Horror Palace

Burning House (Book Review)

August 24, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Burning House is a new short novel by Daniel Marc Chant and it definitely falls under the Horror/Suspense genre. With a very original approach Chant takes the reader into a small town where the majority of the residents are living in poverty. It’s also a town where some strange events occur, giving rise to mysterious screams and even more horrific situations.

It starts with a curious prologue, which creates a keen interest then jumps into the setting for the story. A little girl wakes up in the middle of the night due to strange screams, but instead she finds smoke and flames. The apartment building she lives in with her parents is burning. As her parents desperately get her to safety she hears a cry from somebody who is trapped. In turn she alerts a firefighter by the name of Ellie McNeil. Captain Hunt, Ellie’s superior, gathers a small group of firefighters including her, and sets off into the building.

Their entrance into the smoke-filled building is uneventful and routine. The screaming comes and goes, leading them deeper into the lower floors. With every step their air gets less and time is crucial in this situation. All they expect to find is somebody who is trapped beneath the debris, but unfortunately they aren’t so lucky. A mysterious darkness remains on their heels, threatening to make the building their grave. When they finally find the survivor, Grace, she runs away from them. Captain Hunt takes this as a sign that she doesn’t need their help and orders the team to evacuate. At this point a section of the building collapses, trapping their way out. Now they also need to escape somehow, but the creatures lurking in the darkness aren’t going to let it happen easily.

Chant used a nice pace with the book. He paints a small picture of where the readers find themselves and doesn’t waste any time to get into the magic of the story. Chant’s choice of characters and narrative is a nice mix, because the former is based on everyday firefighters who need to believe in realistic laws if they are going to survive their dangerous job. Obviously Captain Hunt is the biggest skeptic of them all with 20 years of experience and making peace with the creature in the building is life-changing to say the least. As for the narrative, Chant keeps himself detached from the characters, but doesn’t lose sight of their emotions and fears. This also allows him to present every character in some personal manner.

The storyline itself is something different in terms of the opening chapters. For the reader Chant leaves little or no predictability. The horrific events inside the building present a mental, as well as physical challenge, which Chant balances evenly. The sense of mystery is never lost and the characters even develop some struggles within the rescue group. With all of them losing their grip on reality while running out of valuable time the suspense increases dramatically. Chant has great control over the creatures endangering the lives of the characters without indulging too much. They are ruthless and intelligent, making the situation so much more intense.

People who like reading stories that are driven by time and difficult choices, deceiving visions, dangerous creatures and not knowing what characters are going to survive will enjoy this book.

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Reviewed by Damnetha Jules

Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.
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Dark Art – What is it?

July 30, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

(Please see below for regularly updated new Dark Art articles!)

Most great works of art that first come to mind resemble beauty and passion. However, there is a genre of art which isn’t exactly “pretty”, and in essence are dark in subject matter and imagery. Also know as Horror Art/Paintings these scary images can be considered the exact opposite of romance. The artist aims to depict something disturbing and tends to implement unnatural elements which contribute to the shock value. Dark colors and aggressive technique dominates the overall piece.

The following are just some of the most famous dark artists the world has ever seen.

Saturn Devouring His Son byFrancisco Goya

Francisco Goya Goya was a famous Spanish painter born in the 1746, and a particular scary piece is 1 of 14 in the collection. Better known as a romantic painter, there is a collection that was meant for his own personal pleasure. Given that he painted it on the walls of his house supports the latter. It is based on the Greek mythology about Saturn, God of Gods, consuming all his children in order to prevent them from becoming mightier than he was. This one particular painting mentioned before which is more gruesome than the rest is called “Saturn Devouring his Son”. Saturn is depicted as a much larger figure, gripping his son tightly while ripping him apart piece by piece with his mouth. Some features that really stand out is the deformity of Saturn along with his eyes, which are open wide and lifeless.

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch

Hieronymus Bosch
Bosch was a Dutch painter, born in 1450. He is famous for his religious interpretations although there is no real information about his life. Unlike most of the famous painters, he didn’t keep a diary nor did he write any letters. Bosch liked to pay attention to detail and there is no shortage of this when it comes to his apocalyptic pieces regarding Hell and what is going to happen to humanity. A well-known dark painting known as “The Garden of Earthly Delights”, which is separated into three scenes, has placed Bosch in the dark artist section. The last scene is the disturbing part, where Hell pretty much reigns down. It is filled with detailed and surreal torture. Deep and dark colors shape the background while the light colors show what can only be considered a true nightmare. Another painting to look out for is “The Great He-goat; Witches Sabbath”.

Caravaggio

Judith Beheading Holofernes by Caravaggio

Caravaggio spent most of his adult life running from authorities. Apart from his dark, dramatic and natural pieces, he was known for physical conflicts. This Italian painter was born in 1573 and has painted a series of rather gruesome pieces. These include “Medusa’s Head” of which there are two versions, “David with the Head of Goliath” and “Salome with the Head of John the Baptist”. His work created a lot of controversy and “Judith Beheading Holofernes” is probably one of his most graphic. Judith and her handmaid is cold and determined while Holofernes expresses a mixture of surprise and agony. The blood literally sprays across the linen of the bed he lies on. As a side note, Leonardo Da Vinci also painted a fairly grim piece of “The Head of Medusa”.

David with the Head of Goliath by Caravaggio

Edvard Munch
Munch wasn’t the most stable painter in the world, much like Van Gogh he struggled with mental demons. Born in Norway, December 1863, his most famous painting is also part of his darkest. “The Scream” is one of the highest valued paintings and one of

the most disturbing. The screaming person in the painting is disfigured and the choice of color is varied yet depressing. Some believe the tiny building in the background is the mental asylum he was kept in. Another famous painting expressing his dark side is “The Death of Marat”. Marat was a central figure in the French Revolution and was assassinated by Charlotte Corday. It shows Charlotte standing beside the body of Marat and the blood primarily filling the scene. Even though he’s not the only artist to paint this scenario, many find his to be the most disturbing.

Francis Bacon
Born in Ireland, October 1909, Bacon wasn’t known for painting pretty little pictures. His paintings typically contained solitude and displacement of some sort. A very impatient man and adept to surviving with little to no money, Bacon would become one of the most influential painters of the 20th century.

After Velazquez’s Portrait of Innocent X by Francis Bacon

It’s difficult to choose a specific painting that is darker than the other, but some find “Study after Velazquez’s Portrait of Innocent X” to be the pinnacle. It depicts a pope that looks like a type of demon shrieking within darkness. Whatever it truly means for the beholder, Catholics will definitely find it unnerving to say the least.

William Blake
The English Painter William Blake was born in November, 1757, and he also painted quite a few scary pieces. He rebelled against

The Great Red Dragon and the Beast of the Sea by William Blake

religious foundations although he was a God fearing man in his own right. Unfortunately it was only after his death that his work reached great heights and people stopped considering him as insane. Blake liked dark backgrounds, even in his more romantic paintings, but some were a little darker than others. For instance, “The Night of Enitharmon’s Joy” was Blake’s interpretation of what the goddess of black magic looked like. He went even darker with “The Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with Sun”. Although “The Great Red Dragon and the Beast of the Sea” seems to be his darkest painting of all, showing a famous body of the devil residing over the beast of the sea with seven heads.

Theodore Gericault
Last but not least, there is the French painter Gericault who was born in September, 1791. He was another famous romantic painter, but he painted a piece that is very popular and not remotely romantic. It’s called “Heads Severed” and it’s exactly what the title says. Two cleanly severed heads, a man and a woman, rests on a piece of white cloth. The pale skin and lifeless expression is disturbingly realistic and nobody really knows why he painted it in the first place.

There is no question that some of these paintings aren’t always easy to look at, but they serve their purpose in creating a reaction whether it’s good or bad. It just goes to show that there are many dimensions to artists the public has yet to discover.

The Stowaway (Book Review)

July 28, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

“The Stowaway”, written by Clyde Edwards, is paranormal thriller that explores what happens when ones greatest dream becomes a living nightmare. The book features a unique plot that revolves around a classic adventure that quickly becomes supernatural horror.

The novel introduces the reader to a young man, Kit Cabot, who is being groomed to take over his family’s shipping fortune in 1808 Boston, Massachusetts. While Kit yearns for the approval of his father, he finds the day-to-day operations of the family business impossibly dull. Determined to do something more with his life, and attracted to the seafaring life of his uncle, Kit decides to stowaway on his uncles ship. Instead of being swept up in the life of adventure and romance he always imagined, Kit finds himself subjected to harsh 1800s maritime conditions and another stowaway with a sinister mission of its own.

Extremely well written, “The Stowaway” combines high sea adventure with dark horror. Combining a young man’s discovery of the realities of living at sea with the forced realization that inhuman entities exist and threaten the world, Edwards manages to create a world filled with both mundane and supernatural dangers. The characters in the story were all well-developed and, with the carefully crafted dialogue, kept the story moving at an even pace. However, while the story was well paced it was almost too short with the climax and conclusion occurring in rapid succession leaving one wanting to know what happens to Kit next.

Overall, “The Stowaway” by Clyde Edwards is an expertly crafted book that follows the tradition of maritime adventure and classic horror. Showing an excellent knowledge of life on the high seas during the 1800s, Edwards is able to build a claustrophobic sense of supernatural terror as the characters are forced to deal with the dangers of nature and an unknown horror possessing the ship. I highly recommend this book to any who love good horror with a supernatural flare and historical fiction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in New Jersey, Clyde Edwards now resides in Philadelphia, PA. He has been writing thriller and horror fiction for nearly 15 years. He is currently working on his next horror novel Darkness Returns. Set in present-day Charleston, South Carolina, Darkness Returns tells the story of Lily, Nate, and Amelia, three childhood playmates who come together twenty years later to face a truth that no one wants to see. While living in a crumbling plantations, Lily Goodliffe is haunted by a murder victim from the past. Uncovering the truth about the ghost and even more recent murders, she must first deal with the strange occurrences that haunt her mind.

Reviewed by Damnetha Jules

Damnetha is a staff writer, horror book and movie critic.
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In Fear (Movie Review)

July 28, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

In Fear is a very small budget film and is the first feature length film from directer Jeremy Lovering. After receiving praise at the Sundance Film Festival, In Fear has been getting approval from film critics for its success at creating a suspenseful thriller on such a small budget. This is a film that gets some things right, but lacks in other major areas.

The movie plot revolves around something we all manage to do, which is getting lost during a trip. The film tells the story of Tom (Iain De Caestecker) and Lucy (Alice Englert) who are heading toward a music festival to meet up with friends when Tom surprises Lucy by telling her that he has reserved a hotel room for the evening at a remote resort and invites her to join him. Lucy accepts the invitation and they go off the main road to get to the resort. What follows are horrific experiences with the unknown, as they eventually get caught up in a confusing maze of roads while potentially being stalked.

One area this movie excels at is its camera work. Most of the film is shot in a small car and the camera operators did a great job at filming from many different angels and succeed at creating tension and suspense. Director Jeremy Lovering also did a great job making this film with the limited resources he had. With only three main characters and few filming locations, he has achieved what many independent filmmakers strive for, which is to make a feature film on a small budget that isn’t completely uninteresting. The filming locations where it was shot actually have a mystic feeling to them, especially at night.

However there are big drawbacks to In Fear that really holds it back from being much better. The biggest problem with the film is its plot. Firstly, there is zero character development. We know nothing in regards of their interests, jobs or family. When there’s at least some character development, the audience gets more into the film because we feel more attached to a character we know something about. But that is not the case here.

The relationship between Tom and Lucy is often confusing, as we are left wondering just how acquainted they are. Sometimes they appear like they barely know each other while other times it seems they are nearly in a relationship. In one scene Tom says he barely knows Lucy, yet Lucy accepts an invitation to stay with him in a hotel.

The acting in this film is another aspect that drags the film down. The acting is not great with the three characters in the movie, and if there are only three people in the film it should be made sure they put on a good performance. And then there’s the ending of the film, which was a letdown in my opinion. We were never given a clear explanation as to why everything happened the way it did and if everyone made it out. However despite the downfalls in certain areas of the movie, admittingly I was still interested in the outcome of the film and had to watch it till the end. If you are a fan of suspenseful movies you might find a little bit of a kick from this, but don’t set your expectations too high. It’s a decent bargain bin movie.

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MOVIE RATING

Reviewed by Ivan Karhoff
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Children of The Sorrow (Movie Review)

July 28, 2014 By Horror Palace Leave a Comment

Cults are a problem that continue to plague society. We as outsiders particularly find them fascinating in regard to their practices and way of life. Films about cults typically do well, from The Village to Eyes Wide Shut to The Master.

Children of Sorrow tells the story of Ellen (Hannah Levien) who attempts to locate her missing sister by joining a religious cult in an isolated desert location, where her sister was last known to be. The cult, being lead by Simon Leach (Bill Oberst Jr.) consists of several members who all have different backstories and are looking for belonging, community and acceptance. However after a short period of time from arriving, Ellen discovers just how insane Simon and his followers eventually become and finds that much darker things are going on.

Perhaps the creepiest thing that can be said about this film is that it portrays cults realistically and that, in reality, these cults are not fictitious. For centuries cultic groups have risen up, lead by so-called prophets. From the deCloud and Manson families to Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple to Heavens Gate, these groups often end with tragic results with their members being brainwashed into committing drastic actions.

Most of the film is shot from a first person perspective. Ever since the hugely successful horror film The Blair Witch Project was released in 1999, the camcorder filming style has become a favored technique of filming with independent filmmakers for its simplicity and ability to work on a micro budget, which this film definitely falls under. If you are a fan of this particular genre, this film might be worth watching.

https://youtu.be/CW_FRa5HhNE

This film accomplishes what is set out to do, which is to shoot a realistic looking mockumentary. Hannah Levien and Bill Oberst Jr. give the best performances in this movie. Most of the other actors do a decent job in portraying everyday people who slowly become more and more brainwashed. The characters are given some backstory which leads to better character development than other horror films. But overall there isn’t anything special this film adds or contributes that hasn’t been done before.[amzn_product_inline asin=’B00GOYHSBU’]

One thing this film can be sometimes is slow. It takes awhile for things to really get interesting and might become boring for some viewers. Also, even though this is filmed with the camcorder technique, sometimes the camera shakes a lot. So much that it sometimes becomes irritating and can distract us from dramatic moments.

Watching the members of this cult being brainwashed into believing Simon Leach is an elevated human being is sometimes creepy. But I felt the transition from calm to extreme creepiness is a little too fast. A slower build up to insanity would have worked better for this film. This is director Jourdan McClure’s second film and his first time producing and also writing, and it’s certainly not too bad. If you’re a fan of the “found footage” genre, you might enjoy this movie. But if you’re not too cracked up about the genre, I’d suggest passing this one by.

MOVIE RATING

Reviewed by Ivan Karhoff
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