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'ABIGAIL'

Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language and brief drug use.

What it’s about: A team of kidnappers tasked with guarding a young hostage in an isolated mansion discover that they're locked in with a vampire.

The kid attractor factor: This is a horror film for adults, not kids.

Good lessons/bad ...Read more

I took the bait and I'm not even embarrassed to say what the bait was.

It was a fishing scam. Not trout, bass, anything you throw back in the water, or cook on the grill -- fishing with a "ph." Phishing.

Phishing is when online fraudsters try to scam you out of money by enticing you to open an email or text without first checking the web ...Read more

Q. My 12-year-old daughter recently told me her 11-year-old stepbrother tried to kiss her before he went to bed the other night. She was already asleep, and they share a room. We gently confronted him, and he admitted to it, but he was very embarrassed, and my daughter is mortified. My husband and I have only been married six months and we moved...Read more

The subtitle for Ben Mason’s memoir "Sex, Trucks, and Rock ‘N Roll" is “a Spiritual Journey,” but that’s much too tidy for this book. “ It’s four in the morning,” starts chapter one, “ and I’m still wired.”

So starts this headstrong story of the life of a musician, songwriter and free-thinking drummer. Every girl wants to ...Read more

MIAMI -- Helped by an influx of new Floridians, and boosted by the state’s newly expanded voucher system, Catholic schools in South Florida are seeing steady growth and even adding new classrooms. That’s in stark contrast to what’s going on in the public schools, particularly in Broward County, which faces tough decisions on closing entire...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Matt Katz wanted to know where his Jewish ancestors once lived in Eastern Europe, so in 2016 he spit into a plastic vial and mailed in his DNA test. He expected to be 100% Ashkenazi Jewish.

Instead, he learned that half his DNA came from Ireland. He was shocked, but perhaps more jarring, so was his mother. She confirmed through ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A lawsuit accusing North Carolina officials of unnecessarily warehousing foster children in locked psychiatric facilities has survived the Department of Health and Human Services’ effort to dismiss the case.

The federal complaint contends that the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services discriminates against...Read more

'CIVIL WAR'

Rated R for strong violent content, bloody/disturbing images, and language throughout.

What it’s about: A team of photojournalists capture the front lines of a war raging in the United States while traveling from New York to Washington, D.C.

The kid attractor factor: This is a serious, violent, adult drama. Not much appeal for ...Read more

Q: My girlfriend and I moved in together about 4 months ago. We both have sons about the same age. They are nothing alike and it’s really difficult for her—and me--because she compares the boys all the time and it makes it very uncomfortable. For example, her son is very athletic, mine is not. He prefers to draw and she has out and out said ...Read more

My husband and I have experienced some hearing loss. The most frequently heard word at our house is "WHAT!?"

More pressing than our physical hearing loss is our selective hearing loss, something that happens to couples who have been married a long time.

Just the other day, the husband was working on his laptop at the kitchen table with his ...Read more

Too much exposure to bright outdoor lights at night may increase a person's stroke risk, new research suggests.

The study involved more than 28,000 people living in a large city in China. Researchers found that people exposed to the highest levels of artificial outdoor light at night had a 43% increased risk of developing cerebrovascular ...Read more

Set against the backdrop of post-Roe v. Wade America, "Refuge" by Bill VanPatten dives into the profound impact of state laws on individual freedoms and explores the complexities of family, prejudice, and resilience in the face of adversity, all while fearlessly delving into the intricacies of a woman’s right to choose.

Jesse Pérez, who is ...Read more

Strokes are typically caused by high blood pressure and other traditional risk factors. But for adults under 35 who have a stroke, migraine headaches and other nontraditional risk factors may be more likely to blame, new research finds.

The higher risk declines as people age, according to the study, published in the American Heart Association ...Read more

Danielle McCollian needed some work done at her house. While at the post office, she saw an ad on the bulletin board for a guy who did remodeling.

She called, he came out and that was that. They married when she was 39 and Joe was 32. A year later, they decided to start a family. After several miscarriages, she used in vitro fertilization to ...Read more

Potty training isn't easy and it can vary a lot from child to child. The L.A. Times spoke with experts about how parents can best navigate this chapter, how they can prepare their child for a new level of independence and how they can tell that it's actually time to start.

Here are five takeaways from a discussion among Jenny Gold, L.A. Times ...Read more