Archive for the ‘Scary Stuff’ Category

The Rise of the Television Serial Killer

Posted: January 29, 2013 in Reflections, Scary Stuff
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Occasionally, I have to devote a post to some hardcore horror subjects, and today I’ve got something I’d like to discuss: serial killers on TV. It used to be that serial killers were relegated to the worlds of novels, and films and they stayed there. Why wwas this? Well, novels had long ago ceased to be scandalous, and a novel was only called to be banned if there was something very extreme about it (such as the gratuitous and very kinky sex of Fifty Shades of Gray, or the popularity and messages seen or percieved in Harry Potter). A serial killer or two in a thriller novel wasn’t so bad, especially since there was always a detective or two there to hunt the freak and his mommy issues down (because until recently, it’s always been mommy issues; damn you pop psychology!). As for movies, they may be decried for their violence and sex, but those sorts of horror movies are restricted to adults mostly, and it is difficult for a kid to get in to watch them. Even with videos and DVDs, not a lot of parents show their kids serial killer films, afraid their kid might become the next James Holmes, Eric Harris, or Adam Lanza.

If a serial killer did show up on TV, usually it was in a crime show, and only just for one episode (two, if it was an episode arc meant to draw out something special from a character). There were never any shows about serial killers, the movies that featured them were heavily edited for sexual content and swearing before airing (never mind being fitted so that the end on the :00 or the :30), and otherwise they weren’t a part of the wasteland that is television. Why is that?

I think it might be due to that TV, unlike the movies, is open to everybody with a TV and a remote, so it would suck if a kid whose favorite game is fairy princess sees Michael Myers stab two teens who’ve just been copulating. Also, TV shows are marketed to get the most viewers, unlike movies, which are marketed to get the most money from moviegoers. Yes, there is a difference: movie studios get a portion of the sales from movie theaters when people see their movies, while television studios get profits when companies pay to have their ads air during the commercial breaks of popular shows. Since a broad variety of people watch TV in general, unlike a single movie, so the shows are marketed to get the most people watching in order to get the most ad fees.

Horror only appeals to a small number of the TV-watching population, and serial killers appeal to only part of the horror fan community. With that in mind, horror doesn’t often get airtime, let alone serial killers. When horror does make an appearance, usually it’s during Halloween or it’s an element of a crime or drama show (examples are Grimm or SVU).

But for reasons I’m not sure about, serial killers are appearing on TV these days, with their own shows or being a huge part of other shows. I think it might have something to do with a resurgence of serious horror on TV. We’ve got Walking Dead on A&E, American Horror Story on FX, and Supernatural on CW, serious horror shows without any of the comedy associated with earlier horror shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the girl-bonding themes of Charmed. No, this is serious horror with traditional tropes like angry spirits, demons, and zombies, and the critics and the viewers are eating it up like candy. I guess it was only a matter of time before serial killers started getting their fair share of airtime, and there’s been some pretty good sharing there:

There’s the Bloody Face character(s) of American Horror Story: Asylum, who’ve been bringing the terror to the TV screen; the cancelled J.J. Abrams show Alcatraz had several serial killer characters throughout the series; and The Following, a crime thriller about a serial killer with a following of killers he manipulates from his jail cell, is enjoying strong ratings on FOX. Plus there’s more: A&E is developing a prequel-that’s-not-a-prequel of the famous 1960 thriller movie Psycho called Bates Motel; and on NBC, there is a much talked about adaptation of the first Hannibal Lecter novel Red Dragon called Hannibal, that I am looking forward to with a vengeance.

So there are several shows featuring serial killers, some on the major networks such as FOX and NBC, and perhaps more will be made in the future. As a huge fan of serial killers (the fictional ones; I don’t condone killing outside of fiction) and a guy who penned a novel about one, I can’t complain about that. Thoguh don’t expect me to watch the Psycho prequel unless the reviews are phenomenal, because with a story like Psycho where the sort of psychosis that Norman Bates has isn’t even clearly defined, it’s going to be difficult to create a show based on how that psychosis developed and keep it interesting. Now if there was a show about Jason Voorhees between his supposed death and when he started killing…no, that’d still be difficult to sell to me.

Also, I would like to clarify some comments I made on this post. Although I said that parents don’t usually show serial killer-themed media to thier kids so they don’t become killers themselves, and that TV shows try not to traumatize kids for that same purpose, I don’t believe that violent movies/TV shows/videogames produce killers. Although there are studies that link excessive video game playing and violent behavior and stuff like that, there is no proof that these violent shows, movies, and games produce actual killers. And if there is any study that shows a correlation, feel free to show me, but I would like to remind you all that correlation doesn’t mean causation; I’ve taken two or three classes that have emphasized that point. Besides, the killers I listed above all had documented mental disorders, and there’s no study yet that show a correlation between movies/TV shows/video games and mental disorders.

And while we’re on the subject, mental disorder doesn’t necessarily mean dangerous. That’s very rare, and it usually doesn’t get to the level of violence we’ve seen in recent months when it is dangerous.

Now that I’ve said all this, I’d like to say good night.

Updates on “Enigma”

Posted: January 29, 2013 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I’ve been tackling ways to make one of the short stories for The Quiet Game a better read, and so far I think I’m on the right track. For those of you who haven’t read previous articles on this subject, The Quiet Game is a collection of short stories I’m putting together, and “Enigma” is one of them. At the center of the story is an autistic boy named Jason, who sees a wolf spirit symbolizing death. I had originally started this story with a large Navajo mythology component, but I’m afraid I might have to drop that.

In fact, I may have to drop a lot. This story is getting a total rewrite, and so far a lot has changed. In fact, the title of this short story may have to be changed to reflect its new nature.

But I’m okay with that. I did it last semester when I turned “Doll’s Game” into “Animal Child”, doing a total rewrite to make a better story. I’m not sure where “Enigma” will go as a story, what’ll happen later in the plot, or what the name change will be, but I hope that by the end of it, I’ll have a much better story than I did when I wrote the first version. I’ll let you guys know how it came out.

Oh, and if you want more updates on The Quiet Game, please check out the Facebook page I set up. The address is below:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/TheQuietGameFiveTalesToChillYourBones

Have a nice day.

A Whole Lot of Writing Starting…NOW!

Posted: January 26, 2013 in ideas, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Boy, do I have a lot of work ahead of me. I have two short stories I want to edit, plus two more I want to write first drafts for! I’m not sure if I can get it all done this weekend, but it can’t hurt to try, can it?

The first short story is The Quiet Game, the titular story of my upcoming collection. I want to see if I can shorten it a bit and change a few things I did with it, while also making it that much more scary than it already is, at least for me. It’ll take a bit of work to do, but I aim to do it.

The other story I want to edit is Enigma, from the same collection. However, I’d say what I plan to do with it is closer to a total rewrite. I’ve been going over the plot of the story for the past week and I figured out that the story itself is just not scary enough for my tastes. So I plan to go over it and totally change the plot around in order to make the story scarier, not only for readers, but for the main character, who I realize is acting way too calm for an autistic child thrust into an unfamiliar situation (for those of you not familiar with autism, those affected with the disorder, both children and adults, don’t like changes in routine or new surprises, so it’s hard for them to adjust. Overstimulation or too much change can lead to meltdowns if you’re not careful). So I’ll add to his terror, and hopefully to the reader’s terror as well.

As for the new short stories, I have two in mind. One I mentioned in a post earlier this week, based on a very dark period in my life and taken very much out of the context I experienced it in (it’s fiction written by me, so what do you expect?). The other is based on a dream I had last night, involving a new breed of moth that does worse things than get too close to your porch light. It’s positively disgusting!

I’ll try to get as much done as possible, especially since I’m sometimes prone to the weirdest distractions. I once spent an entire hour looking over news about a TV show I liked when I should’ve been writing! But God willing, I’ll get it all done. After all, I’m a writer, and that’s what writers do. We write, no matter what the circumstances.

Wish me luck!

Now I’m On Twitter

Posted: January 11, 2013 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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If the me of a year ago knew what I was doing these days, he may have a heart attack. Or possibly slap his future self. Or some combination of that.

Yes I, Rami Ungar, resistant to new technology and social media crazes, have gotten a Twitter. Why? For the same reason I got a Facebook: to spread my writing to those who may not be on this blog but may be on other social media websites. This twitter account of mine, @RamiUngartheWriter, will focus exclusively on my writing. Already I’ve published a couple of tweets advertising my upcoming collection The Quiet Game: Five Tales To Chill Your Bones. I’m very excited and I hope I gain a followship soon. You’re welcome to follow me if you like. Just know this: I’ve got a scary picture as my profile pic and it may cause some nightmares.

And no, it’s not of my face. Much scarier than that.

Also, I don’t know if any of my blog followers got a notification (do they send notifications for pages?), but I set up a new page that lists my upcoming books. Which means of course at this point only The Quiet Game is on that list, without even a picture, but I plan to rectify that soon. Check it out if you like, and have a great weekend.

Done Researching, So Onto The Fifth Short Story

Posted: January 7, 2013 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Today was my first day of class in the new semester, but I only have the one class on Mondays, and then the rest of the day I’m free. So I got my homework done, ran a few errands, put a load of laundry through, and spent the rest of the day doing research for that fifth and final short story for the collection I’ve been writing. The research was specificially about Native American cultures and their belief systems. I focused mainly on the belief systems of the Apache, Mojave, and Navajo cultures, mainly because they are all in the same area, at least two of these tribes share a common ancestral tribe, and because a good amount of myths involving dogs, coyotes, and wolves come from those areas.

This story will be the one I planned involving a black dog spirit. Black dogs, as you may guess, are symbols of death and destruction and usually derive from the myth of Cerberus in Greco-Roman mythology. Of course, the Native Americans probably only first encountered Cerberus in classrooms where they learned the myths of the Greeks, but the fact that they have their own myths involving black dogs, wolves, and coyotes points to how large a role these creatures played in their belief systems. Either that, or Jung was really onto something.

I also learned quite a bit on the Navajo belief of Hozho, or beauty, harmony, balance, and health. Many ceremonies in Navajo culture are meant to restore this in someone who is feeling ill, and there are a variety of ceremonies, chants, and methods to heal someone who is suffering from any number of maladies. If you ask me, Hozho sounds like a very Zen belief, so score another one for Jung.

Well, I’m going to get to work on this short story before dinner. Hopefully I’ll be able to get this all done by the end of the week, though with my school work and my job taking priority and it being the first week of the semester, anything could happen. Wish me luck.

Review: Texas Chainsaw 3D

Posted: January 6, 2013 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Ladies and gentlemen, Leatherface is back and he’s better than ever!

An alternative title to this film could be Leatherface’s Revenge: What You Reap Is What You Sow.

If you ask me, this is probably the best TCM movie ever made, and considering about 4 or 5 of the others are terrible, that’s saying something. But I guess that means the creators of the film were successful; according to Entertainment Weekly, producer Carl Mazzacone said that he wanted to do with TCM what he did with the Saw movies, which probably means giving the studio enough reasons to keep making sequels and putting them in theaters instead of Direct-to-DVD crap films. I’m not sure how they’ll be able to top this film, but I’ll believe in them.

The plot follows Heather Miller (the sultry-in-a-punk-rock-way Alexandra Daddarino) as she finds out she was adopted and has a now-deceased grandmother who left her a really nice estate. Unfortunately, that estate includes her cousin Leatherface (played by Dan Yeager) who finally has a name: Jedediah “Jed” Sawyer. As her friends and boyfriend (Trey Songz in his first film role) are killed and Heather becomes terrified, Heather starts to realize her own connections to the Sawyer family, and transforms dramatically because of it.

This reimagining of the franchise, which is meant to be a sequel to the original 1974 film, is definitely a revenge story that brings on the blood and gore and scares. Even when we know what’s going to happen right before it does, it’s still awesome to see it unfold on the big screen in 3D. John Luessenhop does a fabulous job directing, while Debra Sullivan, Adam Marcus, and Kirsten Ems deserve commendation for the script. Dan Yeager is terrifying donning the literal face-mask of Leatherface, and Paul Rae does a fantastic job as antagonist Mayor Burt Hartman. As for Thom Barry’s Sheriff Hooper (the last name’s definitely a reference to the director of the original film), I’d definitely invite that guy to dinner. I’d also like to note that those who think a black sheriff in 1974 is a little too soon after the Civil Rights Act, apparently the first black sheriff in Texas was elected in 1869.

Boys, this film is frightening, so definitely bring your girlfriends along with you. Also, stick around after the credits for what I’d like to call “a joke after the horror show”.

For an excellent reboot of one of the earliest slashers ever made and for some great acting and scares, I give this film the great distinction of a 5 out of 5. Yes, that high and this film deserves it.

Another Short Story Idea Has Come To Me

Posted: January 1, 2013 in ideas, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Too bad I can’t add it to the collection of short stories I’m writing and assembling.

I just recently read The Dibbuk Box, the book by the current owner of the haunted box of Jewish origin that was the basis for the film The Possession, and then somehow had the good fortune to enter into contact with him. After that I started watching a scary movie or two involving possessions and watching a video on YouTube that was about an exorcism. During this time I started thinking about possession, and then a great idea occurred to me: what would happen if the possession was turned on its head? What if the demon ended up needing the exorcism? Needing it?

So I have a new short story idea that I’ll begin to write soon, possibly tomorrow since I can’t work on the next story for the collection until I’ve finished my research. I’ll probably write the story from the point-of-view of the demon, and I’ll also have to figure out what I want to do once the possession begins. Of course, I can’t add this to the collection; I’ve already written a dybbuk story for the collection, and two stories involving possessions is one too many.

Perhaps I’ll send it to a magazine. Or perhaps I’ll make it available online for ninety-nine cents. Depends on my mood and what I think everybody would like. Of course, I’ll have to write it first.

But seriously, I have to ask, would you guys buy the story if I put it online for less than a dollar? Let me know if you’d like that.

Anyway, got another scary movie to watch. Once again, Happy New Year.

The Fourth Story For The Collection Is Done

Posted: December 30, 2012 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Four down, one to go. Too bad the last one requires me to get some books from the library for research and I’m still waiting for them. I can’t start the last short story until I get those books.

Oh well.

So, the fourth short story for my upcoming collection, The Quiet Game, is done. This one is called I’m Going To Be The Next James Bond, and I call it that because the main character, whose name is Ronnie, says to another character that he wants to do just that, be the next James Bond. By the way, this Ronnie is not based on me, Rami. My last name is Ungar, I’m a blonde, I have wire-frame glasses, I’m 19, and I don’t want to be James Bond. Ronnie’s last name is Darby, he’s got black hair and thick-framed glasses, he’s 10, and he doesn’t want to be a writer.

But I digress.

This short story was inspired by another Ghost Adventures episode, the Letchworth Village to be exact (I actually remembered this time!). I saw that episode, and at one point they showed one of those clips that goes alongside someone’s testimony and is meant to give people an idea of what the eyewitness saw (I hope you know what I’m talking about, but if you don’t then check your local listings and check out an episode). This particular clip showed a tall, black shadow that came towards the eyewitnesses with long legs and outstretched arms. I found it so inspirational, I derived an entire short story from it.

And I got to add a doll with a ghost inside to the story at the last minute. I never thought after that bad attempt at a scary doll story in the summer, I’d never include a creepy doll in a short story or novel, but I got to after all. Awesome! I just hope I can keep the Bond references in the story. I mean, it’s just  a few mentions, right? What’s the harm?

I should probably consult a lawyer.

In any case, I finished this short story and I can’t wait to get to the last one. I just need to get the books for research, possibly a little more, and then I’m good for writing. Keep supporting me, and hopefully I’ll have this collection out soon. Along with my sci-fi novel Reborn City, and possibly my serial killer thriller Snake. Just keep supporting me and be patient with me, I’ll have it all out soon.

The Third Short Story For the Collection Is Done

Posted: December 26, 2012 in ideas, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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I’m on a roll! Today I finished the third short story for my scary story collection, The Quiet Game. Note: the name of the collection is The Quiet Game. The name of the short story is Samson Weiss’s Curse, and it’s a short story about a dybbuk haunting a senator over something the senator’s grandfather did several years ago. I think my father, who’s a rabbi and has told me for years to try writing something based on my experiences or on something that I know, will be happy to read this one, as it contains a spirit from Jewish folklore and two of the characters have Jewish last names, and one has a Jewish first name.

For those of you who don’t know, a dybbuk is the spirit of a dead person who comes back and possesses a living human being. Dybbuks have been featured in a few plays and stories, and the recent horror film The Possession, which I reviewed, is about a dybbuk. After watching that film and another film with a dybbuk as the antagoinst, I wanted to write a dybbuk story for myself, but I couldn’t think of a good idea for a dybbuk story beyond someone getting possessed. But then about a month ago, I saw an episode of the TV show Ghost Adventures where the location being investigated had involved some miners breaking into a vault and how two of the miners were double-crossed by an unknown third miner in the end. I can’t remember exactly which episode it was that I watched, but I remember wondering what would happen if the ghost of one of those miners came back and sought revenge, and wondering what had happened to the third miner afterwards. I already had the dybbuk idea, so I decided to incorporate the two ideas together and I got the basis for Samson Weiss’s Curse.

Writing this one was a lot of fun, because as I wrote I kept adding in a bunch of creepy aspects that I hadn’t originally envisioned in the story, including swarming bugs and creepy telephone calls. I also had planned a darker ending for the story, but that seemed anticlimatic once I actually got to the climax, so I decided to change the climax to something happier and with a bit of mystery. I have to say, I like this new ending better, but I bet there’s a lot I could improve upon and so I’m going to hand this story off to a friend to look at and critique.

Now I’m done writing for the day. Tomorrow I’ll start the fourth short story in the collection, and maybe I’ll get it done by the end of the weekend. The way I’m writing, I wouldn’t be surprised if the final collection comes out in late March, early Apirl, right in time for Passover. Thanks for reading, and wish me luck.

The First Short Story For The Collection Is Finished

Posted: December 20, 2012 in ideas, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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And what a short story it was! It scared me a little during the writing process. Me! And I’m the guy who thanks Mrs. Voorhees for her hockey-masked son Jason. Tells you what sort of a story it is.

Now, how can I tell you about this short story without giving too much away? Well first, it’s longer than the average short story. But then again, this is for a collection. Most writers who release collections will make their short stories a little longer than usual just because they can. Stephen King definitely does it a few times, even if his stories end up as novellas in the collection. Thankfully this one didn’t get to novella length (20k-40k words) but it’s longer than usual.

But like I said, this story scared me. Why? Well, imagine yourself placed in a situation like The Hunger Games, where you’re in a battle you don’t want to be in and someone else is controlling everything that’s going on. Even worse, it’s a psychological battle. No weapons, just some crazy crap that’s messing with your head. It can be taxing, especially if you’re in a space that doesn’t get much bigger than your high school campus.

And then I added a few other things. For one, I added a religious zealot with a bit of charisma and a thing for power? Well, after every disaster–real or just percieved in your head (I’m talking to Clint Eastwood and Chuck Norris on the latter)–there’s always someone saying the world’s about to end and we better do as s/he says or we’re all going to hell in a shopping cart. And occasionally, people believe them. Which leads to a bunch of problems.

Add a little doom and gloom, a bit of Celtic/English mythology, and my disturbed mind, you get a rabbit’s hole that scares the person who dug it. Nice!

Oh, I forgot to tell you the name of this short story. It’s called “The Quiet Game”, and I think I’ll also make it the title of the collection. It feels like the right thing to do, and it was the right choice to write this story first. I like it, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

But first, I’ve got some editing to do, including turning a male character into a female character, because if the character’s male, there’s a romantic element in this story, and I just don’t want that there. So I’ll take it out and turn the character female. No romantic element, but still plenty of emotion and psychological terror. It’ll be awesome.

Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a shower and then watch the original Die Hard movie, because the new one is coming out in two months and I’m psyched to see it. Tomorrow I’ll do the editing, send it off to a friend, and then I’ll start on something else.

Trust me, this next story will be something else. It’s based on a friend’s experience, but it’s given the Rami Ungar treatment, so you know it’ll come out twisted and freaky!

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