: the generics. They are written to be a certain way without being much different from other villain characters that are like them, and are thus boring, which I see as a waste of my time as the consumer. Do I want to eat a box of generic unsalted crackers? No, I'm gonna eat Ritz crackers because they actually taste good!Be creative with your villains, think about their goals and quirks, ways to make them fun while still being despicable, or make them downright terrifying. Why are they terrifying? What do they say and do? How do they behave in certain situations? Think about how their presence on screen or in a chapter will be enough to send shivers down the viewer's spine. If you want to make an interesting villain, then think about why you enjoy certain villains. Take notes for yourself. What do you enjoy about them, or why do they intrigue you? Don't make a character that behaves exactly like them, just keep them in mind as inspiration.

Oh, by the way, thank you for asking me this! I never thought anyone would be interested in hearing my thoughts on subjects like this, so I really appreciate this. :D

[meshugana1]

Gal Gadot finds herself becoming a fat-assed dwarf

Gal was walking down the street to a boutique she very much enjoyed on this sunny day. It was rare ever since her Wonder Woman film was released that she could get a day off to just do normal things like shop and be with her family. But Justice League had just been released and she experienced a resurgence in her popularity which only gave her less time to spend on herself or her family. She honestly wished she could just stop being recognized, right now she was dressed like Diana Prince would be in the comics when she wanted to be inconspicuous, ironic though that is.

She wore a headscarf to hide her haired the sides of her face and large dark rimmed sunglasses to help cover the rest of her exposed skin and she wore a heavy dark jacket to hide her slim figure. She was at least looking forward to a day of indulgence for herself, getting her hair done and getting a few outfits for herself. She had done this successfully for several hours until she came into a shoe store and met a clerk named Judith who recognized her. When it rains it pours it seems and the floodgates opened. She was practically swarmed at the shoe store and barely managed to escape.

It was much the same at the suit store and the hairdresser and soon enough it seemed like she had an entourage of several dozen people. It wasn’t much longer before photographers and paparazzi arrived and she began to break into a swift trot trying to find a safe haven. She turned the corner into a poorer shopping district and practically dove into the first shop she saw. She ducked down below the window until the sounds of footsteps died down, then she finally let herself stand back up and take in her surroundings.

It looked like some kind of very old curio shop. The floor was old and made of wood, Gal could see the indent in the floor where all the foot traffic had been focused at for probably decades. Every single wall was decked out with shelves full of bizarre looking odds and ends. Some of the items looked more normal than others though, she saw some very old board games and toys but on the next shelf over she saw was appeared to be shrunken heads and monkeys paws. She continued to walk around the eccentric little shop and gave herself a start when the woman who ran the shop popped up from behind a counter.

The woman was tall and had dark olive skin, a mole dotted her wide, red smiling lips. She wore an old style floral dress and a red bandana held back her wavy brown hair. She couldn’t have been more than thirty-nine years old, this woman had milf written all over her. “Hello Ms., my name is Saveta. Please let me know if you see anything you like.” She said with just the slightest hint of a Romani accent. “Oh no,” Gal said “I’m sorry but I’m not here to shop. I only came in to avoid the crowd.” Saveta’s face fell just a bit but then she redoubled her efforts, “Well regardless we have many wonderful items from around the world! I’m certain you could find something that suits you if you take a look around.”

Gal thought it was the least she could do to take a small look. She was about to do just that when she saw that several of the people following her had doubled back and were looking into the stores. Saveta saw her concern and asked “Are you all right? Is someone after you? I could call the police if you need them.” Gal quickly responded “No, no. they’re just fans.” Saveta took this in and upon closer inspection recognized the woman in her shop. “That’s it! You’re the Wonder Woman from the movies!” Gal silently cursed under her breath and removed her sunglasses and headscarf.

“Yes, I’m sorry I was just trying to have a quite day to myself but I got recognized and now everyone wants my time.” Gal was near tears saying this and looked to the window to see that a group was headed this way. Saveta understood her problem in a way that only an experienced woman like her could. She had a thought then, it might be breaking a few rules but this woman needed some help. “I have an idea Ms., why don’t you drink this?” She then placed a shot glass onto the countertop and opened a small glass bottle that contained a bright red liquid. She poured Gal a shot and handed it to her.

Saveta assuaged any fears the movie star had that this would absolutely help her avoid the crowds. Gal still wasn’t so sure but she was pressed for time and decided to try it. She downed the liquid in a single gulp, it had tasted like pure alcohol and she coughed for a minute afterward. When the drink hit her stomach she felt a powerful sense of nausea come over her. She put her hands to her stomach and bent forward trying to fight the feeling, but as she looked to the floor it seemed to be getting…closer?

Saveta watched as the celebrity before her felt the effects of her special brew. When she walked in she was five foot ten inches but now she was more like five foot three. Gal felt the clothes she walked in with begin to grow slack as she kept losing inch after inch. Soon she was less than five foot tall. Saveta looked behind the woman and watched the second effect of her potion take effect as all the mass from the woman’s height recollect itself in her bottom. Gal could feel her jacket and shirt practically fall off her body but felt her pants only grow tighter and tighter. Without considering her surroundings or decorum she frantically attempted to remove her pants.

Gal now stood at four foot six inches and her ass had ballooned out and was greatly straining her pants. Before she could remove them her pants lost the battle with her growing ass flesh and they ripped down the back and down her thighs. She pulled the tatted denim away from her and just barely managed to pull down her silk panties before they were swallowed up and turned into a thong by her enlarging ass. She now stood at three foot eight inches and her ass looked like two basketballs. The nausea had dissipated and Gal was now nearly four feet shorter and much more pear shaped than the woman who entered.

She let out a gasp and tried to cover her fat ass and exposed pussy, but when she did she felt an amazingly erotic feeling from her fat bottom and her pussy just seemed to flood with heat. “Sorry, that’s a side effect of my potions.” Savetta said, she saw the crowd getting closer and rushed to the back to get the dwarfish woman some clothes. When she came back the celebrity was feverishly jilling herself, she shook her back to her senses and had her dress herself. Gal looked down at her state of dress and quickly complied. Unfortunately the only outfit that could fit Gal’s new shape was a little out there.

It looked like a halloween costume of a stripper, with a small stretchy tube top and a skirt that looked like it was made to cover a fake exaggerated butt but on the new and improved Gal just barely managed to fit. Her feet didn’t seem to shrink that much so she stiletto high heels remained on her feet but the entire outfit made her look like a cheap prostitute. she didn’t have time to feel embarrassed as the door opened and several people walked in asking if a tall woman came in here. Saveta told them “Sorry but only this prostitute came in today.” Gal used every acting bone in her short body to not react to that comment.

The crowd took a look at her and some gave a lecherous look but they all left soon after. When the two were once again alone Gal demanded and explanation. “Don’t worry shorty. Sorry couldn’t resist. The potion will wear off in about nine hours. Now you’ve got plenty of time to treat yourself and not be bothered.” Gal was still angry but the pulsing heat in her pussy distracted her. She thought for a moment while she rubbed her cootch. It wasn’t like she was in pain or anything, in fact it felt pretty amazing, and she said it would wear off in a little while. She considered her option for a moment and said “Well, I appreciate the help. I think I will enjoy the rest of my day. Oh, and by the way, you wouldn’t happen to have any more of that potion for sale would you?” Saveta grinned and said “Of course miss, anything for Wonder Woman!”

The fat assed little dwarf woman walked out of the curio shop totally without being recognized at all though she did catch quite a few leering eyes as they stared at her swaying behind, but the heat she felt in her cootch from that made her want more. As she walked away she heard Saveta call out “Enjoy your day! And be sure to come back and sample my other wares at Saveta’s Curio Shop!”

The end. Hope y’all like it!

[fwittrocknews]

The Gentleman Caller Cometh: Finn Wittrock on the Endurance of ‘The Glass Menagerie’

By Drew Grant • 03/16/17 6:00am - Posted on Observer.com (This interview goes along with the photoshoot in the previous post)

The first time I saw Finn Wittrock, he scared the shit out of me. As Dandy Mott in the fourth season of American Horror Story (that would be the “Freak Show” one, for those not keeping up), Wittrock, 32, was a rich mommy’s boy-turned-serial killing clown (because in a Ryan Murphy production, one naturally follows the other) who turned matricidal when he didn’t get his way. Wittrock, with his cleft chin and movie star good looks, has a polish that tends to cast him in a darker light: as mere mortals, it’s hard for us to imagine anyone that attractive hasn’t just been over-compensated for some defection of the soul. Which is why he’s made such a good foil in the last three seasons of Murphy’s seasonal anthology, playing everyone from Dandy to Rudolph Valentino to a vampire/male model named Tristan (and that was in the same season!) to, most recently, a backwoods inbred cannibal in American Horror Story: Roanoke …a role that required the actor to transform himself with so many prosthetics that he was barely recognizable.

But outside of AHS, Wittrock has enjoyed a killer career trajectory, beginning with an off-Broadway stint in 2011 for Tony Kushner’s The Illusion and a year later, on Broadway in Michael Nichols’ production of Death of a Salesman, a rendition made famous by its applauded reviews and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s performance. (Wittrock, along with future Spider-Man Andrew Garfield, played Hoffman’s prodigies.) Wittrock, like his AHS co-star Evan Peters, seems at home playing smaller parts in larger ensemble films, like his turn in Adam McKay’s The Big Short (where he played a young garage investor, Jamie Shipley) and most recently, as Emma Stone’s clueless, pre-Gosling boyfriend in La La Land.

Luckily, Wittrock didn’t manage to be part of the coterie on-stage during the epic #OscarFail of 2017, as he was in rehearsals for his return to Broadway in Sam Gold’s The Glass Menagerie. (Prior to that, he’d been working with Gold for New York Theatre Workshop’s production of Othello.) As he splits his time between Los Angeles–where he lives with his wife–and New York, where he performs alongside the likes of David Oyelowo, Daniel Craig and Sally Field, Wittrock sat down with us on his day off about Tennesse Williams, Ryan Murphy, and while he’ll always be brushing up his Shakespeare.

What do you think will surprise people most about this production of The Glass Menagerie?

I think people are surprised by how many laughs there are in the show. I was surprised when I first read it.

I don’t know how Sally Field managed to embody both my mother and my grandmother at the same time.

I heard she did some research on that, talked to them about it.

The play struck so close to home, the last third act I was just muttering into my hands “Shut up shut up shut up, you’re making it worse!” Both to your character and Field’s.

A lot of people have felt that it’s close to home, and maybe not in a totally comfortable way.

My first experience watching you was originally on American Horror Story, when she showed up in season 4 as the rich brat-turned-clown-serial-killer. But I had always wished that I had been able to see that performance of Death of a Salesman that you starred in with Philip Seymour Hoffman.

That was a life-changer.

Was that your first big introduction to theatre?

Not with theater as an art. I’ve been doing theater since I was a kid. But it was definitely like, in terms of my career, a big break for me. And just artistically too, working with those people opened me up, I would say, in a big way. So it’s kind of cool, looking back at what I think is five years ago, now.

You were what, in your early twenties?

I turned 27 during the production. It’s fun and beautiful to come back to Broadway, to see how I’m different, how my confidence is different.

As the Gentleman Caller, Jim O’Connor, you’re VERY confident.

Well…I’m acting that way. But I still feel like a kid when I’m onstage.

I was reading The New York Times‘ profile of Sam Gold putting on this production, and they gave you guys a glowing review. And I guess I hadn’t known that Madison Ferris, who plays Laura, has muscular dystrophy. That wheelchair she sits in through much of the play isn’t a prop. I just thought she was making a very specific character choice for a part that only requires a slight limp.

I think Sam is very sincere in trying to expand the pool of what we’re used to seeing onstage, and trying to crack that open; trying to crack open the norms: the normal shapes and sizes and colors of what we see onstage.

I imagine that makes the production extremely hard to block around. The scene where you are trying to get her to dance, and you knock over a figurine…the entire time, all I could think was “They must have rehearsed that scene endlessly.”

The blocking was very specific and very intricate. Though it seems very simple, there’s a lot of work that goes into making it seem that natural. The analogy is perfect for the whole production because the set looks completely bare-bones, but if you see that Times piece, you see there were, however, many thousands of pounds of concrete poured onto the stage. All the sprinklers. This contraption to make the table move back at one point, that’s an incredibly elaborate contraption of shifts and levers and things. Which, basically, no one notices. Because it’s all to make a table move back, seemingly on its own, when the spotlight is elsewhere. All the work that goes into making something seem effortless. But that’s the kind of magic of it.

I haven’t done theater since high school, but even then, I remembered just how exhausting it was. The everyday grind of it all. Rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal, opening night, all these performances…and that’s just like, a high school production of Guys and Girls. I can’t imagine what that must be like on Broadway, especially coming off doing television and film.

It is, it’s very different. The fundamentals of acting are still the same, but the kind of athleticism of doing a play is just more demanding.

I imagine everyone has to be in just really good shape.

Internally, too. Also, I think the biggest difference to me, is, say, I have a tough emotional scene to complete in a movie or a show. That will be like, a really tough day at work. It will be like 8-12 hours that are really rough, having to go there. And then it’s over; it’s done, and I never have to touch it ever again for the rest of my life. It’s in a can, it’s in a computer program somewhere and someone edits it, and it’s gone. But if I have an intense scene in a play that goes well one night, I have to go back the next day and do it again. There’s no finale, you know?

Your character, Jim, reminded me so much of most of my ex-boyfriends. One of these guys who means well, but is always trying to–for lack of a better word–“mansplain” everything. He’s a little bit of a blowhard.

I think he’s a guy who lives by self-help books. He’s a guy who lives by an idealistic, gung-ho America kind of thing. But I think he believes in it genuinely. And I think the trap is having him fall into a lecture-y egotist. I think he is selfish, but completely unconsciously. I think he is trying to help her, and the scene does play deeper.

The way he’s just hitting that beat over and over, that her problem is a lack of confidence.

I think he’s like a lot of people. A believer in hard and fast solutions. I started reading this book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie. It’s one of the first kind of real self-help books. It may actually have been….Tennesse Williams might have taken some inspiration (for this character) from it. The way Jim speaks is very, very similar. So I read that every night before I go on stage.

At its core, the book actually has a nice message. It’s like “Make it about the other person, don’t make it about you.”

And explain their personalities to them.

That’s the trap, yes.

In general, I’m not the hugest Tennessee Williams fan. Melodrama is its own certain thing, and where we’re at right now as a country, it feels like watching a show that’s so claustrophobic in its view of family is maybe a bit…melodramatic. But the way Gold did the show felt very modern: there was a lot of physicality, the way the characters are constantly touching each other, that I’m pretty positive Williams didn’t write into those bare-bones stage directions.

I think Sam is always looking to how to be faithful to the play as written, but also be very affecting for people in 2017 walking into a theater. How to do both things at once, but always leaning to the side of what will affect people the most, rather than playing homage to another dead playwright.

At the very opening of the play, after Tom’s speech, someone right behind me yelled out “Sounds like Trump!”

Oh yes. I remember that. The line was about “the huge middle class of America was matriculating in a school for the blind.”

That’s a great line.

I know, Tom has all the best lines. You think of these plays as sort of dated, but it does become amazingly pertinent when you strip it down. And the stuff Jim says about America…it still hasn’t aged. We haven’t aged out of that mentality.

I think the play is really harkening back to a time that is simpler. Because the play is written just at the cusp of World War II, but is set in the 30s. Tom is looking back at a time just before the world blew up with a kind of nostalgia, but also, things weren’t so great then, you know?

No, it seems almost…uncomfortably tight.

Tight, exactly. Claustrophobic. The family as the microcosm for the national blow-up that was about to happen. And I feel like there’s a sense of that now. People are, even from a few months ago, nostalgic about the past.

Oh my god, do you remember a couple months ago? Things were great!

I know right? The world was so simple!

The play is about memory, and that never gets old. You don’t think about memory in a vacuum. Every memory you have is connected. You feel something about that memory. Anything you harken back to, you feel a certain way. Your stomach is connected to your head. I think that’s what the play was after: really stripping memories down and making them about bare-bone human essentials.

Let’s go back a little bit. You said you did theater in high school?

Even before that. I was born in Massachusetts, in Lenox, and my dad worked at this theater company called Shakespeare and Company. Mostly summer, but they do some stuff year round with Shakespeare. I kind of grew up running around the hills of the Berkshires, listening to actors do Shakespeare and being like the pageboy for whatever play was happening at the time. So that’s where I caught the bug. I was young.

Were you a big Shakespeare fan?

Yes. I would say so. It was nice, I got to Othello right before this with Sam, which was great. So that’s where I began, and then I moved to LA when I was 12 and went to this arts high school, called LA High School for the Arts.

Then you came here, did Death of a Salesman…so how does this lead you back to Los Angeles and getting hooked up with the Ryan Murphy crew for American Horror Story?

Ha, it’s funny how life becomes like a domino effect, right? You can track back like “How did I meet that, from that, from that?” I was in a movie called The Normal Heart, which Ryan directed, which Mark Ruffalo was in…and actually, so was Joe Mantello (from Menagerie). He was in it on Broadway, but plays a different part. It’s a beautiful movie. I just got that from an audition. Salesman had exposed me to a lot more casting directors at the time, so I started going out a lot when that was over, and I went out for The Normal Heart and found out three months later that I got it. And then shot the scene…I mean, it’s a nice part, but it’s a smallish part. Really intense and cool, though.

I met all those guys, and then Ryan one day on the set was like, “I have this crazy idea for a character in my show. Do you want to do it?”

What he doesn’t tell you is that the following season, you have to play two characters.

Or I’ll have to wear so many prosthetics that no one recognizes me.

American Horror Story: Roanoke, will live forever in my memory as “the season we barely saw Evan Peters or Finn Wittrock.”

Yeah, it’s the season where everyone showed up and immediately died.

Well, to be fair, that’s often how AHS plots develop.

But that’s the thing about the show! Being dead doesn’t mean you’re not going to work! Kathy Bates I think, talked more AFTER she was dead.

Are you a dancer as well?

(laughs) Who told you that?

In the Hotel season of American Horror Story, you have a great tango with Lady Gaga. I thought “This guy has some moves!” And then watching the heartbreaking way you “dance” with Laura in the Menagerie…

Oh, that’s sweet. I’m married to a dancer, actually, so maybe she’s rubbed off on me through osmosis. They do make me dance on that show, that’s right. They don’t make me sing, luckily…for everyone’s sake.

I have to say, for a lot of my friends, Dandy from American Horror Story: Freak Show is their fan favorite character.

That’s cool. That’s pretty wild. He creeps me out, personally.

Ryan Murphy is heading up approximately a million projects right now: AHS, American Crime Story: Katrina, Feud….are you going to be involved with any of these projects?

You know, Ryan is a very loyal guy. I’m sure I’ll get an email from him one of these days with something to do, and I’ll inevitably say yes.

So, let’s talk La La Land. You had a small role in the film as Mia’s boyfriend. Were you there at the Oscars?

No, I wasn’t. The nice thing about doing a play is it makes for a perfect excuse not to have to go to those things. Or anything else. I guess I might have been there, if I had been in LA.

Did you watch the now-historic moment when La La Land handed the Best Picture Oscar to Moonlight?

Yes, I watched the whole thing. It was…tense. I would say the word “tense” could be used.

But it also made for some great live television.

It did, it did. I have to say, I felt bad because the Oscars had done really well, up to that moment. The show was going really well, it was a relatively diverse year, the jokes were pretty funny, people had nice speeches…and the ONLY thing people are only going to remember this fiasco. The last few seconds.

But yes, it did make for a great moment on live TV. I just don’t know you’re supposed to compare La La Land to Moonlight; it’s like comparing two totally different art forms.

[drrus]

Movie Review: I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine Genre: Drama/Family Rated: PG Release Date: March 16, 2018 Running Time: 1 hour 50 Minutes Directed By: The Erwin Brothers Starring: J. Michael Finley, Madeline Carroll, Trace Adkins, Priscilla Shirer, Cloris Leachman and Denis Quaid Synopsis: It's the song that brings ultimate hope to so many...often in the midst of life's most challenging moments. Amazingly, the song was written in mere minutes by MercyMe lead singer Bart Millard. In reality, those lyrics took a lifetime to craft. He found faith at a young age, but life was not easy for Bart. He leaned into an active imagination and his love of music as he escaped a troubled home life. As he grew older, Bart turned to football in hopes of somehow connecting with his abusive father. Chasing a dream, while running from broken relationships, Bart hit the road in a tour bus with his new band MercyMe. Many know the song I Can Only Imagine. This movie tells the story, behind the song. Review: I always approach the viewing of movies falling into the category of Christian, with a sense of hesitation. All too often they're poorly done, wishy washy and at worse, a movie targeted toward a very small audience. Even though the official genre for I Can Only Imagine falls into the Drama/Family category, I still approached my screening with a sense of caution. However, I'm happy to say the Erwin Brothers do not disappoint with their production in this movie. With a strong cast made up of such notables as Dennis Quaid, Cloris Leachman and Trace Adkins, I Can Only Imagine brings with it a sense of credibility and star power many such movies lack. The standout in the movie comes from newcomer to the big screen J. Michael Finley playing the lead role of Bart Millard. Finley made his broadway debut in Les Miserables in 2014. His brilliant acting performance is only heightened with his incredible vocal performance in this movie.

Clocking in at close to two hours, I Can Only Imagine falls prey to the long standing problem of - How to set up a story, without becoming fragmented and disjointed. While the problem does not last long, the first 20 minutes or so seem somewhat jumpy and non-connected, while the producers fill in the back story for the rest of the movie. Don't get me wrong, this is a brilliant example of the long lost art of storytelling. But, the opening scenes felt somewhat like riding in the back of a pickup truck bumping along a gravel road. Then, once the movie hits its stride, the story of the song and the songwriter, hits a home run. I Can Only Imagine is much more than just a song. It's a story of redemption. It's a story of a journey. It's a story of fatherhood. It's a story of pursuing your dreams, in the midst of the bumps and bruises of life. It's a story which only brings more meaning to the popular song I Can Only Imagine. In his book Seeing What is Sacred, Ken Gire writes: "The writer is a custodian of the stories once spoken around campfires. Stories we are admonished not to forget. A storyteller has the task of running behind the lines to make sure the stories live, to make sure those shining memories or our humanity, however brief, are not forgotten." I Can Only Imagine does just that. This is a the story behind the song, which started around a campfire. In the end, I Can Only Imagine not only brings a tear to your eye, but encourages you to love, forgive, and keep moving forward in the face of naysayers, no matter who they may be. Family-Friendly with a 3.5 out of 5 Lloyd Rating

My wife and I cut our teeth in the movie review world as movie critics in the mainstream arena for a number of years. Our main focus in what we called Frame by Frame, still holds true today - Is the movie family-friendly? With a rating of PG, we can say I Can Only Imagine firmly falls into the category of family-friendly. Back in the day our Frame by Frame rating system was based on what we called Lloyds. Short for celluloid, our film strip icon served us well, as we bring him back to life once again for reviews we're doing now. Our Director Lloyd to the left is giving his - and our - stamp of approval on this movie as family-friendly with a 3.5 out of 5 Lloyd rating. While I Can Only Imagine may not turn into a Box Office hit simply because of it's limited release, this is definitely a movie worth seeing, and yes, maybe even adding to your DVD library. If it's anything like the song, I Can Only Imagine the movie, is bound to not only find broad acceptance in the Christian marketplace, but also in the mainstream marketplace. Enjoy the show! Dr. Rus Read the full article

[tanmath3-blog]

Jasper Bark is infectious – and there’s no known cure. If you’re reading this then you’re already at risk of contamination. The symptoms will begin to manifest any moment now. There’s nothing you can do about it. There’s no itching or unfortunate rashes, but you’ll become obsessed with his books, from the award-winning collections ‘Dead Air’ and ‘Stuck on You and Other Prime Cuts’, to cult novels like ‘The Final Cut’ and acclaimed graphic novels such as ‘Bloodfellas’ and ‘Beyond Lovecraft’.

Soon you’ll want to tweet, post and blog about his work until thousands of others fall under its viral spell. We’re afraid there’s no way to avoid this, these words contain a power you are hopeless to resist. You’re already in their thrall and have been since you began reading this bio. Even now you find yourself itching to read the whole of his work. Don’t fight it, embrace the urge and wear your obsession with pride!

  Please help me welcome the amazing Jasper Bark to Roadie Notes….

  1. How old were you when you first wrote your first story? If you count comics, I was five years old. I saw a kid’s TV program in which other kids, a little older than me, were drawing their own comic books and I was beyond excited. I don’t think any idea has ever appealed to me so much in my life. The kids on the TV were using paper, felt tip pens, a stapler and their own imaginations. I had access to all those materials and I had more imagination than was healthy for a boy my age. I sat down right away and began making my own comics. I became so obsessed with doing this that, the next Christmas, my parents actually had to confiscate my pens and paper, so that I would stop drawing and come and open my presents.

If you count prose stories, then I was six. My dad used to bring home old log books, from his union (he was a shop steward at the local shipyard), to use as notebooks, and I began filling them with stories and illustrations. I was a lousy artist, but I got a lot better as a story-teller over the years.

2. How many books have you written?

I’ve written five novels, four novellas, nine graphic novels, three collections of short stories, twenty children’s books, countless pages of comics and even a couple of books of poetry (I was young and I needed the money, though if the truth be told, I’d have made more doing porn than writing poetry).

Now that I’ve counted them up, I’m quite surprised actually. Because I’m always beating myself up about not working hard enough.

3. Anything you won’t write about? Y’know, I’ve asked this question myself, on quite a few writers panels at events over the years and the responses vary. At first, most writers will say “no”, there isn’t anything they won’t take on. Then, when we begin to probe the subject, they all end up admitting that there are things that are taboo for them.

My own experience is, that, things will surface in one story, that I will find I’m unable to write about, so I will consider that topic, out-of-bounds. But then another story will start to go in that direction and I will find myself writing about something I thought I could never address. So whenever I think I’ve found something I can’t, or won’t, write about, I end up finding a way to address it.

As writers of dark fiction, we are often confronting the darker sides of our nature, the things we fear most and the things we’re least proud about in ourselves. The same is very much the case for readers of dark fiction too. Dark fiction, whether it be gritty crime, weird stories, or out-and-out horror, is a way for us to face up to, admit, and examine that dark side to our nature in the controlled, and a safe, environment of a story. As a psychologist friend of mine once said: “If you can play with it, you’ve got it. If you can’t play with it, it’s got you.” Fiction is the best way to play with out dark sides, and we should approach it, with as few limits as are comfortable for us.

4. Tell me about you. Age (if you don’t mind answering), married, kids, do you have another job etc…

I’m in my late 40s, I’m married to an amazingly clever, talented and beautiful woman called Veronica, but every calls her Ronnie. She runs her own Marketing and Communications business, and she’s a wonderful role model to our two teenage daughters – Freya and Ishara, who are every bit as indomitable as their mother.

I write full-time and have done since my kids were born, having previously been a national film and music journalist and a professional stand up. I’ve been in and out of trouble most of my life and, in spite of my age, have yet to develop the wisdom to avoid this.

5. What’s your favorite book you have written?

That’s like asking me to pick my favourite child, they’re all special in one way or another. However, like most writers I know, my favourite book is always the one on which I’m currently working. It’s my chance to redeem myself for all the books I’ve already written, for which I had such high hopes, but which, inevitably came out flawed. The book I’m currently working on, still has that possibility to be great, to be my legacy to the world, so, for that reason it is my favourite.

6. Who or what inspired you to write?

Just about every book that I’ve ever read. The great books inspire me to reach similar heights myself, and the lousy one make me think: ‘wow, I can do better than that, maybe I’m not so lame after all’.

7. What do you like to do for fun? I recently joined an all female, octopus mud wrestling team. I’m not actually female (as you probably guessed) and I can’t wrestle for shit. But I think the other ladies let me join because they find it hysterical to see me getting my butt kicked by all manner of octopi. Recently, they’ve taken to replacing the mud in my bouts with avocado puree, jut for the hell of it. It certainly seems to please the crowds, but it leaves me picking green goo, out of unmentionable places, for at least a week afterwards. Mostly causing my poor, long-suffering wife, to raise an unamused eyebrow at my antics.

8. Any traditions you do when you finish a book?

Yes, I sacrifice a virginal avocado, on altar of mud and avocado stones, in front of a select audience of pre-eminent Octopi. This is mainly to increase my standing within the Octopoid community. As you’re probably aware, octopi don’t read, so they have no clue about my literary reputation, they only know me as the short, strange guy who constantly gets his ass whupped in a big vat of puree. So, these rituals help me gain their respect a little more.

9. Where do you write? Quiet or music? I have a study at the bottom of the garden, that used to be a garage until we converted it. It’s full of thousands of books, and hundreds of spiders, who sometimes like to descend onto my keyboard, in the middle of the night, when I’m right in the middle of a particularly disturbing passage.

I sometimes write to music and I sometimes write in silence, it depends what I’m working on. If do write to music, it has to be something without lyrics. Like many writers, when I’m working on fiction, I like to use film scores, as these are composed specifically to support a narrative art form, and as such are really good for getting you in the right mood to write.

10. Anything you would change about your writing? I like to think that through the daily act of writing I am already changing it and growing as a writer. So if there is stuff I’m not satisfied with, I trust to the process to eventually fix it, and allow me to grow out of it. In fact the wonderful thing about being a writer is that, right up until the point of publication, if there is something you don’t like about your writing, you can always go back and change it, and even change it some more.

11. What is your dream? Famous writer?

Over the years, so many amazing writers have had such a profound and life changing effect on me, have written stories, essays and books that have meant to so much to me, that I can’t begin to list them all. They’ve totally changed the way I view the world, and my place in it. They have given me hope in dark times, joy in sad ones and entertainment in periods of unimaginable boredom.

My real dream, as a writer, is to be able to write something that will affect a reader in the same way, that will move them as I have been moved, so many times in the past. If I can give something back, like that, to even a handful of readers, then I will have fulfilled my dreams ten times over.

12. Where do you live?

Why Becky, don’t you already know? Isn’t that you at the bottom of my garden watching me through binoculars?

Wait, no… sorry, that’s my FBI handler, they’re easy to confuse with a stalker, but they’re usually a little more polite.

To go back to your question, I live in the small medieval town of Bradford on Avon, in the UK. It’s quite close to places like Stonehenge, Glastonbury and the Georgian city of Bath, only it’s less well-known, but no less beautiful. If you’ve ever read a novel by Jane Austen, or Thomas Hardy, you’ll have encountered the corner of the world in which I live. It hasn’t changed much in the preceding 200 years and you still can’t get a good broadband connection.

13. Pets?

Well we do have a couple of cats, and the disembodied spirit of a lobotomized gorilla hanging around our cottage. He was a bit unnerving at first, but we’ve taken to leaving out bowls of warm ectoplasm for him, and he’s actually become quite endearing. He even has his uses, such as scaring away Jehovah’s Witnesses and other door to door tradespeople.

14. What’s your favorite thing about writing? It’s that moment when the writing really begins to flow, when you sink fully into the world you’re exploring and time stands still. When the story itself takes over, when you hear the characters voices so clearly in your mind it’s as though they’re there in the room with you. When you’re as utterly surprised and delighted by your work as anyone else who is going to read it in the future. When it goes places you never foresaw, and reveals things you knew nothing about until you began to type it up. When your fingers can hardly keep up with all the words that are tumbling out of you.

Those are the moments we all live for as a writer.

15. What is coming next for you?

Hopefully the shambling hordes of the undead aren’t coming for me.

I have a new novella out, called Quiet Places, which is a story of cosmic folk horror with overtones of psychological horror, set in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. Unusually for me, it’s an entirely bloodless affair that depends more on atmosphere and dark folk-lore. There is no sex, no violence, yet it is probably the most disturbing thing I’ve yet written.

You can grab a copy here:  https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Places-Novella-Cosmic-Horror/dp/1640074708

I also have a new graphic novel out as well, it’s called Parassassin and it’s a dark blend of sci-fi and horror. Politics, parody and paradox collide in a tale of time travel and attempted assassination.

It’s available here in the US:  https://www.amazon.com/Parassassin-Jasper-Bark-ebook/dp/B074Y5NGPS

And here in the UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Parassassin-Jasper-Bark-ebook/dp/B074Y5NGPS

Aside from that I have a novel and a novella due out next year, a lot of different anthology appearances. I also have a graphic novel starting on Comixology in 2018 and a couple of hush – hush projects, I’m going to allude to in an annoyingly vague way.

I am launching a new webcomic, called ‘Fear Fix’ on my website. It’s very much in the tradition of those classic black and white horror comics from the 60s, 70s and 80s, like Warren and Skywald, and also EC horror comics. Like those comics it has a horror host, but, in the tradition of Rod Serling, I am the host of the comic. It has some of the best artist from both mainstream and indie comics and it will be running monthly. You can read the first story – ‘The Bad Girl’s Guide to Making a Killing’ here

I’m also turbo charging my YouTube channel, with monthly updates, the first of which you can see here

And I have just launched a Patreon page, why not check it out and become a patron here You can connect with Jasper Bark here: 

Here’s the link to my Patreon Page again:  https://www.patreon.com/JasperBark

Here’s a link where you can get a free eBook, a free story and an exclusive video of my blooper reel, by signing up to my mailing list:

http://www.crystallakepub.com/jasperbark/

Really, you’d be foolish not to.  

Some of Jasper Bark’s books: 

  Getting personal with Jasper Bark Jasper Bark is infectious - and there’s no known cure. If you’re reading this then you’re already at risk of contamination.