Tag: Pennywise

September 19, 2019

9 of the Best Literary Halloween Costume Ideas for 2019

Halloween is approaching fast and the time is nigh for costume planning! It’s time for us nerds to shine. Let’s pull out all the stops and don the best for 2019!

To hell with the zombies, sexy nurses, and my GOD if I see one more Harley Quinn I’ll…(no disrespect for Harley though, gotta love her!) You understand though. Let’s be original people!

Here are the nine best Halloween costumes for 2019!

9. Nosferatu – Vic or Manx

images via Amc

There’s been a lot of people talking about the new show Nos4A2, a crime and horror tale that puts a spin on the Vampire genre. The show is based on the 2013 novel by Joe Hill, NOS4A2. It tells the thrilling story of Vic McQueen, a woman with supernatural abilities, who crosses paths with the evil and immortal Charlie Manx—a supernatural villain who feeds off the souls of children and then sends them to another realm. Vic strives to defeat Manx and rescue his victims.

Halloween is always a great time for Vampires and monsters, but now it doesn’t have to be a last minute excuse for a costume. Go all out and replicate your favorite character’s costume, or just throw on some fangs.

8. Pennywise

images via fox & Literary Hub

It wouldn’t be Halloween if there wasn’t something scary, but people’s sense of horror are so different nowadays. For some, a bloodthirsty, supernatural demonic being will bring on nightmares, but for others, a simple clown with a bad case of the flesh-eating munchies will scare them to death!

So pick your clown, grab some balloons, and be ready to show off those pearly whites!

7. The Joker

Image via CinemaBlend

This Halloween may be the perfect time for clowns to make a comeback! Not only did we have the It: Chapter 2 released, but we have another film coming out that’s centered around a crazy clown. This October 4th, DC will be releasing the highly anticipated film Joker. Have him dancing, cracking jokes, or trying to take over Gotham City, the Joker is the perfect choice for Halloween!

6. Miles Morales

Image via SyFy Wire

With the deal between Sony and Marvel being cut, fans of the MCU may have to say good-bye to the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. However, not all is lost for fans of both the comics and films—we still have the Spiderverse and, most importantly, Miles Morales! Everyone talks about the original webslinger, Peter Parker, or one of the others Spider-Men (or should I say people), Gwen Stacy, but Miles Morales needs a little more loving, making him a fantastic and original choice for a Halloween costume!

5. Game Of Thrones (Family Costume)

Images via TVweb and Sporcle

Bring the whole family together this Halloween by dressing up as your favorite family from Game of Thrones! Every family has their issues, and this Halloween you can enjoy the relief of realizing that your family is not as bad as most of these families…I hope.

4. The Witcher

Image via Reddit

Fantasy and gaming fans have a lot to look forward to this December with Netflix’s series The Witcher being released. Unleash your inner beast hunter by donning the armor of Geralt of Rivia. The origin of Halloween was to dress up to ward away evil spirits, with this costume ward away your fear of evil spirits, clowns, immortal beings prying on children, and just about anything else!

3. Riverdale

image via Moviephone

Riverdale is hot right now, and, no, I’m not talking about the steamy scenes. So if you’re addicted to the teenage, crime, mystery drama, and are thinking about going with a less horrifying costume, why not something from Riverdale? There’s a choice for everyone: the jock, the prep, the princess, the delinquent, and the serial killer too!

2. Edgar Allan Poe

image via Lansing State Journal

Edgar Allan Poe had a huge impact on writing and on numerous writers. Til this day he still remains a huge part of our culture and this year especially brought some well deserved attention to the master of macabre. There was not only a Pop figure of him created, but also several YA authors reimagined his work, translating his tales into the modern age. All of this just goes to show that Poe is loved more than ever before, so don his likeness this Halloween and you’ll be the talk of midnight, forever-more!

1. Good Omens (couple costume, because we know they are OTP!)

image via Refinery29

Every Halloween party needs a good couple’s cosplay, but if you haven’t found the Crowley to your Aziraphale, your prayers could be answered this Halloween!

If none these costume ideas are book nerdy enough for you, you can always try your hand at creating an Em Dash costume.

Featured Image via The Fandomentals

September 11, 2019

Read Up On Stephen King Before ‘Dr. Sleep’ Film Comes Out!

On November 8th we’re all going to see Doctor Sleep. Oh, wait, you’re not? Why? Because you don’t know the story? Well, let me fill you in…

Ewan McGregor, also known as young Obi-Wan Kenobi, will star as Danny in the film adaptation for Stephen King’s Doctor Sleep, a story which follows an adult Danny Torence, the child from The Shining, as he struggles to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence.

He goes to New Hampshire where he establishes a nursing home where he can use his shining power for good, comforting the dying before they go. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”

Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival.

In preparation for this movie, we’re going to go through eight Stephen King Books we gotta re-read or just read for the first time (no shame here!) before this movie hits a silver screen near you!

8-It

IMAGE VIA AMAZON

Yep, you knew this would be on this list. Even if you haven’t read It, you’ve heard of It. Loser’s Club, killer clown, weird orgy scene, a giant cosmic turtle, it’s all there. This gem has heart, has scares, has everything Steven King. The book is as big as a stone but it won’t weigh you down.

Juggling themes of adulthood, childhood, and trauma, this story has stuck with us throughout the ages for a reason.

7-Cujo

Image Via Amazon

Instead of a scary clown, we meet the the Cujo, the good-natured St. Bernard. Good dog! But he gets bit by a rabid bat. Then when Donna’s car breaks down, she and her young son Tad are trapped while a crazed Cujo tries to kill them. Bad dog!

In his book, On Writing, King notes that due to his alcoholism and cocaine addiction he can barely remember writing this book, and that might be for the best. It’s not bad or anything, far from it, in fact it’s so real, so visceral, so in-your-face-horrifying that it might have even scared Stephen King himself away from writing.

What can I say except thank God there’s only one evil animal in this story.

6-Pet Sematary

Image Via Central Arkansas Library System

Holy crap, there’s more!

Louis Creed and his wife, Rachel, along with their two younger children move to Maine. Bad move, because in a Stephen King novel Maine is a terrible place. Their cat, Church, dies, so they bury it out in the woods.

Are you sad yet?

Well, things get worse when the cat comes back to life. Turns out that the woods are an ancient burial ground and anything buried there comes back to life with an intent to kill.

With two film adaptations, you’ll have to check out this book, “Darling.”

5-The Stand

IMAGE VIA AMAZON

A post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy, The Stand is Stephen King’s fourth novel (can you believe it?).

After a patient escapes from a biological testing facility, he unknowingly unleashes upon the world a mutated strain of super-flu that starts to wipe out 99% of the world’s population.

With the fate of humanity at stake, Mother Abigail—a benevolent one-hundred-eight-year-old woman who urges them to build a peaceful community—and Randall Flagg—the nefarious “Dark Man” who delights in chaos and violence—rise up to lead humanity, and force the survivors to choose between them.

The Stand went on to get a nomination for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1979, was listed at number fifty-three on the BBC’s The Big Read poll in 2003, and a miniseries released in 1994 was nominated for numerous Emmys and a remake is coming soon!

Can you stand to read this horrifying tale?

4-Carrie

Image Via Amazon

Let’s go back to 1974. Here we get the first novel published by Stephen King, Carrie.

Carrie is relentlessly bullied by her peers and tormented by her overly-religious mother who, after reaching puberty, discovers she has telekinetic powers.

A bloodbath, this novel is one of the most frequently on the banned books. Multiple adaptations have been made, from the stage to the silver screen, but the book proves to be the most terrifying. It’s a good thing that Tabitha King fished the first draft of the first chapter out of the garbage and convinced her husband to keep writing, otherwise Stephen King wouldn’t be the King of horror we know today.

3-Misery

Image Via Amazon

Writer Paul Sheldon is injured in a car accident but is saved by nurse Annie Wilkes. However, Annie is a super-fan of Paul’s writing and is keeping him prisoner, refusing to let him go until he finishes another book in her favorite series.

The title comes from the feeling it evoked not only in Paul Sheldon, but within King himself.

The novel got a film adaptation in 1990, staring James Caan and Kathy Bates in a performance that won Bates an Oscar. Funny enough, the director of the film, Rob Reiner, only took the film on because he wanted to include the infamous ‘axe’ scene but, when it came time to shooting, decided to change the scene into an ‘ankle-breaking’ one instead.

You won’t be miserable when reading this novel, but it might just get under your skin and tear it right off.

2-The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower

Image Via Amazon

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

Stephen King started the Dark Tower series with that line and, for the longest time, it seemed like he wouldn’t finish the series. Years went by, and then he was almost killed, run over by a drunk-driver while he was on the side street during his routine morning walk.

He survived, and afterwards flew through the rest of the series just to get to this ending. And trust me, you all, it’s Stephen King at his Stephen-King-est. If you want crazy insanity to the ninth degree, then this is the book for you.

1-The Shining

Image Via Amazon

Of course this would be number one, but let’s refresh your memory.

Jack Torrance has a new job at the Overlook Hotel. This is the perfect chance for a fresh start. He’ll have plenty of time reconnecting with his family and his writing his magnum opus. But as the harsh winter winds blow and snow falls, Jack Torrance falls back into his old vices as his young son, Danny Torrance, feels malicious spirits gather around him, attracted to his unique gift called ‘the shining.’

We all know that the iconic Stanley Kubrick adaptation was made and notoriously Stephen King hated it. I mean, he loathed it.

So what did he do? He wrote a sequel to The Shining called, you guessed it, Doctor Sleep.

How accurate will this newest Stephen-King-adaptation be? Will it take more cues from its source materials, or from the Kubrick film?

You can find out on November 8th!

Featured Image Via Dread Central

September 10, 2019

7 Scariest Film Adaptations (You Won’t Guess Number 1!)

Short stories, novellas, novels, well books in general might just be words on paper, but those things are scary. In addition to giving me a paper cut, books can horrify me to my core.

And you know what is scary? Film. What is a film? A series of moving images and images can be scary. Make them move, I just crapped my pants.

So, in honor of fear and in glory to our blood thirsty gods, we present to you seven of Scariest Film Adaptations. Mark my words, young child, you won’t guess number one!

7-It: Chapter 1

Image Via Amazon

Don’t worry, this will be the only Stephen King adaptation on this list. There’s an ocean full of adaptations to choose from but we picked this adaptation because of its heart, its scares, and its optimistic light.

Image Via Digital Spy

Plus, it’s a close adaptation to the book (unlike Kubrick’s brilliant but unfaithful version of The Shining) that manages to capture both the scares and the comedic self-aware tone that King is most known for, although it does forgo some of the stranger elements.

Image Via Stephen King Wiki – Fandom

6-The Exorcist

Image Via Amazon

In 1971 William Blatty brought us The Exorcist. The book goes through horrifying and skin-crawling descriptions of the demonic possession of eleven-year-old Regan MacNeil.

Image Via EOnline

While Regan herself is fictional, the book is inspired by a terrifying case in 1949 of reported demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University.

Image Via Amazon

Two years later the iconic film adaptation hit the silver screens, sending audiences everywhere in a fright. While the film plays fast-and-loose with some of the details, as well as adding its odd terrifying touch, Blatty himself was the screenwriter and producer, marking this adaptation as one of the closest to the original novel.

5-Silence of the Lambs

Image Via Amazon

A sequel to the disturbing police procedure with stunning descriptions, The Silence of the Lambs follows Clarice Starling, who must speak to a confined serial killer in order to track down another serial killer. Skin crawling in more ways than one, this novel shoots through twists and turns and shows that even a confined killer can be deadly.

Image Via Amazon

Top it off with a film adaptation that won all the Academy Awards in the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay (the third film in the history of the Oscars to do so) the characters of Hannibal Lecter and Agent Starling have become cemented into the public consciousness.

Image Via Syfy

It’s horrifying, its disturbing, its uplifting, it’s everything you want in a horror film and its a masterclass in adaptation.

4-Dracula (1958)

Image Via Pinterest

Possibly the scariest incarnation of the Dracula story, the 1958 movie departs from the source material only when it wishes to elevate it. At the time, Bram Stoker’s story was horrifying and shocking to readers everywhere. However, sensibilities have changed and the novel was considered tame.

Image Via Diabolique Magazine

In an effort to strike fear back into the hearts of anyone who heard the name of “Dracula”, the movie displayed the brutal nature of Dracula for the first time in all his onscreen glory. A true movie monster, this adaptation proved to be the scariest depiction Dracula and has kept that title ever since.

Image VIa BFI

Plus, Christopher “His mother was a Countess and he was a real-life spy” Lee portrayed Dracula, he was basically a vampire incarnate.

3-The Thing

Image Via Amazon

Did you know this was based on a book? Most people don’t, and they should because the book is just as enticing and awe-inspiring and downright horrifying as its film adaptation.

John W Campell, Jr’s 1938 novella Who Goes There? follows a group of scientific researches isolated in Antarctica who discover an alien spaceship buried inside the ice. They encounter what can only be described as a “thing”—a shape-shifter that takes on the personality of any living thing it devours.

Image Via Amazon

The novella made such an impact that it spawned two movie adaptations, one in 1951 titled Thing from Another World and one in 1982 simply titled The Thing. While Thing from Another World is a great movie on its own, the 1982 became a cult classic and later a mainstream classic thanks due to its memorable characters and its horrifying images.

Warning! Watching this film will make you questions everything, and everyone, around you. Could the Thing be lurking behind you? Is it your loving dog or your cute cat? Or is it your best friend?

Who am I kidding? You don’t have any friends.

2-The Wicker Man (1973)

Image Via Goodreads

David Pinner’s 1967 novel was praised for its “opulent dialogue” but was given a warning because “it is quite likely to test your dreams of leaving the city for a shady nook by a babbling brook”.

Image Via Amazon

While the remake has its moments (not the bees!), the original 1973 starring many a cast, including Christopher Lee, entices us with this seemingly perfect cult with dark undertones. With themes of religiosity and faith, this film will reach down to your core and make you question everything you believe.

1-The Cat in the Hat

Image Via School Specialty

This is a horror novel. The bright colors might throw you off, but a humanoid cat breaks into the home of two innocent children and proceeds to have ‘fun’ with them through various chaotic games of growing insanity. Yes, the children take the whole thing in strides, but I think this is because they know that resistance is futile against this feline furry.

Image Via IMDB

This is what the live action film understood perfectly well about the character. It might be overly longer, but like the novel its horrifying how much they have FUN FUN FUN.

Image Thanks to Megan Bomar

I’m going to see that phrase smeared in blood when I get home, won’t I?

Featured Image Via Twitock

September 6, 2019

Twitter’s Best Non-Spoiler Responses to ‘It: Chapter 2’

Catch up on Twitter's thoughts about the long-anticipated release of It: Chapter 2, based on Stephen King's novel.

August 27, 2019

12 Steamy Literary Couples That Should Totally Happen

Once upon a time, we reported that Draco Malfoy himself, Tom Felton, had attended the opening at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando and joined AOL’s In The Know for a game of ‘Fact or Fanfiction?’ and, in the standout moment from the Q and A, Tom Felton was asked: What did he think of Draco’s relationship to Harry Potter?

Image Via Redbubble

Now anyone with even a passing glance to the franchise would see Draco and Harry a simple rivalry, a tale for the ages, but Tom Felton said, I’m quoting AOL here, “Harry was constantly crushing on Draco…He just couldn’t hide it.”

Let’s look at the facts:

Draco and Harry do definitely have some tension going on.
(Image Below)

Image Via Youtube

Case closed!

With this in mind we’ve decided to give you, dear readers, twelve literary couples that happened in an alternative universe. Taking twenty-four characters from all across literature, from different book series to classic standalone novels (copyright be damned!), we’ve compiled these characters into eleven distinct (and surely steamy) relationships that would have totally worked out…for the characters, at least. Trust us, we’re chemists here.

12-Bella and Count Dracula

Image Via Twilight Saga Wiki – Fandom

No more sparkling vampires, now Twilight‘s Bella Swan is getting an upgrade. Let’s face it: There’s a reason Bram Stoker called this novel Dracula and not Harker. Dracula’s got style, he’s got nice clothes, he’s not charm oozing from everyone pore.

Image Via Pinterest

Heck, if Bella says “No, I’m married” then I’m asking Dracula out to get a nice love bite.

11-Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes

Image Via Pinterest

Far before Twitter decided to give us the #givecaptainamericaaboyfriend fan campaign, we had the comic books. See Bucky died, Steve Rogers became a Commie smasher, and then the Commie smasher was retconned, and then the real Steve Rogers was thawed out from the ice.

Image Via The Mary Sue

But Bucky remained dead, and Steve was inconsolable in his grief over his best friend and partner in crime throughout the decades of Captain America comics. In fact, it was one of the most foremost elements of his character

Fans looked at this and took the small hop and believed that Steve’s profound sense of loss than met the eye

The only people who stay dead in comics are Bucky, Jason Todd, and Uncle Ben.

So Bucky came back. In fact, he came back as the Winter Soldier in a comic book called The Winter Soldier, and ever since then we’ve been clamoring for Steve and Bucky to get a little closer.

They’re perfect for each other. The two buddies have been with each other since the beginning and will continue to stay together “until the end of the line”. They’re both “men out of time” from 1930s Brooklyn and are war buddies with great rapport who totally get along. They have so much in common.

At least go on a date and see if there’s anything there.

10-Ahab and Captain Hook

Image Via Express.co.uk

We have Peter Pan‘s Captain Hook, and this man has been through a lot. Yes, he’s trying to track down and kill Peter Pan like he’s an animal, but Peter Pan is an animal! This boy cut off his hand and fed it to a crocodile. Wicked, evil, and savage beyond belief.

Gregory ‘The Man with the Pecks’ Peck as Captain Ahab / Image Via The Guardian

Then we have Moby Dick‘s Captain Ahab who, like James Hook, wants to track down an animal whose savaged ships of all sorts.

But would they be searching for these monsters if they had, you know, found each other? Could their killer eyes turn into ones of passion and love if they only looked into each other’s eyes?

We here at Bookstr call out in a resounding, ‘YES!’

9-Boo Radley and Miss Havisham

Image Via Telegraph

Charles Dickens’ gave us Great Expectations, which us the tragic story of Miss. Havisham. Left at the altar as a young lady, she has preserved her house as it was on her wedding day and lived there ever since, shut away from the world. She has a heart of gold, but no one has treated it well.

Look at those sultry eyes/Image Via Pinterest

Harper Lee gave us To Kill A Mocking Bird, which introduced the world to Boo Radley. Our Boo has lived in a house since he was a child, hidden from the world, but he has a heart of gold, giving young Scout a jacket on a cold autumn day.

If these two shut-ins have closed their doors to the world, would they open their doors for each other? Boo Radley most certainly wouldn’t leave Miss. Havisham at the altar, and Miss. Havisham wouldn’t let our precious Boo feel unwelcomed.

8-White Witch and Sauron

Image Via CNN

Now this pairing might not be great for the world at large, but they would be great for each other. Both live in fantasy world, the authors who created them were in real life great friends, and both crave ultimately power.

While both skilled in the powers of magic, it wouldn’t take magic to get these two working side by side.

Image Via Denver Post

Imagine it: the White Witch would kill all the lions and the hero in the land, freezing them in ice just in time…

Lord of the Rings Wiki – Fandom

…for Sauron to get to swinging his mace around

Talk about a power couple. The White Witch might even slip the One Ring of Power on Sauron’s little finger….

7-Pinocchio and Voldemort

Image Via Entertainment.ie

Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio grows every time he lies, and he’s made of wood, so lie a few times and cut off the excess, and Voldemort doesn’t have to be called He-Who-Must-Not-Have-A-Nose.

Image Via Harry Potter Wiki – Fandom

Yes, Voldemort is a racist and a tyrant who thirsts for power more than a camel thirsts for water, but Pinocchio isn’t the pinnacle of innocence. After all, there’s a reason he’s cursed to have his nose grows every time he lies.

Plus, if he and Voldemort got together, Pinocchio can use his nose for…

6-Ariel and Jaws

Image Via The South African

Prince Eric isn’t a good fit for Hans Christie Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. He has legs, Ariel is half-fish, and if she gets together with him then she has to abandon her family. That’s a bad move, Ariel.

Aw, he’s holding him / Image Via Pinterest

But if she wants to take a walk on the wild side and still remain in the ocean, she can always go with the shark from Peter Benchley’s Jaws. Call him what you will (I call him Bruce, but others have called him Jaws or Sharkie or even Craig), but he knows his way around the wide ocean and can show Ariel a whole new world under the sea.

Ah, they always say there’s plenty of fish in the sea, but at least these two fish found each other. Maybe that’ll be the new plot for the new Disney remake!

5-Mrs Robinson and Oedipus

Image Via CharacTour

Mrs. Robinson from Charles Webb’s 1963 novella The Graduate is trapped in a loveless marriage. She’s only married to her husband because she got pregnant and needed to avoid a scandal, and thus she hooks up with young Benjamin Braddock. But Benjamin is only into her because he’s bored. He doesn’t love her.

Image Via Study.com

Oedipus from the seminal play Oedipus Rex has a thing for older women. Yes, he didn’t know he was married to his mom, but she was still older than him. So maybe we can avoid the whole I-gotta-pluck-out-my-eyes thing and just have Oedipus meet up and see where things go with Mrs. Robinson. She’s old enough to be his mom, and that should be enough for dear old Ed.

4-Paul Bunyun and Jack Torrence

Image Via NEA

Straight from American folklore is the biggest and the best lumberjack in the business: Paul Bunyan.

Handsome! / Image Via Salon

Straight from the mind of Stephen King is Jack Torrence. Now Mr. King was quite unhappy with the changes Stanley Kubrick made in his film adaptation, so we’ll have a chance to mend things here.

In the book Jack Torrence has a roque mallet, so maybe Paul can give him his iconic ax. Plus, since Paul’s ax might be a bit big for Jack, he can buy one here and, once Jack has his iconic ax, well…

Image Via Giphy

Or maybe something more…

3-Katniss and The Chershire Cat

Image Via DeviantArt

This goes beyond the fact that ‘Katniss’ kind of, sort of, sounds like ‘cat’ and the Cheshire Cat is, well, a cat.

Image Via Scoopnest

For one, Katniss from Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games never really loved Peta. Two, Cheshire Cat from Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland knows his way around the block and would have helped her big time before, during, and after those pesky Hunger Games.

Plus, the Cheshire Cat is funny, and you know what they say….