Lot 36 is a story about a xenophobic guy who works at a storage unit complex and specifically with clearing out storage units belonging to people who have died and haven't had their things claimed within an allotted time frame. He then sells any valuables on the side so he's basically a thief. He stumbles onto an old guy of Nazi origin who was deep inside the mythical Nazi mysticism, and things go sideways from there as the guy delves deeper than he should. It was a really slow story and the preposterous way it ended left a lot to be desired. Sebastian Roché was great in this.
Graveyard Rats is a story about a grave robber in post-WW1 20th century who is fighting his own war with the rats for the buried valuables. It was a fun story mostly, way too preposterous to be called anything even remotely scary. And it ended like a cautionary tale.
The Autopsy was the first story that was really somewhat good. The erratic behavior of a mine worker causes something like a bomb to go off inside a mine and killing a bunch of people. A doctor is then called in to do the autopsy of the workers, and what he finds is really disturbing. The entire story is pretty disturbing, albeit somewhat predictable.
The Outside is about a girl who's struggled her entire life with feeling ugly, unwanted and weird. She happens upon a lotion that's supposeed to fix everything. This story was really weird and really unsatisfying and not at all scary. Dan Stevens was great as the salesman though.
Pickman's Model is the first Lovecraftian story and it's really right up my alley. It gives me the whole chilling, spine-tingling, not exactly scary but something is definitely wrong kind of feeling. It's Lovecraft's short story by the same name put to the screen, and it's amazing. Doesn't hurt that Ben Barnes is the protagonist either, and Crispin Glover was amazing as Pickman.
Dreams in the Witch House is the second Lovecraftian story and while the writer has taken some artistic liberties it's really, really well made and turned into a classic haunted house story with some Lovecraftian themes and supernatural tendencies, and I'm all for it! Rupert Grint did a great job as the protagonist.
The Viewing was something like a fever dream someone high on LSD might come up with. It was just very very weird and neither of us liked it. It's about a bunch of outstanding people being invited into the home of a rich elderly recluse. He shows off his collection, because as a rich man he likes collecting things. All the things. One thing he has collected is a meteor. Which turns out to be a space egg, which expectedly cracks open and all hell breaks loose.
The Murmuring is a classic haunted house tale. But it focused more on the marital issues of the two people in the house than the ghosts or the house, and so this story that should've been exactly my thing turned into a slog. Andrew Lincoln is in this one and he does a very convincing job.
The thing with anthologies is that it won't always be good, but it's always interesting and overall worth it. I hope there'll be a second volume.
No comments:
Post a Comment
What's the first thought in your head after reading this? Let me know!