#house of long shadows

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine

House of Long Shadows (1984)

[splatteronmywalls]

[movieposters1]

[steamboatclusie]

John Carradine in House of Long Shadows

[twistedtummies2]

Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary - Number 20

Welcome to Christopher Lee: A Sinister Centenary! Over the course of May, I will be counting down My Top 31 Favorite Performances by my favorite actor, the late, great Sir Christopher Lee, in honor of his 100th Birthday. Although this fine actor left us a few years ago, his legacy endures, and this countdown is a tribute to said legacy! We’ve arrived at the Top 20. Today’s Subject, My 20th Favorite Christopher Lee Performance: Mr. Corrigan, from House of Long Shadows.

“House of the Long Shadows” is a horror-comedy movie styled in the vein of a classic, good ol’ fashioned murder mystery. It’s a bit similar to movies like “Clue” or “Knives Out,” with a blend of humor and dark, violent deception, a cast of colorful characters, and a plot filled with all kinds of odd twists and turns. What sets “Long Shadows” apart from other murder mystery movies, however, is a combo of two elements: one is the fact it’s one of the few good movies released by Cannon and Golan-Globus productions, the infamous minds behind films like “Superman IV: Quest for Peace,” “Masters of the Universe,” and “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.” (pauses) What? I think that’s pretty impressive to point out. These guys released so much crud, the fact they distributed ANY good movies is worth stating. :P But seriously, the biggest boon this film has is its cast: as well as a classic murder mystery movie, the film serves as a sort of tribute to Gothic chillers of the 1960s and 1970s, starring four of the greatest actors of the genre still alive at that point, all already old masters at the time. Those four are Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, John Carradine…and, of course, Sir Christopher Lee. The plot focuses on a mystery writer, Kenneth Magee (played by Desi Arnaz, Jr.), who makes a bet with his publishers that he can write a good book in less than a day. For inspiration, he makes his way to a typical spooky old mansion and encounters numerous odd and mysterious characters there. Soon, murder is afoot, and Magee and the rest have to try and stay alive and find the killer before it’s too late. Carradine plays Lord Elijah Grisbane, the head of the household and the first (possibly indirect) victim, whose death acts as a major inciting incident to the plot. Price and Cushing, meanwhile, play his sons, Lionel and Sebastian. Grisbane also has a daughter, Victoria, played by Sheila Keith. Lee’s character is a bit of a latecomer to the story, as he enters the plot about halfway through the film: he’s called Mr. Corrigan, a stern, stiff, strict businessman who is planning to buy the estate and use it as a building site. He is utterly bewildered when he finds all the people present at the old dark house, as he was under the impression it had been abandoned for years. It's after Corrigan enters the plot that the story starts to get especially interesting, as it’s revealed the Grisbanes are holding a dark secret about their family…and, as you might expect, it’s this secret that leads to the series of gruesome murders that follows shortly thereafter. The mystery itself, and the many different spins the plot takes as it goes on, provide plenty of creepy and decadent fun, but the real joy of the picture lies in the four great actors bouncing off one another in their respective roles. Considering three out of four of them were best friends in real-life, it makes the chemistry between them all particularly delicious, and the ways their different characters interact and fit into the grand tapestry of the story is absolutely wonderful to behold. If you’re a Christopher Lee fan, or a fan of any of these actors, or heck, even just a fan of murder mystery stories in general, this is absolutely a film you have to check out. Tomorrow I shall present my Number 19 pick!

[mourningmaybells]

they literally all tortured him to prove a point....

[millenianthemums]

i loved the finale but i really wish we had gotten the big loud Belos villainous breakdown i was hoping for lmao…

the speech is paraphrased from the devil’s big speech in the Snapcube Shadow the Hedgehog fandub. i would’ve done more of it but my hand started hurting.

[mealbits]

look at my sonic ocs pretty please ok ty

[cassianandfenrysaremyboyos]

The way the Crescent City males are unafraid to cry and to say I love you to each other. And how they constantly check in on each other and ask if they're ok like really ok. They are just the ultimate in non toxic masculinity. Just the most beautiful men inside and out

[bookofmirth]

how might acotar5 start?

This post has spoilers for hofas!!!!!

The intention of this post is to talk about how SJM might connect hofas and acotar5 narratively. It is purely thinking about the logistics of the situation, not where the plot could go in the future.

I will have a follow-up post with discussion about why Az makes even more sense as the next MC, based on everything we learned in hofas that strengthens my rationale from acosf and hosab. I decided that Azriel as the main character and Azriel as the connection POV are too much for one post, and slightly separate (though obviously overlapping) arguments.

So let's go!

After the crossover in hosab/hofas, the narrative needs to take into account a few things:

We have readers who don't want to read 2000+ pages of urban fantasy and want to be able to stick to acotar and fully understand that series in itself

Readers who read both series and don't want a bunch of repetitive scenes

sjm needs to think about how to communicate the information that was learned in hosab/hofas, or at least the information that is vital for moving forward with the acotar plot, in acotar5 that accounts for both those perspectives.

So how does sjm manage all of those tasks?

Azriel's POV

Starting perhaps just before Bryce landed in Prythian, though it could potentially start right where acosf left off. Allow me to explain.

Azriel was preset for a majority of the crossover, but he wasn't with Bryce the entire time. This is important! Because he was in and out of the Hewn City, this gives us an opportunity to see what was happening outside of Bryce's perception. Azriel's pov means:

We could see how the IC reacted initially to Bryce's arrival.

We could see their decision-making process in terms of what to do with Bryce

We could see if they made use of the research that was being conducted on other worlds

Bryce goes straight from landing in Velaris at the end of hosab, to being in the Hewn City at the beginning of hofas. We could learn how they came to that decision to take her there. That's not super important, but possible with Az pov.

We could also get a moment away from Bryce where Az is thinking about his own emotional reactions to everything happening with Truthteller, perhaps getting better insight into why he is reacting the way he is when it is near Gwydion, and how he feels upon learning the information about the Asteri making the Illyrians, and the info about Ramiel, about Enalius. We learned a LOT that is relevant to Az, and have almost nothing in terms of his reaction to it.

We could also get a better idea of how this knowledge is changing the IC in real time, as they are grappling with the implications.

This also means that the information we learn via the info dump in hofas could be supplemented with what Rhys already knows, based on Merrill's research. It wouldn't just be a verbatim repetition of Silene's story, but a fuller picture that includes what the IC knows and further implications for Prythian.

We could also get more insight into the argument that occurs as a result of Nesta letting Bryce borrow the mask. It ended up being a huge source of friction, but right now, we have zero knowledge of what was actually said between the IC when they found out.

One of the most important points here is narrative: everything that we learned in hosab/hofas was from Bryce's point of view. The narration didn't have to do that. Instead, the omniscient narrator could have given us insight into Azriel and Nesta's feelings. However, sjm kept that relatively close to the chest. For example:

“What is it?” Nesta asked Bryce, motioning to her back. “How is a bit of writing on your skin … Made?” “I can’t answer the question until you tell me what the fuck Made means.”

SJM does not fill in the gaps for Bryce, for readers who have only read Crescent City. Someone coming from acotar obviously knows the importance of the tattoo being a Made object, but sjm isn't doing anything to help out CC-only readers, here. She is working from Bryce's perspective only, and Bryce has no idea. This is just one example of what Bryce's perspective read like; the entire thing is like this, Bryce trying to piece information together while the omniscient narrator chooses not to fill the reader in on what Bryce doesn't know. This means that, again, we have no idea how the IC and other acotar characters responded to these events, other than how Bryce can observe them responding.

Azriel is quite literally the perfect go-between between the CC and ACOTAR series, as he was both observing Bryce and working with the IC. That means that sjm has given space in the narrative to give us Azriel's pov without it being repetitive. By using Azriel's POV, we are also learning this information anew, filtered through his thoughts and his emotional responses. We get the information we need, but we get it from a Prythian perspective.

It's possible that sjm do an info dump at the beginning of acotar5, of course. Lots of things are possible - they aren't all likely. Perhaps sjm will take an easier route and have Az give a recap, but to whom? And why? Everyone who needs to know will already know, and so I don't see a need for him (or Nesta, or Rhys) to spend time in the book explaining the situation.

Could sjm start post-hofas events, and just assume that acotar readers have gotten on board with Crescent City? She could, but that would be pretty shitty of her to do, considering how many books in we are. The way I have read it, you could read Crescent City without having any knowledge of acotar, and be fine. She tells us what we need to know in hofas. Why not do that in acotar, so it could be treated as a separate entity?

It will be interesting to see what tactic she takes, either way!

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Kings of Horror

Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing

[daerklina]

“why do you stan this character, they did [insert crime], ur prawblemateec😭😭”

they have pretty face? they don’t exist? have you considered that I don’t give a fuck? let women have hobbies?…

that whole discourse with villains bores me senseless. “they are evil & cruel etc” — yes, they are, this is literally why we stan them, I’m not a pro in using some ‘very smart’ terms, so I’ll explain it in easy words.

yes, we like villains because of their nature, because they’re evil and because they have charisma, cunningness, magical, their motives and their character is intriguing NOT FUCKING BECAUSE WE ARE THE SAME😭

also “you like [insert character] because of an actor” — No!?! I like them because of their personality and if I do like them because of an actor, it’s not a fucking crime? yes, we admit we like them because of an actor, that’s the powerful aura lol.

the most confusing thing about all of this is when a person stans a morally grey character but actively shits on you and creates a whole ass ‘hate communities’ because you stan another morally grey character + ur not pure enough if you stan [insert name] 🤡🤡 + they will make you a criminal and create million lies about u and ur character + “my villain is morally superior than your villain” (kaz brekker & six of crows stans, I’m looking at u)

[cosmonautroger]

Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, House Of The Long Shadows, 1983

[kamihuman]

Comfort characters💮

[mackensen]

Happy 100th birthday to Sir Christopher Lee, 111th birthday to Vincent Price, and 109th birthday (+1 day) to Peter Cushing, wherever they might be.

[sarahreesbrennan]

Erin go bragh! (Ireland forever.)

Behold, the special Irish edition of my book. I love how golden and fancy it is, like an opulent special treat just for me. (And others. While stocks last!) And it highlights the gilded wings of the queen’s bone throne. I think the gold colour also brings out the cracks in the title, which form in the story and everyone’s lives (distress the title more I coaxed my poor patient designer… now more… hey check out this Sex Pistols logo… Designer: hey shut up (not really, he would never, but he’d be justified).)

Note: it is a paperback, because my people hate hardcovers. I don’t know why, the Irish simply don’t buy them. Sarah J. Maas is super fancy bestselling and I just saw her latest House of Flame and Shadow in paperback on a fancy table in the airport, with the other fancy paperbacks. I buy hardcovers for my favourites myself! I like that they last. (The UK purple edition is what you want, currently, if you wish a hardcover.) But I’m so excited to have a fancy exclusive edition, in the format the Irish most prefer. There aren’t very many copies (exclusive!) so I’m nervously hoping it might sell out!

I’m also excited that it’s Irish. People often think I’m American - maybe because I have a weird accent (Liverpudlian plus Australian plus Scottish plus Irish leads people to go ‘American?’ and Americans to go ‘Canadian?’) or an American literary agent (I would never part with Suzie). I once saw someone ask why I make a fuss about being Irish American - the outrage! No offence Irish Americans, thank you for buying me drinks when I flash the passport in Boston, but I can’t have learned compulsory Irish from age five for nothing. They didn’t let you go to the bathroom without asking in Irish. Someone had an accident! (Not me, I work well under pressure, but not great.) Countries are made up, but I’m still proud of mine. I translated Catullus’s Latin poems into Irish, and the Irish poets in my life (Ireland teems with poets) were so pleased I was breaking away from my filthy prose lifestyle. Ireland doesn’t tax writers (or musicians, or any creators) if they make under a certain amount, which has saved me and some of my friends. As imaginary countries go, it’s a good one. So this feels like celebrating my country, and my country celebrating me, and believing in the book of my heart.

Should you wish fancy limited gold, pray preorder below! Kennys.ie might be the best bet for those outside Ireland. If I collected many colours like Pokémon, which one would you want to see next?

EDIT: The book is in English! So sorry to be confusing. As are Sarah J Maas’s Irish editions. Very few of our books are in Irish, though… perhaps one day… I’d love it, even though despite training from my youth, I’m actually a lot better at Latin.