"The Novel of Spiritual Education"
Week 7
February 22, 2018

This week, I read the fantasy novel "Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern, published in 2011.  Before even reading it. I took a look at the cover itself, and found myself very interested in the image on the front cover.  It is of a hand and its in black and white and red, which are my favorite colors so I was interested in getting into this book.

 This enchanting book was also very intriguing, atmospheric and dark.  It is about a circus that is only open at night that pops up in these random towns.  These people wake up one day to see the black and white tents outside their windows, showing up unannounced.  I personally enjoy the circus and what it has to offer. I am particularly a big fan of Cirq De Solel.  I have seen two of the performances and it is kind of similar to the experience of the book.

When the people enter the circus, they realize that it is a magical circus in another world, but there are several different tents which are all different worlds of their own.  One tent is the ice garden which was my personal favorite and there was the illusionist tent, where all of them are very vivid in their descriptions which makes you want to go there and fall in love.

The circus is also not just the circus, it is also a competition between these two magicians who are thrown into the competition without guidelines or any rules.  All they know is that they are there, and that they have to be a part of it and display their magical abilities and perform them to the audience to the best of their abilities.  I didnt get horribly far in it, but from what i got to, i was really enjoying the book. It was a good read that i would recommend. 

"A Rich Fantasy Life": Week 6, Feb 21,2018

"A Rich Fantasy Life"
Week 6
February 21, 2018

This week I read the novel "Warbreaker" by Brandon Sanderson which is a fantasy novel made June 9, 2009.  I personally kind of got into the novel in the first few chapters but the middle was laggy to me, but the end was not too horrible. Im more of a horror book, short stores and "Lord of the Rings" kind of person.  In this story, there are two sisters who are princesses while one has to marry someone called the God King and the other lesser God has a job that he does not like as well as an immortal that made a mistake years ago that he is now trying to solve and fix from what i can remember.  The people who die in glory return as gods to live with a pantheon in a place called Hallandren's Capital city.  In the middle of the book i became a little confused with what was going on but I can say that there are challenges that are resolved in the end.  One theme i noticed was "identity" issue.   Lightsong the God, Vivenna and Siri does not believe in their own deification. I can sense that the book lags in some parts through the middle  and took a while to get to the point and get things moving along.  Overall, i'd say that it is a good read if you want something to read when you are bored and have time.

"Witches" February 11, 2018

"Witches"

Week 5
February 11, 2018

This week i watched the movie "Bewitched" with Will Ferrel and Nicole Kidman, where a guy named Jack Wyatt goes through some difficulties and struggles in his life.  There is a popular 1960s sitcom "Bewitched" where he tries to make his comeback.  Jack meets Isabel and when shooting, he learns that she was actually a witch.  Isabel impresses the shows producers and writers and jack convinces Isabel to join the show, but she finds out about how they were going to make her go on without having any lines to say.  She decided either to "quit, get mad, or live with it."  Instead, Isabel cast a spell on Jack which makes him fall in love with her.  Jack chases after her and his affection for Isabel grows and grow and asks her on a date which makes Isabel completely forget about the hex.  But they end up fighting once again and Jack decides to throw a party to celebrate his divorce at his house which Nigel attends.  Jack makes a toast at the party stating that the truth will be revealed and he officially believes her when she begins to levitate off the ground and Isabel begins to fly off and away from everyone.  This witch is different in a couple of ways when I think of the stereotypical witch, i think of green skin, wart on the nose, black hair, black clothes, witches hat, a broom stick.  When they came out with "Bewitched" I think they wanted to do a twist on the modern day witch making her attractive compared to the one from the movie "The Wizard Of OZ".  Overall i was a fan of the movie because i enjoy Will Ferell and the way that they changed the way that we see witches.  

"The Old and the New" February 10,2018

"The Old and the New"

Week 4

February 10, 2018

This week i watched a rather strange film called John Dies At The End.  This film/ book is about this new drug called the "soy sauce" and it moves and changes and puts people into an out-of-body experience that leaves you coming bak completely changed and different.  I watched this thinking some guy named John is going to die at the end of this, but the twist is that he does not at the end... but something else saves him and the world from an otherworldly invasion.  

The two main characters, John and Dave are good friends.  John, while being questioned he i when he is under the "soy sauce", telepathically contacts Dave, and helps him to escape from the police station where he ended up. He helps him escape the ghost that appears as a cop, and brings him to a guy named Marley's house which is the guy who got him the "soy sauce" and the place catches on fire. All of these events are completely random but somehow all seem to go together. I believe this is what the idea of "the new and weird".  Because towards the end, all the events that have lead up to when the enter the new world, is beyond crazy. I noticed that paying attention to this movie is very important because if you miss something, it can become very confusing very quickly.  

At the end, John and Dave get saved by their dog who destroyed the evil Korrok who was going to take over their world. This part I have to say, threw me off. Not realizing it was the dogs destiny to do all of these things and bring these people together to defeat Korrok and the corrupt world that they live in.

Overall, I thought the movie was a success and it leaves me very intrigued to read the novel to see how that all plays out compared to the movie.

Asian Horror: Vengeful Spirits

"Asian Horror:Vengeful Spirits"
Week 3:
Febuary 6,  2018


This week, we focused on Asian Horror.  I read A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami, and found it pretty interesting.  It is a combination of mystery, fantasy, comedy and drama through a journey of self identity for one man who eventually realizes that everyone is not as they appear as well as there are things that are beyond his control.  I was intrigued by the books creativity on keeping the main character unnamed throughout the novel, which puts an interesting spin on the book.  In the end, he realizes his own selfish view of live is the reason for his everything that has happened to him.

I started reading this with expectations from reading one of his other books, and i appreciate that the styles of the writing vary.  Every now and then I got a little puzzled and confused with what was going on, which was frustrating. As if every line has a deeper meaning to it, meaning that you have to pay attention otherwise you would get lost in whats going on.

Im not quite sure i would classify this as a horror novel per say, its more melancholy.  It was sad and sorrowful while questioning things about life.  The author did not set in stone the personalities of the characters, so it leaves the self-identity of these characters up in the air. 

Overall, I thought the novel was alright. Not horror, but it was a good read. 

"Vampires"
Week 2:
January 25, 2018


In Anne Rice's, Interview With a Vampire,  turned out to be one of my favorites.  There is this vampire who hates himself in the beginning and sees himself as nothing but a monster.  Such as how Edward (Twilight), sees himself as a monster and tries to not be with the one that he desires. 

With this excitement over vampires,  I watched this film called 30 Days of Night. But in this film, the role of the vampires plays a different role. In this film, they play the roles as the monsters who come out in Alaska when there is 30 days of night, where they feast amongst the townspeople while the people strive to survive the 30 day catastrophe.

Unlike this film, I also watched another film named What We Do In The Shadows. This is a horror comedy with a group of vampires living as if they are on a reality Tv show amongst the living.  This is one of my favorite movies to watch. With its comical actors and a creative idea that has not been done before, they made a very successful movie. The vampires go trough their daily lives but don't as much try to be the scary horror vampires you are used to.  They go out at night and go to clubs, go drinking, have dinners and do almost everything normal people can do, just not during the day. They wake up at 7 and sleep in coffins and drink blood  and go on dates, (which they bring back to eventually drink) just like the stereotypical vampires we know today.