Archive for the ‘Scary Stuff’ Category

Things in Horror That I Actually Hate

Posted: February 20, 2015 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I’ve written about this before several times in some way or another, but every now and then I feel the need to shout out to the Internet, “HEY CREATORS OF HORROR, this is one of your students, one who is coming up in your world. Please, for the love of Edgar Allen Poe, STOP DOING THESE THINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE GODDAMN STUPID AND REALLY DETRACT FROM THE STORIES YOU’RE TRYING TO TELL!” I especially feel this need when I think of the Friday the 13th remake, which is a piece of pornographic, drug-overloaded, cliche-ridden piece of crap from the bum of Michael Bay (figures!).

So with that exclamation and obligatory slam on my least favorite horror remake, I think it’s time to list what needs to be scaled back on or just get kicked out of the horror genre all-together.

Too much gore. Ooh, this is a turnoff to me. Excessive gore isn’t scary, it’s disgusting. If you’re going to use gore, it should be used sparingly. It should add to the terror by being sort of like an accentuation, an additive that adds flavor to the movie or novel’s total fear factor. If you’re relying entirely on gore for your scares, then you’re probably doing something wrong. Look at some of the best slashers out there! Yes, they have gore, but they don’t just rely on it. There’s suspense, surprise, terror, a guy coming out of a dark corner when you least expect him and just scaring the crap out of you before he chases the victim and then pushes them through a window and killing them on broken glass. Now that’s scary.

Too much sin factor. Smoking, drinking, getting high, having sex, swearing like a sailor. A lot of horror films, particularly in the slasher sub-genre, are big on punishing people for their sins. I get it. It’s fun to root for a villain and seeing people getting punished for throwing their lives away.But when it’s so excessive that you wonder if you bought a ticket for a horror movie or if you’re watching one of those teen movies where everyone’s stoned and trying to get laid and there’s a ton of unnecessary swearing involved. Seriously, if you need to spice up things by filming a ton of footage involving sex or drugs or whatever, you might need to get your script looked at by a third party.

The stereotypical man’s man and the believing girlfriend. I hate these sort of characters because they’re so predictable. The former is a normal guy who doesn’t believe in anything supernatural except what’s taught in church, and maybe not even then. The latter’s either a housewife or in a menial job stereotypical for women, and she’s the first to come to the conclusion that something’s weird that happens (unless she has kids, who will recognize the weird before even she will). She tries to convince her husband with his father-knows-best attitude that something’s weird, but he won’t believe it. And even when faced with indisputable proof of the supernatural, he’ll still be somewhat skeptical, and would rather use his tool box or his fists rather than search for a supernatural solution or refer to a specialist. In the end he has to believe his one-dimensional wife or end up dead. It’s been done so often, it’s gotten rather annoying.  Please, switch it up a bit, because it’s so stale we’ll have to throw it out if it doesn’t find a way to become fresh again.

Cheesy effects. I don’t care what your budget is, I’ve seen some amazing things done with effects bought on a budget of only a couple million, or even just ten-thousand dollars. About a month and a half ago I saw this late-night horror film that started out promising. Sadly it didn’t work out that way, and part of it was that the special effects were terrible, and the filmmakers seemed to revel in that by displaying their cheesiness at every second. If they’d tried to at least make it difficult to see what the wolves looked like, it would’ve improved the story so much more (and the film could’ve used the improvement, with that shoddy script). The moral is, even if you can’t use expensive special effects, there are ways to do amazing things with it. You never know what you’ll get.

 

Horror is well known for its tropes and cliches, and often fans of the genre will defend those tropes, saying they actually allow for more flexibility and creativity. However, occasionally these tropes are more problematic than they’re worth and, like the ones above, need to go.

What things in the horror genre would you like to boot entirely? What would you like to see more of?

A Foray Into Flash Fiction

Posted: February 10, 2015 in Flash Fiction, Living and Life, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I meant to write this post last night, but it was late when the opportunity to write it came along. And then I’ve been busy with one thing or another since nine this morning, so I haven’t had a chance to actually blog something until just now. Don’t you hate it when that happens? It’s even worse when you’re still recovering form a hectic weekend with not much sleep and you’re feeling a little under the weather, as I am. In fact, I’m going to be spending the rest of the day indoors most likely so I can recover. Maybe I’ll even go to bed early. I got my homework done early and applied to some jobs, so God knows I could use the rest.

Well anyway, during the past couple of days I thought I’d change things up and write some flash fiction pieces. I did this for a couple of reasons, including the short story I was working on wasn’t going in the direction I wanted it to go and I needed a break, I wanted to get some more work accomplished before I started editing Rose and I know of a website that specializes in horror flash fiction. Plus I had a few ideas for horror flash fiction stories and I thought I’d try to get them written out, seeing as they’re so short (if you don’t know what flash fiction is, it’s usually a story under a thousand words. Hard to pull off and still be compelling, but I guess that’s part of the fun).

So I went on that website and read through some of their most recent publications to get an idea of what they looked for. Once I had a basic idea of what they wanted, I started writing, and as of last night I had three flash fiction pieces written out. Two of them take famous fairy tales and kind of subvert them into tragic or scary tales (Rami Ungar, ruining childhoods since 2015!), while the third features that character trope I love so much, the serial killer.

I’m not sure if they’re any good, but I’m going to give them a quick look-over before I try to submit them to that website and see if they’ll get published. Previous attempts at getting published on that site haven’t gone so well, but I’m older and I’ve improved as a writer, so I hope that I can get at least one of them published.

Well, I’m going to get to work on that, followed by taking a break before trying to get one more blog post out before the end of the night. Hope you’re having a good day, my Followers of Fear, and wish me luck. Or renewed health. I wouldn’t mind that either.

Interview with Rami Ungar

Posted: January 29, 2015 in Author Interciew, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I’m happy to let everyone know that I’ve recently been interviewed by Tricia Drammeh of Authors to Watch about the short stories I published in the Strange Portals anthology last month and which she appears in as well. If you get the chance, please check out the interview. And while I’m talking about it, I’d like to thank Tricia for featuring me. It really means a lot to me and I hope I can return the favor sometime.

Rose: First Draft Finished!

Posted: January 27, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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All done with the first draft.

All done with the first draft.

Well tonight’s a great night for me! I’ve finished the first draft of Rose, the novel that has doubled as my thesis. I’ve already blasted “Voodoo Child” by Rogue Traders throughout the apartment, did my own choreographed dance to the song, and then had a drink with my roommate. And now I’m working on this blog post, feeling high as a kite about this achievement.

I was hoping to get this chapter started earlier today, but events didn’t allow for it. Still, I’m happy to get it done tonight, nearly six months after starting work on Rose. It’s great to know that it’s finished. Now all I’ve got to do some editing and I’ll be ready for thesis arguments in April.

The total amount of pages for Rose (8.5″ x 11″, double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman) is 174 pages, an average of about 8.3 pages per chapter, and 50,994 words total, about 2428 words per chapter on average. That’s the length of a mid-sized novella according to the definitions I use. Not a full-length novel, but I’m good with this length. I had a feeling that it’d be around the size of a novella anyway.

Well, I’m going to go to sleep. This is a great night for me, but I’m dead tired and I need to sleep if I’m going to be able to spread the good news tomorrow. I think I’ll take a break in the next week or two from working on Rose before getting started on the second draft. Might edit a short story or two. God knows I’ve got a couple to edit still, and one for a contest soon. Plus some blog posts that I’ve been meaning to write. Boy, I’m going to be busy.

But for now, bed. Goodnight my Followers of Fear (or if you’re reading this in the morning, Good morning). Pleasant nightmares. And wish me luck with this project as it goes into its next phase. It’s going to be interesting where this ends up.

Also, scroll up. There’s a new page I’ve just set up, Stand Alones & Other Works. Rose is a stand alone novel, so it’ll need its own page. And I think Daisy and Strange Portals should be listed somewhere, so I’ll make sure they’re listed on that page. Please check it out if you get the chance. Especially if you have no idea what Rose is about and would like a basic summary to get an idea behind it (summary subject to change over time).

Once again, good night my Followers of Fear. And thanks for your support. I’m always glad you’re there to have my back. See you in the morning!

Review: American Horror Story: Freak Show

Posted: January 22, 2015 in Living and Life, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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Sorry it’s coming a little late, but you know, my crazy life. And I wanted to watch it taped so I could fast forward through the commercial breaks.

Anyway, I liked this season of AHS much better than Coven last year. In terms of tone it was closer to the first season, though it had some more lighthearted moments than Season 1. Also, the show’s creator Ryan Murphy -incorporated a few musical scenes, so he’s either testing the waters for a crossover with his other show Glee or he’s just trying to keep things fresh. I definitely think it’s the latter. But like I was saying, this is some pretty good horror. Like previous seasons, you can’t tell where the story is going, and no one’s safe from death. Unlike previous seasons, nobody comes back to life or dies twice (shocker!) and the final episode of the season doesn’t just feel like filler with minimal scares to wrap up loose ends, but an actual episode that is kind of terrifying and very entertaining. There are a few loose ends, but I think we can assume what happened based on what happens in that episode.

Also, this is the first season to connect with another season (Asylum), and apparently all the seasons connect, so I’m wondering how they’re going to connect that in upcoming seasons. Minor detail, but it’s important to talk about.

Anyway, back to the review. What I really liked about Freak Show, besides the final episode actually being pretty good, is that the writers were able to tell a really beautiful story about people on the outskirts of society, and while also keeping things scary and interesting. Everyone has their own story, their own darkness, and their own potential to be evil. In fact at several times many characters cross the lines from good folks to villains and then back again. It’s very hard to pin down a central villain, especially during the first six episodes or so. I guess it shows that in an imperfect world, where most of the characters are scared or in trouble with the authorities, you’ll do what you have to in order to survive.

I also like how the story twists and turns, taking us in directions we couldn’t see, and still keeps things within reasonable bounds of imagination. And I loved the guest stars: Neil Patrick Harris and Jamie Brewer as Chester and Marjorie the Doll, Wes Bentley as Edward Mordrake (my favorite minor character) and quite a few others. But the main cast! Whoo, were they amazing. Sarah Paulson playing a pair of conjoined twins and did it so convincingly, I forgot it was acting and CGI! And Finn Wittrock as Dandy Mott deserves an award, playing the most horrific serial killing chameleon I’ve seen outside of Hannibal. And I loved Jessica Lange as Elsa Mars, who is just as evil and as tragic as any character in this show, but with quite the theatrical flare. Plus all the actors playing the freaks! Some actually have certain conditions, others are actors, but all are amazing in their roles.

Finn Wittrock, the man who played Dandy Mott. I hope he comes back for Season 5, he was definitely my favorite actor this season.

The one thing I did not care for is that Twisty the Clown, who appears in the first four or so episodes, is given an intellectual disability and his mental illness as the reason for which he kills. I swear, I’m tired of people with mental retardation being portrayed in these things as serial killers! I’ve known people with intellectual disabilities. At the worst, they can be difficult to handle in a bad mood, but they are normally sweet and kind. Why they’re portrayed over and over this way, I’m not sure. Honestly, the only times I’ve been okay with it is the Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchises, but only then. (Please see my article on tropes that need to be retired for more on this subject).

All in all, I’m giving American Horror Story: Freak Show a 4.5 out of 5. Scary, entertaining, beautiful, and a great 4th season for the anthology series with wonderful performances by all the actors in the show. I’m looking forward to the next season (which has been ordered). I hope it’ll be as dark as Asylum. I wonder what they’ll do for Season 5. I heard a rumor that it might be magicians, and there’s reasons to believe that might be it. Other contenders could be a prison season (though that might be too close to Season 2) and one taking place at a summer camp (a favorite of horror fans everywhere). And there’s always the chance of a high school filled with evil, I guess.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m heading to bed. Friday’s a shorter day for me, so I want to be wide awake for it. Goodnight, my Followers of Fear. I’ll try to write tomorrow or the day after if I can. See ya then!

Rose: The Chapter That Might Need a Special Tweak

Posted: January 17, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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So I’m working on Rose, my latest novel as well as my thesis, and I’m working on a chapter that I finished earlier today. However, this chapter was special, because it’s the first of two chapters that take place away from the titular character’s point-of-view. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Rose is told from the first-person point-of-view, and it’s told in the present tense, which originally I had difficulty with but eventually became easier with practice. However, as this chapter takes place away from Rose’s POV, I did it in the third-person POV, and I did it in the present tense.

Needless to say, it was incredibly awkward writing. I don’t know many stories that are written in the present tense, and those that I do are written usually in the first-person, like someone is narrating their life (who actually does that, I don’t know, but whatever). I don’t think I’ve ever read one that is present-tense and told in the third-person though. Maybe John Barth’s Lost in the Funhouse, but I can’t remember that one as well, so don’t take my word on that one. Anyway, writing this chapter in such a way is incredibly awkward for me. And I think it shows throughout the chapter, all six pages of it.

Well, my advisor M, my fellow writer/thesis worker P, and I are trying to arrange to meet sometime next week. I’ve already sent the chapter to them, and I’ve already suggested some changes I could make to this chapter in the second draft. I’m hoping they let me keep it in third-person but switch to past tense, as that would be much easier for me to write. But whatever they feel or whatever suggestions they give, I’ll definitely take them into account. They haven’t steered me wrong before, and I’ve learned a whole lot working from them.

In any case, I’m taking the night off from writing. I’m going to do some reading for homework, practice Torah reading for my cousin’s bar mitzvah next month, and if there’s time relax in front of the TV or with a good book. Stay warm and have a good night, my Followers of Fear. I know I am.

State Fair: Finished

Posted: January 12, 2015 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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A picture from the Ohio State Fair, which was a big influence on my own “State Fair”.

Well, it took me a day longer than I wanted it to, but I got it done. This is my final short story for winter break, and I got it done. This one’s called State Fair, and it’s about a ghost haunting a state fairgrounds who becomes infatuated with a girl he sees one day. It’s different than some of my other short stories, very literary but also very ghostly. I also think that this short story’s first draft is much better than my usual first draft, and I wish I could have submitted this one to my creative writing class to critique. I think they would’ve liked this very much.

From the moment I had the initial idea for this short story, I knew this one was different, that it was special. It’s probably why I decided to work on it over winter break. I also got to integrate many of the lessons I got from last semester and from some books I’ve been reading recently with this story, which I think might have contributed to the quality I feel this first draft has (though I still can’t keep a short story under forty-five hundred, it seems).

I’m still deciding what to do with this short story. My ultimate goal for State Fair is to submit it to a contest on campus for short stories. The deadline’s in mid-February, so I have a little time to edit and maybe get another person to take a look and give me some feedback. I got an honorable mention for my submission last year, so I think that this year I’ve got a pretty good chance with State Fair. Whatever the case, I’ll keep everyone posted and let you know how it goes.

In the meantime, I’m watching my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes take on the Oregon Ducks, and I want to see how this game ends. Tomorrow I get back to working on my thesis Rose, with the hope of getting that done by late February. I’ll keep everyone updated on what i’m doing and how things are going. Wish me luck and have a goodnight, my Followers of Fear.

Miranda’s Tempest: Finished

Posted: January 5, 2015 in Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Double, double. Toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble! Mwa ha ha ha!

I’ve just finished the second draft of The Murderer’s Legacy, which I’ve renamed Miranda’s Tempest (after trying Miranda’s Retribution and Miranda’s Reprisal). This is the same short story I had a breakthrough on Christmas after having a lot of trouble trying to figure out how to fix that one since I wrote the first version back in May. It took me a couple of days, but I got it done. This draft is about forty-eight hundred words long, it seems I can never get a short story done without it being over 4,500 words.

A lot has changed from the original draft and the second draft. The original was set in a magical version of Victorian England, was complicated and cumbersome, and my protagonist wasn’t enough of an asshole like I wanted to portray him. This version makes magic the result of one person, and my protagonist is a total asshole, like I wanted. Plus I got to add in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Can’t complain about that.

Like all my short stories, it could stand some editing. A lot of the story involves flashback and exposition, and I’m worried that might be less in the story’s favor than I think. We’ll see what I can do. I’m hoping that I can get a few people I know to take a look at it before I edit it, maybe get some feedback. There are a couple of fantasy magazines that I think could be interested in this one if I can polish it up a bit.

In the meantime, I have one more short story I’d like to get done before I get back to working on Rose. It’s called State Fair (might change it to The State Fair later on) and its about a ghost haunting a state fairground who becomes infatuated with a girl attending the fair one day. I’m hoping to submit it to an annual short story award they have at Ohio State every year. It’s the kind of thing they tend to like, so I’m hoping they’ll go for it. But first I have to get it finished. In fact, I’m going to start working on it now, and also through tomorrow if I can, I have the day off tomorrow so I shouldn’t have any problem working on it then.

Well, that’s all for now. Have a good night, my Followers of Fear. I certainly am.

What Happened Saturday Night: Fourth Draft Finished

Posted: December 31, 2014 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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As I mentioned in my last post, I was taking a break from Rose to write, edit, and rewrite some short stories. I started by doing the fourth draft of What Happened Saturday Night, which has gone through quite a number of changes since its first draft. I have to say, this might be the best draft I’ve done so far. It took it a long time to get to where it is now, but I think my classmates would have enjoyed this draft much more than some of the other drafts I’ve turned in this semester. That’s the hope, at least.

In any case, I managed to keep this story about a young girl becoming a werewolf at the same time she discovers her sexuality on the two main characters and on their interpersonal struggles. I also got to explore the sensation of being a wild beast on the hunt, and I think I got the ending just right. I may do some more edits on it before I send it off to someone to critique or to a magazine (haven’t decided which I should do first yet),  especially with a small part of the climax, but I’m hoping that this might be the last time I have to do serious editing to the story.

I hope to submit this one to an LGBT literature magazine, of which there are apparently many, and some of the ones I looked at seem to specialize in a wide range of genres and formats. Maybe an editor from one of them will take a look at What Happened Saturday Night and think it’s the perfect match for their magazine. We can only hope, right?

Well, I’m going to do some reading as research for the rewrite of The Murderer’s Legacy, which I’m thinking of renaming to fit with the new direction I want the story to go in. We’ll see what happens. In the meantime, have a Happy New Year, my Followers of Fear and stay safe out there. Don’t party too hard. That’s my job!

Review: The Babadook

Posted: December 14, 2014 in Review, Scary Stuff
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A truly terrifying time.

I know I don’t usually do back-to-back reviews, but this time around is an exception. Especially since this film is so damn good. It’s actually won a couple of awards and is nominated for plenty more, so I think it’s especially deserving of a review.

The Babadook follows Essie Davis as Amelia, a widow who refuses to confront her own grief over the death of her husband or the fact that her young son Samuel (played with convincing skill by Noah Wiseman), while brilliant enough to do advanced magic tricks and build weapons, has some behavioral problems (as evidenced by the weapons). One day Samuel finds a pop-up book entitled Mister Babadook, about a boogeyman-like creature whose name is derived from the onomatopoeia of two quick raps and three steady knocks. Anyone who sees it will be menaced by it until it kills them. Thus starts a terrifying saga in which both characters toe the line between reality, insanity and a world only barely glimpsed by man.

Jenifer Kent does an excellent job as a first time writer and director on a very small budget, easily weaving together a story where the audience can’t tell if the Babadook is real or a shared psychosis (or folie a deux for those poetic types) between mother and son. Throughout the film you’ll see evidence that it could be either or both (which is what I’m going with). Davis is wonderful, portraying a mother with heavy baggage who is trying to deal with what life has dealt her in the best way possible and suffering from it as well, while young Wiseman should get an award for how well he played such a psychologically demanding role. The atmosphere is great, the exploration of parenthood under rough circumstances is poignant, and the storytelling was executed well. I had to put my hands over my eyes several times because it was so scary.

I hope more people discover The Babadook, because it is a really awesome horror film that reminds one of the original Night of the Living Dead in its power to terrify and to tell a story worthy of analysis. All in all, I’m giving this film a 4.5 out of 5. I’m definitely hoping for more films from Ms. Kent, especially if they’re as terrifying as The Babadook was. And if there’s a copy of that picture book, I would like one.

Not recommended for anyone with a pet (especially a dog) or small children. Or both.

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