Stories from the Calindratem

Amber felt uneasy as she drove up the serpentines. The hotel was very isolated and with the grey sky and the heavy wind the castle which housed the hotel was less romantic than it was creepy.  It had sounded like such a good idea, when her agent had suggested it: Spend a week in a remote Irish castle to finish editing her book. She had thought the surroundings were going to be inspiring and the lack of distractions was going to keep her focused. Now after a 3 hour flight and a 2 hour drive, on what was the wrong side of the road for her, she simply felt annoyed. She would have to take the car even if she wanted to get a coffee in the nearby village. Apparently the castle or hotel provided a full board but since it was the off season and she wondered if there were going to be a lot of other guests and full staff.   She stopped the car at the parking and sighed, remaining seated for a moment. She grabbed her purse, her laptop bag and her wobbly old suitcase and made her way...

Those following my blog and my original writing can tell I love a good ghost story. In fact it was when writing a ghost story for school at the age of 12, when I fell in love with writing. I was therefore delighted when "The Haunting of Bly Manor" appeared on my Netflix suggestions.  "The Haunting of Bly Manor" is basically the second season of an anthology (simply "The Haunting"), whose first season is "The Haunting of Hill House" but since both seasons are completely independent when it comes to the story, this review will threat "The Haunting of Bly Manor" as an independent miniseries.  It starts at an engagement party for a young couple and in the evening they start talking about ghost stories. One of the guests tells a story. A young woman named Dani is hired as a nanny for two children by their uncle. The children live in an old manor somewhere in England and the only other staff are a house keeper, a gardener and a cook, none of ...

Having been a nerd for the longest part of my life, I have seen plenty of science fiction, mystery and fantasy movies, but I have to admit I was rarely as blown away as after watching The OA. This show leaves you gasping for air due to its incredible level of creativity.  Usually I start these articles with a brief synopsis of the show or movie and this is were is begins to get tricky with The OA already, as it is almost impossible to describe the fantastic premise of the show. It begins with a young woman being found, after having been missing for seven years. When she went missing she was blind and now her sight has been restored. What follows is an incredible journey of mysteries, abduction and near death experiences. Without giving away anymore of the story it is probably the most creative story telling in television. The revelations over the course of the show have to be compared to the end of "The Sixth Sense" when the audience learns that Bruce Willis' character wa...

The concept of a Star Wars tv show seemed far fetched to many people, Star War being the epitome of a blockbuster. But "The Mandalorian" has proven all critics wrong and had paved the way for several Star Wars series that are in the works, including a new Obi-Wan series starring Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christiansen.  "The Mandalorian" takes place approximately 5 years after "The Return of the Jedi" and sets itself apart from the movies by focusing on a bounty hunter. Din Djarin, is a Mandalorian and the first main character who is neither siding with the empire nor with the new republic. In a way we see for the first time how the average man in the Star Wars universe lives. Someone who doesn't fight in the war or tries to reshape the universe. The show focuses not only on Din Djarin's quest but also on the Mandalorians' culture and history, which is something that hasn't been explored in the live action movies so far.  The story is simple ...

The woman had settled into an easy routine many years ago. She got up, washed and dressed herself. After a small but tasty breakfast, she left her house and waded through the river. Afterwards she went about her day and in the evening she crossed the river again and went home.  It was a simple but joyful life. She had friends and enjoyed the little she had, without any reason to complain until one day everything changed. When she was washing herself, she noticed something below the left shoulder blade. It wasn’t bigger than a seed. She checked in the mirror and sighed when she saw the black dot. It was a river parasite. She wasn’t too worried, more annoyed at the inconvenience. She knew of many people, who had had a parasite and usually it grew a while, until it would let go, when crossing the river. Others went to different healers, who finally managed to detach it. Finally there were those whose parasite had grown so much, that apparently they couldn’t move or do anything. They...

Every "Firefly" fan is a bit heartbroken, when they hear that fandoms managed to save another show, because is was picked up by Netflix or the likes. The truth is that if "Firefly" had been cancelled in the present day the fans would have managed to save it. But 18 years ago, when the internet wasn't yet the driving force it is today and streaming services were merely an idea the effort of the fandom wasn't enough. At least they managed to get the studio to make a movie, to give the crew of Captain Reynolds a proper send off in "Serenity".  Despite only 14 episode being produced "Firefly" is a modern classic among Science Fiction shows, that has a cult following. But why is that? What makes this show so special?  First of all the characters are well fleshed out. Although the show has so few episodes all the characters are deep and have its moment to shine. This was achieved by having few guest stars compared to other shows and focusing on...

There are many brilliant shows out there, especially in times of Netflix and other streaming services. But for shows like "The Expanse" and "Altered Carbon" to be successful and the engaging shows they are (Regardless of their early cancellation they captured the audience.), there had to be some predecessors. Some shows, who broke ground and changed what we expect from TV forever. The following list is not a ranking, as every single show has brought something new and special to their respective genres or in some case even created new genres. Doctor Who When Doctor Who premiered in 1963 nobody imagined that the story about an alien traveler, who can regenerate would still be going strong in 2020. In 1966 the lead actor William Hartnell decided to leave the show due to health issues, in what could have been the death blow to the show. Instead the Timelord's regeneration was born, which made this show a legend and once more proves that creative writing will be...