Archive for January, 2014

Review: American Horror Story: Coven

Posted: January 30, 2014 in Review, Scary Stuff
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This is my first review of the year, and it’s coming a day after the final episode aired. Well, that’s what happens when you don’t have FX in your cable package and you have to search the Internet for it. Someday that’ll change.

I wasn’t really sure what to think about this season at first. It’s the third season, coming after two very terrifying and amazing seasons. Plus many of you remember how I reacted to the killer vagina thing in the first episode. Oy vey. And as the season progressed, it had its high points and its low points. But for the most part, I like to think that it ended on a good note. If you’d asked me a week ago what I thought about the season, I’d have said differently, but I’ll admit that the writers really amazed me.

This season of the anthology series follows an endangered coven of witches as they prepare for the rise of the new Supreme, the figurehead and occasional actual leader of the coven. When one falls, another rises (sounds like Buffy, doesn’t it?). However the coven is under threat from many sides, including from an organization of witch hunters; a rival faction of voodoo practitioners led by voodoo queen Marie Laveau; a racist immortal with a thing for blood; a serial killer who’s good with a saxophone; and each witch’s own personal problems, powers, and petty desires.

Some of the high points of this season was that it really did keep us guessing at who would be the next Supreme, right up until I was sure I knew who it was (and then I realized I didn’t). Not only that, but it had some very impressive scenes and special effects, and the writers proved that they could keep us interested and guessing for a very long while. Also, Emma Roberts as party girl/actress/all-around-bitch Madison Montgomery was my favorite character. I loved her and hated her. She was the best actor on the show, with Lance Reddick as Papa Legba coming in a close second (invite him back for the second season) and Lily Rabe and Kathy Bates as Misty Day and Delphine LaLurie respectively tied for third.

Favorite character, hands down.

However, there were some things I felt the story could do without. The subplot with the fundamentalist family next door felt extraneous and unnecessary. You could’ve cut that out and nobody would’ve felt like something was missing. Also, Zoe and Kyle’s love affair didn’t feel real. I had no idea why either of them liked one another, why Kyle wasn’t pissed off at being a modern Frankenstein, or why Zoe felt anything for him besides the fact that she was partially responsible for his current predicament. Actually, I didn’t really know Zoe beyond her inexplicable love for Kyle, and my knowledge of Kyle wasn’t much better. Also, there could’ve been more on the witch hunters. They weren’t utilized enough. And I would’ve liked to see more of the oppression theme that was at the center of this season.

Second-favorite character (can you see why?)

But still, it was a great season despite its low points, and I think the first in the series that ended on a bright note (surprisingly). It’s also the first season to have the potential for an Expanded Universe similar to what Star Wars and Doctor Who have (Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, call me or check me out on LinkedIn. Let’s talk). I’d be excited for some of that.

All told, AHS: Coven gets a 3.6 out of 5. Can’t wait to see what Season 4 will be about. So far all we know is that it’ll take place in 1950, Jessica Lange will have a diminished role and a German accent, and several of the big names from this season will be coming back for new roles and new stories. Oh, and it’s rumored that it’ll be filmed in either New Orleans or Santa Fe. Any guesses about what it could be?

The Quiet Game: Six Month Anniversary

Posted: January 29, 2014 in Living and Life, Review, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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tqg cover

I kind of let this pass by without really realizing it, but now that it’s on my mind, I’d like to commemorate that six months (and twelve days) ago my first book, The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, was first released for paperback and e-reader.

Since that July day, a lot has happened, but especially with this book. A small collection of original short stories I’d written over Winter Break 2012 and Spring Semester 2013, the book has sold about a little over fifty copies (which for the first book of a self-published author is not that bad). It’s also received eight reviews from readers, which has brought the book’s average to a 4.4 out of 5 (which for the first book of a self-published author is pretty mind-blowing for me). Here are what some of the reviewers have been saying:

“5 wonderfully crafted tales! I purchased this as an eBook originally and put off reading it for quite a while, I really wish I hadn’t waited. Sometimes when one purchases a collection of short stories you expect some of them to be less entertaining or of lower quality than the others, but none of these disappoint. Well worth the money, especially considering after you read each story the author gives you creative insight into what inspired him to write each tale, which is really wonderful.”

Jeff D.

“I happened across The author Rami Unger about a year ago when he was researching the paranormal online.

He nailed the Dybbuk story. Write more… soon!”

Jason Haxton, author of The Dybbuk Box

“I liked that each story was unusual. I think that the book was appropriately named. I prefer chilled bones rather than scared out of my whits since I am a bit of a chicken”

Enji

I’d just like to say that it’s been wonderful hearing from people what they think of The Quiet Game and finding out that they enjoyed the book and want to read more. It’s the readers themselves that have made all of this possible for me, so I really owe everyone reading my work a great debt that can never be repaid. So thank you very much and I hope we’ll be able to have great times together in the future.

If you are interested in reading The Quiet Game, you can find it on Amazon and on Smashwords. The print version is available for a little over five dollars, while the e-book version is available for about a dollar-thirty. And if you do decide to read The Quiet Game, please let me know what you think of it. Good or bad, I’m always happy for reviews and feedback.

Thanks for reading, and I hope to have more good news at the one-year anniversary. And speaking of anniversaries, Saturday will make three months since Reborn City came out. I’ll have to do a post about that as well. Look forward to it!

I Shouldn’t Use Present Tense

Posted: January 26, 2014 in short story, Writing
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I started a short story the other night about a family that moves into a haunted house (yes, that’s been done before a hundred times, but I’m trying to do something new with it. Hopefully I’ll succeed). For some reason I started writing it in present tense, something I rarely ever do. Most stories, especially the ones I’ve read  and the ones I usually write, are in past tense. I think I was trying to make the story unique by writing it in present tense, or maybe it sounded good at first to write it in the present tense.

But as this short story’s been coming along, I’m finding it harder to continue going, and I think the tense of the story is a major contributor to that problem. The only story I’ve ever written that’s been in present tense and that I’ve barely had any trouble with is Addict, one of the short stories I included in The Quiet Game, but that was also in second-person, and that kind of made it easier to write. Heck, it was practically begging to be written in present tense as well in second person (“You walk out of the bathroom and you rejoin your buddy. He asks you a question and for a moment you’re not sure what he said”. See what I mean?). But this is third-person, and I think unless you’ve had a lot of training in writing in present tense or you prefer that tense, then it’s just not the sort of tense you write in.

Okay, the TARDIS doesn’t have much to do with tenses, but it does with past, present and future.

Well, I’ve certainly learned my lesson. I can’t write this story in present tense and I’m definitely not going to attempt to attempt future tense (never seen an entire story of any length written that way). So tomorrow (or the next day, depending on the amount of homework I have), I’m going to through the short story and switch it to past tense. Then I’ll go through it again, adding, editing, and deleting where I see appropriate. Luckily I’m only about seven pages into this short story, so I can probably get both tasks done fairly quickly.

For now though, I’m going to go to bed. I’ll let my mind swirl this short story in my head overnight and see if I can come up with any other ideas to improve this short story. I think it could be great, but since I’m trying to do something new with a familiar trope, I really have to work hard to make the story believable and enjoyable to the audience. Hopefully I can do that.

That’s all for now. I’ll post again when I’m done with the short story, or when I have something else to post about (whichever comes first). Goodnight, Followers of Fear.

Secrets of Ohio State University

Posted: January 22, 2014 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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I love my university, and I find out things about it every semester that are new and interesting. And some of those things I find out are actually kind of cool. Kind of inspiring. Kind of weird. Kind of creepy. And for all those reasons, I want to share them with you. From secrets tunnels to ghost stories, OSU has got it all. I hope you enjoy an expose on some of Ohio State’s greatest secrets.

There are tunnels under some of the buildings. A couple of the buildings on campus are connected on campus aboveground by connecting hallways. Lazenby and the Psychology Building are connected by their first and second floors, Cockins Hall and the Mathematics Building are connected on most of the floors. But there are some buildings that connected underground. Every building in the Fischer School of Business is supposedly connected by tunnels, and one of those tunnels also supposedly goes to the Blackwell Residence Inn, though you might need a key card for that one. And strangely enough, University Hall and Dulles Hall are connected by a tunnel that goes underneath 17th Ave. I’m not sure why that last one exists, but it’s still pretty interesting. I wish there were more tunnels like that: it’s too cold outside to be walking to classes that way!

Some of the buildings have abandoned and empty pools. Pomerene Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus, and it’s like a giant castle. However only a fraction of the building is used, and the basement is tiny, which is weird considering the size it technically should be. Turns out the back area used to house a pool that’s been nothing but a dry pit for several years. Explains the size. Pomerene’s not the only building with a pool no longer used: I used to live in Jones Tower, which was a graduate housing facility when it first opened. Back then it had a pool for the grads to use, but due to maintenance costs and injuries at poolside it was closed down. If you walk by the pool’s door today, you can still see the places where people would hang up towels and still hear the sounds of the pipes that would carry water to the pool (at least I think that’s what that noise is).

Ohio State has some hauntings. I save the best for last. Apparently in its 144 year history Ohio State has gathered a few ghost stories and possible hauntings (Ghost Adventures, call the university!). Learning that makes me even prouder of this school I go to. Here are the spooky legends on campus, brought out nine months earlier than usual:

–Pomerene Hall, situated right next to the infamous Mirror Lake, has a very special ghost story of love and tragedy. In the 1900s, Professor Clark committed suicide after a failed mining investment, his body found where Pomerene Hall now stands. His wife swore never to leave him, and when she died in the 1920s, her ghost started appearing around Mirror Lake (on it during the winters). Professor Clark himself is said to haunt Pomerene Hall, slamming lockers and doors and doing other ghostly things.

–Hopkins Hall, the art building on the Oval, has a much more gruesome story. At some point a young woman got stuck into an elevator overnight, suffering a nervous breakdown from the stress and lack of response to her cries for help. During her breakdown, she apparently wrote plenty of weird stuff on the walls of the elevator. She eventually got out, recovered, and then graduated, but not too long afterwards she died in a car crash. To this day, students report seeing writing or scratches in the elevator that say “I’m still mad at OSU for what they did to me.” Scary.

–Orton Hall is one of the oldest buildings on campus and is home to the Geology Department’s famous fossil museum. It also has two ghosts. One is Edward Orton, one of OSU’s earliest professors and the building’s namesake, as well as the man who gifted the Geology Department the core of its collection. When he was alive, he used to read by lamplight in the top of the bell tower (the scorch marks are still there). At night you can sometimes see mysterious lights through the slats of the bell tower, apparently Professor Orton reading in his favorite spot. During the day he supposedly chills the air and makes weird noises in order to get students to behave.

If you look at the cover of The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones, you’ll see that Orton Hall’s bell tower is on the cover.

There is also tales of a hairy, caveman-like figure who makes noises and bangs on doors. Some believe it might be somehow connected to the Geology Museum’s vast collection. Others believe it could be a dead football player, though that may be a more humor-filled supposition.

This post is getting rather long, so I’m going to cut it off now. It’ll be continued in another post. Trust me, I’ve got a few other secrets about Ohio State worth sharing, including some other famous ghost stories and OSU’s connection to a famous serial killer. Until next time, Followers of Fear.

Ohm: Finished

Posted: January 20, 2014 in ideas, Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
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In Judaism, that hand is called a Hamsa. It’s designed to keep the evil eye away. I have no idea what it’s doing on this poster though.

Last week or so I posted about an interesting discussion I had in my meditation class about hypnosis vs. meditation (see post here). At one point during that conversation, I said that although hypnosis could be abused, meditation could just as easily be abused by someone of unscrupulous character. I then gave an example to my group, which was immediately followed by this realization: “Hey, that could make a great short story.” I told that to my meditation group, which caused them to laugh while also looking at each other in fear. It was a “What have we done?” moment right there.

Well, I started the short story Saturday evening before SNL started, and I’ve worked on it every evening since. And this evening I finished it. Then I went back and added a few more details to earlier parts of the story in order to make it flow more smoothly. Then I clicked Save and decided to write this blog post.

As you can see from the title of this post, the short story is called “Ohm.” I wanted a title that would go very well with a story of someone using meditation for bad purposes, and I went with “Ohm”, because it was simple, the word itself was relevant to the story, and it gave people an immediate sense of what this story might be about. It’s on the short end of short stories, a little under 2100 words, and it’s more literary than horror, if you look at it closely. Still, I think it’s an interesting story, even if there are no demons or serial killers, and I even managed to use a new technique in order to tell it:

Last semester, I read a short story for my science-fiction literature class called “Gene hackers”. The story was about a man who was quite famous in the near-distant future for his role in the industry of genetic engineering and manipulation, and chronicled various events throughout his life in short little vignettes, starting from when he was young and all the way up until he was a very old man. I was really impressed by the style used to tell the story, and I wanted to try that for myself with “Ohm”. I think it turned out pretty well, personally.

I’m going to ask my meditation group if any of them want to read the rough draft. After they get back to me, I’m going to try to submit this story to a creative writing contest here on campus, see if I can impress any judges. Hopefully my meditation group and the people running the contest will like “Ohm”. At any rate, I think they might find it at least a bit interesting.

Well, that’s all for now, Followers of Fear. I’ve got classes tomorrow, so I’ll sign off and see you in the morning. Goodnight and pleasant nightmares. I’ll let you know if anything comes of “Ohm”.

Oh, and before I forget, I bought my plane tickets for my study abroad trip today. They cost me an arm and a leg, but it was well worth it. I’m so looking forward to this trip. It’s going to be so much fun!

Sales In Self-Publishing

Posted: January 20, 2014 in Reflections, Writing
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Some people think that anyone who’s published a book must be very talented  and rolling in money. I’m going to leave the question of talent to the side for another post, and focus on sales, particularly sales in the world of self-publishing.

I published my first book in July last year and my first novel in November. As a self-published author, a college student, and a guy working at Ohio State’s Student Financial Aid office part-time for nine bucks an hour, I couldn’t exactly afford an advertising team to help me spread the word about my books. I’m completely reliant on my blog, every social media platform I can get my hands on and learn to use, and the spoken word, along with any contacts I can make in the writing industry.

Truth is, most writers don’t make that much money out of their craft, especially if they’re self-published and doing a lot of the work on their own. Most writers usually have teaching jobs or something else to help pay the bills. Stephen King didn’t stop teaching until Carrie went paperback. Anne Rice and JK Rowling had small sales until their careers started taking off, and then they began writing full time. There are numerous other examples I could mention, but the point is that writing and publishing books is not guaranteed income. In fact, several authors I know, most of them self-published but a few of them having gone the traditional route, have described their book sales as getting a big boost whenever a book is published, followed by a steady decline to the usual amount of sales after a month or so. I’m still working to get to that level of popularity!

But then again, most authors don’t care about the amount of sales, at least not like an executive in a toy company might worry about how a toy is not selling as it should among kids 8-12. Most of the time, we’re more worried about how people are liking our books, if they enjoy what they’re reading and if they’re connecting with the characters. In short, every writer wants to know is if people are appreciating the stories they create. And the authors that are more concerned with sales in the other sense? Well, I don’t think that they got into writing for the right reasons.

So most authors don’t make big sales like some people tend to think. We certainly wouldn’t mind having more sales but it’s not as big a factor for us as one might think. In fact, I’m very happy with my current fanbase, though it’s pretty small at this point. The people who read my work tend to enjoy it very much, and they let me know in reviews and emails and in conversations. And for now, that’s all I can ask for. When I get the big sales and the larger fanbase, it’ll be because I’ve earned it.

All for now. I’ve got a short story to work on. Wish me luck!

The 3 Types of Terror

Posted: January 18, 2014 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I came across this post by Stephen King on Facebook the other day and I thought it’d be interesting to write about. The post goes like this:

The 3 types of terror: The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it’s when the lights go out and something green and slimy splatters against your arm. The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it’s when the lights go out and something with claws grabs you by the arm. And the last and worse one: Terror, when you come home and notice everything you own had been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It’s when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there’s nothing there…

Words of wisdom from the King himself.

When I read this, it struck a certain chord with me. I realized that a lot of horror writers and filmmakers can easily gain an understanding of the first two, but it takes a long time to get into the third type, and an even longer time to gain a mastery of it. For example, there are a lot of films out there (of varying quality) that utilize Gross-out and Horror. They have serial killers, they have vampires and demons, but they’re kind of low on terror. The Evil Dead films and many bad slasher flicks are prime examples of this (I’m talking to you, Friday the 13th remake). Even I had trouble with this early on in my writing career. I could easily write a story about vampires or demons that had plenty of blood  and fight sequences, but I was lacking in the terror department. Even worse, I rarely thought about including the terror factor, and when I did I didn’t really do it as best as I could.

But at that age though, and in that point of my development as a writer, all I thought I needed was a monster, someone’s life in danger, and the rest would take care of itself. I learned later on that adding terror to the story is a process, something that has to be consciously done before you can go about actually adding it in unconsciously. This is something I’ve had to comprehend with lately and which I’ve been working on with some of my latest stories. With The Loneliest Roads, I tried to put in a sense of unreality and strangeness even before my protagonist entered the limo, and slowly heightened it once she got into the limo. with some of the short stories I’m planning on writing now, I’m looking for ways to increase that terror without seeming silly or absurd. And in future novels, I hope to add that factor in with more skill and precision than I have in the past.

Perhaps adding terror in is the most difficult part of horror writing because, as King said, it’s the worst. It’s what really makes a horror story memorable to those who read or see it, and the thing about it is that it’s often an underlying element in the story, something that’s a factor in the scary elements of the story but rarely the main element. That goes to the Horror, which usually causes in one way or another the Gross-out. But the Terror? It’s what hails the coming of the horror, what prepares you for the jumps and scream the Horror will cause. And getting someone prepared for that can be really difficult, all told.

Although I’m still trying to get mastery of all 3 elements, I’m hoping that in the future I’ll be able to get a better handle on them, and to do that I just have to keep writing, to keep practicing and see where it takes me. As I write, I learn, and hopefully I learn how to tell scary stories much better than I have in the past. It’s an ongoing process, but I feel it’s one I must take part in. Wish me luck.

And for those horror writers out there, how do you deal with the 3 elements listed above? Do you have any advice on utilizing any of them? What?

(Don’t say “limit Gross-out” though, because I’ve already figured that one out. Too many horror films rely on Gross-out as it is, and it’s annoying after a while.)

Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors: My First Post of the New Year

Posted: January 17, 2014 in Journalism, Living and Life, Writing
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This morning I published my first article of 2014 on Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, a website I write for that aims to help self-published authors make the most of their options and succeed in self-publishing. It’s also my tenth article for the website, which I’m very happy about.

The article is called Some Tips For WattPad Users, and it’s about–you guessed it–using WattPad. I promise, I’ll leave the topic of the website alone for a while after this post. Well, I did say that if any of our readers on that blog had any tips about using WattPad, I’d publish those in a follow-up article, but…well, after that article. I think I’ve been going on a Wattpad obsession lately, and it’s been showing through on this blog. I hope it hasn’t annoyed anyone. At least not too much.

Anyway, the article is about some general tips for utilizing WattPad, so if you have an account or are thinking of getting an account, please check out the article. And if you’re a self-published author or you’re considering self-publishing, I highly recommend Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors. It’s a wonderful website with many articles on just about every subject you can think of devoted to self-publishing and it’s run by a variety of authors, myself included, who are devoted to their craft and love helping others out.

All for now. Have a great day, my Followers of Fear.

Buried Alive: Published on WattPad

Posted: January 15, 2014 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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A while back I wrote a short story I titled Buried Alive, about a girl and her mother and younger sister who are buried in a coffin in the backyard by the girl’s abusive stepdad and what happens to them while inside the coffin. It was a very dark and surreal story and I enjoyed writing it.

Since I wanted to publish something original and previously unpublished on WattPad before I write an article on the website for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors and leave the subject of the website alone for a while, I thought I’d give Buried Alive the publishing treatment. I even gave a creepy little cover when I published it. Look below.

Creepy, right?

Creepy, right?

If you’d be interested in reading Buried Alive, please follow the link. And if you like it, hate it, whatever, please let me know in a comment, either here on this blog or on WattPad. I’m always happy for freedback from the people who read my work. Even if they think something I wrote totally sucks and they never want to read anything by me ever again.

Oh, and some updates for everyone: besides that article I mentioned above, I also plan to write a short story, hopefully over this weekend, and I plan to submit it to a writing contest through Ohio State’s English Department. Hopefully it’ll get selected. Also, I’ve sent The Loneliest Roads for critiquing to a friend. Actually, I sent the original version and a second version with an alternate ending, but who’s keeping track? Anyway, my friend will hopefully tell me which version she prefers and give me some advice before I send it out to see if I can get it published. We’ll see what happens.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m off to get ready for bed. Goodnight, Followers of Fear. Pleasant nightmares!

My First Short Story of 2014

Posted: January 13, 2014 in ideas, Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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A model of the limo I used in the story, except it had cow horns mounted on the front and flames painted on the side.

I just finished my first short story of the new year. And for plenty of reasons, it reminds me of a Stephen King story. I’m hoping that an editor will think the same thing if they read it.

The short story is called The Loneliest Roads and it’s about a hitchhiking young woman who gets picked up by a stretch limo (hence the photo). Once she gets inside, she finds herself in for a whole new world of terror. And it’s a different short story than anything I’ve ever written before. Firstly, it’s after I finished the first draft of Video Rage, which I’ve mentioned in previous posts as being a time where I really grew as a writer. I also utilized new techniques I picked up during the past semester. One was to try to ramp up the terror gradually rather than have my protagonist be immediately confronted with pure evil. I started by trying to make things seem only a little unreal at the beginning, and then making that feeling of unreality grow slightly as the story went on, until it was time to make the terror more than just subtle.

I also tried to delve into the psychological factor of my protagonist, whose name is Miracle Jones (yes, I seriously named my character Miracle Jones). I wanted to make her more than just a flat character, and I did that by delving into her past, focusing on her psychology. I thought the way I revealed her character was actually kind of creepy. Then again, I tend to think everything I write is creepy. Whether it is or not depends on your opinion.

Anyway, I’ve a pretty good idea of what I’m going to do with this short story. I’d like to get around to editing it in a few weeks or so, and maybe sending it off to a friend for a critique. I have a second ending for the story that takes a less positive turn than the one I wrote out tonight, so if I or my friend feels that the ending could be different, I’ll go with my second ending. And after all the editing has been done, I hope to submit The Loneliest Roads to a few magazines, see if any pick it up. I would be very happy if they did. And if they don’t…who knows? It could go into a future collection of short stories or on Wattpad, or both. Future’s open.

For now though, I think I’ll try to catch some sleep. Tomorrow if I can I’ll start on an article for Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors, and after that I’ll start on another short story. It’s going to be very exciting this semester for me. Goodnight, Followers of Fear.

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