Books and Boos, with Nicolina Torres

Greetings from the cornfields!

Books and Boos, with Nicolina Torres

It’s that time of year when the crops in my small town are taller than me and the Amish are jarring vegetables for the winter. It’s also that time of year when I come to life like a bear out of hibernation and break out my Bunnicula sweatshirt and rock out with my Autumn Lodge Yankee Candle out.

But I don’t like pumpkin spice. I can’t. I’m sorry. Don’t hate me.

ABOUT NICOLINA TORRES

My name’s Nikki (she/her) and I’m a writer of short stories and novels, mostly in the genres of horror, mystery, and fantasy. Think Shirley Jackson or Ray Bradbury, not that I’m anywhere near as good; they just wrote the speculative fiction I crave and aspire to. Four of my stories are currently optioned for film, TV, and podcast projects, and I’ll be posting any progress on those from this Substack.

If you’re a $5 paying member, you will have access to the stories that will soon make it to the big screen or streamer. You can read them on the “Original Stories” page.—two freebies are there right now. I also want to mention that nothing I write has been touched by A.I. Nothing.

Anything else creepy or literary-related will be posted under “Books and Boos.” Generic posts will be under “Notes.”

MISS WILKES

I wrote and published horror movie reviews under the pseudonym Miss Wilkes for years because sometimes I have a Beavis and Butthead sense of humor. Most reviews are available once a week (or more) to $5 paying members, though I do have four freebies that were published in September. As for the movies I prefer, I love gimmicky horror or 80s horror, the kind where teens are trapped and slaughtered in a ski lodge / high school / mall / gym / furniture store etc. I also like good-bad schlock, hidden treasures, classics. Basically, I’ll watch anything from Argento to Zaat.

My horror reviews will be posted under “Miss Wilkes Movie Reviews.” The rating scale is:

★★★★★ - “A Must-See”

★★★★☆ - “Worth the Watch”

★★★☆☆ - “Good for One Viewing”

★★☆☆☆ - “Don’t Bother”

★☆☆☆☆ - “Kill It with Fire”

Oh, check out my nephew JJ and I a few years back. A rare show of cuteness on my Substack.

For whatever reason, I can’t convince my sister or JJ to dress him up as Agent Cooper to my Log Lady this year. That’s disappointing because one of the best parts of being an aunt is cosplaying with your kid nephew on Halloween. Bummer.

COMING SOON

In October, I will be posting an original story, BOOKS FOR THE LIVING, in serial form:

Strange things start to happen to the employees of a bookstore set to permanently close.

I will also be posting my world-famous HALLOWEEN PLAYLIST. It’s been a big hit at parties, but maybe everyone’s just being nice to me. By the way, the scariest song ever written is “Hurdy-Gurdy Man” by Donovan. I don’t know if that’s thanks to David Fincher or not.

XOXX,

Nikki

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