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Review: Freaky (2020 film)

Posted: November 14, 2020 in Review, Scary Stuff
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I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about this film. It’s from the same director as the Happy Death Day films and has a talented cast. Plus, the trailer looked great. Even my dad, who is never interested in horror that I haven’t personally written, was interested in it! So, while the theaters are still open, I went to go and see it.

A horror-comedy mashup of Freaky Friday and the Friday the 13th films, Freaky follows Millie Kessler, a quiet teenage girl whose life was already difficult. But then the Blissfield Butcher, a local serial killer, goes after her. What happens next causes Millie to magically switch bodies with the Butcher. So now, while stuck in the body of a middle-aged murderer, she must figure out a way to get her body back before the Butcher uses it to massacre everyone she knows and loves.

This film is bloody bonkers fun!

I think the film’s strongest point are its main players. Vince Vaughn has a history with comedies, and he does a great job pretending to be teenage girl stuck in the body of a serial killer. It’s crazy how believable he is! Kathryn Newton, who’s had roles in Supernatural and Detective Pikachu, is essentially playing three different girls: shy girl, serial killer pretending to be a shy girl, and badass girl. It’s really cool to see her with that range.

In fact, the whole cast is great. They all have a great chemistry and even the least developed characters are quite likable thanks to their actors. Though I enjoyed seeing some of the assholes get their just desserts.

And from that, let’s move onto the horror. Well, I wasn’t exactly terrified. There’s not much atmosphere, and most of the scares come from jumpscares. That being said, there are quite a few inventive kills that I liked, and the more slasher-y bits of the film were a lot of fun. And in the slasher genre, if you can’t be scary, then being fun is a good second.

As for the comedy, it was kind of hit-or-miss. Most of the misses came from swearing and dirty humor, which I’ve come to think of as scraping the bottom of the barrel. “Ooh, we’re saying bad words and making references to a natural part of the human experience that society gets really uptight about! We’re so funny and edgy!”

Moments like this, where Vaughn makes the most of the premise, are where the humor shines.

The really funny parts come from Vince Vaughn making the most of his character’s situation. The theater was in hysterics whenever Vaughn was commenting on the oddities of being a man, or getting into situations where, out of context, would look totally crazy. There’s a scene involving Vaughn and the love interest in the back of the car that had me laughing so hard, my glasses fogged up (I was wearing a mask)!

Of course, Freaky isn’t perfect. As I said, the film has some misses in the humor department. Also, the method by which the characters magically switch bodies is oddly specific and leaves a lot of questions. Maybe they’re planning on answering those in a theoretical sequel (because of course that’s always a consideration with movies these days), but with just one film, it makes me raise an eyebrow.

On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving Freaky a 4.5. It’s a fun slasher film that makes the most out of its concept and has some good laughs. Even those who don’t like horror-comedies or horror in general should enjoy themselves.

Speaking of which, Abba: if you go see this film, give me a call afterwards and let me know what you think. I’m very curious to hear what you think.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m off to sleep and then work on my various projects. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

“Mother of the King:” Releasing Dec. 1st, 2020!!!

Posted: November 12, 2020 in Novelette, Writing
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The cover for Mother of the King. What do you think?

In my post yesterday, I announced that I would be releasing some of my shorter stories as e-book exclusives, and that I would hopefully have one out before the end of the year. Well, it happened quicker than expected, but I’m pleased to announce that “Mother of the King,” a novelette I wrote back in 2018, will be the first one released.

And guess what else? It’s already available for preorder!

But before we get into that, let’s discuss “Mother of the King.” For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s about King Arthur. Specifically, it’s about his prophesied return, told from the point-of-view of the woman who gives birth to the once and future king.

So yeah, more fantasy than horror. And it has a dash of science fiction in there too. But who says I have to box myself in? Besides, it’s the most edited of my shorter stories, so I figured this would be a good one to start with.

Anyway, the story will be released December 1st, 2020 on Amazon, and it’s available for preorder. I’m hoping you’ll click on the link below and consider preordering it. And if you do read “Mother of the King,” I hope you’ll consider leaving a review. Not only will your downloads and reviews let me know what you think, but they’ll let me know if I should keep doing this throughout next year.

And it lets me know that people other than my parents and my Uncle Arthur are reading the story.

Anyway, I’ll post the link below and start up the marketing machine. I hope you’re as excited as I am for this release. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Mother of the King’s Amazon page

I’ll Be Releasing Some of My Short Stories as E-book Exclusives!!!

Posted: November 11, 2020 in Living and Life, Progress Report, short story, Writing
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One piece of writing advice I don’t often seen given is that you sometimes need to change what you’re doing. I don’t mean you need to abandon your projects to embrace a new genre or resort to crazy gimmicks like dancing in the middle of the road and passing flyers out to passing drivers about your book/website (though that does sound memorable). It’s just that sometimes, if a particular method for getting your work out there doesn’t work, it can be a good idea to examine what you’re doing and maybe make some changes.

I’ve been examining my own methods as of late, and given my own goals in the short-term and long-term, I’ve made a decision regarding my short(er) stories. While I’ll still attempt to get some of these stories published in magazines and anthologies, I’ll also be releasing some of those stories as e-book exclusives.

That’s right. There’s going to be a lot more stories of mine available now. In fact, I plan on releasing one before the end of the year, and then releasing two or three throughout 2021.

The reasons why I’m doing this are many, so I’m not going to bore you with the details. But the main reason is that I want more people to be exposed to my work, and the industry as it is now allows me to be a gatekeeper alongside publishers, so why not take advantage of that?

But wait, there’s more! I also plan to release print versions of the stories. These stories will be available as little booklets (or chapbooks, as they’re known in the industry, and I’ll have to write a blog post about those someday), and they’ll be available at events like conventions and book expos. This means anyone who has a physical copy of one of these stories will have a special, exclusive piece of fiction memorabilia!

And who knows? If these stories do well both as e-books and as booklets, then I might produce audio versions, or maybe put them out as collections. That might be fun to do. Especially if there’s a demand for it.

I hope to have an announcement out about which short story will be released first. I’ve already selected the story, but I want to give it another edit and create a cover first. So, that’s the big project today. Hopefully soon I’ll be able to post an announcement and a release date, as well as get the marketing machine up and running again.

That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be back before too long, believe me. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Also, a big thank you to our troops, both past and present, for their sacrifice and service. We here in the United States would not enjoy the freedom we do without you, and we can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done. May the memory of your great deeds live throughout time and remind us to never take what we have for granted.

Experimenting with Two Protagonists in this Next Story

Posted: November 7, 2020 in Writing
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Photo by Dmitry Demidov on Pexels.com

I know it feels weird to interrupt the partying and celebration with discussion of writing. But after today’s news, and after a hell of a week, I feel so energized to write. With that in mind, I finished the outline of my next story today, and I’m looking forward to starting it. So, I shall take a moment of your time to talk about writing.

As I said, I just finished an outline for a new story. And, as you can guess from the title of this post, it’s going to have two protagonists. Or, to be more specific, it’s going to be told from the points-of-views of two protagonists. One is a US Army major who has had his fair share of combat experiences. The other is a thirteen-year-old runaway who just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I can’t say more than that.

Now, plenty of stories are told from multiple points-of-view. All you have to do is look at the typical bookshelf full of fiction tomes and you’ll find at least three or four books where we see events from the perspectives of two or more characters. But then there are stories where you take for granted that the story is told that way. And then there are stories where you remember how perspectives differed from character to character. Where the multiple POVs is a main feature of the story.

It’s that sort of story I’m aiming to create.

The Bartimaeus books by Jonathan Stroud. Great example of this kind of distinctive-voice storytelling.

Thankfully, I’ve had plenty of teachers over the years with this sort of storytelling. From the (sadly underrated) dark fantasy series The Bartimaeus Trilogy to the literary satirical comedy that is The Falls by George Saunders (read that short story for two separate classes at OSU, and it’s still good), the strong voices of each narrator has a profound impact on the reader. By the time the story ends, you feel like you didn’t just read a story. You read a story and got to know these characters intimately.

That’s what I hope to do. I’m going to be switching between POVs nearly every chapter, and I have to make each protagonist’s voice as distinct as possible. It’s going to be a challenge. I’ve written several stories told from the POVs of multiple characters before. Every author has at least once. But often, it reads like variations of the author’s normal writing voice.

Take IT, for example. There are multiple characters in that story, and many of them get to tell things from their POV. Plus, King narrates things for a few chapters, especially in the early parts of the book when Georgie and the young gay couple are attacked. And it’s a great book with great and memorable characters. But you wouldn’t call every narrator/POV character distinctive from the rest, would you?

Well, that’s my challenge with this story.* With any luck, I can take what I’ve learned from the stories I’ve read and apply it to this next story. Thankfully, there’s only two protagonists, so that should help. (Actually, that might be an important ingredient, having only two leads. Keeps things simpler).

But all that starts tomorrow. For now though, I’m off to shower, pour some wine, watch a scary movie, and dance to “The Touch” by Stan Bush (great song from the 1980s to listen to right now). Until next time, my Followers of Fear, party hard and pleasant nightmares.

What are your tips for creating multiple, distinct narrators? What stories do you think of that do this well? Let’s discuss.

*That, and keeping this story from becoming the length of a novel, but one problem at a time.

Spooky Scary Writing Tag

Posted: November 5, 2020 in Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Writing
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My friend Kat Impossible over on Life and Other Disasters did her rendition of this tag, and it looked fun. So, let’s pretend it’s Halloween year-round and answer some spooky questions about a WIP (as well as general questions on writing)! And since last time I did Toyland, I think this time around I’ll talk about The Pure World Comes, my Victorian Gothic novel that I wrote earlier this year.

But I’m going to need a blurb first. Hmm…how about this:

Shirley Dobbins has very few wants in life: to be able to become the head housekeeper of a great house someday; to not think on her life before she started working; and to earn a reputation as a reliable maid. So when she is hired by the enigmatic baronet and scientist Sir Joseph Hunting to work at his estate after the sudden death of her employers, she can’t believe her luck.
However, things at the “Hunting Lodge,” as Sir Joseph’s home is known, are far from the ideal position she hoped for. Not only is there barely any staff at the crumbling mansion, but terrifying visions oppress those within at random moments. Those Shirley sees bear resemblances to her past. As she becomes more wrapped in the secrets of Hunting Lodge and Sir Joseph’s scientific work, she unearths a terrible threat not only after her life, but the lives of all those around her.

How’s that? Intriguing enough? Anyway, onto the questions.

GHOST: Have you ever originally put a character/scene/theme in the book and then later taken it out?

  • Character – Yes
  • Scene – kind of
  • Theme – No

I originally had this character, the eldest son of an up-and-coming merchant family, whom Shirley would have feelings for despite her practical, no-nonsense self. However, when I finally started plotting this story, I couldn’t find a place for him in the story, so I axed him out. His disappearance from the story led to some scenes that I’d originally had in mind being axed as well, but I wasn’t that fond of them to begin with, so it worked out.

BAT: Most misunderstood character in your WIP?

I had a bit of a debate on this, considering that we see things through Shirley’s eyes and once she sees someone a certain way, it can take a while for her to see them in a different light. But then I remembered that Sir Joseph Hunting is, without a doubt, the most misunderstood character. He’s not a fan of normal Victorian pastimes or conventions, and he’s squandered his family fortune in pursuit of his scientific research. And Victorians, particularly those of the noble and almost-noble classes, placed a lot of emphasis on appearances, so Sir Joseph’s anathema to them.
It doesn’t help that he’s a bit of a jerk.
That being said, once you get to know him a bit, he’s actually a very sympathetic character. You also see why he devotes himself to his research, and maybe even believe in what he’s doing. If that’s not misunderstood, I don’t know what is.

JACK-O-LANTERN: What is your most common source of inspiration to write?

Is it a law that writers get asked that question at least several times in their careers?
The obvious answer is everything. Stories I’ve read, places I’ve been, people I’ve met, conversations I’ve had, subjects I’ve researched. All these and more combine in my weird head to create stories for me. Some of them are even good and border on original. Those are the ones I try to write into something worth reading.

ZOMBIE: What is your preferred form of writerly fuel? Coffee, tea, etc.

Tea most of the time, though if it’s early in the day, I may have a diet soda. On weekends or certain occasions, I may have something alcoholic, but I’m not able to write as well as I would like when even a little buzzed, so I avoid it.

Photo by Lisa Fotios on Pexels.com

VAMPIRE: Cheesiest trope that made it into your novel?

Okay, you know that trope where two people who don’t like each other spend more and more time together and then they fall in love? It was really popular in movies and a few TV shows back in the 1990s? I may have included that one in this story, though I tried to put an original spin on it.
I’ll leave it for the critics to tell me if I succeeded.

Yeah, the trope from 10 Things I Hate About You. I used a version of it. Hopefully I used it well.

SPIDER: What’s a character in your WIP that’s fine from afar, but you would NOT want to interact with if they ever got close?

I’ve mentioned before that I worked my theory of who Jack the Ripper really is into this story. Well, that’d be my answer. And I’m not saying any more on that until this book comes out!

Famous illustration of Jack the Ripper from Punch Magazine. He figures into my story, but not in a way you might expect.

FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER: Ever split one character into two/combine two characters into one?

Maybe? I can’t recall! I’ve written so many characters over the years, I’ve kind of lost track.

SKELETON: Best advice for adding character baggage without info-dumping?

Ooh, that’s a tough one, especially because it’s a tough subject. I try to spread my characters’ baggage and backstories throughout the story. Think of it like walking on a path, and you find puzzle pieces every now and then. Some are big, some are small, but they fit together perfectly. As you gather the pieces, a picture starts to form. And somewhere along the way, all the pieces come together to form a full picture. That’s how I try to spread character baggage and backstory.
That being said, sometimes I drop very big pieces sometimes if the story calls for it. Not ideal, but it’s necessary. And when that happens, if I’m able to, I at least try to just drop a big chunk here and there, rather than just a whole picture. That way, the information is palatable, rather than an info-dump.

CAT: What’s a polarizing writing/book-related opinion you have?

Why cats? Most of the writers I know are cat people! Often their cats are as sweet as their owners! I plan to get cats as soon as I have a bigger space. Preferably a three-bedroom house with a nice front and backyard and an attached garage.
Never mind. I don’t really have any opinions like that. At least, I don’t think I do. I could tell you about some books I didn’t care for, but they’re the kind of books either people like or they don’t. Sorry I don’t have a scandalous answer. You’d get a better answer with my controversial movie opinion, so I’ll tell you that: I enjoyed The Last Jedi, problems and all. There, I said it. What are you going to do about it?

DEMON: Most frequent writing distraction?

Anime and TV shows. Once I get started on a binge, it’s hard to stop. Either that or my cell phone.

Well, what did you think of my answers? Do you want to read The Pure World Comes now? Let’s discuss.

Now for this tag, tagging isn’t necessary. So if you want to do it, all the power to you. I hope you have fun and make sure to link back to me so I can read it.

That’s all for now. If anyone needs me, I’ll be casting magic to save this country. Until next time, pleasant nightmares!

Center of the World: First Drafted Finished!!!

Posted: November 1, 2020 in short story, Writing
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Remember the other day, when I posted about how Sleepy Hollow may not be quite how you remember it, and some other surprising facts about America’s first “ghost story?” I mentioned that I would be working on a short story that was a sequel to the original short story by Washington Irving. I’m happy to announce that earlier today, I finished that short story.

Me at Center of the World, Ohio. Yes, it’s an actual place. In Ohio.

Officially titled Center of the World: A Sleepy Hollow Story, the story takes place in the community of Center of the World, Ohio twenty years after the events of the original story. There, Brom Bones meets the Headless Horseman again, and finds the events of twenty years ago, when both he and Ichabod Crane competed for Katrina Van Tassel’s hand and Crane disappeared, have a bearing on the events of his life now.

And before you ask, Center of the World is an actual place here in Ohio. It was founded by an eccentric investor in the 19th century with the hope that the name would make it suitable as a railroad hub, thereby making the investor and his community rich beyond their wildest dreams. It didn’t happen, however, and the only remnant of the community is a sign on a stretch of road, which I visited and filmed a short video of after leaving the Bellaire House a few weeks ago. Like I said, I don’t always post my YouTube videos on this blog.

Anyway, I ended up tweaking the details of Center of the World for this story. I set the found several years earlier than it would’ve been and made the investor’s reason for doing so a proposed canal system than the railroads. Had to do that in order to make the setting take place two decades after the events of Sleepy Hollow. Besides, the location was too much fun not to include it in the story.

Anyway, the story is around fifty-three hundred words, so it’s just short enough to fit the word count for a market I’m keeping an eye on. The market won’t be opening for a while yet, but that gives me plenty of time to edit and polish this story up. By the time submissions are open, it should be ready and maybe worthy of publication.

In the meantime, I’ll be editing another short story of mine to send out, and then I think I’ll start work on a novella. All that and more will helpfully keep me busy till New Year’s.

Until next time, Followers of Fear, happy November and pleasant nightmares. Remember, only 363 days and a few hours till Halloween 2021. I think we can make it.

What stories are you working on these days? How are they coming along? Let’s discuss.

Dealing with the Coming Winter

Posted: November 1, 2020 in Living and Life, Reflections
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I’ve mentioned it before on this blog, but I do Tarot. And last week, I did a reading to get an idea of what my November would look like. Things were looking bright, but then the Potential card came up as the Nine of Swords, which is one of the worst cards to come up during a reading. To put it simply, it represents oppression, or a sense of anxiety and despair.

The Nine of Swords from both my Tarot decks. As you can see, they both illustrate someone under a great strain or a dark attachment.

Since it came up as the Potential card, it refers what could “possibly” be, depending on circumstances, so I thought of different things that could cause what the Nine of Swords portends. At first, I thought it could be post-election anxiety (that’s a potential) or the anxiety that comes from having to get a story up to scratch after an acceptance (I’m feeling hopeful for my chances). But then something occurred to me. It’s November. It’s going to get even darker and colder.

And many people come down with Seasonal Affective Disorder in the winter.

And then there’s what I’ve been Pandemic Isolation Syndrome (copyright pending). You don’t need me to tell you what the symptoms have been. Likely, you’ve felt them or know someone who has over the past year. That’s been a problem since March, but with winter, the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 cases, and SAD too, it’s possible it’ll be a really rough winter for many.

Whether or not you believe Tarot actually works (I maintain that I’m on the fence), it’s obvious this would be something that could be a potential problem.

But it doesn’t have to be. While this winter will surely be difficult, there are ways we can mitigate the mental/emotional damage it can cause. I even talked to the guy at my workplace whose job is to counsel people going through tough times on ways to keep my spirits up.

One is to focus on things you can control. We often focus on things we have little or no control over: the election, the pandemic, social isolation, etc. While it’s difficult, try and do the opposite. Cut back on the news and social media. Think about the things you can control, like diet and exercise, what you do around your house, and the evil entities you can raise through dark sorcery. Then do those things. Show how you can control them.

Hell, maybe do those home renovation projects you’re always putting off. That’ll get your mind off the blues.

Second is to make a list of what you enjoy. What movies and TV shows do you enjoy watching? Do you like to drive? To dance? Are there books you’ve always wanted to read but never had the time? Do you cavort with demons and have a grand old time of it? Write it all down, and then do them. It may seem difficult on harder days, but if you buckle down, it can lift your mood.

Personally, I plan on writing, exercising, cooking, reading, binging shows and movies, and raising an army of monsters to march down Main Street on Krampus Night this December. Should be fun.

A good full-spectrum bulb can be a blessing during the winter. Photo by LED Supermarket on Pexels.com

And finally, you can always grab a full-spectrum lamp. During the winter, we don’t get enough sunlight to produce Vitamin D, and even when we go outside on sunny days, we’re so bundled up, we barely benefit. A full-spectrum lamp can produce all those light rays we need, and you only need to sit under/near it for two hours a day. I plan on buying one for the winter, so it should be helpful.

While there’s no way to predict what will happen this winter or how it will affect us (I’m predicting a meteor shower causing multiple explosions al a Tunguska, Russia), we can find ways to keep our spirits up and smiles on our faces. If we put them into practice, we can arrive in summer that much stronger.

What are your tips for getting through winter and the pandemic? Do you think you’ll try any of the above? Let’s discuss.

Review: Come Play (2020 film)

Posted: October 30, 2020 in Review, Scary Stuff
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I’ll admit, when I bought my ticket to see this movie in the theaters (yes, I went to a theater), I didn’t have high expectations. It had a good trailer, but plenty of bad films have good trailers. But I wanted to see some new horror, and who knows? It could surprise me.

Surprised, I was.

Come Play follows Oliver, a young, non-verbal autistic boy who is stalked by someone named Larry, who wants to be his friend. However, Larry isn’t human. He’s an entity, one that lives in the world of the digital and the Wi-Fi and interacts with our world through electronics. And he wants Oliver to be his friend, whether Oliver wants it or not.

First off, I thought Oliver ‘s actor did a great job playing an autistic character. As you know, I’m on the spectrum, and I recognized myself as a child and as an adult in Oliver. Stimming to stay calm, going to therapy, dealing with people who don’t understand what you’re going well. And I’ve been through the experience of kids pretending to be nice to me only to show a nastier side. Believe me, the struggle was (and in some ways, still is) real.

As for the film itself, it wasn’t half-bad. Jacob Chase, the writer and director, did a very good job of putting together a unique monster story. There were several moments where the atmosphere was tense and I was kind of afraid. And the jumpscares, while in another film would have been over the top, fit very well here. And I definitely didn’t see the final twist coming until it showed up.

The use of the villain Larry was also done very well. He’s not based on any sort of ancient mythology or anything, so points for originality. And yeah, the monster using a children’s book has been done by better films (*cough* The Babadook *cough*), but it’s given a different spin here, and the fact that Larry can only manifest through our ever-present devices and electronics added a certain element of danger you don’t normally see in these sorts of horror films. We also don’t see Larry that much, and when we do, he’s usually in shadow so we can’t make out all the details. Makes the fact that he’s basic CGI easier to handle.

Of course, the film does have its issues. While Larry was used well in the movie, I never felt entirely afraid of him. Also, the film relies on a lot of tropes we could get from a below-average Blumhouse movie, so it gets a little tropey and predictable at times. Especially the second half.

On the whole though, Come Play is good. It’s not great, but it’s not terrible either. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving it a 3.8. All in all, I’m glad I went out to see it. And if you need a bit of new horror as well, maybe you will be too.

That’s probably it for October, my Followers of Fear. I hope you had as great a Halloween season as I did, despite the pandemic and all that went with it. Let’s hope November is good as well.

Until next time, pleasant nightmares and WATCH OUT FOR THAT TENTACLE!!!

Happy Halloween from a Gas Mask Zombie

Posted: October 30, 2020 in Living and Life
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You know me. I tend to be a little silly at times. Okay, I tend to be a lot silly at multiple points throughout the day. And occasionally, I channel that into short videos I shoot for YouTube. One of which, by the way, I set to release this morning at 12:15 AM. Ladies and gentlemen, Followers of Fear, here is my contribution to YouTube for Halloween: Happy Halloween from a Gas Mask Zombie.

Yes, I am aware I am ridiculous. I don’t care.

So, if you watched all forty-two seconds of that video, you’re probably thinking, “What the fresh hell?” Let me explain: you guys know I’m a Doctor Who fan (or if you didn’t, now you do). And in the first season of the show’s reboot in 2005, the Doctor and his companion Rose Tyler end up in London during the Blitz. There, they encounter a form of pandemic zombie, the kind that are spread by virus?

Only this one’s a little different. It’s the result of a child being resurrected by alien nanotechnology. The child went out during the bombs looking for the woman he believes to be his mother. While wearing the gas mask. The nanomachines, not knowing what a human is, thinks that the being they resurrected is what a human is supposed to look like. And then they start spreading, turning everyone they come into contact with into things like the boy.

Imagine, a swarm of zombies wearing gas masks, all going about asking one question: “Are you my mummy?”

The gas mask zombie, AKA “The Empty Child,” from Doctor Who.

Ooh, I just felt chills up my spine!

Anyway, this story is pretty famous and well-regarded in the Who community. I even dressed up as a gas mask zombie for Purim one year (think Halloween for Jews). And since I recently started rewatching some of the earlier seasons because they relieve my pandemic stress, I thought it might be fun to dress up as the gas mask zombie for a YouTube video. It was.

Anyway, just wanted to post that for you. If you liked that and want to see more videos from me, check out my YouTube channel and subscribe. There are plenty of other videos there that don’t get featured on the blog (such as my recent celebration video for getting a hundred subscribers on that platform), so why not check them out?

Listen to me, I sound like a real YouTuber. Subscribe! Subscribe!

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’m sure you’ll hear from me again before this wonderful month of October is out. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

Some Interesting Things About “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”

Posted: October 26, 2020 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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“The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane” by John Quidor, 1858

Recently, I rewatched a movie inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that I first saw a teen. The movie was better in my memory, but it did get me interested in the original Washington Irving short story. Which, I realized, I’d never actually read. The closest I ever came was a version that had been updated for the 21st century and dumbed down for kids. As it was America’s first ghost story and I’m a horror writer from America, I figured I should correct that.

So, I read the short story. And then I did some research into the story’s background and influences, as well as some of the other adaptations (I will maintain to my death that the best version is the TV series Sleepy Hollow, and not the Disney cartoon or the Tim Burton film). And once again, following my interests has led me both down a rabbit hole and to an idea for a new story.

Still my preferred adaptation.

But first, let me tell you some things about The Legend of Sleepy Hollow that may surprise you. Turns out, there’s a lot about this story than most realize.

For instance, there really were two historical figures named Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel. Yeah, they were real people. Washington Irving liked to name characters after people he met. For Katrina Van Tassel, she was the daughter of a family Irving stayed overnight with, and was charmed enough by her to immortalize her in fiction. I wonder how she felt about her character being a flirty MacGuffin whose father’s fortunes and lands were more relevant than her appearance or lack of a personality.

As for Ichabod Crane, he was a colonel in the US Army who served for nearly five decades (yes, I believe that’s where the TV show got the idea to make him a Revolutionary soldier as well). However, his character was likely based on an actual schoolteacher, Jesse Merwin, who taught in Kinderhook, New York and came from Connecticut, like the fictional Crane did. So…yay for namesakes?

Speaking of Washington Irving, he’s buried in the real town of Sleepy Hollow. Yeah, that’s true. They even worked that into the movie I mentioned at the top of the post (though they left a lot of questions in their wake).

But the biggest surprise I found out about America’s first ghost story? It’s not a ghost story.

Now I know what you’re thinking. But hear me out: while it’s regarded as a ghost story by many, this is mostly because the Headless Horseman and his midnight chase of Crane has entered the public consciousness more than any other aspect of the story. In reality, the Horseman plays only a minor role until the story’s climax.

Disney’s Headless Horseman. Traumatizing children and contributing to the confusion over the story since 1949.

So what is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, if not a ghost story? Why, it’s a somewhat comedic tale of two self-centered men vying for the hand of the local squire’s daughter and the cunning trick one uses to get ahead of the other.

In one corner, you have Ichabod Crane, the educated but superstitious outsider who uses his learning and guile to ingratiate himself into the town, feed his gluttonous appetite and maybe marry into a wealthy lifestyle. In the other, you have Abraham “Brom Bones” Van Brunt, the local tough who is more brawny than intelligent but is stubborn and cunning, and may be just as interested in Katrina Van Tassel as he is in her inheritance. Neither one is exactly likable, but it’s fun to see these two go to extremes just to marry Katrina.

And while most adaptations paint the Horseman as a supernatural entity, the original story strongly hints that Brom was dressed up as the Horseman to scare the superstitious Ichabod out of town, which is why the latter disappeared from Sleepy Hollow. In fact, the first feature film adaptation of the story, the 1922 silent film The Headless Horseman, explicitly shows Brom taking off the costume after Ichabod runs for his life for New York City.

As I said though, the Horseman, which is likely based on the Irish myth of the dullahan and other European myths of headless horsemen (trust me, there are a few, though the dullahan’s the most famous), is what made it into pop culture more than anything else, and may play a key role in why the story is still famous today. That, and the Disney cartoon, but mostly the Horseman.

In any case, all this has given me my own ideas for a sequel story to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. And while I’m working hard on that, I thought I’d mention this all now. Because let’s face it, it’s all so fascinating. Also, I probably won’t have time to mention it in the post announcing the completion of the first draft. Might as well do it here.

But tell me, what’s your take on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow? Did you know any of this stuff? What’s your favorite adaptation? Let’s discuss.

That’s all for now. I’ll be at work on the story if you need me. Until next time, Followers of Fear, pleasant nightmares!

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