#sutherland massacre

[staticspacedudes]

Now I get to put all of these in sleeves (:

[elven-queen-of-the-ice-land]

David & Star || Counterpane

[birthdaykillings]

get to know me !!!

-> jason | he/they | {¬ºཀ°}¬ 🫀 ♾️ 🌈

-> i love horror, sci-fi, and fantasy stuff :3 i usually hyperfixate on actors and the media they’re in ^_^ i mostly like kiefer sutherland, michael keaton, & ryan gosling ( but i like others too!)

-> some movies, shows, and media i’m into are dark city, the lost boys, lars and the real girl, stay, the hobbit, lotr, grimm, stranger things, arcane, gotham, smiling friends, south park, resident alien, supernatural, friday the 13th, the texas chainsaw massacre, WWE, american psycho, hereditary, the ritual, IT, DC & marvel stuff…

-> games i’m into are resident evil 7 and 8, sally face, fran bow, until dawn, fnaf, stardew valley, sekai, moshi monsters, and animal jam :)

personal acc @angelzombiie

[flawseer]

What's your opinion of what everyone did after the sealing of Darkstalker in the legends book? It just seemed way too quick with how they just moved on from the horrors, as Fathom and Indigo had kids and Clearsight flew off to a new continent to have kids with and create a whole new tribe. On another note, considering how Fathom was kind of banished (from what I remember) and had kids split off from the Royal Family, do you think there may be a descendant of Fathom somewhere hiding with Animus powers? Or do you think they just ended up being adopted back into the royal family after being discovered?

I personally consider Legends: Darkstalker the best book in the series, in part because I believe Sutherland's writing shines when she is not binding herself to the 5 books arc structure.

That said, the ending does have a bit of that one particular prequel problem. You know, the one where the characters are confirmed to be at a certain location in the future, so they absolutely HAVE to end the prequel story getting to that location IMMEDIATELY.

That's what I was thinking with regards to Clearsight's ending. Now, everyone deals with trauma differently, so I can only comment on her actions from my own limited point of view. I don't think I could have done what she did, at least not so suddenly. She had relationships beyond Darkstalker, with Listener and her parents, whom she presumably was still on good terms with. Like, especially her parents I think never actually learned what happened to her. They might have continued living thinking their only daughter died in the evacuation.

When I think of that part of the book, I personally like to envision an epilogue where Clearsight returns to her parents and lives with the Nightwings for a while (a couple years maybe). Her parents are supportive and Listener is grateful and admires her friend for saving her family. So much so that she reverses her stance on futuresight and authors a scroll about it, crediting Clearsight as a master prophet (this is the scroll that Moonwatcher later reads).

But the other Nightwings still fear Darkstalker, and they remember his girlfriend who stood on stage with him and looked at him adoringly as Darkstalker massacred his own father (they don't know she was tricking Darkstalker). So there is public tension building at Clearsight living with them, and it begins to negatively impact the people who support her. In the end, Clearsight decides to leave the tribe, both to protect her loved ones from getting caught up in her fallout and to separate herself from all that trauma and find her fortune on the new continent.

Notably, she actually tells her friends and parents about that plan this time, and they don't spend the rest of their lives wondering what happened.

As for Fathom and any potential descendants, there is a 'realistic but boring' answer, and one that is a bit more interesting narratively.

The boring answer is that, yes, there are descendants of Fathom around. Lots of them. It is inevitable. If you take an individual and step back one generation, you find they will have 2 parents. Above that they have 4 grandparents. Then 8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents. At 10 generations back we are looking at 1024 theoretical ancestors. Now as these numbers get bigger, some of these lines will cross-breed with each other again, so the math isn't entirely clean, but just trust me that these numbers balloon really fast the more generations you go back.

Fathom was alive 2000 years ago. If we lean conservatively and say the average dragon has eggs at age 20, that means 100 generations have come and gone from then to today. The number of ancestors over this many generations is so high, you might pick any Seawing currently alive in present day and there will be a very decent chance of them having Fathom somewhere in their bloodline.

You go back far enough and everyone starts to be related to everyone else. Ancestry is funny like that.

For the more narratively interesting answer: I do believe Fathom re-integrated into the royal family again. One thing that needs to be kept in mind is that Pearl, like her brother, also had her entire life uprooted by the Royal Seawing Massacre. She was all at once dealing with the shock of losing her parents and the stress of having to now run the entire kingdom without being prepared for it at all. There was no time to process any grief, or the lingering fear. When she sent her brother away and forbade him to have children, that wasn't an act of malice, it was the only solution she could think of to keep everyone safe from the future threat of magic without also having to execute the last part of her family.

Neither of them ever had any ill will against the other. Pearl was dealt the shittiest of hands and she tried to make the best play she could at the time, while desperately trying to keep herself together. That is what I think.

As Pearl and Fathom got older and the situation in the Sea Kingdom stabilized, Pearl might have finally been able to reflect upon what happened and to process some of her neglected emotional turmoil. I believe Fathom eventually reached out again and they both found a way to reconcile, mending their fractured relationship. I don't know if Fathom moved back into the palace; perhaps he chose to stay away to keep the rest of the populace at ease. But I think his children or grand-children would eventually re-integrate into the royal family.

This turned out a bit wordy and the question was sitting in my inbox for a good while. But I hope this provides an interesting answer.

[pastacatprod]

I somehow keep finding horror movies to draw, but I kinda feel like I'm running out of ideas.

Holy shmoolie, it's a fuckin Ghoulie.

Okay, arguably the opposite of horror, but Casper:

Cute lil Critter:

Aw what a cute skin mask man.

There's two camps of people: those who say the early Willy Wonka was not a horror film, and those who are correct.

It's a Martian, man.

(Wayne from Wayne's World voice) I'M THE LEPRECHAUN

BUSTIN BUSTIN BUSTIN MAKES ME FEEL GOOD, FEEL GOOD

MOIST MOIST MOIST

I have decided to start drawing horror icons on Starbucks sleeves.

(updating the original post as I make more instead of reblogging)

[archivaltrigger]

“Because the US government was not acting on mass shootings, we directly attacked a trait Americans are most known for: their pride in their country. Change the Ref created the Shamecards, a postcard collection designed to demand gun law reform from Congress. Subverting the traditional greeting cards that depict each city’s landmarks, ours show what cities are becoming known for.”

shamecards.org

There is 54 cards total representing:

Annapolis — Maryland: Capital Gazette Shooting

Atlanta — Georgia: Day Trading Firm Shootings

Benton — Kentucky: Marshall County High School Shooting

Bethel — Alaska: Regional High School Shooting

Binghamton — New York: Binghamton Shooting

Blacksburg — Virginia: Virginia Tech Massacre

Camden – New Jersey: Walk of Death Massacre

Charleston — South Carolina: Charleston Church Shooting

Charlotte — North Carolina: 2019 University Shooting

Cheyenne — Wyoming: Senior Home Shooting

Chicago — Illinois: Medical Center Shooting

Clovis — New Mexico: Clovis Library Shooting

Columbine — Colorado: Columbine

Dayton — Ohio: Dayton Shooting

Edmond — Oklahoma: Post Office Shooting

El Paso — Texas: El Paso Shooting

Ennis — Montana: Madison County Shooting

Essex Junction — Vermont: Essex Elementary School Shooting

Geneva — Alabama: Geneva County Massacre.

Grand Forks — North Dakota: Grand Forks Shooting

Hesston — Kansas: Hesston Shooting

Honolulu — Hawaii: First Hawaiian Mass Shooting

Huntington — West Virginia: New Year's Eve Shooting

Indianapolis — Indiana: Hamilton Avenue Murders

Iowa City — Iowa: University Shooting

Jonesboro — Arkansas: Middle School Massacre

Kalamazoo — Michigan: Kalamazoo Shooting

Lafayette — Louisana: Lafayette Shooting

Las Vegas — Nevada: Las Vegas Strip Shooting

Madison — Maine: Madison Rampage

Meridian — Mississippi: Meridian Company Shooting

Moscow — Idaho: Moscow Rampage

Nashville — Tennessee: Nashville Waffle House shooting

Newtown — Connecticut: Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting

Omaha — Nebraska: Westroads Mall shooting

Orlando — Florida: Pulse Nightclub Shooting

Parkland — Florida: Parkland School Shooting

Pelham — New Hampshire: Wedding Shooting

Pittsburgh — Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting

Prices Corner — Delaware: Delaware Shooting

Red Lake — Minnesota: Indian Reservation Shooting

Roseburg — Oregon: Umpqua Community Collage Shooting

Salt Lake City — Utah: Salt Lake City Mall Shooting

San Diego — California: San Ysidro Massacre

Santa Fe — Texas: Santa Fe School Shooting

Schofield — Wisconsin: Marathon County Shooting

Seattle — Washington: Capitol Hill Massacre

Sisseton — South Dakota: Sisseton Massacre

St. Louis — Missouri: Power Plant Shooting

Sutherland Springs — Texas: Sutherland Springs Church Shooting

Tucson — Arizona: Tocson Shooting

Wakefield — Massachusetts: Tech Company Massacre

Washington — D.C.: Navy Yard Shooting

Westerly — Rhode Island: Assisted-Living Complex Rampage

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #346 - Ride, Smile, 1990

Il piccolo percorso storico-musicale sugli EP arriva alla conclusione con la storia di oggi, che rappresenta un po' l'ultimo apice della produzione degli extended play. L'ultimo grande movimento del rock ad usarli con frequenza è stato il cosiddetto shoegaze, un movimento del rock alternativo che ebbe un certo successo tra la fine degli anni '80 e l'inizio degli anni '90. Il termine shoegaze fu coniato da alcuni giornalisti del New Musical Express che notarono una peculiare caratteristica nei nuovi gruppi emergenti inglesi: tendevano a suonare dal vivo, soprattutto i chitarristi, tenendo il capo chino, come a "fissare lo sguardo sulle scarpe". In un primo momento, fu preso come simbolo di un certo modo "timido" di presentarsi, alternativo al sempre più crescente bisogno di spettacolarizzazione degli eventi musicali, ma più prosaicamente, la testa abbassata mentre si suonava era per coordinare i movimenti dei piedi sulle pedane degli effetti sonori, che erano una delle caratteristiche musicali del genere. Riverberi, feedback, distorsioni divennero il marchio di fabbrica di una schiera di giovani band, che usavano le parti vocali in modo molto spettacolare, quasi come strumento aggiunto. Apoteosi del genere fu Loveless dei My Bloody Valentine, opera grandiosa e unica del gruppo di Kevin Shields, disco che ne racchiude tutti gli stilemi fondamentali, e tra quasi tutti i gruppi shoegaze c'era una proficua e interessante partecipazione reciproca, tanto che Steve Sutherland del Melody Maker scrisse un reportage sul genere dal titolo The Scene That Celebrates Itself. Tutte la band, e cito Spacemen 3, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Mercury Rev, Lush, Chapterhouse, Slowdive, produssero ottimi EP, sia come trampolino di lancio per andare oltre i singoli, sia come diffusione di materiale sperimentale in vista degli album veri e propri.

Una band che fece degli Ep una vera e propria caratteristica sono stati i Ride. Nascono ad Oxford, nel 1988, quando i chitarristi Andy Bell e Mark Gardener si trasferiscono a Bradbury per studiare alla Scuola di Design. Assoldano il bassista Laurence Colbert e il batterista Steve Queralt e formano una band a cui danno il nome di Ride, dal piatto ride della batteria. Suonando nella camera da letto di Queralt, registrano un demo tape, nel 1989, che arriva, non si sa come, a Jim Reid, leader dei Jesus And Mary Chain (band seminale e più citata da tutti i gruppi shoegaze). Questi piacevolmente sorpresa chiede al manager Alan McGee, che è anche discografico di una etichetta che di lì a poco diventerà fondamentale, la Creation, di scritturarli. Tra gennaio e settembre del 1990 i Ride pubblicarono tre EP: Ride, che è il primo disco in assoluto della Creation che entra il Classifica in Gran Bretagna (nella Top 75), ha in copertina delle rose rosse, Play, che ha in copertina dei narcisi gialli, e Fall, che invece ha una foto dei pinguini imperatori sotto la neve. I primi due furono uniti in una compilation, che è il disco di oggi, Smile (che ha le ortensie in copertina) che fu distribuito dalla Sire per il mercato americano, e verrà ripubblicato nel 1992 in Gran Bretagna e in Europa, quando i Ride avranno già pubblicato il loro primo album intero.

Smile si apre con uno dei pezzi che diventeranno i più iconici della band: Chelsea Girl è il prototipo dello shoegaze, con il muro sonoro chitarristico che sale di potenza, la ritmica asfissiante, la forza del suono elettrico; Drive Blind, altra canzone che diventerà un must dei loro concerti, è appena più lenta e melodica, e diventa un piccolo inno al disagio di quei tempi (Driving me 'round and leaving me there \Cover my eyes and we'll die driving blind\Cover my trail and we'll leave life behind\Drive blind); Ride Ep finiva con All I Can See, toccante e dal suono "più americano" e Close My Eyes. Play invece si apre con Like A Daydream, altro brano piuttosto noto, che è il tentativo Ride di scrivere una canzone non dico d'amore, ma quanto meno di una cotta adolescenziale, tra le stupende chitarre rampanti, che salgono e si avviluppano in stupendi assoli; Silver è più blues, Furthest Sense, ancora sulla difficoltà della comunicazione tra le generazioni (Who could ever understand?\So don't try to criticize,\You don't know the change that's in my eyes), e si conclude con la spettacolare Perfect Time, dall'intro scoppiettante.

I Ride pubblicheranno il primo disco nel 1990, Nowhere: in copertina una onda del mare senza increspatura, e dentro il meglio dello shoegaze, in un disco che diventerà un successo per il movimento, arrivando al numero 11 in classifica. Pensato come un disco da registrare "live in the studio", registrato di notte, portò ad un crollo mentale il primo produttore, Mark Waterman, tanto che il mixing del lavoro fu fatto dall'astro nascente Alan Moulder. Tra i brani gioiello, Seagulls, Dreams Burn Down e la stupenda Vapour Trail. Tra l'altro pochi mesi dopo, pubblicheranno un altro Ep, Today Forever, nel 1991, con in copertina le fauci di un grande squalo bianco, che anticiperà il secondo lavoro, Going Blank Again, disco del 1992, che li consacrerà al successo (numero 5 in UK, disco d'oro, lo splendido singolo Leave Them Behind).

La band durerà fino al 1995, per dissidi artistici, dovuti al fatto che lo shoegaze fu travolto da altro tipo di musica (il brit pop, il suono notturno del Trip Hop, l'esplosione definitiva della musica dance) ma con sorpresa si riuniranno nel 2014, e pubblicheranno nuovi dischi che un po' prendono da quel momento particolare, riavvolgendo il nastro di una piccola storia musicale fatta di feedback, belle canzoni e tanti Ep significativi.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries below:

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind. As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children. The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years. Fantasy, horror, young adult, mystery, thriller, paranormal

The Machineries of Empire series (Ninefox Gambit, Raven Stratagem, Revenant Gun, and other stories) by Yoon Ha Lee

To win an impossible war Captain Kel Cheris must awaken an ancient weapon and a despised traitor general. Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next. Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress. The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim. Science fiction, fantasy, science fantasy, space opera, military science fiction, series, adult

[homesickfornowhere]

Recent books that I’ve read and would recommend🖤

Under The Blade by Matt Serafini. A really interesting twist on the slasher genre. Starts as a classic 90s slasher film, but has a fresh storyline and tons of twists.

Seed by Ania Ahlborn. An interesting take on demonic possession with a gut punching ending. Very creepy and bleak.

The Cotton Candy Massacre by Christopher Robertson. This book was SO much fun to read, and I would recommend it to anyone who loves horror and 80s slasher films. Gory, brutal, and a little bit cheesy in the best way.

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland. A bizarre and creepy little book that reads like a dark fairy tale. Great ending.

What Lies Between Us by John Marrs. Unhinged and twisted, but a page turner. Takes toxic, dysfunctional mother-daughter relationships to another level.

The Vessel by Adam Nevill. A creepy, slow-burn folk horror with a great ending. This was a quick read and I finished it in one sitting.

The Good Lie by A.R. Torre. I finished this in one day. A great mystery/crime thriller, and I enjoyed the main characters.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty. An interesting read and gives a different perspective on death.

[dimonds456]

The Hunger Games: a fictitious prophetic reflection of current reality

Just got done watching Mockingjay: Part 2, and... holy shit.

Watching it with the context of what's happening in Palestine is so difficult. There's one scene in particular where bombs are dropped on Capitol civilians, but it was disguised as aid. And the whole time I was sitting there like, "this is what the flour massacre was like. This is what it's like every time Palestinians have to swim out to sea to get food, knowing that if the water doesn't kill them, the snipers will."

In Part 1, as well, the Capitol specifically targets and bombs a hospital, killing all the survivors inside. I need not explain the parallels of this one to anyone who has even been slightly paying attention. It's horrific, but horribly accurate to reality.

It's the main reason I decided to rewatch the Hunger Games in the first place, cuz I kept thinking about that scene. Now that we got there, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to rewatch that scene again without thinking about Palestine.

There is a dark, poetic irony to the movie adaptations. Jennifer Lawrence, the girl who plays Katniss, is a Zionist, while Donald Sutherland, the guy who played President Snow, was an activist who was very pro-Palestine. The whole reason he took the role was to help inspire young people to stand up to authority. He's dead now, but I know he'd be disappointed in the world today. He'd be vocally cheering Palestine on.

Sutherland understood the Games and their real life symbolic meaning instinctively. So did the filmmakers. Watching this made me start to really wonder about Jlaw. How can you play Katniss and portray her so perfectly, and not get the fucking message of the film? How can you act in a scene where a bunch of children get killed, reaching their arms up for aid, only to get blown up in a trap, and not understand that doing that is pure evil? It's baffling.

But aside from that. I'm in tears. This movie is not an easy watch anymore. There is deeper symbolism here present only in retrospect that makes it near impossible to just turn your brain off and enjoy it. That's what I came back to understand; how war and oppression function on a personal level. That's the power of movies. They can place you directly in the middle of a war and show you exactly the cost. And the Hunger Games does that perfectly.

With all the pictures and videos coming out of both Palestine and Israel, with Netanyahu treating it like one big "self defense" act to win people over, to "punish" Hamas... The parallels to the Games are too strong. Too real. Especially considering the original novels were meant to be a commentary on our collective desensitization to violence.

Don't be desensitized. Stand for what's right. That's literally the message of these films, and it rings true now more than ever.

If you find yourself becoming desensitized to the horrific images coming out of Palestine, I honestly recommend watching Mockingjay Part 2 again (or the whole series if you haven't seen it). By being on a personal, intimate level, it helps destroy that and reconnects you to reality. That's the power of fiction.

To any Zionist reading this: you are saying that they were right to drop those bombs on those Capitol kids. Because that literally happened. The Flour Massacre happened, SEVERAL times. Children are dying due to dismemberment, disease, hunger, and explosions. Adults struggle to keep themselves and their kids alive. Except it's not fiction. It's real.

It is our duty to stand up for what's right, to defy authority, and to fight for freedom until everyone is free. That's why President Coin also had to die. She was symbolic of a new era of oppression. And that isn't right. It never was, and it never will be.

Free Palestine.

[stra-tek]

Excerpt ??? (I've lost count) from I Survived Kirk, my forthcoming fanfic autobiography of a bitter redshirt on Kirk's Enterprise

The entire reason this book exists is as a rebuttal of Risk is Our Business.  I’m not sure how much of that was written by Kirk himself and how much was his ghost writer, but the man depicted in that book is not the man I worked under for years.  Not in personality, not in reasoning.  Not in anything.  I see it as more whitewashing of history, more misinformation to pass along to the next generation.  This book exists as a counterpoint.  I’m no James T Kirk, I haven’t done the things he has.  I’ll never be as famous and this book will never be read by anywhere near as many people.  But if I can get through to just a few that’s fine by me.  So long as the truth as I know it is preserved in some way.

I first met James Tiberius Kirk when I reported aboard the USS Enterprise as a crewman in 2264.  He came in with a reputation, as the hero of what they were calling the “Gioghe Incident” where he’d taken command of the USS Lydia Sutherland, and although he lost his ship, he’d saved many lives.  He’d just been given a medal and a promotion.

The entire Enterprise crew was gathered in the shuttlebay for the change-of-command ceremony.  I was right at the back, in front of the mammoth clamshell doors.  At the other end of the bay, Captain Pike wished everyone well and Captain Kirk gave a short and completely unmemorable speech.

He seemed like a nice enough guy.  Young for a captain but confident in himself, enough so that you wanted to follow him.  And people would – for better or worse.

Our historic five-year mission was to begin with a routine patrol of bases along the Klingon border, ferrying a touring troupe to entertain the base personnel.  It was meant to be something nice and easy to get the crew accustomed to each other and their new commander.

Kirk’s mother and father both served in Starfleet.  Daddy Kirk rose through the ranks, becoming first officer of the Einstein-class deep-space scout USS Kelvin.  When James was born, George decided an assignment closer to Earth was preferable to years-long missions in deep space.  He transferred to become security chief of Starbase 2, the K-class space station roughly two weeks from Earth which I’d just left.

Apparently George and Winona Kirk’s Starfleeting was more important than raising kids, since they left Jimbo with relatives on Tarsus IV.

A teenage Jim Kirk survived The Tarsus IV Massacre, which cannot have left him without some serious psychological scars.

What was The Tarsus IV Massacre, you ask?  It was quite a big news story throughout the Federation at the time.  An alien fungus ruined an Earth colony’s entire food supply, and with help too far out to prevent mass starvation, the colony’s governor, a man named…Anton?  Arnold?  A-something Kodos decided the cull the “less useful” members of it’s population, so that the ones he decided were worthy of survival would survive long enough for help to arrive. 

So, he murdered half the colony’s population.  And then – here’s the kicker – rescue arrived much earlier than expected.  Early enough that nobody needed to be executed.  Except they already had.  Oh dear.

The scenes shown on the newscasts were shocking and graphic.  Far worse than anything I’d ever seen in my life up until that point.  Usually you hear just hear about murders and horrible events with options to click for more details and gross images.  Here we got shocking images of piles of charred dead bodies, many children, in our newsfeeds.  It was mind-blowing and harrowing to see things like this are still happening in Federation territory.  On a Federation colony world, no less.

It gets weirder, there were people asking how Kodos would be thought of had rescue arrived when expected, and his mass executions had saved half the population rather than doomed the whole?  While it’s an interesting scenario, the entire idea of this Kodos being the one to decide who lives and who dies is repulsive. Much more on James Kirk later.  And more on Kodos, too.

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

‘SALEM’S LOT (2024)

Starring Lewis Pullman, Makenzie Leigh, Alfre Woodard, John Benjamin Hickey, Bill Camp, Jordan Preston Carter, Nicholas Crovetti, Spencer Treat Clark, William Sadler, Pilou Asbæk, Alexander Ward, Danielle Perry, Debra Christofferson, Cade Woodward, Joseph Marrella, Derek Mears, Timothy John Smith, Mike Kaz, Declan Lemerande and Oliver Dauberman.

Screenplay by Gary Dauberman.

Directed by Gary Dauberman.

Distributed by Max. 113 minutes. Rated R.

I have been a Stephen King fan for well over 40 years now, and ‘Salem’s Lot was my introduction to his writing, and is still my favorite King novel, although I feel that he has many other classics. I’ve read it several times over the years, most recently a few years ago. As far as I am concerned, it’s a nearly perfect horror novel.

‘Salem’s Lot was the second book that King had published, although I seem to remember hearing that he wrote it before he wrote Carrie, which was his breakthrough novel. And, as is generally the case with King’s books, ever since Hollywood has been trying to tame the story and bring it to the screen.

This is the third version of ‘Salem’s Lot to be filmed, although the first two times it was done as a television miniseries. The original – and probably the best – version was done in 1979 on network television with David Soul, James Mason and Bonnie Bedelia. It was directed by legendary horror filmmaker Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Poltergeist). Since it was on old-time TV, it was a little slow-moving and not very violent, but it still had a few legendary scares.

In 2004, it was made as a miniseries for a cable network (TNT), so the makers were free to play with the violence, language, etc. It was extremely well cast – Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, Donald Sutherland and James Cromwell – and faster-paced than the earlier series, but it strayed from the original storyline and eventually didn’t quite work.

Now, it has been made as a movie. Actually, it was made a couple of years ago and has been on the shelf at Warner Brothers for a long time. It was originally planned for theatrical release, then was pulled from release for quite a while, making it seem it would never see the light of day. Eventually, Warner Brothers decided they had already made it, may as well release it on their Max streaming service.

Honestly, the new ‘Salem’s Lot is a reminder of why Stephen King’s novels rarely work well as two-hour movies. There is just way too much of this storyline which is just skipped over. Major plot threads (like the history of the infamous haunted Marsten House) and characters are either downplayed or completely ignored. Without the background information, things happen way too quickly in the film and much of the plot makes little or no sense.

It should be noted that the original director’s cut was apparently three hours long, and honestly if the original edit were ever released (which I sincerely doubt considering the trouble it took to just get the movie released at all), I’ll bet the ‘Salem’s Lot movie would be a lot better, or at the very least a lot more understandable.

Maybe if you have never read the book or seen any of the previous versions, ‘Salem’s Lot would be worth the watch. Personally, I think it’s just okay but given the choice I’d rather just rewatch the 1979 version – which conveniently Max added to its service together with the new movie. Better still, just read the novel.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 5, 2024.

[scotianostra]

April 27th 1650 saw The Battle of Carbisdale.

With the better weather at this time of the year we are entering, what I call, “The Battle Season” and the first one of two today is the defeat of the Great Montrose, whose campaign has been admired by many, but in the end, the Stuart King, Charles II let him down to do a deal with those he was fighting against, within days James Graham would be betrayed, taken south to Edinburgh and executed.

Following the execution of Charles I in 1649, his son Charles II became the leader of the Royalist cause. In 1650, he appointed James Graham, the Marquis of Montrose to be Lieutenant ’ Governor of Scotland and Captain ’ General of the Crown’s forces. Montrose’s first task was to gain support for an invasion from the other crowned heads of Europe, but he only had limited success in this area.

Undeterred by this, in March 1650 Montrose headed to Orkney, where he took command of a force of Danish troops who had been deployed there since the previous September, along with local levies raised from the islands, giving him a total force of at most around 1500 men. Montrose and his army crossed to the mainland at John O’ Groats on 12 April, possibly after sending a vanguard of around 500 men to secure the landing. Once on the mainland, Montrose moved swiftly, besieging and taking Dunbeath Castle and within six days Montrose had advanced as far as Strathoykel in Sutherland. He subsequently moved south to Carbisdale where he made camp and awaited reinforcements, although none were forthcoming.

As Montrose waited, he would once more be let down by the inadequate scouting and poor intelligence which were so characteristic of many of his battles, and he failed to determine the presence nearby of a Covenanter force under the command of Colonel Archibald Strachan. Strachan, upon learning of Montrose’s position, quickly advanced upon Ferne, a mile and a half from Montrose’s camp, with his own force of around 200 cavalry, along with a small troop of around 30 musketeers and about 400 infantry from local levies of the Monro and Ross clans (although sources indicate these levies may not have been wholly committed or even sympathetic to Strachan’s cause).

Once the Covenanter’s had reached Ferne, Strachan’s scout, Captain Andrew Monro, reported back that Montrose had deployed 40 horse on patrol and suggested Strachan send a small force forward while keeping the remainder hidden, in an attempt to draw Montrose to battle and set an ambush. As some evidence suggests Montrose had his forces within a fortified camp in a strong position, it would seem that Strachan wished to draw him out into the open rather than risk assaulting his defences.

Whether or not Montrose’s camp was well defended, the ruse by Strachan appears to have worked, with Montrose deploying a vanguard to the field under Sir John Hurry and taking command of the remainder of the army himself. When the remainder of the Covenanter force sprang their ambush and began advancing on Montrose, he appears to have attempted an orderly withdrawal towards the wooded and rocky slopes at his rear, which would have been ill-suited to Strachan’s cavalry. Seeing this, Strachan attacked with around 200 of his cavalry, overtaking the Royalists just as they reached the woods and turning the retreat into a rout. Montrose’s Danish troops appear to have been the only elements of his force to play any part in the fighting, managing to fire a single volley of musket fire before they too were driven off. While Montrose himself escaped with a few others, the remainder of his force was not so lucky. The pursuit of his army was a brutal affair and the slaughter in the wood continued for another two hours, with around 200 Royalists drowned while trying to cross the Kyle of Sutherland in a desperate bid to escape the massacre and another 400 captured.

Montrose escaped the slaughter and escaped into the mountains after Carbisdale. He fled to Aardvreck Castle on Loch Assynt where he was betrayed to the Covenanters by Neil MacLeod, Laird of Assynt. Montrose was taken to Edinburgh and led through the streets in a cart driven by the hangman. Already under sentence of death for his campaign of 1644-5, Montrose was hanged at the Mercat Cross on 21st May 1650, protesting to the last that he was a true Covenanter as well as a loyal subject

As well as a soldier James Graham fancied himself as bit of a poet, on hearing the English had executed King Charles I he wrote;

Great, good, and just! could I but rate My griefs to thy too rigid fate, I'd weep the world to such a strain, As it would deluge once again: But since thy loud-tongued blood demands supplies, More from Briareus' hands than Argus' eyes, I'll sing thy obsequies with trumpet sounds, And write thy epitaph with blood and wounds.

I’ll post more of his verse on May 21st, meanwhile check out the link for a more in-depth story of the battle.

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These two students were equipped with automatic weapons as well as pipe bombs. In the immediate aftermath, around 30 bombs were defused which were planted in knapsacks, vehicles and lockers. In search of a motive behind the crime, the investigators revealed both the perpetrators were reported to possess immense hatred for the school and were undergoing immense psychological pressure (Lamb, 2008). In accordance with the case scenario, three sociological theories including differential association, anomie and social control have been regarded to be the most appropriate for describing this criminal or violent act. The sociological theories will best explain the reasons for the criminal act of the juveniles, i.e. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in the school, defining the influence of their social surroundings and attachments on their delinquent behavior (Gumbel, 1999). With this perspective, the discussion will emphasize on the sociological theories of juvenile delinquency which are perceived to be the most appropriate for this case in relation to the criminal act in Columbine High School. Analysis There are various delinquency theories which aim to explain the various perspective of a juvenile criminal act. In this regard, the sociological theories in relation to delinquency are deemed to be the most appropriate for this case. In this perspective, the differential theory is determined to be providing the most appropriate explanation of the criminal act committed by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold in their school, i.e. Columbine High School. The theory of differential association, created by Edwin Sutherland, signifies that motive for violent or criminal behavior is mostly acquired from the social environment. Correspondingly, with reference to the Columbine High School massacre it can be observed that the juveniles were strongly influenced with respect to their surrounding and people with whom they had continuous interactions. Hence, juveniles can be observed as focused on developing extensive relationship with similar peer groups from the community through blogging and other online modes of communication. In light of the delinquency theory, it can further be identified that the association of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold with other groups and consequently, sharing of information of mischief and depiction of hatred played a major role in vitalizing the criminal thoughts among the juveniles. It is in this context that delinquency is identified as learned behaviors which are built through the interaction with individuals indulged with criminal offences. The theory also reveals that offenders as well as non-offenders attempt to accomplish identical goals, but the differences lie in the choice of path or procedure in order to attain such goals. In this respect, the involvement of individuals with various groups may acquire deviant values which may further lead to delinquency (SAGE Publications, 2005). Read the full article

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Sutherland Springs Church Massacre: The Chilling Truth Behind the Tragedy On November 5, 2017, the small town of Sutherland Springs, Texas, was shattered by one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history. A gunman opened fire inside the First Baptist Church, leaving 26 people dead and dozens injured. This video delves deep into the events, the victims, the hero who confronted the shooter, and the disturbing details that followed. How did this tragedy unfold, and what lessons can be learned? Watch till the end to uncover the full story.🔔 Subscribe for more true crime & historical deep dives! #SutherlandSprings #TrueCrime #MassShooting #Texas #CrimeDocumentary #GunViolence #ChurchShooting #SurvivorStories #AmericanHistory #TragicEvents #SutherlandSpringsMassacre

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Events 11.5 (after 1940)

1940 – World War II: The British armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay is sunk by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer. 1940 – Franklin D. Roosevelt is the first and only President of the United States to be elected to a third term. 1943 – World War II: Bombing of the Vatican. 1945 – The three-day anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania commence. 1950 – Korean War: British and Australian forces from the 27th British Commonwealth Brigade successfully halted the advancing Chinese 117th Division during the Battle of Pakchon. 1955 – After being destroyed in World War II, the rebuilt Vienna State Opera reopens with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio. 1956 – Suez Crisis: British and French paratroopers land in Egypt after a week-long bombing campaign. 1968 – Richard Nixon is elected as 37th President of the United States. 1970 – The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam reports the lowest weekly American soldier death toll in five years (24). 1983 – The Byford Dolphin diving bell accident kills five and leaves one severely injured. 1986 – USS Rentz, USS Reeves and USS Oldendorf visit Qingdao, China; the first US naval visit to China since 1949. 1990 – Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the far-right Kach movement, is shot dead after a speech at a New York City hotel. 1991 – Tropical Storm Thelma causes flash floods in the Philippine city of Ormoc, killing more than 4,900 people. 1995 – André Dallaire attempts to assassinate Prime Minister Jean Chrétien of Canada. He is thwarted when the Prime Minister's wife locks the door. 1996 – Pakistani President Farooq Leghari dismisses the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and dissolves the National Assembly. 1996 – Bill Clinton is reelected President of the United States. 2006 – Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, and his co-defendants Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, are sentenced to death in the al-Dujail trial for their roles in the 1982 massacre of 148 Shia Muslims. 2007 – China's first lunar satellite, Chang'e 1, goes into orbit around the Moon. 2007 – The Android mobile operating system is unveiled by Google. 2009 – U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan murders 13 and wounds 32 at Fort Hood, Texas in the deadliest mass shooting at a U.S. military installation. 2013 – India launches the Mars Orbiter Mission, its first interplanetary probe. 2015 – An iron ore tailings dam bursts in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, flooding a valley, causing mudslides in the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues and causing at least 17 deaths and two missing. 2015 – Rona Ambrose takes over after Stephen Harper as the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. 2017 – Devin Patrick Kelley kills 26 and injures 22 in a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. 2021 – The Astroworld Festival crowd crush results in 10 deaths and 25 people being hospitalized