Dear readers, I have a confession to make. I've never seen The Witches (1990) before. Just like I was never really interested in watching Hocus Pocus (1993) it came out at a time in my life, where I felt like I was too old to care about a kids movie like that. I was more interested in blood and guts and special effects. After watching it last week, I can tell you that I enjoyed The Witches more than Hocus Pocus, and let me tell you why...

***Warning Spoilers & Spoiled children!!!***

The movie is derived from a story by Roald Dahl, known for James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or as we know the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory just to name a few, so you know it's going to be a dark fantasy involving precocious children. (Already better than Hocus Pocus!)

It's truly a basic premise. A young boy's parents die and he's then cared for by his grandmother who has been diagnosed with diabetes. She goes for a retreat to a hotel by the seaside (I guess that's what people do in Europe? In the US doctors just put us on drugs and we work until we die.) Little do they know that there's a witch convention going on when they arrive! The Grand High Witch of All the World wants to turn children into mice with Formula 86, a potion hidden in chocolate. She succeeds in turning Luke into a mouse. At one point he's chased by a black cat, but the cat gets distracted ~ as cats do ~ and isn't in much of the movie. He returns the favor by breaking into the kitchen and dosing all the witches food with the potion turning them all into rats, except for one.

By the end you think Luke will be a mouse forever, but the remaining witch turns him back into a boy and gives them the money that was intended for the witches and a list of the witches in the US. So although this is yet another movie that gives witches a bad name, in the end it shows there's some good ones too! This makes me think it leads to a sequel, but alas no. 

I do know that there is a remake. It was scheduled to be released this October, but has been pushed to 2021. The special effects that were created by Jim Henson in the original are truly impressive, even 30 years later, it's going to be hard to outdo those, BUT Guillermo del Toro is at the helm of the new one. I image it will be good, just different. (So far there's some things that are problematic with the new one, but I'll come to my own conclusions after I see it.) 

The facial prosthetics of the witches and the animated mice with human characteristics in the 1990 version are wonderful. Overall I'd give this 4.5 chocolate bars out of 5. Only because I wanted more information on the children trapped in the paintings, and how grandma lost part of her pinky finger.

Here's the trailer...

The theme for the summer 2020 box is Camp Pusheen and I can say I have a couple experiences with camping and both of them were horrible. Downpours, wood ants, and back pain ~ not really my thing. I grew up a city girl. It's what I know. That's probably why I don't know my animals very well. It's a running joke with friends. Speaking of friends, I really miss unboxing with friends. I apologize in advance that my videos are so boring. I tried to spice it up by dressing in The Shining theme. My hair tie is from Krampus Cuties on Cats Like Us, bracelet Meteor Company, shirt Hot Topic.

Included in this box is...

1. A Camp Pusheen T Shirt. Super cute, unisex small and really big on me. My husband Andrew is taking it. (Cotton/ poly blend so it won't shrink.)

2. Vinyl Camping Figurine. Meh.

3. Plush Pusheen with Marshmallow. Adorable.

Patches. The jean jacket I refer to is this one.

Flag Pennant. I'm not sure what I'll do with this yet.

Silicone Straw with cleaner and holder. Ok so I'm really dumb. I didn't see the straw cleaner in the holder because it was folder down. My husband found it. SEE this is why I need to unbox with someone.

Thermos with Collapsible Spoon. It's pretty big. I'm def going to use this.

Outdoor blanket. I'm going to picnic the heck out of this!

Thanks for reading and be well!

Past unboxings
Fall 2017 Pusheen Box
Winter 2017 Pusheen Box
Spring 2018 Pusheen Box
Summer 2018 Pusheen Box
Fall 2018 Pusheen Box
Winter Pusheen Box 2018
Spring Pusheen Box with Jodee Bowie
Summer 2019 Pusheen Box
Fall 2019 Pusheen Box
Winter 2019 Pusheen Box and Soup

Spring 2020 Pusheen Box

This book The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel By Grady Hendrix kept popping up on lists of books I would like. I like reading about vampires, so I gave it a shot! It's an easy read and I think it's less about vampires and more about a late 1980s/ 1990s version of The Stepford Wives but with a satisfying ending.

***Warning Spoilers***

The book focuses on Patricia Campbell, a suburban housewife in Charleston that belongs to a book club. The club is small and they read true crime novels. Over the years, despite differing lives, they come together monthly to talk passionately about murder. 

None of them seem to work, I think it's mentioned that one of them helps out at a church. All of their husbands are the breadwinners and they just follow their wifely duties. They are very polite and reserved. Honestly, it was a little hard for me to relate. I have a business that keeps me from home more than 40 hours a week, I don't have kids, and if I don't like something I'll communicate that. These ladies are a little too reserved and passive. Not sure if it's a Southern thing? Maybe a 1980s thing? 

Then a new man moves down the street, and Patricia is involved with a violent crime. The crime is committed by his great aunt. She ends up checking in on him and he begins to ingrain himself into her life. In the meantime, kids go missing on the far side of town and she witnesses this new neighbor attacking one of them. I should mention he's not a vampire in the traditional way we know them...fangs...neck. He has a bug-like appendage that comes from his jaw that latches on to the inner thigh of his victim. That's one hell of an UNsexy vampire in my mind.

The first half of the book is the set up, we know he's a monster already. No mystery there. The second half is how is Patricia going to prove it. He's charming to everyone and has become a member of "the boys club" with all the husbands. Speaking of husbands, her's is awful. He has absolutely no redeeming qualities. He's a workaholic, takes her for granted, gaslights her, is a know-it-all, blames everything on her, and is completely useless. So useless that when his mother dies she and her book club friends organize the funeral etc. He contributes his paycheck ~ that's it. Her husband prescribes her Prozac to numb her thoughts because she questions too much. There's a lot of silencing of women in this book that I found much more disturbing than the actual violence.

Flash forward three years later. She drops trying to prove her neighbor is evil because he has brought everyone around him great wealth with an investment in real estate. Construction is booming and money is flowing. Then Patricia has a vision from her dead mother in law. It tells her that the neighbor is going to take her kids and she needs to wake up. This sparks her investigation again.

In the end the book club ladies band together and do the right thing. They are calculated and prepared because it's what they know from life and reading crime novels. Never underestimate the power of a determined group of women.

Overall the book is very timely. It involves race relations, feminism, the popularity of serial killers, and how money can make you blind to all the glaring red flags. Some things that were never cleared up... the cover of the book is misleading because there's are no fangs mentioned. It's described as more of a full-on bite. Some of the supporting characters need a resolution... Grace needs a divorce and there might be a sequel with Slick being raped and having something "growing inside her". Needless to say it should come with a trigger warning. I enjoyed it and found it suspenseful because I wanted to know the ending. I plan to check out the author's other books too. 

It's been a little over a year since I wrote about Supernatural, and it's finally on Netflix with season 15, and let's just say it's the beginning of the end ~ literally. They only have the beginning half of season 15 available to view and they have announced that it will be their final season. I'd say 15 years of a TV show is a pretty good run. It aired until the end of March 2020, and then there were production delays due to Covid-19, so we hope to see the finale later this year...or in my case, whenever it becomes available on Netflix.

I'm not sure if it's me or if I've just watched so much Supernatural, that I felt that these 13 episodes didn't have the passion that past seasons had, and they only brought back characters to make it interesting. Ok, I know that sounds harsh, but the story is Chuck/ God is back on earth causing trouble. Another apocalypse. Duh.

I do like some of the characters coming back, and I really hope Crowley makes an appearance in the last part of season 15 because he was always a favorite of mine, but the acting seems off and I should mention that even my cat Ginger who is in love with Sam isn't interested! She didn't watch any of these episodes with me! So let me review...

The Winchesters and Cas are left in a cemetery to fight all the spirits from hell that were released by Chuck/ God. Sam shot God, so there's a piece of Sam's soul in him and vice versa. Chuck/ God is sick of this version of this earth and essentially Chuck/ God becomes the enemy.  This is introduced in the first three episodes.

Then we are back to monster of the week, with the underlying story of God's rage. He is on a rampage and takes away Sam and Dean's "luck" and destroys all the other worlds, dimensions, and parallel universes that he's made and will soon destroy earth as we know it.

Sam has visions of the other Sam and Dean's that are out there and how they are fighting.

There were some hints at a relationship between Rowena and Ketch, but they both die and Rowena becomes queen of hell. Sam falls for Eileen another hunter but she ends of leaving to hunt on her own. It's disappointing that none of the characters get any "action" in the sexy sense of the word.

MEH S15 E1 "Back and to the Future" The evil souls look like zombies and it looks like a set from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, to the point where Jack even says "it's a Hellmouth thing". Sunnydale in Buffy was on the Hellmouth. We get to see the killers from a previous season John Wayne Gacy, Bloody Mary, Lizzie Borden, Jack the Ripper (also I'm convinced that it real life Jack the Ripper was a woman).

MEH S15 E2 "Raising Hell" Even Kevin Tran is back. We learn that The Darkness/ Amara is in Reno and God is trapped on earth. He needs her to leave.

 MEH S15 E3 "The Rupture" Jack's body dies, Ketch dies, Rowena dies, but not before we have this beautiful witch shot of her.

 MEH S15 E4 "Atomic Monsters" Chuck/ God finds his ex-girlfriend Becky. Yes, THAT Becky that also married Sam is back and she has a nice family that Chuck/ God makes disappear. This is a monster of the week episode with vampires....and Chuck/ God.

 MEH S15 E5 "Proverbs 17:3" Another monster of the week with werewolves. Lilith comes back in a new body.

MEH S15 E6 "Golden Time" Monster of the week, this time it's witches. Eileen the deaf hunter comes to Sam in ghost form and he brings her body back. His spell work is turning out to be really good and he's replacing Rowena in that skill set, so much so that Dean calls him a "Samwitch". (Ok, I might have snort laughed at this in real life.)

MEH S15 E7 "Last Call" Dean's "Eye of the Tiger" karaoke is referenced and it's more like a filler episode.

MEH S15 E8 "Our Father Who Aren't in Heaven" Donatello is back and Jody and Donna are referenced. Lilith is sent to find Michael who's in the form of Sam and Dean's brother Adam. Adam is back.

MEH S15 E9 "The Trap" Now they need a leviathon blossom for a spell, a reference to the big bad from several seasons ago. Claire and Benny are mentioned and Jody and Bobby are seen in a vision.

PLUS S15 E10 "The Heroes Journey" Garth the hunter and werewolf comes back. He was another favorite of mine. He's married with a family and is a werewolf dentist now. Black and white sequence of Garth and Dean tap dancing is fun. Sam and Dean loose their luck, but Garth tells them where they can get it back, The episode ends with Werewolves of London playing. This is a cute episode. It's funny, gory, and I think really showcases that Sam and Dean will get by with help from all the friends they've made along the way.

MEH S15 E11 "The Gamblers" Sam and Dean go to Alaska looking to get their luck back at a pool hall, meanwhile Jack is back and instructed by Death to kill angels and eat hearts to gain strength so he can fight Chuck/ God.

MEH S15 E12 "Galaxy Brain" Chuck/ God begins the destruction of worlds, Jody is in this episode and Alex is referenced. Kaia is back. Both Kaia's switch dimensions so they are back in the right place.

MEH S15 E13 "Destiny's Child" Jack's next quest puts him in the Garden of Eden where he gets his soul back. Sister Jo, Ruby, and Meg are in this episode.

And that's all we get!

Lots of blood draining this season, the music is more contemporary remakes which are terrible, but the addition of honky tonk and country is better and suits the show. All the women working with the Winchesters wear the same thing as the men... a plaid flannel over a shirt and jeans. It's like there was no imagination. I'm hopeful the ending will be epic. They really brought back a lot of characters and if you don't know the history it might be a little confusing this season.

I will always relate to Dean. I often say what he says before he says it and the fact that he was lactose intolerant (like me) for an episode just solidifies that we share the same personality. Lol.

You can see my thoughts on the other seasons 1&2, 3&4, 5&6, 7&8, 9&10, 11& 12 , 13, and 14.

As always thanks for reading. I know I've slowed down blogging. I'm just overwhelmed with the state of the world and I've been working full time this whole time trying to keep my business up and running, so my blogging rhythm is all thrown off. Thanks for sticking with me though. 💗