January 2025

 

It's January and the deep winter cold has set in. On the plus side, the sun has been out a little more and a reminder that spring is coming.

Some movies I watched:

Gretel and Hansel from the same writer and director of Longlegs, Osgood Perkins. I remember the trailer when it came out and it seemed interesting and creepy but for some reason or another I never got around to watching it. Now I have and I was not let down. It was creepy, moody, and the right amount of folklore horror to be entertaining.

Amy Adams was great in Nightbitch. I'm not sure what I expected but enjoyed most of it. I could have done with out the scene with the cat but it wasn't my movie.

I was not let down by Nosferatu. The whole thing is gorgeous. A classic vampire film but with the care and attention to period details that made the whole thing amazing to watch. 

Some Books I read or reading:

I read an advanced copy of Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield. It was a bit of a wild, anxious ride with a great cover. The story starts with our broke protagonist and her boyfriend driving from NYC to work on an annual beet harvest in the Midwest. I didn't catch how they found out about it and got the job, but I don't think it mattered. I flew through the book, half enjoying how it was written and half wanting to get to the end and see how everything resolves itself.

There's a great cast of seasonal worker characters that could have all had their own stories, and the setting is brought to life in all of its cold, grey monotony that can be autumn in the north. I can confirm that I have no desire to work any beet harvest.

The cover was a huge draw to the book.

I am currently reading Horror Movie by Paul Tremblay. I've read and enjoyed a few of Paul's books and this one is no different. Its about a unreleased movie, making the movie, and making the reboot of the unreleased movie that with a few releases of scenes from the original on YouTube has grown a cult following. 

I'm also reading another advanced copy of a book called Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel. It's out Feb 3rd. I almost put it away without finishing it as it started a little chaotic and I had a hard time getting into it. I gave it one more read and the story caught. Now I'm enjoying it and I'm curious where its going. It horrific but not really horror. I'll share the NetGalley review when I finish it. 

From a writing standpoint I have a new story I started working on inspired by a recent trip to Las Vegas. I have a few more details to work through and if it works out I'll have it written, edited and published it here net month in February's post.

That's it for January. 

Because apparently I love jumping social media sites, I'm moving on from Threads to BlueSky and trying to grow a following there. One day, I will share more than just links to my monthly updates. If you are on BlueSky and interested, follow me here: https://bsky.app/profile/spwhite.bsky.social

 This is a photo from a grocery store parking lot just in time to catch a winter sunset.




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