The Gates: Slutty Vampires Take Up Roots

If you thought the sparkly vampire craze was over think again. ABC is jumping on the vampire gravy train (a good three plus years too late) with their newest TV drama “The Gates“.  While some folks who have yet to pick up a paranormal book in the last five years might be impressed with the story telling, the rest of us are a little weary of what ABC has to offer. With shows like “True Blood”, “Vampire Diaries” and “Being Human” cornering the market is there really room for another “Melrose Place” meets “Twilight”?  Let’s not forget the horridly failed attempt that CBS made with their trip to the dark-side. “Moonlight” was cancelled after its first season. “Blood Ties”, a Lifetime Network show picked up a few years ago actually survived for two seasons, but even with a small but loyal audience couldn’t hold on to it’s primetime slot.

Still, the show may surprise us. In her review for the L.A. Times Mary Mcnamara noted, “Of course there are a plenty of overworked “True Blood” meets “Twilight” motifs, but it seems just possible that “The Gates” will return to the roots of supernatural fiction, in which the monsters are just extreme versions of humanity.”

Then there are other reviews like this, my personal favorite, “In deciding what to call the show, the producers, one suspects, landed on and then rejected something like “The Real and Desperate Vampire Housewives of Somewhere that Looks an Awful Lot Like ‘The Truman Show.’ ” (Ginia Belffante, New York Times).  Ah yes, another mysterious unnamed city of perfection that is too good to be true and has now been invaded by vampires, werewolves, and witches. Are these the same housewives that protested Harry Potter in school libraries? It seems a little glitter and some bagged blood makes everything a-okay.

The Gates airs Sunday on ABC at 10/9c. For those of you not fortunate enough to have access to the show (i.e. our international readers), here is a sneak peak of what’s been airing on the U.S. networks over the last three weeks.

So what do you think? Is it worth watching? How does “The Gates” stake up to the other paranormal heavy hitters?

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

To be honest, the first question I asked myself when I learned that Stephanie Meyer would be releasing a new novella in the twlight universe called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner the first question to pop into my head was, “Who the hell is Bree Tanner?” Aparently I’m not alone.

Check out this newly released featurette from Summit Entertainment, which introduces Bree Tanner to the world. (Note: Bree Tanner will make her movie debut in the Eclipse film, to be released on June 30th 2010.) Read more

Game On. The Vampires Are Back

It’s the start of June and that means them southern lovin vampires are stirring up trouble and breaking the hearts of fang bangers everywhere. There’s a huge media frenzy around the start of season 3 which kicks off on Sunday June 13th. If you don’t have HBO and have to wait for the DVDs, relax. Season two came out last week! Go get it and catch up.

Here’s a little teaser to keep you happy.

Day 5: Wanna Do Bad Things….

It’s True Blood Day!!! HBO has been running an encore presentation of True Blood Season 2 in preparation for the big season 3 premier this June. For fun, I am posting two of the minisodes that have been airing after each weekly episode. They are not part of season 2 or 3, they are just fun extras that the cast and crew put together for fans, so enjoy! I am posting the teaser for the minisodes along with my favorite so far with Eric and Pam. I can’t help it, I’m an Eric fan all the way.

Day 5: Bad Things Rule

It’s another commenting challenge.

1. Post a comment below about True Blood. What did you think of the minisodes? Do you like the books or the show better? What are you most looking forward to in season 3?

2. You get one entry for your commenting.

3. You get an additional entry every time you promote the contest and link back to this post.

5. The contest is open from now and will close at 12PM Eastern on Monday May 17!

The PRIZE:

Each daily winner will have the option of choosing an autographed copy of the following books:

• C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp–Touch of Darkness
• L.A. Banks –The Forbidden
• Mary Janice Davidson–Undead and Unwed
• Mary Janice Davidson–Undead and Uneasy
• S.J Day–Eve of Darkness
• Devon Monk–Magic to the Bone
• Devon Monk–Magic in the Blood
• Kat Richardson–Greywalker

or an un-autorgraphed copy of one of the following books:

• Rachel Caine–Kiss of Death
• Jocelynn Drake–Nightwalker
• Angie Fox–The Dangerous Book of Demon Slayers
• Richelle Mead–Succubus Blues
• Linda Wisdom–Hex in High Heels

Each book is also paired up with a swag bag, which contains buttons, postcards, bookmarks, and posters (some signed, some not).  Each bag varies and winners will not have the option of pre-selecting the swag-bags.

Winners of the daily contest will automatically be entered into the grand prize drawings (winners to be announced May 31st).  This includes the RT 2010 Tote Bag, Strange Brew Anthology (signed by Jim Butcher), signed posters, books, swag and your choice of a $25 gift e-gift cart to borders.com, bn.com or amazon.com. (Second place winner will receive similar package with signed poster, tote bag, and $10 gift card).

14 Days of Giveaways Teaser!!!

Video Recap: RT2010 Book Signing

We caught up with some of our favorite paranormal romance and urban fantasy authors at the 2010 Romantic Times Booklovers Convention book signing. I pulled together a great little video, and I apologize in advance for the red eyes! If you like it, send it along to a friend or visit the youtube site to get the embed code.

True Blood: Waiting Sucks

It’s that time again!! The count down to season 3 of True Blood has officially begun. HBO is airing new sneak peaks at the upcoming season (and when I say sneak, I do mean sneak). They are about 15 seconds on average and don’t give away anything because they are completely taken out of context, but that won’t stop hardcore fans from speculating!

I have to admit, when I saw the clip of Sam my heart melted a little bit. Boy have I missed that southern accent! I can’t wait for the new season and I know that they are going to deliver as promised.

Here are two clips that I have seen circulating the web thus far.

True Blood: Eric–Waiting Sucks

Book Trailer: The Body Finder

Book Trailer: The Dead Tossed Waves

Book Trailer: Shadowland: The Immortals

For more videos check out our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/wickedjungleonline

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