Posts Tagged ‘scary stuff’

It’s NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth!!!

Posted: November 1, 2012 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, Writing
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And yet for some reason, it’s celebrated in other countries too. Shouldn’t it be INternational NOvel WRIting MOnth (InNoWriMo)? On second thought, maybe not. That abbreviation sounds worse than NaNoWriMo, actually.

Right, onto the reason we’re reading this post. It’s National Novel Writing Month, when writers buckle down and really put their hearts into their novels. Some decide that this is the time to start what they hope will be the Next Great (insert country here) Novel. Others try to write a novel in only 30 days, doing all the research, writing, and editing in that amount of time. And some, like me, will put their all into their works in progress and edit their on-the-way-to-being-published projects…after they’ve done all their homework.

As you can already tell from this post, I’m already in the novel-writing mode. I had fun in a haunted house last night during Halloween (one of my favorite times of the year), so I’m ready to write scary stuff. I’ve also got a short story coming out on Monday, so that’s sure to be a boost. Yes, there’s a short story of mine coming out on Monday. It’s called Ripple, it’s a science-fiction story about a war with aliens, and I hope you read it and give me some feedback.

I’ll be primarily focusing on my serial killer thriller Snake, trying to write as many chapters as possible (and possibly adding one, if I think it’s appropriate). I’ll also work on my science-fiction novel Reborn City when my friend who’s helping me edit the story gets back to me with chapters (thank you Matt! You’ll show up in the Acknowledgements section in the book when it comes out). I don’t think I’ll owrk on any short stories–except the ones for class and the ones I finished prior to November. Basically, I’ll be doing a lot of work…when I’m not at work or doing school work.

So wish me luck. To all other writers taking part in NaNoWriMo, good luck on your various creative works. Let’s get writing.

Happy Halloween 2012

Posted: October 31, 2012 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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And what a Halloween it is! Already I am having so much fun! This morning I woke up cackling like a madman! And later tonight–if I can finish my homework on time–I’ll head over to a haunted house not too far from campus and see if I can get scared. Which actually isn’t that easy as I’m the type of person who kind of guesses what’s around the corner at haunted houses and is usually right.

Then again, the last haunted house I went to–on Monday at the Ohio Union–was pretty good, and it even scared me a couple of times, thanks to some misdirection and strobe lights, so maybe the haunted house I’m going to this evening will be able to replicate that fear.

I’m not the only one excited for Halloween though; for the past couple of weeks, my dorm lobby has been a Samhain sight for sore eyes, as you can see from the photo below:

And this one too:

Pretty cool, isn’t it?

Now what am I going as for Halloween. Well, since I don’t exactly have the time or money to purchase a new costume, here’s what I’m going as:

Yep, Jason again. But next year I’ll be going as the Joker, hopefully, so I look forward to making that costume. In the meantime, I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween, don’t eat too much candy, and if you hear any reports about a demonic army appearing in Ohio, that’s probably my doing. Mwha ha ha ha!

Oh, before I forget, here’s some fun videos to help you get into the Halloween spirit. The first is of Marilyn Manson singing the theme song to the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas, with the images from the actual movie too. It’s a really awesome cover, and I think you’ll like it as well.


The second is created by Buffy and Avengers filmmaker extraordinaire, Joss Whedon, where he endorses Mitt Romney for President. Why you ask? Because apparently Mitt Romney will put this country on track for a zombie apocalypse. Pretty sweet, so enjoy.

Carrie: The First Trailer

Posted: October 27, 2012 in Review, Scary Stuff
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“They’ll laugh at you. They’ll laugh at you. They’ll laugh at you.”

Honestly, those were some awesome lines, and I hope they make it into the new movie.

Earlier this month the makers of the new Carrie film released this trailer, a first look at what fans can expect from a modern-day retelling of the famous Stephen King classic. It shows a bird’s-eye view of the town of Chamberlain, Maine, with voice-overs by different characters giving hints at what happened and creepy music in the background. As the camera goes farther down, we see a burning school, buildings on fire, trees and cars and other signs of destruction all over the street. Eventually, we see Carrie herself, “just a girl”, standing in the street, looking scared and angry as hell. The creepy music playing the whole trailer begins to skip as if on a record player (knowing this story, it probably is).

I cannot wait to see this film, one that not only terrifies us, but teaches us how horrible bullying is and how it should be stopped and nipped in the bud, a theme we seem understand better today than we did when I was in elementary school.

I am counting down the weeks till March 2013. See you at the prom.

The Succubus Story is Finished…Again!

Posted: October 26, 2012 in Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Alright, so I finished the new version of Dodi Li, the succubus story I wrote over the summer whose first draft I hated so much I put it away as a learning experience on what happens when your story’s too plot-heavy. But thanks to an idea I got in my creative writing class, I worked out a new story that was much better, and now has a new name: Revenge for a Succubus’s Beloved. Sounds like an awesome title, right?

I think the only thing to stay from the first version of the story was Umuruk, the succubus character. Her character stays the same though, a demoness who fell in love with a human and watches over and protects him. However, that protection can lead to trouble…

I’ll put this story away for a while, especially since NaNoWriMo is in six days and I have to get back into Snake. However I’m certainly going to try to get this one published, and it shouldn’t be too hard, seeing as the latest edition of Writers Digest’s Nevel & Short Story Writer’s Market has a lot more horror publications listed in its pages than it did last year. Fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Once again, have a nice weekend, and don’t go too crazy with the Halloween parties.

Oh, If I Were An Addams

Posted: October 21, 2012 in Reflections
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You guys think I could be one of them? Because I would dig being Pugsley and Wednesday’s older brother.

I ended up watching the last twenty-five minutes of the 1991 movie The Addams Family, which would lead to me watching some old reruns from the original show on my computer during dinner. It made me realize two things: one was that I was born the year the sequel came out, which might explain another reason why I’m so creepy (though mostly I’m this way because of something that happened in a synagogue); and two is that if I weren’t an Ungar, I’d probably be an Addams.

Now, before you start wondering what my family will think when they read this, rest assured they’d probably agree with me. In fact, I’d make a great Addams: after all, where else could a horror author learn first-hand how to torture people without consequences? Probably in the playroom with Uncle Fester. And if I wanted to know a thing or two about magic? Morticia and Grandma Frump. And sword-fighting? Apparently Gomez and Morticia are both experienced duelists. It’d be a blast.

Not to say my folks aren’t great or strange. On the contrary, my family does have some similarities to the Addams. For instance, my siblings are all a little creepy and plenty kooky, though not as much as me. The sister closest to me in age definitely reminds me at times of Wednesday (though don’t tell her I said that). My mom did once try to spray me with a fire hose, but instead settled for the hose from the kitchen sink. My dad is very affectionate to his wife, my stepmom, almost to the point of comedic. And we have some very unusal pets in the house, even for cats. Add me into the mix, you’ve got some crazy sitcom material. Oh, and one of my uncles does remind me of Cousin Itt, for which I blame on his alma mater.

You know what? If the Addams were real people, I’d like for my family to be neighbors with them. That would be the best. We’d have so much fun, blowing stuff up and scaring people silly. And I’d have a constant source of inspiration and critique for the stories I write. It may only happen in my head, but it’s still swell even there.

Equation for a successful Burton film: 1 Burton + 1 Depp + 1 Bonham Carter = a blockbutster film (usually).

Speaking of which, I hear that Illumination Entertainment is set to do a stop-motion remake of the creepy-kooky-spooky Addams family, with Tim Burton doing the writing and possibly doing the directing. Even though no details about the story or the cast or whatever has been released, I can garauntee two things: one is that it should be fun for both kids and adults; and two is that since Tim Burtons’ in on it, they’ll have to give Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp roles in it if they want it to be successful at all.

My Favorite Kinds of Characters

Posted: October 20, 2012 in Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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I’ve been wanting to do a post on my favorite types of fictional characters on and off for a while now, but now feels like the right time, since I’ve got an inkling of what sort of characters I like to write and read about and since Reborn City‘s coming out and Snake‘s on its way. So, if you read my work sometime and decide that you want to show how I’m a bad author, here’s the post you can point to if you want to prove I have predictable characters.

So here we go. Here are the types of characters I like to work with:

1. Protagonists with flaws: I like my heroes to be flawed in such ways that it inhibits their abilities. For example, Rip from RC is super bad-ass, but (spoiler alert!) he’s a recovering drug addict and he’s got a huge chip on his shoulder. These sort of things weigh him down and keep him from achieving his true potential. Plus he can be incredibly insensitive, as two characters in chapter two let him know! Not only that, but there’s the Snake himself; he’s killing members of a powerful mafia family and shaking up the criminal underworld, and some might see him as good, whether or not they know why he’s killing in the first place. Either way, there’s one thing that cannot be denied: he’s mentally ill. Not that it inhibits him in life or anything, but I wonder what a shrink might say if they could learn about all the details of the Snake’s condition. It might give people a second thought or two on rooting for him.

2. Amazing girls with issues: What do I mean by that? I like my female leads to have problems even as they’re changing the world around them. For example, the protagonist from RC, Zahara Bakur, is a positive influence on the other characters who inspire them to have lives that aren’t defined by violence. Even so, Zahara saw her parents murdered and feels a little guilty that she’s the one who survived. Not to mention she feels she’s holding her friends back because she’s not real gangster material, and puts herself down when she attributes something that happens to her own weakness. Even with all that, she ends up bringing some positive change to those around her.

Another example is from a political thriller I plan to write someday. The main character is around Zahara’s age, though has her own dark past and her own problems to deal with (not saying what at this point, but it makes an interesting story). She’s timid and shy, and anything that reminds her of her dark past scares her horribly, especially when that past comes back to haunt her while she’s trying to save the United States. Watching her break free of the hold her past has on her and then going on to save the nation is something I’m looking forward to writing, because it’d be an awesome story to read.

3. Nasty human villains: I make a distinction between villains who are human and those who are something else, since I plan to write about both. This one will focus on human villains, which can be vary wide-ranging in their motivations or designs. For the most part though, the villains I write, when they’re human, either think they’re doing good or don’t really care whether or not their actions hurt people. An example of the former comes from RC: the main antagonist Jason Price (who’s design I based on Samuel L. Jackson, by the way), believes that his company’s actions will benefit the world someday, even if it means using unethical and deplorable means to get there, and anyone in his way is trying to stop progress and the safety of the world.

On the other hand, you have Christopher Camerlengo, head of the Camerlengo Family from Snake. The main and final antagonist the Snake goes up against, Camerlengo’s mob organization deals in human trafficking and the sex trade. Does he care that he’s degrading the lives of women and men everywhere? No; instead he sees what he does as a business, and the Snake is ruining that business. Perhaps he’d raise a hand if someone tried to traffic someone from his family–one of his kids, per se–but for the most part, all he cares about is making easy money, and people are easy money when you know what you’re doing (or so I’ve heard).

4. Supernatural villains: Like the human villains, these sorts of villains are wide-ranging both in designs and motivations. But they also have two general types: survival or to be the ultimate ruler of all. In the first category, we have a demon from a supernatural crime novel I’m going to call The Weaver when I get around to writing it. I’m not saying what kind of creature we’re dealing with here, but I will say that the creature in question is concerned about the survival of its species, and goes on a killing spree for that very purpose (do not confuse this with Stephen King’s IT though; it’s very different). In the other category, we have the main villain of a novel based on Alice in Wonderland that I plan to write one day (and in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I have a whole list of stories I’d like to write someday; I just can’t write them all right now). The villain in question, whose specifics I also shall not reveal, is a powerful force of intelligent evil whose whole purpose is to turn our world into a nightmarish hell because he feeds off of suffering, and enjoys it too! Can you see the advantages of stopping this one from achieving power?

5. Wise mentors with mysterious pasts: In the stories where characters have mentors who teach them and guide them during critical minds, these characters have plenty of experience they want to give to the protagonists. In the trilogy RC belongs to, the characters run across an old man with a connection to Rip, and helps them out as best he can. He also becomes close to Zahara, and helps her help her friends in the one way she knows best. In another series, this one a 6-book series set during WWII, the main character receives help from a woman he met while living in America. It is through her tutelage that the main character gains the skills he needs when he decides to take on the Nazis (and boy, that’ll be a story to tell). And remember that story The Weaver? The male protagonist is a cop; whenever he’s in trouble, he looks to his uncle, a veteran detective who was a proud gay man despite never being able to come out at work, whenever he has a problem.

The thing is, most of these mentor figures have pasts that aren’t explained, either for plot purposes or just to make them mysterious or because it doesn’t really matter what their pasts are like, but that just makes them so much cooler, right?

That’s all I can think of for now. If I have some more ideas on characters I like, I’ll let you know. But what about you? What kind of characters do you just loooove to write about? Don’t be shy, let me know; I like discussing the pros and cons of such characters, personally.

Some Thoughts on “Dodi Li”

Posted: October 18, 2012 in Living and Life, Progress Report, Reflections, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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For those of you who have no idea what that title means, Dodi Li is a short story that I started this summer and that I’m rewriting before National Novel Writing Month starts in two weeks. It means “my darling” or “my beloved” in Hebrew and should not be confused with a popular Jewish song that is sung sometimes on Friday nights by Jews everywhere.

Dodi Li features a succubus, a demoness who visits men at night as a beautiful woman and steals their sperm in order to create demonic children or steal pieces of their soul through fornication, depending on what myths you believe. However my succubus, who I’ve named Umuruk (sounds like a name a succubus would have, right?) is not the antagonist of the story. Instead, she struggles to protect the other protagonist, a male she’s fallen in love with. Succubi have fallen in love with humans before, according to the folklore and stories I found by people who say they’ve had experiences with succubi (it’s on the Internet, so I can’t be sure if the writers are crazy or not, but I try to keep an open mind), and I decided to tap into that for this story.

The first draft was very plot-oriented, and sucked immensely. I decided to leave it alone until I could think of a way to make it better, and if I couldn’t, then it’d make a great learning experience. But yesterday in creative writing class, my teacher gave me an idea on how I could improve the story. So I went back and started to completely rewrite it, going until half-past ten last night, and then resuming for a little while this morning before class.

As I was heading to class, I realized something about my story: the main character, whose nine years old, and the antagonist, a 40-something with some mental issues, are the only male characters. All the rest are female: the doctor, the head nurse, the head of neurology, a possible detective character, and of course the succubus Umuruk, are all women, and all are women in positions of power that they use to help people.

I started to wonder if that might mean something, if my psyche was trying to tell me something through my writing. If it’s that I respect women in positions of power and that I think there should be more of them, that doesn’t surprise me at all; I grew up in a house full of women, my mom’s a rabbi, my boss is a woman, her boss is a woman, and I took a Women’s Studies course my first year at Ohio State, which I did very well in. So no surprise that powerful women show up in my story.

However, if it has something to do with the fact that Umuruk is able to help the main character more than these women, then I wonder what that might be saying. Perhaps even if women are educated and in positions of power, if they don’t occasionally open their minds to the impossible, then a mentally unbalanced man will hurt an innocent nine-year-old? That’s also a possibility.

In any case, once I finish the story I might understand more, and if I manage to get it published, you might be able to read it and give me some suggestions on what my Muse is trying to tell me.

Anyway, I’ve got some homework to do before I go to work, so I better get that taken care of right now. Have a nice day.

Oh, before I forget, something funny I have to tell you: I was talking to my history teacher after class today, and we had a really great discussion on the way out the building. You see, at the beginning of the semester, my teacher, whose focus is African History, told us that if any of us intentionally failed his class, he’d used magic he learned from tribal priests to enter our dreams and scare the heck out of us. Ever since then I’ve been trying on and off to get him to agree to teach me how to enter people’s dreams (can you blame me?).

At some point during our conversation, my teacher revealed he’d been joking, but I thought he’d been serious because he said it in such a serious way. This led to a discussion on witchcraft in different cultures, which led to a discussion on using magic and summoning stuff. That led to a discussion on spirits and possessions, and in the end, I ended up recommending my teacher to go see The Possession, which I reviewed back in September. Turns out, he agreed to see it. How about that?

Anyway, I think it’s funny, I have no idea what you think.

Edits and Construction

Posted: October 17, 2012 in ideas, Living and Life, Novel, Progress Report, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Well yestereday I edited two short stories. One was Doll’s Game, the short story I’m writing for class, though I might decide to edit it again if I can get this idea I got today for the story to work somehow. I also edited Hunt in the Slaughterhouse, a short story I wrote back in April based on a dream I had. I’ve been trying to get around to editing it for a while, but I’ve had some trouble doing that. But yesterday I had the chance and I have to say, it loooks much better. I’ll have to figure out whether or not I want to send it to a magazine right now or if I want to wait and show it to someone else beforehand.

I also had an idea for Dodi Li, the succubus story I wrote over the summer. Although the plot for that story was really bad and I ended up deciding this story was best left as a learning experience, I decided to rewrite it after my teacher in my creative writing class gave me an idea. You see, she had been discussing the story we were critiquing today, and how the author was able to make it difficult to tell what was reality and what was delusion in his story. Listening to that, I just had a burst of inspiration for Dodi Li, which I plan to get to work on as soon as possible. Got to say, those workshop critiques can do wonders for you.

On, and before I forget, remember how I rewrote the outline for my serial killer novel Snake and that I mentioned I’d set a scene in a construction site? Well today I finally reached the man who could help me get onto the site. We’re going to try and find a time that works for both of us so that I can tour a site and ask some questions. This is a big oppurtunity for me because I want my readers not to have to suspend their disbelief too much and what’s better than actual experience?

Well, hope to have more good news for you later. In the meantime, I’ve editing to do.

My Favorite Fantasy Stories

Posted: October 8, 2012 in Living and Life, Reflections, Review, Scary Stuff
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Anyone else wondering if Mickey Mouse is hiding behind a corner?

Lately I’ve been reading a lot of of books based on Celtic and Arthurian mythology. Knights, faeries, dragons, magic and wizards. I’ve been on a bit of a fantasy binge. So I’d thought I’d devote a post to some of my favorites…not including Harry Potter. Or Tolkein. Or Lewis. Or Game of Thrones. Why none of those, you may ask? Mostly because everybody’s read them and I don’t want to just tell people what everyone know. That, and I’ve only read two of the four mentioned.

So here’s my fantasy favorites, all for your enjoyment:

THE AGE OF MISRULE by Mark Chadbourn

Honestly one of the most interesting fantasy stories I’ve ever read, weaving together both Arthurian and Celtic myths with New Age philosophy and beliefs. In modern-day Britain, strange things start happening. Dragon in the sky…electricity failing mysteriously…technology going haywire…stepping out at night becoming an extreme sport. What’s happening is the ancient gods, demons, and magical creatures of days past are returning to our world, and the only thing standing in the way of humanity being bulldozed by this change is the Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, five ordinary humans who’ve been gifted with the Pendragon Spirit, a power given to them by Existence itself to help humanity weather the coming change. Together the Brothers and Sisters must learn to work together and help humanity adapt, especially when the demonic Fomorii are working to bring their master Balor back to life and wage war on the god-like Tuatha Da Danaan.

I really enjoyed this trilogy, not only because it’s unique and Mark Chadbourn knows how to write a compelling plot and characters, but because even though the world is full of supernatural dangers, I’d want to live there. Heck, I’d want ot be a Brother of Dragons, helping to bring the change to humanity. After all, it’s a simpler life, one where if you’re not working on the land, you’re learning to be in harmony with nature and the spirits around you. And you get to learn magic, which is pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

EARL AND THE FAIRY by Mizue Tani

A series of light novels, the story follows a woman named Lydia Carlton, who is one of the last few fairy doctors around (fairy doctors being people who mediate between humans and fairies). Unfortunately for her, humans in 19th century are not too predisposed to seeing or believing in fairies, so Lydia’s kind of an odd duck to other people. That is, until she meets Edgar Ashenbert, a cunning, manipulative, and mysterious nobleman who enlists Lydia’s help in reclaiming his heritage, which includes a sword that belonged to the Blue Knight Earl, a warrior who had holdings in the realm of the fairies and Edgar’s ancestor. Torn between falling in love with Edgar and hating him for using her in his schemes, Lydia becomes embroiled with supernatural events that seem to gravitate around her and Edgar, sometimes endangering both their lives.

The series is quite popular in Japan, with 29 volumes out already, and a manga and anime series based on the books out as well. Unfortunately, only the manga is available in the US, and only the first 3 volumes as of last month. Still, it is worth a read, especially if you’re looking to get into manga and need an opinion on a good one.

 

 

 

MERLIN

A TV miniseries starring Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson, Merlin chronicles the life of Merlin in his battle against the supernatural Queen Mab. The story starts several years before King Arthur, beginning with Merlin’s birth, his magic training, his animosity with Mab, the rise and fall of Arthur and Camelot, and the final defeat of Mab and the death of magic. I saw this when I was younger, and I always thought it was an amazing story, though now that I think about it I’m not sure how pissing off Merlin and doing everything you can to hurt him is supposed to save your kingdom…oh wait, now I see what Mordred’s purpose was! I really need to rewatch that series now.

The special effects aren’t Avatar or Inception-grade, but the story is compelling and even if the effects aren’t top-notch, they do look believable for their day. Sam Neill is great as a pensive, all-knowing Merlin with anger issues, while Miranda Richardson is the ultimate femme fatale, a hoarse-voiced queen of magic with spells galore and a thousand and one tricks up her sleeve. You’ll love it if you watch it.

 

 

FAIRY CUBE by Kaori Yuki

Kaori Yuki has a reputation for powerful stories with Gothic and supernatural elements. Here she upholds her reputation with Fairy Cube, a story about a boy named Ian who sees spirits and fairies and is haunted by a spirit named Tokage. When Ian is killed by his father in a drunken rage, Tokage possesses Ian’s body and starts romancing Ian’s childhood friend Rin. Determined to get his body back, Ian teams up with a fiery fairy named Ainsel and a mysterious shopkeeper named Kaito in order to get his body back and save his friend. At the same time, Ian starts to become aware of a company called Gotoh that has ties to the spirit world and has sinister plans for the human world (I always knew corporations were up to no good).

Exciting and with Kaori Yuki’s awesome art and storytelling, Fairy Cube is an exciting read for all those interested in dark fantasy in general. I certainly enjoyed it.

 

That’s all I have right now. If I think of any other stories I’d want to put up here, I’ll let you know. If you have any suggestions, if you’ve read any of these works and want to give your review of them, or if you think I’m crazy because I haven’t read Tolkein or Game of Thrones, let me know.

The Latest Idea: Dybbuks

Posted: September 26, 2012 in ideas, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Leah’le, a character from the 1937 film “The Dybbuk”, who was possessed by the titular spirit. Based on the play of the same name by S. Ansky

Well, it seems I have a lot of creepy stuff on the mind lately: evil dolls; succubi; and now dybbuks. Anyone want to put down bets on what will be the subject for the next short story?

Anywho, I saw The Possession a while back (wrote a positive review of it) and just now I finished watching The Unborn (one of those movies that I enjoy but the critics just seem to hate). Both have to do with dybbuks, which if you are unfamiliar with, are spirits that were once the souls of humans but, according to Jewish mysticism, were barred from Heaven or turned away from God and became monsters that possess human beings, looking for a second chance at life.

Both these films got me thinking about dybbuks, and now I want to write my own story about a dybbuk (or maybe more than one; who knows?). Of course, it won’t be like The Possession or The Unborn, which follow the typical possession-exorcism story. Instead, I’ll probably try to make the dybbuk seem like a hero instead of a villain, and maybe I’ll mix in some British folklore while I’m at it (I’m not saying what or how, but I will say it involves dogs).

i’m not sure what sort of story I want to tell yet, but I’ll see what I can come up with. I just hope that I don’t accidentally summon something by thinking about it too hard like I did when I was researching succubi!

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