Wow, it’s just been good book after good book after good book lately. At least I’m having luck in that area lately.
Set in my beloved Victorian England, Victorian Psycho follows Winnifred Notty, a governess who comes to Ensor House, the country home of the Pounds family to help instruct and raise the children. However, Winnifred is about as far from Mary Poppins as you can get. She’s got a history, has a mind that works in mysterious ways, and has some terrible plans in store for the Pounds family. Ones that will come to terrible fruition on Christmas Day.
Whoo-boy, this was a wild one. Written entirely from the point of view of Ms. Notty, you really get in her head, and it’s an uncomfortable place to be. She sees things that aren’t there (or are they?), does things that defy both common sense and my uncommon sense, and puts up red flags left and right while making the funniest observations (like what she says about the head maid’s sexual history). Compounded by the fact that you can’t rely on anything she says (I highly doubt most of the people’s last names in this book are their real last names), it’s an intriguing read that keeps you wanting to read more.
It’s also darkly funny, satirizing the manners and beliefs of the age in a way that somehow manages to keep things between insane and believable. I could hardly believe it when one character mentioned that when he got home, he’d have to deal with both a depressed wife (apparently she’s delaying getting over her child’s death much too slowly for her husband’s sake), and a chimney sweep who’s stuck in their chimney (they tried to light a fire under him to press the issue that they didn’t want him hanging around. It didn’t work).
And then what happened a few pages later…well, I’ll just say that was a real thing Victorians did, and seeing it depicted here was kind of amazing.
As far as downsides go, I did think some parts of the ending could have been tweaked. Also, maybe it was just because I was listening to the audio book, but I was only able to listen to this book in short spurts before needing a break. Which is weird, because when I first started, I thought this was the sort of story I would nearly binge from start to finish, and that feeling is hardly ever wrong.
All in all, though, Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito is a quick and enjoyable read. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.2 for its witty, stomach churning portrayal of insanity and evil set against the backdrop of banal, Victorian melodrama and morals. A movie version is set to release next year with Margaret Qualley in the lead, and if she brings the same A-game she brought for The Substance (which I recommend if you can deal with body horror), it’s going to be a hell of a film.
In the meantime, better go brew some (hopefully poison-free) tea, lie back in the drawing room, and crack open a copy of Victorian Psycho. Trust me, it’s worth a read.
(Note: This review contains some spoilers for this book’s predecessor, I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me. So, if you haven’t read that one and want to go in unspoiled, you’ve been warned.)
Sequels are tough. I’ve tried to write sequels before, and they are fucking tough to write. Not only do you have to continue the story you set up in the previous entry, but you have to keep up the tension and further develop the characters. And, if possible, up the stakes from the last story. So, when I started listening to I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call, the sequel to I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me (see my review here), on audio book, I hoped that the sequel would be up to the same level as the original book.
Starting a few months after the events of I Feed Her to the Beast, Laure Mesny is back in Paris and trying to move on with her life. However, things are not as easy as she would like. For one thing, not only is she the vessel for the dark god Acheron, who constantly whispers in her ear, but she’s also being haunted by ghosts from her past, both literal and figurative. And on top of that, Elysium, the strange dimension below Paris where the gods reside, is dying, setting in motion a chain of events that will see either Laure’s ascendancy…or her doom.
I enjoyed I Feed Her to the Beast immensely, but I think I enjoyed I Am The Dark even more.
For one thing, let’s look at the horror. There’s definitely more of an emphasis on the cosmic horror aspects in this volume, and they work well, with the power of the gods becoming a corrupting influence as Elysium continues to degrade and rot. The new human villains of Neve and her retinue were a great addition to the story, as was Laure’s relationship to Acheron, which I expected to be more like Eddie Brock and Venom in the movies but turned out completely different.
I also liked the development of Laure as a person. If the first book was about Laure trying to get what she wanted and deserved, only for her to see its dark side, then the second book was about Laure trying to find who she is and what she really wants out of life now that the Paris Ballet is behind her. Jamison Shea handles that deftly, leading to a climax that left me on the edge of my seat (metaphorically; I was cooking dinner during those scenes).
Finally, there were a lot of surprises in the story that threw me for a loop, which only deepened my enjoyment of it overall. Several times, I was like, “What? Are you serious?” And it’s not easy to surprise me, so kudos to the author for that.
If I have any criticisms, it’s that I thought the linking of the cosmic horror elements to the Cthulhu Mythos felt a little forced to me. Also, I thought a certain character introduced in the story was going to have a bigger role when it was revealed how much they were aware of, so it was kind of disappointing that they didn’t have that bigger role. I understand why the author did–it was part of Laure’s personal growth, after all–but still.
All in all, though, I came away from I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call by Jamison Shea very satisfied. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving it a 4.8, which is 0.3 points higher than its predecessor. Unrelenting, cosmically dark, and full of twists and turns. I’m almost sad that there’s not a third book in the works (as far as I know), though Laure’s story does work well as a duology.
Anyway, if you’re at all interested, or if you enjoyed I Feed Her to the Beast, you won’t be disappointed by I Am the Dark. Give it a read and see for yourself.
That’s all for now. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares.
Having read The Good House before, I knew I was in for a good time (see my review here). But I was not prepared for Tananarive Due’s latest novel. After starting it, I learned the book was based not only on the Dozier School for Boys, a reform school in Florida where numerous atrocities were committed against the kids there, but on a relative she had who died at the school. And even after learning that, I still wasn’t prepared for what was to come.
Set in Florida in 1950, The Reformatory follows twelve-year-old Robert Stevens (named after her relative) and his older sister, Gloria. After kicking a white boy who makes advances on Gloria, young Robert finds himself sent to the Gracetown School for Boys, a reform school where the boys are under threat by both the spirits haunting the campus after years of mysterious deaths, and the Warden Haddock, a terrifying personage with a sadistic streak. When Haddock learns Robert can see the ghosts on campus, he forces the kid to help him catch the spirits. Meanwhile, Gloria attempts to find a way to free her brother from the horrible reformatory, setting them both on a path that will change them forever.
Man, this book was a rough read! Due does not skimp on the human horror the characters face, whether that be the horrible things Robert faces at the reformatory at the hands of the adults and the other kids, or the racism Gloria faces trying to get her brother out of that place (not to mention the utterly disgusting advances Lyle McCormick makes on Gloria in the novel), it feels all too real. Not to mention kind of timely!
Speaking of feeling real, the worldbuilding is amazing! Gracetown, the location of the reformatory and most of the other events of the book, as well as the people in the book, feel extremely real. I noticed that with The Good House, but Due is great with character development, and setting can be as much a character as the characters! I also loved how Gracetown apparently has this reputation as a place where children are able to interact with spirits and lose the ability as they grow older. That’s a pretty cool idea, and Due uses it to flesh out the spirit world of Gracetown and the reformatory so well.
I think the one thing I didn’t like was that I feel we only scratched the surface of the Gracetown School for Boys. I know that might sound masochistic, considering what we saw was pretty horrific, but we only saw a fraction of the school grounds, of life at the school, and the sordid history there. And as much as that would’ve scarred my psyche, I would’ve like to see all that explored more.
Maybe an anthology based around the Gracetown School for Boys? They’re doing one for The Stand, after all. I can dream.
All in all, though, The Reformatory by Tananarive Due is a soul-shaking journey of abuse, racism, and the darkness of humankind that, at times, I had to take a break from, I was that shook. On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.5 out of 5. I feel like I get why this book was talked about so much when it came out last year, and I wish I’d read it sooner. And if you haven’t read it yet, you should go and read it, too.
The photo I took the day I got my copy from the library. Can you tell I was excited?
We’re only five weeks into 2025, but I may have already found my favorite new book of the year. In fact, at times I got so deep into this book, I had dreams about it! You don’t know how special a treat that was for me.
Set in 1970, Witchcraft for Wayward Girls follows four girls sent to Wellwood House, a home for unwed mothers in Florida: Fern, a young high schooler who wants her old life back; Rose, a rebellious hippie with a bit of a mean streak and a bit of a nice streak; Zinnia, a young musician who plans to marry her baby’s father; and Holly, whose youth and silence hides a dark and terrible secret. Hidden away from the world like shameful secrets and repeatedly told that they are at fault for their condition and that the only good thing they can do now is give up their babies for adoption to a loving couple, the girls seek any way to take back a little control over their lives and bodies. When a mysterious librarian hands them a book that’s full of actual magic, they think they’ve found their solution. But when it comes to magic, everything comes at a price. And the price they have to pay may be bigger than any of them can pay.
So, if it wasn’t clear from the first paragraph, I freaking loved this book! For one thing, the horror is palpable from the first couple of chapters. Not from the witches, but from the people. Through Fern’s eyes, we see how everyone blames her, including herself, for getting pregnant outside of marriage, even though it takes two to tango. From what I’ve been told, that really was the attitude towards unwed mothers back then, and Hendrix does a great job bringing it to life throughout the story, as well as the callous cruelty the girls face as unwed mothers, even after they’ve given birth.
I also really liked the witches of the story. They’re not exactly old school wicked witches, but they’re not entirely good witches or granola-crunching Wiccans, either. They’re their own thing, a group of women with access to power and who are trying to ensure the continuation of their way of life and their freedom, and they’re willing to get their hands dirty to do so.
To list out all the colorful characters would keep us here too long, but some of my favorites included hippie Rose, who grew on me as the story went on and whose experiences midway through the book broke my heart; Hagar, the cantankerous cook at the Wellwood House, who does try to help the girls, if rather reluctantly; Zinnia, who has more sense than most of the other characters in the book; and Fern, who really does learn something from her experience.
All these elements come together into a fantastic story where I struggled to guess what would happen next and was surprised more than a few times by certain developments. It really was amazing.
Hendrix admits in the acknowledgments that he’s probably the last person to be writing a book where nearly every character is pregnant, but given how phenomenal of a job he did, I think we can forgive him. I can’t think of a single flaw in this story, it was just that good. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix a full 5. Grab a copy, put on an appropriately witchy playlist (I hope “Abracadabra” by Lady Gaga is on that playlist), and settle down for a read.
Oh, happy day! It’s still only three months away, but Symphony for Walpurgis has its first review! And holy crap, it’s a five-star review! Everybody start dancing!
No surprise, this review, which I discovered on Goodreads yesterday, comes from an ARC reader. And not just any ARC reader, but from Priscilla Bettis, who is not just a fellow author, but has been a Follower of Fear for several years now. Since…I want to say before Rose came out? Anyway, she got the ARC of Walpurgis the other day and apparently got through it in a week before leaving a review.
Don’t be fooled, though: just because she’s a longtime Follower of Fear, doesn’t mean Priscilla isn’t willing to criticize a story when she dislikes it or finds something problematic. I should know, she’s beta read a few of my stories. So the fact that she gave Walpurgis five stars means she must’ve really liked it.
Here’s some of what she wrote:
Symphony for Walpurgis is a collection of novelettes, all horror. There are themes of money-power-arrogance (I should just say “corruption), abuse of nature and one another, grief, and (my favorite) insects.
Dragon bats … not a story title, but a thing. One of the best creatures Rami’s ever created. You’ll find them in “Disillusionment and Trauma Sometimes Go Hand-in-Hand.”
In “Blood and Paper Skin,” Grey, a college-aged man, and a group of his friends run into deadly trouble when out to buy drugs. It’s scary and tense, and Ungar makes it easy to like Grey and cheer him on. But there are twists. Other characters besides Grey come to the forefront. This is the twisty-ist story in the collection, great fun!
“The House on Lafayette Square” is a Jewish demon-exorcism story with freaky-scary descriptions. The story takes a left turn somewhere, so instead of everything being tied up in a neat bow, I was left DISTURBED at the end, maybe because I am a mother IRL. (Kudos to Ungar for that.)
Wow. I disturbed her. For a horror writer, that’s a serious compliment. Especially from someone who’s a big fan of horror.
And that’s only half the review! You should see the rest of it. In fact, I hope you do. Because I’m aiming to amass fifty (hopefully positive) reviews on Amazon and on Goodreads in the first year alone, so this is a good start! So, if Priscilla’s review gets you even a little bit interested in reading the book, then I hope you read the rest and then go preorder the book.
Here’s the back cover blurb for the book, which is out May 1st:
What’s the difference between humans and monsters? Is there a fine line, or is it more gray and blurred? Rami Ungar, author of Rose and Hannah and Other Stories, explores this question in his latest collection, Symphony for Walpurgis. From legendary cryptids to malevolent spirits and from Ohio in the 1950s to modern-day California, readers will be treated to nine terrifying stories of the weird and macabre. So settle down and be prepared. For you have bought your ticket to Symphony for Walpurgis.
I’ll leave links below in case you want to check the book out. And if, after the book is released, you read it and like it (or don’t), I hope you’ll leave a review. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps both me and other readers out in the end.
Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I’ll be sure to check in with you guys when I have updates on Walpurgis or on anything else going on in my life and/or in my writing career. So, until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!
I’m lucky enough that I rarely get writer’s block. Occasionally I have a bad night where I can’t get the words on the page, but actually being unable to write? Thanks to a combination of lots of inspiration and lots of motivation, no. In fact, I think I can count the number of times I’ve gotten writer’s block on one hand.
And recently, that number increased by one.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m working on a witchy Halloween story that is the most Halloween thing I’ve ever written. And I’ve been enjoying working on it. However, last week, I noticed that the words weren’t coming like they should be. I was having problems getting the words down, and it was increasing slowly but surely with every writing session.
No doubt about it, writer’s block was settling in.
Thankfully, I have a method that always helps me get over writer’s block.
Now, if you look around the Internet long enough, you’ll find hundreds of different methods for getting over writer’s block. They range from finding a different time or place to write, or doing freewriting and brainstorming, to therapy and mindfulness meditation. I’ve got nothing against those other methods. If one of them works for you, good for you. This is just the one that works for me. And if you as a writer find it helpful, then great.
So what do I do? Well, I edit. Sort of. I go back to the beginning of the story and go over the material I’ve written. Try to see where the writer’s block started and why. Is it a problem with the plot? Is it a mental issue? By going through the story, I hope to find out and find a solution.
And that’s what I did. And it worked. Without getting into too many details, I realized that it was a mental issue regarding whether or not I was crossing a certain line. A line that I wasn’t sure I wanted to cross in a story. It had nothing to do with the story itself, just me worrying about something. And, as I went through the story, looked at what I’d written, where I wanted the story to go, and other writers who had written similar subject matter, I realized I was worrying about nothing. I’d just made up a problem in my head for some dumb reason.
Anyway, now that the non-issue is resolved, I’m able to get back to writing this witchy story. Will it be any good? Hard to say. I like to think it has potential. For now, though, I’m just aiming to finish the first draft and have fun along the way.
And if writer’s block pops up on this or any other story in the future, I’ll know how to deal with it before it gives me too much trouble.
Do you ever deal with writer’s block? Do you have a favorite method to get over it? What is it?
One more thing, my Followers of Fear: I’ll be at Akronomicon in Akron, Ohio on Saturday, February 1st, 2025 at the Emidio & Sons Expo Center. It looks to be a fun little horror con, and I’ll be there selling books and doing Tarot readings. If you want to stop by, you can purchase tickets off the convention’s Facebook page.
And if you can’t stop by, if you want to support me, or you’re just looking for a good story that’s preferably of the scary variety, you can check out any of my books. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and Jewish exorcisms, I’ve got something scary and weird for every horror fan. I even have some free stuff and an Arthurian short story, so why not check it out on my books page?
And if you like what you read, please leave a review online somewhere. Positive or negative, I love reader feedback, and it helps me and other readers out in the long run.
Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night and pleasant nightmares!
Wow. It’s been a kind of crazy this year, hasn’t it? If I’m not careful, 2025 is going to leave me exhausted! Wait, what do you mean we’re not even ten days into January? Oh God, somebody get me off this ride!
Alright, enough kidding around. Besides, I’m not doing too bad so far. I actually feel really good about what I’ve gotten done today, and coming back to work after vacation hasn’t been as bad as it could have been. I just wish I had more time to devote to writing like I did on that vacation!
Well, maybe through meeting readers and other writers at events, I’ll eventually get to that point. And with that rather silly segue, let’s talk about the events I’ll be attending and/or vending at in 2024, because I’ve got a new one I’m going to be in!
First, in a little over three weeks, I’ll be at Akronomicon on Saturday, February 1st at the Emidio and Sons Banquet Center in Akron, Ohio. Formerly known as Monster Mania, this is from what I hear a small but passionate horror con, and I’m looking forward to it. If you can, please stop by. I’ll be signing books and doing Tarot readings and would love to see you. You can grab tickets through the event’s Facebook page.
Then, I’ll be at the Akron Book Festival at the Main Library in downtown Akron on March 8th. It’s being sponsored by their library, and it sounds like it’s going to be quite popular, like the Columbus Book Fest (but hopefully not as hot and humid). Once more, I’ll be there selling books and maybe doing Tarot readings, so if you can stop by, please do. You can find more info on their website here.
Fast forward two months, and on May 10th, I’ll be at the Halfway To Halloween Expo at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This is a very popular event I’ve heard so many things about, so I’m really looking forward to it. Again, I’ll be signing books and doing Tarot readings, so if you can join me there, I would love to see you. You can find out more information on their newly revamped website.
Then in June, I have two events! The first will be StokerCon in Stamford, Connecticut on June 12th-15th. I’m so excited for this! I loved the last StokerCon I was at, and I’m looking forward to this one even more, as I’ll hopefully be allowed on a panel or two, and I’ll be pitching The Shape of Evil to agents. You can learn more about the con from the website.
And last but not least, I’ve just been confirmed for the Big Ohio Book Con in Medina, Ohio on June 28th-29th. This con is hosted by Black Cat Books & Oddities, a bookstore that’s been talked about quite a bit in local horror circles for its leanings towards the dark and spooky. I’ll be doing my thing there, so I hope to see you there! You can find more information on the shop’s website.
And that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. There will probably be one or two more before the year is out, and I’ll be sure to let you know when I’ve been confirmed for any of them.
Again, I hope to see you there. And if I don’t but you’d still like to support me, I’ve got a bunch of books available. From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia-hunting serial killers and car-chasing ghosts, I’ve got something for every horror fan, including some free stuff. And in case you haven’t heard, I also have a new book coming out that’s available for preorder! So, be sure to check them out and, if you like what you read, please leave a review! I’ll leave a link for my book page below.
That’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I have a few posts planned in the future, so I’ll be writing and posting those as soon as I can. Until then, good night and pleasant nightmares!
The detective arrives at the crime scene and finds the body is nearly identical to another murder. A soldier is walking through a swamp, when they are warned by their sergeant that mines are buried underfoot. The bride leaves her groom at the altar, looking to find herself after years of being told what she should do with her life. The singer comes across Robert Johnson’s guitar, thought to be long lost, and finds there’s more than just history attached to it.
All of these could be the beginning of a story that starts in media res.
Latin for “in the middle of things,” a story that begins in media res is one that starts midway through the plot, rather than at the beginning. And believe it or not, a lot of stories start like this. Hell, you’re probably familiar with most of them. The Star Wars movies arguably all start in media res, as they all start when a conflict is well underway. The novel Gone Girl begins with the protagonist’s wife being discovered missing. Wicked, from novel to musical to movie adaptation (love those last two) always start with the Wicked Witch being a well known figure and with several events implied as having happened and being common knowledge.
That last example brings up something important: how do these stories start in the middle when there’s who knows how much backstory we’ve missed? Often, this is accomplished through dialogue, flashbacks, and exposition. Flashbacks are especially popular, with the majority of Wicked being flashbacks, and the Deadpool films using flashbacks to explain why the film starts off with Wade Wilson getting into some insane shit.
And in horror, in media res is also quite popular. From the classics like Dracula, Frankenstein and Jekyll & Hyde to modern entries like Firestarter and Nightmare on Elm Street. Many of my own stories also start this way: Rose begins with Rose Taggert waking up in a greenhouse with no memory of how she got there or of the past two years, “Queen Alice” begins with my main character Joshua Blumfield already giving his report on the urban legend, and “The Dedication of the High Priestess” begins with Annie Hummel going to a gallery after already serving as a model for three paintings.
Why do horror authors, as well as authors in other genres, begin their stories this way? Well, one thing is the immediate hook. Take Nightmare on Elm Street: it starts with Freddy crafting his claws and then chasing after a teenage girl, only to wake up right on time. We’re immediately left wondering what happened and why, and that keeps our interest.
This oil painting by friend and colleague Iseult Murphy is based on “The Dedication of the High Priestess.” The story is an excellent example of a story starting in media res.
It also makes for great suspense. Take Nightmare again: we’ve already witnessed what Freddy’s capable of in the first scene, and so we wonder what else he can do. Would that have happened if we started with Freddy’s first murders and then getting killed by the parents? That opening violence builds up our expectations and keeps us enthralled.
Finally, you manage to get through a lot of exposition writing this way. Take Gone Girl, for example. Gillian Flynn could have started the story with Nick and Amy meeting, getting married, and the fracturing of their relationship before Amy’s disappearance, but would that have been as fun? It’s more interesting and suspenseful to read about the disappearance and then see how their relationship developed.
Another great example would be my story “The Dedication of the High Priestess” (spoilers for a story that came out in 2022). As I said, that story starts with my protagonist Annie already having modeled for a famous artist. She then goes through the gallery, which then causes her to be caught up in the King in Yellow’s plot to come to Earth. I could have started with Annie taking ballet classes, being scouted for the painter’s new series, doing the modeling gigs, and then going to the gallery, but that would have taken a lot of time and pages, and a lot of effort to keep readers interested. Starting with the gallery showing, using dialogue and exposition to explain how we got to this start, and then getting straight to the horror was very effective.
So, there’s a lot of reasons to use in media res to start a story, no matter the genre. It won’t work with all stories (looking at you The Hogfather, Die Hard, and Kill Creek), but if it works with your story, and you can do all the backstory parts without any issue, I see no reason not to use it. After all, I use it all the time. And look at me now!
Thanks for reading, my Followers of Fear. I’m about to start a new story, and it starts so in media res, some readers might need to read the start again. I thought about starting it from earlier in the events of the story, what I would normally reserve for flashbacks or exposition, but it felt like it would take too long and take up too much of a word count. Thinking about it and weighing my options made me want to write this blog post.
And now, if you need me, I’ll be busy writing what may be the most Halloween-y story I’ve written to date. Until next time, good night and pleasant nightmares!
This year, I went with a totally metal graphic. You like it?
It probably won’t surprise you that I’m already scheduled to attend some events as an author in the coming year. And because I love it when I run into Followers of Fear at these events (doesn’t happen often, but it still happens occasionally), I try to advertise the hell out of them in the hopes that someone reading these posts will be in the area and want to come and see me.
Plus, I’m doing a lot of new events this coming year, of which most of them are horror cons, so that should be a lot of fun. So, without further ado, let’s talk about what’s happening in 2025!
First, I’ll be getting started early this year with Akronomicon. This horror themed convention, previously known as Monsterfest Mania, will be held at the Emidio Expo Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, which is located in the Akron metropolitan area (hence the name Akronomicon). It’ll be held February 1st, from 10 AM – 7 PM. I’ll be there selling books and doing Tarot readings. If you can stop by, please do. Tickets are being sold here.
Then, I’ll be back in Akron at the Akron Book Festival on March 8th from 11 AM – 3 PM at the Main Library in downtown Akron. I’ll be there with a bunch of local Ohio authors, selling books (and hopefully being allowed to do Tarot readings). If you can, please stop by. You can find out more here.
Skip forward two months, and I’ll be heading up north to Michigan for the Halfway to Halloween Expo! This is an annual event held around when we’re six months away from Halloween (hence the name), and from what I hear, it’s always popular. This coming year, it takes place on Saturday, May 10th, 2025 from 11 AM – 6 PM at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds (now there’s a name!) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I’ll be there selling books and doing Tarot readings, so I hope to see you there. You can find out more on their website.
And finally, StokerCon 2025 will be held in Stamford, Connecticut on June 12th – 15th. This is the Horror Writers Association’s very own convention, with lots of panels, pitch sessions, endless ways and reasons to socialize, and, of course, the Bram Stoker Awards Dinner and Ceremony. I don’t know if I’ll be selling anything there this year, but I’ll definitely be there to enjoy myself, see old friends and make new ones, and possibly get books into people’s hands. I’d be happy to see you there, too, so do come say hi if you’re planning on attending as well. You can find out more about the convention here.
And that’s really all for now, my Followers of Fear. If I am confirmed for other events, I will let you know in case you want to come. In the meantime, I’ll try not to bombard you with reminders of events except right before the events. Unless talking about them more will get people to come? Hmm…something to think about.
Anyway, if you’re unable to come to the events and want to support me, you want to support me anyway, or you just want something to read, why not check out one of my books? From plant/human hybrids and strange gods to Mafia hunting serial killers and carnivorous horses, I have something for every horror fan, so why not check something out? I’ll leave links below.
And if you like what you read, please leave a review online so I know what you thought. Every review helps me out immensely. Not to mention, it helps other readers figure out if the book is right for them.
Anyway, it’s late and I’m tired, so I’m going to head to bed, my Followers of Fear. So, until next time (maybe tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on how things go), good night, pleasant nightmares, and happy holidays.
AI is everywhere these days. And unfortunately, it’s making inroads into the creative industries.
In September, the organization behind National Novel Writing Month announced they would allow participants to use AI programs to write their novels for them (you can see my post about that here). Then HarperCollins, following some academic presses, announced it would be offering some of its non-fiction titles to Microsoft for training their language-learning models (LLMs), AKA the same programs that “write” fiction for people, provided the author consents. And earlier this week, Bookseller reported that AI publishing company Spine would be using AI to publish up to 8000 titles a year, while also charging authors $5000 to use their programs to proofread, publish, and distribute books. You can read both articles on this subject here and here.
This is only confirming many creatives’ worst fears about how AI may be used by companies to make money. After all, you don’t have to pay a program for their work, which means the company keeps all the profit. This could potentially make it harder for creatives to make a living or even a side hustle by writing, making art, editing, make music, or a hundred other things. And after the writers and actors guilds fought so hard last year to keep AI from cutting in on their work!
Now, I’m not necessarily against AI. I think AI has plenty of useful applications. For example, Google’s AlphaFold program is apparently predicting proteins and coming up with new ways to treat some of our worst diseases. And I think many people would be happy if AI made certain aspects of life, such as cleaning our homes, easier. (God knows I would love it if a program could clean my bathtub, rather than me.) However, I don’t think AI should be in the entertainment business!
For one thing, there’s the issue that often, the literature and art used to train the programs is used without the creator’s permission. I’ve heard from plenty of creators who found out their work was being used without permission, which they considered theft (and I can’t disagree). And it’s not just authors and artists dealing with this; some voice actors are actually suing a company for using their voices without their permission (you can watch a news report about it here).
Then there’s the problem with AI trying to create literature or art. It doesn’t actually create anything new. Unlike humans, who can learn from other creators and then learn to subvert tropes or play with ideas to try new things, AI programs can only look for patterns and then apply those patterns. It’s essentially paint-by-the-numbers. And it’s hardly perfect. In fact, it rarely is!
I’ve played around with AI (if I’m going to criticize it, I might as well). This includes writing programs. And they’re difficult to keep on track. You’re constantly having to get the writing back on track because the program forgets something it wrote before. And from what I’ve seen, the language is hardly that deep. It’s pretty barebones. No inner monologues about character feelings or philosophical discussions in-text about the nature of good and evil, love, death, etc. It can get the actions and maybe the conversations, but it can’t do anything like Stephen King’s musings on goings-on in the Lot in Salem’s Lot, or the Savage Garden in the Vampire Chronicles.
AI art is worse, including WordPress’s new AI art generator. (Yeah, that’s a thing now.) I played around with it recently, and while it is fun, it’s still problematic. Sometimes, you get some good stuff, like this image of Batman taking a kid trick-or-treating (something I could see happening in the right comic storyline).
But then you get this Spider-Man art I made.
Don’t see the problems? Spider-Man’s spider symbol looks more like a stain on his top, his neck looks like it was twisted around a hundred and eighty degrees, the webbing looks more like chains than webbing (and on the left arm is coming out of the wrong place), and the bus has an extra twenty feet on it that’s being kept up by magic.
And that’s just one example. I did a bunch of ballet-themed pictures because AI-generated ballet art shows the issues with AI programs about fifty percent of the time (and I like ballet). Half the time, the dancers had extra limbs or missing limbs. And sometimes, the program couldn’t properly reproduce something I input into the prompt. Look at this picture of Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers and Leatherface skipping through a field.
Yeah, that’s not what I was going for. Jason is wearing Michael’s boilersuit, and the other two look like a masked warrior wearing weird make-up holding a sword and…I don’t know. A random guy with a machete? I tried this prompt four different times, and not one got close to what I was looking for.
So, to reiterate, while companies are going all in on AI in the hope that it can make them a profit, they’re working with programs that are flawed, can only copy, and sometimes rely on stealing to get trained. All while threatening the livelihoods of authors and artists.
Well, the good news is, while AI is making leaps and bounds, it may eventually implode. In one scenario, AI will eventually begin to copy itself, flaws and all, leading to the programs producing increasingly subpar creations. In another, such as this video seems to suggest, the facilities needed to store data for AI programs will start to consume tons of water and electricity. Water and electricity that, more often than not, comes from the same sources as regular people’s water and electricity. That competition will eventually move in favor of people unless a compromise or solution presents itself, and may eventually lead to limitations on AI facilities.
Still, it’s a fucking pain that the real creators have to compete with ones and zeros to prove we’re the superior creators. Hell, sometimes we have to go on strike to get the message across! In addition, some creators don’t seem to see the issue. I spoke recently to a creator who didn’t see what the big deal was and even welcomed the challenge from AI. Let me tell you, she was exhausting.
So, what can we do? Well, if you work with publishers, check with them on their AI policies. I asked both the ones I’ve worked with, and one’s already gotten back to me with a definite No. Just simply ask what their policy is on AI-generated material is, so it doesn’t sound accusatory. You can also reach out to your elected representatives and ask them to support legislation that protects creatives over programming.
You should also support creators who don’t use AI. Buy their book and artwork, leave reviews online, and make sure to let people know that those you support don’t use AI. (For the record, no AI beyond spellcheck is used in my work.)
And, as always, make your voices heard. If we aren’t silent, people will notice. And if they notice, they may be swayed to help us.
Rami Ungar The Writer 