protean depravity

  The summer was turbulent so far, in terms of both the weather and all the fun things you can do with lots of amazing films, concerts, events, readings all around... And it doesn't look like that's going to change in the near future, so let's keep on looking at some of the stuff a horror fan can do in and around Berlin this summer.

Guys, I forgot to add two important things to my early summer blog post that you shouldn't miss if you can; This weekend, starting tomorrow and going on Sunday, it's time for the Final Girls Brain Binge again! I'm just pasting a picture of the program here, you'll need to subscribe as usual, and, of course, it is free as usual:

Even though the weather hasn't noticed it yet, the summer is supposed to be knocking on our doors, and that means more events, open air cinemas, new challenges and similar stuff. Let's take a look at what's up in Berlin and in my reading plans in the early summer 2025.

  For those who aren't very interested in football, here are some cinema/book ideas and plans for the upcoming summer in Berlin!  It's time for open air cinema again! Because that went really well last year... I'm going to try it again, though, there's no giving up and maybe the weather will play along this year. Doesn't look like it yet, but there's always hope. Although some theaters don't even have a summer program yet, some have announced the movies they will be showing, and let's take a look at the attractive ones, old and new.

  The world keeps on turning and once again the nicer time of the year has arrived; the warm time. At least hopefully, because in this part of the world you never know - Remember last summer? And again, I have been merrily taking and taking review copies of books, and reached the point where they have accumulated to a degree that I'm about to lose track, but haven't quite yet. I am at a point where I need to straighten up the tbr pile - make a priority list so that no important book gets left out, but also make sure my personal goals, group reads, buddy reads and challenges are fulfilled too. It's not easy being a professional book worm, let me tell you.

First off - I am profusely sorry if I have motivated anyone to go to open air cinemas in Berlin in my last text on films, in which I claim it an exhilarating pastime and the way the summer goes this year, let's face it, it's just not great at all, it is awful... I apologize. This summer sucks, to be brutally honest. During every single movie I went to see open air it rained in various degrees, from mild pattering to Earth-has-decided-to-end-by-flood level and I am now tired sitting on cold benches with chattering teeth and wet feet, and before developing severe frostbite in August I decided I will finish my film plan either at home with my hot water bottle or in indoors cinemas. Still, it wasn't all for nothing, because I saw a lot of good films and documentaries so far. The day before yesterday, for instance, I finally got the chance to see a movie I was really craving for and it was amazing for me. I am, clearly, talking about Mad Heidi.

Apart from festival time, I sit down about twice a year to take stock of all the new movies I want to watch in the upcoming season - which doesn't mean they're all the movies I'll ever watch in the coming months, there will surely be many I'll still go see, but it's nice to have a plan and a goal before you. So I have scanned my favorite horror sites, the fantasy film fest website and the websites of various movie theatres in Berlin that I'm fond of, open air and closed room, and I came up with a mini summer program that goes until fall. I will be traveling end of August and the first half of September but decided to return early to Berlin in order not to miss the Fantasy Film Festival, I hope it will be worth it, lol.

The Horror Aficionados summer challenge has begun in May this year, yay! So I went through my tbr-list and tried to make a smaller list of the books that are somewhat related to summer activities - only to sadly realize that the books I want to read are usually way too grim for the usually lighter summertime. I was still able to scrape together a few titles, mostly books about the sea, the seaside, swimming, but also one about open-air band tours, one theme park and one about camping. I usually try to not overdo it and pledge to read about five books, this year I'm shooting for more and hope it works. Here are my chosen summer challenge books: