A Lot of Catching Up to Do

I know I have a lot of catching up to do in terms of recent reviews, so to help save time for the time being, here's a quick run down of a few books and movies that I have recently read or seen, in no particular order:

Books

First, I'm completely hooked on Shana Hammaker's short story series, Twelve Terrifying Tales for 2011. There's not a month that goes by that I'm not waiting patiently for her next tale. Here's where we're at thus far with Shana's work:

Charlie - *****
Border Crossing - *****
North of Forks - *****
Metamorphosis - *****
Souls, Inc. - *****
Teeth: A Fable - *****

Next, here are a few other novels I've recently read:

Dark Fiction by David Kempf - ** - Kempf has a really good premise in this book but the sheer number of seven word sentences tends to make this a laborious read that make sit feel like he's dictating the story rather than letting it flow smoothly.

Ancient Awakening and Ancient Enemies (Volume 2) by Matthew Bryan Laube - ***1/2 and ***1/2 - I love Laube's Ancient series. His stories are fast paced, fun and exciting. They each could have easily gotten four stars if they had been edited a little better. Even still, I can't wait for the next chapter in this exciting tale.

Dead Sea by Brian Keene - **** - What more can I say about Brian Keene? He's awesome and Dead Sea doesn't disappoint on its promise of nasty zombie action.

Abominable by William Meikle - **1/2 - I loved the thought behind Meikle's short story, Abominable, but I really didn't like the narrator of this yarn.

Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon - ***** - Another brilliant book from Mr. McCammon! In my opinion, one of the best writers working today.

Serial by Jack Kilborn and Jake Crouch - ****1/2 - What a fun, nasty little tale this one is!

Monster by A. Lee Martinez - ***1/2 - This was one of the funniest books I've read since Good Omens. The ending left me a little wanting but it was one heck of a fun ride getting there.

Star Wars: Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber - **** - Zombies in outer space, in the Star Wars universe... what else could an 80s-era teen ask for?

Movies

True Grit (2010) - ****
Paranormal Entity - **
House of Fears - ***
8213: Gacy House - **
Night of the Demons - ***
Suspect Zero - ***
Deadfall Trail - *
Blood Creek - *
Crimson Rivers - ****
Drive Angry - ****
Black Death - ****
Skyline - ***
Prowl - **
Monsters - ****
Pandorum - ***