15 Fave Freaky Fictions

And by "fictions," I mean "books" but, you know, #alliteration. Here are 15 of my fave scary reads (so far), in order of publication date bc the idea of trying to rank them makes me feel faint. They're linked to their Goodreads pages, where you'll find buy links so you can check out pricing at your purveyor of choice, if you're so inclined. Publishers' book blurbs are in purple italics; my thoughts follow.

Spook Out! Day 3 ~ Culture Shock (2019)

Hulu Says...
"This thriller follows a young Mexican woman in pursuit of the American Dream, who crosses illegally into the United States, only to find herself in an American nightmare."

I Say...
Gritty thriller bends into bizarre techno-drama as a determined woman seeks a better future for herself and her unborn child.

Horror Type...
Thriller, Surreal, Technological

Main Players...
Martha Higareda as Marisol Ramirez (American Dreamer)
Richard Cabral as Santo Cristobal (Assassin?)
Barbara Crampton as Betty (Hostess from Hell?)

I liked...

• that Marisol suffers some knock-downs but persists, in a realistic way (she's not suddenly some amazing fighting badass after some cheesy workout montage)
• that she doesn't become embittered by all the crap she goes through--her heart only grows stronger
• that an assassin-by-profession (apparently?) turns out to be one of the most decent dudes in this flick (and there are a number of seriously bad guys, so that's really saying something), which just goes to show that you never know
• the tightly-written, clearly delineated three-act structure (and I even liked that I felt exhausted from the tension of the first act by the time it yielded to the second)

The Meh...
Not gonna lie, some of the gritty reality experienced in that grueling first act is really hard to witness. Though the ending satisfies, you may want to plan on taking in some more light-hearted fare as a palate cleanser afterward. Also, Marisol makes a big decision at the end that I'm not altogether sure she's making for the right reason. However, I can't say it's the wrong decision...

Would I recommend it...?

As a thriller, absolutely. As a horror movie, maybe not so much, but terror's in the eye and mind of the beholder. (Mind you, the excellent Barbara Crampton's facial expressions in this are pretty danged freaky.)

Miscellany...

• Culture Shock is the tenth feature-length installment in Hulu's horror anthology Into the Dark. (They've released one movie a month with a theme central to that month's holiday--as observed in the US, at least. Culture Shock was the Independence Day offering.)
• Creed Bratton (who plays Creed...Bratton (say what?) in The Office) portrays one of Culture Shock's many Bad Guys.

Ratings...
My Grade: A if considering the movie as a thriller, B- if considering as a horror movie.

Rotten Tomatoes Scores (contains spoilers): Tomatometer=100%, Audience Score=Not Available

Details, Schmeetails...

I Watched Culture Shock on Hulu (bc it's currently exclusive to Hulu AFAIK)

Culture Shock's IMDb Page

Culture Shock's Wikipedia Page (Contains Spoilers)

This concludes Day 3 of...