Welcome!

       Welcome to the Hastings Shop of Horrors!

    Welcome to my blog to those of you who have somehow stumbled across this page! This blog is a combination of a book/movie review and personal news about my writing. I am a voracious reader of multiple genres, though the majority of what I read and will review on here will be one of the multitude of sub-genres of Horror/Weird fiction. I am also a history major, so I may include some non-fiction that is relevant to horror and the macabre. So, while about 10% of the reviews I post on this blog aren't technically horror books/movies, they will all have strong elements of the macabre. So... let's hit some keypoints! 

Who Am I?

    My name is Ellis Hastings. I'm a rapidly aging (or aged, depending on when you're reading this) millennial who was born in 1994 in the eastern suburbs of Atlanta. There are three things I love the most in this world (not counting my wife) dark/horror fiction, cats, and spicy food hotter than the gates of Hell. I have always enjoyed horror. My mother used to read me short stories by King and Poe growing up. I began my reading journey with Goosebumps (I'm an O.G.), before moving onto adult fiction in the sixth grade. The saying "you always remember your first" is especially true in the terms of when I started reading adult horror fiction. Stephen King was my introduction into the world of the macabre, and my first King novel was Christine. The image of a 1957 Plymouth Fury mowing down douchebag teenagers had quite an impact on my young, tweenager mind. I began writing horror fiction in 2015. In that time, I have had several short stories published in various indie speculative fiction magazines: Schlock, Big Bridge, Aphotic Realm, and one of my reprints is set to be included in audio form at the horror podcast Nocturnal Transmissions! 

What Is This Blog?

    1. This is mostly a way for me to keep up with my own thoughts and reflections on books/movies! 

    2. A recommendation blog for dark fiction, both printed and movies! 

    3. A place to share my own writing news! 

My Review Rationale

      5-stars: Absolutely amazing can't-miss works. These are works that had a profound impact on me creatively, personally, or (and oftentimes) a combination of both. These are works that would score 95% and higher if they were submitted for a grade. These are works that are either completely flawless in my eyes, or have very minimal flaws. My points of contention with my five-star books are minimal and never more than superficial grievances. While I have enjoyed all kinds of works, my top-rated books are personal to me in some way. To understand my five-star ratings is to see a glimpse inside my mind. 

    4-stars: Solid works that are worth a read if you share similar tastes in the genre as I do. This is the widest range of high-quality works in my rating system. They range from B- to A (80% to 94%), though most hover right around the middle. These works range from books/movies that I found very enjoyable but found some plotholes/errors/problems with (think a thrilling rollercoaster book that isn't the best quality but is still very fun) to works that I considered giving five stars but just missed the criteria of my top-rated works. For these ratings, I will specify if it's one of the better four-star books or if it's on the lower end. Regardless, if you share the same tastes as I do, there is a lot of value to be had from these works. 

    3-stars: Perfectly passable. This is the culmination of the phrase "C's get degrees." These would range from a 70-79 on a traditional grading scale. These are works that I found fine but forgettable and nothing special. They can be works that I was highly anticipating and were disappointed with (some books market themselves to be something they absolutely are not). Others I thought were kind of boring or had some big flaws but thought were overall written well. These are not "bad" books. Every three-star book for me is technically well-written and may be a four- or perhaps even a five-star book for you. 

    2-stars: These books are usually extremely boring or cringe-worthy books that I absolutely did not like. They may be books that I thought started off good but fizzled out extremely. Or they may be books that have really creative ideas but is poorly executed. These books I dislike are saved from one-star status by a single saving grace. Typically, two-star books are well-written but just not enjoyable at all.

    1-star: Oof. The only rating that is singular! What can I say? These are books that just suck in my eyes. They're poorly-written, have extremely annoying and/or unrelatable one-dimensional characters, convoluted, sloppy, and lazy, generic plots and are miracles for how they even got published in the first place. Most of these books, while you may not give one-star depending on your own tastes, are books that most of you who like my style will definitely not find very commendable and are ones you should pass over. 

*Disclaimer: I am not going to post many reviews that are one/two-stars, because I don't want to dedicate time to analyzing books I disliked/hated. Also, I haven't seen many amateur critic blogs that have flaunted bad-ratings. I'm not a mean-spirited person, and I would honestly feel like kind of a dick if I posted all of these reviews. In fact, I read a lot, so I honestly probably won't review four out of five of the books I read. I will definitely rate most five-star books as recommendations and a handful of other four-stars, maybe a few three-stars, and few (if any) two-star-or-below books/movies. However, you all have a right to know which books I liked and didn't include in this blog, and also books I disliked or hated. 

    

    If you want to see all of my ratings (and I give a rating to every book I read and also every movie/show I watch) then you can find them at my Goodreads Reviews.