Book Review: Gabi Ortiz has finally run out of lives in Stark Holborn’s Ninth Life

Arts & Culture, Books

Gabriella Ortiz has gone by many names. General. Dolores Lazlo. La Pesadilla. Ortz. Nine Lives. Gabi.
Child superweapon turned pit fighter, turned pirate, turned the Accord’s most wanted, she’s lived more than a few different lives. And she’s died a few deaths too.
Havemercy Grey is, by any comparison, nobody. A Deputy Air Marshall on a nowhere mining satellite at the system’s edge, any power they might wield is stripped from them by the violent Shockney family. So when an infamous outlaw crash lands on Jaypea, Hav can’t pass up the opportunity to escort them to justice – and the 20-million bounty doesn’t hurt either.
But Nine Lives is no ordinary criminal. And before Hav sets out for the nearest Accord outpost, they’re given a specific warning: “Don’t let her talk.”
Ninth Life sees author Stark Holborn return to her brilliantly imagined world of desert moons, corrupt governments, and the lurking Ifs, showing violent visions of what might be – the what but not the how. Where previous instalments Ten Low (read our review here) and Hel’s Eight focused on medic Low and her attempts to atone for a terrible crime, Ninth Life follows Ortiz, alias Nine Lives, the woman we first met as a teen general way back in the first chapters of The Factus Sequence.
Ninth Life’s blurb might paint it as a wild chase novel. But it is, in fact, a dossier, put together by Military Proctor Idrisi Blake. Desperately trying to piece together the story of the dangerous outlaw Nine Lives, Blake sets about collecting whatever information they can find about the mysterious woman. Which is no mean feat, as documents mysteriously vanish, files suddenly become corrupt, and archives go up in flames. It seems “Don’t let her talk” goes much deeper than just Hav conversing with a criminal. And of course, contrary to their instructions, Hav, does let Ortiz talk, and much of the novel is taken up with Ortiz sharing tales from her past lives – or, rather, the circumstances leading up to the end of each one. It’s this testimony that forms the majority of the novel.
Holborn’s writing remains as strong as ever – imaginative, evocative, and perfectly paced. And, like its predecessors, Ninth Life is compulsively readable. It’s also always exciting, with an ambush around every corner. Holborn brings Hav’s testimony, Ortiz’s recollections, and Blake’s research together with ease, embodying each section with a distinct voice and character. These shifting perspectives suit the world perfectly, tugging at strings, exploring half truths, changing destinies, and toying with the Ifs’ precarious realities.
There’s an interesting pattern at play – first book Ten Low had just one lead, Hel’s Eight split its time between Ten and the diaries of Pec Esterhazy, and here, in the third instalment, we bounce around three voices, with myriad narratives within them. It feels like a nod to all the possibilities that the Ifs tease, as they flock to every gamble, every risky play, and every toss of a coin.
But for all the probabilities and realities that the Ifs can show Ortiz -as they showed Ten, and as they will eventually show Hav – one irrefutable, immoveable fact remains. Legends are made, not born. And the Accord – despite every bounty they put on Ortiz’s head, every informant they paid off, and every piece of information they destroyed – made Nine Lives. From the moment they took a child and turned her into a war machine, and through every decision since, they have contributed immeasurably to the mythology of a woman they’re trying to deny ever existed. That’s poetry.
You’d be forgiven for being surprised that a book probably best described as a ‘space western’ left me ugly crying on more than one occasion. But as someone who devoured the first two books in the series – and re-read them in the run-up to the release of this one – Ninth Life just about broke me. There’s no shortage of return characters to tug on the heartstrings. It’s testament to not just the world Holborn has built but the found family she’s populated it with that I literally can’t think about a certain old robot dog or a young lovelorn fool with a metal hand without tearing up.
Emotional sucker-punches aside, new readers would also certainly benefit from the previous explorations of the Ifs, the Seekers, and Hel the Converter in Ten Low and Hel’s Eight. Ninth Life certainly could stand alone, and given the focus on Ortiz rather than Ten, perhaps it’s intentionally so. But, there’s so much depth to this world that it’s a crime not to go back to where it all began, and to understand the true tragedy of Gabi Ortiz.
Quite simply, it’s an incredible series, and Ninth Life wraps up The Factus Sequence in the richest, most intense, and most wonderfully poignant way.
And there I go again. Crying over an old robot dog.

FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Stark Holborn’s Ninth Life is out now through Titan Books. Grab yourself a copy from your local bookstore HERE.
For more by Stark Holborn, including the previous books in The Factus Sequence, check out her website.
Related Posts:

Celebrate local books, authors during Public Library Week

Arts & Culture, Books

Next week is Ontario Public Library Week and the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library wants to help book lovers celebrate local books and authors.

The library is hosting a trivia night on Oct. 22 at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library, 50 East Street from 7-8:30 p.m. This event is free, but those interested need to register in advance as it fills up quickly. 

Author Palooza is also back! Drop by the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library on Oct. 24, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to take part in this annual literary event.

For more information, see the press release below:

Oct. 20-26, 2024 marks Ontario Public Library Week, and the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library is marking the occasion with two events to celebrate local books and authors.

Think you know local literature? Prove it for a chance to win some great prizes! Join the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library for a trivia night filled with a variety of literary facts to challenge your mind. Not a book buff? No problem! With questions that touch on history, sports, geography, and more, there’s something for everyone. And if you want to brush up on your knowledge, we have plenty of information about local authors and books.

Join us on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2024 at the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library, 50 East Street from 7-8:30 p.m. This is a free program, but space is limited, so register soon to avoid disappointment! Registration is open now on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/1020800992247

Want an opportunity to meet some authors, purchase some books, and get inspired? Author Palooza is back! Drop by the James L. McIntyre Centennial Library on Oct. 24, 2024 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to take part in this annual literary event.

Get to know some of your local authors and publishing professionals. Hear their stories of how they became published, what inspires them, excerpts from their books, and much more. There will be scheduled book talks with opportunities to ask questions and get your purchases signed by the authors themselves.

For more information on either of these programs, please contact the Reference and Information Desk at 705-759-5236.

NYC icons Zabar’s, MTA will celebrate 210 combined years in business with free treats this month

Business News

Two iconic Big Apple institutions are teaming up to celebrate 210 total years in business — with cookies and bagels for everyone.

Zabar’s will hand out its legendary black and white cookies on Oct. 22 to commuters in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens to celebrate its 90th anniversary this year, officials said. The MTA, meanwhile, turns 120 on Oct. 27.

The gourmet emporium on Broadway on the Upper West Side has been entwined with the MTA for nearly a century — with Stanley Zabar, the 92-year-old son of founder Louis Zabar, saying that his dad purposely placed his business within walking distance of the underground.

Zabar’s and the MTA celebrating their anniversary with an event outside the Manhattan store on Oct. 15, 2024. Robert Miller

Zabar’s and the MTA will celebrate a combined 210 years in business by passing out free treats to commuters this month. Robert Miller

“My father told us if you open a store within two blocks of a subway station, you become a rich store,” Zabar said at a Tuesday press conference outside the Broadway location. “I can tell you this is true!”

Explore More

“We settled here within two blocks of the subway station, I still live around the block!”

The exact locations of the cookie giveaway weren’t divulged Tuesday.

From Oct. 24 to Oct. 27, Zabar’s will knock its prices down from 8 to 11 a.m. each day: A bagel with schmear will cost $1.20, a bagel with schmear and a coffee will cost $2.90, and a bagel with cream cheese and lox will go for $9.90, she said.

Saul Zabar at the anniversary celebration. Robert Miller

The store will pass out its famous black and white cookies to commuters in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. Robert Miller

Daniel Zabar, Benjamin Zabar, WIllie Zabar, and Michael Zabar posing in the family’s store in 2011. Courtesy of David Zabar

“We look forward to our customers getting in on the deal and joining us for these two iconic birthday celebrations,” said Shanifah Rieara, the MTA’s Chief Customer Officer.

Get all the stories that move New York to your inbox

Sign up for our Metro Daily newsletter!

Thanks for signing up!

Demetrius Crichlow, NYC Transit’s interim president, said the agency was thrilled to recognize two Big Apple institutions: The transit system that the city is built upon, and a Depression-era store that’s endured for decades.

“Zabar’s … has been here for 90 years!” he said. “Ninety years that people have come to enjoy a bagel and schmear, a black and white cookie and some hot coffee.”

Stanley Zabar noted that his father purposefully started his store near a subway stop. Robert Miller

Demetrius Crichlow, NYC Transit’s interim president, said that the agency is proud to support a legendary institution. Robert Miller

“That has been what New York is about — it’s about institutions like this that make this city as great as it is.”

He compared their shared birthday to the collaboration between Aerosmith and Run DMC in 1986, earning a few laughs from the gathered crowd.

“This is gonna’ be great!” he said with a smile. “I might be biased, but I think it’s pretty awesome.”

1 tourist dead, 2 hospitalized after rescue from powerful surf on Oahu’s North Shore

Travel

Powerful surf on Oahu’s North Shore swept three tourists off the beach and out to sea on Monday. The incident left two hospitalized and one dead at the scene, according to the Honolulu Emergency Services Department.Shortly after 8 a.m., Honolulu Ocean Safety, the Honolulu Fire Department and Honolulu Emergency Medical Services responded to a 911 call regarding two women, ages 72 and 31, and one 63-year-old man who were pulled into the ocean at Keiki Beach, a popular beach with a strong shorebreak and no lifeguard tower, a spokesperson for the Honolulu Emergency Services Department told USA TODAY.On Monday, the North Shore was experiencing a high surf advisory. The waves already had six- to eight- foot faces and the swell was rising, with waves possibly up to 18 feet. Signs stating there was strong current and dangerous shorebreak were posted around the beach. Oahu’s North Shore is famous for its huge and often unpredictable swells during the wintertime, drawing surfers and spectators alike from around the world.A lifeguard who was posting no swimming signs “saw people in trouble in the ocean,” the spokesperson said. Lifeguards swam out to retrieve the tourists and successfully brought them back to shore on a rescue board.Hawaii’s beaches are disappearing:The uncertain future of Oahu’s iconic WaikikiEnjoy your worry-free vacation: Best travel insurance policiesA woman and the man were unresponsive, prompting first responders to perform CPR and then advanced life support treatment. Both women were visiting from Oklahoma and taken to the hospital, with the unresponsive woman in critical condition and the other, who was awake, in serious condition.The man, who traveled from California, was unable to be resuscitated and pronounced dead at the beach.The closest lifeguard tower to Keiki Beach is half a mile away, but lifeguards commonly patrol the area.Each year, an average of 40 people drown off of Oahu’s 227 miles of coastline, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. In 2022, Honolulu Ocean Safety recorded 15 drownings and 6,180 rescues across the island.

Lenovo will be FIFA’s technology partner for 2026 World Cup and 2027 Women’s World Cup

Technology

Photo: The Canadian Press

Lenovo has signed on to be the official technology partner for FIFA, which includes the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico as well as the 2027 Women’s World Cup in Brazil.
The announcement was made during Lenovo’s Tech World innovation event in Seattle on Tuesday.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said in a statement the deal will continue to upgrade fan experiences as well as continue to make data more accessible to fans and teams.
“At FIFA, we are committed to growing the game globally and making football accessible for all — and we are excited to welcome Lenovo to our journey, and to work with them to implement technologies, innovations and programmes that spread our sport. Data and technology combined helps us to know fans better,” he said.
The 2026 World Cup will take place from June 11 through July 19 in 16 cities throughout North America. It will also see the tournament expand from 32 to 48 teams.
The 2027 Women’s World Cup will feature 32 teams, but the dates and host cities in Brazil have not been finalized.
Jeff Shafer, Lenovo’s head of corporate marketing, said there have been been multiple meetings with FIFA about the role of artificial intelligence in helping teams and fans better understand all the data produced during a match, but that any ideas or upgrades are still in the planning stages.
“Technology and football will absolutely enhance the experience for viewers at a specific level. That’s stuff that we’re working on right now. But we already, I think, have some really amazing and interesting ideas brewing,” Shafer said.
Lenovo will supply ThinkPad laptops and tablets as well as Motorola mobile phones for the tournaments to the competing teams, FIFA’s staff and the various host nation organizing committees.
FIFA had a significant amount of data during the recent World Cup tournaments, including detailed match reports breaking down all facets of play. Data used to be limited to possession percentages and shots, but with players wearing devices tracking movement as well as chips in soccer balls, data is available to analyze a team’s offensive formation shape or to help referee’s on offsides calls.
The available data can also be used during the game for graphics used on television or to relay statistics inside the stadium. FIFA has a six member technical study group which helps analyze data during tournaments as well as give insights and observations.
Shafer noted most of the upgrades to the fan experience will mostly begin with helping teams and players in analyzing data.
“Technology can level the playing field. The data is already there, but you’ve got some disparity between the haves and have nots within global football,” he said. “If we can provide technology that gives one or two people the ability to analyze date with some sort of competitive equality to those countries that have 10 or 15 people able to do that, it really brings a lot to the table.”
Lenovo’s addition as a FIFA partner also joins recent sponsorship announcements from Bank of America, Lays and Verizon.
“Lenovo is proud to support FIFA’s vision of leveraging technology to elevate the game, enhance the fan experience worldwide, and foster innovation that levels the playing field. We’re excited that our cutting-edge technology and AI innovation will take centre stage in the upcoming tournaments, demonstrating to the world the transformative power of smarter technology,” Lenovo chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang said in a statement.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

If Books Are a Reflection of its Cultural Health, Cienfuegos is a Graveyard

Arts & Culture, Books

The only things that are left in the bookshop are shelves containing repeated copies of the same book to fill up the empty space / 14ymedio
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, 13 October 2024 – Every day, numerous people come into the Dionisio San Román bookshop in Calle 54, Ciénfuegos, just at the top of the main avenue. Anyone witnessing this flow of people would think that in the city there was not only a thirst for reading material but also a lot of interesting books to acquire. In reality, these people are only going there in search of a snack in the shop’s cafeteria. If the cultural health of a city and its citizens is measured by its bookshops, then Ciénfuegos has much to be worried about.
The floor above the shop, initially planned as a conference/meeting room, has ended up sharing rented space with the independent cafeteria. Depending on the style of coffee you purchase there they can cost between 70 and 200 pesos. They’re nothing special but they still attract more attention from passers by than the “sparse and limited variety of books on offer” at the Dionisio San Román bookshop – says Jesús, to 14ymedio.
The man from Ciénfuegos has “a literary curiosity” that can very seldom be satisfied in the local state run bookshop. “Most of their books are about politics, Marxism, economics or similar themes. They also have locally written poetry, but anyone looking for quality fiction or texts which explore areas beyond the provincial will have to look elsewhere”, he explains. Even so, Jesús visits Dionisio San Román at least once a month on the off chance that some “little gem” might somehow appear.
Depending on the style of coffee you purchase there they can cost between 70 and 200 pesos. / 14ymedio
“When there is no paper you can’t publish, so logically there are no books to sell. The result: employees on minimum wage sitting around waiting the whole day for home time to arrive”, he says. According to Jesús the state bookshop never had a “golden age”, but at least, a few years ago, there were still some quality books around, and authors who were interested in publishing with Ciénfuegos publishers Mecenas and Reina del Mar.
The shop itself can’t escape the general crisis either. Inside the building the workers have to live with power cuts and suffocating heat, not being being able to switch on the air conditioning because of “company policy”. What often happens, explains Jesús, is that they have to go outside into the doorway with a table and a few sample books, to escape from the high temperatures.
Any attempts at promotion don’t guarantee sales either. With the poor level of enthusiasm shown by the sales staff, “you don’t feel the desire to buy anything”, Jesús adds. The Cienfuegero has a theory about the workers’ weariness: “because it’s an entity subsidised by the Cuban state, everyone earns the same, even when they don’t sell so much as a postcard”.
Any attempts at promotion don’t guarantee sales either. / 14ymedio
“I remember when they used to have clubs and literary get-togethers, or they put on conferences. Now the only thing left in the bookshop is metal shelving with the same repeated book copies to fill up the empty space. I don’t think they have even fifty titles on display and the majority haven’t changed since the last Book Fair. And as for the prices, they’re too high, given the low quality of the books and the low buying power of customers. In the Calle San Carlos bookshop any old book can cost up to a thousand pesos”, he says.
In that shop, administrated also by the Provincial Centre for Books and Literature in Ciénfuegos, they sell used books. However, here there is a repeat, on a smaller scale, of the same problems of the other shop. “A few days ago I was surprised to see a long queue in front of that bookshop, but then I realised they were actually queuing for the nearby Cadeca (currency exchange)”. Although some university students and local writers go into the shop, it’s usually the case that whoever goes in there comes out empty-handed.
Translated by Ricardo Recluso
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The Best Stephen King Horror Movies To Watch During Halloween

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Warner Bros.

Spooky season is upon us and, for a great many movie lovers out there, that means it’s time to binge some horror. In the age of streaming, there are countless rabbit holes one could fall down in the quest to find the perfect horror movie to watch. From the endless sea of stuff on Netflix to the surprisingly robust offerings from free streaming sites like Tubi, it can all be a bit overwhelming. We’re here to help by narrowing things down a bit by offering up some suggestions based on the works of Stephen King, one of history’s all-time great horror virtuosos.

Dating back to 1976’s “Carrie,” there have been dozens of movies based on King’s work over the years. Some of them have been great, some of them have been not-so-great, and more than a few of them have been outright terrible. There are, of course, masterworks such as “The Shining” which are in regular rotation. What we’re here to do today, however, is offer up some suggested viewing beyond the super-obvious to help enhance your Halloween season. So, here are some of the best Stephen King movies to watch this year, and why they’re worth your time.

Christine

Sony Pictures

John Carpenter didn’t earn the nickname “The Horror Master” for nothing. We’re talking about the man who made “Halloween” and “The Thing,” among many other classics. Only good things can happen when that man gets his hands on some Stephen King source material. Two masters of the genre married as one. The result is 1983’s “Christine,” which Carpenter only directed because he needed a job. Even so, the man did his job and did it well. The tale of a killer car could have come off as ridiculously silly but because Carpenter knows how to walk a fine line, the film still works incredibly well. Is a movie about a car that kills people going to be un-serious at times? You bet. But Carpenter knew how to get the most out of the material.

“Christine” is a movie that feels right at home in the early ’80s and serves as a nice little time capsule of non-slasher horror films from that era. Slashers were so dominant at that time that it’s easy to forget lots of other stuff was going on in the genre as well. This isn’t one of the most talked about King adaptations, nor is it one of Carpenter’s most talked about movies, but maybe it should be a little higher up on both of those lists.

Silver Bullet

Paramount Pictures

For whatever reason, we just don’t get all that many great (or even good) werewolf movies all that often anymore. Hollywood is more content to pursue the likes of ghosts, vampires, and masked killers. There are classics such as “The Wolf Man” and “An American Werewolf in London” to go back to, but one that often gets left out of the conversation is 1985’s “Silver Bullet.” Directed by Paul Naschy and based on King’s “Cycle of the Werewolf,” one could make the argument it’s one of the more underrated werewolf movies ever made.

The film sees a werewolf stalking a small town, with only a young, wheelchair-using kid (Corey Haim) willing to see the truth. With the help of his black sheep uncle (Gary Busey), they set out to identify and destroy the monster. While it wouldn’t be right to argue that “Silver Bullet” is an out-and-out masterpiece, it’s also fair to say it’s better than its reputation suggests. As both a King adaptation and as part of the werewolf movie canon, it’s worth a second — or perhaps a first — look.

Misery

Sony Pictures

If this were a ranking of Stephen King movies (which it’s not), it would be an absolute crime to leave out 1990s “Misery.” There are times when adaptations of King’s work have differed greatly from the source material, with varying degrees of effectiveness. King famously hates Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” even though it’s widely considered a stone-cold classic. But director Rob Reiner’s take on King’s 1987 novel of the same name is both incredibly faithful to what’s on the page while making seemingly every right decision to ensure that story sings on the silver screen. The resulting film is a terse, tight, nerve-racking thriller for the ages.

The story centers on Paul Sheldon (James Caan), a novelist who gets into a terrible car accident and is rescued by Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who happens to be his biggest fan. The former nurse cares for him in her remote house but things take a turn when she finds out that the author plans to kill off his signature character, Misery Chastain, in his latest book.
It’s a movie without a slack moment in it, and one that makes the viewer tense up with fear during every viewing. There’s a reason that “Misery” is the only movie based on King’s work to win an Oscar, with Bates taking home the Best Actress prize for it. Right alongside movies like “The Shawshank Redemption” and another movie we’ll be talking about in a moment, this is one of the greatest adaptations of King’s work ever put to screen.

It

Warner Bros.

When one says the name Stephen King, there’s a damn good chance that the first thing that comes to mind for a large number of people is Pennywise the clown. That’s because the author’s 1986 novel “It” remains, nearly 40 years later, arguably his most cherished work. In 2017, director Andy Muschietti translated that work to screen in a way that resonated with audiences like no horror movie had ever before. That’s not hyperbole either, as “It” remains the highest-grossing horror film in history. Not just a movie that came along at the right place and right time, “It” is deserving of the praise.

Muschietti decided to divide King’s hulking novel into two parts, with the first entry focusing on the Losers Club in their younger years contending with Pennywise, played brilliantly by Bill Skarsgard. The resulting film is dripping with ’80s nostalgia that isn’t just there for nostalgia’s sake, but actually serves the story at hand. It’s a film that looks great, has some incredible scares, amazing production values, and is perfectly cast from top to bottom. It’s as close to perfect as genre filmmaking of this scale can afford.
For what it’s worth, even though “It Chapter Two” didn’t match the same heights as its predecessor, I would go to bat for a double feature here to get the full story. The second “It” film is better than its reputation suggests, in this writer’s humble opinion. Viewed together, the two movies are a damn impressive take on King’s classic.

The Dead Zone

Paramount Pictures

Though not as overtly horrific in the way a killer clown eating kids is, for example, director David Cronenberg’s “The Dead Zone” is perhaps the most unfairly overlooked Stephen King adaptation in history. Hailing from a true master of the genre with one of Chistiopher Walken’s best performances, there has never been a better excuse to watch this harrowing tale of a man’s whose life is torn to shreds by a tragic car accident, emerging five years later with a power he doesn’t want — one that provides him with a responsibility he can’t ignore.

The film centers on Johnny Smith (Walken), a teacher who discovers that he can see people’s futures after waking from a coma. When Johnny has a disturbing vision after he shakes the hand of an ambitious and amoral politician, he is forced to decide if he should take drastic action to change the future. It’s a slow burn, twisted tale featuring serial killers, more quandaries, tragic love, and nightmarish political overtones. “The Kingcast” co-host Eric Vespe called “The Dead Zone” an “overlooked masterpiece” while writing for /Film in 2021. That has to count for something.
Having recently rewatched this film for the first time since I was a teenager, I was enamored with it. While “The Dead Zone” is available on streaming, for physical media collectors out there, I can’t recommend the Scream Factory 4K enough, which you can grab on Amazon. It truly looks like a new movie and is loaded with special features. Regardless of how one chooses to watch it, this is a must-see for King fans and fans of horror in general.

This Emma Roberts Horror Movie That Nobody Saw Is Now On Netflix

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

It’s a recently released horror movie, it features a familiar haunted house story, Emma Roberts is its main star…and you’ve probably never heard of it. And, after some quick research, the reason quickly becomes obvious. The initial release for the movie in question, Abandoned, was so muted that you’d be forgiven for never knowing it existed. In an age where box office bombs are lambasted and immortalized for being gargantuan failures, this fairly forgotten film starring a household celebrity name was nothing more than a blip on the radar, as it only grossed $96,761 during its lackluster 54-theater run back in June 2022. Yet now, thanks to Netflix, there’s a chance for this horror movie to reach a wider audience during Halloween season when everybody is searching for new scary stories.

The film’s struggles began long before it hit theaters. Conceived during the period of time when the world was still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic (many would argue it’s still recovering), Abandoned was greenlit at a moment when the movie industry was in flux. Especially once Roberts signed on. Given to Spencer Squire for his debut directorial feature and written by Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott, the movie drew inspiration from classic haunted house stories but ultimately aimed to tell much more personal, emotionally grounded tale. Before long, other big names were added to the cast list alongside Roberts: Oscar nominee Michael Shannon, John Gallagher Jr. and Paul Schneider. By all accounts, Abandoned had a great recipe for success.

But the pandemic presented its share of obstacles for even major moviemakers, let alone smaller projects like Abandoned (I couldn’t find any information on the film’s budget, but compared to bigger productions from the likes of A24 and Neon, it doesn’t seem high). From health and safety protocols that included frequent testing and physical distancing, to smaller crews and limited personnel that resulted in longer shooting schedules, to creative limitations that required filmmakers to rethink how they approached bigger scenes with more actors, the challenges were in full force when Abandoned started filming back in September 2021.

Luckily, the movie’s plot and small cast catered to this stripped down approach to filmmaking. Roberts starred as a young mother grappling with postpartum depression named Sara, who moved to a remote farmhouse with her husband Alex (Gallagher Jr.) and their infant son. Almost immediately, Sara begins to experience unsettling visions and strange noises, which she initially attributes to her mental state. But as the house’s dark history—which involves murder, hauntings, and whispers of madness—comes to light, it becomes clear something more sinister is at play. As Sara investigates their new home’s ghostly history, it drives a rift between her and her husband, ultimately putting their entire family on shaky ground.

The farmhouse, with its ominous history and decaying presence, serves as a perfect backdrop for a haunted house movie. The subgenre is perfect for such a story, given haunted houses often serve as metaphors for the characters’ internal struggles. In Abandoned, for instance, the house reflect Sara’s deteriorating mental state, with the setting’s creeping horrors paralleling her fragmented psyche, her emotional trauma. The isolation of such a setting forces her to confront her greatest fears and anxieties without intrusion or aid, and the supernatural forces become symbols for her overwhelming trauma. The haunted house has always served as a perfect encapsulation of the “uncanny,” something mysterious that feels strangely unsettling in its familiarity. The contrast between ordinary domesticity we all recognize and “the supernatural” plays on the audience’s sense of security, showing how quickly the safe and mundane can become threatening.

Despite all the promising aspects the movie had going for it, things became more difficult closer to its release. Theaters were still recovering from the pandemic, with many audiences staying home rather than venturing out to see smaller indie films. On top of it all, the movie didn’t have a very big marketing campaign. So once the movie hit theaters, it was practically guaranteed a near-immediate disappearance from the public eye​. The biggest hurdle the film faced, however, appeared to be the critical reception. It currently owns a dismal 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and its score on IMDB is a measly 3.8 out of 10.

Which, honestly, surprises me. Because while Abandoned certainly isn’t a perfect film…I have to say, it works. It falls into many familiar tropes of the haunted house genre, plus the movie’s pandemic obstacles are in plain sight. But I was honestly struck by how compassionately and touchingly the story is told—which was likely part of its poor reception, given that modern horror movies from studios like A24 and Neon are often much more brutal and biting with their filmmaking choices. However, Abandoned is a very different beast. It enjoys a slow-burn aesthetic that isn’t in your face, that languidly moves along to fully capture its claustrophobic setting, its eerie design, its disquieting nature. Plus, Sara’s story, her struggle with the pure isolation that comes with her mental health issues, hit home for anyone who’s struggled with a similar problem. On top of it all, Roberts trots out a great performance, per usual, making us even more sympathetic to Sara’s journey.

Like I said: the movie isn’t perfect. But for what this movie is, I’m surprised more people don’t talk about it. It doesn’t have many ratings on IMDB or Letterboxd, and its low score on Rotten Tomatoes is based on just 25 reviews. Which makes its addition to Netflix all the more enticing. Roberts has quite the following, and many people will be looking for new horror movies this month, which means its the perfect time for Abandoned to finally find its audience. I’m very curious to see whether this forgotten horror film will find its way onto Netflix’s Top 10 charts and finally get the reception it deserves.