In this inaugural episode of the Hellscape Literary Society, we delve into the transformative power of literature and cinema as vital tools for navigating the pervasive challenges of contemporary existence. We, the co-hosts, Mike and Kenya, invite listeners to join us on a journey where we explore the intersections of genre fiction, film, and personal experiences, particularly in relation to the Anomaly Film Festival. Our discussion encompasses the significance of storytelling as an escape from the tribulations of daily life, while we share insights and recommendations that bridge the realms of literature and film. Through our engaging dialogue, we endeavor to celebrate the art of storytelling and its capacity to offer solace and connection amid the chaos of the world around us. Join us as we embark on this exploration of narratives that both entertain and enlighten, providing a reprieve from the hellscape we collectively navigate.

Welcome to the Hellscape Literary Society, where you get to meet two bookish nerds who are doing our best to survive the current Hellscape.

We're in with the help of books, film and genre fiction.

This is our first episode today, so who knows where this is going to go, but glad you're along with us.

I am a co host here, Mike.

You can find me on Instagram at Pages from the Shadows.

There's dots between those and I'm sure that'll be in the show notes after.

But with me is my wonderful friend here and true talent, Kenya.

Hi.

Hey, y'.

All.

Welcome to the very first episode of the Hellscape Literary Society.

My name is Kenya and you can find me on all the platforms that reviews may vary.

No dots between those.

No dots.

You gotta be like, very.

Yes.

Right?

You gotta, you know, with how you craft those names, it's a.

It's jungle out there in the Bookstagram world.

It really is.

And that's exactly why every time there's a new book related platform, I join immediately to get my name and then I just delete the app because I don't have time to do any other formats.

So somewhere there's.

Yes.

In any of these.

I'm on all of the platforms.

Oh, that's brilliant.

Yeah.

All right, Well, I guess to get started, you know, and I don't also want to acknowledge our friend that is in the room with us and will be along on our journey and guiding us hopefully down the best path out of the Hellscape.

Our friend and brother, Chris Lindstrom.

Howdy, everybody.

It's really exciting to get to, you know, see a new show start up again.

So I'm really excited to see where this all goes and which demented and demonic paths we all go down.

Wow, that was very Hellscape on Brand.

That's awesome.

He may be more on brand than me and like, I, I big shoes to fill, which is why I'm glad that he is here with us.

No, I'm super excited getting to know both of you over the years.

Like, I couldn't be more primed.

Like, this is so primed for amazing discussions.

Both of you are so passionate.

So this is going to be a great time for all of us.

Awesome.

Yay.

Kenny, why don't we, I think to get started, it's probably a good, like, just give a little background for each of us.

I don't know if you want to start kind of like who we are and how we got into this and then we can Bring it into, like, how this idea all bubbled up.

Sure.

And there was more time to start doing things that were fun because I was working from home, and I started doing book content on YouTube.

And it was sparked off because the Ogden Farmers Library had a challenge for the summer, and one of the challeng was to read a book out loud to someone.

And I didn't have a book to read to anybody.

And so I read it in a video and posted it to YouTube to meet the challenge.

And then I started doing content on YouTube.

And then I was like, I should tell people I'm doing content.

Let me start posting about it on my Instagram.

And then Instagram popped off.

And so I kind of almost abandoned YouTube after 200 or so videos.

Editing is a nightmare.

It was not a way out of the Hellscape.

So I just started doing Instagram because it was so much easier.

And so I've been doing.

I have always been a big reader, and somebody on my.

My regular personal Facebook was like, sometimes you're posting so much, I don't even.

I think I'm on your page.

Like, they were getting so many notifications of me posting on my Facebook.

Right.

That they thought they were visiting my page.

And so I just started, like, separating out my personal from my book, like Persona or whatever.

Yep.

And that is how we got here.

Well, that's how I got here.

We got here together in a different way, but we did.

We did.

Where did you come from?

All right, where'd I come from?

The Hellscape.

So some of my.

Our lunchador listeners may recognize me.

So I. Mike, I am also the co host of Punches and Popcorn, a martial arts movie podcast.

And sort of how we got here is sort of why that show is on a hiatus that we, myself, Jay and Dom, sincerely hope will not be a permanent or much longer hiatus.

One of the things, I think for me, I've always been a reader.

You know, I was an English major in college.

I'm married to an English teacher.

Know any of those details?

Yes, yes.

So.

And I mean, both of us being.

I was an English teacher at the time down in New York City when I met my wife.

So that was a area of connection for us.

But so books have always been a big thing for us.

So, yeah, so I did that, you know, and we all know what kind of happened the next four years after that.

Seemed like maybe things were getting a little better.

And, you know, some of us, myself probably more naive than I should have been, realized that, no, we were still deeply in the Hellscape.

And, you know, I went from one wild swing of completely disregarding all social media because I was just done with it to, you know, only being on Instagram just as my personal account and starting to use.

At that point, I just decided, I'm only using this for books.

And I would just like, you know, books that I was reading, I'd share those.

Like, this is all I want to talk about.

That was my 45th birthday last year.

So in my midlife crisis moment, I decided that I wanted to learn to play hockey because I, you know, big hockey fan growing up, I am a terrible skater.

But I just decided, nope, this is it.

I'm going to do it.

And I didn't do it.

I got cheap pair of roller blades and proceeded to shatter my ankle quite badly the first time I used them, like, so much.

Very much so.

I got my.

My first surgery ever at the age of 46.

My right lower leg is now mostly metal.

Which side bone is awesome.

That's like Terminator.

Now I tell myself, yeah, right?

And so I got to, for the first time, experience the joy of a summer.

Sitting on a couch, watching it happen outside.

And, you know, I had to occupy my time.

So that's where I kind of decided, no, I'm going to get into Bookstagram, because, again, I was doing a lot of reading because I couldn't really do much else.

And now I had the time.

So, yeah, so it's been.

Actually, it's almost a year, might even be a year now, like today as we're recording this, that I started my Bookstagram.

And, like, if you go back in my page, like, I've definitely changed focus, still figuring that thing out.

But I had followed Kenya on there, back to when I was just, like, on my personal account, like, meeting people from Rochester.

I'm sure we're like, co book friends and Anomaly is.

We'll get to all that.

So I followed her there and then once I started my own Bookstagram, of course, connected to with her there as well.

And yeah, I mean, I still feel like I'm very much figuring out what bookstagram is, but it's by far one.

I guess it's a little nicer to, like, filter out that part and like, just interact with people about books, et cetera.

And anyways, yeah, so that's kind of how I got to where we are right now.

And as a note, I know I mentioned this before, but obviously that injury resulted in punches and popcorn being down.

So hopefully we'll be back eventually, but working on it.

Well, it's so funny because I wonder if it was a midlife crisis.

Two summers ago, I decided, actually I was seeing a lot of clips of people doing roller skating, and they were doing lots of tricks and all, you know, and.

And I was like, I'm going to start rollers.

I roller skated when I was 12.

How hard could it be, right?

And so I went and bought a pair of roller skates and all the things and went out and fell one time and never got back.

Because it occurred to me how stupid it.

These really heavy things strapped to my feet like that.

Like, it didn't.

That was not something that was in my mind until I was all alone at dusk at a park, wondering if I splintered my wrist.

And I was like, I'm never doing this again.

See, that's where you're smarter than me, because I had that moment.

I was also in a park now with my daughter in the middle of the.

The middle of a work day.

This is my lunch break.

And I had the, like, pads everywhere and stuff.

And I remember I fell once and, like, landed on my elbow.

And I remember thinking, like, oh, I could have, like, broken my collarbone.

That could have been bad.

And smart.

If I was smart like you, I would have said, it's time to take.

These off, get back up there.

Right.

I didn't really need to.

Yeah.

Well, now some people take a little longer.

Right?

You know?

Well, and so you kind of alluded to this idea that Anomaly Film Festival is a local event.

So basically what hap.

What had happened was Mike was like, hey, can you want to do this podcast with me?

I'm this podcast guy, and I'm not doing a podcast right now.

And I was like, oh, I kind of have commitment issues, but you and I always go to this film event.

What if we do some recording around Our book recommendations related to this thing that we go to every year.

We love Anomaly.

You'll hear us talk about it every single time we talk.

And that would be a way for me to say yes.

And then let's see if it's fun and we really like it.

And so that's what we're doing, and that's what the episode really is about today.

It's about the previous Anomaly film festivals, and if we have book recommendations based on any of the films that we've seen as part of Anomaly.

Yeah, perfect.

So, right.

That's exactly how it came together, I think, you know, we both recognize that.

We both said, like, books are an important way for us to escape the hell of the world around us.

And an Anomaly is a place for that, too, that both in the community, the films they show.

So we thought this is a good opportunity to celebrate the many things we love that help us not feel like even though the world around us is a hellscape, it's not all bad.

There's a lot of good things here too, and we can endure it.

So that's, you know, we can.

We can struggle through it and, you know, stay literate.

That's so true.

Absolutely.

So how many.

How many Anomaly film festivals have you been to?

Oh, that's a good question.

And if I was a good responsible podcaster, I would have done that research before.

I want to say that I have been to four of them, so I know, and I'll try to do a quick math, and if this is terrible, this will come out in the edit.

I definitely.

The one that they did virtually that, which I think was the second one, I. I did that.

They did a martial arts movie in that one, Paper Tigers.

That was great.

That kind of reinvigorated my love of martial arts film, that.

Nice.

Anyways, so after that, you know, I came.

It's definitely been hit or miss with each festival since then.

How much I've gone to, whether I've gone to all of them or not.

It's gotten bigger.

It has, right?

Originally, I think.

Well, I can't remember what it was pre Covid, but post Covid, I think it started, what, two or three days and four, five.

It's a five now.

Or is it six this year?

I think the first one.

And check in, I think was Thursday night at the Goat.

The Angry Goat.

Yep.

And then it was.

It was over at the.

Over at the Cinema Theater, pre renovation, you know, pre.

The.

You Know, dinner, you know, dinner delivery and stuff.

So it was there.

And yeah, that was.

It was a very fun year.

I just remember that Laotian film about, you know, ghosts and things like that.

That one.

That one really sat with me for a long time.

It was a very fun, very fun year in fabric.

That year was Baccarau.

Oh, yeah.

I didn't get a chance to see that, but it was wildly popular and got some good run.

Not an Anomaly as well.

The book recommendation I would have for Becca Rao, if we can do that.

Oh, sure.

Dungeon crawler Carl.

Oh, well, now I gotta see this movie.

See, I love when people do the, like, movie and book recommendations because even if it's geared as like, if you liked these movies, read this book.

Works both ways.

Right.

Like, that's one of the things that.

And my Bookstagram account, usually every time I review a book, I will connect it with.

I'll give a movie, I'll give a book, and then I have like, miscellaneous.

It's just this random thing I want to throw in there because.

Right.

That's how I always.

And I feel like that's part of why we, you know, this idea jumped with both of us because we, you know, we love making those connections with things.

Yeah.

And it's a deep cut, but that's where hashtag horror goo came from.

That very first.

That very first festival.

Yeah.

And that was extraordinary.

That really brought the goo.

That's one we've watched a lot with other people.

That one has been on my watch list.

Irish Ghost Story.

Right.

Yeah.

Maeve Higgins is the main actress and is.

I gotta see it.

It is.

So it's a cozy movie.

It also has.

Has some delightful comedy in it.

So.

Why am I forgetting his name?

He was a MacGruber.

Oh, not.

Not Will Arnett.

Will Forte.

Will Forte.

I was like.

It was another Will and he's tremendous in it.

It is.

It is just a delightful romp.

Yeah.

19 Was great.

And then 20 was the.

20 Is the COVID year.

And then 21 is where it started to be at the Whittle in the side theaters.

So that started there.

So, yeah, it's been a great run.

So 19 through 25 so far.

And it's one of the things that is awesome about Anomaly and I feel like will be a constant theme of our show is encouraging people to go, especially our Bookstagram friends who are not from Rochester, for you to consider making a trip up here for it because Anomaly has a consistent record.

So one of the movies you recommended.

Extraordinary.

That's one that has been on multiple streaming channels.

Gotten a ton of buzz afterwards, I think.

Was it the first year they also did that movie, Daniel Isn't Real.

That was another one.

They are consistently getting movies that then, you know, three months, six months later are all that.

Everybody's talking about movies that have gotten Oscar nominated or won, like Flow Robot Dreams.

They were.

They were here, right?

They were.

They were here at Anomaly before anywhere else.

Skinnamarink.

That was.

Okay, we gotta talk about cinema Rink.

We don't have to talk about it right now, but we gotta talk about it.

I remember the liminal horror that's happening right now because of backrooms.

I think that's a topic episode.

We should have a liminal.

There's some good books there.

Fit into there whole episode.

We had some.

Chris and I had some words about it afterwards.

Yeah, for sure.

But.

Right.

So it's been consistently.

It's been consistent that movies that Anomaly brings, you are going to hear them talked about, you know, they're going to be, you know, anything like I said, from a Oscar buzz movie to the things that are like, oh, this is the hot thing on Shudder, everyone's watching.

So I would also say though, because I know that for some people, having the, you know, watching it ahead of time or reading the book ahead of time and getting arcs and all that sort of stuff with their media feels awesome, you know, and everybody starts talking about it.

But I also really appreciate that I see stuff at Anomaly that I will never see any place no one will ever hear about it.

There's always stuff from other countries I'm never going to hear about.

Lots of dubbed and sub stuff.

Yep.

In the same way that I really like to read books that I know are not going to be mainstream, you know, and then I'm the only one.

Like, I also really enjoy that.

Right.

And I posted on the Anomaly Instagram not too long ago that we need a T shirt that says I saw it at Anomaly.

That's right.

I love that.

Yeah.

A lot of designers.

We're going to make it happen.

Merch forward.

Oh, all right.

We got people.

Yeah, we Anomaly Friends, podcastronauts.

Listen, make it happen.

Make it habit.

So you were diving into 25.

So which of the movies in there, like, kind of struck you?

Because it's.

It's a really good lineup that last.

Year, I would say.

So I was looking through all of the lineups for the LA, for all of them.

And I try and go, I.

And I will Say it a million times.

Just get the pass.

Yeah.

Oh yeah.

And I know I'm coming from a place of privilege.

I can afford the whole film pass even if I know I can't go to every single one of them.

But it means that you don't have to.

That's not a deciding factor on what I'm going to go to.

Right.

Like I don't always go.

We could talk about the format of Anomaly, but there's usually a short series on Saturday morning.

I usually don't go to that because I like to really sleep in on Saturday morning.

Right.

I like to go to all of the extra little things and all of the hangouts and all of that sort of stuff.

If you can, especially if you're a local to Rochester.

If you can get a pass, just get the pass.

Right.

Because the way that this festival is really about building a film community in Rochester.

And then so you go in and you watch it.

There's a short and then there's a feature length film and then everybody comes out and everybody's just hanging out talking about what did you think about this?

What did you think about this?

How did the swag that they handed you on the way in.

Right.

To the feature length film?

Because sometimes you have no idea.

Why are you handing me this role?

Piece of whatever.

Right.

So if you can get the path, get the pass.

Yes.

So I always get the pass.

There have been a couple years.

It had the most number of things I loved.

I think that's.

I think that's true.

Oh yeah, it was good.

Can I just also add another selling point for forgetting the past and Anomaly is paying us nothing to do.

Yeah, no, we just love it right now, you know.

But if the little wants to pay me for this and just in this format, one of the bonuses is, if I remember right, you get like coupons for little popcorn popcorn and it is the best popcorn in the world.

And again I have a show where popcorn represents, I guess technically it's like 45% of the name if you count.

And I love popcorn.

Little popcorn is the best.

So the excuse just to go and then like the coupon for it, like it's not like unlimited all the popcorn you can eat, but it's something enough that I can tell my wife like, oh, but it could be worse.

I'm saving a little here.

Get the pass or walk in for the popcorn.

Right, exactly, exactly.

Any of that is fine.

And the, you know, the cheat code I found is if you have, you know, a significant other at home who is not coming to them to it for whatever reason, maybe they are like my wife, generously taking care of the children while I'm off moving myself.

You know, you can often get that popcorn and they will, like, bag it for you so that you can bring it home and share it with them.

Oh, you're right.

Yeah.

This has never happened before.

So it's either 41% or 46.6% percent, depending if you count the letters of and.

Or it's an ampersand.

It's in that 41 to 46%.

So.

But popcorn is a selling factor.

I have a few that I did and for the first time ever, I, I went to the shorts presentation and I want to talk about that.

Okay.

But I also have movies I did not see that wanted to.

And.

But I'm interested, like, which of those you did see because I, I still need to see them.

So I don't know if you want to start with, like, you want to start with stuff that you loved or.

Anything, whatever you want to start.

How much time do we have until a break?

Oh, yeah, we're coming up.

So, you know, I'd say we're.

We're basically right there.

So just as a, just a quick, quick list.

There were 15, you know, main showings, so lots of things to dive into.

All right, so, yes, I didn't get to as many movies, so I'll start with one that I did.

And I'm interested also, though, in hearing other ones that you love that I didn't.

So I make sure I can find them.

Okay.

The first one I went to is a useful ghost, and I'm gonna, like, butcher the memory of the plot of these.

So, you know, don't take my word for it or correct me if you remember, but Anyone listening?

Correct.

But essentially this movie is about a woman, a mother who died and became a ghost inhabiting a vacuum cleaner.

Yes.

And it's about like her whole family and her husband who is the widow.

And, you know, there's a very like, real reason that she is a vacuum cleaner.

In a statement there, I forget.

I think it's a Lao or a Thai film.

But it's.

So in general, I tend to, you know, I'm tend to be horror first, whether it's books, movies.

I'm a big horror fanatic.

So anything.

Just having ghost in the title, it was something that will catch my attention, you know, and I love Asian film.

So it was already two boxes getting checked off.

This one is more of a.

It's more of a comedy.

Silly.

Yes.

So there's so two books I picked out that I thought kind of went with this and, you know, and I'll kind of explain why for each of them.

So the first one actually is not a horror book.

It is a thriller called Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto.

And this one I picked because Vera.

So this book is about this.

Think of your, like, classic, like, Chinese mother and she has like the son at home that's kind of.

Or not at home, was at home that, you know, is kind of trying to get under, away from her being overbearing.

And she's got her nose in everybody's business.

Again, there's a murder, potential murder.

And she's kind of like that.

Like that mom, antifigure kind of all in people's business, but also like bringing people together and stuff.

And again, she has this kind of a strange relationship with her son that just reminded me a little bit of ghost vacuum mom in this movie.

And especially, like, the dynamics with the son felt very reminiscent of it.

And that was one, you know, I happened into that I wasn't necessarily in a genre that I thought I would typically read.

It's more mystery than thriller.

But it was very charming.

I loved it.

Just like I loved the movie other one that is more hardcore horror.

Well, not hardcore, I guess I'll say is straight horror.

Is another favorite book that I read this fall called the Hunger We Pass Sound by Jen Su Fong Li.

And this one is an intergenerational ghost story about this haunted house.

And just a lot of it again, there's a lot of stuff with this, like intergenerational trauma and family dynamics between.

Between husbands, wives, children.

And that again.

Oh, and I wish I should have had some of this prepared because I probably could have.

Anyways.

Yeah, Just the vibes of it.

More serious than a useful ghost.

But I think a lot of the themes for it, the like, bittersweet themes, are reminiscent of that book.

And that's another one you talk about, like, books people don't talk about.

That was one of my favorite books I read last year and I would love more people to read that.

Yeah, I saw a Useful Ghost and totally agree.

A lady becomes a vacuum cleaner.

And then there's this sort of like side extra plot that sort of like political and some anti LGBTQ stuff like.

That's happening.

It felt like they were trying to do a lot of things in that.

Movie, but I forgot about that.

Something about a pool and dead people.

I don't really know exactly, but I remember that I liked the movie.

Yes, there was political violence.

Exactly.

It was.

It had.

It was trying.

It was an ambitious.

It was ambitious.

It was trying to be a lot of things and it was some good stuff.

Don't get me wrong.

The books that I thought about for that, which I won't get into too much, the vibe that I had for those book recommendations were Trust the Dead.

So the two books that I actually, I had three books that I recommended last year.

For this one, it was Ghost Eaters.

Oh.

By Clay McLeod.

Clay McLeod.

Chapman.

Chapman.

Yep.

The Buried and the Bound, which I can't remember who wrote it.

And it's about a witch who is trying to hold the line between the dead.

That is by Rachelle Hassan.

Oh, nice.

And then Cemetery Boys.

Oh, that's been on my to read for a long time.

Where a trans teen is trying to summon the dead in order to prove themselves to their family and they summon the wrong person.

So it was a.

It was a dead person vibe that sparked my book recommendations for that one.

Is by Aidan Thomas.

Yes, I read everything by him.

Yes.

So camera, I mentioned here in our talking before, my wife is English teacher.

English teacher.

Yep.

And she teaches high school English right now, Ela.

So she's a big proponent of YA lit.

And Cemetery in Our Houses filled with books.

And that's one that I know has been in our house a lot.

And that is one author.

I've picked up many favorite authors from her.

That is one I've not gotten into yet.

So I really.

I really like his writing.

And Ghost Eaters claimant Cloud Chapman wrote the book or the script or whatever that became an animated movie that I saw at the little.

Actually about a young black girl and something About a prison system or something, really.

Wendell.

And Wendell and said Wendell in the wild.

No, it was.

There was two names, and I think that Key and Peele were the voices of these two little devils that keep popping up.

And Clay McLeod Chapman's name was in the credits.

And I'm like, what?

And I. I have liked everything that I've read by him as well.

Nice.

He writes some wild ones.

I read the.

And I have his last one.

The Wake up and open your eyes.

It's like.

Did you read it?

Oh, yeah.

I own it.

I'll take that when you're done.

It's.

You haven't read it?

No.

Oh, it's.

I mean, as many of the things he reads, they are wild and fear between, like, laughing and squirming and wanting to vomit.

Oh, yeah.

Okay, I will.

I'll let you borrow it.

Rip my tbr.

Okay, my turn next?

Yes, please.

Okay.

I cannot do a very good job of remembering all of the details of all of the things, but I will highlight from last year.

Mother of Flies.

Oh, that was one I wanted to see and I couldn't.

That's terrible.

I know.

Well, you should have seen that one.

It was very good.

In my defense, I was taking my daughter to Buffalo to see the US vs Canadians women's professional hockey team.

And we basically saw all the women that were in the Olympic gold medal game.

So support women's hockey.

It was great, but I was sad I missed that.

Sure.

Support women's hockey.

So that movie.

And actually, that movie was one of my favorites from last year.

Yeah.

So they.

They've had.

Are you talking about.

Did they do Hellbender?

Yes.

Oh, see, I loved Hellbender, and that was why I really wanted.

That was my, like, 21.

Yeah.

The one I wanted to see the most.

But when I got the opportunity to take my daughter to this game, I was like, all right, I gotta.

Gotta do the dad thing.

Gotta do the dab thing.

No, for sure.

You definitely do.

And for myself, it was awesome because, again, the best hockey players in the world.

Well, Mother of Flies is about this girl who is sick in some way.

We're not entirely sure for the majority of the.

Of the movie why she's sick, but she has found somebody in the middle of the woods who basically has a remedy for her.

So she has talked her dad into driving her into the middle of nowhere to stay at this abandoned tree house.

Basically.

And wander around in the woods with this super creepy lady who says weird stuff and does weird stuff and eats weird stuff.

The eating weird stuff showed up in Hellbender also, so that's a thing.

Oh, yeah.

But the Addams Family has a large, like, section of land or, like, basically land in the middle of.

Of New York where they record all their stuff.

And I think they.

Their budget's like, $5 or whatever.

$5 In a dream, so they do all the stuff themselves.

But anyway, so Mother of flies, she's out there, and there's a little bit of a twist at the end.

Things get a little gross.

If you're someone like myself who enjoys talking at the movies, I prefer that you like to the characters.

I recommend that this is one that you watch at home first so that you're not ruining the experience of everybody in the movie theater, because I'm going to.

What the hell are you doing?

Why are you leaving her there?

All of those kinds of things are happening.

So the two books that I recommended that I won't really go, because I want to hear your next one is Year of the Witching.

Oh, that's another one that's been on.

My TBR and the Gathering Dark.

So I'm not going to say anything else about those.

And I assume that we can put, like, the.

The books that we mentioned, like, in the show notes or whatever.

Absolutely.

Definitely.

I'll make sure that they're in there, but I want to make sure we have time to get to another one.

Okay.

All right.

And that's good.

You also keep me reined in here on the.

Did you want to say anything, though, at least about how you felt like.

They connected to the witches was the biggest.

Okay.

Being in the woods is one, I think, not really knowing the intention.

You know, this.

This lady is in the woods, and she's gonna help her get better in some way.

We don't really know what that is.

We.

It's not really clear how she found the girl, like, how they've been communicating with each other.

And then at the end, you sort of discover how all of that comes together.

Okay.

Ooh.

All right.

Sounds good.

I need to watch the movie and those books.

Okay.

So the book that I.

Or the book.

The movie.

The next movie that I went to that I would recommend is one that I did not realize until it was brought up in the introduction, was filmed locally, and is all, like, local people.

I believe is beyond the Drumlins one.

I was, admittedly, because I was a terrible science student.

I wasn't aware that like Drumlins are a geographical formation that are here in the Rochester area.

This is set based in Rochester, around Rochester.

I think there's a lot of local people that are in it.

And it was.

It was a weird windy film, but it.

The general premise of it was this archaeological archaeology professor, I believe, and like team of students essentially go into the woods.

Nothing good happens.

Study this phenomenon.

Right.

So that was.

So the couple books that I had are essentially.

I would tie in because they're essentially about people go into the woods together and bad stuff happens, but in a weird kind of like cosmic, scary way.

That is very much what the mood of beyond the Drumlins is.

So the first one is this Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer.

I think I should have looked out to pronounce that.

So this Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer.

And the book essentially is about this professional rock climber that goes into the woods to find this formation and let's just say, gets more than she.

Nothing good can happen from the site.

Right.

But very much like beyond the Drumlins, where the.

The place itself becomes part of the problem.

So very similar vibes.

Another one that I really enjoyed was Staircase in the woods by Chuck Wendig.

And that was another one that's a really interesting promise or premise.

Excuse me.

Where once upon a time, I can't remember the exact time, sometime in the past, a group of friends were out, I don't know, hiking or something in the woods.

Again, nothing good happens there.

But they came upon a staircase that appeared to go to nowhere.

And one of their friends went up that staircase.

Why would you do that?

And disappeared, of course.

Right.

So X number of years later, this group gets back together.

Most of them duped into it to go back into the woods and go up that staircase and see what's there.

And it's another one that's.

It's just what unfolds from there is wild and dizzying and all that.

So again, very similar vibes.

Yeah.

The book recommendation that I had that actually read, because I had one that was on my TBR that I thought would match the Vibes, but the one I actually read was the Return by our good friend Rachel Harrison.

Oh, that is what I still have not read that.

I have a.

An autographed copy of it that I happen to get, I found at Book Culture in Bits Word.

I still.

That's still that and Cackle.

I haven't read Cackle either.

Both great.

Totally great.

Yeah.

I need to read it.

And that book is Basically about two women.

I think they're best friends.

I don't think they're sisters in this one.

But one of them goes out into the woods and doesn't come back.

And everybody thinks that she's dead.

Except this best friend.

She's not dead.

I would know if she were dead.

Right, right.

And then she returns, but she's not the same as when she left.

Oh, okay.

I like those kind of stories.

Yeah.

So that's the one that I had for that.

Oh, nice.

Okay, I gotta read that.

Maybe I'll put that in this month.

Did you see Dust Bunny?

I did.

So that was another one that was high on my to watch list.

Mike, Mike, Mike.

I know, it was a delight.

I didn't catch it at the festival.

I saw it after.

Yeah, it is a delight.

I think that's such a great.

Such a great one.

And it's streaming now, so it's.

I want to watch it again.

There's a little girl, and I love a little girl in horror or sci fi or speculative, whatever we're gonna call this.

Right?

And she basically is trying to hire this man who's an assassin because she says that her.

There was a monster under her floor that killed her parents.

Yes.

And there's a whole story there.

And one of the things that's really cool about the movie is that it's not entirely clear who's.

Who.

Who's.

Are people making things up?

What's real?

Like, there's a couple of points, like in the movie where someone's eating dumplings that are shaped like rabbits and the rabbits start moving a little bit.

Is that real?

Or is that like.

Or are we all drugged?

Like, what's happening?

What's happening?

It is a delightful.

A delightful movie.

And there are big teeth on a creature.

I always love that.

And Dust Bunny is in reference to the.

There's this creature that's shaped like a rabbit that lives under the bed.

And the book I picked for that was when the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy.

Oh, well, I got.

Have you read that one yet?

Yes, I have.

Okay.

So.

Love that book.

Yes.

And.

And that's the same kind of thing where you're not entirely sure if the various narrators are reliable or not or if they're making things up or if there's something.

Are they all high?

Right.

Right.

Then you get to the end and you go, oh, okay, here's how I think this might be interpreted in a way.

So that's the one.

And then similar Devil and Silver.

Who is that?

By Victor lavalle.

Oh, okay.

I've only read Lone Woman, which is one of my favorite books, and I've heard, like, that.

What is the Ballad of Black Tom?

Is that him?

Yeah, yeah.

And the Changeling.

Those are all on my high, on the list of stuff which became a.

TV series with that little squirrely guy from Atlanta.

Oh, lakeith.

Oh, he's one of my.

Oh, well, now I really gotta watch it because he's one of my favorites.

Yeah, I really like him, too.

Nice.

Excellent.

Well, that's.

So you're the first one there.

You recommended when the Wolf Comes Home.

I.

That was actually a connection for me, too, with the other film I saw.

Okay, so I'll go there, even though it's weird, because I'm going there and it's the end, and I want to hear, like, more from you.

Oh, it ends.

But it is literally the end of the festival.

And the movie is called.

It Ends.

Yeah, different.

So that was wild.

And so essentially what the movie is about is this group of friends who are.

I forget the start of it, but they're driving down a road and they stop and all these, like, people come rushing at them from the woods.

And essentially they then have to get in the car and keep driving.

And I really can't say anything else other than that is the premise.

And.

Yeah, I think so.

Like, I don't know what else to say about it.

So there's.

I think there's four of them, right?

I think so, yeah.

4.

Because they're sort of, like, in the car, right.

And they go pick up a friend from.

I think they're picking them from the airport, maybe.

So there's like some kind of break or something from school.

These are maybe young college kids, Right.

And they take a turn on a road and somebody says something along the lines of, are we?

Do you know where we're going?

Or something like that.

And they attempt to turn around, and when they go back, it's a dead end.

Right.

And they stop and get out of the car, and there's all these people that are.

That, like, attack the car.

Right, right.

They get back in the car and they drive.

And there's no off for the road.

They're just driving for the rest of the.

Right movie.

Right, right.

So the movie is really about sort of like how this group of four people handle the pressure of not knowing what the hell is going on.

Right.

And they can't stop the car.

Right.

They don't know if they're going to get attacked again.

And then kind of what starts to happen over time.

And one of the things about the movie is that it starts to blink up how many hours it's been or how many days it's been or something.

And it's just getting more and more.

You know, it goes nighttime, it goes daytime, it goes nighttime.

And think about, like, if you just think about being trapped in this moving vehicle with people that you have a history with, but they don't really like each other that much.

Like, a couple of them may be still good friends, but they're kind of picked up this other guy as a.

Like a favor or whatever.

Right.

So it's.

It's really like the horror of it.

And yes, because those people that attacked the car were.

Are horrible, but they're not.

Like, the worst part is like, the imagining sitting in this room in this small car.

They're not getting hungry, they don't have to go to the bathroom.

They don't need gas.

Right.

They just have to drive.

Right.

Terrible.

Yes.

It's a lot of, like.

It's kind of the exemplific.

It's like the example of, like, Gen Z existential horror in a lot of ways.

Because it's about like that, you know, the treadmill that.

Hey, you gotta keep going.

You gotta keep going.

It's very tied to that.

Yes.

You know, there's that existential, like, this is all there is.

This is all there is all there is.

This is life.

So it's.

It's a very.

It's a very interesting movie.

As olds that.

It is very.

It's very of the generation it was made by and who the characters are from.

Yes, yes.

I mean, I feel like even as a superior Gen Xer.

Right.

Like, the idea that, you know, no matter.

It's.

No matter what they do, and they start to sort of, like, try some things to see what changes.

But this idea of being on the.

On the.

You know, being the hamster in the wheel, you know, and having to tolerate people that you don't really like that much.

And if you get off the main track that everybody attacks you for not being normal.

Right.

Those things get back in the car, you know, it's.

And they start to kind of test things.

And, um.

And there are a couple of times when the things they say to each other, like, they're so stressed out that the walls of civility start to start to fall.

Right.

Yes.

So what was your book recommendation?

Ooh.

So as you're taught, you're so.

I was having a hard time coming up with things and I had connected when the Wolf Comes Home because my memory of it was just.

It's a road story, right?

So one of the things, the many things I love about when the Wolf Comes Home is it's a great.

It's this.

It's a road story kind of novel where there's this journey that they're going on and you know, a lot of uncertainty around it.

But as you're talking about and kind of bringing a lot of that fresh, I'm actually like throwing out the other idea.

Other stuff that I thought of was other similar kind of road stories.

But man, this actually connects.

I actually, I think maybe even better or similarly than it did to beyond the Drumlins is that Staircase in the woods by Chuck Wendig.

Because it's very similar with this group of friends that is kind of put together in this situation that they weren't really expecting.

And there's this whole.

Really the narrative of this book is this like unending loop.

But it's in this really like when they go up the stairs essentially they enter into a house maybe and it's kind of like rather than being on a road that doesn't stop, it's this house that doesn't.

Like there's a.

You go to a door and you're in another door.

And there's just a lot of that same like trauma of trying, like, when do you get off the road basically?

And like, I didn't necessarily like these people that I was here with, even though all that stuff, very, very similar.

I think it pairs well with it.

And then the other thing is actually the book I'm just finishing reading right now is the Long Walk by Stephen King or was Richard Bachman at the time.

But it's similar.

I mean, it literally is on this road that feels like it's never ending.

But you know, one of the challenges that it ends gives, and I remember it was a lot of the conversation I had with people after was, all right, at some point you realize, like, do you want to stay in this car or do you just want to get out and just let it end?

And that's kind of with the book, you know, that's the premise of it.

Or if you've seen the movie, good.

Interpretation of the book, by the way.

Yeah, it's, you know, it's this like dystopian future that's kind of the past.

But you know, a hundred teenage boys have to walk down a road at 4 miles an hour, non stop until only one of them is left.

And a lot of it is.

There's just a lot.

Bulk of the story is them all dealing with why they're there and what happened.

Then when do they get to the point where, you know, either their bodies or just mentally, they're like, I'm noping out of this.

So.

Yeah.

Very, very reminiscent of.

It ends.

Yeah.

I mean, I. I think the.

The sort of looping thing, like, even if I think about, like, Groundhog Day.

Right.

Like, that's.

That all sounds terrible.

Terrible to me.

You know, and especially in those stories where they don't know why they're looping or they can't figure it out or, you know, whatever the things are.

Like, that all sounds like a nightmare.

Right.

Ooh.

And that'll be the subject, I believe, the premise of our.

Our buddy Rachel Harrison's new book coming out, Kiss, Slay, Replay, that has a Groundhog Day type of premise to it.

So.

Well, and sometimes that can be done really well.

I read a book, a fantasy book called the Everlasting.

Okay.

December, I think of last year for Emily.

Emily is overbooked.

Fantasy book club.

Okay.

So they meet once a month down at the Alt Bar.

Okay.

And that one is basically about people going back in time in order to change the story of a legend.

Oh, interesting.

And I thought it was done really well, but a lot of the other folks were like, oh, it gets so redundant.

Why are we seeing this scene again?

Right, right.

And that's sometimes how I feel about it to the one.

The one that.

I loved that book.

Not about that.

I love that book.

But when things are repetitive like that, I'm like, oh, I get it.

Sure.

But for.

It ends the movie, the book that I thought was the Road.

Oh, yeah, of course.

Of course.

Yep.

Oh, yeah.

You know what I'm talking about.

Yep.

And again, part of it is like, they're on this road.

No one knows.

Like, in that book, we don't really know exactly what happened.

It's dystopian.

This man and his.

And his son.

I think it's a movie now.

I tend to not watch movies after I've seen a book because it irritates.

I get irritated.

I get unnecessarily irritated.

Sure.

But it's just them facing the ongoing horrors of every day.

Waking up, being in the Hellscape.

Right, right.

And there's this scene in that book where it's like they find the basement full of people.

Right.

Like, I think about it periodically, especially when I see, like, in Spencerport where I live, some of the houses have those little buildings what are those little buildings for?

I have no idea.

But they're like little wooden buildings out by the road.

Oh, it's for the cold.

So it's usually for like kids waiting for the bus.

Oh.

So like, that sounds so nice.

Yeah, it's like, you know, for.

So if you like your kids and you don't want them to freeze to death at the road, you might build.

Them a little shot.

We never had those when I was a kid.

Yeah, that's for sure.

Toughen up, buttercup.

Right, but in the.

In that book, they talk like how that was probably being used as a lookout for people who were on the road.

Right.

But.

But when I think about a road of never ending crap you have to deal with, I think about that, about that movie, and about that book.

And again, it's one of those things where you're not sure who to trust.

You don't know who to listen to.

You're not.

It's.

It's really a don't trust the living, you know?

Right, right.

Kind of a of a book.

And then the other one that I put for that one was We Are the Ants by Sean David Hutchison.

And I couldn't tell you what that book.

I suggested that one last year when I saw it.

I don't remember what that book's about, but I just looked it up on my Goodreads.

I gave it five stars, so it's gotta be good.

But I say there are many, many triggers here.

So if you're looking for an easy coast in topic, this ain't it.

But I have no idea what that book is about, and I'm pretty sure I've read it twice.

That's a mystery for all of us.

And it was the book that I recommended for.

It ends Nice, Nice.

And I think that's a good ending film for our episode.

Just like the movie, this podcast also ends.

It must.

It must.

So, yeah, putting the plugs again.

So when can people expect more and where can people find you?

Excellent question.

I think for content I'm at.

Reviews may vary on Instagram the most often, but I also cross post to Facebook and sometimes I'm on TikTok.

Yeah, I am at Pages from the Shadows with the dots between those words.

And again, Instagram.

Bookstagram.

That's.

I do have a Facebook page when I remember to put stuff up on there, but Instagram is basically where I am.

So, yeah, find me on there.

Please follow.

I want to see what you are reading also.

And if you see us at the film festival, please Feel free to say hello.

Yes.

Oh, and actually, so that's a good point.

Let's talk about kind of the future of the show and our plan here.

So, yeah, what is the future of our show in the plane here?

You know, so we really thought about this like Kenya said it was.

I threw her the idea of let's do a podcast because I was missing the podcast stage.

But we thought that, you know, for starters, we really just want to focus on Anomaly and for right now, focus on this upcoming festival.

This year's festival and kind of give everyone a taste for what we're thinking here.

We'll probably do.

We're planning to do one more show before the.

Before the festival in November kicks off.

Yeah.

So usually Anomaly will, I think, like a month before they'll release the first four films that are going to be in it.

Usually there's trailers with it.

So our plan is to, once those are announced, we're going to watch those trailers and we'll do an episode where we'll talk about those and we'll try to connect.

Oh, just based on the trailers, the vibes, we're getting what looks like it could be similar kinds of reads and stuff like that.

So assorted shenanigans.

And then again, we'll be back afterwards and we'll see what the future holds after that.

But that is our plan now.

So, yeah, follow both of our Twitter or Twitter.

Wow, Twitter.

What does it even exist anymore?

Speaking of the Gen X's.

Yeah.

Follow our Bookstagram Instagram accounts.

And of course, we are proud and humbled to be a part of the Lunchador podcast network.

Of course.

Follow anomaly.

Go on anomaly film fest.com.

The festival passes are on sale now, so get those so that you can hang out with us and all the other, like, amazing people in the Rochester film community.

And yeah, give us a shout.

So that's it.

Otherwise, stay safe.

Stay, stay safe out there.

It's a hellscape.

This has been a presentation of the Luxury Word Podcast Network,.

The lessons we've learned from Kenya's learning Corner.

Nothing good happens in the woods.

Rock climbing is a nah and a head shake situation.

Time loop stories are a bad time.