Genuinely creepy. The atmospheric music and cinematography is fantastic!

I saw the movie and disliked it, so I was sure the book would be as much of a bore as the movie. I was wrong!

Stephen King has a way with words that cannot be duplicated or translated to the big screen. He knows how to weave a story and word it perfectly.

I experienced almost every human emotion while reading this. Anger, sadness, happiness…everything. This takes place every time I read anything by Stephen King. He brings me to tears nearly every time.

Extremely predictable. That’s all I have to say about it.

Wow.

This film adaptation is so removed from the original novel which was in itself a very watered-down account of what actually happened to Sylvia Liken in 1965 that saying this is based on a true story seems very deceptive and insulting to the victims of the crime.

The novel is enough to traumatize you for life and it doesn’t go into detail of much of the torment that Meg/Sylvia had to endure. Having finished the novel just recently, the events depicted were still fresh in my mind and I had read up previously on the actual Likens case. So, when I set out to watch this film, I was expecting a film that would only be watchable in small intervals because it’s so gritty that you can’t swallow it in one sitting.

I was wrong.

This is like a made-for-tv movie, complete with corny, fake violin music, plenty of bad acting, and about as much violence as a Lifetime movie.

This watered-down BS really got to me because I am well aware of the torment Sylvia Likens suffered through and someone had the guts to water it down to a near-Disney film.

Excellent transfer job! The picture is much better quality and details are crisp and vivid. That being said, I don’t understand why this is called the extended director’s cut. It appears to be the exact same version of The Version You’ve Never Seen released in 2000. Anyone care to explain the difference?

No matter what RoT tries to achieve in the world of tea, they achieve their goal with flying colors. Strawberry Chocolate: A Tea for Sweethearts is definitely not an exception. When I opened the sample that was sent to me with my latest RoT catalog, the natural chocolate aroma really struck me. With almost every chocolate tea I’ve ever smelled/tasted, the chocolate flavor/aroma was blatantly artificial and weak. But not with this beauty! One sip and you feel like you are drinking chocolate-dipped strawberries. No, really. The chocolate is natural and strong, the strawberry flavor is prominent, yet none of the notes overpower each other. I have very discerning taste buds and 98% of flavored teas don’t truly live up to my standards but the flavor in this tea is so natural, so lively that it’s amazing.

Not only does this tea taste out of this world, it’s base is rooibos, a.k.a. red tea. Rooibos is one of the most antioxidant -rich plants found in nature. Mix in the fact that they’ve thrown in cocoa pods – cocoa also possesses a high number of antioxidants – and the fact that it contains no caffeine whatsoever and you have a real immunity-boosting mega-treat. Could it get any better than this?

A random fact:

This film’s title was the inspiration for murder victim Elizabeth Short’s infamous nickname: The Black Dahlia.

WOW.

That was my initial reaction to the aroma of this awesome tea. You get a bouquet of orange, peach, and tangerine with a bit of tropical fruit thrown in. I was impressed by the scent but I was still sceptical. I have experienced teas that smell marvelous but turn out to have no flavor whatsoever many times before. Mangosteen Superfruit Tea is not one of them. It delivers what it promises.

The flavor of mangoes mixed with subtle white tea and a slight sweetness produced by anise seeds is amazing. There are no artificial flavors so you know all that goodness is coming from natural ingredients which makes it even tastier in my opinion. Artificial flavors aren’t my cup of tea.

A nice little bonus is the quotes on each of tags on the end of the tea bag strings. I like to pull them off and tape them in my tea journal.

I am a fan of blackberry teas so I expected to really enjoy Gevalia Blackberry Spice Black Tea. Sadly, it didn’t live up to my expectations.

The quality of the tea is not the problem. As per usual, the tea lives up to Gevalia’s quality standards. The flavors are the issue. The spice far outweighs the nearly non-existent blackberry flavor.

They should have thought of another name for this tea. Perhaps Too Much Cinnamon with a Hint of Blackberry Tea would have been more appropriate. Fortunately I like cinnamon but if you don’t, this tea is definitely not for you.

Despite these flaws, the tea is still good albeit not what I was wanting or expecting.

This tea truly lives up to it’s name. This is the most relaxing tea that I have experienced so far and I’ve experienced hundreds of teas since I began my tea-drinking journey many years ago.

The floral flavor is a mix of lavender and rose and you feel as though you are partaking of something royal. I am reminded of an English garden when I drink this tea.

For a truly relaxing experience, drink this tea and light up a Yankee Lavender Vanilla candle and stress melts away. It works for me every time.