I like horror movies. I dislike predictable horror movies. I disliked this movie.

The movie starts with the recording of a high school play. There is a tragic incident which leads to the death of a student during the play and then the movie picks up several years later, at the same high school. This movie is a found footage film, which I have to say is really overdone and dull at this point. There isn't much new out there to this type of horror film. 

Anyway, I am getting sidetracked. The film follows four students who are either in a redo of the play "THE GALLOWS", the same play where a student died years before. One of the students is a former football player who has given up the game to be in this play, for one reason only, because he has a crush on the main actress. His best friend constantly teases him about giving up football to be in the play, and when he realizes how terrible his friend is as an actor he comes up with a plan to destroy the set and help his friend. 

The students sneak into the the school late one night to destroy the set, and realize they are not alone. Some sinister force is there with them, seeking revenge, seeking friends, they don't know what is going on, but one by one, tragic things again happen.

This movie was just not good. The scares were predictable, the actors were terrible, the plot dull, and everything was just so obvious. There was not one moment in this film where I was actually very interested in watching it. I wanted to throw things because it was just so obvious who was the killer, and why they were killing, and who was the daughter or son of the killer, and ugh. I am so tired of these boring, predictable horror films which think they are being clever by having some sort of twist at the end, but in reality the twist is so obvious that there is no twist at all.

I would like to take back the hour and twenty minutes I spent watching this movie. I don't recommend this movie to anyone. It isn't scary, it isn't fun, it isn't interesting, it's just dull. 

In the end I got a card, it said call me, I never got around to it.
In the end I looked at everything in your house, I looked at the emptiness and it felt my heart with dread.
In the end I wandered into your bedroom and saw nothing left of you.
In the end I drove out of town for the last time, realizing it was the last time and I had no reason to go to your house again.
In the end my tears made it hard to drive as I got further and further away from my memories of you.

In the end I was told I couldn't hold her because all I wanted to do was see a dead body.
In the end no one thought I was sad because I didn't cry, or look depressed, but everyone grieves differently.
In the end I realized we would never meet, and I had waited so long.
In the end no one held me and told me it was going to be okay, as I told my siblings it would be okay and tried to be strong for them, and my parents.
In the end no one comforted me so I cried in the shower, and in the dark of night, and I tried to move on, but it is always hard.

In the end I watched as he slid deeper and deeper into fever dreams.
In the end I don't think he knew I was there as I placed the cool washcloth on his warm head.
In the end I saw how thin and and small he had become.
In the end I bottled things up as he became quite.
In the end I tried hard not to break when he left this world.
In the end I sat in a dark bathroom missing him and clutching a small stuffed tiger to my chest.
In the end I knew we'd never talk again, and I'd never be able to ask all the questions I saved because I was too sad watching the disease eat away at his body, his strength, his ability to walk with me to get ice cream.

In the end I never knew who she was. 
In the end I regretted never reaching out on my own to say hello and get to know her.
In the end when she passed I wasn't able to say goodbye. 
In the end I missed my opportunity.
In the end I realized it probably wasn't my fault.

In the end we all have these thoughts. In the end we regret the decisions that we should have, could have, or would have made. We wait. We wait to call because we know they are sick and don't want to bother them. We wait to say we love them because we are waiting to meet them. We wait to hug them because they are so fragile and we are afraid we might break them. We wait to get to know them because of the influences of others. We wait. We lose. 

I miss them all, all of them and more. 

Don't wait. In the end you never get a second chance.

I have big plans for 2016. 

This is the year I plan to finish my zombie series, which I have to admit is bittersweet. Does any writer really like to leave characters they have spent years with behind? In my case most of my characters will not make it to the end of the series, but this shouldn't come as any surprise to anyone who has read the books. I kill a lot of people, and main characters are not safe. On to the next decision. I will have to figure out what to write about next. Do I continue with zombies? Do I find some other monster to write about? Do I just throw in the towel and not write anything, and hope I don't land myself in an asylum because the voices in my head have driven to me into insanity? I think there isn't really an answer to what's next yet, except I don't think not writing is a real obvious answer. 

Thus far I am signed up to do two author/comic conventions in the Alabama area. One is at the Birmingham library on February 20th and the other is in Huntsville on March 19th. I plan on trying to find places to organize signings for myself and other authors, because we need all the marketing and face-to-face meetings that we can can get. I look forward to finding more events and getting out there, not only for my novels but also for the crafty/artistic stuff I do. If anyone is interested in that check out my store on etsy called LittleBitOZombie. 

I am once again teaching English at a local community college, and I really enjoy it. I like helping other people learn to enjoy the written word and language. Plus if I can get people to like writing, maybe I can get them to like reading, and maybe I can pass of my love and make it theirs. 

For life I plan on working on being happy with everything the way it is. I need to focus more on what I have and on the way things are going so that I can be happier with myself. I realized this last year that I am very hard on myself, but who of us can't say that. We are always wanting to better ourselves, and that is a good thing, but not if we are doing it because we are unhappy with the way we are. If we want to lose weight to be happier and healthier, that's a good thing, if we want to lose weight to look like that supermodel or because someone said something cruel to us, that is not okay. We need to realize that humanity is flawed. The nose that I have never been happy with is just fine. If I changed my nose I would change my face, and I like my face. Those hours I spend thinking about writing and not actually writing are fine too. I'm usually working a problem out, I'm not being lazy. Those hours I spend laying in bed in the morning doing nothing when I could be doing something, ANYTHING, those hours are fine too. I need that time because I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't allow myself time to rest. In fact I read a friends blog today that was all about resting. Here is the website for that if you too want to read it: https://dearanonymousfriend.wordpress.com/

Well, those are the thoughts I have been working on so far for this year. I'm sure I have more running around in my head, as a writer the thoughts never stop. 

I better go, I've got things to do and places to be. Okay, not really, but I do have some things to do. 

Good luck to anyone who played the powerball today! 1.5 Billion is a ridiculous amount of money isn't it?