Daffy Reviews: What Could Have Been

(This post is much longer than usual.  I apologize.)

First off, I’d like to apologize for my lack of a blog the past couple of weeks.  I was on vacation and then I felt a bit unmotivated to write anything.  It happens to me occasionally.  Still, my lack of motivation cut into Halloween in June: Reader Beware Month Returns.  So, in order to make up for it, I will extend Reader Beware Month into next month.  I will have 2 to 3 blogs a week revolving around that subject.  The reason for this is to both make up for my lack of updates lately and to offset Christmas in July (one of the banes of my existence) at least a little bit.  Anyway, on to the actual blog of the day!

A few weeks ago, I got a message from the video hosting website, Blip, that my show, Daffy Reviews, was going to be purged from their systems.  Seems I don’t meet whatever quality they’re trying to uphold on their website.  I’m perfectly fine with this.  I haven’t made a Daffy Reviews video since I canceled it last year.  I still think it’s bullshit that they are actively kicking people off of their website, but that’s neither here nor there.  Still, the news has got me reminiscing about the good times I had making videos.  I remembered the jokes I used to make, the fun I used to have shooting the eps, the pain Laura went through editing the things.  Mostly, though, I was remembering the stories I used to put into my reviews.

Reader Beware: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Today’s book is a big blast from the past for me.  It’s a book that I would often see in my school’s library but often didn’t have the courage to pick up and read myself.  When I DID pick it up, all I would have to do is flip through it and see the strange, grotesque, disturbing pictures and I would put it right back down again.  I considered it almost serendipitous when I discovered it cheap recently in a used book store.  Upon seeing that infamous cover, I knew I just had to buy and read Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.

Reader Beware: Deadpool Kills Deadpool

“I am my own worst enemy.”  This is a saying that has been said by a lot of people.  Heck, it’s a sentiment I’ve felt about myself a few times.  Now that Deadpool has killed every hero and villain from both his own universe and the literary universe, who else could there be left to kill?  Himself, of course!  And for Deadpool, as everyone knows, there’s no kill like overkill!  So it’s Deadpool’s mission to kill every alternate version of himself he can find.  And it’s also Deadpool’s job to put a stop to all the killing.  Confused?  Good!  This is Deadpool Kills Deadpool.

Reader Beware: Deadpool Killustrated

There are a number of literary classics that I have not read either because I haven’t gotten to them yet or because I never plan to.  Moby Dick, Little Women, Tom Sawyer, a whole slew of books that probably still appear on school reading lists to this day, all unread by me.  Well, luckily, I don’t need to read those books anymore.  This is because Deadpool is traveling through the Ideaverse, where all these books originate, and killing off all your favorite characters one by one.  This is Deadpool Killustrated.

Reader Beware: Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

I don’t have many superhero comics in my collection.  This mostly has to do with something I just sort of don’t get:  comic book continuity.  As a result (and, really, just due to my tastes), the majority of my collection is made up of one particular genre:  Horror.  Still, I’ve been wanting to throw my hat into the comic book ring for some time as there are some characters that intrigue me.  Namely, Deadpool, one of the more famous of Marvel’s characters thanks to his zany nature and tendency to break the fourth wall.  Imagine my surprise when I came across a Deadpool comic that was billing itself as a horror comic.  This is Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe.

Halloween in June Editorial: Why Can’t Evil Just Be Evil?

The following contains some spoilers for Maleficent.

I know I said at the beginning of the month that my main focus throughout the month would be books (thus, why it’s called Reader Beware Month RETURNS).  However, after seeing the brand new Maleficent, I have a bit of a rant brewing within me that I just have to let out.  That’s not to say that Maleficent is a bad movie.  It’s actually really good.  However, I’m angry about what this movie means for villainy.  I’m irritated about how this movie treated the Mistress of All Evil.  Finally, I’m out right furious about what this could mean for the future of all baddies.

Reader Beware: No Place Like Oz by Danielle Page

I don’t know much about the Oz stories.  I’ve only ever seen the original hit classic, the kind of mediocre Oz: The Great and Powerful, and the AWESOME stage play Wicked.  Still, one afternoon while browsing through a book store, I came across an interesting book:  Dorothy Must Die.  I was intrigued and, as I usually do with new authors, I decided to do research.  It was in doing this research that I came across this prequel novella to the book, No Place Like Oz.

Reader Beware: Backstreets by Lyle S. Tanner

I’m a huge fan of the Urban Fantasy genre.  The Dresden Files is one of my favorite series of all time… Wait… I feel like I’ve gone through this before.  Oh yeah, it was part of my review of Syndicate by Lyle S. Tanner.  If you recall, that was a set of short stories connected by the world that the author created.  It was a gritty world full of magic,  murder, and mystery.  Well, that world is back in a new collection of short stories titled Backstreets.

Halloween in June: Reader Beware Month RETURNS!

WELCOME, FOOLISH MORTALS!  It’s that time of year again.  The sun is hot, people are flocking toward the beaches, and ice cream and soda pop are the foods of choice.  You know what that means!  Halloween in June is back, and this time, it’s out for blood.  Or at least a paper cut…