Hey guys, Brandi Bolden here! In order to lessen the load on Ilona Andrews, y’all will be seeing weekly blog posts from yours truly! I have to think of awesome content that y’all would enjoy, so please be sure to leave a comment regarding what y’all would personally want to see from me! Moving on, today’s post is not for those that don’t enjoy a good scare.
And I mean a really, really good scare.
I’m personally a very avid horror fan. Not so much gore, but more of like the disturbing and creepy type of stuff that makes you get shivers down your spine when you think about it later. Which, luckily for me, I have found two shows on netflix that do just that.
The first one, and the one I most strongly recommend is a netflix original coming from France that may very well be the creepiest show I’ve ever watched. Let’s talk about Marianne.
Once again, if you do not like to be scared, do not watch even the first five minutes of this show. The plot is centered around a young woman who is a successful horror novelist after she announces that she is ending her extremely popular book series after ten years of writing it. You soon realize the events of her novels are based on her own experiences, and the demonic antagonist in her novels begins to wreak havoc on her hometown.
It has a very Stephen King feel to it, which he himself has praised the show for being incredibly terrifying. There are jump scares, but the true horror of this show comes from the eerily building suspense and fantastic performances by the cast. If you enjoyed the Haunting of Hill House, you will absolutely love this.
The second show I highly recommend if you enjoy being spooked is Two Sentence Horror Stories. Unlike Marianne, this super creepy show is an anthology. Each episode is about thirty minutes long, and none of them have anything to do which each other. If you enjoy Black Mirror or the Twilight Zone, this show is definitely gonna be your thing.
The format for Two Sentence Horror Stories plays out like such:
The beginning of each episode shows a sentence against a black background. This serves as a hint towards what the episode is going to be about.
A bunch of freaky crap happens, and then at the end you get the other sentence. This completes the two sentence horror story. If ya’ll have never heard of a two sentence horror story, here’s one for example.
“There’s nothing like the laughter of a baby. Unless it’s 2 AM and you live alone.”
or here’s another fun one
“My daughter won’t stop crying and screaming in the middle of the night. I go to her grave and beg her to stop, but it doesn’t help.”
Neither of those have been featured in the show because I didn’t want to give anything away, but please watch it! It’s super creepy and not nearly as heavy as Marianne.
Anyway, please leave some comments about what type of content you’d like to see from me. Also, I thought it would be kinda fun if ya’ll shared some of your favorite two sentence horror stories.
Bye ya’ll, see you next week!
Unless you want to give hints about what’s coming up from Ilona and Gordon, I’m not really sure what you want to post. 😀
As to horror, I’m not much into the gore and slash either. Back in the day, Alfred Hitchcock had a weekly show which was more psychological horror than the slasher type horror. My older brother and I watched the show and some of the shows were really creepy. Some of the Twilight Show episodes are also creepy. The one that comes to mind is the episode called “Masks”.
Great that you want to give Ilona and Gordon some time away from the blog. Glad to have you post!
Yeah, Alfred Hitchcock did it right. My father and I would sit and watch those once a week, and that was enough! He didn’t do outright blood and guts horror, but what he did would really make you sit still with all the lights on!
Twilight Zone did a few that still haunt me. I loved it, though. I suspect that most “scary” movies now don’t have so much “scare” as they have “blood and guts”, and that isn’t even fun. True horror is ordinary people going through horrible things and going insane from it all. A surprise decapitation isn’t really a good scare. It’s shocking, but it doesn’t really scare, because who in their right mind would be walking alongside a dark forest at night without a flashlight? Yeah, no.
I am an avid reader and recently published my first novel. I understand that reviews are very important to get sales. Marketing was difficult and getting reviews was an uphill task. I am pooling the money to order reviews from https://usabookreviewers.com/christmas-gift and hoping for better sales this Christmas season..Looking for beta readers also.
I’m psyched, I’ve always enjoyed your voice in your periodic posts and think this will be fun. Netflix recs are great (even if I don’t personally love horror…) Other possible fun topics off the top of my head:
-book recommendations from any genre
-fictional faceoffs (there was a character face off on one of the competition sites and I remember rolling with laughter at the Kate vs. Dina arguments. Would love to see more arguments on why you think one character is better than another – doesn’t have to be IA characters!)
-animal stories
-random hobby stories (I don’t knit or paint but have loved IA’s hobby stories, so I’m guessing yours would be amusing too)
Hey, Brandi!
Speaking of horror, has Ada become more friendly with the IT statue hiding in the bathroom? She’s such a good girl
+1
+1
I really enjoyed Scream TV show, season 1 and 2. Though if you’re hoping they’ll finish the Brandon James arch, no dice. 🙁
I also love the horrible written scream movie, the first one. It didn’t take itself seriously at all. My favorite quote is from Matthew Lillard when he says “Liver alone!” Terribly corny but so funny!
I don’t normally enjoy scary shows or movies, but every now and then I get an urge to check it out.
The Slasher series is apparently good, according to my husband and I need to watch it instead of falling asleep.
Two sentence horror sounds fun though! I’ll check that out. Hopefully it’s on Hulu.
As far as blog posts, I really enjoyed Diet Drunk! What’s your favorite White Claw flavor? My favorite is raspberry.
Any funny stories about the House Andrews critters are always good!
As to scary stories, I’m not really a big fan, but there’s a chilling Ray Bradbury play called “Falling Star”. First time I read it, I was numb for half an hour. Many years later, I worked on two different stage productions of it. (Still gave me chills.) Also, his short story anthologies “R is for Rocket” and “S is for Space”.
I recomend Netflix ‘Eli’ good show and quite supriaing ending! 🙂
I watched ‘Eli’, found it pretty interesting but guessed the end… Still good, though!
I looooooooved Marianne. I also have a Shudder subscription and they have a number of Skandi horror series (Norse & Swedish). They tend to lean more toward noir but they’re reallh good. I’ve also gotten a kick out of the Creepshow reboot. It’s not scary but it’s fun.
Please tell me more about your “Shudder subscription”, sounds great as a holiday pressie for a housemate….
Not a horror fan of any sort, Dean Koontz was as far down that road as I care to go and that was years ago. My roommate likes stuff like that so I’ll pass the information on to her.
I recommended the blog to my granddaughter. She likes to write so I suggested she read the business stuff Ilona posts for no BS information on what it takes to be successful starting with write, write, write, good or bad get it written down.
Looking forward to both series. I just started Netflix this week, so I am looking forward to recommendations. Any other Netflix faves to find?
I don’t know if you enjoy foreign films, because sometimes subtitle-reading isn’t worth it. Having said that, ‘Stree’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiya’ are two amazing Hindi horror-comedies that are definitely worth a watch. I love them both and infinite views later, the story still keeps me hooked.
Check out ‘Black Spot’ on Netflix. It’s a French show about a weird forest on the border of France. Great cop/scary weird crap show.
As for posting, what kind of questions have been so done to death you can’t bear to read it again? What kind of questions are refreshing?
With the time changing my brain resembles three day old tapioca, that’s the best I have.
Hope the week goes well.
MB
Thanks Brandi.
I dont do horror, but my wife dies and has already put these on her watch list.
We are out of town, so she’s using my hotspot to preview the shows. She pretty happy.
That is a typo you might not be allowed to forget !!!
Was that intentional ????
Inquiring minds want to know!
3 sentence horror story LOL
Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family, talk, and feast.
Aunt Cassie is a bit bland and old, so add some pepper.
Oye
Yep a typo. She’s very much alive.
So much for typing at the racetrack on your phone. Anyways, she gave a thumbs up several times.
I’d add some garlic to Aunt Cassie as well.
I love me a good scare, but unfortunately many horror movies are going the slasher route these days, so my enjoyment of that has lessened. I do enjoy the classics though, like Watchers (great book too, written by Dean Koontz).
As for what you can post I like book/ movie/ show recommendations. They tend to help fill the void between Ilona Andrews’ releases. ????
Lots of NOPES to horror. I used to read the genre when I was younger. Then at 15 years old I met and listened to a lecture by a Roman Catholic priest who does exorcisms all over the Caribbean. The knowledge that a lot of these thing can happen to me and has happened to other people has caused me to stay far away from movies books art you name it.
Haha My dreams get enough for nightmares as it is, but I enjoyed reading your post! Adventures of Artha would always be fun for content… that last post about her still makes me smile think By about it: maybe two sentences from IA books in the works we can all speculate on… ????
My daughter won’t stop crying and screaming in the middle of the night. I go to her grave and beg her to stop, but it doesn’t help.”
!!!!!!! that alone can give nightmares
I will looking forward your next post… I prefer random themes post ????????♀️
I like funny email and communication/ miscommunication and other adventures.
Behind the scenes stuff that we don’t see. For example, they’ll post about interchanges with Jeanine Frost. Do you have any peers that you have humorous interactions with?
I always enjoy your posts and will be happy to see whatever you come up with.
Thank you for reminding me of the haunting of hill house. I saw that my junior year in college back in the mid-1970s. That movie scared the living daylights out of me. The scene when she realizes that Thea is not who is holding her hand…my legs shot straight out in bed so hard that I got Charlie horses in both of my legs. Now, I do not like horror at all.
I’ve been bringe watching (re-watching, really) X-Files. Some great suspense, thriller stuff. Just finished the Episode called “Home” in season 4. That one was super creepy, and I know when I watched the first time, I found l out I was lucky to have seen it because it was banned on many US networks after and was never shown on reruns.
Recommendations for TV, movies or YouTube clips/ channels are always welcome. I don’t think it’s fair to recommend any other authors on this site unless Illona or Gordon do so. Thanks for giving them a break, Ms. Brandi!
Pet pics are always fun! And posts about quirky pet habits or funny pet interactions.
Behind the scenes glimpses like text conversations, emails, phone calls, etc, that are funny or random or maybe give a little teaser about the story being worked on are awesome, too. Oh, and maybe some favorite family recipes or traditions, if they aren’t confidential! ????
Good luck finding blog fodder for the BDH!
+1. Was going to suggest the first two.
Would it be weird if you just told us about stuff that happens in Casa Andrews? Nothing too invasive. Something like, “Oh, the raccoons are back and dog #3 is sleeping with one eye open” or “the spider has escaped again and Andrew caught it and set it free ” or “ilona made stew but dog#1 knocked it down and so we ordered Thai.”
OK, i just realized all of these are centered on the animals in your home lol maybe an animal update then?
Spoilers! Heeheehee ???? (evil laugh).
I like slice-of- posts. Stories about the pets, Ilona’s dad, crafts/arts,…..
I’m sure that whatever you decide to write, most of the horde will enjoy reading.
Good luck and have fun! ????
I was wondering, they received the statistics, but did they actually READ them? ????
Hey Brandi,
Have you seen Dark on Netflix?
Like many others,I like funny pet pictures and the going on of house IA. I would love more funnies that comic was hilarious. Also,I love the beautiful pictures Ilona shares of you. Photography is neat and would be interested in you thoughts on some photos.
PS Are you still writing?
Hi Brandi! Thanks the post. I look forward to reading more from you!
I watched “Case 39” on Netflix. It was a mix of thriller and horror, so it may fit your style.
For a two sentence I’ll suggest: Knock, Knock… You are here (to create a very open mindframe)
I’m glad you have decided to offer weekly updates, thank you. My favourites are usually about pets, daily conversations and/or snippets 🙂
Brandi,
Thanks for the update! I appreciate that we’ll get a random update on random topic that will probably also include “Ilona and Gordon are up to their elbows (or beyond) in stuff but still alive. nothing critical, here’s this week’s random topic”
You’re super awesome for stepping up and helping them out even further with this weekly post thing 😉
Awesome idea! Look at all the great conversation you’ve generated! Night Gallery and the Outer Limits were good ones, and I too loved the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series. Profiler was good! Watching Mindhunter now, it’s really well done!
Would love to see topics about anthologies with Ilona Andrews stories! Thanks!
My suggestions are:
– re-blog some of the most popular old blog posts with snippets or Q and As,
-a look into the day-to-day of being assistant to Ilona Andrews (especially the funny/weird days),
– a post featuring each of the international and/or reprinted covers of some of the books.
– Posts showing photos of the main buildings/landmarks and/or inspirations from some of the novels (eg this is the Houston building that was the inspiration for the Assembly, these are pictures of the garden where Nevada met with Adam Pierce)
+1
+1
Thanks for the recommendations! I, too, enjoy your posts.
There can never be too many stories about the Andrews menagerie! Love all the pet stories. Moar, plz.
Life in Texas? Which has been your favorite place to live, and why? Have you gone to Austin City Limits? What’s cool about the area that you live in, and what’s less than cool?
What are your observations of the author process? What strikes you as interesting, and what don’t you like about the whole author gig?
Thanks for taking up the mantle of weekly posts! We fans really appreciate it. I’ve been following IA for many years, and the “come in and have a chat, let me tell you about this cool thing” approachability that Ilona and Gordon have going on has always been amazing. Thanks for keeping it going!
Twilight Zone was a staple as a kid but that could creep you out without a drop of blood on the screen…. suspense and creepy music and black and white cinema.
Doesn’t get any better than that.
I swear after watching Hitchcock’s Psycho… I couldn’t do my work as a maid at a small motel without carefully peeling back the shower curtains for months. (Hey I was a teenager and that freaked me out). I just knew there had to be a murder victim in every room. haha
Whatever you would like to share is awesome and a new perspective on things from your eyes is always welcome.
Hi Brandi, looking forward to your blog posts! I love a good scary movie, so these two shows are excellent recommendations. I don’t like slasher/gore either but loved the Twilight Zone, Night Gallery etc. I say write about what interests you and I’ll happily read it all.
Hey Brandi, I like some horror, but not too gory. And Marianne sounds way too scary for me. I used to read Stephen King, but now I think he is too scary.
But I would like some “real life “ experiences from the BDH. Any ghost stories, alien encounters, things that go bump in the night.
Are you a Mulder or a Scully?
Also, I live in NYC , and I have never been to Texas, the closet is IA stories. And Joe Lansdale. So, what is Texas, like during the holidays. Unfortunately in NYC, it becomes crazy crowded. My friend was in TimesSquare right before Christmas and she literally called 911 because the crowds were almost crushing the kids.
So, NYC is best very early in the morning, so you can check out the decorations.
And Central Park really is cool when it snows. Fifth Avenue, especially Bergdorf Goodman windows, and the jewelry in Tiffany’s windows. St Patrick’s is a must to pray, catch your breath and reflect on the year.
So stories about the holidays in wherever you come from. Then traditions. Like my
Mom and I always watched the Thanksgiving parade and made stuffing for the turkey at the same time.
Thanks for keeping us informed and entertained.
Everyone have a good,stress free week
.
I am not a fan of horror but I don’t mind hearing about it. Personally if you wanted to do random topics that would be fine. Everyday stuff, what if, holiday traditions, book recommendations, movies or tv. You know whatever ????
+1
I’ve been thinking about this, because I used to read a lot of horror as a teen and young adult. Somewhere I read that we use horror to imagine how we’d handle it if the worst happens. As an adult, I can’t say that I’ve dealt with the worst, but I have dealt with some bad stuff and I know how to do it. Once I had kids, I didn’t read straight horror anymore (I was always too much of a wimp to watch it). I’ve seen enough bad stuff close up, and my imagination can supply the rest. So I think, for me, horror has served its purpose. I don’t mind reading about the genre though.
Personally, I do not enjoy horror in any form. My daily life has sufficient stress, and I don’t need to add to it with activation of my too vivid imagination.
Not a big deal, as I will just check the blog less frequently to compensate for the change in tone. Hope you have fun coming up with content!
+1
I live in a house of avid horror fans ( give me a good musical any day! ) so I watch a lot of stuff I wouldn’t normally choose as standard.
I started to watch Marianne with the man and kids. I wouldn’t say I’m a horror wimp but I didn’t even make it to episode 2. It was just too disturbing.
Creepy mum is creepy.
Maybe it’s not really “horror”, but you must watch Penny Dreadful. I wish it was still in production…
As for future weekly posts, I like these recommendations…shows, books, movies…and the Andrews house updates. I’m very curious for your perspective on the Andrews house goings on:-)
There is a new penny dreadful season in production, I think – though it doesn’t continue the previous storyline. (…it’s on my list to watch, but as someone who almost never watches media, and has recently taken baby steps after having been added to my sister’s Hulu account, it might be a bit.) I have friends who tweet about it, but I’m not as on top of things as they are.
Darn it, as I was typing this, the news site came up, and okay, it was cancelled. (I shouldn’t be writing here while listening in to B talking with a student in the lab…)
Hi Brandi, are us kids acting up, . . . .Mom mom mom mom momonnnm.
You’re in the drivers seat now and I definitely am unwilling to make you pull this car over,
Stephen King is a charismatic and compelling writer. I don’t read horror or scary, because then I get to believing l can read Stephen & NO that’s not happening.
I buy stephen king, l have even read the , the,s this,s and,s occasionly my eye will get caught by a maybe or door or window, l will slam the book closed should l find myself walking down a …. anything …. hall, lane, meadow, corner
Any hoo two sentence murder, yeah intriguing. Nope my stephen radar is shreiking
In addition to whatever House Andrews stuff (which I figure is a given, right?) I’m all for creative randomness.
My Business Plan
The Perfect Pants
A Fantasy Garden
How to Solve the Transportation Crisis
*Fill in the Blank* Holiday Menu
…etc.
Have fun with it.
“The Perfect Pants” – Ah, so you’re into fantasy stuff. ????????
I have a friend whose business plan is a store called “adequate pants” – where you can go and find pants that fit well, and generally do the job. Nothing special, not especially fashion forward, no torture required.
I mean, if she weren’t otherwise busy, I’d suggest crowdfunding it as a start up.
Thanks for the creepy recommendations, Brandi. Cool that you’ll be blogging for us. I second the book recommendations from you idea.
Also, could you please tell us what’s the status of the House Andrews Merchandise? They’d make lovely Christmas presents but that’s not likely a realistic schedule.
I loved the tea blog post three-ish weeks ago, I read every post and that took a while! Any time all the Ilonasphere offers ideas it is so much fun to read. Book suggestions/what are you reading now? is a favorite of mine. Thanks!
Hey Brandi! Fairly new to the Andrews blog – would love to hear more about you and how you got involved with them.
Not a fan of horror but love reading the comments. Looking forward to hearing updates and day to day stuff.
Thanks!
Brandi, anything is good, lol, it shuts up my stupid worry of what will happens next that I keep getting on all their series. A comment on what up, ie do they have a moat yet, or what up with anything is good too. Love snippets but understand that’s not something you can do often. So for me anything works, just like something being posted. Thanks for the horror recommendations, would like a fantasy or comedy recommendations at some point, don’t get many on movies or tv series. So thank you
I’m introverted, love reading, and used to wear very thick glasses (before Lasik surgery), so one of the scariest episodes of Twilight Zone was one where there was only one man left on earth. He wore thick glasses, he preferred being alone, and he loved reading, so when everyone else disappeared, he didn’t mind because he was surrounded by books and he now had all the time in the world to read them… but then his very thick glasses broke and there was no way to get a new pair…….
I saw that episode as well and it became my personal nightmare.
Still scarred from watching Nightmare on Elm Street as a kid at the drive in theater. *cries*
Blog topic suggestions:
– how did you become the I & G’s assistant?
– pet stories. Who’s the lazy one? Who’s the instigator? I’m here for a recurring pet o’ the week column.
– Texas stuff. Is anyone a Houston Texans fan or all they all Cowboys fans? Is it truly as humid as they say? Your favorite things to do in Texas? It is worth standing in that crazy line for BBQ (the name escapes me) or is it all hype?
In my teens (1981-1987), I was a horror fan. I read a lot of Stephen King books. In about 1983, my parents went away for a week, trusting that their high school student would be o.k. alone, especially since the next door neighbors would be keeping a close eye on me.
The first day that they were away, I finished the book “The Wolfen” just after dark. Soon, every light in the house was on. While I was taking a shower, my movement suddenly caused a bunch of water to hit the shower curtain, with resulting noise. I don’t remember if I actually peed myself, but it is a distinct possibility.
I don’t think that I quit reading horror books after that, but that phase fizzled out before 1985. I haven’t watched a lot of horror films, but I’m not sure that I want to…
My question to you: What percentage of Texas pickup trucks have a gun rack on the back window?
Buy your favorite cigarettes online with best prices through our tobacco shop
[url=https://erincork.com]online cigarettes[/url]
What content? ARTHA CONTENT!!
Always Artha, please and thank you! She’s my favourite girl!
Brandi, I’d enjoy posts about urban fantasy and paranormal romance in general. So trends in the genres (like the time IA wrote about the “alphahole” trope), book recommendations, and so on. I also enjoy posts about the writing process itself, like IA’s post about choosing a career and how you have to like the nitty-gritty of it, even if the career in question is writing.
Anecdotes from you about your job and your experiences would be awesome too, I’m sure you have a lot of great stories to tell. 🙂
Also always enjoy posts about where you guys live, because they’re exotic to me and tie in closely to the settings of the books. Like that furniture buying story, or about the weather in Texas, stuff like that.
Here’s a classic two sentence horror story.
He Even reads over my Letters to make sure i spelled everything Perfectly. although My capitalization isn’t Excellent yet.
I would appreciate book recommendations. So far, most books recommended here have been a real treasure.
I fast scrolled through this whole thing so I can say I don’t like horror movies at all. 🙂
Saw one episode of Two Sentence…about a makeup blogger…and never watched it again! My nerves just couldn’t take it…