Kristina Manente

Entertainment, Travel, & Lifestyle Writer

United States

Kristina Manente is a freelance journalist, audio engineer, podcaster, and all around nerd with a travel addiction and a tea obsession. Her focus is entertainment & lifestyle.

Portfolio

Most Recent

The Wedding Planner Institute
12/03/2021
Our Predictions for Destination Wedding Trends 2022 - The Wedding Planner Institute

When it comes to weddings, people tend to be of two minds. There are the traditional, at-home sort and then there are the plane-hopping destination wedding couples. Whether it's a Mexico destination wedding or a three-day event on the Italian Riviera, destination weddings are popular and looking to be even more so in 2022.

Entertainment

SYFY Official Site
08/02/2021
Beyond D&D: The 12 TTRPGs you're not playing, but really should be

When it comes to the world of tabletop roleplay games, everyone knows Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. However, taking a step away from the big leagues of TTRPGs opens up a world of intricate and beautiful interactive stories just waiting to be explored.

SYFY WIRE
06/03/2021
How taking a photo of your ear will make you a gaming pro

When it comes to hearing things in games, a good pair of headphones will go a long way. But you know what will go even farther? A photo of your ear. How? Well, that's where the Immerse HIVE plugin from Embody comes in. It's time to game with your ears.

SYFY WIRE
02/15/2021
How is Muppet Treasure Island not-so-secretly the truest adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's...

Treasure Island is a beloved book of pirates, coming of age, danger on the high seas, and the thrill of adventure. Throughout the decades since its publication as a serial from 1881 to 1882, people have sought to adapt the Robert Louis Stevenson novel into various forms. It was first adapted in 1918 as a silent film directed by Sidney Franklin and then less than twenty years later as a talkie in 1934 starring Jackie Cooper and Wallace Beery.

AllGamers
09/24/2020
Rear review mirror: RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 after 16 years of screams

There are some games that are so tied to one's childhood that any mention of them erupts in a miasma of nostalgia. Ocarina of Time will cause a few gasps of adolescent joy, The Sims a few cackles of middle school mischief, and then there's RollerCoaster Tycoon.

Star Trek
09/21/2020
It's Time We Appreciate B'Elanna Torres

There are an astounding number of amazing women to be appreciated in Star Trek, and none more so than those in Voyager. The series gave us our first female captain, Captain Janeway, something long overdue. Seven of Nine bridged the gap between human and machine with a surprising look at the Borg.

SYFY WIRE
07/27/2020
Into the Unknown: Making Frozen 2 doc might make you cry harder than the movie

smashed box office records and hearts back during the holiday season, so perhaps it was only apt that the documentary chronicling the final months of production would be heart-wrenching as well. Now available on Disney+, Into The Unknown: Making Frozen 2 is a surprisingly emotional six-part series journey that gives an in-depth look at the trials and tribulations of making a highly anticipated sequel.

Star Trek
02/12/2020
In Lifesigns, it's What's on the Inside That Counts

Valentine's Day is this Friday. In celebration, we're spending the week celebrating love in all the forms it takes throughout the quadrants. L(ove)LAP 🖖 There are many romances in Star Trek: Voyager, some canon, some not.

Fanbyte
01/14/2020
Dragon Age: Blue Wraith Continues a Fan-Favorite Character's Story

Canon compliant and beautifully illustrated, the comics build on the world of Thedas in a way that even the books can't. Not only do you get more stories from this universe, but you get to see them as well, thanks to the stunning artwork of Fernando Heinz Furukawa.

SYFY WIRE
12/07/2019
The 12 most unfairly maligned movies of the 2010s

Welcome to SYFY WIRE's Decade in Review, a series of articles that will look to catalog the best, worst, and weirdest cultural and entertainment moments of the 2010s as we look toward the future. Today, we celebrate the movies that deserved more.

SYFY WIRE
11/12/2019
How to keep fanfiction legal and avoid trouble with lawyers

Welcome to Read This Fanfiction. Once a digest, now a deep dive into the world of fan-created written works. Join us twice a month as we examine authors, platforms, trends, scandals, and more from every corner of the fanfiction universe. "It's fine for creators to not like fanfic, but to punish fans for daring to write it is wrong."

SYFY WIRE
10/21/2019
Inside the magical '80s art of Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery

David Nakayama has been a comics mainstay for years, known for his work on Marvel Adventures: Hulk and package illustration for Hasbro. He's drawn covers for nearly every major property, from X-Men and The Avengers to Star Wars, but his talent and resume are broader than you may realize.

SYFY WIRE
10/11/2019
Ghost Nation promises haunts for skeptics and believers alike

Just in time for the spookiest month of the year, the godfathers of paranormal investigation are back with a new show and a new roster. Ghost Nation premieres this Friday, October 11, on The Travel Channel, and reunites Jason Hawes, Steve Gonsalves, and Dave Tango in the world of ghost hunting.

SYFY WIRE
10/05/2019
NYCC 19: Black Canary goes through her awkward middle school phase

Black Canary - AKA Dinah Lance - is one of DC's oldest superheroes. Now, she'll be one of the youngest. The character is everywhere these days. She's a staple of the DC comic book pantheon, rocks the Arrowverse, and will be played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell in the 2020 film Birds of Prey .

SYFY WIRE
10/04/2019
How do you turn fan art into a career? At NYCC, a Doctor Who artist explains

Chances are that you've seen Alice X. Zhang's work. Her loose-brushstroke digital style using vibrant and evocative palettes has touched many a fandom and been licensed by more than one major property. All with good reason - it's sometimes whimsical, sometimes emotionally charged, occasionally hilarious, and always beautiful.

SYFY WIRE
07/23/2019
Asher Angel talks the true magic of Shazam! and on-set pranks at SDCC 2019

Asher Angel's first San Diego Comic-Con experience was nothing compared to this year's. With the world having now seen Angel's take on Billy Batson in Shazam!, his entire life has gone, well, super-powered. "It's like I didn't even do the first one," Angel told SYFY WIRE in an interview at Warner Bros.'

SYFY WIRE
06/26/2019
LGBTQ+ cosplayers reveal the queer video game characters they identify with

More than just dressing up, cosplay is an avenue for self-expression. In particular, it has allowed many of those who identify as LGBTQ+ to share their true selves, or selves they're curious about. Cosplaying can be a way of becoming someone else entirely, perhaps a person you identify more with than that of your day-to-day life.

SYFY WIRE
06/26/2019
Thank God for Michael Sheen, the angel of Good Omens and fan art alike

The world of fandom is a celebration of all things we love. From fanfiction to fan art to vids and conventions, it's a multifaceted playground of enthusiasm and adoration. Fandom has no age, no nationality, no gender or sexuality. It's all of these things wrapped up in creativity and expression.

Fanbyte
05/17/2019
How to Cook a Game of Thrones Finale Feast

The idea of preparing a feast for the finale may seem odd at first. After all, you're likely to either throw food at the screen in abject horror, choke on it in a furious rage, or upchuck it all in an Game of Thrones Exorcist- worthy spew at the gruesome violence.

SYFY WIRE
05/10/2019
10 monsters from around the world that will terrify you

If you were asked to name a classic monster, chances are you'd list the likes of Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster, vampires, or werewolves. Perhaps you might get a little creative and say chupacabra or basilisk. No offense to these hallmark creatures of mayhem, but there are so many more interesting monsters in the world, just waiting to be discovered and waiting to terrify.

SYFY WIRE
03/28/2019
Nerdy Jobs: The voices behind dating sims and visual novels

Once just off-shoots and continuations of popular anime or franchises, dating simulation games and visual novels have seen a popularity boom in recent years. These Choose Your Own Adventure-esque games are growing in popularity on Steam and other platforms for their engaging characters and storylines and loved for their ability to transport readers and make them truly feel like part of the story.

SYFY WIRE
03/05/2019
Nerdy Jobs: The writers who craft D&D and Magic: The Gathering's stories

It's not hard to appreciate the rich and mesmerizing lore and worlds of Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. These games are always changing, adapting, and bringing new stories, characters, and mechanizations to our tables. The people involved in that are plentiful, but who is it that actually writes these stories?

SYFY WIRE
02/13/2019
When fanfiction gets so popular, it spurs its own fandom (and babies)

Once the stuff of underground zines, fanfiction has become a massive genre with many subgenres unto itself. They may be continuations, divergent plot lines, or simply tales from within that world. Maybe it's a coffee shop alternate universe or an AU in which the characters are in a war scenario a la " Two Two One Bravo Baker."

SYFY WIRE
01/11/2019
Small, but mighty: How local cons are made

For nerds, attending conventions to celebrate stuff they love is one of life's greatest joys. There is little better in this world than geeking out about the latest season of a show with another fan, or seeing people dressed as your favorite character.

SYFY WIRE
12/31/2018
5 ways to get your Sherlock Holmes fix without seeing the stinko Ferrell-Reilly movie

After a century and a half of solving crimes, Sherlock Holmes has near-universal name recognition in the English-speaking world. His adventures and mysteries are ingrained into our being from a young age. Every few years a new Holmes comes to our screens, be it Jeremy Brett in the much-famed Granada Sherlock Holmes series or Benedict Cumberbatch's whirlwind Holmes in Sherlock.

SYFY WIRE
11/18/2018
Would Harry have chosen Pikachu? A magical starter Pokémon exploration

With the drop of the Detective Pikachu trailer and the release of the Fantastic Beasts sequel, I've been in a Pokémon and Harry Potter state of mind. So, of course, I had to combine them. I got to thinking, what Pokémon would Harry have chosen if Hogwarts was Pallet Town and Professor Dumbledore was Professor Oak?

VRV Blog
12/20/2018
Anne Kirn's Wonderful World of Puppets

It's smile time in The Adventure Zone People create all sorts of things to celebrate the things they love-fanart, fanfiction, cosplay, jewelry, even mock trailers and video games. All these things are wonderful, love-filled expressions of creativity, but occasionally something comes along that makes you gasp in utter delight at the uniqueness and sheer awesomeness...

Geek.com
10/08/2018
Harry Potter: A History of Magic

Harry Potter: A History of Magic , the British Library's most successful exhibition, opened at the New-York Historical Society on Friday, Oct. 5. In a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the U.S. publication of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone , this exhibition showcases everything from original artwork and pages from J.K.

Polygon
09/28/2018
Why you should watch Japan's answer to Sherlock Holmes, now on HBO

Robert Downey Jr. went over the Reichenbach Falls in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows nearly seven years ago. BBC Sherlock is more or less over, with its leads locked into Marvel contracts for the foreseeable future and the showrunners off modernizing Dracula.

Syfy
09/25/2018
10 LGBTQ+ anime that you need to watch now

The world of anime is a diverse one, as the medium tells just as many deep, socially relevant and important stories as it does light heart-eyed or action-packed fare. What may surprise many who aren't terribly familiar with anime is the wealth of LGBTQ+ focused series out there.

VRV Blog
08/29/2018
Meet the Sherlock Holmes Fan Who Built His Own 221B Baker Street

Fans create amazing things. They collect, they build, and they show their love and appreciation in a beautiful myriad of ways. Whether they have the world's largest Hatsune Miku figurine collection or are trying to build every Doctor's TARDIS, fan collections and creations are simply marvelous.

Grok Nation
07/21/2018
Our favorite cosplay from San Diego Comic-Con | Grok Nation

From Deadpool dressed as Bob Ross to a Hawaiian Stormtrooper, people let their costume creativity fly this year Cosplay is one of the hallmarks of any fan convention. Cosplay, a.k.a. costume play, started back in the '60s and '70s at science-fiction conventions.

Grok Nation
07/19/2018
Jodie Whittaker takes the Comic-Con stage as first Doctor Who-we react

Reactions before and after the first female Doctor's appearance indicate that the future is female-and we all like it that way The line for the panel at San Diego Comic-Con started on Tuesday morning, a full two days before the cast would take the stage in front of 6,000 Hall H attendees.