I’m happy to see that Where the Monsters Go is helping to make the blogosphere a slightly scarier place to be this October.
Novelist and gameswriter Bruce Baugh writes to say that WtMG has inspired him to begin doing some horrorblogging of his own. The results thus far have been impressive indeed. His first post on the subject touches on Electronic Voice Phenomena, William S. Burrough’s ability to draw a fearsome order out of seeming chaos, and the certainty (there’s that word again!) offered by the relentlessly apocalyptic visions of H.P. Lovecraft. His second focuses more on certainty, but also explores the notion that it’s the simplicity of a horror fiction’s diegetic universe that makes it horrifying (as it does not afford its protagonists the myriad non-horrific options that our own more complex, real cosmology offers), and takes a peak at schadenfreude as well. Intelligent stuff, and just the kind of thing I enjoy thinking about regarding horror. (And you thought it was all chainsaws and demonic possession. Ha!)
Meanwhile, Jason Adams grants my request and begins to explain his own undergrad senior thesis on horror films, an attempt to pin down the “fundamentals” of contemporary horror. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of someone trying to tie together horror films of such disparate intent and execution (and quality, IMHO) as the Elm Street and Friday the 13th series and The Silence of the Lambs–and so far, so convincing. I’d love to hear more. But no, you don’t have to rent The Wicker Man, because I’ll lend you my copy. All for one and one for gore.
I was pleased to read Big Sunny D got a lot out of my classification of Barton Fink as a horror film. I’d like to warn anyone who hasn’t seen this movie that it’s one you absolutely owe yourself to see completely unspoiled, so I won’t go into this too much yet. But suffice it to say that it’s not just the occasionally obvious horror touches (appropriate, since the film takes place at almost exactly the same time that the last great Universal horror film, The Wolf Man, was released) that make this film horror. Actually, Sunny’s comments have helped me make a big decision about the 13 Days of Halloween with which I plan on closing out the month. I’d been debating whether or not to include less straightforward “horror” movies in my little review marathon, just to try to make room for really Halloween-y stuff. But I think everyone will get more out of this if I go a little farther afield. Stay tuned….
Dirk Deppey nominates a scary comic book, but misreads my initial bleg: I wasn’t limiting the call to just stuff that scared you when you were a kid. Actually, that’s kinda the point–it’s tough to find any adult who finds comics scary in the same way as movies or books. Kid stuff maybe, but grownup stuff? Still searching.
Speaking of horror comics, in a rundown of some comics he’s looking forward to, Alan David Doane touts the work of Steve Niles. Unfortunately, this is one time I’ve got to split with my metaphorical horror mentor, Clive Barker, who provided a laudatory introduction for Niles’s breakthrough vampire story 30 Days of Night. I found 30 Days to be boring and predictable, with perfunctory characterizations, major plot holes, serious pacing problems, and an irritating climax. Moreover, to echo a criticism I heard I don’t remember where, the art by Ben Templesmith makes everything look “scary,” even the stuff that isn’t supposed to be. Try to imagine what The Exorcist would have been like if Regan had always looked like this and you’ll get the general idea. (And please don’t cite The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari as a counter-example. Caligari works because the expressionistic mise-en-scene reflects both the mental state of the characters (indeed, that of the narrator!) and the sociopolitical climate the screenwriters (at least) were trying to reflect. 30 Days looks that way because it’s “cool.”) Not my cup of tea. But hey, he’s pretty much singlehandedly put horror comics back in the spotlight. Now if only one would come along that actually deserves the spotlight.
Also speaking of horror comics, Shawn Fumo has a brief little link-laden post on girls’ horror manga. I think it says a lot that Japan has a whole subset of horror-genre comics for young women, while America can barely crank out a dozen serious horror titles for young men.
Franklin Harris blesses my little undertaking (heh heh) and plugs the alt.horror usenet group. I’ll be signing up soon, if only to plug the blog, so I’m steeling myself for getting terrorized by the good Mr. Harris.
Finally, Eve Tushnet blegs for a halfway decent haunted-ship movie. Good luck, man. I guess 2001, Alien and Jaws are close but no cigar, huh?