Paying Homage to the Monsters

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Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Carl Laemmle, Claude Rains, Colin Clive, collage, Creature From The Black Lagoon, Dracula, Elsa Lanchester, film posters, Frankenstein, Frankenstein's Monster, Halloween, Happy Halloween, Julia Adams, Karl Freund, Lon Chaney Jr., Marco Dark, Phantom of the Opera, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, To Sleep in the Ground, Tod Browning, Universal Studios Classic Monsters

I enjoy the Universal Studios classic monster films.  I bought this Blu-ray set in 2014.  It features eight of the more popular and famous Universal monster movies.  The set came with postcards of the original film posters.  I made them into a collage a while back.

Trivia time!  Look closely at the titles of the films.  If you have read my novel, “To Sleep in the Ground,” then you may have gotten the joke I made in the book about some of the film titles seen here.  If you haven’t read my novel yet, but do so in the future, can you catch the hidden joke?  Hint:  You do not have to buy the book in order to read the joke.  It’s included in the free sample “Look inside” preview of my book on Amazon.  Happy hunting!

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

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Sale!

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A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011 Japan Earthquake-A Foreigner's Perspective, Amazon, Amazon Marketplace, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima Prefecture, Koriyama City, nuclear crisis, nuclear meltdown, Nuclear Reactor, paperback, Paperback Price Reduction, Sale!, The Great East Japan Earthquake

I recently reduced the price of the paperback version of my nonfiction book, “A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011, Japan Earthquake-A Foreigner’s Perspective” on Amazon. The price reduction was made in all Amazon marketplaces and countries where my book is available; although, it may take time for the new prices to appear in all markets.

Take care and thanks for reading!

An Era Ends

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British Royal Family, King Charles, Monarchy, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, U.K., United Kingdom

I would like to offer my sympathies and condolences to the royal family on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. It is the end of an era. May King Charles reign with equal compassion, strength, tolerance, dignity, and grace.

Remember this?

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1981, Horror-Comedy Spoof, Howard R. Cohen, Jeff Begun, Julie Corman, Movie, Parody, Paula Prentiss, Richard Benjamin, Saturday the 14th, Spoof

A Sincere ‘Thank You’

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consideration, earthquake, Four Out of Five Stars, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima Prefecture, Generosity, Kindness, nuclear crisis, nuclear meltdown, Nuclear Reactor, Rating, Review, Thank You, The Great East Japan Earthquake

I would like to publicly thank the considerate person who recently rated my nonfiction book five stars on Amazon. Your time and effort has boosted the overall rating of my book to four out of five stars. I am humbled and honored by your kind act. I hope that you enjoyed reading “A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011, Japan Earthquake–A Foreigner’s Perspective” and found it educational and informative. Thank you very much for your generosity.

Eleven Years Ago…

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11th Anniversary, A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011 Japan Earthquake-A Foreigner's Perspective, Bombing of Nuclear Power Plant, earthquake, Eastern Tohoku, Fukushima, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima Prefecture, Koriyama, Koriyama City, March 11 2011 earthquake, nuclear crisis, nuclear meltdown, Nuclear Reactor, radiation, Russia, Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Shelling of Nuclear Power Plant, The Great East Japan Earthquake, Ukraine

…and Russia is shelling Ukrainian nuclear power plants now. Have we learned nothing?

A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011, Japan Earthquake-A Foreigner’s Perspective is available in paperback for the first time!

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A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011 Japan Earthquake-A Foreigner's Perspective, Bradley Lobue, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Koriyama City, Manmade Disaster, Natural Disaster, nuclear crisis, nuclear meltdown, paperback, The Great East Japan Earthquake

I’m happy to announce that my nonfiction book is finally available in paperback. It only took a decade! The book has been revised and updated, and the paperback has color photo illustrations. The e-book has been revised and updated as well. I think that both versions make for a more interesting and concise reading experience compared to past editions.

As with my e-book, the paperback is available through Amazon in most countries where Amazon operates. *Color paperback printing may not be available in all countries where Amazon publishes.

Please have a safe, healthy, and joyous Christmas season. May 2022 be a much safer, healthier and peaceful year for us all.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Will I Ever Get a Review?: The Curse of the Self-Published Author

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A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011 Japan Earthquake-A Foreigner's Perspective, Amazon Review, Book Review, First Book Review, Review, The DiVacci Curse, To Sleep in the Ground, Will I Ever Get A Review?

I asked this question in my mind many times over the years until one day when I happened to check the listing for my nonfiction book “A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011, Japan Earthquake-A Foreigner’s Perspective” and noticed that someone had finally answered that question. I had my first review of my work! The review was posted on March 8 of this year. It took almost a decade to happen, but it did actually happen. Four months later I am still shocked that I finally joined the ranks of those fortunate, self-published souls who can proudly say that their work has been officially reviewed. I am delighted and humbled for such an honor and wish to thank the kind person who took the time to purchase and read my book, then write and post the review. They rated my book three out of five stars, and I am honored.

The review was posted on Amazon. Not long after I first published my nonfiction book, I received a rating on Goodreads of two out of five stars from a reader. Big thanks to the person who rated the book then. No review was written, only a rating was given at the time. I was brand new to the self-publishing world. Since then, my book has been updated and revised, and I think (hope) it makes for a better reading experience now. Perhaps the three-star rating this time reflects that.

It’s no mystery that reviews sell books, especially positive reviews. If you’re a self-published author like me but you haven’t received your first review yet, all I can say is be patient and hang in there. It could happen when you least expect it, but don’t expect it. Reviews of your work should be considered a bonus, not an expectation. Think of it as a privilege and not a right. Legitimate reviews can be very difficult to get. They are not easy to come by for many of us. It may not even be a flattering review that you receive, but at least it will have provoked a strong reaction in the reader, and that is something to feel good about. Isn’t that one of the reasons why many of us write?

Again, I wish to thank the kind person who reviewed “A Day of Horror: The March 11, 2011, Japan Earthquake.” Now if only I could get a review for my short story “The DiVacci Curse” and my novel “To Sleep in the Ground!”

A side note:

I am still preparing the paperback version of my nonfiction book. After that, I plan to revise and reformat my short story and novel (e-book and paperback). Then I hope to begin advertising my books in earnest. I don’t think I have enough to do.

Have a safe and healthy summer!

Raiders of the Lost Ark

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1981, 40th Anniversary, Baton Rouge, Bon Marche Mall, Cairo, California, Cinema 8, Disney World, Disneyland, DisneySea, East Baton Rouge Parish, Film, Film Trailer, Florida, Force Ten From navarone, Friday, George Lucas, Han Solo, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye, Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, John Williams, June 5, Louisiana, MGM Studios, Movie, Movie Magic, Movie Theater, Orlando, Peruvian, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Sneak Preview, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, The Empire Strikes Back, Tokyo, TV Commercial

I arrived home to the apartment where I lived with my mother and sister in the late afternoon on Friday, June 5, 1981.  School in East Baton Rouge Parish in southeast Louisiana had already been out for the summer for a week or two.  I was an elementary school student.

I was helping my sister unpack groceries when a commercial came on TV for Raiders of the Lost Ark (now known as “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark”).  There was to be a sneak preview (remember those?) that evening at Cinema 8 movie theater at Bon Marche Mall in Baton Rouge.  Cinema 8 had been chosen as one of many theaters in many cities around the country to premiere the film a week before general release.

I was occupied at the time and didn’t pay a lot of attention to the commercial.  As with many TV commercials for films in the eighties, it happened quick with a lot of fast, random flashes of action and not enough to show you what the film was really about—a smart marketing tactic compared to today where you already know the essence of the film (and sometimes the spoilers and big reveals) in the very first trailer.  All I remember seeing was Harrison Ford playing a cowboy riding a horse and holding on to the front of a big truck in a desert, and that it was a collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Harrison Ford is doing a cowboy film? I thought.  I don’t know that I want to see this.  In 1981, in my mind, Harrison Ford was Han Solo.  He was a sci-fi/fantasy actor.  O.k., I did like him in Force Ten From Navarone (1978) after Star Wars, but I could not imagine my screen hero playing a cowboy.  He is not a cowboy in Raiders, but when I saw him wearing a wide brim hat in the TV commercial (I didn’t know the difference between a fedora and a cowboy hat back then) I just assumed that it was a cowboy flick.

The phone rang.  It was my mom calling from work saying that a friend of hers had scored tickets to the sold-out sneak preview at Cinema 8 and that we were all going that evening.  Lovely.  I thought that I was just going to see another cowboy film from a genre that I had no interest in.  Little did I realize that Raiders of the Lost Ark would turn out to be the most thrilling time I had in a movie theater since The Empire Strikes Back the year before.

From the opening scene in the Peruvian temple to the closing credits, the audience at Cinema 8 that night was on the edge of their seats enjoying a non-stop rollercoaster adventure the likes of which has rarely been equaled or surpassed in film.  I had never experienced such a boisterous and energetic audience reaction in a movie theater before and have not since.  The scene where Indy shoots the swordsman on the street in Cairo brought the house down.  Talk about audience participation!

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Happy 141st Birthday, Antonio Bay!

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141st Anniversary, Adrienne Barbeau, Alfred Hitchcock, Antonio Bay, April 21, April 21st, Father Malone, Ghost Story, Ghosts, Hal Holbrook, Halloween, horror films, Jamie Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh, John Carpenter, John Houseman, Psycho, Seagrass, Stevie Wayne, The 21st of April, The Fog, Tom Atkins, vengeful ghosts

Eleven fifty-five, almost midnight, enough time for one more story…one more story before twelve, just to keep us warm. In five minutes, it will be the 21st of April…

These chilling words are the opening lines of dialogue from a horror film that shares this important date with us today.

Below is a slightly edited repost of a post I did a few years ago about today’s date and its significance in the realm of horror films.

Original post (edited):

Oddly, I’m not a big horror movie fan.  Even though I enjoy writing in the horror and mystery genres, when it comes to film my personal movie collection is heavy with science fiction, fantasy, adventure, and comedy rather than horror. The Fog is one of my all time favorite horror movies (the original 1980 film directed by John Carpenter). The plot is simple yet effective and harkens back to a nostalgic time of storytelling when ghost stories didn’t have to be gory or excessively violent to be frightening. Sure, there is some violence in the film, but it isn’t very bloody or overt like many of the horror films and TV shows of today, although, the film is loaded with lots of shocks and stingers that definitely get your attention.  They are the kind of scares that happen really quick, make you scream or jump, and then make you laugh at yourself afterward.  I won’t go into detail about the story because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who has never seen the film before. The Fog inspires and encourages me to write scary stories that emphasize the old cliché, “Less is more.”

The Fog is pretty tame by current standards.  After all, it’s over forty years old! If you prefer your horror served up with gratuitous amounts of blood, gore, and sex, then The Fog may not be for you.  However, if you enjoy clever, old school, spooky, sit-around-the-campfire ghost stories, then you might find it entertaining.  It’s a fun film to watch while curled up on the sofa with your favorite snack or main squeeze.

There are also a couple of personal reasons why I like The Fog.  I was a radio DJ/announcer for a few years when I lived in Louisiana, and briefly when I later lived in Florida. The “Stevie Wayne” connection is something I can relate to. Stevie Wayne is basically the main character of the film.  She is portrayed by Adrienne Barbeau.  She’s a single mom raising her son in a sleepy, yet somewhat charming little seaside town (Antonio Bay, California). Stevie recently bought a radio station atop the town lighthouse that overlooks the Pacific.  A good portion of the film takes place in and around the lighthouse/radio station. I can relate to the tasks and responsibilities that Stevie has to contend with like the ever watchful and unforgiving demands of the clock, and time, that dictate a DJ’s every move and word while on the air.

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