My mom has always been my fashion role model, even though many of her pieces are out of my budget. She’s all about comfy fabrics, flattering silhouettes and polished details, and her favorites never seem to go out of style. But what I realized is that none of those elements have to do with price.

With this in mind, I scoured Amazon and found 17 luxe-looking pieces that totally nail her aesthetic, and they shockingly start at only $8. From polished blouses to everyday dresses to trendy jeans, these chic picks could be straight out of her closet. Yes, I know because I’m always in there, searching for what to borrow next. With these Amazon finds, I won’t have to!

17 Amazon Pieces to Dress Expensive — From $8

Blouses

1. My Favorite: Lace, dots, crochet! My mom’s blouses scream ’boutique,’ so this flutter-sleeve number fits right in.

2. Year-Round Staple: Meet the perfect transitional top. This short-sleeve blouse is airy enough for warm days and substantial enough for layering.

3. Sassy Stripes: Preppy and polished, this striped blouse elevates anything, even jeans. I adore the ruffle neckline.

4. CEO Vibes: When my mom means business, she wears a lantern-sleeve blouse. This polka dot pick is loose with just enough shape.

Related: Before You Splurge on Free People, See These 17 Boho-Chic Staples on Amazon

Like you, we’re also obsessed with Free People’s boho-chic aesthetic. In fact, we love the style so much, we can occasionally justify a $200 dress . . . even if we get grief from our significant other. Since discovering Amazon’s Free People-like selection, however, we’re not even tempted by the label. These 17 chic summery […]

Dresses

5. My Favorite: If you’re looking for an everyday dress, opt for this solid-color midi. It’s easier to toss on than sweats.

6. Wedding Guest: My mom actually owns this exact dress. She raves about the one-shoulder design and figure-flattering fit.

7. Dinner Party: Fall is coming, and this lightweight sweater dress is ideal for date nights, dinner parties and beyond.

8. Travel-Friendly: This wrinkle-free maxi comes in handy for travel, ensuring you look polished from Milwaukee to Milan.

Pants

9. My Favorite: Small details catch my mom’s eye, like the frilly hems of these wide-leg blue jeans.

10. Luxe Alert: Whether you’re dressing for workday meetings or family gatherings, these pleated trousers make any top look luxe.

11. Extra Breezy: Hate tight waistbands? These dreamy palazzos have a drawstring waist that lets you customize the fit. I’m also so into this classy print.

Shoes

12. My Favorite: My mom bought these Adidas sneakers for herself, and I was (secretly) so excited when they didn’t fit. I’m wearing them as I type.

13. Knit Flats: Swap sporty kicks for these knit flats and you’ll look more sophisticated by default.

14. Sassy Suede: We’re entering loafers season, and these suede wonders are the perfect way to ring in fall. Shoppers say they’re very cushiony.

15. Leopard Print: Yes, grabbing these sleek sneakers in leopard print is optional but not if you want to garner compliments on every grocery run.

Outfit Sets

16. Comfy-Chic: Even when she’s on the couch, my mom always looks chic. It’s probably because she wears coordinated lounge pieces like this Amazon find.

17. Up or Down: Traveling, brunching, whatever! This tee and wide-leg pants set works for any occasion on your calendar.

UsNow Summer Sale Alert: These Chic Fashion Finds are over 30% off – Plus Free Shipping

Welcome to summer with our biggest sale of the year. This summer’s chicest dresses, tops and swimsuits are all over 30% + free shipping. Inventory is limited so hurry before they’re gone.

Shop the UsNow Summer Sale –> 

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Related: Tired of Tight Dresses? These 17 Loose Gems Are *Much* More Flattering

There’s a reason your bodycon dresses live in the back of your closet. They have last-pick status in our wardrobes, too, but that doesn’t mean we settle for frumpy frocks. Instead, we opt for these 17 chic loose styles that are much more flattering than their fitted counterparts. Our top picks conceal bloated tummies, bumps […]

They say comedy ages faster than any other genre, yet Charlie Brown remains youthful and hilarious. The tragic protagonist of the Peanuts franchise has been dispensing wisdom in the form of wry one-liners for over seven decades now, and he still stands out from all the imitators. Author Charles Schulz was groundbreaking in the 1950s for ascribing deep thoughts to child characters, and over the years that characterization has resonated with people more and more. By now, nearly all modern fans can say they “grew up with” Charlie Brown, no matter when they started, but there are still comic strips and animated specials to see.

Peanuts began as a comic strip about the social lives of small children, where adults are rarely seen or heard from. The characters are all insightful and philosophical, even if their concerns are childish. Charlie Brown is often characterized as an anxious over-thinker, and whenever he builds up some courage he tends to find himself punished in an ironic way. Decades of slapstick gags haven’t hardened him, however, as you can see in the five beloved Charlie Brown quote below.

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“Who Reassures the Reassurer?”

Image via Peanuts Worldwide

These days, everyone from marketing interns to content creators know that the easiest way to tug at an audience’s heartstrings is with a dog. Schulz was ahead of his time in this regard when he paired the anxious Charlie Brown with the bold Snoopy. A 1993 comic strip captured this dichotomy perfectly, as Charlie Brown goes out of his way to comfort and reassure Snoopy that everything is right in the world.

The strip shows Snoopy waking up from his dog house and seeking Charlie Brown out, apparently after hearing something or having a bad dream. In just a few panels, Charlie Brown provides hyperbolic reassurances that everything is right in the world — not just in their small suburb. “The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you. Be reassured!” However, back in his own bed alone, Charlie Brown hides under the covers and wonders who will provide the same comfort to him.

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“I Don’t Know, What Are The Side Effects?”

A Peanuts comic strip by Charles Schulz

If there’s one character who brings out Charlie Brown’s philosophical side, it’s Linus. The younger Peanut tries harder than anyone to lend Charlie Brown some courage and point out his logical fallacies. In this strip, he goes so far as to say that Charlie Brown is “afraid to be happy,” and suggests that he should just stop resisting and take joy where he can get it. “Don’t you think happiness would be good for you?”

“I don’t know… What are the side effects?” Charlie Brown responds. This is a clever play on words that has only become more relevant over the years. These days, anything that’s “good for you” seems to come with a catch — from health food trends to pharmaceuticals, and even various forms of exercise. Charlie Brown’s paranoia extends even to the emotions he’ll let himself feel, which is a sadly relatable sentiment.

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“I Only Dread One Day at a Time.”

Image via Peanuts Worldwide

Sticking with Linus, another short comic strip by Schulz finds the duo putting a sardonic twist on an old chestnut. When Linus remarks that “life is difficult,” Charlie Brown announces that he has a “new philosophy” for dealing with challenges. “I can only dread one day at a time!” This is a pessimistic inversion of the classic advice to take life “one day at a time” in order to avoid being overwhelmed.

This duo actually had a similar conversation in a 1966 strip, where Charlie Brown updates his philosophy. He says: “I used to try to take each day as it came… You know, live one day at a time… My philosophy has changed. I’m down to half-a-day at a time!” Charlie Brown’s capacity for challenges may be shrinking, but at least he’s moved on from “dreading” days here.

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“Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder, But it Sure Makes the Rest of You Lonely.”

Image via Peanuts Worldwide

Charlie Brown is at his best when he’s deconstructing the advice children often hear from adults when life gets hard. In this singular classic panel, he captures how hollow this particular idiom is. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it sure makes the rest of you lonely,” he remarks. This is the kind of quote that would sound rude and snarky from any character besides Charlie Brown. Instead, he makes it sound earnest. There’s something Sisyphean about the way he gets back up no matter how many times the football is pulled away from his kick at the last moment.

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“What Did I Come This Way For?”

Image via Peanuts Worldwide

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Charlie Brown really tackled the biggest question of all in these two panels, which are eerie palette-swapped versions of each other. “Life sure is strange… And they say we only come this way once,” he muses. “What did I come this way for?” It’s exactly the kind of thing a child might think about as their consciousness develops and they gain awareness of their mortality. Life is finite, and it’s never quite clear what we’re meant to do with it. However, we can all take heart that if Charlie Brown hasn’t figured it out, we’re not doing so bad.

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“In Life, It’s Not Where You Go — It’s Who You Travel With”

Image via Peanuts Worldwide

Finally, Charlie Brown is at his best when he’s with Snoopy. Seeing these two smiling together was always the Peanuts equivalent of a resolution, and this singular panel captures their dynamic perfectly. The caption has become one of Schulz most beloved quotes, and with good reason. It reads: “In life, it’s not where you go — it’s who you travel with.”

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Release Date

1965 – 2005

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Directors

Phil Roman

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  Ann Altieri

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  Violet (voice)

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  Cathy Steinberg

  Sally Brown (voice)

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  Christopher DeFaria

  Peppermint Patty (voice)

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  Christopher Shea

  Linus van Pelt (voice)

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“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is facing backlash after viewers raised concerns over its alleged use of artificial intelligence in its concept art.

One of the most noticeable pieces that users have claimed was created using AI is “Big City, Little Spider,” a concept drawn by artist Scott McInnes. Marvel has yet to publicly address the backlash and has faced AI-related controversies since 2023.

Despite the excitement surrounding Spider-Man: Brand New Day, newly released concept art has prompted inquiries about whether artificial intelligence played a role in the film’s development.

Much of the speculation centers on the “Big City, Little Spider” concept, with reports pointing to unusual distortions in several parts of the artwork. Some of the most noticeable examples appear on the taxis, particularly two vehicles traveling in opposite directions that seem to warp into one another.

The fire escape on one of the buildings was also associated with AI-generated imagery, as the stairs appear distorted and oddly shaped, unlike typical steps in the city that inspired the concept.

Fans Blast Marvel Over Alleged AI Use

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Although Marvel has yet to confirm whether AI was used in creating the concept art, netizens have already subjected the project to considerable criticism.

One wrote, “Using generative AI to concept design a real-life city like New York is wild lol. like… it’s NYC. Just look out a window or take a photo??”

One user, in particular, criticized the artist behind the “Big City, Little Spider” concept, which was the only piece of the artwork that allegedly showed the most telltale signs of AI use.

“Scott McInnes got caught slipping with the AI assist on the Big City Little Spider piece. Respect the craft or don’t put it in the official book,” said the individual.

Marvel’s AI Controversy Dates Back To ‘Secret Invasion’

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Back in 2023, Marvel also faced significant criticism when its “Secret Invasion” series prominently featured AI-generated imagery in its opening titles.

Director Ali Selim later confirmed in an interview with Polygon that AI was used for the opening credits. He said the decision was made because the visual style fit the project’s theme.

“When we reached out to the AI vendors, that was part of it — it just came right out of the shape-shifting, Skrull world identity, you know? Who did this? Who is this?” Selim said at the time.

“We would talk to them about ideas and themes and words, and then the computer would go off and do something. And then we could change it a little bit by using words, and it would change,” he added.

Marvel Denied AI Use In ‘Fantastic Four’ Posters

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In 2025, Marvel also faced backlash over the alleged use of AI in the posters it made for the Fantastic Four movie.

Eagle-eyed fans of the franchise spotted inconsistencies, such as people with four fingers instead of five and two women with the same face in the posters.

Marvel did not issue an official statement denying the use of AI, but a spokesperson confirmed to TheWrap that it was not used in creating the posters.

Russo Brothers Say AI Has ‘Value’ In Filmmaking

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Even with the criticism surrounding the use of AI in filmmaking, some Marvel stakeholders are not opposed to it.

In a 2025 interview, the Russo Brothers, who are directing Marvel’s next major project, “Avengers: Doomsday,” described AI as a valuable tool.

“We have to approach AI the same way we approach all technological innovations,” they said after being asked whether they see a role for AI in filmmaking.

“It’s potentially a valuable tool, but it’s the kind of tool that artists always have to remain in control of, but there’s going to be some valuable role in the creative process and the filmmaking process,” the duo also noted.

It’s always a little subjective when someone calls a movie a 10/10, no notes kind of experience, but there are quite a few Netflix originals that make that argument easier than others. Those types of fantastic Netflix films feel carefully created from beginning to end, whether due to their sharp storytelling, emotional power, visual style, strong performances, or rewatch value.

Movies like the underrated action masterpiece The Old Guard, which transforms an immortal warrior action story into something with real depth, and Beasts of No Nation, which stands as a truly devastating war drama, are two Netflix originals that deliver so strongly on what it sets out to do that defending the film as genuinely masterful is quite easy. Compiled on this list are brilliant Netflix movies that are 10/10, no notes required.

‘Roma’ (2018)

Image via Netflix

Roma is a pretty defensible movie as a noteworthy 10/10 experience, simply because of its control and ability to never lose its emotional humanity. Set in early-1970s Mexico City, the historical drama follows a domestic worker, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), who’s being kept busy caring for a middle-class family as they practically disintegrate against the backdrop of political upheaval all amid her unexpected pregnancy.

Roma wields dynamite control over its cinematic space. From the movie’s black-and-white cinematography, which doesn’t merely beautify memory but also gives everyday life a striking sense of importance and intimacy, to its carefully constructed compositions and patient camera movements, nearly every frame of the 10/10 experience feels significant. Roma is an emotionally cumulative and technically extraordinary film that stands strong as a Netflix masterpiece with a well-deserved reputation for being absolutely fantastic.

‘The Ritual’ (2017)

Image via Netflix

This Netflix movie may look like a regular lost-in-the-woods horror movie, but its masterful execution makes it a great standout that is arguably one of the best 10/10 watches on the platform. The Ritual focuses on a group of friends whose trip hiking in Sweden after a tragedy turns completely awry as strange and terrifying things begin to happen.

The Ritual is a perfect film for viewers who desire a story with plenty of psychological unease and also value atmosphere. With the movie’s use of trauma, isolation, friendship, and folklore to create a sense of dread that quite steadily grows without relying on cheap scares, the film easily stands as one of Netflix’s most defensible horror gems. The Ritual is careful enough that its monster story never feels separated from the characters’ emotional trauma, and with its horror tropes, it’s arguably one of Netflix’s greatest films in the genre.

‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ (2020)

Image via Netflix

Few selections in Netflix’s movie catalog test the idea of a 10/10, no notes film harder than the 2020 watch, I’m Thinking of Ending Things. The Charlie Kaufman-directed drama, adapted from the book of the same name, focuses on a young woman who’s on a strange trip through a snowstorm with her boyfriend to meet his family at an isolated farmhouse.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things is definitely a movie that’s received a very mixed bag of compliments and critiques. Some call it boring, while others dub it an extremely clever watch. Kaufman doesn’t offer a simple mystery that rewards audiences with a literal solution; instead, the film quite deliberately blurs fantasy, reality, memory, and identity, which forces viewers to piece together the movie’s emotional meaning rather than search for one straightforward explanation. For those who connect with I’m Thinking of Ending Things, the film definitely stands as the perfect 10/10 experience that’s worthwhile.

‘Beasts of No Nation’ (2015)

Image via Netflix

This movie is an emotionally brutal artpiece that is definitely one of Netflix’s most devastating original films. Beasts of No Nation follows a young boy who is forced into becoming a child soldier after war destroys his life and separates him from everything he knows.

Beasts of No Nation can be defended as a 10/10, no-notes kind of watch because of how uncompromisingly it tells its story. The film is a standout that masterfully focuses on a child’s experience of violence without transforming his suffering into a cliché, massive spectacle. It may be a war drama, but its real force comes from watching innocence be tainted and stripped away as the protagonist delves deeper into a world of manipulation, survival, and fear. Beasts of No Nation is painful cinema, but the film is no doubt an exceptionally controlled Netflix-quality masterpiece.

‘The Mitchells vs. the Machines’ (2021)

Image via Netflix

The Mitchells vs. the Machines is an underrated animated movie that deserves far more attention than it’s received. The sci-fi comedy centers around Katie Mitchell (Abbi Jacobson), an aspiring filmmaker, whose father turns her trip to college into a family getaway in order to grow closer and bond, only for their attempt at reconciliation to be met with a full-blown robot uprising that forces the dysfunctional relatives to be unlikely heroes.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines may be a pretty underwatched film, but it is a true masterpiece that features tons of humor, heart, and creativity. It’s a film that’s remarkably rewatchable, with its jokes that move quickly without ever feeling empty, animation practically bursting with personality, and its heartwarming family story that gives the madness a real emotional core. The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a peak hidden gem that can easily be defended as a 10/10 animated masterpiece.

‘They Cloned Tyrone’ (2023)

Image via Netflix

They Cloned Tyrone is a Netflix genre experiment that definitely lands. The standout science-fiction conspiracy comedy focuses on the trio — Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine (John Boyega), and Yo-Yo (Teyonah Parris) — after an impossible event leads them to uncover a conspiracy beneath their neighborhood.

With its rather strange premise, They Cloned Tyrone is actually a crazy funny, sharp, stylish, and politically charged film. What makes the movie such an arguably 10/10 noteworthy experience for most isn’t that it creates something the conspiracy genre has never seen before; it actually takes those familiar tropes from science fiction, social satire, blaxploitation, and conspiracy thriller, and reshapes them into something that feels genuinely funny and distinctly its own. They Cloned Tyrone is a confident, strange, and boldly unique kind of film that definitely stands as one of Netflix’s smartest originals.

‘Rebel Ridge’ (2024)

Image via Netflix

This recent Netflix thriller is a quality film that truly understands the power of patience. Rebel Ridge follows Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre), who enters the corrupt small town of Shelby Springs to post bail for his cousin, only to have police seize his funds.

Rebel Ridge was definitely a welcome surprise upon its release. For such a thrill ride, the movie surprisingly doesn’t just rely on nonstop violence; it instead also builds its tension through restraint, procedure, intelligence, and the slow realization that the system itself is the true threat. Rebel Ridge is a really defensible film because it actually lands its delivery as a grounded thriller. It’s a truly gripping 10/10 watch that wields action with a clear purpose, making it quite easy to add to this list of Netflix cinematic jewels.

‘The Old Guard’ (2020)

Image via Netflix

The Old Guard is an action masterpiece that most Netflix subscribers who have actually seen it never expected to be as good as it is. The movie centers around a team of immortal warriors who have spent their centuries alive fighting in secret to protect humanity, only for their existence to be threatened by a new and unexpected foe.

The Old Guard is an incredible superhero-style movie with a surprisingly emotional core. It can be defended as a 10/10 viewing experience simply because of its ability to balance its pretty brutal, expertly choreographed action with characters who actually feel real and human despite their immortality. The Old Guard offers humanized heroes who have suffered through centuries of complicated relationships, grief, and emotional exhaustion, making it a rather captivating action movie that’s capable of winning over any skeptical viewer.

‘KPop Demon Hunters’ (2025)

This Netflix animated original is one of the most recent iconic watches on the platform and is quite genuinely beloved. KPop Demon Hunters follows pop star girl group Huntrix, whose mission is not only to produce hits but to also secretly protect humanity from demons, which only gets tougher when an existential crisis and a rival demon boy band get in their way.

No notes are necessary for a watch like KPop Demon Hunters, as the animated knockout is an actual 10/10 masterpiece. The film blends colorful animation, concert energy, demon-fighting spectacle, and team-centered emotion into a story that feels genuinely original. The Netflix animation could have easily been a gimmicky musical fantasy, but instead KPop Demon Hunters succeeds as a well-balanced good time with no notes needed.

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KPop Demon Hunters

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Release Date

June 20, 2025

Runtime

96 minutes

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Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang

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Hannah McMechan, Chris Appelhans, Maggie Kang, Danya Jimenez

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Having recently overtaken Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie in global box-office history, The Odyssey surpassed another franchise-defining hit. The epic swords-and-sandals fantasy has cemented itself as director Christopher Nolan‘s biggest hit, overtaking The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises both domestically and worldwide. The Odyssey has now spent a month in theaters worldwide, facing off against Spider-Man: Brand New Day for most of its run. Like Nolan’s 2023 release Oppenheimer, which opened against Barbie, The Odyssey appears to have benefited from the competition. Also like Oppenheimer, Nolan’s latest epic is already seen as an Oscar contender in several major categories.

Starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, and Robert Pattinson, The Odyssey is Nolan’s grounded take on Homer’s Greek epic, which has inspired several of the filmmaker’s own movies in the past. Nolan came close to tackling the material over two decades ago, when he was attached to the epic film Troy. He directed Batman Begins instead, and The Odyssey has grossed nearly three times as much as Troy at the global box office. Nolan’s new film is now sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 94% critics’ score and a “Verified Hot” 97% audience score on the aggregator website, where the consensus reads, “Reinvigorating an ancient adventure with majestic sweep and sterling work by its colossal ensemble, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey imbues myth with primal human feeling.”

Here’s the Fantasy Epic That ‘The Odyssey’ Has Overtaken at the Box Office

Adding $18 million in its fifth weekend at the domestic box office, The Odyssey‘s total haul now stands at nearly $540 million. Globally, the film has surpassed the $1.34 billion lifetime haul of the highest-grossing hit in the generation-defining Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Released in 2011 and directed by David Yates, the franchise-ending blockbuster received excellent reviews, and is now sitting at a “Certified Fresh” 96% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. It featured Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint for the final time as the central trio of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. The Harry Potter franchise is set to be rebooted as an HBO television show later this year, featuring an entirely new cast. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

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Release Date

July 15, 2026

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Runtime

173 minutes

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Long before George R.R. Martin began penning his high fantasy powerhouse, A Song of Ice and Fire, he wrote a Southern Gothic, gory standalone vampire book. Fevre Dream, published in 1982, is one of Martin’s earliest novels and has largely slipped under the nose of most Game of Thrones fans. A historical horror story set primarily in 1857 on steamboats cruising the Mississippi River, Fevre Dream is a forgotten classic in the beloved fantasy author’s oeuvre. Martin notably singled out Fevre Dream for a potential movie adaptation, calling it a “dream project” of his.

The plot of Fevre Dream is focalized through Abner Marsh, a down-on-his-luck riverboat captain who accepts an irresistible offer from the mysterious, wealthy, and pale-haired Joshua York. York, the transfixing aristocrat with very Targaryen-esque features, offers to finance a magnificent steamboat for Marsh to oversee. However, there is a nonnegotiable condition: Marsh must not inquire about his strange sun-avoiding sleep schedule or his strange band of equally pale traveling companions. Naturally, Marsh can’t honor that promise for long. He starts to ask questions and does some harmless rummaging through York’s room, setting the stage for a twisty descent into a rather unconventional vampire tale.

George R.R. Martin’s Historical Horror Runs Deep

Image via Poseiden Press

If there’s one thing that Martin is widely renowned for, it’s world-building. The second is his penchant for brutally memorable character deaths. Fevre Dream upholds both of these author associations and proves that Martin had a gift for bolstering his fantasy with the weight and texture of real historical horrors, long before he created Westeros. Being set in the antebellum South leading up to the Civil War, the horrors of chattel slavery are interwoven into Fevre Dream‘s supernatural premise. Martin recognizes that ships, including steamboats, were vessels of enslavement. The real-life violence of the time period is what really gives the narrative its teeth, horror-wise. Markedly, the introduction of supernatural villains in the Deep South setting is used not just for scares, but as a lens through which the institutionalized evil of the human world is called out.

In other words, Fevre Dream never glamorizes the plantation landscape, the muddy bayous, or the river itself. The pivotal port stop in New Orleans is described at length as a stifling, ill-fated place. Those expecting an Anne Rice-style New Orleans vampire romp will be thrown by Martin’s sobering reading of the city, where yellow fever is a rampant, widely feared foe. The setting is less a Gothic dreamscape and more an intricately researched backdrop befitting a work of historical fiction. Martin certainly doesn’t cut any descriptive corners, so do be warned: the first quarter of the novel is a bit slow, and heavy on steamboat particulars, before the supernatural lore is divulged and kicks the plot into high gear.

‘Fevre Dream’ Reinvented the Vampire Myth

Image via Avatar Press / Cover art by Rafa Lopez

The vampire genre has become increasingly crowded, populating serial television, YA fiction, and horror movies alike. To some degree, each iteration of vampire fiction actively comments on or chides the mythical baggage associated with this supernatural being. There’s always a scene of clarification where the vampire confirms or denies a checklist: coffins, garlic, holy water, mirrors? Comedically, in the popular teen vampire drama series, The Vampire Diaries, Damon Salvatore openly mocks the Twilight novels, asserting “I live in the real world, where vampires burn in the sun.” This self-referential quality of vampire fiction, drawing a line between the real and the fake supernatural, is now a genre convention. In Fevre Dream, Martin uses this convention to truly throw out the vampire rulebook, rather than to tweak its stipulations.

Stripping away the usual mystique of the undead predator, Martin’s vampire characters aren’t particularly troubled with the folkloric checklist because, as far as they’re concerned, that checklist doesn’t apply to them. Martin’s vampires don’t even refer to themselves as vampires; they’re dismissive of the term. In Fevre Dream, the pale band of men and women we meet through the eyes of Abner Marsh aren’t vampires exactly, but a separate species, whose biology gives them superhuman capacities and an appetite for blood (dubbed the “red thirst”). They are not immortal in the way the archetype has been popularized. These “vampires” are humanoids with their own history, legends, customs, and internal divisions, living not as reanimated corpses but as their own increasingly endangered species tracing back to the dawn of time.

George R.R. Martin’s Most Disturbing Villain Isn’t In Westeros

Image via Avatar Press

Fevre Dream introduces a truly no-holds-barred villain in Damon Julian, who is the most ancient “vampire” still alive. Damon Julian, which sounds a little too blatant a villain name, is purposefully heavy-handed, as it’s an alias rather satirically donned by a man who has had manifold names: Giles Lamont, Gilben d’Aquin, Philip Caine, Sergei Romanov. As Abner Marsh meets the eyes of the book’s big bad, “a thousand other men fall away, and behind each one was another, older and more horrible, layer on layer of them each more bestial than the last.” It’s an appropriate moniker for a villain whose entire identity is based around concealment and implacability.

Martin wastes little time in establishing Julian’s monstrosity in the novel. He lords over a plantation house, using humans as disposable tools to do his bidding. His big entrance onto the lavish steamboat to meet the idealistic vampire Joshua York is shockingly grotesque as he casually slays an infant at their dinner party. What’s especially distinctive about Julian as a villain is how little Martin tries to complicate or humanize him and his motives. In Game of Thrones, many of the characters who do morally reprehensible things are still offered redemption arcs or some glimpses of humanity and vulnerability. In Fevre Dream, there is no morally gray territory to explore with the antagonist. Martin writes a villain who is not merely mad or a victim of his superhuman inheritance. He is impassive, eerily tranquil, and fully at ease with the system of predation he chooses to operate within.

For all its differences from the world of Westeros, Fevre Dream bears many of the same markers that would eventually make Martin a high-fantasy legend. Power, politicking, fire and blood, morally complicated alliances, and some climactic action sequences all fuel the vampire narrative’s engine. Although Martin has had less luck heretofore with feature film adaptations of his work, Fevre Dream has the clearest potential voyage to the big screen. The project doesn’t need the Game of Thrones legacy to justify its existence, standing on its own as a strange, atmospheric, brutal, and historically grounded reinvention of the vampire story. Part period piece, action-adventure, and horror, Fevre Dream still has plenty of life left in it almost 45 years after its publication, plus a completed screenplay waiting in the wings. And if Martin gets his way, Guillermo Del Toro would be the director steering this dream adaptation to fruition.

The late Hayden Panettiere’s mother, Lesley Vogel, responded to accusations that she pressured her daughter to become a full-time actress from a young age.

“I was strong, definitely, but I was not abusive by any stretch of the imagination,” Vogel, 70, told The Daily Mail in an interview published on Saturday, August 22.

Vogel signed Panettiere up with the famed Wilhelmina modeling agency at 8 months old and the future Heroes star shot her first commercial three months later. At 5 years old, Panettiere was cast in her first recurring TV role as Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live. (Panettiere worked on the daytime soap from 1994 to 1997. Vogel was her daughter’s first talent manager.)

“She started with Wilhelmina at eight months old because she’s a beautiful baby. I mean, really beautiful baby,” Vogel recalled. “My thought then was, let her do some stuff, we’ll put it in her college fund, and she’ll go to college and she’ll have this. I never expected her to be a professional actor, never.”

Related: Holly Robinson Peete Calls Out Hayden Panettiere’s Mom After Actress’ Death

Holly Robinson Peete is backing Gayle King after the morning show host called out Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mom, Lesley Vogel, following her statement on the actress’ death. “She’s not wrong,” Peete, 61, wrote via X on Wednesday, August 19, alongside a link to a story about King’s remarks in which she said that Vogel’s statement […]

During a May 2026 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Panettiere insisted that she’d been “groomed” to work for as long as she could remember.

“I was like a little soldier and I always have been. ‘No’ was never an option,” Panettiere alleged. “It was just, ‘Here are your scenes, here’s your dialogue, memorize it, hit the marks, do what your director tells you to do.’ I took my marching orders.”

In her latest interview, Vogel denied that she was responsible for any pressure that her daughter may have felt around her career.

“I think that Hayden put a pressure on herself,” Vogel said. “I know that she has mentioned, you know, [that she] ‘always had to please Mom,’ or make sure it was, you know, I succeeded or whatever. I didn’t put that on her. I think she put that on herself.”

Vogel also rejected the idea that Panettiere was unhappy in the earliest days of her child stardom.

“Try making a 2-to 5-year-old child do something they don’t want to do,” she declared. “Are you going to be successful? No, you’re not. Probably 99 percent of the time.”

Panettiere was found dead at age 36 in South Carolina on August 16 by her ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach Hickerson. Emergency service workers performed “advanced cardiac life support measures” but Panettiere was ultimately pronounced dead of a suspected overdose that afternoon. (Authorities reportedly found Narcan — a life-saving over-the-counter medication that can reverse the effects of a drug overdose — at the scene.)

An autopsy found “no signs of trauma that would have contributed” to Panettiere’s death at the scene but deferred determining a cause of death “pending further investigation and the completion of additional studies,” per the coroner’s office.

Vogel initially broke her silence about her daughter’s death with a public statement that proved to be extremely controversial.

“I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments, and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path,” she said on Tuesday, August 18.

Related: Hayden Panettiere Shared Update on Relationship With Her Mom Before Death

Hayden Panettiere shared an update on her relationship with her estranged mom, Lesley Vogel, months before her untimely and shocking death. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a relationship right now,” the Heroes alum exclusively told Us back in 2025. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t leave the door open for the opportunity to present itself […]

Those comments were widely condemned by a wide range of entertainment figures, from TV hosts Gayle King and Megyn Kelly to actress Holly Robinson Peete.

Vogel delivered a scathing response in her Daily Mail interview, saying. “I was very, very hurt and deeply disappointed in the lack of professionalism, the lack of compassion in slamming someone who’s lost two children, without even a modicum of consideration. No one reached out to me before. It’s shameful. It’s unconscionable to me.”

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Prior to Hayden’s death, Vogel lost son Jansen Panettiere at age 28 due to an undiagnosed heart condition in February 2023.

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