Gaming Review: Dead Rising 2

This has been a year of undead.  From vampires to zombies, we've been bombarded.  Whoever designed this game, however, must have a personal belief that there never has seemed to be enough Zombies to go around.

YA Review: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Often in my career, I've come across photographs.
Some are left between the pages of donated or returned items. Others still are found on library floors and tables; accidental droppings from the purses and pockets of patrons. I stare at these photographs and am unable to thrown them away because I feel as though I'm discarding the lives found within them. I find myself imagining who the people are, and how they felt during the scenes I'm eavesdropping on, but never have I constructed such an enchanting and haunting tale as this one.

From found and collected photos , Ransom Riggs has pulled together an adventure that appeals to a range of my interests. Multiple times within this story, I found myself feeling as though I'd discovered a land that was the perfect mix of Percy Jackson, Pan's Labyrinth, Through the Looking Glass and others. From the very first chapter, I realized that I wouldn't be able to rest until I'd devoured this tale of loss, love, family, adventure and history.

Graphic Review: Tales From The Crypt Series

I'm impressed.  I don't get impressed easily, so let's let that tell you how much I liked this series.  They are short reads, so I was able to get about five under my belt this week alone.  The crypt-keeper and his friends have been out of print since the 50's, but gained a HUGE following in the 90's when HBO brought them to the small screen.  I was pretty young when the series came out and so I didn't much like being grossed out so much.  LOL  Now, I'm game for quite a bit of gore.

This series is a great reintroduction to the franchise.  Like I said before, many horror books are good for trying to be scary and missing the mark.  These are not those at all.  I was totally freaked out! 

The horrifics are spruced up a notch because they tie in to very real themes:

• There's the story of the slumlord who lets his tenant freeze to death.
• The crooner who summons a demon to help him win Idol.
• The backwards story of the real "paradise" suicide bombers may wind up in.
• The poor chap who lets his online persona mix a little too closely with his real life.

These stories were frightfully believable and I found myself unable to stop turning the pages.  The comics employ different drawing styles for each story and the pictures work seamlessly with the tales, which may seem like a common sense feat, but is one that many graphic novels fail to accomplish. 

As for the humor and puns, which is also a great staple in Tales from the Crypt history, it is there as well.  As I suspected, the Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid parody was adorably ghoulish, and that volume also had a pretty awesome Twilight spoof called Dielight. 

There aren't any over-the-top sexual themes or the like, but I'm sure there are some that probably find the books to be gruesome or racy due to the murder scenes.   However, the redeeming quality of these stories is very much like that of classic folktales.  The "victims" in these stories are always vindicated and the bad guys always get their comeuppance.  I really did enjoy this series and will be adding it to my horror files.  I believe they will draw in tons of readers who like chills and thrills.
 Check out the series website at: http://www.papercutz.com/tc/tc.html

To-Read: Tales From The Crypt Series

So, I have my mixed emotions about spooky reads.  Sometimes they can be pretty lame attempts at actual horror.  This series, however, has gotten some pretty good reviews from what I've seen.  I haven't tried any of them yet, but I plan to take a look at them this week and see what all the fuss is about.
What is attracting me to it right now, is number #8, Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid which is a parody of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, and number #9 Wickeder which is a parody of the book/play Wicked.  I hope these tales are chilling enough to make me like the whole series.

YA Graphic Review: Water Baby by Ross Campbell

I picked this one up yesterday and finished it in an hour.

It is in graphic format, which is why my first comment will be:

THE PICTURES IN THIS BOOK WERE GREAT!

Ross Campbell’s drawings in this book made me want to go surfing, joy-riding across the country and take a bath.

No, seriously, the story of Brody was one I couldn’t put down right away.  She’s the rebel, tom-boy, outspoken friend that we all have.  Unfortunately for this friend, one of her surfing days ends up with her leg becoming shark food.

The story takes place a year after her accident with her best friend Louissa living with her to help out.  Everything seems to be going well until her ex-boyfriend Jake shows up unexpectedly and wants to stay with the girls for the summer. While dealing with getting used to being on an artificial leg, her feelings for Jake and her fears of the water, Brody is trying her best to put her life back together.

Overall, Brody was a really cool character to follow.  She was odd, but sweet and even in her most raunchy, booger-eating, moments, you couldn’t help but want to be her friend.  I especially liked that she had a good attitude about losing her leg to the shark.  She never played a pity game, or felt sorry for herself, but kept it moving.  Louissa was a really good friend too,who stuck by her through everything and tried her best to help her get used to her new leg and her fear.

When dealings with Jake finally get to a level that Brody won’t tolerate, the group embarks on a ridiculous road-trip, with Brody at the wheel, to get him out of Miami and back to his parents in New York.
Another cool feature is that when the book is held all the way open, you can see a full size pic of Brody.

Should you choose to pick this one up, be mindful of the fact that Brody does discuss her affections for boys, girls, and older men.  She also has an affinity for walking around in her underwear…a lot.  LOL  So, some parents may not dig this one.

I’m interested to see what else Ross Campbell has to offer.