Rachel Tsoumbakos is Moving...

...you can find my new blog here:

www.racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com

See you all there!

American Horror Story Asylum Recap – Episode 5: I Am Anne Frank (Part 2)

I Am Anne Frank (Part 2)

So, where to start? In episode 5 of FX's American Horror Story Asylum, we find out our dear Anne Frank (Franka Potente) is just delusional - or is she? Well, we won't find out now since she was returned to her dear husband. He was concerned enough to search and locate her. He was even worried enough to divulge a whole heap of back story. Then, after only a short amount of time, he has her recommitted to Briarcliff!

And this is really the first time we start to feel that maybe Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) isn't as bad as we first thought. She pleads with the husband of Anne/Charlotte and begs him to look after her, even offering advice as to how he should go about it. The husband can't cope and agrees to let Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) perform a lobotomy on his wife - WHICH HE THEN PROCEEDS TO WATCH! Anne becomes Charlotte after that and it's a 'Leave It To Beaver' moment.

Sister Jude is convinced her job is over after not only losing patients during the storm (and let me get to Pepper later on), allowing Anne/Charlotte to go home after shooting Dr. Arden (who says he will press charges against Sister Jude for this) and then (as the last straw) finding out Lana (Sarah Paulson) is missing. She returns to her previous life as a result. Hello hooker!

Speaking of Lana, she has managed to escape the evil clutches of Briarcliff by ending up in the evil clutches of Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto). He takes Lana back to his house and it's obvious as soon as he turns on the nipple lamp and offers Lana a brain mint from the skull bowl that he's Bloody Face. Lana catches on just as quickly, Dr. Thredson is smarter than that though and Lana ends up in a secret room that can only be described (to use another horror movie plot yet AGAIN) as something out of Saw. Just when you think it can't get any worse for Lana, she discovers Dr. Thredson has been saving up her girlfriend, Wendy (Clea Duvall). Imagine what it feels like to wake up to the defrosting corpse of the person you love? Then Dr. Thredson gets all super creepy and announces it's time for necrophilia - all in the name of aversion therapy though. Man, is HIS back story gonna be interesting!

What about the good Sister Eunice-Devil (Lily Rabe)? Well, she seems to covering up for Dr. Arden and hides Shelley (Chloe Sevigny) the Nymphomanical-mutant-monster in the woods (or so the Doc thinks). She give Kit (Evan Peters) a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card by announcing he'll be avoiding sterilisation, but then lets Grace (Lizzie Brochere) know she will still be going under the knife and getting sterilised. I'm starting to think that maybe she isn't the devil any more, just a well placed alien plant.

Yes, you heard right. We're back to the alien story line in this episode. After her surgery, Grace is convinced that Kit's wife is still alive and we even see snippets of alien probing going on. Of course this is no help to Kit who has been promised amunity from the electric chair by Dr. Thredson. Well, guess who's a liar? Yep, Kit is arrested and will be tried as a sane person.

Now, what about Shelley, you ask? Well, (and this is why I think maybe Sister Eunice may be nicer than we first thought) Sister Eunice 'hid' Shelley in the stairwell of a school. She has been discovered, so it will be interesting to see how she helps on the outside.

And, finally, I want to know what is going on with Pepper (Naomi Grossman). She went missing during the storm and has been unaccounted for since. This is an intriguing little mystery that will no doubt play out later on in the season. On a side note, is it just me, or was anyone else wondering what the actor who plays Pepper looks like in real life? Well, here's one of her professional shots from IMDb:

Does anyone else think the show feels like it's peaked too early? We're only 5 episodes in after all.

(Photo Credits: FX and IMDb.com/Vanie Poyey)

The Walking Dead Storylines - Conspiracy Theories or Plot Bunnies?

Okay, so with last week's episode and the notion a lot of Walking Dead fans hold that Carol (Melissa McBride) isn't dead, I got to thinking (thanks Tracy Gollins!) about all the theories and ideas I have had or heard about the show.

Let's make this fun by posting some of the more interesting theories out there for Season 3 of AMC's The Walking Dead. As time passes, and theories get added, changed, proved or disproved, I'll edit and repost the list. Anyone who has an interesting idea, or who has read the comic series and would like to prove or disprove theories, let me know in the comments below and I will alter concepts at will.

Carol Isn't Dead

• She's the voice on the end of the phone
• She's hidden somewhere in the prison
• She is dead and just not found yet
• She's a zombie
• WetPaint have mentioned a spoiler that has Daryl (Norman Reedus) searching the prison for Carol and finds a zombie with a fresh knife wound. Assuming it's Carol, he panics because she now no longer has a weapon. He eventually finds Carol but she is near death/almost powerless

Lori Isn't Dead

• She didn't get eaten by the zombie (after all, didn't the blood trail lead AWAY from the zombie?)
• She is a zombie (Really, did we SEE Carl (Chandler Riggs) shoot his mum? Or did he shoot while not looking and didn't check for the head shot before leaving)
• Carol found Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and patched her up before she died (hence the reason for her operating practise on zombies AND the blood trail)
• Did Rick (Andrew Lincoln) pick up a tooth? Didn't Michonne (Danai Guriri) say by removing the teeth, zombies become more docile? Just putting it out there...

The Governor

• This guy is a fruit loop - anything is possible! So hit me up with your ideas everyone :-D
• He's keeping more than his zombie daughter, his wife is floating around too
• Each of those zombie-head fishes belong to someone he knows (or personal conquests of his)

The Person/People Watching the Prison

• The Governor's (David Morrissey) crew
• Andrew (Markice Moore) (the inmate Rick locked out with the zombies). He found a weak point in the wire and escaped. Since then he kept watching the prison, looking for a way to get back in and stir up trouble.

Who's on the Phone?

• Carol - she's stuck in another part of the prison, trapped in by zombies and she's that desperate she tried calling out
• Lori - Rick is crazy
• Amy (Emma Bell) and/or Jim (Andrew Rothenberg) - there is a theory that Rick gets 3 calls, the first from Amy (Andrea's (Laurie Holden) deceased sister), the second from Jim (who died in Season 1) and the final call from Lori - once again, Rick is koo-koo-la-la (Source: Wetpaint)
• The Governor is messing with Rick's head
• Morgan (Lennie James) - remember walkie-talkie guy? That's Morgan. maybe Rick is still trying to contact him and has mentioned the name of the prison.

Zombie Fight Club

• This is apparently a crucial plot bunny according to Michael Rooker (Merle). Once again, this source is credited to WetPaint. Can't work out WHY it would be a big plot point though - any ideas?

Please let me know if you would like to add to the list!

Source: WetPaint.com - Major Walking Dead Season 3 Spoilers: What Happens to Carol, Rick, Michonne, Governor on Episode 6, "Hounded"?

(Photo Credits: AMC)

NaNoWriMo: How Indiana Lost her Mind (and so did her Author)

So it's been 15 days of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) already! Can you believe it?! I hit the 50K mark pretty early on in the piece. My cat helped me celebrate the last 2K by typing the odd word (ie. walking CONSTANTLY across the keyboard) and massaging my legs as I worked (try explaining those pinholes when you wear shorts to pick your kids up from school :-/).

Now I have discovered the hard part. 'How Indiana lost Her Mind (But Found Herself)' ORIGINALLY told the story of how Indiana met a vampire and got her memory back. Before I even started writing this book the first time around, I had a slightly different plan for the novel, one which involved wood nymphs rather than genies (oh yeah, the 'baddie' turned out to be one bad-arsed genie that just didn't want to go back into her bottle). With this years rewrite, I am going back to my original plan. I was never really happy with the vampire aspect of the novel (although, the vampire characters will be staying, just in a more subdued way) and thanks to NaNoWriMo, am now discovering just how hard it is to rewrite a novel.

In the last three days, according to the NaNoWriMo website, I have written around 1,000 words. Previous to that (ie. the part of the book that is remaining basically the same except the change from 1st person to 3rd person perspective) I was averaging 4,000 a day. So what happened?

Well, for starters, I added a love triangle. This means I have had to rip the guts out of various sections, losing thousands of words at a time. Then these sections were written again. My baddie has become a man, rather than a woman, so I have also been carefully reading over sections to delete all the 'S's' from 'She' and changing 'hers' to 'his'. Those 1,000 words have actually been about 5,000 lost and 6,000 rewritten!

Also, I have hit that stage of the game where research is involved. In the last 48 hours I have had a crash course in nymphs, dryads, satyrs and the Sagittarius constellation.

Now, I just need to collate the lot and get this story FINISHED by the 30th of November!

So, how's everyone else going with NaNoWriMo?

Do You Want 20% Off Your Next Book Purchase?

Well then just head on over to Lulu.com and use the code: SERENTIS

This code will entitle the user to 20% off ALL books purchased through Lulu.com until 11.59pm on 16th November

So why not check out my books as well as surf their catalogue for some other fabulous purchases!

Rachel Tsoumbakos is Moving....

...from Blogger to WordPress.

I will still be updating blog entries here for a short time, but please find my new home in the Blogisphere here:

www.racheltsoumbakos.wordpress.com

Can't wait to see you there!

American Horror Story Asylum Season 2 Recap - Episode 3: I Am Anne Frank (Part 1)

Episode 4: I am Anne Frank (Part 1)

So, who thinks maybe Anne Frank (played by Franka Potente) being alive and 'well' in Episode 4 of FX American Horror Story Asylum just a little more than they can bite off and chew? Me too. Although, the paranoia it brings to the whole cast when she accuses Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) of being a Nazi war criminal almost makes it worth it. Sister Jude (Jessica Lange) is, naturally, eager to usurp the lofty position Dr. Arden holds by bringing these suspicions to the Monsignor's (Joseph Fiennes) attention (and who missed the opportunity last week for Sister Jude to don 'Ravish Me Red' for the Monsignor's benefit, hey FX?) Of course, he's onto her motive and is quick to point this out. Once Sister Jude leaves, however, we discover that maybe the Monsignor is not a godly man as he rings Dr. Arden and warns him to tie up any loose ends. All I can say is; Poor Shelly (Chloe Sevigny). Speaking of the nymphomaniac, the three escapee/returnees from last week are under the assumption (thanks to Sister Jude's announcement) that Shelly really did escape from Briarcliff. The poor little dears are so excited to hear this.

We also learn Grace's (Lizzie Brochere) story this week. Or so we think. She tells a tale of mistaken identity and as a result, Kit (Evan Peters) and her get hot and heavy in the kitchen -SMOKING! Or it is until they get busted and wind up in Sister Jude's office. Uh-oh, can anyone say 'fifty shades' quicker than Sister Eunice (Lily Rabe) can pull a cane out of the cupboard? Looks like it's sterilisation for the pair of them until Sister Jude is interrupted by the two detectives that are hot on Dr. Arden's heels about the 'rough up' he gave the good-nun-hooker. While Kit and Grace count their blessings, Sister Eunice messes with Kit's head. Later on, he asks Grace about her back story and we discover another version of it, a not so 'poor me, I'm innocent' tale. Kit still thinks she's hot none the less.

Lana (Sarah Paulson) and Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) are developing a 'friendship'. Either the good doctor wants Lana to expose the goings on at Briarcliff or he is falling for the lesbian journalist but it's not clear which yet. Although, after Lana undergoes aversion therapy (possibly the most humiliating television viewing I have ever seen) to 'cure' her homosexual tendencies, the audience is just left thinking that maybe Dr. Thredson is a perverted voyeur.

Dr. Thredson is also hard at work with Kit. He doesn't want Kit go to the electric chair, but to pronounce the man as insane will leave him locked up in the care of Sister Jude for the rest of his natural life. Hello Rock, meet Hard Place.

Getting back to Anne Frank and Dr. Arden, we finish this episode with Anne making a five finger discount purchase off the two detectives as they leave Briarcliff. She then confronts Dr. Arden about his past. It get ugly. Anne pulls the detective's gun on Dr. Arden and shoots him in the leg. She threatens to shoot him again unless he hands over the keys. The bad doctor does this and Anne opens a door. We are confronted with this:

Is anyone getting the feeling Bloody Face is actually based on one of those 'based on a real story' horror movie characters? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

And while you wait for next week's episode, why not check out The Ring of Lost Souls on Amazon or iTunes?

(Photo Credits: FX)

The Walking Dead Season 3 Recap - Episode 5: Say The Word

Say The Word

Oh, looky, the Governor (David Morrissey) has a secret! Turns out he is keeping his undead daughter a secret from the rest of the compound. No wonder he has a research team and he wants Michonne (Danai Gurira) on it.

What a way to kick start Episode 5 of AMC's The Walking Dead!

Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) go on an expedition to find baby formula to feed the newest Grimes (which turns out to be a little girl). They find a daycare centre - and dinner! Thankfully there are no more undead children for this episode though.

Rick (Andrew Lincoln), meanwhile, is loosing his marbles: big time! He winds up skulking around in the bowels of the prison looking suspiciously like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings looking for his precious. Unfortunately he finds it (her) in the belly of a zombie. Once again, who knew zombies ate ALL their food and not just the brains?!

The Governor decides to throw a party. It's a shame Milton (Dallas Roberts) is more interested in his experiments and not merry-making, but once again, the Governor works his people skills (read: bullies) and Milton relents. This party also gives Michonne the ideal excuse to snoop. She manages to regain her sword and find a secret diary before she's interrupted  Luckily she has a window to escape via and that's when she comes across a  cage full of zombies. It takes barely three shakes of her sword to dispatch them. Of course  she gets busted and has the Governor to answer to.

Not only does she pull her sword on the Governor, she then tries to woo Andrea (Laurie Holden) away from Woodbury. Andrea is nearly swayed too, when Merle (Michael Rooker) makes it difficult for them to leave. Eventually he opens the gates and Andrea decides she prefers it on the (apparently safe) inside and Michonne leaves her behind.

Now, speaking of the Governor, I have been trying to work out who he reminds me of. Well, last night, I FINALLY worked it out! It turns out the good (?) Governor bears a remarkable resemblance to a character in my book Emeline and the Mutants called Milosh. A character who holds together the 'perfect' community of Daisy Hill. Milosh seems too good to be true - and there's a reason for that. Unfortunately, the main character, Emeline Hart only discovers this AFTER she has sex with him. And based on what happens in my book, I am REALLY starting to get scared for Andrea now :-/

Anyway, back to this grand party the Governor is holding. It turns out the good people of Woodbury love to let their hair down - even if this entails street fighting bouts while the 'athletes' are surrounded by chained zombies. Is this the doomsday equivalent of a dog or cock fight? It's sickening to watch, more so for the crowd reaction than for anything else. It's at this point that Andrea realises she should have followed Michonne.

Daryl (Norman Reedus) turns out to be the baby whisperer - then goes ahead and calls the Grimes baby 'arse kicker' instead of the names Carl (Chandler Riggs) suggests. (Yeah we all KNEW he wanted his little sister named after his mum!)

So, how's poor Rick/Gollum coping? Well, we end Episode 5 with this:

 
gif maker

What's your theory on who's on the other end of the line? Personally, I think it's Carol...

(Photo Credits: AMC)

The Walking Dead Season 3 Recap - Episode 4: Killer Within

Episode 4: Killer Within

Now, I know the image above contains the words 'No Profanity', but this ain't going to be the case for this recap. No, sir-ee! If your sensitive ears can't handle the F-bomb, please walk away now, otherwise Maggie really will have to shoot you.

So, we open this weeks episode with someone baiting zombies. Now it's interesting to note here that the zombies were quite happy to eat deer guts - WTF?! Aren't they only supposed to eat BRAINS?! But, anyway, some mysterious person is seriously messing with the Ricktatorship gang by doing this as we find out a little later on when masses of zombies appear everywhere - it seems the baiter is also opening up all the gates in the prison too!

The last two inmates are starting to get cabin fever and try damn hard to wheedle their way into the cool gang. Using 'chief' and 'bro' in every sentence apparently isn't the way to go about it - who would think that wouldn't work?

While last week was all about the Governor's (David Morrissey) group, this week is split between the two compounds and we find Andrea (Laurie Holden) having second thoughts about leaving his little 'uptopia'. Michonne (Danai Girira) is all pissy about this, but then again what else do you expect from Michohh-my-god-can't-that-woman-ever-smile?

Andrea is also very helpful to Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker) by giving him a map with the location of Hershel's (Scott Wilson) farm. Who thinks this will end badly? It seems the Governor is not happy about this and doesn't allow Merle to go looking for his brother, Daryl (Norman Reedus). Although, let me say, the Governor is a fine shot with a golf cub and a walker... He seems mighty happy with Andrea though - can any one say 'fifty shades of creepy relationship' here?

So the baited zombies appear (Who let the walkers in? Who? Who? - Go on, I know you're singing it...) and it all goes to hell in a hand basket pretty quickly after that. Pregnant Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) puts up a real good fight, but goes into labour in the process. With only her son Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Glenn's (Steven Yuen) girlfriend Maggie (Lauren Cohan) for support, the odds don't look good.

While Lori struggles with keeping quiet during her contractions, we have come across another shock - T-Dog (IronE Singleton) gets bitten by a zombie. It doesn't look good either, since it's a shoulder bite, but he soldiers on with Carol (Melissa McBride) in tow as they try to find a safe haven. Unfortunately for T-Dog there is no safe haven, but at least he saves Carol by being a human snack-o when they are overrun by zombies. While it appears Carol escapes, later on, when T-Dog's body is found, they also find Carol's head scarf.

During the zombie kerfuffle, sirens start going off. It's another WTF moment. Is it the same person who baited the zombies? Rick (Andrew Lincoln) heads out to find the generator room inside the prison and is confronted by another human. This guy attacks Rick and the others, but thanks to one of the inmates, he is killed and Rick now knows his crew will grow by at least one more.

Okay, now we come to the pure guts of this episode - Lori giving birth. Now, what pissed me off the most about this scene was not the fact that Lori dies (yeah, sorry, SPOILER ALERT) or the fact that her own son Carl has to shoot his mum IN THE HEAD after she dies. It's not even the fact that Maggie has to slice the poor woman open without pain killers to get the baby out. What messes with my head the most is when Lori pulls up her top so that Maggie can perform a C-Section AND REVEALS AN OLD C-SECTION SCAR! What the FUCKING fuck?! Right from the start Lori knew she should have gotten rid of that baby. But, no, selfishly she chooses to leave behind an husband and a son in a world that has already claimed so many.

And then we have to deal with this scene:

Who else cried hardcore at the end of this episode?

(Photo Credits: AMD)

American Horror Story Asylum Season 2 Recap - Episode 3: Nor'easter

Episode 3: Nor'easter

Thank you, thank you , thank you FX for making this episode of American Horror Story Asylum SO much better than the last! This week is like holding a torch up under your chin and telling ghosts stories around a camp fire until someone pees themselves with fright.

Episode 3 (entitled 'Nor-easter') opens with the classic ghost tale (set in the present day abandoned Briarcliff and the two horny but unfortunate honeymooners) of the killer who turns out to be a copycat and then gets killed by the real deal! Needless to say, poor Leo (Adam Levine) and Teresa (Jenna Dewan Tatum) are deader than dead. Sadly, this is the only time we find the cool time change stuff occurring, although there was PLENTY of opportunity for it!

So Sister Mary Eunice (Lily Rabe) is possessed by the devil, and my what a wonderful job she does of playing the role. Not only is she deliciously creepy, but she is messing with Sister Jude's (Jessica Lange) head. It seems the devil knows all about Jude's hit and run fifteen years earlier (another great ghost story to tell by the fire) and is hell bent on reminding her of this fact. Sister Jude, as a result seems to be 'coming apart at the seams' (as the horrible Dr. Arden (James Cromwell) so eloquently puts it).

She is not the only one loosing it though. Dr. Arden himself gets seduced by Sister Devil Eunice and flips out; one statue gets tarted up with lipstick and smashed as a result. In his more lucid moments though, the good doctor pokes and prods Kit (Evan Peters) in an attempt to introduce conspiracy theories into American Horror Story Asylum - you can't have a nut house without at least a few of these!

Speaking of Kit, he is still attempting to escape with Grace (Lizzie Brochere). When a movie night is planned during the freakish storm that is ominously working it's way through this episode, they realise it is the perfect time to try again. Shelly the nymphomaniac (Chloe Sevigny) wants in and eventually convinces them to let her come with them. Even Lana (Sarah Paulson) gets a second chance once she has words with Dr. Thredson (Zachary Quinto) and realises that her girlfriend, Wendy (Clea Duvall), may be in danger. She also realises that maybe Kit isn't the serial killer Bloody Face. Oops, hopes she apologises for the caning he got as a result!

We also start to learn more about the creature that Sister Devil Eunice keeps feeding in the forest. In fact, we discover there is more than one of them and apparently they only need to be fed over winter. These creatures turn out to be a crucial plot point this week. not only does one of the patients (who identifies the fact that Sister Eunice is possessed by the devil) get fed to them, but when Kit, Grace and Lana attempt their escape (with the help of Shelly, but more on that later), they encounter these creatures and as a result end up back in the very tunnel they used to escape through! Sister Jude also uses the (now noticed) escapees as a reason to get rid of a few other missing patients by claiming SIX people have escaped instead of only four.

So, Shelly wants to escape. She actually stops thinking about sex for long enough to act as a look out. Her favour with the male staff is definitely to her advantage and we find her back on the sex bandwagon as soon as needed. Once Carl the orderly is distracted, Shelly realises that her need to escape is more important than her need for sex, so the poor man is left wanting. Unfortunately it is too little, too late and Shelly jumps straight out of the frying pan and into the scorching flames of hell (read: Dr. Arden). It seems the poor doctor is still toey. Shelly is actually forced to put out. Or at least until Dr. Arden has a 'little accident'. Shelly finds this hilarious, as a result, Dr. Arden gets pissy and poor Shelly also meets with a little accident.....

Sister Jude is not coping well and as a result gets completely inebriated. She staggers around the abandoned halls in search of someone only she appears to see. Now would have been an awesome moment to put in a time change. The other would have been when Kit, Lana and Grace are escaping back INTO Briarcliff, but these small details were the only set backs in this episode.

Although, if you were to speak to Shelly in the last scene, she may disagree, since we find her minus the lower half of her legs and still in the care of Dr. Arden.....

Can't WAIT for the next episode!

Was this week as good for you as it was for me?

TrueBloodNet Exclusive: True Blood Cast Interview at Club Fangtasia

True Blood stars Marshall Allman (Tommy Mickens & Tara Buck (Ginger)

Being a writer for TrueBloodNet is loads of fun - especially when you are given the opportunity to attend events such as Club Fangtasia. It's even more fun when you get to interview the True Blood cast that are attending this event!

The stars have a busy schedule, between autograph signings at the Seamus O'Tooles Irish Pub at Knox Ozone and their public appearances at both First Contact's Full Blood convention and the Club Fangtasia True Blood Halloween party. But  I was lucky enough to interview Marshall Allman (who plays Tommy Mickens on HBO's True Blood) and Tara Buck (AKA Ginger The Screamer in HBO's True Blood).

While Kevin Alejandro (Jesus Velasquez) and Janina Gavankar (Luna Garza) were unable to attend this event due to the devastating effect of Hurricane Sandy (you can help out by donating to Red Cross or using the iTunes app), fans will certainly not be disappointed by Marshall and Tara!

The full interview can be viewed at TrueBloodNet.

Now that all my media obligations have been met, it's just a matter of donning my costume - I'm going as Jessica Hamby (Deborah Ann Woll), which is the reason I am now a redhead - and joining in the festivities at Club Fangtasia, which is truly the most fun ever!

Make sure you check back here for my Club Fangtasia Recap.