Michael > Recent Status Updates

The Masque of the Red Death
⭐️⭐️1/2
Even all the riches and safety in the world can’t protect you for the promise of death.

The Pit and the Pendulum
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Nightmare fuel!!!!!! The dark, the isolation, the claustrophobia, the rats crawling all over you, and the demon!!!!! TERRIFYING!!!!!

A Descent Into the Maelström
⭐️⭐️
“The perfect stom”. Terrifying to experience a violent storm on open water.

The Colloquy of Monos and Una
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was incredibly DEEP! It definitely deserves a reread. I don’t think I totally grasped its depth after one read.

Eleonora
⭐️⭐️
He was in love with his cousin?

The Oval Portrait
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
What truly matters?

William Wilson
⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Black Swan” vibes

The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion
⭐️1/2
Poe even did sci-fi horror?! This man was too ahead of his time! I LOATHE the names he gives everything!!

The Man of the Crowd
⭐️⭐️1/2
A possible serial killer on the prowl

Morella
⭐️⭐️1/2
Your offspring being none other than your late wife in the flesh again, literally 😬

Ligeia
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Poe, in another life, will you write about my eyes please? So beautiful! The ending CREEPED me out!!! Is this where Disney got the idea for Cinderella’s step mother’s name?

The Fall of the House of Usher
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
The ending gave me chills…get me out!

Ms. Found in a Bottle
⭐️⭐️⭐️
“They paid no manner of attention, and, although I stood in the midst of them all, seemed utterly unconscious of my presence”

Shadow - A Parable
⭐️⭐️1/2

Silence - A Fable
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Bernicë
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
C R E E P Y!!!!!

Metzengerstein
⭐️⭐️
2026 is the year of the horse…poetic.

Oh man, 1830s English, I forget how it totally kicks me out of the story (I can barely comprehend what I’m reading). I had to Google the synposis after reading it. I understood, and then I didn’t; vicious back and forth cycle. Tag the bizarre names with the old English…yikes! So far, a weak start to this anthology.

I thought I’d find this book boring. To my pleasant surprise, so far so good. It’s already very different from the famous movie. Victor is sharing his upbringing to voyager, Robert Walton - his unshakeable interest in “the secrets of nature” and the elixir of life.

Squeaky loves George.
Dalton is on a new western called “Lancer”, as the heavy…again. Cliff is his chauffeur and currently on the way to fix Rick’s antenna.
Jay Sebring is watching cartoons but goes to enjoy the morning outside in his garden after partying up with at the playboy mansion with Sharon Tate and the likes.

The stages of spiritual growth. We never really lose parts of the earlier stages. Addictions. We’re all broken but some hide it better than others. The kingdom is among you = community (we come together in times of crisis). God does not discriminate. Jesus was frustrated, depressed, lonely (while also needing to be alone), anxious, scared, even prejudiced at one point (but transcended it into healing love). Trust.

Brandy was originally a fighting dog?!
Cliff murdered people with his bare hands.
Pussycat, a young Manson follower, completes her first creepy crawl mission in a high-end neighborhood after she breaks into an old couple’s home while they’re asleep.

“Blessed are the poor (confused) in spirit”
Genuine humility is always realistic. Evil behaviors arise when we try to protect our self-esteem. You must teach people how important, beautiful, and desirable they are in the eyes of God. But you can’t force them to see it. Meanings of human nature = myth. “Simplistic thinking about anything in our lives can get us in trouble”. Good = create, Evil = destroy.

“In order to learn how to live, we have to come to terms with our death”.
Death is the reminder of our narcissistic attachment to ourselves. “The further we proceed in diminishing our narcissism, our self-centeredness, and sense of self-importance…we become progressively more self-forgetful and hence more able to remember God”.
Mental health = ongoing dedication to reality at all costs with curiosity.

“If you can’t do it (kill a pig), you don’t deserve to eat pork” - Cliff Booth

I loved Tarantino’s genius directorial eye/perspective describing “Rosemary’s Baby”. Wow!

Dalton has hopes again, his neighbors are Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. One pool party away from starring in the next big thing. Cliff is free to finally go home. No more consoling!! 😮‍💨

Neural centers: governs and produces emotions; euphoria, depression, and anger.
“The quality of our life is determined by the quality of our judgements”
Real forgiveness is tough but necessary for mental health.
Masochistic pattern = chronically self-destructive.
Making peace w/ death.
Miracle cures! “The reality is that virtually all diseases are psycho-spiritual-socio-somatic”

Rick Dalton learns he’s becoming a has-been actor. Agent Schwarz meets with him, in his office he encourages the fading star to take on European films before he goes completely obsolete.
Dalton’s stuntman; WWII veteran and foreign film enthusiast, Cliff Booth, is waiting outside, anticipating to hear what this meeting was all about.

That reminder of The Garden of Eden analogy. We became self-conscious in the garden, detached from nature and oneness, “banished from paradise”. While Dr. Peck also reminds us that we know nothing and growth is never ending. Oh, I am already so excited!!

…the camerlengo killed Vetra!?!? TUUrrrrrrrrRN! These deep words of the camerlengo (aka Dan Brown) have me loving this story’s final moments. The camerlengo’s life is a trip! How will Vitoria respond? 😮‍💨

So many crazy twists! Landon misinterpreted the camerlengo’s actions of getting rid of the antimatter. He thought the camerlengo would be dropping the destructive tube down the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. Not realizing the camerlengo was actually simply sacrificing himself (and a helicopter)…and Langdon had just volunteered himself 😬😖😨😮‍💨😪