A Far Out Fantastic Site

To close this month of May, I have another Book-To-Movie review for you and the latest on my upcoming book of sci-fi horror short stories, “Bad Apps”! In case, you’re new to A Far Out Fantastic Site, well, first of all welcome! Second, you should know that a Book-To-Movie is where we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation, usually in the science fiction, horror, or fantasy genres. Book-To-Movie Review: 'Trucks' / 'Maximum Overdrive' Credit: Wikipedia Warning: There are spoilers throughout this review. Our first Book-To-Movie (BTM) of the year reviewed a bad Stephen King short story and its almost equally bad movie adaptation. (In fact, the movie was worse, even if just by a bit.) Today’s BTM is reviewing another bad film but one based on a way better short story by King. The movie is “Maximum Overdrive”; the story it’s based on is “Trucks”.  King’s “Trucks” is concisely written with a prophetic warning against the overuse of technology. However, the ...

I have a double-post for you today, since I missed posting Monday for the I don't know what n th time! So, I have the make-up post for this past Monday and Insecure Writer's Support Group (IWSG) post for this first Wednesday of the month—a two-in-one post. Every first Wednesday, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems to this monthly blog hop to share with each other and try to offer solutions. I also have an update on the upcoming newsletter and a little about an upcoming Stephen King movie.  IWSG: Being With the Characters in Books, TV and Movies Let's start with the IWSG post which mostly consists of my answer to the optional monthly question. So, the question for April is What fantasy character would you like to fight, go on a quest with, or have a beer/glass of wine with? I really can't think of a character who I would like to do any of these things with. Although I imagine myself in the stories that I read, I don't really fantasise about interac...

It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) blog hop! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. Well, I just can't believe how fast November raced by and now we're into December! Before we know it, it will be Christmas and then New Year’s! Speaking of which, I have some news about an upcoming end-of-year book sale which will include my own books at reduced prices! That news, along with news about Stephen King's upcoming novel, will be in the part of this post that will make up for Monday’s missed one which I apologize for. So, I'm doubling up today for both the IWSG blog hop and for Monday.  The Cliffhanging Ending in Fiction The IWSG optional question for December is: Do you write cliffhangers at the end of your stories? Are they a turn-off to you as a writer and/or a reader? Ever since my big ‘60s “Batma...

Credit: Pixabay I said last time  that I would have a list of horror films for your Halloween viewing and so I have that for you today. I wanted to do a list of horror movies based on books or short stories that are currently streaming for free. However, there are just too many of them out there to do in one post, and so I had to narrow it down to original movies that are either based on Stephen King’s fiction or that’s screenplays were written by him. I also have some of the latest progress made on my upcoming book of short fiction, “Bad Apps”. But let’s start with the list of movies.  8 Original Stephen King Movies Online that are Free to Watch Like Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King is an author and filmmaker who has become an icon for Halloween. For years, people have gathered on or around October 31st to watch such classics as “Carrie” and “The Shining” at adult parties, college campus movie nights and, relatively more recently, virtual watch parties online....

Credit: Wikipedia When I apologised for missing last month's book to movie in last Wednesday's blog hop post , I said I would try to make it up with something movie- and prose fiction-related. Well, prose fiction includes the authors who make it, so I wanted to tell you about a Stephen King short film that’s been lost to the masses’ memories almost since it released in the mid 1990s. And of all things Stephen King, this move was a musical that starred Michael Jackson! Don’t believe me? Read on and maybe you will.  In the 1990s, Stephen King came out with a short musical film that he wrote and that starred Michael Jackson. King is definitely not known for making musicals whereas Michael Jackson’s been nearly synonymous with them (music videos).  However, according to Screen Rant , Jackson had a story idea for the film and asked King to write the story in which he did. The movie was eventually titled “Ghosts” and released in 1996. However, almost since then, it’s been lost to so...

I never thought 1976's "Carrie" as being a good movie. I saw it when I was a freshman in college and thought it was one of the most pessimistic, most despairing films ever. But that's when I had a different view of horror movies and what they should consist of. After all, I was just out of high school and carrying with me my own family's beliefs of what decency is. So, I've been meaning to watch the movie again lately but haven't had a chance. But now I'm inclined even more to see it since it’s been selected for the Library of Congress's National Film Registry (NFR). “Carrie” is one of at least three films that are science fiction or fantasy that will be inducted into the NFR. What’s more is that all three are based on books! The other two are Disney’s "The Little Mermaid" and 2008’s "Iron Man". (Yes, I’m including comic books.) I haven't seen "Iron Man" (as much as he’s a favourite Marvel character of mine) and do...

  Credit: Pixabay.com Our Book-To-Movie review  is usually on the fourth weekend of the month but, as I said in the last post , we had to postpone it to the fifth weekend. On top of that, an emergency came up over the weekend and so I had to postpone the review to today (Monday) which I apologise for. Yes, we are going into August with July’s Book-To-Movie but don’t worry. It will not substitute for August’s. There will be a Book-To-Movie for this month for sure because I have agreed to do one as a guest blogger which the other blogger wants it posted later than the fourth weekend of the month, so, again, it will be moved to a little after the fourth weekend. I’ll give you more details about it when we get closer to that time.  In a Book-To-Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. And this post we have another Stephen King horror book and movie! H.P. Lovecraft was one of Stephen King’s greatest influences as he’s been with many other horror autho...

Credit: Pixabay It's the fourth weekend of the month and so time for another Book-To-Movie review! In a Book-To-Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. This weekend is also Mardi Gras/Carnival weekend! That’s the weekend before Shrove Tuesday which is the day many parts of the world, especially the west and Latin America, celebrate with big parties, dancing and total weirdsville, far out costumes. And in Stephen King’s classic book, "The Shining" and the Stanley Kubrick movie adaptation, you get some of that. Both book and movie have ghosts partying the night away and a lot of literal carnival. After all, “carnival” derives from the Latin word for flesh. And in this story a lot of that flesh is human and diced, if you know what I mean. The book and movie don’t only make great reading and viewing for a Carnival weekend, but also for a cold, winter night. The story is set during the freezing season.  Both “The Shining” novel and movie probably co...

Credit: Pixabay The topic for this post is kind of last minute because I had mistaken this weekend for the weekend that we have our Book-To-Movie review but that’s not until next Saturday. So, I spent the majority of the time getting everything together for that. But for this post, I have for you something kind of like a Book-To-Movie. It's more of a book-to-TV. It’s TV anthologies.  Anthology series are one of the latest trends in streaming television. This is especially so in the horror genre. Although I'm not one for horror television like I am with movies of the genre, I do make an exception when it comes to anthology series. I've always enjoyed the horror that the shows of the 1960s such as “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits” came out with. So, I'm always willing to give a TV horror anthology a try. The TV streaming service, Shudder, is loaded with horror anthology series. After all, horror is its specialty! One of the most popular of these series has been ...

  Credit: Pixabay Warning: This review may contain spoilers. I apologise for missing last week. It was a rough one; I got very little sleep throughout it and so had gotten behind on other things. I was almost totally worn out which took out my creativity for blogging. But now things are back to normal, somewhat. Well, at least they’re back to normal in time for this fourth weekend, the weekend of our monthly Book-To-Movie. In a Book-To- Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. This post we are reviewing Stephen King's short story, "Children of the Corn" and its 1984 movie adaptation. When compared to the short story, the movie adaptation is much more comical.  The Short Story Published in 1976, “Children of the Corn” concerns Burt and Vicky, a married couple whose relationship is on the brink of divorce and who get stranded in a small Nebraska town. They discover that all the adults of the town have disappeared and only the children are there wh...

It’s the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)  post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. And did I have a challenge last week that I want to bring out into the open. That challenge was, what I call, a writing drought.  A Week of Writer’s Block Last week was a bad one for writing. I had a writer's drought all that week like my region has had a water drought for a lot longer. In other words, I had writer’s block. I felt like I couldn't come up with anything new to write either fiction or non-fiction. I had just barely come up with something for last weekend’s post .   Because of my writer’s block, I got behind with the story I've currently been working on for my upcoming book of short fiction. Originally, I planned to get the book out by this month but my stay in the hospital made me have to push it back to...

Credit: Pixabay Warning: This review may contain spoilers. In past Book-To-Movies, we’ve reviewed several movie adaptations of books and short stories by famous science fiction and horror authors. All those films have stuck to the plot of the original work to at least some recognizable degree. But this week’s Book-To-Movie will be the first to review a film that does a poor job of staying faithful to the original plot. The film is 1992’s “The Lawnmower Man” which is based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name. Even so, the movie is a really good one. So then what’s the problem? The problem is that it’s hardly an adaptation and so more its own story simply with the title of King’s short work slapped onto it.  ‘The Lawnmower Man’: The Short Story Stephen King’s “The Lawnmower Man” originally appeared in “Cavalier” magazine in 1975 and was then collected into his book of short fiction, “Night Shift” the following year. The story’s protagonist is a middle-aged husband and dad ...

Credit: Pixabay The closest I’ve come to reading Stephen King’s early novel, “Salem’s Lot”, was the short story prequel called “Jerusalem’s Lot”. I read it in his collection, “Night Shift”. However, I’ve always wanted to read his novel about a vampire-infested New England town but have not been able to find an edition that I cared to purchase. (Yes, I’m picky when it comes to editions of certain books, mostly due to their cover illustrations .) But now that a big screen movie adaptation of “Salem’s Lot” is in the works, I feel more eager to read any edition I can get my hands on. A TV series of the prequel short story is also in the plan. 'Salem’s Lot': The Movie Gary Dauberman has been chosen to direct the new “Salem’s Lot” movie. Prior to that, he had already written a draft of the screenplay, according to “Science Fiction” . “Science Fiction” also says he will serve as executive producer too. Dauberman has written screenplays for many of the “The Conjuring” movies...