Beelzebub's library

Novel: Sci-fi, Horror, Fantasy. Contains disturbing imagery, violence, and adult situations.  Before this book I was unacquainted with Harlan Ellison, and though I was aware of “ I have no mouth and I must scream ” I just hadn't read it and I didn't know the name of the author. After receiving this collection as a Christmas gift, I soon found that the story exceeded my expectations, mostly because it was quite different then I had expected. The story is this: Five humans are being kept prisoner by a computer in the not so far away future, after the computer destroys humanity, the computer consumed with a hatred for humanity has chosen these five to live in an environment created by him and be tortured and mocked forever. The computer, named AM, has complete control over the entire world that the humans must survive in and has genetically modified all of them to suit his needs. There is a sickening sort of awfulness surrounding the things tha...

Novel: Children's story, supernatural, horror, fantasy. Contains disturbing themes.  This review contains minor spoilers. I read this book quite a while ago so do forgive me if I am unable to give you a perfectly clear vision of the book and my feeling on it. But to get straight down to the point, it’s good. Basically, a girl named Coraline is being ignored by her parents and doesn't enjoy living in the new house they have moved to. When she finds a door in the wall, that leads to the bricked-up segment of the building, being extremely bored and curious she goes inside and after traveling through a tunnel she finds herself in an exact replica of her house. Except her parents are different, they seek her attention instead of the other way around, and this Otherworld, as it is referred to is full of amazing and wonderful gifts, just for her. And the grounds surrounding the house are is just as amazing. The only problem is that if Coraline wants to stay here, th...

Contains spoilers for The Pooh Perplex and The Post-Modern Pooh. Everyone loves Winnie the Pooh, it is completely innocent. I have many fond memories around is the original Winnie the Pooh movie, as I have no doubt many other's do as well. And u nlike most other toddler-friendly media, many adults consider movies and stories to be legitimately funny. The only person who hated the franchise was, ironically enough its creator (a bit of Sherlock-Syndrome there, plus he wanted to be remembered for his serious writings, ironic considering today's subject).  Only really mean spirited person would do such a thing as to dislike this beloved franchise, let alone pick it apart as though it were some Greek tragedy or comparable in brilliance to the works of Shakespeare.  So wouldn't it be funny if a person assembled all these mean spirited people and have them talk about the subject? You know what would be funnier? If these people weren't real, that way they could be as cr...

Collection: Supernatural, Fantasy. I love short stories. The first collection of short stories that I ever owned was by Richard Matheson, and the first short story that I read from that collection was " Terror at 20,000 feet " because how much of a Twilight Zone fan I am. Needless to say, I was hooked. From that day forth, I love short stories. Little bundles of information, a cool concept not worn out by the length of a novel, or an interesting character that we won't grow to become tired of because the story is too long. No, a short story is beautiful at its core, and Matheson, primarily a horror writer, great at crafting a simple and short story, which how's off horror but doesn't overstay it's welcome like most horror movies and books. Neil Gaiman knows how to tell a good short story. Take an idea that is interesting but will only last so long and craft a great story out of it? Check. The first story in the collection is incredible at explor...

Ray Bradbury is my favorite writer. I love his short stories, his novels, his poems, and Fahrenheit 451 is my favorite book of all time. I wanted a book that would make me a better writer but would not be boring and tedious. So when I found out that there was a book by him, about writing, I decided that I had to have it. I had looked up some good books about writing and the moment I saw the name Bradbury I clicked on it. I scrolled through a list of quotes from the book and was fascinated, there are many great quotes from the book, and each one seemed to have life energy and being to them. So after reading only several quotes from the list I became very hyped for the book. And I was not disappointed because Bradbury writes with enthusiasm and honesty. While starting the first two chapters I became so enwrapped with the book that I went outside and began yelling the words out like a preacher quoting the bible (I was not drunk at the time, I was just very happy and really I’m j...

Adams knows how to blend satire with Sci-fi, and this is done seamlessly in the critically acclaimed, Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. Not only had this book introduced me to the over the top, subtly-be-damned, satire shown on a grand scale. My favorite Dr. Who episode is like something out of The Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy , the main characters arrive in a future New York where thousands of people (Hundreds of thousands?) are stuck in an underground traffic jam that many of them have been stuck in for 40 or more years. It even uses a bit of Sci-fi to explain this ridiculous situation, which of course is semi-bunk. Then there are cat people and giant crabs which live in the fast lane. That’s the kind of stuff I love (The name is Gridlock, I suggest that you watch it.) Parts of it don’t really make sense, but it is showing how situations which are ridiculous now could become even more insane in the future. And Adams revels in this feeling, in the book the Earth is...

Novel: Horror. Contains violence, obscenity, adult situations, and disturbing imagery.  This review contains spoilers.  Going into The Shining , on some level, it was spoiled for me.  A lot of the “Will this person die?” stuff is ruined because I *thought* I knew how The Shining ends. I didn't watch the movie, but our pop culture full of spoilers (Especially nowadays), and because I’m not scared easily and bit desensitized, so much of the tension is somewhat ruined. This is the fate of all popular things, to be hailed as incredibly original when it first comes out, and by the time it becomes universally known, it feels full of tropes, since everything and their mother has ripped it off since.  None the less I will try to be subjective, because the book does have scary moments, and I ended up being quite surprised at how it ended. So if like me, you think you know the plot, so you don’t think that you should read the book then think again. Husband,...

Novel: Dystopia, Sci-fi. Contains drugs, obscenity, adult situations, violence, and disturbing imagery. (This review contains minor spoilers) I read this book as a summer project, and I was permanently changed. It is my all-time favorite book and proba bly will remain so for quite some time. I can remember so many great scenes from it, one of the things that Ray Bradbury is great at is his ability to set a scene. He can capture your imagination and use it to form a vibrant and engrossing atmosphere. I remember how many times per day I would read some because I couldn't keep my eyes off of it. Our protagonist is Guy Montag, a fireman. But of course his job isn't to put out fires, instead, he and a team of other men, are hired by the government to burst into homes with books in them, and burn all the books to ashes. The houses of this not too distant future are fireproof, so the firemen may cover all the books in kerosene and light them on fire without destroyi...

Collection: Political, Slice of Life, Dystopia. Contains violence, obscenity, and extremely disturbing situations. This was the first book I read by Kurt Vonnegut, my dad picked it up for me. I had already heard about while looking at a list of books regarding dystopian fiction (I tried to provide a link in this review but I'm afraid it didn't work). Welcome to the Monkey house only has two or three dystopian stories, but since it was written during the cold war even the stories which aren't about a dystopian society have it as a fairly relevant theme. The first real story (The actual first story is a description of Kurt’s home town) depicts a future where everyone is “equal”, and this is achieved by having handsome and beautiful people wear masks, strong people are forced to wear heavy weights, and smart people wear a radio that sits next to their ear and whenever they start forming a thought a sound blasts in their ear. Needless to say, I was immediately e...

New Year’s Day We have entered a new year, a new beginning. A new chapter of our lives has started, although considering how long most of you will live, the book that your describes your life contains 90 or more chapters. None the less, at the end of this year we will look back and memories will come flooding back to us.  Some will be good, and some will be bad, we will remember most the moments which have changed our life. Every memory is a story, and we are about to be granted a thousand stories. Thousands will die, and hundreds of thousands will be born, in just this day. When writing a book, a good beginning is very important, it is not vital, but if you can’t bring a reader in on the first chapter, then it is unlikely that they will continue reading. You have to show that your book is worth their valuable time, shown them the entrance to your cave of wonders and then give them a torch. Don’t be afraid of screwing it up though, your story will inevitably requi...