Horror & Dystopian

Okay, so we're nearing the witching hour (Halloween), and October is the perfect month to talk about horror.

Now, I'll admit that I'm a huge wimp. I don't watch a lot of horror, because then I can't sleep at night. And my definition of horror is like, the 20/20 episodes about serial killers. I seriously make my 13-year-old son check the closets if the doors are closed and I don't remember closing them.

Watching movies and shows are much more impactful for me than reading, but I still don't read a lot of horror.

Unless you count the horror in dystopian novels. Because let's face it, dystopian novels aren't all sunshine and unicorns.

Let's examine:

THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE by Jeff Hirsch. All we have to do is look at the first sentence on the jacket copy.

In an America devastated by war and plague, the only way to survive is to keep moving.

Sounds horrific to me. Yet it was one of my favorite reads of 2011.

BLOOD RED ROAD by Moira Young. This time, it takes two sentence for me to feel the shiver of fear down my spine.

Saba has spent her whole life in Silverlake, a dried-up wasteland ravaged by constant sandstorms. The Wrecker civilization has long been destroyed, leaving only landfills for Saba and her family to scavenge from.

Actually, the thought of a "dried-up wasteland" doesn't sound that appealing. And in BLOOD RED ROAD, there are some gruesome scenes that are simply brilliant. Horrific? Definitely. And I loved it.

THE PLEDGE by Kimberly Derting. Again, only one sentence.

In the violent country of Ludania, the language you speak determines what class you are, and there are harsh punishments if you forget your place—looking a member of a higher class in the eye can result in immediate execution.

I haven't read this yet, but I'm dying to be deliciously horrified.

THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner.

When Thomas wakes up in the lift, the only thing he can remember is his first name. His memory is blank.

I can't think of anything more horrifying than waking up and remembering absolutely nothing. I think our memories make us who we are, and it would be difficult to even know where to go or what to do moving forward.

A fantastically horrifying read.

SHIP BREAKER by Paolo Bacigalupi.

Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging for copper wiring just to make quota-and hopefully live to see another day.

I don't know about you, but I'm not just trying to live to see another day. This novel has its fair share of violence, and it fits the world perfectly. But I was horrified--in the best way possible.

So I think I actually read a lot of horror. Maybe not blood and guts and people crawling through TVs, but still.

What do you think? Are dystopian novels horrifying?

Unpredictability Factor

Okay, so we've been talking scary this week. Horror. Ghost stories. All that jazz. I am so out of my element in this, because dude you guys, I am the biggest wimp on the planet. I do not like scary things. At all.

I do not like haunted houses. I do not like horror flicks. I do not, dare I say it? I do. I do not like Halloween. *ducks* *hides* There are many reasons for my almost-hatred of Halloween, but one of them is the fact that I do not like being scared. On purpose. For fun.

That is so not fun to me.

I do, however, really enjoy suspense. Tension. Think THE SIXTH SENSE and SIGNS and THE FORGOTTEN and KNOWING (especially KNOWING).

I like smart suspense in movies and books that take me on a twisty road I can't anticipate. I like that. I like going, "No WAY!" at the climax. I like being right there, on the edge, but I'm not into the blood/guts/gore/jumping out from behind a bush with a chainsaw type of scary.

I do enjoy reading ghost stories and the like, but as I said earlier, for me, it's more about the twist, the unpredictability than the actual fear factor. What about you? What gets your heart racing?

My Kind of Horror

Okay. I’m going to seriously date myself with these next words.  I used to rush home after school to watch one thing:

Dun dun dun .... (Cue atmospheric music.)

Dark Shadows.

And, before you say it. No, I’m not that old.  I watched Dark Shadows in syndication in the mid-to-late 70’s.

Dark Shadows was a Gothic soap opera (how could you not love the concept?) that originally aired weekdays on ABC from 1966-71.  Even though it was dark and atmospheric (and vastly different from any other soap opera at the time), the first  year of the show was a little slow. Young governess goes to spooky New England mansion to work for rich eccentrics with a troubled son.  A touch of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.  Yet it was admittedly dull, which is probably why the first year wasn’t syndicated until the 1990’s.

Things really pick up, though, when Cousin Barnabas shows up at Collingwood (the Collins family mansion)—and turns out to be ...dun dun dun ...a vampire. At this point, the show became wildly popular, and next thing you know, ghosts, werewolves, monsters, witches, and every kind of paranormal being start popping up in the story lines.  The denizens of Collingsport, Maine even dabble in time travel and parallel universes.

My favorite part, though, was how the writers stole shamelessly from the classics. Story arcs were ripped right out FRANKENSTEIN, H. Rider Haggard’s SHE, Henry James’ TURN OF THE SCREW, Tennessee Williams’ THE MENAGERIE, and Oscar Wilde’s PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY.

Let me give you an example of a story arc. (This was one of my favorites.) In 1969, young David Collins is being harassed by the ghost of Quentin Collins. So, cousin Barnabas—temporarily cured of his vampirism--uses the I Ching to travel back to 1897, where he meets the very much living Quentin, who was cursed by gypsies—something to do with Count Petofi’s hand, I forget—and is now a werewolf.  Barnabas has a painter do a portrait of Quentin, which cures his lycanthropy ala the Picture of Dorian Gray.  The painting of Quentin turns into a wolf at the full moon. Incidentally, Quentin doesn’t age at all and therefore can’t become a ghost to haunt David in the future. Still following me? His work done, Barnabas I-Chings it back to 1969—only to find an ancient race of Lovecraftian beings waiting to nab him. Begin new story arc.

That’s my kind of horror. Camp. Literate. Byzantine. And just plain fun. (Did I mention the dreadful camera work and silent-screen-worthy acting?)

Here's a little taste:



You thought I kidding about the I Ching, didn't you? And did I forget to mention Barnabas goes back to being a vampire in 1897 because he was one back then.

I’m not the only one who still loves Dark Shadows.  (Actually there are lots of fans and conventions even now.) Earlier this year on BBC’s Jonathon Ross Show I saw two of my favorite collaborators announce what one of their next projects would be after Alice in Wonderland.  Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are working on… (dun dun dun)…a Dark Shadows movie.   (It should come out after Depp does Pirates 4.) Yes, that means Johnny Depp will play Barnabas Collins. The last I read, the screenplay will be written by Seth Graham-Smith of zombie book fame. How's that for a combination?

Any other Dark Shadows fans out there? How about the '90's revival starring Ben Cross? He was certainly a better looking Barnabas, but the remake just kind of missed the point of the original. Sometimes it's really good to be bad.