What I'm Reading

The 1959 classic gothic horror, The Haunting of Hill House. I've seen many iterations of this tale. My favorite is Mike Flanagan's series on Netflix. The bent-neck lady gave me the absolute shivers. However, the haunting in that series is caused by the abundance of ghosts. I believe 29 have been counted so far. In the book, the house itself is the menace, listening ominously while the characters insult it by day, and then attacking them at night.

I admire how Shirley Jackson creates an atmosphere of dread as well as her use of an unreliable narrator in the character of Eleanor.

What I've been playing

Growing up, my parents wouldn't let us have a console. We were only allowed to play educational PC games and King's Quest games. And while not technically educational, I would argue that King's Quest games are a masterclass in patience and out of the box thinking, especially pre-internet.

So while I really like video games, I'm not very good at them. I keep playing though, whenever I can squeeze in an hour here or there. I heard that Sleeping Dogs was really fun and picked it up cheap during the Steam Summer Sale.

Sleeping Dogs is a GTA clone set in Hong Kong. It was a lot of fun! I found the story engaging, if a little ridiculous, and even did a bunch of the open world stuff just to enjoy it. I liked the side missions, the karaoke, and all the outfits.

Since I was playing with a mouse/keyboard, the fighting pretty much came to clicking the mouse buttons furiously. But even with button mashing, I still made it through the whole game.

The driving controls were super janky. Between that and driving on the wrong side of the road, I ran over many innocent people. This was even more embarrassing in the police quests where I was driving an official police vehicle. I yelled "Sorry!" anytime someone bounced off my hood. That's got to count for something, right?

I thought maybe I was just as bad at driving as I was at fighting, but I looked it up online and pretty much everyone agrees the driving is janky. So not me this time!

Also, I kept getting in on the wrong side of the car and my gangster man had to keep scooting scooting over to the driver's side and it was hilarious every time it happened. If you have some free time and are looking for some good dumb fun, I recommend Sleeping Dogs.

Hot Off The Press! Read Now.

Crimsonfall Reapers

Ghostly Evil. Ghastly Funny. Supernaturally Entertaining.

New York, 1895

Supernatural threats loom over Brooklyn, and it's up to the adopted brother-and-sister team of Genie and Hans to hunt monsters and break ancient curses. They are the youngest reapers at the ghosthunting guild and tackle their first mission, a haunting, only to discover an Abominable Evil. Genie seeks help from Alice Walker, a high-society lady and airship captain, whose weapons are as elegant as they are deadly. During battle, Alice ends up captured! Genie and Hans swashbuckle their way through Skycracks and the Scourge, Curseweavers and Clankers, using weapons such as the Pneumatic Omni-Directional Ventilator also known as the dreaded Sucker. Genie has her pepperbox pistol, and Hans is an expert with knives. Their job is complicated by the requirement that Genie conform at all times to Miss Haversham’s Primer for Proper Young Ladies, 1895 edition. Will she have enough courage, smarts, and manners to remain a lady while she and Hans fight unmentionable horrors?

An array of other-worldly ghastly beings make this a wonderfully entertaining story with appeal for adults, as well as junior high and high school readers. Publishers Weekly reviewer, BookLife

Written with sparkling humor. One of five semifinalists in the Young Adult category of the BookLife Prize.

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