protean depravity

Here are the reviews for some more of my latest reads. I am recently really trying to diversify my reading and not to get stuck on horror alone. That's why miraculously there are two regular fiction and one science fiction books among this week's short reviews. Enjoy! 

  She-Pack (2018), courtesy of FGBFF  So, it has almost been two weeks since I had the pleasure of having the great Final Girls Berlin Film Festival (FGBFF) in my own living room. Although it was a weird feeling to attend an online film festival, it was also much cooler than I had expected it to be. I had no doubts that the selection of the organizers would be flawless, but what about the lack of chit-chatting in foyers, showing up for one movie but then spontaneously deciding to stay for a discussion too, buying yet another FGBFF t-shirt or bag, and the whole atmosphere? Well, unfortunately not this year. Or at least not this year in February, because there will hopefully be a second festival around Halloween at the City Kino Wedding - for the moment being that is nothing but a utopia in which we'll all be vaccinated... So, some of the charm of the festival wasn't there this year, but I found lots of joy in other things. There is, for instance, something extremely cozy in be...

Your favorite electronicon-storytelling project from Norway is back! And they're sponsored now, I can't believe it!! Check out this trailer (!) and the declaration: 

Here are the new short reviews! Unluckily, this time it is all about books that I would rate as average except for Negative Space and Crossroads which are very solid stories. I don't know, maybe it's the lockdown winter or maybe it really is the books, but this time I found it hard to feel much excitement for the books I've read. I still hope you enjoy them.

  In my ears the new year's fireworks were a starting signal for a project I have been longingly waiting for the last few months: the opportunity to read and review the complete “Rewind or Die” series for the Otherland Newsletter; a sum total of 23 retro-horror paperbacks (I recently realized that the series isn't even complete yet, so it's still counting!) inspired by 70s, 80s and 90s horror movies. Ever since I first saw and read Cameron Roubique's Disco Deathtrap from this series I am dreaming about these colorful little books with amazing cover art and extremely over the top story lines. Tongue-in-cheek, bizarro, absurd, gore-splatter, wild ride or pulpy are terms that come to mind describing this incredibly fun series that I will happily read and discuss for you guys in the near future. Recycling alarm - before you all jump on me; yes, I have already reviewed the first book and published it here among the short reviews last month, so sorry for that. To my defense,...

I did as I have announced in October and have watched almost all the movies I planned to watch during the ongoing lockdown. I did my little festival-at-home-thing (though there's still movies whose release dates have been postponed and are therefore not available yet, so I couldn't watch them) and I have come to a conclusion! The winner of the fall film festival at home and my best film of the year 2020 is the Australian dementia-horror "Relic" which was written and directed by Natalie Erika James! 👏👏👏👏👏 If you ever wonder; number two is Brandon Cronenberg's stylishly cruel "Possessor" and third place goes to the super gory and revolting cosmic horror flick "The Beach House" which was written and directed by Jeffrey A. Brown.

As the whole world is shutting down, requiring people to withdraw into tiresome isolation and to see even less people than before, I feel myself more and more drawn to literary characters who are going through the same experience, dealing with various degrees of solitude, albeit under different circumstances. I had mentioned this strange kind of comfort before, in my review of Ottessa Moshfegh's books which feature insanely peculiar female characters in situations of extreme solitude. During the first lockdown in spring I read both My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Death in Her Hands by Moshfegh and found myself oddly fascinated by these women who, out of their free will, chose lonesomeness and told how they go through their days as if nothing else in the world mattered (and strangely enough, I never felt bored reading both these books, they are extremely captivating). That exactly, the ability to zoom out anything else going on around you and focus on your own microcosm is wha...

I guess we're all happy to leave the old year behind, so here's to a new year and hopefully a better one too! I hope you had a tolerable festive season despite all the new restrictions. As for me, I took the work-free time to read an awful lot of books and think it best to tick off the shorties as quickly as possible – because their number is raising almost by the day, incredible what even more lockdown can do- and to get to the more interesting ones that I’ll be discussing longer and in detail. Last week I already announced the 2021 plan of the Final Girls Berlin to split their popular horror film festival into two parts - the first being next month virtually and the second in October, hopefully in person. Another happy announcement for 2021 is that I will be monthly reviewing the “Rewind or Die” series for the Otherland Newsletter this year – a sum total of 21 retro-horror paperbacks which are inspired by 80s and 90s horror fiction. I can’t tell how excited I am for this ta...

  Happy and healthy new year 2021, everyone! The year starts with great news for Berlin horror fans - the program and time schedule for the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival is ready! I have to say I'm super excited for this year's selection - especially, as always, for the short film selection, squee! Here goes their message: Final Girls Berlin Film Festival, a festival showcasing horror directed, written, and/or produced by women and non-binary people will be doing things a bit differently this year - we are splitting our 6th edition! Part 1 of the festival will take place online on February 4-7 2021 and Part 2 will be on Halloween weekend, October 29-31 2021, at City Kino Wedding in Berlin. Here is what we planned for February! Our opening night film is Sabrina Merten's debut feature FELLWECHSELZEIT  (Berlin Premiere), a disturbing, brilliantly conceived psychological thriller about young Stephanie who is trapped in a dysfunctional family set-up with no way of ge...