In the 1990's, Nickelodeon reinvented the cartoon genre with a brand new collection of edgy, modern shows that brought all new meaning to the word wacky. A psychotic chihuahua teams up with a nitwit cat in The Ren & Stimpy Show, a wallaby and a cow learn about the ways of the world in Rocko's Modern Life and three comical monsters go to scare school in Aah! Real Monsters. And then there was the crazy brainchild of Peter Hannan known as CatDog.

As the title suggests, CatDog features a creature that is half cat, half dog with an extended, rubbery body connecting them just past the front paws on either end. Like all brothers, these two both love and despise each other depending on the moment. Dog (voiced by Tom Kenny) can hardly abide Cat's taste in books and music and Cat has had enough of Dog's propensity to chase trash-trucks. Even though they must be the same age, Cat is the "older" brother, always looking for a way to make life better for the both of them, and always ready to help when his counterpart needs a paw (or two.)

Dog is the baby brother who needs constant looking after. He's very much a victim of his primal instincts so food and fun are high on his list from the time he wakes until the time they go to sleep in their communal bed.

As with all good cartoons, CatDog have a variety of antagonists for our heros to deal with. The Greasers Dogs are a street gang who get their kicks making fun of CatDog. Rancid Rabbit is the stereotypical angry boss who blows his stack whenever CatDog is near and there's my favorite, Eddie the Pulverizer who is voiced by A-Team's Dwight Schultz.

From an adult viewpoint, it's not as well-written as Rocko's Modern Life. The stories are based on repetitive humor such as repeated attempts to sneak into a taco restaurant that are constantly thwarted. It is the kind of humor kids will enjoy and if you have siblings that can't get along, CatDog's obvious message might help the situation.

The new DVD release of CatDog features the first ten episodes of the first season. It includes "Mush, Dog, Mush" where Cat enters Dog in a sled race, "The Collector" where Cat gets wrapped up in his Mean Bob action figure collection and "Work Force" where CatDog go to work at the Kavity Crunch cereal factory.

Now here's a clip to get you in the mood for some great 90's Nickelodeon!

I've always dreamed of owning an old, spooky house with oddly-shaped rooms and secret cubbies. As long as it didn't come fully equipped with a collection of creatures who call my name in the dark. That's the problem Kim Darby faces, when she moves into her grandmother's old home in the 1973, TV movie Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.

Kim plays Sally, a stay-at-home wife dedicated to her upwardly mobile husband (Jim Hutton). Though he's not sold on the merits of country living, Sally happily dives into the task of turning the quaint building into a showplace where she can have cocktail parties with her granny-gown wearing friends. (Granny-gowns were all the rage in 1973.).

To help her with the job, she hires a temperamental, shi shi, interior designer and Uncle Charlie (Willian Demarest) to do the carpentry work.

Sally discovers a small, dark room off the kitchen that was once her grandfather's study. The two by four room has a fireplace which has been bricked up with great vigor and the ash door has been bolted shut. Uncle Charlie tells Sally that it must stay that way but he won't explain why. He should have told her that building a fire in a room the size of a VW bus would be akin to relaxing in front of a metal smelting furnace, but no, he has to be contrary and make her curious.

As soon as he leaves, Sally pries the bolts off the ash door and peers in. It's a bottomless chute and from this angle she sees that unbricking it would be hard. Never mind the fact that the fireplace has no floor, so no place to actually put the burning logs, but that's apparently not important.

What is important, is that Sally has inadvertently set them free. At first, they're nothing but squeaky, whispered voices who are a little too excited about the possibilities. Then they go on the attack. They grab Sally's dress as she walks down the stairs and steal her napkin at a dinner party. When she finally gets a glimpse of the two-foot beasts, she freaks out in front of her guests who all think she's gone mad.

But I Want To!

The creatures are truly a thing of wonder in this movie. They have fat, furry bodies and heads that look like a moldy pumpkins. They move beautifully because they're real. Diminutive actor, Felix Silla, who played Cousin Itt on The Addams Family fills out one of the three monster suits. The set designers then created large scale objects such as books and phones to make the creatures look even smaller as the crawl around spying on Sally.

The best scene in the movie takes place in the bathroom. Sally is in the shower, when the creatures come out of the closet. They use a coat hanger to turn off the lights, then one grabs a straight razor with intentions of doing some damage. "No, don't hurt her," whispers the leader. "But I want to!" razor boy whispers back. It's truly creepy and so much fun.

As Sally spirals downward, her husband gets more annoyed than concerned. She's jeopardizing his shot at full partner at the agency and he wants her to knock it off. Her solution, sell the house which angers not only the designer but the whispering creatures as well. They up their terror campaign, but they don't count on Sally's best friend, Barbara Anderson, the one person who believes Sally's story.

In the end, its a full-on battle for Sally's soul as the creatures find ways to eliminate everyone around her. Her only weapon against them is light but these sneaky little monsters are out to prove a point. Flashlights and candles won't help you. You should be very afraid of the dark.

Warner Archive has recently released a remastered version of this excellent TV movie. It's scary without being gruesome and full of chilling cat and mouse play between Sally and her not-so-inner demons. The movie is available through Warner Archive's burn-on-demand program. Visit their movie page to see a sample of the remastered film quality which is much better than the clip I've included below.

Spoiler alert: This clip does show the creatures, so don't watch it if you'd rather be surprised!

If you love collecting stuff, then you should be on American Pickers like a like a duck on a June bug. This History Channel series is the folksy cousin of Antiques Roadshow but with a lot more personality.

Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz run Antique Archaeology and their shop couldn't be more aptly named. By "picking" small towns all over the US, they've managed to uncover some amazing treasures and every week they take you along for the ride. In the vernacular of the show, "rusty gold" is a thing of beauty. Old gas station signs that are pitted and warped, bicycles from the turn of the century, oil cans and motorcycle emblems - condition isn't always a prime concern when you're looking at a piece of Americana. And Americana is what American Pickers is all about.

Each episode is a mini-history lesson with trivia pop-ups that tell you the story behind a brand or an object. But more importantly, the show gives you a look into the history of ordinary people and it turns out, they're not so ordinary after all. The finds are fun, but the folks are fabulous. Some of them live on dozens of acres, every inch of it filled with stuff. Others have turned their passion for collecting into a museum that will never be seen by more than a hundred people. And then there are the eccentrics, like the guy who dug an underground tunnel in order to have more room for his stuff.

Mike and Frank have no qualms about getting their hands dirty. They'll climb to the top of any pile if it means finding that one amazing item they've never seen before. Sometimes it's huge and heavy, like the old film projector they bought from a woman who's dad was a pioneer in the industry. Sometimes it's small, like the A.C. Gilbert James Bond Aston Martin tin toy car they find in "Gordon's Gold Mine." And just when you think you've seen it all, they find something completely wacky like a folding bathtub.

If you are a collector, you may be put off by the price haggling that is a huge part of the show but remember, these guys are running a business so they've got to make a profit. And considering that most of what they buy is rotting away in a shed somewhere, any price is a good price. But you can't tell that to folks like Robin. He wants to liquidate the inventory from his antique store that went belly up, but when the guys try to buy the good stuff, he tells them it's not for sale. It's amazing to see how emotionally attached people (myself included) are about stuff that other see as junk. At least with Mike and Frank on the job, these objects will find their way out of storage and into the hands of a collector where they'll be protected and enjoyed.

American Pickers: Volume Two includes the first eight episodes of the second season. There are no extras on the DVD and that's a shame, because it would be nice to get a look at objects that didn't make the TV edit, learn more about the history of some items, or even spend more time in the van with the boys. Their nonsensical banter is always amusing from Frank's practical jokes to Mike's conversations starters (Who is hotter? Taylor Swift or Lady Gaga?).

On the upside, the DVD is currently under $10.00 on Amazon and it would make a great gift for anyone who collects anything.

A giant, man-eating spider? A tree that runs from the scene of the crime? How about a haunted Dodge Charger that's out for blood? Any one of these monsters could end up on an episode of Supernatural, but for author John Passarella, one wasn't enough. He put all of these villains into one book along with a giant gila monster, an escaped ax murderer, a headless horseman and Nazi zombies. Yes, Nazi zombies.

The book is "Supernatural: Night Terror" and it's the newest TV Tie-in release from Titan books.

Sam and Dean Winchester head off to Clayton Fall, Colorado to investigate a series of very strange happenings. A group of drunk teens babbling on about seeing a headless horseman might be written off as fantasy, but when one of them is killed by a phantom car, that's another story.

Actually, it's quite a few stories. The car belongs to the dead boyfriend of Amy Quinn, who happens to be the Sheriff's daughter. But killer tress come from Daniel Barnes' imagination and then there's Olga Kucharski who has a fondness for late night b-horror movies. In other words, everyone's nightmares are coming true. But why? Could it be related to the new sleep research center? Or maybe the horrible factory fire that devastated the company town?

There's plenty for Sam and Dean to investigate and that's the problem with "Supernatural: Night Terror," it's too much. Too many monsters, too many characters, too many paths for the boys to follow and that's a shame. Passarella is an excellent writer. If this were a generic, horror story, it would probably work, but this is Supernatural and Sam and Dean simply don't get enough page time. This is particularly troublesome in the last 300 pages where two whole chapters are devoted to new characters meeting their gruesome ends.

From a character standpoint, Sam and Dean are mostly spot on. Dean gets a couple of heroic moments when he has to save a toddler from the sink hole to hell and throughout the story as he tries to keep Lucy Quinn from becoming the Charger's next victim. Sam picks up on the vital clues that lead them to the answer, all the while battling his own worst nightmare.

Overall, I wish that the author had cut the monster count in half in this book. I understand that the joy of writing a tie-in, is that you can go places they can't go on the show because of time or budget, but Passarella took that thought too much to heart. When the Velociraptors showed up in Chapter Twelve, I nearly put the book down and walked away from this one. Supernatural means you can get away with almost anything, but it doesn't mean you can get away with everything, all in one book.

The fall season is officially underway and so far I've been mostly pleased with what I've seen. In one case, I seem to be alone in my joy. Let's take a fast look.

The Secret Circle

This new supernatural series on The CW is the perfect companion to The Vampire Diaries. It comes from the same author and production team, but it has enough of it's own personality to stand on its own. Britt Robertson's Cassie is a little too "independent woman" for my liking. Her mother dies in the opener and she's shipped off to grandma's house only to land in the middle of a witchy mystery. Seems Cassie is the final link needed to complete the circle which will give the town teens control over their random powers. But while the teens plot a coup, the grown-ups, including Gale Harold, have a plan of their own.

The draw for me, beside witches, is Thomas Dekker. I enjoyed him in Sarah Connor Chronicles and he's got potential here. In one lovely moment, he and Cassie find out that together, they can make magic in the forest. The dew rises up off the leaves, surrounding them with a twinkling blanket of stars. Of course, Cassie doesn't want to have anything to do with him or his witch gal pals -- if she joined them on day one, there wouldn't be much of a plot. As of now, I'm in for the long haul.

THE SECRET CIRCLE Pictured (L-R): Gale Harold as Charles, Natasha Henstridge as Dawn, Shelley Hennig as Diana, Louis Hunter as Nick, Phoebe Tonkin as Faye, Britt Robertson as Cassie, Jessica Parker Kennedy as Melissa, and Thomas Dekker as Adam. Photo credit: Norman Jean Roy/The CW © 2011 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

The Playboy Club

Two things attracted me to this new NBC series, David Krumholtz of Numb3rs and the swinging sixties setting. Right off the bat, I was taken in by the look of the show. It's warm and rich and it's loaded with all the little details that make a retro series fun. Like cigarette girls! When was the last time you saw one of them? Eddie Cibrian leads the way as Nick Dalton, the former mob boy turned lawyer. He appears to be one of the good guys, even though we're told he's a womanizer and he's got some skeleton's in the closet. In the pilot, he tries to help out new bunny Maureen and lands in the middle of a bloody mess when she accidentally kills Chicago's top mafioso after he tries to take more than she's willing to give. I was surprised to see the murder plot develop so quickly, but it gave the show more punch than your average nighttime soap. But basically, that's what you've got here. Cheating husbands, sex in the bathrooms, power plays, and the mob. It's Boardwalk Empire only in the 1960's and the music is better.

Unfortunately, the series tanked in the ratings. It's up against Castle and Hawaii Five-O, which meant I had to knock something off the DVR. I dropped Castle, knowing I can pick that up OnDemand, but the majority chose to watch the returning favorites.

THE PLAYBOY CLUB -- Season:1 -- Pictured: (l-r) Wes Ramsey as Max, Naturi Naughton as Brenda, Leah Renee as Alice, Jenna Dewan as Janie, Laura Benanti as Carol-Lynne, Amber Heard as Maureen, Eddie Cibrian as Nick, David Krumholtz as Billy, Jenifer Lewis as Pearl -- Photo by: John Russo/NBC

What Do You Think?

What are your thoughts on The Secret Circle and The Playboy Club? Are either of them on your "to watch" list for next week?

Ordinary people with extraordinary powers come together in the name of truth, justice and the American way. Could be Heroes, could be X-Men, could be the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. But Syfy's new series Alphas is more like The Champions and since most of you have never seen that show, this will be new ground for you.

The series stars David Strathairn as Dr. Lee Rosen, a neurophysiologist / therapist / boss who oversees a group of crime solvers called "Alphas." Each member of the team has a special power that they've kept hidden from the world and no one in their everyday life knows what they really do with their time each day. What makes the series unique is that the powers aren't really "super." They're actually more like what you see on Fringe, mutated version of explainable abilities. No one flies, runs faster than a speeding bullet or lifts a bus with one hand.

Bill Harken's (Malik Yoba) skill comes from an over-active fight or flight reflex. When he gets stressed, this former FBI agent has the strength of ten men (but I don't think he can lift a bus.) The downside is that the bursts of energy take their toll on him physically and he has anger management problems which keep him from working effectively with the team.

The other man on the outs is Gary Bell (Ryan Cartwright of Bones). He is a high-functioning teenage autistic who sees electromagnetic frequencies. That means he can visualize radio, TV and cell signals. From his point of view, he's constantly sorting through the data that streams past his eyes. To the rest of the world, he's an anti-social misfit with finger ticks and no focus.

Nina Theroux (Laura Mennell) has the ability to make people think what she wants them to think as long as she can look them in the eyes.  Rachel Pirzad (Azita Ghanizada) can heighten any one of her senses but only at the expense of another.

In the pilot episode, the group is tasked with solving a locked room murder. The victim: an informant in police custody. The killer: Cameron Hicks, a grocery clerk who just might be an Alpha. Warren Christie (Luther from the "Dead Man's Blood" episode of Supernatural and Greggy from Happy Town) plays Hicks. His skill is the ability to coordinate his mind and body to a point where he has perfect aim. So perfect, he can throw coins into a soda machine from across the room. The downside for Hicks is that he freezes under pressure, oh and he also can't remember assassinating anyone.

Alphas strays from the normal super hero formula mostly because there are no super villains. At least, not in the pilot. It's more like Bones with a Fringe twist than Smallville. The characters, even at their worst, are extremely likeable. Ryan Cartwright steals every scene he's in with his patience-sapping portrayal of autistic Bell and Christie is. . . well. . he's hunky, so there's that. For the male viewer, imagine sexy Nina making you do everything she wants simply by whispering the words.

Alphas is funny, endearing and action-packed. It's just the right thing to cap off a night of light, scifi fun which includes all new episodes of Eureka and Warehouse 13.

It all begins this Monday, July 11 on Syfy.

When it comes to political thrillers, The Manchurian Candidate is as solid and tense as it gets. The 1962 film stars Frank Sinatra as a Korean war vet who is troubled by a nightmare in which he and his fellow soldiers are brainwashed by the Koreans. (Including the always marvelous Khigh Dhiegh.) Afraid that his nightmares might actually be memories, he digs a little deeper and finds that his pal Shaw (Laurence Harvey) is behaving strangely and that leads him to an assassination plot and a very unlikely puppet master.

At the time of the filming, Frank Sinatra was close friends with President John F. Kennedy and it was Kennedy's enthusiasm for the project that convinced him to take on the roll. The relationship between the two men was fodder for rumors that Sinatra pulled The Manchurian Candidate off the shelves in response to Kennedy's assassination because of the similarities between the movie and the actual events. Other reports say that the movie's disappearing act was purely coincidental, but there's no denying that much of what is in the movie fits the conspiracy theories that popped up after Kennedy's death.

As for this new Blu-ray release, it's good news and bad news. The good news is that the film transfer is excellent. This is a black and white movie, very dark (both literally and figuratively) and this new transfer is sharp with the blackest of blacks. There's also an updated audio track, but since this isn't a "bam" "pow" action movie, there isn't much point.

The Blu-ray comes with a short list of features, but as far as I can see, they've all been brought over from the earlier DVD of the film. The commentary by John Frankenheimer is worth listening to. There's also a 1988 interview with Frank Sinatra, George Axelrod and John Frankenheimer which gives you insight into how the film came about. The quality is poor but it's a piece of history, so it's good to have.

There are also a few features that look like they were made specifically for the DVD release, two with Angela Lansbury where she talks about her work on the movie and specifically about a particular moment which I don't want to spoil. Also included is a short interview with William Friedkin giving his thoughts on the film. You'll also find the theatrical trailer, but for such a classic movie, it's a shame there isn't more.

The most perplexing thing about this Blu-ray release is the lack of a navigational opening screen. When you put in the disc, it begins playing the movie and you have to use the pop-up menu to access the special features. Why? If there were no special features, I can see rolling right into the film, but it's annoying to see the movie playing while you're searching for settings or the proper featurette.

The bottom line is, if you own this movie on DVD, don't bother with this upgrade unless you can get a really great deal on it. If you've never seen the movie, then go ahead and pick it up. It retails for $44.95, but you can get it for under $15.00 on Amazon.

One word of warning, don't plan on reading, texting or surfing the web while you watch. The Manchurian Candidate is full of tricky twists and intentionally confusing imagery, so be sure to give it your complete attention. And while you're waiting for the movie to arrive, why don't you pass the time by playing a little solitaire.

In Season Two of Supernatural, Sam and Dean Winchester faced off against a whole slew of ghosts, ghoulies and things that went bump in the night! We got our first good look at the deals demons make ("Crossroad Blues") and another shapeshifter made life miserable for Dean ("Nightshifter"). Sam had his heart torn out, almost literally, by a wolf in pretty lady clothing ("Heart") and A tattooed djinn gave Dean a taste of the life he would have led if mom hadn't burned on the ceiling ("What Is and What Should Never Be").

Personally, my favorite monsters from Season Two were the old fashioned ghosts that wrecked havoc in a variety of ways. In "Playthings," the ghost of a little girl haunts an old hotel in order to keep her little friend from moving away. In "The Usual Suspects," the ghost is trying to do good by helping the police catch the man who murdered her, and in "Roadkill," two ghosts play a cat and mouse game with Sam and Dean in the middle. The best ghost story is "Folsom Prison Blues." Here, the nasty ghost of a nasty nurse finds easy prey behind the locked cell doors. Dean almost becomes a casualty himself until he manages to get to the salt shaker on his lunch tray which he uses to drive Nurse Ratched away.

If you ever come face-to-face with a ghost, take a few tips from the Winchesters. First, try to find out who it is and why they're there. If the ghost turns violent, salt and iron are both good temporary deterrents, but if you want to stop the phantom menace for good, you've got to find, then salt and burn the bones. Which, I'm pretty sure, is illegal in most states.

Want to relive Season Two of Supernatural in glorious Blu-ray? Now you can. The new boxset comes out on June 14. Order your copy of Supernatural: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray here today: http://bit.ly/k3Lbpz !

Trivia: Did you know that Ronald in "Nightshifter" was originally written as a darker, survivalist guy? Listen in as Ben Edlund talks about how Chris Gautier brought a sweet side to the Mandroid man.

Disclaimer: I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote Supernatural: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray, but I would have done it anyway because I'm a big fan!

When James Cameron and his crew set out to make The Terminator in the early 1980's, I'm sure they hoped it would be a success, but they probably never imagined it would become a blockbuster franchise and an American movie icon. And though most people can quote a line from the movies or ID Arnold Schwarzenegger in a TV parody, I'd bet that less than half of those people have actually seen the original movie and that's a shame.

On the upside, The Terminator is the one that set up the premise, and thus is required viewing in my book. As Sarah Connor, Linda Hamilton is average in T1 and I mean that in a good way. You feel for her because you understand her. She's not the buffed out, gun-toting mama we see later on, she's a normal, hard-working single girl who gets pulled into a nightmare through no fault of her own.

The action sequences are gripping and the final battle with the skeletonized Terminator still holds up today.  Schwarzenegger, who is the bad guy in the first outing, is dull and cold and just mechanical enough to believe he's not human. A formidable force, he takes licking after licking and keeps on kicking.

The downside of T1 is the 80's. The hair, the clothes, the styling of the film, it's very distracting in spots and really dates the movie in a bad way. Luckily, Cameron insisted on using a thrumming, techno score instead of going with popular music of the era. A score that is so intentionally grating, it adds to the tension you feel as you watch the film.

The other downside is the film's structure. It slows down considerably in the middle and the dialogue isn't as snappy and clever as it is in T2.

Turning to this new (May 10, 2011) release of The Terminator on Blu-Ray, it's all about the packaging. Instead of a traditional plastic DVD case, the disc is housed in a pocket in the back of a small, hardbound book. In 24 pages, they give you a short history of how the movie came to be, single page bios on the leads and Terminator trivia. There are a few behind-the-scenes photos, but mostly the photos are shots from the film.

Unfortunately, MGM made no effort to clean up the picture on this film and it's not worthy of being called Blu-ray. The quality is much better than the direct from VHS retrospective that's included, but nowhere near as good as it deserves to be. On the other hand, the sound is insane. We have a simple dual speaker set up and were blown away by the depth of the effects sounds on the uncompressed PCM 5.1 setting. The dialogue suffers some and was better at the regular 5.1 setting but it was fun to feel the ottoman shake when the heavy machinery rolled by Reese and his pals.

The special features are the same ones from previous releases. 7 Deleted Scenes, "Creating The Terminator: Visual Effects & Music" and "Terminator: A Retrospective." All great features if you haven't seen them.

Bottom line is, if you already own the movie, don't bother upgrading. But, if you're giving the movie as a gift (Father's Day!) to someone who doesn't have it on Blu-ray, the book packaging is nice bonus.

You can pick up The Terminator: Blu-Ray Book Edition on Amazon for around $20.00.

We know what Sam did during the time between season five and season six, but what did Dean do during his summer vacation? You'll find the answer in the new Supernatural tie-in novel, "One Year Gone."

The author of this one is Rebecca Dessertine, and she's uniquely suited to writing this gap-filling novel because she's Eric Kripke's assistant. According to his forward, Rebecca has the "catbirds" seat when it comes to filling in Supernatural's time line and says Kripke, "she's a damn good writer." I won't disagree, but "One Year Gone" does come with a couple of caveats.

First off, don't read the book if you haven't watched at least up until episode 20 of this season. The book makes reference to a lot of things about the main characters that weren't revealed until the end of the season. Second, if you're a Sam fan, expect to be pretty much unfulfilled by this extremely Dean-centric novel.

Because the book takes place between the seasons, Dean is in full domestic mode with Ben and Lisa and doesn't know that both Sam and Samuel are back from the great beyond and hunting together. Throughout the story, Sam follows Dean on his adventures but there is no interaction between them. And (how can I say this without giving away any spoilers. . . ) the Sam in the book, isn't the Sam we've come to know and love, so his actions are at times, rather objectionable.

The plot of the book is this. Dean decides to take Ben and Lisa on a "vacation" to Salem where he hopes to find a Necronomicon and a powerful witch who can work the spells found therein. The particular spell he's looking for, is one that will raise Sam from hell. He does find a witch, several in fact, and the book, but they have plans of their own and they don't want Dean interfering. When Dean continues to push for his own agenda, the witches get revenge by first attacking Lisa with one of those terrible hex bags, then they turn Ben and Dean's touristy trip through an old cllipper ship into a ghostly walk-through that would rival any Halloween haunt. Aiding him in the hunt, is the journal of Nathaniel Campbell who was around during the Salem witch trials. His portions of the story are told as flashbacks while Dean "reads" the journal and though they start out interesting, the ancestors return too many times and add little to the overall story.

As a fan of Domesticated Dean, I really enjoyed the premise of the book, but Lisa and Ben are major players, much like they were in the episode leading to the finale times two. One or both of them are kidnapped numerous times as leverage against Dean and frankly, it gets old by the end of the book. Accidentally putting the two of them in harm's way is one thing, but once they're both nearly killed, Dean would have sent them away before pursuing the witches. He doesn't and they end up in the middle of a bloody fight that also includes (almost laughably) members of a street gang who side with a stranger (Dean) and help him kill the young women he claims are witches.

Dessertine also gets carried away with Dean's pop culture references. Some are so obscure, even Lisa makes a comment about it. Yes, we know Dean loves his movies but there's a point where almost everything out of his mouth is a snarky joke and it makes him sound foolish.

The other problem is one they run into on the show all the time. The lead witch is so powerful you have to wonder why she keeps messing with Lisa and Ben instead of killing Dean outright. He has too many close calls to be believable. Yes, I know this is a book about the supernatural, but even in the paranormal world, there are rules that must be followed.

On the upside, I like Dessertine's writing style. It's easy to read, the leads are mostly in character (given where they were just before the start of this past season) and she doesn't get bogged down with irrelevant details. As for plot, pairing the series with the Salem witch trials is such a natural match-up, it's a wonder they haven't done it on the show. The downside is the lack of brotherly bonding and, for some, the inclusion of Lisa and Ben but then, they are canon, so you can't really argue about their place in the book.

"Supernatural: One Year Gone" comes from Titan Publishing. It will be released on Tuesday, May 24 and you can order your copy now from Amazon.com.

Disclaimer: Titan sent me a copy of the book to review but that did not change my opinion of the book.