Posts Tagged ‘scary stuff’

Announcing the Big Birthday Sale

Posted: June 3, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, short story, Writing
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Well Followers of Fear, my birthday is a week away. That’s right, I’m turning 22 in a week. It’ll also be the one-year anniversary from when Snake was published. In honor of both these special events, I’m doing a special sale of all of my books. From June 10th to June 14th, all electronic versions of my books–The Quiet Game, Reborn City and Snake–will be available for free download, and the paperbacks will be marked down. This will be happening on both Amazon and Smashwords, where my books are available for sale.

I’ll be posting reminders throughout the coming week to get you excited…or possibly sick of my reminders. But heck, if you’re looking for something new to read and want to get it at a good price, next week will be your opportunity to do so. I can’t wait. Can you?

Until next time, my Followers of Fear!

Pushing Your Boundaries

Posted: May 31, 2015 in ideas, Living and Life, Novel, Reflections, Writing
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In case you’re not friends with me on Facebook or you don’t follow me on my author page or Twitter feed, my trip to Russia has been delayed. I won’t go into the reasons why, but just know we’re working hard to get a new date and as soon as I know, everyone else will know, including you, my wonderful Followers of Fear. In the meantime, I’m doing what I’d been doing before the delay: preparing, practicing German, packing, and of course, writing and blogging and editing (bet you expected something beginning with a “p”, didn’t you?). Which leads to this post, which is something I’ve been contemplating quite a bit:

It’s considered healthy in your personal life to get out of your comfort zone and try something new, whether that be a new hobby, a new group of friends, or just a change in routine or attitude. I think at times it’s the same thing with the stories you write. Sometimes you want to stick to writing content you feel is safe, that you as the author feel comfortable dealing with. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing–I’d say most writing is writing in an author’s comfort zone–but occasionally as an author you have to get out of that area and go in directions you normally wouldn’t go.

When we authors try to push our boundaries like this, we may do it for several reasons. On a personal level, an author may want to push themselves in the hopes that they won’t become boring or stale staying in what feels like safe territory, or they might want to see how far they can go. On the level of the story they’re working on, an author might feel he or she is helping to make things more exciting or keep it from becoming too much like some of their other works. Another reason could be for the audience’s sake: authors may feel that something different has to be done with the story, something untried and maybe even a little scary, so that either the audience stays interested or so that they too are pushed out of their safety spots.

An example of this happened to me while writing Rose. In one of the later chapters, my protagonist Rose Taggert remembers some of the formative events in her life. In the first draft, the first flashback in that chapter  ends with Rose being traumatized but not seeing any of the things that would cause the trauma. The flashback after that, while Rose does see and experience some traumatic stuff, it was all things I felt comfortable writing about, nothing that made me personally squirm.

While I won’t post excerpts here on the blog (too much space would be taken up and besides, the book’s still far from ready), I can tell you that in the second draft things changed quite a bit. I looked at that scene, those flashbacks, and I thought to myself, “You know Rami, this is supposed to be horror. You’re not horrifying enough in this part. Perhaps you should go deeper, show more and maybe try to go places you normally don’t. Besides, some other authors you admire would add some very nasty and hurtful dialogue in that second flashback. You should at least try it and see how it works.”

And I did. I expanded the first flashback so that Rose, rather than experiencing her trauma from afar, experiences it up close and personal. With the second flashback, I added a bit more dialogue that was meant to make Rose (and possibly myself) a little uncomfortable, just a bit more afraid than she normally would be. And you know what? It actually worked out pretty well. The flashbacks were much more intense, the tension and terror were heightened, and you got much more of a sense as to why these moments affected Rose so much in her later life.

This experience taught me that sometimes you had to push yourself and your boundaries and be bold, try writing stuff you might not at first be comfortable with, see how it fits with you, your story, and what you’re trying to do with the story. I think that’s especially important to me as a horror writer. Often I’m diving into subjects or going into directions meant to scare people, to make them afraid of what might be lurking outside the house or what is underneath their beds. If I’m scared to go someplace with my story, then perhaps that means I should try it and see how it fits in the story. If it scares me, imagine what it’s doing to my readers!

And I think for a bunch of other writers, from many different genres, backgrounds, and training, pushing those boundaries can be a good thing. It can lead to new and interesting stories, or within the stories themselves bring new twists that make what you’re writing (and what hopefully people are reading) that much better. It also can be considered part of the continual evolution that writers go through, constantly learning and getting better as they craft new stories to tell. And by going outside your comfort zone, an author grows not only as an author, but as a person too.

So I’ll keep pushing boundaries when I feel it’s necessary, see if it works out like it did with the second draft of Rose. Heck, maybe when I get to the third draft, I’ll push some more boundaries, add what happens from doing that to all the other edits my advisor and second readers suggested for me. You never know what could happen. But I think it could make the story much better much better than it already is.

Do you push your boundaries a little or maybe even a lot while writing? How so?

What was the results of pushing those boundaries? Would you do it again if given the chance?

8 Problems Horror Fans Have That Nobody Else Gets

Posted: May 26, 2015 in Living and Life, Scary Stuff
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I’ve mentioned it before, but being a fan of horror (let alone a writer of horror) can be very difficult sometimes. We’re not even in the Top 10 Most Popular Genres. We might be in the Top 20…I think. Such is the fate of a group that likes to be scared, when most people would rather avoid the feeling of having something evil and murderous lurking over your shoulders. Because of that, I thought I’d make a list of problems that is mostly unique to the horror genre. Here it is for your humor edification.

1. You’re not dangerous or creepy, you’re actually well adjusted. For some reason the popular image of horror fans is that we’re a dark, moody bunch who got bullied a lot as kids and we’re just looking for the opportunity to get our revenge on the world in the most depraved of ways. Why does anyone think that? Is it because we like movies where serial killers find half-naked girls in the woods, throw them against trees, and then cut them in half?

I don’t know. But if I’m anything to go by, I’m not that image. True, I was bullied a bit when I was younger, but it definitely didn’t affect me that badly! People tell me I’m a funny and really nice kind of guy whom they generally like. And most other fans I know are good people, we just like a good ghost story or slasher flick on the weekends rather than the latest Sandra Bullock comedy or have a fantasy football league. I mean, some of us do those things as well, but we also like to shout “Redrum” when we’re angry or go see Slipknot when we’re in concert. It’s just how we roll.

2. It’s hard to get people to go to the movies with you. Is there a new Avengers flick out? You’ll probably find someone to go with you by simply sending a text message. Comedy or romance film? If no one in your immediate social circle is available, chances are someone at the office will go with you. Horror movie? Yeah, unless your date or your friend is super brave or tolerant of scary stuff, you’ll be sitting in that theater alone for the most part. I speak from experience.

And speaking of which…

3. You can’t make people see why Cary Fukunaga’s departure from the new adaptation of IT is such a disaster. In case you didn’t know, Fukunaga, who’s directed True Detective among other things, was set to direct a two-part adaptation of the Stephen King classic. Sadly he split after he and New Line couldn’t see eye-to-eye over certain aspects. To which many say, “NOOOO! Why?” Most people just assume we’re being drama queens, especially since there’s already an adaptation of IT out there that scared them as children.

Really not scary.

Really not scary.

Yeah, as children. Truth be told, you watch it again, it’s a crappy adaptation, sanitized for TV audiences and with so much changed from the original story fans of the novel are left with a bad taste in their mouths. And Tim Curry as Pennywise the Clown isn’t even that terrifying. Mostly he just laughs at a distance and talks about making corpses float. The kids are never shown in real danger. I’ve seen scarier things in a college final (for more reasons why the IT TV miniseries sucks, watch this review by the Nostalgia Critic and laugh yourself silly at how you ever thought this could be scary).

So naturally, we were hoping that we would get the adaptation IT deserves. Without Fukunaga, it’s about as dead as a corpse floating in a sewer, and we’re all disappointed.

Hey, maybe I did make you see why Fukunaga’s leaving is such a disaster. Go me!

4. You can’t wear your horror fan badge with pride on first dates. Horror fans do date, and a lot of us have great relationships and families. However, declaring you’re a horror fan on the first date and several subsequent dates is like romantic suicide. People assume that, if you’re male, you’re some wannabe serial killer creep who spends too much time peeping on girls, looking at graphic porn, and practicing killing in a dark and moldy basement. If you’re female, they think you were one of those goth girls in high school whom nobody got along with and who has anger and break-up issues.

Like I pointed out above, we’re not. Most of us stay out of those basements, get along with plenty of different people, and would never dream of hurting anyone. Not as if we can point that out on the first date though. Maybe pull out a Stephen King novel when you start staying over at one another’s places, and that’ll signal that you like to dip into terror every now and then. After a few more sleepovers or whatever and the books consistently stay scary, they’ll realize that yes, you like horror, but you’re not going to hobble them with an axe or mallet and chain them to a bed in your house.

As you can see, Halloween's a big deal for me.

As you can see, Halloween’s a big deal for me.

5. Halloween is more than just a single day of the year for you. No, it’s an entire freaking month, and a lot goes into it. You want the perfect scary costume, the perfect creepy decorations. You have to decide what scary movies coming out you’re going to see, what scary movies you’re going to revisit on DVD, what books you’re going to read. You’re going to want to discuss how the new season of American Horror Story is doing leading up to the two Halloween episodes. And you’re going to want to find the perfect party to show off your Halloween love.

You see, Halloween for us is kind of like how moms treat their daughters when they enter beauty pageants for children. We want to show the world how good we are, we want it done right, and you all better cooperate with us and with our zeal for this or there will be plenty of hell to pay! Happy Halloween, bitches! You just try and beat me at my own game!

6. Our love of metal is probably much healthier than being a fan of Justin Bieber. Again, we’re back on that negative image. Most horror fans have a pretty wide-ranging taste for music. Stephen King’s a rock fan, and I have an eclectic mix of J-Pop to classical on my iPod. Yes, I like metal too and so do a lot of other people, but it’s all just fun. We’re not actually looking to submit to Satan or in danger of turning into gunmen. Most metal artists are apparently pretty decent people when you meet them too. They have normal lives like you or me, they just are good at reaching our inner angst through music. It’s much better than listening to an overgrown toddler still going through puberty and acting like a total idiot when he’s not on tour, anyway.

7. It’s hard to discuss serial killers, fictional or real, in the company of others. I learned this the hard way, and to this day I still wish I’d shut my mouth before it made people give me stares. Sorry if I’m a little passionate about explaining how Ed Gein helped inspire Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You’re the one who asked if that last one really was based on anything real.

 

8. Most importantly, we go to great lengths to find gold in a pile of shit. I mean that metaphorically, of course. But it applies so well. There’s a lot of horrible horror novels and films out there, and horror fans will go to great lengths to find a film if they think it’ll be interesting to watch, much more than fans of other genres. Fear for us is like a drug, and we’ll try the gamut of bad films if it’ll give us the high we’re looking for. And even if we get a couple of bad ones, it’s well worth it when we find a really awesome one that scares us to our core.

Like Fukunaga’s IT would’ve been. And now I’m sad.

~~~

If anything, this post is meant to show you that horror fans are normal people, just like you or bronies. Are we perfect? No. Are some of our interests very macabre? Yes. Have I been to a morgue? Once or twice, but in the long run, does it really prove anything? Not really. It just shows, like everyone else, we’re all a little different and have our own special quirks.

So the next time you meet a horror fan, do us all a favor. Don’t discuss serial killers with us until we know you better. Instead, talk about the IT adaptation we wish we had and about how hard it is to get a good scare these days. Or the economy, that works just as well.

Was there any particular problems about being a horror fan that I missed?

Do any of these items stand out to you at all?

Review: Poltergeist (2015)

Posted: May 22, 2015 in Review, Scary Stuff
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I’m going to tell you right now, I’m a little disappointed with this film. That might be because I hyped myself over this film due to the trailer being so awesome. However, I think a lot of it was because…well, it was a bad film. Not kidding. There was a little girl in the audience, I thought she was brave for coming to see this. She didn’t need to be brave. It just wasn’t scary.

I should’ve known a Poltergeist remake wouldn’t be good.

We all know the story, so I don’t think anyone will mind if I spoil this movie. If you don’t know the Poltergeist story, then spoilers ahead, and I wonder what rock you’ve been living under. Basically the filmmakers decided that since almost everyone knows the story about a family moving into a haunted house and the cute, innocent kid being abducted by the dead and her family having to go after her, they’d just update it for 2015, change some minor details, and throw the mythology at the audience, who will hopefully find it scary. Really, they would’ve done better going in a new direction, which Insidious did with a new mythology and some slight twists on the familiar formula, adding atmosphere, mystery, and surprise to scare us to death.

Here, like I said, they just throw the mythology at the audience. We’re drowned in it so that we  aren’t scared at all and the moments that actually halfway close to being scary were either included in the trailer and don’t have the same impact, or the sense of danger is just not there. For instance, there’s a moment with a power drill that could’ve been very scary, but the way it’s done you just know things will turn out fine before it does.

The thing about the original Poltergeist was that it took its time. It slowly built up the strangeness and horror and helped us wade into a mythology that would be expanded in the later two films. Here, the filmmakers are so concerned about paying homage to the original film that they rush us into it and pay homage to all that made the original scary in ways that just don’t terrify. “Look here!” “Here’s this reference!” That’s literally what they do.

Another thing is the humor in this movie. They try and insert humor at various times in the movie, and while humor in horror does help in some horror stories in-between terrifying moments, the ones here are all at the wrong places and seemed forced. They’re only barely funny. I think they would’ve done better not to insert humor at all the wrong places and instead try and expand on the character development of these barely-developed characters. Maybe show how the dad is trying to be a good provider even though he’s jobless and refuses to allow his wife to get a job and then show how he fixes that?

Also, why does the the little boy have a sink in his attic bedroom? There’s no bathroom up there, so why’s there a sink? Is it an unfinished bathroom or something? And I don’t care how much wiggle room there is on a house in a neighborhood with plenty of foreclosures and that was built on a cemetery. You don’t buy a freaking huge house like that when you have no steady income! Move into an apartment until you can find something better! You’ll avoid the ghosts too!

There are some good points to this film though. The few variations they make from the original are inventive and interesting, and the scene in the afterlife is much more visually interesting and creepy than the weird green screen effect they had in 1986’s Poltergeist II. And I like how the movie incorporates the ghost-hunting field and how some ghost hunters have become famous through reality TV. As a fan of some of those shows, I had a little laugh at that. Plus I don’t think this version has a curse on it (unless the curse either left the movie alone because it was so bad or it made the movie bad, in which case it’s a very intelligent curse we’ve got here).*

But other than that, not much going for this film. Even the “They’re here” falls flat where it should soar, which is just sad. On a scale of 1 to 5, I’m giving the Poltergeist remake a failing grade of 1.4. It’s almost as bad as the Friday the 13th remake. Almost as bad. Poltergeist wasn’t ruined by Michael Bay, and it didn’t use sex to try and utterly fail to liven things up (which is good, because two of the main female characters are under the age of 18).

All for now, my Followers of Fear. I’m signing off for the night. Let’s hope I find a good horror film next time around. I’ve gotten so many duds lately.

*If you didn’t know, the original Poltergeist is supposedly cursed because during one scene it cost too much to make fake skeletons and instead they used real ones dug up from actual graves. Between the first and third films, several members of the cast and others associated with the film died strange and/or violent deaths. Well, if you let monetary considerations overshadow your respect for the dead, you have to expect some sort of karmic backlash. Too bad it came down on the ones who didn’t deserve it.

Review: Cinderella (2006 film)

Posted: May 19, 2015 in Review, Scary Stuff
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A while back I said I was going to try and catch some more Korean horror films after seeing one that wasn’t too bad. Well, I just saw another one. And it sucked. So I’m sharing my thoughts on it here, partly because I feel like I should tell people in case they want to see it, and partly because I need to exorcise my thoughts on it or they’ll stew in my head for a while (never a good thing).

Cinderella is only very tenuously connected to the story we all grew up with. This movie follows Hyeon-su, a very pretty teenager who lives with her talented plastic surgeon mother Yoonhee. After one of her friends suffers a gruesome death after getting plastic surgery from Yoonhee, Hyeon-su starts to wonder about things her mother has kept from her. As more of her friends are attacked after getting surgery and as Hyeon-su’s mother starts to lose her mind, Hyeon-su must find the answers, all while being stalked by a blue-eyed ghost with a preoccupation for pretty faces.

While I give that the premise is good and the story told in the movie is very interesting as well, I have a lot of problems with Cinderella. I found myself having a lot of trouble understanding what was going on, the filmmakers didn’t do a very good job of emphasizing the supernatural elements so that you knew they were supernatural, and they didn’t do a good job explaining the mother’s dark secret very well either, making it so that the final twist loses its punch (if you actually find yourself not having to look up the Wikipedia article so you can have the final twist explained to you). Not only that, but the flashbacks are often forced on us so rapidly we have trouble figuring out whether we’re in the past or the present. Add in only a few real scares and that just shows how bad this movie is.

For what it’s worth though, the scares, when they do happen, are spectacular and frightening. And they do chronicle Yoonhee’s deterioration into madness quite well. And like I said, the premise is good, and the story they were telling would’ve been more impactful if they’d done a better job making the movie.

All in all, I’m giving Cinderella a 2.4 out of 5. Not great, but it was a good attempt, and if it had been done right, Cinderella might’ve been a great horror movie with an underlying theme of how some people, especially some South Koreans, are obsessed with beauty and achieving it through plastic surgery. I’d suggest a North American remake, but I have a feeling that that would just be another House at the End of the Street: great potential but poor execution.

My next review will probably be the Poltergeist remake coming out later this week. I’m a fan of the original and I’d like to see what they change in this adaptation (besides the little girl being a brunette and the medium being a forty-something Brit) and how scary it is. Judging by the previews, it should be plenty scary.

Streghe: Finished

Posted: May 6, 2015 in ideas, Novelette, Scary Stuff, short story, Writing
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Another late night of writing, and it’s paid off. I’ve just finished my latest first draft of a story, and this one’s a whopper. Tonight we’ve got Streghe (which, by the way, is also the Italian word for witch) and is based on one of the witch mythologies we learned about in History of Witchcraft (that class is already coming in handy). Ever since I heard about the mythology, I’ve been fascinated by it, and I knew I had to incorporate it into a story. So as soon as I could, which meant right after Rose‘s second draft was done with, I started working on it.

I did a few things differently with this story. For one, I wrote an outline of events for it, even though it’s only a short story. I’m trying to see if writing outlines for shorter works makes a difference in how I write them. And it does, because even though I went back several times to change the direction of this story, I felt I had a better idea of where it was going and I wasn’t too worried about word counts this time around.

Still, that nonchalance kind of led to this story getting a bit long. In fact, it’s no longer a short story, it’s a novelette! Over ten-thousand words total. I’m not sure if I want to try and shorten it in the second draft or see about expanding it. There were definitely elements in the first draft I didn’t get to include, so I’d like to see about getting those in during the second draft. It really depends on what ideas percolate in my head between the first and second draft.

Well, it’s a good first draft, I think. And once I’ve had some time, I’ll make a (probably) better second draft. In the meantime, if I have time tomorrow I’ll start a new story that’ll most likely also be novelette length (yeah, I never stop writing) and then I’ll get back to editing Video Rage, and see if I have some ideas on how to rewrite and improve Laura Horn.

Until next time, my Followers of Fear. Things are just going so well for me lately. I could just dance. In fact, I think I might (and I’ll terrify everyone who sees it, which is not a problem for me).

Snake: Review #6

Posted: May 6, 2015 in Living and Life, Novel, Review, Scary Stuff, Writing
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snake

How far would you go for love and revenge?

Well, I’ve been having a pretty good day today. Been having a pretty good week actually. Lots of wonderful things have been happening to me. I’d love to list them all for you guys, but that would be a pretty long list. And since I’m graduating, you can probably guess what some of those good things are. So I’ll just stick to the latest one. As you can see from the title of this post, Snake has a new review. This one comes from ENJ, who is a friend of mine and has read a lot of my work. Her five-star review, titled Must Read (wow, even the title’s a compliment), had this to say:

This book is another awesome creation by Rami. This book is scary and brings the reader to the depths of how evil the human character can be and how anyone can be driven to commit acts of torture. The author does a wonderful job of developing the plot and characters and there are certainly twists and turns. I highly recommend reading this book if you love a good frightening thrill.

Thanks ENJ. I’m glad you found it so frightening. And guess what? This review matches what others have been saying about Snake:

I really enjoyed this book. When I selected “dark” for the mood, it was almost a toss up with suspenseful. You knew early on who the mafia killer was, but the question of how he was going to find his girlfriend and rescue her was suspenseful. I ended up choosing “dark” because of the level of violence our main character used in getting to the girlfriend. But he was a complex character. Even though he definitely had the dark side to him, there was a surprisingly good side to him, too. You don’t really see this until later on in the book. So early on, you might think this is an unredeemable character. But one of the most intriguing characters are those who aren’t what they initially seem, and for this reason, I enjoyed this character. The pacing was just right. It wasn’t rushed, and in no way did I ever feel it dragged, which is awesome for a book that was over 500 pages in paperback.

This book is violent, and it contains sexual situations. Some of it can be cringeworthy. So I wouldn’t suggest this for young readers. I’d recommend this only to adults. If it was a movie, it would be a strong R. There’s also swearing. These things don’t bother me as a reader, but I know it bothers some, which is why I mention it. But if you don’t mind these elements, I think you will enjoy this book. It’s a great thriller.

Ruth Ann Nordin, author of Ruined by the Earl

Well, I took yet another vacation where I made my family “just wait until I finish this chapter.” This page-turning read was another great effort by Rami. He is not afraid to take risks in plot twists and turns, character development and he takes the reader on quite the journey in this book. So looking forward to his next creation!

Michele Kurland

Rami Ungar makes a promise to (the reader) in all his writings: he WILL scare you, and if he does “his job is done.” Snake will scare you. I am a huge Stephen King fan, so this should give you some idea of my tolerance level for gore, death and mayhem – I was scared. Rami takes you into places you would never have believed possible, and manages to pull his hero (and eventually his heroine) out of them against all odds. If you like to be scared. If you LOVE to be scared. You should read this book.

Angela Misri, author of Thrice Burned

If you would be interested in reading Snake and meeting the man who would do anything, even become a monster, in order to save the woman he loves, then you can check it out in print paperback and e-book from Amazon and Smashwords. You can also check out my other books, Reborn City and The Quiet Game, on these sites.

And if you do decide to read these works, please let me know what you think, whether it be in a comment or in a review. Good or bad, I love feedback, and I always love hearing what my readers think.

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve got some writing to do, so I’m going to get it done. Have a good one, my Followers of Fear. I know I’m having one!

My Actual Feelings About Dolls

Posted: April 28, 2015 in Living and Life, Reflections, Scary Stuff, Writing
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A while back, I wrote a post about how I was kind of scared of dolls, especially older dolls. Well, it’s been nearly three years since that post, and I’m not sure if that applies so much anymore. I mean yeah, I had a nightmare when I was a kid about a doll that was popular among girls at the time chasing me (great thing about having younger sisters, you know what’s popular among their age group when you spend time with them). And the Goosebumps books about the dummy freaked me out at the time. And anyone who saw the movie Annabelle probably had a healthy fear of human-shaped toys for girls for the next few days (I have a friend who’s been afraid ever since, much to my delight worry).

But am I afraid of dolls in general? Particularly the old ones, dummies, and bisque or porcelain dolls? If I was, I’m not so much anymore. It’d be fairer to say that I find myself fascinated with dolls. They show up in stories I write (good or evil, living or otherwise), they’re in the anime I’m watching these days, and as strange as this sounds, I’m thinking of buying one or two because of their association to said anime (though considering my job and financial status, I’ll probably hold off).

I think the fascination I have derives from where the fear comes from in others. Fear of dolls and other human-like objects, or automatonophobia, has several theorized causes. One of them says that when humans recognize other humans, we expect certain behaviors from them. When something looks human but doesn’t conform to those expected behaviors, we feel fear or repulsion. There’s also the idea that being exposed to negative ideas or portrayals of human-like objects (Chucky from Child’s Play or the Autons from Doctor Who), especially at a young age, can cause bad feelings towards them. And of course, the idea where something looks human but isn’t can scare people badly.

I think for me, instead of revulsion or fear, all those reasons cause me to want to know more. Especially about ones reputedly haunted (I found this article about the market for haunted dolls not too long ago, and I kind of wanted to get in on it, though I’m a little wary about having anything with haunted associations in my house). There’s something about something so small, and so seemingly human but not, and possibly containing some secret soul or knowledge that we can’t truly comprehend, that’s powerful. That’s pretty amazing to me. That’s freaking terrifying! And you know me and terrifying! We’re bosom buddies.

So don’t be surprised if I have a few stories come out that involve dolls of all sorts, that come alive or become the focus for a character’s psychosis. And maybe someday I might actually buy a doll or two, ones that have personal connotations to me or may even have a haunted reputation. You never know.

Anyone else feel that some of these dolls are watching you from the photo?

Anyone else think these things might be watching you from the photo?

What are your thoughts on dolls? Like or dislike? Why or why not?

Let me know, I love to hear your thoughts.

 

Oh, and on an unrelated note, yesterday I had my last class as an undergraduate student. And today I turned in my final essay, for both class and, unless I have to write essays for one of my finals, for my undergraduate career. Two finals next week, and then I’m done. Twelve days to graduation. The road is shortening. Hopefully there will be a job too afterwards. Wish me luck, my Followers of Fear!

Considering Double Narrators

Posted: April 22, 2015 in Reflections, short story, Writing
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I’ve two short stories, one that has had two drafts already and another that I’m trying to get through the last act of. Both stories involve the supernatural, and both focus on two characters, a man and a girl (though in each story the relationship dynamic is quite different). As I’m thinking of the different things I could do with each story in order to improve it, one thing comes to mind for both of them and it’s really got me thinking about the possibilities.

One story is State Fair, which I’ve mentioned here before and is about fairgrounds haunted by ghosts. The other is called Streghe (that’s Italian for “Witches”) and is based off a witch mythology I learned about in my History of Witchcraft (that class is already pretty useful). At their current stages, both short stories are told mostly from the male character’s point of view. So I’m thinking to myself, one of the ways to improve them might be to tell part of the story from the female character’s point of view.

Two narrators in a single story isn’t unusual. I’ve read a couple of well-known short stories that were told in this manner, one of which immediately comes to mind is The Falls by George Saunders (boy, is that one a trip). And the Bartimaeus books, which I loved as a kid, often had two to four narrators, depending on which book you were reading. And most of my novels are told from multiple points of views (and people tend to like those). So I’m wondering why I haven’t tried that with my short stories. Heck, I’m wondering why I haven’t tried it with either of these short stories. I mean, State Fair‘s main character spends most of the story following a girl named Lizzy around the park, so why did I not get her POV on being followed around? And the events of Streghe happen as much as to my young female protagonist Sarah as it does to my nasty male antagonist Tom. Not sure why I’m saving her POV to the end.

Well, it’s something I’ll definitely try. Since I’m still working on the first draft of Streghe, I’ll see about getting Sarah’s POV in this thing, maybe heighten the mystery element of the story by including her. When I get around to another edit of State Fair, I’ll see where where I can put Lizzy’s point of view. It’d be interesting to see how she reacts to a ghost following her around.

But what do you guys think? Am I onto something? Do you use multiple narrators in your short stories? And if so, how does it usually work out for you? Let me know, I’d love to discuss.

Review: Unfriended

Posted: April 18, 2015 in Review, Scary Stuff
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Let me preface this review by pointing out that I usually enjoy the movies that Jason Blum and his company Blumhouse Productions put out. Sinister, Insidious and Insidious 2, The Conjuring and Annabelle. Those are freaky movies. Which is why I’m saddened to say that this latest venture does not live up to expectations. In fact, Unfriended is more a time waster than a terror coaster.

Unfriended follows Blaire Lily, played by Shelley Hennig of Teen Wolf fame and somehow playing a much blander character than the one she played in Ouija. And for most of that film she’s dead (see my review of that one here)! Anyway, the film is told by watching Blaire’s laptop’s desktop and the multitude of programs she’s got going at once. All of her friends and her boyfriend log in for a Skype call and are joined by a mysterious, faceless person who seems to be stalking them. The person claims to be Laura Barns, a friend of theirs who committed suicide a year previously after an embarrassing video of her was uploaded onto the Internet. Whoever it is, they threaten anyone who signs off, uploads embarrassing information about each person, and then kills them. As the number of friends wind down, we get closer to the heart of the mystery: who filmed and uploaded the video that started it all.

I kind of knew before I even saw the movie that it would be difficult to make an impressive film told entirely from a Mac desktop. If they’d kept the tension and terror going through the whole film, then it might not be a problem. However, there are several minutes where nothing happens, where Blaire is chatting on Facebook or through IMs or looking things up or where Laura is typing to the living. During those parts, the tension doesn’t just mellow out, it disappears. Even during a sequence where Laura is forcing her friends to admit they’ve said or done horrific things, it’s not scary. Tragic or sad, but not scary.

Even sadder is that I don’t get to know these characters enough to build any sympathy for these characters. They’re all pretty much stereotypes or archetypes and not much beyond that. Blaire’s the supposedly sweet and innocent virgin, a horror staple, her boyfriend’s the sweet, lovesick puppy teenager from next door. The others are a bitchy drama queen, an overly-entitled rich kid, a geeky hacker, and a blonde (yeah, she’s just a blonde. Nothing beyond that. As a blonde, I’m kind of insulted). Beyond all that, there’s not a thing to say about these people.

And Laura Barns? Don’t know what to make of her. Some say she was just a sweet girl with some family troubles that are briefly hinted at, others see her as an awful bitch. All we see is the villain manipulating them and their computers. I’d have loved to see a flashback of this girl, rather than just some videos and recollections.

That said, Unfriended does have its points. The film looks like it has been filmed in one continuous shot and any cuts in film (of which I’m sure there are) are so hard to catch it looks seamless. The characters do show how unstable teen relationships can be, how you can be a friend and still call someone a bitch at the same time. And there’s that underlying theme of bullying and cyberbullying throughout. They do that well.

Still, I wouldn’t waste money on Unfriended if I were you. Wait until it’s on DVD. It’s an interesting concept, not something previously done in film, but it might have been better told as a short story than as a movie. I’m giving it a 2.6 out of 5. I’m sad that they’re already considering a sequel to this movie, or maybe even a line of sequels. God, I hope they don’t waste the money making more of these! That cash could go to so many better things.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m–wait. What’s this chat box? I–Oh damn. Ghost on my computer. Gotta go, my Followers of Fear. I think I need an exorcist.

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