sylvesterbarzey

[sylvesterbarzey]

~Lanier~ A Lake Lanier Horror Story

This summer I got a chance to go to Camp Lanier. A summer camp that focused on bringing kids back to nature. I hate nature, I would have been happy playing video games all summer, but my mom is a single parent and camps are the best babysitters for me. So, I was shipped off to camp bug bite and lined up on a dock, waiting to learn to swim.

“This is a satanic sacrifice, they’re tossing us into the abyss,” Someone whispered in my ear, I could tell by the sound of pure terror in his voice, that it was Maxwell, he had been very adamant at lunch about the moral and legal injustices of forcing someone to learn how to swim against their wishes.

“You’re gonna be fine, Max.” I replied.

Maxwell crossed his arms over his chest, “Fine? People die like this all the time. Who lines people up and makes them jump into dangerous waters? Pirates, that’s who!” Maxwell hissed.

“So, you think a camp of Pirates is plotting to teach kids how to swim?” I asked.

“When you say it like that, it sounds crazy,” Maxwell mumbled.

“It sounds crazy no matter how I say it,” I replied. We shuffled behind the other kids as we listened to the splashing and giggles from up ahead.

“He’s not wrong,” A soft voice came from the girl’s line beside us. I looked over to see a set of hazel eyes and a dark puffy Afro staring at me.

“You think this is a Pirate camp?” I asked.

“No...but that would be cool. He’s right about the lake, it is dangerous.” She replied. Her statement grabbed the ears of most the kids as we shuffled along the wet wooden dock, “Before there was a camp, there was a lake and before that...there was a town. My grandpa told me that this whole lake was once a thriving Black town. People called it Little Atlanta” the girl said.

“So, this used to be a town?” Maxwell asked.

“Yeah, the KKK didn’t like a town of black citizens thriving, so one night they came in and murdered everyone. Grandpa said blood stained the streets when it was all said and done.” The girl grabbed her big puffy Afro and held it tightly as she removed the green band from her wrist and wrapped it around her hair making a tight smaller puff on her head. “They tried to burn the town after. They lined the bodies up in the church and set them ablaze, but only the bodies burned.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. I wasn’t buying it. Things like this didn’t happen.

“They tried setting the church on fire but it wouldn’t burn, the flames would just crawl along the wood like little glowing worms and then die out. Same with all the other buildings. Nothing would burn that night or any other time they returned with or without their hoods.” She replied.

“Creepy,” Maxwell said.

“What’s creepy is what the state did after,” She said.

“What did they do?” I asked.

“I don’t wanna go in there!” A boy screamed. Our eyes were pulled to the confrontation as the boy and our counselor, Adam, were arguing at the very edge of the dock.

“Kid, get in the water,” Adam said.

“We shouldn’t, you know that!” The boy turned his head toward us...no, toward me. Our gazes were locked. Sweat poured down his skin just as fast as my heart was banging against my chest, “They know that!” He screamed.

“Okay, enough!” Adam shouted and his hands slammed into the boy’s chest, catapulting him into the dark waters of the lake. The boy’s screams echoed through my head until...silence, “Next!” Adam shouted.

“Next? He needs help, he’s drowning!” I shouted.

“Everyone is,” Maxwell whispered.

And as if nothing happened, she continued, “They wanted to demolish the town and hide what they did.They brought in bulldozers and dynamite, but it all failed.” The girl looked over at me, “So, they drowned it. The state turned Little Atlanta into a nice sweet lake... except nothing’s sweet about this place.” We looked forward and the line that once felt miles long, was now at its end. We were next, “There’s blood all over that town. In the soil, in the walls and in the water.”

“Next!” Adam shouted.

“There’s blood in the water,” she whispered.

“I said you’re next, boy!” A deep demonic southern accent came out of Adam’s mouth.

I turned toward him and his eyes were a dark blood red. I frantically backed up bumping into the ice cold skin of the girl, “If you know all this, why would you come here?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t,” she said. When I spun around, everyone was gone. Maxwell, Adam, the girl, even the sun. I stood alone in the cool darkness of the night, the water was smacking against the dock.

I inhaled the night air. I saw the cabin lights in the distance. I could even hear faint laughter. My sweaty hands ran over my face and I sighed into them. I turned toward the water and stared at it’s cool ripples. I cautiously inched forward to the dock’s edge. I felt like I was on fire, sweat poured freely. I got on my knees, “I hate camp,” I said as I pushed my hand below the water’s surface. I pulled the cool liquid up to my face and shut my eyes, splashing the heat away. They opened to see a set of blood red eyes staring back at me, through my rippled reflection.

Gray hands shot up and grabbed my arm, “Didn’t they tell you…” that deep southern accent came from the lips of my haunted reflection, as it gargled the words out, “There’s blood in the water, boy!” He screamed and pulled my body into the chill of the water. Gray hands pulled me below into the abyss of blood red eyes.

[sylvesterbarzey]

The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution."

~Huey P. Newton

My Pops was in the Army. I guess that's something to be proud of, but Ma didn't like it much. He went on the weekends but there was always that chance he might get called up. He would always say "It's a volunteer type thing, don't stress it." That kept us going for a few years, then Tayler was born. I remember it like it was yesterday, My father sat me and my brother Anthony down. I never really paid much attention to things as a kid, but I do remember Ma was crying a lot that day. Pops smiled at us and rubbed my head before he let the words out, "Dad's gotta take a trip, for a few months." Anthony leaned forward, he wanted to know what was going on, he felt something was going on. I knew and I cried. I remember four moments when my life changed:

The first was my father telling us he was deploying.

The second was my mother telling us Pops was killed in action.

The third moment, happened 12 years later...

I acted out a lot, couldn't get the grades that Ma wanted, so I dropped out of school. She didn't like it, but it kept her from working three jobs. Whenever I came home with that check from the gym, she would take it and softly say, "I wish you didn't have to do this, Drew." I didn't mind it. The Army paid us some money but because my Pops wasn't up to date on his paperwork, half of it went to my grandma. I've never seen the woman and she didn't come to Pops' funeral.

The money helped a little, but three boys is a lot to pay for, it didn't last. Like I said, I don't mind it. I'm always working out at the Gym anyway, so my trainer got me a job. I clean the ring and the lockers, which doesn't pay much but I don't have to pay for lessons. I was leaving the gym when I heard it, "You're that fighter, right?" Her voice was sweet, with a body that was even sweeter, but if I had the power to tell the future, I'd know she wasn't worth it. I don't even remember her name, to be honest.

First we were talking, and then there was a little less talking. We were in an alley behind the gym, and I had one hand up her skirt when I saw him from the corner of my eye, smiling from ear to ear. I closed my eyes and groaned, "What do you want, Tay?"

The little man laughed at me and said, "A turn if we're being honest."

"Excuse me!" My good time shouted.

I did a little smooth talking or most likely a little ass kissing to save the night and then I dragged the little man out the alley by his hoodie, "What the hell do you want Tay!"

He jumped a little, "I was seeing if you wanted to walk home together," he said.

My hand went over my face and I shook my head, "Does it look like I want to go home right now?"

Tay got on his tippy toes to look over my shoulder at the girl. Her back was pressed against the wall. Her bra was unlatched and her patience was getting thin.

"Whatever, I'm gonna tell Ma when I get home." Tay said.

I nodded, "I bet you will. Get your snitching ass home before the streetlights come on." He was down the street before the last of my words left my mouth.

"That your brother?" She asked and I nodded, "He got a mouth on him." She said softly.

I laughed as I leaned in and kissed her "Yeah, well so do I." I said.

We did our thing and I was back home around eleven. As soon as I pushed the door open, Ma was there waiting, "Where the hell you been?" She was half dressed for her shift at the hospital, I wasn't sure if that meant she was coming or going.

"Out, Mama. Damn, I can't go to work and come home every day. Can I live?" I asked. Anthony was lying on the couch, so I pushed his feet to the side almost tossing him out the seat, "Move man!" I shouted.

Anthony sat up, "Damn, why didn't you stay your big headed ass at the gym?"

I was about to toss him to the floor and choke out an apology, but then Ma closed the door slowly and asked me a question that still sends chills through me, "Drew, Where's Tay?"

I turned to look at her and then looked around, "He's not here?" I asked.

Her hands rested on her hips, "I thought he was coming home with you. He said he was gonna stop by the gym after wrestling practice," She said.

"He came by the gym, but I told him to head home," I said and my Mama came across the room so fast, I thought I was in a horror movie. That kind of speed only comes from being possessed.

Her hand slapped into the back of my head, "You let him walk alone!" she screamed.

I put my hands up trying to protect myself, "It's only a few blocks, Ma!"

We were going back and forth. Ma was panicking and screaming. I was trying to defend any sensitive area from her onslaught. She picked up the phone to call the cops when Anthony turned up the tv, Ma screamed at him to turn it down but he was in a trance. Eyes wide. Lips tightened and his finger pointing at the tv. The tears started to come before we knew fully what was happening.

There was a shooting.

The cops said he had a gun.

That was a lie...

He was gonna be 13 in a few months. He was excited about that, told me he was gonna be a man. I stared at Thad blood stained white sheet that covered his little body. They left him in the street for the world to see. Anthony knew it was him from his sneakers, they were spray painted purple, for the school colors.

I remember we kept shouting,"no!"

"That's not him-" Then there was a loud set of knocks at our door and we knew there was no more denying it. For weeks, the News said some cold stuff about the little man. He was running with a gang... the kid had wrestling gear, books and Pokémon cards in his bag. Last I checked gangbangers weren't playing with Pokeballs. Cops said he fit the description of a suspect... young and black. It was the words of two white cops against a dead little black boy. The worst thing was that photo.

The bloody white sheet over his little body, in the middle of the street. It became the logo for the case. No one would talk about the shooting without showing it. It got to a point where I couldn't even think of Tay without that popping in my head first.

I went crazy after that, I'm sure we all did. I lost my job at the Gym because I kept getting into it with the fighters. I started drinking and smoking from sunset to sunrise, and sometimes beyond that. I was going off the deep end, and it wasn't what my Ma needed, but it was what I needed. I was angry and I wanted someone to hurt, like I was hurting.

Our lawyer was pricey but he said he would do it for free. He told us we could win and then slowly his tune started changing. He said the cops would get off but we still had a good case against the city.

We didn't care about money. Money didn't buy justice. Money couldn't bring Tay back. It was nothing more than dirty green paper everyone wanted to toss at us, so we could wipe our tears and move on. We wanted justice, but I was sure the courts weren't gonna give it to us, so I went out to find my own.

I was walking up and down the street every night. I said I was looking for the right one, but I was just talking myself out of it most nights. Then after a few shots of Henny, there I was, standing behind him. He had just come out of his apartment building. He was walking toward his car with his phone glued to his ear. "Yeah, I'll be there in a few. Don't start the party without me," he said. He was happy, and I could smell the vodka coming off of him as he started to fumble with his keys.

I pulled out the gun and placed it to the back of his head, "Get on the fucking ground." I said.

His hands shot up, "What the fuck man... take it easy... you want money? Is that it? You need some cash?" he cried.

Another one trying to send me away with a few dead presidents. I pushed the gun forward till the barrel thumped him in the back of the head, "I said, get the fuck on the ground, white boy! I'm not gonna say it again!" I shouted and he quickly dropped down to the sidewalk, his face pressed to the ground. His warm tears mixed in with the cool concrete.

He wasn't a cop.

He didn't know Tay..

He didn't have anything to do with anything.

But he was white and at that moment, that was all that mattered to me.

I started stomping down on him. First his lower back. I felt my heel cave in his back. All the while he screamed, "Help me!" His ribs cracked as I slammed my steel toes into his side. He was fighting to get back to his feet or get away, but I bashed the handle of the gun into the top of his head and he dropped back to the ground. I picked my boot up again to bring it down into his skull when I felt someone grab me, pulling me back.

"Get the fuck off me!" I spun around with the gun pointed. Anthony was staring at me, "What the hell are you doing here?" I asked.

He rushed me, pushing me back into the car, "What are you doing?" he asked, then he looked down at the bloody mess that was groaning on the sidewalk. I didn't see him as a person, just a punching bag for me to release my rage onto. Anthony saw him as a person and a life sentence for his older brother. I looked down at the guy and then back at my brother who grabbed me by the collar and softly let out, "Let's get the fuck out of here, Drew." He didn't wait for me, he just took off and for a second I thought about ignoring his request and finishing up but then I looked back at the man and all I could see was that bloody white sheet and those purple shoes and like a scared little boy, I ran from it.

We were blocks away when I finally let the words out, "You following me now?" I asked.

I don't know what that did to him, but he grabbed me and tossed me into a nearby alley. I could see in his eyes he wanted to take a shot at me. He wanted to fight, but I wasn't nearly drunk enough for him to take me. I fought for a living. After Pop died, all I did was fight. It was my lifestyle. Anthony wasn't a fighter and he wasn't stupid, "What the hell were you thinking? What the fuck was that!" he shouted at me.

I attempted to walk away, but he pushed me back into the wall, "You're not gonna keep pushing up on me like that, Anthony." I said.

He shook his head, "You think this is gonna bring Tay back?" He asked.

Before I knew it I had Anthony pressed up against the wall, "Don't you fucking talk about him." I said.

Anthony stared at me, "I miss him too... I miss him so fucking bad."  He said. I watched as a tear fell from his eye and they were calling out to my own.

"I did this to him," I said it out loud, for the first time ever I said it out loud. I blamed myself, I could have helped him or they could have shot me instead. Every morning I wake up, I lie in bed wishing they did shoot me.

"It's not your fault," Anthony said as I let his feet finally hit the ground. "You didn't do this, they did." He said.

I nodded, "Yeah, and they're getting away with it."

Anthony shook his head, "No, they won't. In a few months we'll go to court and-"

I took a step back and cleared the tears from my eyes before I started laughing, "And what, Anthony! We get justice?" I shook my head laughing, "There's no justice for people like us! They don't care about us!" I shouted and kicked over a nearby trash can, the metal banging into the ground, filled up the alleyway. "You look in the mirror lately? You seen your skin color?" I shook my head as I said, "People like us, we don't get justice."

"You don't know what you're talking about," He said.

I ran up to him, till we were face to face. The smell of alcohol had to have overtaken him because it was all I could smell as I softly said, "We are gonna walk into that courtroom, with their white judge, and their white jury and watch those cops get off. That's the only thing that's gonna happen in that courtroom."

Anthony turned his head to the side and then he nodded, "So, fuck court then? Huh?" He nodded and laughed, "Let's just get fucked up and beat on some random white boys," he said.

"I'm teaching them a lesson," I said and he stopped laughing.

Anthony's hands went over his face and he took a long sigh. My little brother was trying to hold the family together these days. He was working part-time and going to school. Meeting and calling the lawyer. He was making sure Mama ate and took her pills. She wasn't in a good place these days, and he was looking out for her, and for me, "No, what you're doing is giving Mama another son to cry over. What you think is gonna happen to you if you keep this up? Your ass is gonna get locked the fuck up, or killed. Then they're gonna have your photo all over the news like Tay." I went to rush him again but he took a quick jab at me, right into my jaw. It sent me to the ground fast. I didn't see it coming, that's how Anthony was, always getting you when you weren't looking. I looked up at him and spit blood onto the ground. He put his hand out, "This shit, isn't helping anyone. Let's go home." I stared at his fingers for a moment and then I took his hand and he pulled me up.

"It's never gonna change, is it, Anthony? They're never gonna care about us." I said softly and my brother guided me through the darkness of that alleyway.

It had been a year since Tay's shooting and I was finally pulling myself together. I wasn't looking for fights in the streets anymore, I was doing my fighting in the ring now. Anthony had me beg my boss at the gym for a tryout, and he liked what he saw. Said if I worked hard maybe he would take me to the U. S tryouts. All I saw was gold in my future, Mama was doing better too. The doctor said she just had a minor break, and with the meds and counseling she was going to be okay.

Anthony was on her every day, "You take your meds Mama?" it was like his thing, he didn't say hello, it was always, "You take your meds Mama?" But I couldn't be mad at him, all this shit was happening and he still held down the family and kept his grades up. Anthony had schools chasing after him, his teachers said he was some kind of chemistry genius or something.

The boy was smart.

I knew that.

"It won't start," Ma said as her fingers tightened around the wheel of the car.

"Is the battery dead?" I asked.

She shrugged, "The hell if I know," She said and then turned her head to me, "Go check."

I looked over at Anthony in the front seat next to her, "Ma, why I gotta do it?" I asked.

She turned around slowly, "Cause I told your ass to, " She said.

I pushed open the door and made my way toward the front of the car, "Pop the hood." I shouted.

I heard back, "Don't you yell at me, boy!" I rolled my eyes and heard the metal click, I lifted the hood and laughed, "Is the battery leaking?" My Ma asked.

I shook my head walking over to the driver side. I leaned on the door and sighed, "Someone stole the battery," I thought it was funny, but the tears slowly started to build up in her eyes. She pushed the door open and I slowly stepped aside "You alright Ma?" I asked.

"I can't do this today. Not today" She said.

The officers that shot Tay were finally being tried in court today, the car was busted and the lawyer said we didn't have to be there if we didn't want to. So, we stayed home. We didn't want to see them cheering and smiling as they got off for killing my little brother. I knew it was gonna happen, it always happens. Anthony was sitting on the couch with the news on, they were covering the trial, all the reporters were camped out on the steps of the courthouse waiting to hear the verdict. "Turn that off, Mama doesn't want to deal with that right now." I said.

Anthony kept his eyes on the tv, Mama came into the room, "You heard your brother, turn that mess off. I'm sick and tired of them pulling my baby's name through the mud and-" Mama's tears were cut off by a loud blast from the tv.

The picture shook and the blonde haired reporter ran out of the shot. There was a lot of screaming and then it cut to the people in the station "What was that?" I asked.

The news anchor on the tv put his finger to his ear and nodded, "There has been some kind of explosion at the courthouse..."

I sat down next to Anthony who was leaning forward staring at the tv. Mama put her hand over her chest, "Oh my god." She said.

"You think it was over Tay's case?" I asked.

Ma put her hand over her mouth, "You think?" She replied and then the phone started to ring. We all stared at one another as the robotic melody crawled through the halls and creeped into the living room. Ma shot up and ran to the back of the apartment. I sat there dumbfounded with the glow of the tv taking me over. Then I looked over at Anthony, he sat there for a while staring into the puzzled faces of the reporters and then he softly said, "You were wrong."

"Wrong about what?" I asked.

We were in a moment that didn't require words. A moment where pure silence would be accepted and understood but here he was talking and smirking, "You said people like us don't get justice," his head turned slightly and the faint glow of the TV made his skin shine, "But we do...we just have to take it."

I remember four moments when my life changed.

You already know the first three...

The fourth was when I realized I was nothing more than a punk kid in an alley trading words with a Revolutionary.

[sylvesterbarzey]

Credit: @ThinkAnneThink

[sylvesterbarzey]

"Let me out!" I screamed into the darkness, and my cries were united with other voices in the darkness. 

"We did nothing!" 

"Let us out!" 

The dark was bought to life with our agony. It was a nightly event that always ended the same. We scream. We pound. We shake our bars, and then the door opens. The light fills the room and then like the devil, she appears. I watched her slowly walk down the stone steps. My faced passed against the bars, listening to her heels clicking along the stone steps. The file dragged along her nails as she surveyed us. My eyes betrayed me, taking in her beauty and reminding my heart of what she once meant to me. She was a queen that walked with me in the darkness. I loved her, ever so purely and ever so sweetly. I loved her far more than I ever thought my soul could love, but that was long ago. Before this cage.

Her eyes fell on me for only a moment then she walked the line of cells with a wicked smirk, "Let me out! Let me out!" She mocked us with her ruby red lips. I long to taste her once again. She tucked the nail file into her bra and rolled her eyes. High heels knocking along a stone floor, is a sound none of us ever thought we would fear. But as she creeped closer to the cells, the chills grew stronger within our bodies. Slowly her hand ran along the solid tops of our steel cages. "I spent far too long getting y’all here, to just let y’all go." She said with a sigh.

“Release us, Devil!” I shouted.

She spun on her heels, so quickly and elegantly, I thought she was preparing to ask me to dance, like those many nights before, "I feel as if you don't like my little party," she said.

My forehead rested against the bars, “We did nothing, Lara,” I said.

She closed her eyes, slowly walking toward me, "What was that?" she said. Her hands slammed down on top of my cage, "What did you call me?" She screamed, the love and lust that I once saw in her eyes was gone, all that was left was hate and rage. 

I was broken, trapped and out powered by a pretty face. Yet this night I felt something in me, something that refused to go quietly into that good night, “I said we did nothing, Lara!" I roared it. My fingers latched onto those bars and I shook them with every bit of force that I had lift in me. The metal clicked and clacked, but in the end, I was still just another lion in a cage. 

"Well, someone’s got a little fight in em’ tonight." She laughed. That sweet laugh that would accompany into the bedroom after a night of drinking an dancing. That sweet laugh that said she didn’t have a worry in the world, but tonight she was laughing at me. She got down to her knees in her bright red dress. She ran her finger over the bars and whispered, "But you lost this fight, before the bell even rang," She walked over to the corner and pulled out a large wooden spare. She looked at my cage again and like everyone else I recoiled. She twirled the spare around in her hand until the sharpened point was aimed my way. I loved her once. A queen that stepped out of the darkness and took my heart. She smiled, "Are you ready, my love?" She asked. 

"You’re a monster," I said.

She smiled and raised her eyebrow as my words hit her soft ears. Then she ran the spare through my bars and into my heart. I let out a scream. My heart pounded. My cage bars shook and like that, she left me. She walked up the steps and pulled open the door, she stood at the top and smiled, "They called me a monster," She turned off the lights, tossing us back into the darkness and pulled the door closed.

They sat there around a fire. Rich and powerful from peddling fear into the streets of the city, "Can you believe that? They called me a monster." The room filled up with laughter, "A  God damn vampire...but I’m a monster," She rolled her eyes and sat down on the lap of some smooth looking gentlemen. That was it, we were just a footnote in their evening, they continued their night of drinking and story telling. "We should kill the whole lot of them tonight." Lara said with a smile. 

Then the slow creaking of a large wooden door, pulled their eyes away from the evening’s festivities. The laughter had died. The smiles had faded and their eyes went wide as the very door that kept them safe from the darkness opened and they heard "What a lovely idea," The blood was sweet. The deaths were grand and the revenge was spectacular. Or so I imagined it as my blood covered the basement floor. I imagined that my death caused them to rise up and put an end to the era of the cage, and the monsters who placed us in them. Yet as the feeling in my body started to fade and my heart slowly fought for its last beat of life, I heard that door open. I saw the light fill the room, and I knew the devil would soon appear.

Hey Survivors & Victims! I hope you enjoyed this story. I remember when I first sat down to write it, I got the idea from the night that Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein. The story is a group of creatives sat around a fire and wanted to run a contest of scary stories.

Then I decided while they were upstairs creating something scary, that there was a real horror just below their feet. What if they were telling scary stories About monSters, when they were the real monsters in someone else’s story.

Well, I hope you’re doing alright in this crazy world. If you enjoyed this, please share it And let me know what you Think.

If You Love Vampires:

🧙🏾Harry Potter Meets Grown-ish🧙🏾‍♀️

Get The Realm Today:

https://smarturl.it/The-realm

The Realm is a page turning young adult fantasy novel that follows Essence Marie Jones, who finds out she’s far more than your normal New Orleans teenager, in fact she’s far more than a human being. Essence is the vessel for an all magical being from another world, known as the Oracle.

Everyone wants to be the chosen one until it’s time to do chosen one stuff, like leave your family, friends and battle a dark army out to destroy both worlds. Essence is fighting fate, magic, supernatural being and the drama of high school...how’s that for black girl magic.

Get The Realm Today:

https://smarturl.it/The-realm

[sylvesterbarzey]

Ghost Ship (2002)

[sylvesterbarzey]

Olly Jeavons

[sylvesterbarzey]

I’m hella late but I have a Teen Wolf Addiction now 😍😍😍😍

[sylvesterbarzey]

All three seasons of Avatar: The Last Airbender are coming to US Netflix on May 15th!

[sylvesterbarzey]

Had an interview last month and got to dive into the horror genre and what it means to me and why it’s important to have wide representation within the genre.

[sylvesterbarzey]

I know we’re all having some pretty messed up days and we will make it through. Now with that being said, nothing makes me feel better about my messed up day more than watch a horror movie about someone’s even worse day. Well here are five horror movies with some totally messed up days that will make you happy your stuck at home in your PJs.

HARD CANDY/ KNOCK KNOCK:

Okay, what happens in these movies are fucked up for sure, but it’s debatable that both male characters deserved it. Let's be real people! I found myself saying award winning commentary like:

"Oh My God!"

"Not There!"

"Why Lord! Why!"

Both these movies have some crazy scenes, Knock Knock is more mental and emotional torture, while Hard Candy is “body torture”. Now you might be wondering why these guys deserve one big fucked up day, well…one is a cheater and one might be a pedophile. Don’t open your door to anyone you don’t know…especially if karma might be looking for you.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

Hard Candy: Hayley (Ellen Page) is a precocious teenager who goes to a coffee shop to meet Jeff (Patrick Wilson), the photographer she met on the Internet. Jeff thinks he is in for a real treat, but Hayley plays a trick on him. After drugging Jeff and tying him down, Hayley reveals that she knows Jeff preys on teenage girls and she has a plan to wring a confession from him.

Knock Knock: Two nubile, stranded women (Ana de Armas, Lorenza Izzo) reveal a sinister agenda after they spend the night with a married architect (Keanu Reeves).

THE INVITATION:

Your ex-wife invited you to dinner with her new boo.Do we really have to go into why this guy is having a Fucked up day? I mean really people....Your EX-WIFE! I guess you can be a grown up and play nice with one another but as the back story of Logan Marshall-Green‘s Character Will and his are shown for us, you know these people shouldn’t be having dinner and you also get the feeling that Will’s Ex and her new man, might need to be fitted for straight jackets.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

While attending a dinner party at his former house, a man (Logan Marshall-Green) starts to believe that his ex-wife (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband (Michiel Huisman) have sinister plans for the guests.

HUSH:

As a writer I understand the need to be away from the world. I sometimes dream about how much work I can get done if I was locked away inside of a nice cabin in the woods (Update, not a whole lot, unless you count watching Tiger King and Teen Wolf as work).Yet, as a writer I also know, nothing good comes from a story involving a cabin in the woods. Hush gives you the core parts of a classic horror: Isolated location

Masked Killer

Woman All Alone

and then throws in the fact that the main character is deaf, which adds a whole new world of issues for her to face. This is a great movie about when a writers dream goes terribly wrong and one woman’s battle to survive.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

A deaf writer who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears in her window.

LAST SHIFT:

Everyone has a hard time on their first day at a new job. Someone forgets your name, you get lost, you sit alone at lunch.So, that's all sad but did you have to guard an abandoned police department, alone? Yeah, it's not too bad of a day…oh yeah, I forgot to mention the Manson family wannabes who were murdered in that same building years ago, are now back looking for blue blood. This movie made me the biggest Juliana Harkavy, she killed this role! I really hope she does more arrow, but she seems pretty happy with her role as Black Canary on the CW’s Green Arrow & The Canaries.

Movie Rundown:

After rookie cop Jessica Loren is been assigned the last shift at a transitioning police station, she must wait for a hazardous-materials crew to to pick up biomedical evidence; however, the shift turns into a living nightmare.

HAPPY DEATH DAY:

Well, you had to have known this was gonna be at the top of the list. A movie where you relive the same day over and over again, only resting it with your death? Happy Death Day is the MVP of the Bad Day Movie Genre (I don’t think it’s really a genre, I might have made it up) and the scream queen that leads this movie is Jessica Rothe, who plays Tree. I love this movie! The concept isn’t new and could have been cheesy but the fact that you were watching Tree grow as a character and overcome this crazy day was amazing. She ended the movie in a totally different place than she started. It might be the writer in me but that growth and whole story arch puts Happy Death Day really high on my favorite horror movies list.

MOVIE RUN DOWN:

Tree Gelbman is a blissfully self-centered collegian who wakes up on her birthday in the bed of a student named Carter. As the morning goes on, Tree gets the eerie feeling that she's experienced the events of this day before. When a masked killer suddenly takes her life in a brutal attack, she once again magically wakes up in Carter's dorm room unharmed. Now, the frightened young woman must relive the same day over and over until she figures out who murdered her.

ALRIGHT! YOU SURVIVED ANOTHER LIST, I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT. I TOLD EVERYONE YOU COULD. SO SINCE I BELIEVED IN YOU, HOW ABOUT YOU DO ME A FAVOR AND IF YOU LIKED IT, SHARE IT WITH SOME OTHER HORROR LOVERS AND IF YOU WANNA BE A REAL SURVIVOR YOU CAN:

Checkout My Books

www.sylvesterbarzey.com/books

[sylvesterbarzey]

[sylvesterbarzey]

[sylvesterbarzey]

Entertainment Spotlight: Iman Benson , #blackAF

You might recognize Atlanta native Iman Benson from her recurring roles on Suits, Alexa & Katie, and Station 19. Or maybe you know her as Tia in Uncle Buck. This spring, she will be joining the cast of Kenya Barris’ #blackAF as a member of the family. The Netflix original series stars Barris as a fictionalized version of himself, Rashida Jones as his wife Joya, and their six children. We spoke with Iman about #blackAF, acting, and more. Check it out:

How did you get started in acting? 

For as long as I can remember I’ve had an interest in acting and performing. So, I started doing theater in Atlanta, GA when I was 9 until I was 14. During those years my love and appreciation for the arts thrived. My acting career started with various commercials and VO work, until I was about 15 and booked my first series. 

What drew you to the role of Drea in #blackAF? 

When I received the sides for the role, I undoubtedly knew I wanted to play her. She had this strong sense of morality and integrity about her that really resonated with me. I not only understood who she was but I was all too familiar with the unbelievably honest, unconventional, and unfiltered father daughter dynamic between her and Kenya. 

Was there much room for improvisation? Did any improvised moments make the final cut? 

From the beginning, Kenya made it known that we weren’t married to the words on the pages and collaboration was welcomed. There was so much room for spontaneity and to play creatively, which was one of my favorite parts about filming this project. Improvisation was embraced and oftentimes encouraged. I think it comes across visibly on screen with the effortless flow and natural comedic timing of #blackAF. 

What’s your favorite thing that you’ve seen on the internet this year? 

This image is probably my favorite thing I’ve seen on the internet this year. It’s how I feel whenever I ask someone anything. I just didn’t know until this. 

Tell us something you like and something you dislike about the character you play in #blackAF. 

I love Drea’s passion for her craft and how outspoken and driven she is. She’s slightly awkward but still self-assured. She has an immense amount of love for her family, but with that comes high expectations for them to put forth their best in everything they do. High expectations tend to lead to disappointment especially when you throw a highly flawed, dysfunctional family in the mix. 

When you hear Black Excellence, what or who comes to mind? 

Rihanna is someone that comes to mind when I think of black excellence. She is the epitome of what it means to be an innovative, talented entertainer and entrepreneur. Fenty Beauty has single handedly broken down the walls of exclusivity in the beauty industry, and set the standard for makeup brands to follow. It’s inspiring to witness Rihanna wear so many hats (i.e. her high fashion line, humanitarianism, and philanthropy) and dominating so many arenas outside of music. She truly embodies what it is to be black excellence. 

What is something you hope viewers will take away from the show? 

I hope viewers take away from these honest, authentic conversations on the show and translate that into everyday dialogue. Overall, I hope for a better understanding of the modern-day black experience as we continue to push these conversations forward. 

Do you have any advice for young women of color wanting to become actresses? 

If I would say one thing it would be, claim your power. It’s so easy in this industry to get discouraged or to feel inadequate. There is nothing more riveting than a young black woman who understands her strength and isn’t afraid to embody it. It’s important to remember that no one is you and that is your power. Own who you are and don’t let anything dim your light ;) 

If you could switch worlds with any of the characters you’ve played so far, who would it be, and why? 

I think I would switch worlds with Drea from #blackAF. She has a big family which I’m no stranger to, but it would be interesting to experience life with 5 other siblings as opposed to my 2. And, I mean, she’s a filmmaker going to NYU film school. That’s a dream. I’ve spent my career being in front of the camera, and being behind it is always something that has intrigued me and a venture that I’ve wanted to embark on for sometime now.

Thanks for taking the time, Iman! #blackAF is now streaming on Netflix

[sylvesterbarzey]

😍😍😍😍😍

[sylvesterbarzey]

[sylvesterbarzey]

[sylvesterbarzey]

😂😂😂 A little razzle-dazzle