Throughout the holidays, it is always nice to let a little bit of Christmas spirit shine around your neighborhood, whether it be by making your yard look like a lighted monstrosity, or by lending a hand to your neighbors to make sure that they will be ready for the holiday. While I am a firm believer in love thy neighbor, there are some that I cannot stand but they always receive some cookies or a fruit cake from me, just so they know that I care. Keeping your neighbors on your good side is something that more people should try, since you never know when you might need them in the future.
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Arriving at her grandmother’s home for Christmas, Rachel Kimmel has become used to the tradition after her mother left her many years ago. With Abby being her only family left, Rachel has many good memories around the house and is willing to help out her former neighbor, Mrs. Garrett, with all of her Christmas decorations. But Abby does not want her granddaughter to have anything to do with the reclusive woman and tries to get Rachel to steer clear. Yet when leaving the house to go meet up with her friends, Rachel sees Mrs. Garrett struggling and decides to lend a quick hand, only to wind up agreeing to help with the entire set up later on in the evening. 

Meeting with her friends Gia and Sarah, Rachel is shocked to see that one other face from her past has arrived. Seeing her ex-boyfriend Cody along for the ride is bringing back memories of her mother leaving fifteen years ago and she does not want to re-live those events. Calling it an early night, Rachel is able to convince her friends to come along to Mrs. Garrett’s house to help with the decorating. Arriving at the old woman’s house, Rachel recounts some of the memories of Mrs. Garrett’s daughter, Jamie, who she never personally knew. Finding out a little bit more about the poor girl, Rachel hears that it was Mrs. Garrett’s husband who was responsible for her daughter being taken away, but does not know what to do with that information.

As Mrs. Garrett leaves for the evening, the girls start to work their magic around the house, but get distracted by all of the mannequins that are surrounding them. Not knowing where Mrs. Garrett is when it comes to her mental state, Rachel decides to get some more supplies from the attic and finds an old picture of Mrs. Garrett and her mother. Remembering what the old woman had told her about barely knowing her mother, Rachel can see that she was lying and wants to know why. Trying to get information from Abby about the relationship that the two had, Rachel is shut down, but there are plenty of other clues in the house that might lead to the uncovering of a mystery that is fifteen years old and also what really happened between the Garrett and Kimmel houses. But there is someone roaming around the neighborhood who has another take on the mystery and with their Santa suit and pair of garden shears, they are ready to turn this Christmas into one that nobody will ever forget.

This might have just become one of my favorite Christmas slasher movies of all time, the only way it could have been better is if there were candy canes. From the get go of this movie, you get to see that anyone that is looking to get a little frisky becomes the main target of the killer and you are rewarded with the reason why when you see a bag of joy at the end of the movie. I must admit, I was feeling bad for Mrs. Garrett pretty much throughout the movie, since it appears that she is really off of her rocker when arguing with her mannequins, but then you see the purpose behind it. Rachel and her friends were great, especially when trying to find out what was really going on with the mystery of the missing adults and children. With a pair of garden shears, a scary Santa outfit, frisky folks on Christmas, a bloody bag, some chops, some stabs and plenty of blood, you might find yourself wanting to take a nap rather than getting it on this holiday, because Santa…is always watching you. Stay Scared. 

You know I have to admit, that the live action version of ‘All Out War’ on The Walking Dead has been nothing short of spectacular. There was a grand opportunity here to romanticize The Alliance’s battle with the Saviors and make Rick and the gang look like perfect heroes. After all, their cause is just, their plight powerful and their stance on why they need to fight is in many ways the age-old notion of ‘Good vs. Evil’ come to life. But the series has refused to make this conflict beautiful or black and white, instead it’s been one brutal affair.
 
After all, people have died, and died badly in this conflict and we’ve felt the gravity of their loss through and through. We’ve seen some people blur the lines between what’s right and what’s wrong and we’ve had a taste of the bad guys’ perspective and come to understand that they don’t necessarily view themselves as evil in the slightest and last night’s midseason finale of the show, ‘How It’s Gotta Be’, added another new wrinkle into that fold by showing us just how hard the Saviors will fight to further their cause and how far they’re willing to go to ensure that their side lives to see another day.
 
Granted, I think we all knew that trouble was on the horizon since the Saviors were free from the sea of the dead surrounding the Sanctuary and it didn’t take long for that trouble to find its way to the respective communities of the Alliance, and thankfully, The Kingdom was at least shown some level of mercy by the Saviors, since Gavin gave everyone there the maximum amount of time possible to turn over King Ezekiel without hurting them, only to get his hands on the King when Ezekiel finally found the courage to fight back and distract the Saviors long enough to get his people to safety. If anything, it was a touch refreshing to see a member of the Saviors such as Gavin not open fire in impatient fashion, and try to be reasonable…but that was the last time we would see that kind of mercy in this tale.
 
For Simon found the Hilltop’s convoy on the road, and used Jerry’s life and the sacrifice of another as bargaining chips to get Maggie and the Hilltop back in line, or rather, seemingly back in line since Maggie clearly has other plans in mind to resist. But despite the fact that this segment of the story was tense and harrowing to say the least, even the Hilltop still fared better than the true focus of Negan’s revenge…Alexandria. Because this once tranquil community faced all of the man’s wrath since Negan was willing to burn the place to the ground to teach everyone there a lesson and it was simply heartbreaking to watch building after building and house after house explode and burn and while these tough and ugly moments would have been enough to carry the entire hour, this episode was filled to the brim with so much more. 

Case in point, this midyear finale also served as perhaps the beginning of Eugene’s long road back to redemption. Since the pain he’s carrying in his heart revolving around the fact that he in essence turned Negan loose upon the world once again, motivated him to finally do something good for a change since he took the time to give a guard intestinal distress in order to get Gabriel and the Doctor out of the Sanctuary and back to Hilltop and one has to wonder, that since Dwight’s treachery has now been revealed, if this act from Eugene signifies a changing of the guard, where Eugene will now handle all the sabotage of the Saviors’ plans behind the scenes in order to help the Alliance after they regroup. However, while this little moment was beautiful and uplifting in its own right, and served as a lovely contrast to Negan’s vendetta. It, and everything that came before it, were overshadowed by Carl Grimes’ journey in this episode.
 
Because the younger Grimes served as quite the hero in this episode. He was the one that organized an escape plan for everyone in Alexandria, and even had the guts to stand at the gates and try to reason with Negan, and hey let’s be honest…it almost seemed as though he reached the man on some wild and fundamental level. But in the end, all of these incredible moments from Carl, were to serve as a last hurrah of sorts, and his fearlessness in this tale, and his bravery all came from a simple mindset in that…Carl had nothing to lose, because Carl Grimes is dying. In the midst of his fight with the walkers when he went to retrieve Siddiq from the madness of the wilderness, Carl was bitten by a walker, and now, he is merely counting down the minutes until he passes into that great beyond and thankfully, it would seem that his death will not be in vain. 
 
I say that, simply due to the fact that Carl has been working toward something more in season eight. He’s been trying desperately to teach his father that there is a grand opportunity sitting in front of Rick Grimes to flat out change the world. Once the fighting is over, once the anger has subsided, Rick and everyone in the Alliance can finally do things right. There can be a day where humanity no longer fights amongst itself, and is no longer motivated by selfish goals, if they only look at the opportunity the species has been afforded and focus on doing good things for one another, then they can accomplish wonders, and while this lesson may not be apparent in the short term, since Rick is clearly going to grieve over the loss of his son…Siddiq’s survival will likely help it sink in. Because in essence, Carl gave his life to save another human being and that kind of sacrifice, will resonate with the people of Alexandria, and Rick for that matter as well…
 
However, make no mistake about it, this was a devastating episode. Alexandria lies in ruin. The Kingdom is empty and ablaze and the Hilltop is licking its wounds and a father, who has given so much to protect his family…must now watch his son waste away into a monster and this is definitely an episode that gave me great pause when it came to an end. But how Rick responds to his son’s death in the days ahead is what matters most. Because unfortunately, there is still a war to be fought, Negan still wants Rick’s head on a pike and failure means slavery for these fledging communities and all of those matters will no doubt be handled in the back half of season eight. So, in the here and the now, all the fans can do is mourn for Carl Grimes, brace themselves for his death, and wait to see how the Alliance triumphs over The Saviors so that mankind can finally get a well-deserved second chance. Until next time.  

After being convinced that there’s only one way to get her father back into the No-End House, Margot agrees to take the venture once again. With Seth promising that a good life can be made inside of the house, Margot has no idea what she will be giving up. Being able to control the memories that she feeds to her father has become the norm, but Margot is slowly starting to lose herself in the mix. While taking a walk around the neighborhood with Seth, the two see that the house has landed once again and more visitors are about to enter to meet their fate.
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Waiting a year to find the No-End House again, Jules sees that it has appeared in France. Making her trek with everything that she needs to defeat it and get her best friend back, she spots a familiar face waiting outside. Seth is more than happy to bring Jules back in and gives her a new warning, that her memory seeker is hungry and will most likely kill her when she touches it again. Telling her former traveler her real plan of taking Margot out of the house, Seth is against the action and makes sure that Jules will never make it to his happy home. Waking up to see her memory eater ready to feed again, Jules is forced to put an end to that story, but sees that it is only leading to the beginning of another.

Now knowing the true power of the house, Margot wants to keep people free of the torments it brings, but Seth is not willing to let it die. Talking with Mr. Sleator about his what his daughter is suggesting, the shadow of a father knows that his time is drawing near as well and agrees with the idea. Being on his own in this fight, Seth sees that he might need to take action on his own, but has little idea what he will be up against when Jules is able to fight off her biggest fear. Trying to keep a close eye on his current love, Seth sees that things in the No-End House may be coming to a close for his relationship.

Making her way to Margot’s house, Jules sees her best friend and is ready to take her back home. Not remembering anything of the outside world, Margot believes that she is fine within the house, but has no idea what will happen to her when all of her memories are gone. Taking Margot on a walk to see Seth’s family that the house created for him and being surrounded by his stable of other loves, Margot sees that the hollowed-out girls are nothing more than decoration. Not wanting to lose herself completely as well, the choice will have to be made of escaping the house, but at what price.

While I was not blown away by the ending by any means, it was a good ending to the story. But I still have many questions about how memories are made inside and outside of the house to keep it alive.  That being said, this story was not as visually frightening as Candle Cove was, but it was still pretty good overall. I liked that you get to see how the house works from both sides and if you know how to keep it working for you, you can make a life for yourself. I also enjoyed learning about how to defeat the house and the memory seekers that will stop at nothing to feed and the power they can possess over a person. So, it looks like there will be another season of Channel Zero coming out next year and I am excited to see what it brings. With Creepypasta being intriguing for everyone, I hope that Butcher’s Block is able to blow everyone away. Stay Scared.

Getting back to the real world, Jules is starting to see that the damage the No-End House has caused may not be reversible. Seeing blank faces when she thinks about her family, she will probably never be the same again. Margot is in the same boat and after talking to her mother when she has gone missing for three days, she cannot place a face with the voice. But they are free of the house’s clutches, or so they think since someone from the other side has made his way into the real world as well.
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Walking down the street and seeing some of his daughter’s memories, Mr. Sleator needs to feed and soon. Stopping by a house and seeing two little girls playing outside, he is trying to find the right place to feed, but when the girls’ father comes out, he is forced to head back to his former home. Sneaking into the backyard, Mr. Sleator has a plan of attack when it comes to his daughter and causing a brief distraction to get Jules out of the way, he is able to take the memory of a pet from Margot and starts eating in peace, but little does he know that he is not the only one who has made it out of the house.

After a long conversation, Margot and Jules clear up their fight in the No-End House and while they may have been on the outs for a little bit, they will be friends forever. While Margot takes a nap on the couch, Jules notices that the front door is open and gets stopped by Seth who knows that Mr. Sleator has made his way to the real world. Stopping the formerly dead father from feeding, the group comes to a consensus that they need to get him back in the house. With no way of getting him to head that way of his own free will, Margot pulls out her old man’s pills and decides that poisoning him is the way to go.  

Freeing the dead man from the basement to have a talk, Seth moderates the conversation between father and daughter. With new knowledge, Margot feels bad about putting him back underground, but it must be done this way since she will not enter the house again. As the allergy pills put Mr. Sleator down, Seth and Margot need to find a way to dispose of the body. Dragging the lifeless Mr. Sleator out of the house, Margot is surprised to see her mother has come to visit. Snapping back to life and searching for his daughter, Mr. Sleator makes short work of the others in the house, since only his daughter is able to feed him. Close to getting what he wants, Seth jumps into action and stops the transaction once again, but it may be too little too late.
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Seeing her friend on the ground about to be killed by her father, Margot is forced to make a decision that may change her life forever. Agreeing to go back into the house with her father and Seth, Margot leads the charge back to the No-End House and there is no way to stop her. While Jules stepped away from the house to try and get some memories back while the others killed Mr. Sleator, she comes back to find Mrs. Sleator working with the police to try and find her now missing daughter. Knowing that she cannot be part of the investigation, Jules makes her way back down the street, but when arriving at the location of the creepy magic house, it is no longer there for her.

Okay, they really messed up the story here and I am a little upset that they have spread this season out to be six episodes, when it would have been fine with the people exiting the house. My problem comes midway through the episode when Margot has no recollection of a pet that her father is eating in trade, but has no problem remembering her mother who he ate days ago in the No-End House. This does not pair up at all, but the memories might be getting partially eaten, but this is still a huge issue for people paying attention. The fierceness that is coming from Mr. Sleator is just nuts and I am surprised that he could have been locked away for any amount of time in the basement without breaking out. I was kind of hoping that Seth was gone, but now he will be the focus of the remaining episode to make things work. This will be an interesting ending coming up and while I have my doubts that my mind will be blown, I will still watch it, because the rest of the storyline is kind of intriguing. Stay Scared.

Waking up early to try and get a start on the day before the rest of the group, Dylan is still trying to find a way to connect with Lacey. With the promise of getting her memory back when they return to the real world, Dylan gives his wife a necklace from her past that will hopefully cause some sort of spark in her memories. But it may be too little too late for Lacey as she tries to escape the clutches of Dylan by taking his knife and fighting for her life. With the entire group watching as he ties her up once again, it is time to make their way back to the No-End House by walking through the streets of this alternate world.
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Jules is acting tired and sickly as she wakes up in the garage with no memory of what happened the night before. Seeing her friend is not doing too well, the urgency to get out of this world is becoming more apparent for the group, including Margot who has found love in the arms of Seth. Making their way through the streets and seeing all of the lifeless eyes of the house watching them, the group is told to keep moving at their pace, as all of these people are members of the house and don’t want to see them go. Making it to the edge of town, the group heads into the great beyond where many of the towns folk do not wander past, but as they make it further off the grid, they find out that they are not alone.

Seeing a dying member of the house lying in the field, Seth drops some knowledge on the group that it’s host is either out or dead. This is very disturbing to J.T. as he is a copy of his host who has been disposed of, but knows now why he is feeling so sick. Knowing that J.T. is a replacement, Seth is keeping his mouth closed to the rest of the group, but he has a secret of his own that the group may want to know. As day quickly turns into night on their trek, the group finds themselves at the beginning of a corn maze that will lead them out of the house, but there are visitors inside who are looking to feed. Trying to hold up until morning to see who and what they are going to be fighting against, the group starts to break up going their own ways.

Taking Margot off to see the daisies, Seth comes clean about his feelings for her, but has a bombshell to drop on her as well. As the No-End House has become his home, he is the reason why the group has made their way into this living hell. Trying to convince Margot to stay with him and find out how easy it is to make a life in this alternate world, he is shot down very quickly. As Margot makes her way back to the camp to see one of the house’s inhabitants feeding in a way that will haunt her dreams, more truths start coming to the surface for the rest of the group.

As a feeder makes its way into camp and tries to get any memories out of Lacey that it can, Dylan is in shock seeing his wife lying dead on the ground and is ready to take action. Seeing that J.T. was left alive, he now knows that the young man is part of the house as well and puts him down. Heading into the corn maze, Dylan leads Margot and Jules through to get to the house, dispatching of anyone that gets in their way. Arriving at the house, Dylan sends the women through and decides to stay behind to take care of the business of ending this hell on earth. Not really getting his chance as Mr. Sleator is able to get past him and enter the house as well, Jules and Margot are forced once again to live their nightmares inside of the house to get back home. Getting out of the No-End House and telling the future meals to head back, the two best friends have no idea what is following them, much less what their memories will do to them next.

This has got to be my favorite episode of the series thus far since you get to see how far the feeders will go to get their next meal. I really wish that they showed a little more feeding in this episode, mainly because there was a mom calling her kids to dinner, and we did not get to see it. The only thing that I did not like about the episode as a whole is J.D.’s name being changed to J.T., not really confusing as we know who he is, but come on. Jules was a wreck throughout the episode and the house seems to know exactly where to get her. The short-lived relationship between Margot and Seth was fun and while I am not one for an added love story, I wish it could have gone a little further. The venture through the house again was even darker and creepier than the first one, as combined fears are being shown. I cannot wait to see what happens in the real world as there is a new person a year removed from this earth looking to make his presence known. Stay Scared.

For the vast majority of people out there, choosing a side is a fairly simple process. We find those that align with our views, our ideals and our goals and we stand with them in our cause whether it be good or bad because a united front always helps to progress whatever it is we are trying to accomplish. But for other people out there, choosing a side can actually be quite the painful ordeal. For some, that’s due to the fact that they have often chosen to stay on the sidelines and let the world sort its own business out, and now that something in their life has changed, they’re forced to step up and are unsure of how to proceed.
 
But for others, well their issues with having to align themselves with a particular cause comes from the fact that they quickly picked a side, and they later come to realize they’ve made a terrible mistake. They chose a side without taking the time to think about what exactly they were backing and a crisis of conscience has now consumed their soul and it is this notion that found its way to the center stage on The Walking Dead last night, because ‘Time for After’ returned us to the Sanctuary to focus on Eugene and his long standing controversial decision to join the Saviors…and the regret he is now experiencing over it.
 
If anything, I have to admit that I was quite impressed with the fact that the series decided to address this now, in the midst of All Out War, but truly, it could not have come at a better time because while we all know that Eugene has chosen the wrong side, it’s high time he figured it out as well. But his coming to such a realization would not come about in simple fashion because that’s simply not this show’s style. No, in order to bring Eugene to the point of epiphany, an incredible push storytelling wise had to come into play, one that stayed in tune with season eight’s theme of the greater good and one that broke Eugene at last. 
 
As it turns out the key to shattering a man like Eugene Porter is to hammer home the point that he’s a coward without a spine and all night long, both Dwight and Father Gabriel found ways to test his mettle and bring his cowardice to the forefront of the story and slowly but surely it tore at his soul. There was constant regret upon his face and on his mind over the fact that he was helping Negan and unfortunately for those that were slowly starting to reach him…his fight or flight response came into play when Daryl’s plan to shatter the walls of the Sanctuary came to fruition, forcing Eugene to not only acknowledge the fact that he’s okay with being Negan’s pet puppy, but he also took this moment as an opportunity to remind everyone that he will do anything to please his new master and he puts together a plan to finally free the Sanctuary and the Saviors from the dead within and around their walls.

​Now I saw the fan reaction to this episode, and I know everyone was basically pissed at Eugene for continuing to align himself with Negan and have his back for that matter, and while I too would love to feel fury over this, I felt nothing but pity when all is said and done. Because I’m constantly reminded of the final moments of Eugene’s story in this episode, wherein he finally hits his lowest point and basically drinks himself stupid to dull the pain and my pity comes from the fact that he’s a man who is simply lost. He never mattered before the end of the world, he lied and embarrassed himself to try and feel needed and important, and it took an evil man’s compliments and faith to finally give him that sense of belonging and well…it’s clear after being pushed so hard in this story that he finally knows he made a poor decision in joining and supporting the Saviors. He knows good people will die for his actions and at long last he’s finally feeling conflicted over his selfishness and his rampant fear and I’m still wondering if his story will be a long and drawn out redemption tale where somewhere down the line Eugene will finally wake up and smell the proverbial coffee and do the right thing.
 
Don’t get me wrong however, I’m still disappointed in the man and his sheer desire to be adored by Negan because he is better than that. But if anything, my fury in this tale comes from the fact that Daryl essentially screwed everything up with his unnecessary need for revenge because as I mentioned before, he went through with this plan to ram a truck into the Sanctuary and well…had he exercised some level of composure and stuck with the plan there’s a chance that Eugene wouldn’t have come up with his hastily designed plan to free the Saviors from the living dead and some patience on his part could have allowed for the war to come to an end far sooner and at this point, who knows what kind of trouble Daryl’s selfishness has caused because Negan is out and about and furious and no doubt ready to unleash his own special brand of fury upon the Alliance.
 
However, there is at least one sliver of hope when it comes to the war, in that, after spending a little time toying around with the Heapsters and their allegiance, the story finally brought that whole mess to a satisfying conclusion by way of a thrilling sequence wherein Rick was able to demonstrate to Jadis his resolve and strength by defeating her lieutenants and destroying Winston 2.0, and his overall badassery was enough for her to finally realize that he was not a man to be messed with and she finally aligned with the Alliance. But while it is nice to see this strange group of folks back the right side for a change, their contribution to the war effort may not matter now that Rick is fully aware of the fact that the Sanctuary is walker free, and filled with fear because of this chilling development…
 
In the end however, despite the powerful implications of trouble to come from that closing shot, this was quite the lovely little character study of Eugene Porter and the conflict he’s now going through internally and I certainly hope he realizes he can no longer back the wrong side when it comes to this conflict and when all is said and done, Josh McDermitt deserves some serious props for his performance in this episode. He really displayed his acting chops through and through and I hope somehow the series finds a way to put more of that on display. But in the meantime, there’s bigger fish to fry. The Saviors are loose and Negan is no doubt looking for revenge and I have no doubt that we will see the brutal fallout from Daryl’s folly in next week’s midseason finale. Until next time. 

After having strange dreams about how life used to be in the house, Margot wakes up to find her father trying to make things more natural in his new surroundings. Trying to get to the bottom of why her father killed himself, Margot gets the answers that she expects over breakfast, but that is not what is troubling her. Tossing her food in the trash can, Margot sees the face of her mother and while trying not to freak out, she says that she is headed on a walk, but her father will not allow it. Chasing his daughter up to her room, Mr. Sleator and the house will not let the young woman escape and he is getting hungry again, so the need for his daughter is much stronger than he could expect.
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Tying Lacey down in her home, Dylan is trying to prove to her that they belong together. Showing his wife the photos of their life outside of the No-End House, Dylan is not getting anywhere. As Lacey’s dream husband arrives home to see his wife bound and gagged, he tries to protect her the way he should, but is no match for Dylan who uses everything at his disposal to dispatch of him. Seeing that his wife is no longer a part of his life, Dylan is able to find the others who went through the door with him and the group is forced to make a decision as to what to do next.

Having awful dreams about what she saw in the fifth room, Jules is having a harder time dealing with her current reality. Wanting to find Margot and get the heck out of the house, she sees that Mr. Sleator is chasing her through the neighborhood and is willing to kill anyone that gets in his way. Going back to their safe haven house, Jules continues to be tormented with the globe that seems to know everything about her life. Not being able to pull away from it, Jules gives in to letting her memories flow out as the ball continues to feed and is opening up a new batch of food for the house’s inhabitants. 

After finding her friends, Margot wants to focus on what is most important, leaving the No-End House.  Seeing something strange in the distance, she is able to get Seth to head out into the alternate town to try and find where it could possibly end. Watching as the smoke clears to see how far they can go, the two are also able to figure out where the No-End House is located. Getting back to their safe haven house after spotting Mr. Sleator again, the group notices a hole in the floor of the basement that turns into a pit of doom for the old hungry man. Getting a visit from Dylan who knows exactly what the house is doing to all of them and telling the group that their memories are fuel for the house, the only way to survive is to exit, or become one of the mindless occupants that they have noticed roaming around the neighborhood.

Interesting episode and the story is moving pretty quickly now. As much of the storyline focuses on Margot fleeing from her father, you get to see that the house has gateways to other parts of the neighborhood, but for some reason, nobody else has found one. The sinister Mr. Sleator is very creepy in this episode, as he comes clean about needing the memories to survive and while eating these memories like a cannibal, he will always need more to survive. The copy of J.D. has integrated into the group and is looking to them to find a way out of this house, which I am not sure what his exit will do to the real world, but I am sure that it cannot be good. As the group has all come together and continue to find out new things about the No-End House, escaping should be their number one priority, but it seems like everyone is not yet on the same page. Stay Scared.