Life. Oh, what’s the point of it all? Stuck in a daily grind doing menial jobs we can’t stand with coworkers we hate just to pay the bills. Faceless corporations manipulating our every waking hour through advertising, television, social media, price gouging and political propaganda. Even the daily news is a masochist’s wet dream: murder, rape, corruption, war, famine, disease, natural disasters, environmental destruction. Life’s miseries seemingly have no end. But end they do, of course, for each and every one of us. Death’s stark inevitability produces raw existential dread in many. But should it? As William, the central figure in the pitch-black British comedy Dead In A Week (Or Your Money Back) glumly notes, “Death is the one thing we all have in common.”

Winter. The word conjures snowball fights and sledding, Christmas displays and lazy days spent home from school. Yet grim shades lurk beneath those cheery wonderland joys. Winter is the time when daylight dwindles and skies darken with overcast gloom. The earth becomes barren, trees turn skeletal, and even the animals slumber. Those long, somber months blanketed with snow and ice, a season of ending before spring’s distant rebirth. And through the ceaseless nights we huddle for warmth and ignore the frightful reminders of death’s ever-stalking shadow…

Few ways exist to combat winter’s dread better than curling up with a good book. One person who understands that fact is Canadian editor Rhonda Parrish, who invokes the season’s foreboding menace with her latest Tyche Books offering, Hauntings And Hoarfrost, a multi-author anthology (available January 28th) featuring twenty-two literary interpretations of the season’s spookier side.

The new year has brought in some amazing new releases in movie theaters, and about to bring in some more, making the very first month a memorable one for cinema. There are semi-biographical musicals, horror adaptations retelling well-known children’s characters, and edge-of-the-seat thrillers among the new releases in January 2025. Of all the films to release in theaters this month, there are many exciting titles by acclaimed filmmakers that you do not want to miss. Let us find out all about the new movies in theaters now and those that are to be released soon.

Accumulators are popular bets. They involve grouping smaller bets and odds into a large outcome. We discuss them in the article below. 

by Michael McKown

In the quiet, sunlit corner of an old, creaky house in Pasadena, CA, where the walls whispered secrets of yesteryears, sat Emily, now in her late seventies. The room was cluttered with memories: photographs, old letters, and mementos from a life well-lived. For decades, her friends and family had been nudging, sometimes pushing, her towards a singular endeavor—writing her memoir.

Emily had lived a life that seemed almost too vibrant to be captured in mere words. She had danced through the '60s, marched in protests that shaped the world, loved and lost, and found love again in unexpected places. Her tales were not just stories; they were chapters of history, personal and global. Yet, the idea of pinning these experiences down to paper was daunting. When was the right time to start?

Pop stars get all the fame and all the attention, but they don’t necessarily need to know how to make music. Performers and music artists are two different beasts, after all, but that just makes it all the more special when a pop star is also a talented musician.

The Piano

One of the most beautiful and versatile instruments by far is the piano. From jaunty tunes to adding depth and emotion, this instrument has been in and out of our favorite catchy tunes for generations. Listening to it live, however, and watching your favorite musicians play it live themselves, however, is an entirely different experience.

Who are these pop stars with talent on the piano? Here’s the top roundup:

Dozens of books are reviewed here at Critical Blast each year. Given that the site was founded upon the principle of exposing independently produced genre works to a wider audience, most featured books are of a decidedly science fiction, fantasy, or horror nature. This year was no different, and the submissions sent to us for review were as diverse and exciting as ever.

As with any list, some caveats are necessary. First, while it may say ‘Top 10 of 2024’ in the headline, not every book included was necessarily published in this calendar year; some were submitted to us in 2023 but were read and reviewed during 2024, thus making them eligible. Secondly, while we oftentimes review multiple books by a single author in any given twelve month period, in the name of fairness a writer may appear on our list just once, meaning that only their absolute best is chosen. With those things in mind, let our inaugural ‘Top 10 Indie Books of the Year’ countdown commence!

Chicago and Friends: Live at 55 from Decades Rock Live and Mercury Studios is a DVD/2CD set recorded at the Ocean City Casino Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to commemorate the band’s 55th anniversary and the release of their legendary, multi-platinum-selling album Chicago Transit Authority (of which I have not one but three copies, having worn two of them out over the years!). It contains hits from that album and throughout the ages—many years and many hits—some as well known and familiar as members of your own family, and others that will have you going, “Oh yeah, I forgot all about that song!”

The band, still replete with three of the founding members, along with other exceptionally talented artists who make up the current lineup, and a bevy of phenomenal guest artists, makes—and made—this concert one for the ages!

Folklore is the wellspring from which almost all horror derives. Many of the genre’s most familiar stock figures evolved directly from those superstitious yarns of old, passed down by our primitive ancestors as warnings about the dangers lurking in the dark bowers of man’s domain. The vampire, the werewolf, the zombie, ghosts and ghouls—each began, once upon a time, as tales told in hushed whispers around a campfire, tales that over time become the legends we know today. Every region of the globe has its own distinct folklore, and the horror genre has seemingly plundered them all over the decades for its selfish creative needs, to the point where it seems audiences have become cynical, even bored, by standard tropes and ideas.

The life of the digital casino party is online slots—flashing lights, eccentric themes, and the excitement of striking the jackpot with one play. To be honest, though, slots are also really straightforward even if they are exciting. Underneath the veneer of vivid animations and appealing sound effects is a game of chance with enough depth to distinguish spinning your way to glory from burning away your money.

The actuality? Winning at online slots requires strategy, timing, and knowledge of game mechanics, not only luck. A little knowledge will help you optimize your possibilities and count your spins.

Often unfairly maligned as overwrought, melodramatic, and campy, what we now refer to as Gothic literature began in 1764 with the publication of Horace Walpole’s seminal novel, The Castle of Otranto. Wildly popular with 18th-century audiences, the book created many of the conventions still associated with the subgenre today: distressed damsels beset by supernatural evils amid the oh-so-scary backdrop of ruined castles, ancient monasteries, and/or creepy catacombs. Gothic literature flourished in its original form, popularized by authors like Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley, and Edgar Allan Poe, and continues to fascinate the public today through the works of mainstream names like Anne Rice and the independent efforts of such niche proprietors as Quill & Crow Publishing House.

Soft Winds and Roses is the 11th album from internationally acclaimed Canadian jazz vocalist Diana Panton, whose impressive career has earned her multiple awards. A departure from her more recent projects, this album features songs from the 1960s onward, performed with a minimalist backing ensemble that complements her vocals beautifully. Guitarist Reg Schwager and multi-instrumentalist Don Thompson (on bass, piano, and vibes) provide a subtle yet rich sound, evoking the intimate atmosphere of a jazz club.

Love. It’s the one thing nearly all of us strive for, more than any personal achievement or career ambition. Undying love may be the seemingly unattainable ideal of Shakespearean sonnets and Harlequin romance, but with the proliferation of modern-day matchmakers, speed-dating, Tinder and other online apps, it’s clear people the world over yearn for the unique emotional connectivity love provides. But relationships are hard enough if both parties are alive and well. When one or the other is already pushing up daisies, undying love takes on a completely new meaning, as Lacey Todd, the protagonist in Alana K. Drex and Billy Ray Middleton Jr.’s hilarious new novel, Oops, I Killed My Boyfriend, inadvertently finds out.

In our fast-paced world, enhancing our enjoyment can often feel challenging, yet it can also be a rewarding journey of discovery. Frequently, the most satisfying experiences are those that may not be immediately apparent. By exploring different avenues of pleasure, we can uncover hidden opportunities that enrich our lives. This blog explores various strategies to unlock these opportunities, including a glimpse into the expanding realm of online casinos.

Embrace New Hobbies

One of the most effective ways to unlock hidden enjoyment is to embrace new hobbies. Engaging in activities that spark curiosity can lead to a profound sense of fulfillment. Whether it's painting, gardening, or learning a musical instrument, trying something new not only broadens your skill set but also introduces you to new communities and experiences.

Much of today’s wrestling superstars went into the family business. That’s true for Vince McMahon, Jr. founder of Titan Sports, Inc. and executive chairman of the board of directors of the WWE. It’s also true for one of the WWE’s biggest stars ever, The Rock. But you might not know that McMahon helped shape The Rock’s career right down to the name he fights under.

It’s All in the Family

There’s a saying: ‘All monsters are human’. Melodramatic, perhaps, but also true. The supernatural beings that permeate folklore have shaped the horror genre in innumerable ways, but nothing—nothing—is more frightening than a diseased psychopathic mind. Vampires, demons, ghouls, werewolves, poltergeists, extraterrestrial invaders, each can be rationalized away as dreams, hallucinations or eyewitness error, but the murderous acts perpetuated by one human against another are undeniably real and sadly commonplace.

All fictional works are voyages of discovery. The audience embarks upon imaginary worlds, eager yet unknowing where its creators will lead them. Whether it be a slam-bang cinematic spectacle or the more intimate patterns of prose, a certain trust exists on such journeys; our time and emotion is invested in the hope that we’ll be ushered to places both entertaining and enlightening. Sometimes, however—as the enduring popularity of horror proves—those escapist excursions can become dark, dangerous affairs. The fear genre’s wisest creators understand that unspoken covenant with their audience and accept the responsibility, temporarily guiding us through blackened nightmare forests. All we have to do is take their hand…

In an unstable and chaotic universe, the only constant is change. From the collapse of galaxies to the passing of seasons, the mutation of bacteria and the splitting of atoms, cycles of birth, death, and renewal envelop us. People, with our finite lifespans, have attempted to defy time’s ticking hands, through science, through medicine, through construction and art. Yet art is itself an agent of change: each creative movement is the inheritor of previous endeavors, sometimes happily, other times gleefully destroying what’s come before.

One author who understands that transitory nature of existence is Jim Horlock, who explores the theme to its most frightful degree in the new Quill & Crow Publishing short horror collection, Change & Other Terrors.

The cornerstone sporting discipline in Zambia, football combines pure entertainment with economic opportunity. Football remains a centrepiece in the culture of gambling in the country, as well as a means of firing up passions among thousands of fans.

This fires up an industry that has so far grown and become dynamic with the emergence of online platforms and relaxed regulations, furnished by Zambia's deep-rooted historical and cultural love of the sport.

Historical Development of Football Betting in Zambia

Origins of Football Betting Culture

Football betting in Zambia originated in the mid-20th century when every­body was placing informal bets on local matches. As radio broadcasting became common, more were able to follow the international games and place bets informally.

Transformation. In many ways it’s the theme common to all horror tales. Through film and the printed page, the human body—nude, dead, mutilated or deformed—has evolved into the oft-fetishized narrative centerpiece, whether it be a lycanthrope’s bestial metamorphosis, Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde, or the putrefying decay of a zombie. With a lineage extending back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Colour Out of Space’, straight through to Clive Barker’s body-modifying Cenobites and the films of Japanese writer/director Shinya Tsukamoto and Canadian auteur David Cronenberg, horror embraces physical change like no other genre.