I have been horrible with keeping my blog up to date, and I apologize. I kind of had some heavy gender identity issues I was working through which made it hard to focus on creative things. So the first part of this post is going to talk about that.
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I am transgender. 

I’ve already come out via social media, but if you don’t follow me on any of those platforms, here it is. I guess the genderfluid thing was a stepping stone for me. A path on my gender identity journey that got me where I am today. It finally hit me (after talking with my counselor for a long time, my spouse, family, and close friends) that I was more than just genderfluid. Once that revelation came to light, I started down the path.

I’m now on hormone replacement therapy. Almost within 24 hours of taking the first dose, I found myself in a better place mentally. All of the foundational level of stress and anxiety I had thought was just normal kind of disappeared. It was amazing! I’m so much happier now than I was before. The future is still scary, and I’m sure there will be speed bumps along the way, but I feel so much better now that I’m on the path.

I’ll be updating my journey more as it continues to develop. But for now, know that I’m back at it, and pushing forward.

As for the writing, that too slowed down during my gender identity struggles. But the happiness and calm I’m experiencing now with HRT has reponed the floodgates and I’m back to writing again. I’m still hella busy with Timber Ghost Press, but I’ve designated Fridays as my writing days and try to limit the scope of my work on that day to my writing and nothing else.

I just finished the Quills Conference in Salt Lake City. While there I co-taught a workshop about Indie Publishing with Willow Dawn Becker of Weird Little Worlds Press and Jodi L. Milner, an award-winning author. It was amazing and fun. I also taught a class on Archery Elk Hunting, and Cosmic Horror 101. I was the moderator for the Horror After Dark Panel featuring Gabino Iglesias, Terra Luft, Theresa Braun, and Johnny Worthen. I also got to sit on two panels about editing and took pitches for Timber Ghost Press. 

I was also appointed as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair for the League of Utah Writers. I can’t tell you how excited I am to start that role. It’s a topic that is near and dear to my heart.

I also pitched a novel to an agent and editor of a small press and they both wanted to see the first three chapters, so winner, winner, chicken dinner on that! :) 

Finally, I won the Gold Quill Award for Collections for Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror. I say I, but really it was my press, and the only reason it won was due to the amazing stories and poems by the contributors, the great cover art from Greg Chapman, the beautiful interior design by Firedrake Designs, and the hard work put in by Beverly Bernard with the editing.

Huge shoutout to all of them. Thank you for making this possible.

As for me, I’m finishing up some projects, and I’ll be releasing my upcoming collection: Branches and Bone: The Collected Tales of Evelyn Horn in October, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

Take care!

2022 has come and gone, and oh boy, what a year! Regarding writing, I had three short story acceptances, and I wrote 82,569 words. That may seem like a lot, but it is far below what I had hoped. Running Timber Ghost Press took up a lot of my time. I published eight titles under Timber Ghost Press. If you want to see them, you can head to www.timberghostpress.com.

I made excellent headway on my Alone meets Cabin in the Woods novel. In a nutshell, it is about a group of expert wilderness survival experts who think they are competing on a reality television show to win a bunch of money. However, they were duped and are sacrifices to a creature that awakens every so often to feed.

I also finished up a novella about Evelyn Horn, a badass Pinkerton in the Old West who has found herself entangled in a cult’s plot to summon an ancient tree demon. That novella will come out later this year as well as a second collection of my short stories titled, Through the Branches. Finally, I’m going to shop the Alone/Cabin in the Woods book around in the hopes of getting it picked up through a publisher.

I’ll be writing a few more short stories to answer a number of open calls, as well as drafting and hopefully finishing up another novel or two. I have one that’s about 50% done and two more solid ideas for novels/novellas that I want to start on.
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However, I think my real achievement in 2022 was finding myself. In Dec of 2021, I came out as genderfluid, and ever since that moment, it’s been a crazy rollercoaster of self-discovery and emotions. As I evolved as a person and became more comfortable with myself, I started to go out in public more and more as my feminine self. It was scary. It was nerve-wracking. It was exhilarating as well. 

I’m always a little on edge when I’m out in public, as I’m always waiting for some asshat to make a bigoted comment. But other than the expected stares, nothing of the sort has happened. Instead, I’ve encountered more love and acceptance than hate which is quite refreshing.

I’m still on my journey, but I’m making that journey with the love and support of my family and close friends.
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Here’s to 2023! 

Brian B. Baker writes horror and military/political thrillers. His book Disunion by Force comes out on November 8th, election day in the US. He lives with his wife and kids in Utah. ​

If you didn't know, I did a lot of freelance writing and editing in 2021. I could go through and detail that journey, but Patrick Young breaks it all down in easy to digest steps. So if you've considered becoming a freelancer, then check this out. 

Whether being a freelance writer is your dream job or just a desirable side hustle, there's nothing stopping you from starting your writing career today. Business experts believe that freelancing is great for college students, particularly because the experience can help you land other jobs after graduation. Freelance work also lets you earn money on a flexible basis as you continue your education or other personal goals. If you want to start writing as a freelancer right away, there are just a few tips to keep in mind as you set out on the path.
 
Accumulate Practical Writing Experience
Your career as a freelance writer begins long before you land your first paid gig. It starts when you write something that can be placed in your writing portfolio. Anything you write in a personal blog or during your university coursework can be used to hone your skills and showcase your proficiency. If possible, try to focus on writing with a specific niche in mind that you want to appeal to when you start searching for jobs.
 
If you want a college degree that will really work in your favor as a freelance writer, there are specific fields to consider. Earning a bachelor's degree in English, journalism, or communications will impress upon potential clients that you have deep experience with writing. 
 
Find Your First Paid Gigs
If you have a portfolio with several quality examples of your writing work, it might be time for you to start searching for your first gigs. Freelance job boards will probably be your first stop. You may face much competition in vying for gigs on these boards, but they are great resources for scoring your first paid jobs as a writer. Once you've built up some confidence, try pitching your services to businesses or contacts in your own network. With some luck, you might even find amazing opportunities right on your college campus.
 
Build Your Web Presence to Attract Clients
After getting some paid work under your belt, you will be ready to start marketing your freelance writing business. Setting up your own writing website is crucial for hosting your portfolio and showcasing your services to potential clients. If possible, collect positive testimonials from previous clients and post them on your website to generate some beneficial word of mouth. Let the power of social media marketing take over from there as you expand your network to include businesses and other writers who may seek to hire you.
 
Establish a Business Structure
As your writing work evolves into a bona fide business, you might consider forming a limited liability company. Under an LLC, you will operate with certain benefits including limited liability, tax advantages, less paperwork, and certain flexibilities. Different states have their own rules around the formation of LLCs, so be sure to check local regulations before proceeding. To easily ensure compliance and save money on lawyer fees, you can use a formation service to establish your business as an LLC in Utah.
 
Freelance writing can be a great opportunity for college students, as well as graduates trying to find their way after earning their degree. A career in freelancing offers flexibility in many ways. Not only can your freelance career conform to your other life goals, but it can also grow alongside you and become as big or as small as you need it to be.
 
For writing inspiration and submissions, explore Timber Ghost Press.

Patrick Young is an educator and activist. He believes people with disabilities must live within a unique set of circumstances--the outside world often either underestimates them or ignores their needs altogether. He created Able USA to offer helpful resources to people with disabilities and to provide advice on navigating various aspects of life as a person with disabilities. ​

When it comes to writing books, there are a few different camps. Some writers are plotters. They will take the time to fully outline their book, create character bios and descriptions, and have it all mapped out before they ever write a single word of their book. Then there are the pantsers. They don’t outline at all and write everything from the seat of their pants, so to speak. Basically, they will know what they want to write and just start writing and see where the words take them. There is no wrong way or right way to write, as both pantsing and plotting are effective.

For the longest time, I was a pantser. I had tried plotting, and many times my story would jump the rails by chapter two or three, and all that hard work was gone. When I would write my stories or books, I would have a general idea of what I wanted to write and a handful of scenes or beats I knew I wanted to include, and I’d make it happen. However, as I grew older, I found I would flounder on my projects, frequently hitting roadblocks or not being sure where I wanted to go.

Fast-forward to today. I’ve been freelancing on Upwork, writing novel outlines for a client. They would give me a general idea sometimes, or now that they trust me, they let me run free with it all. I would produce a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of what would happen in the book, develop character and faction bios, and then, in turn, they would hand that to another writer, and someone would write a book based off that outline. Recently I’ve been struggling with my book. I know in a general sense where I want it to go, but after five chapters in, I’m floundering again. I decided to finally outline it, and I think it is going to be magical. Why do I think that?

Well, I might start ghostwriting for this same company that I’m doing outlines for and they wanted a sample chapter. Using the outline I wrote, I was able to produce 1700 in an hour. Those 1700 words were probably the easiest thing I’ve written in the last six months. I no longer have to stop and think where I want it to go or worry about writing myself into a corner because the entire thing is laid out in front of me. What is even nicer is the sample I am writing is based on an outline I completed for them, so I know the characters and the story well. I also know where it is going across multiple books so I can start laying breadcrumbs and foreshadowing events that take place in book three.
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Is pantsing a bad way of doing things? Heavens no. I wrote a lot of things using that method, and it worked for me until I changed and it didn't anymore. As I mentioned above, there is no right or wrong way to do things. Just find the way that works for you and run with it. Hell, it may even be a hybrid of the two and that is fine! Just write and have fun with it. If that means plotting first, then plot. If it means pantsing, then do that. Now go write! 

Today is the day that you finally decide to sit down and read a book. You've had an idea of what you wanted to pick up for a while but now you are having trouble deciding on which one. Well, there is a website called Randomly Shop Books and it is super simple to use and it will make you feel like a kid in a candy store.
When you visit the website, there are numerous categories to choose from; fiction, horror, romance, and more! Every day, you can check Randomly for new books to check out. Who knows? You just might find your next favorite.
Since you're online today, why not visit the website? You just click around until you find the perfect book and you'll be reading in no time. Randomly features tons of great books for everyone! If you're lucky, you'll find one of my books on there.

Holy crap… what can I say about this book? It wastes no time jumping right into it and it also wasted no time sucking me in. Part coming-of-age, part horrible trauma, and part a treatise on depression masquerading as a story about a haunting. Well, first, before we go any further, if you are triggered about suicide, then stop right here and go no further.

Still here? Okay, then. This is a story about a group of teens who stumble across a haunted video clip on the internet (we’re talking early days of the internet where machines killed each other in battle to connect your computer and you could hear their screams through the phone line). The clip is of a congressman who kills himself on camera by eating a bullet from a .357.

The video imprints itself on the teens in more ways than one as they each begin to see the dead congressman in their dreams and eventually while they are awake as well. Their battle to figure out what is going on leads to some grisly dealings.
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I’m not going to spoil this book. You have to read it yourself. This book is an Alfred Hitchcock movie that had a baby with The Ring. I just know that it is going to stick with me for a very long time. Keisling has an uncanny ability to get under your skin.
 

If you follow me at all, you’ll know that hunting is a huge part of my life. In particular, archery elk hunting is my favorite jamberry. I spend a lot of time thinking about hunting elk, preparing to hunt elk, and when the time comes, actually hunting them. It may come as a surprise that I’ve only killed one elk in my entire life, and I started hunting them back in 2012.

This year I changed things up a bit. I used OnX maps to e-scout what looked like a good location. It was about three miles back in the timber and off trail for the last half-a-mile or so. The spot sat about 10,600 feet in elevation and was on a small flat space next to a saddle that provided food, cover, and water. My wife and I hiked up there to scout it out in person, and it was tough to get to. For most of it, it was relatively flat and on a trail. However, as soon as you left the trail, the terrain became rugged and steep with deadfall. In fact, I remember quite distinctly hiking up there and hoping that it wouldn’t pan out because getting an elk off that mountain was going to be difficult, to say the least. Yet, as soon as we got up to the spot, I knew immediately it was a good area. There was sign everywhere. So I dropped a couple trail cameras, and we left.

I kicked my physical training into high gear to get ready because I knew if I got something up there, I would need to be in good shape to get it out. Anxiously I waited for hunting season. Then, finally, the day came.

Day 1:
I left the house alone, hauling the camper, and headed out to the South Slope. The opening day wasn’t until the next morning, but I wanted to get up the mountain, set up base camp, and then hike into the area to spike camp so I would be close and ready to rock on the opener. Generally, my wife would be with me, but she had military training that she couldn’t get out of, so it was just me this time.

I’m always anxious heading out to elk camp. I never know what the conditions are going to be. How many people are going to be out there? Would there be someone in the spot I want to camp, or even worse, would there be hunters already out at my pre-scouted area?

These thoughts rattled through my head as I drove. However, to my surprise, there weren’t many people up on the mountain. I got to my base camp location and found it empty, so I quickly dropped the camper, set things up, changed, and headed out to the trailhead. Strangely enough, there was hardly anyone at all up there. All the spots that are usually filled with campers and hunters were open. I parked at the trailhead, grabbed my gear, and headed out. It was chilly and wet, but I felt like it would be fine, and my gear would be good to go.

The hike there wasn’t difficult at all. I found a spot at the base of the steep mountain to set up spike camp and now realize in retrospect I should have gone all the way up. I chose to set up my camp where I did because it was open and away from any potential widow makers, and I didn’t want to be too close to my hunting area. After I dropped my gear, I hiked up the mountain to retrieve my trail cams so I could take a look at the pics and get an idea of what was moving around up there and what time of day they liked to move.

Going up the steep part is a pain in the butt and scary. It is very steep, and a lot of times, there aren’t very good spots to put your feet. I hate going up and down that thing with a passion. However, I made it up fine and got my cameras. After a stressful hike down to camp, I pulled out my SD card reader to try and see the pics and realized that the card reader worked with my old phone, but not my new one. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I would be going in blind the next day. At that time, it was evening, so I ate a quick meal and then got into my sleeping bag. The temperature continued to drop, and while I didn’t freeze, it was just cold enough to be uncomfortable, and I got very little sleep. As fate would have it, I was just finally dozing off when my alarm sounded.

Day 2:
My first mistake that day was not realizing how long it would take me to get up the mountain in the dark. It took longer than anticipated, and I arrived at the top at the moment I should have already been in place. My second mistake was assuming the winds would do what they were supposed to do. They did the opposite, and now instead of blowing in my face, it was at my back. However, at that point, there wasn’t much I could do, and I wanted to get past the pond to the game trails that lead to the saddle to ambush any elk coming in for morning drink. However, the elk were already at the pond. Just as the meadow came into view through the trees, my scent busted them. I heard, with dismay in my heart, the sound of about 12 elk running away. They didn’t see me. They smelled me. All that hard work had just gone out the window because I wasn’t there earlier, and the winds were not in my favor.

I trudged along to the game trail and picked a good spot hoping that maybe another group would come in later. I was warm from my hike, but as I sat, the chill started to creep in. I was still feeling like an idiot from busting all those elk and wondering what I should do. I was in the process of sending a message back home when I looked up and saw a young cow elk. It wasn’t a calf, but it certainly wasn’t an adult yet, either. It was about 30 yards away. As it moved through the trees, a mature cow elk came in behind it. I saw it was going to step out in one of my shooting lanes, so I drew my bow and waited.

Sure enough, it stepped out exactly where I thought it would. Yet, instead of walking broadside, it came out and turned right toward me and started eating. A front shot with its head down isn’t a good shot. After a while, I let the tension off my bow. I think the younger cow must have seen the movement because shortly after that, it turned tail and ran back up towards the saddle and the older one followed.

Sure, I was disappointed it didn’t pan out, but being there and having a plan come together, and getting to draw on an elk were all huge successes in my book. However, my happiness would soon fade.

It began to rain.

A sprinkle at first, and I got out my poncho and used it as a tarp to make an impromptu shelter. However, as I was tying the ends off, I noticed the dexterity in my fingers was almost non-existent. I knew I was cold but didn’t realize I was that cold. The rain continued to come down, and now that I was paying attention, I realized I was just getting colder and colder. I already had all my layers on. I finally made the decision to leave the area and go back to my spike camp. By the time I got there, I was even colder, and the rain was coming down harder. I knew that even if I got into my tent and put the sleeping bag on, it wouldn’t do much for the chill as everything was quite damp and wet. I made the judgment call to pack up and head back to base camp.

Once I had everything loaded, I made my way back down to the trail. I’m not sure if I packed my bag wrong or if I was fatigued from hardly any sleep, wet, or cold, but each step was tough and drained me. Maybe it was a combination of all of it, but hiking out was way harder than hiking in, and it had only been a day. I had gone through tougher workouts, but for whatever reason, each step out was a chore.

It finally stopped raining, and I pulled my phone out to help me find the trail. As I did, I noticed a bit of movement out of the corner of my eye. I saw something through the trees and could tell it was an animal doing that little shimmy they do when they are trying to see something. I snuck a little closer and saw it was a big cow elk. I quietly shed my pack and checked the wind. It was blowing in my face, which was perfect. Then I moved a little closer.

I pulled out my cow call and let a mew out, and it mewed back! Moments later, another cow mewed back in the trees. For the next few minutes, I talked with the cow using the call. I’d mew, it would respond and get a little closer trying to see me.

I ranged it at 60 yards. For me and my abilities, 60 yards is a no-go. I knew I would have to get closer to seal the deal. So I continued talking with it, and it continued to get a little closer. However, it was moving out diagonally from me. I started to move perpendicular, thinking I could cut the distance and find a good shooting lane. I moved slow, waiting until it was behind trees or had its head down to move at all. Sometimes it would look up and stare right at me, and I’d make my best tree impression.

It was all working, and I knew if things kept up, within a minute or two I’d be close enough and would have a good chance at flinging an arrow downrange. Suddenly the cow turned and ran into the woods.

I was dumbfounded. It ran when we were both behind trees, so I knew it hadn’t seen me. The wind had been good, so it hadn’t smelled me. But, to double-check, I pulled out my wind checker and found the wind had shifted! It had caught my scent, and that was enough to scare it away.

Again, I was disappointed but elated to have not one but two chances to close in on elk in one day. I trudged my way back to the truck, and by the time I got there, I was utterly exhausted. I’ve done more before, so I have no idea why I was so gassed and can only chalk it up the combo of being fatigued and cold.

By the time I got back to base camp, I was feeling a bit better, but as soon as I could I crashed and took a nap. I slept HARD. When I woke, the wind was going nuts, and although I felt a lot better, I decided to take the evening off to recharge and hit it the next morning.

Day 3:
The next day I hit one of my old spots. My setups worked in the fact that I had deer roll through the area less than 30 yards from me. If I had a deer tag, I would have had two good chances to fill it. However, no elk. In the evening, I went out to a different spot I was familiar with. Again, no elk, although I did bump something on my hike out that was quite large, and I think it was an elk, and I had a pack of coyotes howling and yipping probably within 100-200 yards of me. But I didn’t see any timber ghosts. I did, however, find some beautiful new spots. 

Day 4: 
I got up early and headed out to a third spot that I’ve hunted before and been in elk. I hiked out to my spot and set up on this steep incline. I didn’t see or hear any elk; however, at one point, I turn my head and find a doe about 12 feet away from me. The deer can kind of tell something is amiss; however, it couldn’t tell what was up. It poked around for a bit, then took off when it finally walked into my scent. However, once again, if I were hunting doe up here, that would have been another excellent opportunity. Yet, as I sat there not seeing any elk and not seeing much sign, I started to think about the spot I hit in the very beginning. At this point, I have begun to reference it as Mt. Doom, and in the back of my mind, I know there are elk on Mt. Doom. So I decided I would head back to camp, eat a hearty breakfast, recharge my electronics, and then hike out to Mt. Doom for an afternoon/evening hunt with the idea that I would most likely be hiking out in the dark. However, with the knowledge of knowing that there are elk up there, I remembered something I had heard before: Don’t leave elk to find elk. So I did just that, I went back, ate, recharged, and then headed out to the trailhead around 1230 and started to “simply walk into Mordor.” 

I made it up to the top of Mt. Doom and set up. This time, even though it was the middle of the afternoon, I snuck in very aware of the wind direction and made my way to a good ambush spot. I was hopeful and yet a little apprehensive as I started running calculations in my head on how long it would take to haul an elk off that mountain by myself and what time I would get back to camp. Here’s a pro-tip, don’t do that. Just enjoy the moment. 

As I sat up there, it started to rain again. However, this time, I was ready and set up my poncho as a tarp and stayed dry. It rained for a good 30 minutes, then cleared up. However, no elk ever came by. On the one hand, I was bummed. On the other, I was happy that I went back up there and gave it another try, otherwise in the back of my mind, it would always be nagging me, telling me I should have hiked back up there because that’s where all the elk are. I still believe that spot is one of the better spots I’ve ever found, but I’ve also been in elk in other spots too. 
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I timber-stalked my way out of the area, never coming across anything other than some beautiful scenery and a cool paw print. I think it could be a bobcat or young cougar.  

By the time I got back to camp, I was so beat and tired it was ridiculous.

Day 5:
I woke up still very sore and fatigued to the point that I decided to take the morning off. Some may call this dumb and a missed opportunity. Quite frankly, I don’t care what others think. That extra rest really helped and let me go hard that evening. Plus, it wasn’t all for not. I may not have hunted, but I definitely gathered.
Whenever I come up, I always keep an eye out for chokecherries. I know where some bushes are, and this year, they were plentiful and ripe. So I gathered a bunch up to take back to my mother-in-law because she turns it into some amazing chokecherry syrup and jam.

In the afternoon, I headed out to a spot I had e-scouted that looked promising. I hadn’t yet been there in person, so I was going in blind.

This new spot wasn’t nearly as far in the backcountry as Mt. Doom. However, that being said, I found lots of sign. Tons of tracks, scat (it was a little older), and lots of good cover, water, and food for elk. It was a good spot. Yet, I still didn’t come across any of the elusive timber ghosts.
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That concluded the hunt. Some close calls with deer and elk. I mean, other than actually harvesting one, you can’t ask for a better hunt. I’ll be back up on the mountain in mid-September. Hopefully then I can seal the deal and bring home some elk meat. 

I recently watched, The Empty Man, and I have some thoughts. First off, the trailer is a little misleading. It makes the movie look like one of those urban legends, supernatural killer-type movies. In a way, that’s not wrong; however, this movie is so much more than just that trope. This movie solidly falls into cosmic horror.
I’ll first give you some general, non-spoiler-filled thoughts. Then I’ll move into a spoiler-filled section where we can discuss some of the finer points of the film.

The film was released in 2020, and somehow, I missed it. I’m guessing it got lost in the pandemic craziness or something similar. The film was directed by David Prior and starred many folks I wasn’t familiar with other than Stephen Root, who has a very small part in the movie. However, everyone did a great job acting, and I have to say the production quality of this movie was excellent.
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The official synopsis is:
On the trail of a missing girl, an ex-cop comes across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity.

​Simple enough, right? And yes, that is pretty much the gist of it. However, the longer the movie plays, the more complex this story gets, and let me tell you, this movie goes on for a long time. The run time is two hours and seventeen minutes, which is a long time for a horror film. About twenty minutes of this film is in the prologue, which runs for almost twenty minutes and follows a group of hikers in Bhutan that come across a monstrous-looking skeleton nestled in a crevasse. 

After that, we meet the main character, James Lasombra, played by James Badge Dale. Right off the bat, they portray Lasombra as living alone, working at a security/lock shop, and dealing with some past trauma as he is shown taking anti-depressants, and you catch a snippet of memory/flashback of his wife and child in a car. You can guess what happens. I found the choice of character name interesting because, in Spanish, La sombra means “the shadow.” The Shadow knows… 
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The movie jumps in pretty quick with the mystery as the next-door neighbor girl ends up missing. The girl talked with the main character the day before, and given that Lasombra is an ex-cop, he decides to help out the mom (who the film teases has some sort of shady background with Lasombra anyway). Not to spoil anything, but his investigations lead him on a long, crazy journey that introduces him to the concept of the Empty Man. According to legend, if you blow on an empty bottle on a bridge and think about the Empty Man, he’ll show up in three days. His investigation leads him through a lot of weird twists and turns, ending with some dark discoveries.
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Overall, The Empty Man is a good flick. I love the cosmic horror aspect of it and even some revelations (more on that in the spoiler section). However, I think the film is a bit long, plus it is misleading with what the trailer portrays the movie to be with what it ends up being. In other words, the film has a bit of identity crisis and leaves a lot of questions at the end. For that reason, I give this movie a 4/5 instead of 5/5.
 
Now, for the spoilers. Leave now if you don’t want to know. 

The movie starts out with the four friends hiking in Bhutan, as I mentioned above. This takes place like 20+ years before the main story. One of the hikers hears something like a hollow whistling (i.e., blowing into a bottle), and as he tracks the source, he falls into a crevasse. One of the other hikers goes down to help his buddy but finds him sitting cross-legged in front of some crazy-looking skeleton that is more monster than human. He is in a state of shock and unresponsive. They get him out of the crevasse and begin to haul him down the mountain, but a storm causes the hikers to seek shelter in a nearby cabin they find. While at the cabin, one of the hikers begins to see things in the storm (a massive figure in flowing, tattered, black robes). At one point, they can’t find the unresponsive hiker but see his tracks leading down to a huge footbridge that spans across a canyon. The hiker, who was seeing things, produces a knife and kills the other two before jumping off the cliff, leaving the unresponsive hiker sitting at the bridge.

So, during Lasombra’s investigation, he ends up finding not only did the neighbor-girl go missing but all of her friends as well. All of the friends he can investigate has ties to a place called the Pontifex Institute. When Lasombra shows up there, he finds the institute is basically a cult trying to communicate with entities from other dimensions, one of which is the Empty Man. He also discovers the institute believes they can summon or manifest things into reality by concentrating hard enough. These manifestations are called, Tulpas. (Some believe Tulpas are real…you can look it up if you like).

During his investigation, we get more of the cosmic horror angle coming from his discoveries. He eventually ends up at a hospital where there is a man in a vegetative state. Members of the institute “worship” this comatose man, and Lasombra finds out the man has been in a coma for 23 years and moved around from facility to facility. Of course, this man is the hiker from Bhutan.

Lasombra eventually finds the missing neighbor girl with the man in the hospital. She reveals that Lasombra is a Tulpa, created three days ago to be a vessel for the Empty Man since the hiker’s body is falling to the strain of holding the Empty Man now. Of course, Lasombra thinks it’s bullshit, but the girl can tell him all the essential details of his past, and when he calls the girl’s mother, she acts like she’s never heard of Lasombra. Lasombra returns home and finds it is empty, void of all belongings and furniture.
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Now going off the deep end, Lasombra gets a gun and heads back to the institute. While there, he runs into the Empty Man, who basically enters Lasombra’s body. During this scene, the Empty Man takes on a different form from what we’ve seen so far. He looks surprisingly a lot like H.P. Lovecraft’s Nyarlathotep, which I found was a neat nod. 

After this happens, Lasombra returns to the hospital and kills the hiker. When he steps out into the reception area, all the hospital workers stop what they are doing and stare at him. Then as one, they drop to their knees and worship Lasombra as the vessel for the Empty Man.
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So… my biggest issue with the film is at this point. If Lasombra is a Tulpa like neighbor girl says, how do we see him interacting with the mom in earlier scenes? How do we see him living in his home full of his possessions? What about his place of work? Were all of those hallucinations? It doesn’t make sense to me. But, that being said, it was still a good movie, and I enjoyed it. 

I recently watched a film called, The Dark and the Wicked. It came out in 2020, directed by Bryan Bertino. Here’s the official synopsis:

On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family.
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The premise sounded interesting, and the trailer looked creepy.

After watching it, I have some thoughts. First off, yeah, it’s creepy. It nails slow-burn dread and tension to the point where there are spots in the movie where you know something will happen, and it has you squirming in your seat. There’s a particular scene where the mother is cutting carrots with a big knife, and we know from the trailer that she loses fingers. So the whole time, you’re just waiting for it to happen, and goodness gracious, they take their time with it, but in a good way.

I’m not going to get into spoilers for this film, but there really isn’t much to spoil. I liked the setting, the atmosphere, and the acting was well done by everyone in it.

This story is definitely steeped in the supernatural. We never get a concrete answer to what’s going on, but they infer some things and leave it up to you. 

By no means was the film perfect. For one, I felt like they could have developed the plot a bit more and some of the characters. I never really cared about any of them much. Instead, the characters are thrust into this situation and reacting to all the horrible things going on. Otherwise, I enjoyed this film.
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I give it a 4/5. If you like creeping dread, then give it a watch.