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Gruesome and Bloodsocks by Jane Holiday – Book Review
So I’ve made my first completed read of 2014 a kids’ book from 1987 that I found at my parents. Don’t remember reading it before though.
This is the story of Augusta, otherwise known as Gruesome Gussie, and her cat Bloodsocks. Gruesome is a vampire who is allergic to blood, it makes her sick and she comes out in silver spots. Because of her refusal to drink blood her vampire family banish her from their graveyard. She moves to another town where they make her move into a council house and sign on the dole (seems easy apart from the paperwork in 1987?!).
Her best friend becomes a skinhead youth called Leotard and she has to adapt by wearing pink! There is a sub plot where Bloodsocks and other neighbourhood pets are petnapped, and her vampire family find her again.
All in all this is an entertaining little read with some fun illustrations by Steven Appleby. Would recommend for bedtime reading with little ones.
3.5/5
T is for… Teen Wolf/Tru Calling #AtoZChallenge
T is for… Teen Wolf/Tru Calling
Teen Wolf is the second TV series in my list that derives from a somewhat fluffy movie start (the first being Buffy). I loved the Michael J Fox Teen Wolf movie (not as fond of Teen Wolf Too though). When I saw there was a series starting I had to watch it.
Teen Wolf is much more serious, with better special effects and lacrosse (which I’ve wanted to play since reading Malory Towers) instead of basketball.
Basic premise – Scott gets bitten by a werewolf and turns! Werewolves and teens mix well because of the parallels with raging hormones. Throw in some hunters, one of which is a gorgeous girl and you also get a Romeo and Juliet feel of forbidden love.
My favourite character though is Stiles (Scott’s best friend who he confides in) – who does provide much of the comic relief.
Ned Vizzini who I interviewed for the House of Secrets blog tour at the weekend has also written for this show – I asked him about the difference between scriptwriting and writing novels.
This is a current show, I’ve seen the first two seasons and there is a third on its way.
Tru Calling is the fourth show in the list to star Eliza Dushku – Angel and Buffy as Faith and Dollhouse as Echo. This is not a Joss Whedon show though and I just read that she turned down a Faith spin off to star in Tru Calling.
Eliza plays Tru Davies who is a wannabe medical student who works in the morgue and discovers that when a corpse asks her for help that she repeats days to change their fate.
This ran from 2003 − 2005 and had two seasons (the second only 6 episodes, the first 20). The second season was never shown on TV in the UK so I only got the chance to see it on DVD.
Looking at the cast list now I see a lot of familiar names, A.J. Cook – Criminal Minds (JJ), Matt ‘White Collar’ Bomer, Jason ’Beverly Hills 90210’ Priestly and Zach ‘The Hangover’ Galifianakis.
A few stand out episodes here.
Putting Out Fires – Season 1 Episode 2
Tru tries to save a young firefighter who died saving a child.
Brother’s Keeper – Season 1 Episode 3
This time it’s Tru’s brother who asks for help.
Haunted – Season 1 Episode 5
Medical students performing dangerous experiments – reminds me of Flatliners.
The Longest Day – Season 1 Episode 11
Tru’s Groundhog Day – each repeated day someone different dies – will Tru get out of the loop and solve what she needs to.
And a quick nod to True Blood
Interestingly for a vampire fan I’m still not 100% sure about True Blood and am now a season behind. I have bought some of the books the series is based on but not read them yet. This is darker in tone than most shows I watch and the opening credits freak me out.
So which is it for you, werewolves, vampires or day repeaters?