Review of "Ectostorm" written by Scott Johnson

Scott Johnson's novel "Ectostorm," the third in a series, is a book that shows sometimes a series doesn't weaken but can actually gain strength. Where some novels fail to keep an interesting plot line with successive stories, Johnson packs a wallop into a roller-coaster of prose. Stanley Cooper is a character whose voice remains true to the after-dead seeing man that he is. His 'voice' in this story is engaging and realistic, and when I read through the pages I felt just as if he were talking personally to me. I went on his journey, and I rooted for him all the way despite his character flaws which reminded me of my own. The other thing I love about Stanley Cooper's character is his humor. Scott Johnson writes this character with that semi-sarcastic/realistic-take humor in life that many of us have when something bad happens. It's endearing and it made me love the unlikely hero all the more.

Stanley Cooper goes through some major trials and tribulations in this supernatural tale, and I enjoyed the main character's insightful perspective as much as his otherworldly vision shifts. If you haven't read Scott Johnson's "Stanley Cooper Chronicles" and if you enjoy an excellent tale, then please pick this book up. It's fast paced, reads easily and it's a ton of fun. Even if you haven't read the first two, this novel stands on its own. But beware, it will make you want to go back and read the others.

Nuff said!

Writing in the Information Age...

It used to be that a writer sat down with pen and paper in hand, or maybe s/he pulled a chair up to a cozy typewriter and the writer scribbled or pounded away at story pieces in the wee dark hours. Writers still spend hours writing, although now we have computers, Word documents and spell check, and writing has become so much easier for us. Or has it?


Thirty to forty years ago, when a writer hit a mental block or couldn't breach the wall of a plot or story-line, there was little to do except maybe turn on the television, read a book or head out to a bar or a late night diner for inspiration. Today, computers wired in to the Internet provide writers with a number of distractions to pull him or her away from the unwritten page. There's facebook and Twitter and a host of community websites. There's online games, video games, Netflix and Clicker.


Mired in a quicksand of unproductive thought? There's Farmville and many other cyber-games that can pull you away from your writing task at hand, and there's nothing to stop you except the writing deadline that either your publisher, your agent and you yourself have imposed.


Don't get me wrong. There are endless benefits to the Internet for a writer. Social media sites allow an author to promote their novels and allow infinite connections with other writers, readers and potential publishers. But it is ever so easy to be pulled into the cyber-world and put off that novel unless you learn to set limits and craft a personal schedule.


Writing requires thought and time, and for some it demands a great deal of research into topics both familiar and foreign. Writing is a process. And it doesn't happen with incessant blogging, tweeting and facebook chats. In order to pump out those words that will eventually be your completed work, you need to devote time and effort toward it, but how do you do that? I say the answer lies in learning how to unplug. Consider cutting the time you spend on the Internet. If you have a hard time doing this, then just shut your Internet off for a certain period of time on your computer. Each day, set time aside some time just for writing, and DO NOT turn the wireless on, or plug in, until you've achieved your desired word count, or until you've written for a certain number of minutes.


If you hit a wall, or run into that feared 'writer's block'... take time to read your manuscript from beginning to end, or choose a few chapters you know will galvanize you. Or better yet take a trip to the bookstore (alone), and go through magazines that deal with the topic on which your plot or subject is built. Science Fiction crafters will find a world of great ideas in Popular Mechanics or Popular Science, and other genre writers will find much the same in their genre style magazines. Bring a pen and paper to the bookstore, or your i-Pad or computer. Buy that cup off coffee, sit down and read and when you've got some good ideas start writing them down. Do NOT turn on the Internet. Do NOT answer the phone. Set aside time for yourself and for practicing your craft and you'll find that the words WILL come, and the ideas will flow, and you won't be mired in the muck of Internet traffic. Instead, you'll be on your way to finishing your piece and you'll be proud of the work you did that day.


As for me, after sitting to write this short piece, I'm turning of my wireless and getting back to my novel. I try to set aside two twenty-minute intervals with a ten minute break in between to stand up, stretch and/or do some research, then off goes the Internet once again. I finish another twenty minutes and by the time I'm done I end up with a five to ten pages of useful material. The journey of 100,000 words begins with that first word, but you'll never make it if you stop and camp out on a page for too long. Keep on crafting. Keep on writing.  And know that with a little self discipline you will achieve your goal, and you'll be proud that you did.

Get a Read and Critique of Your Published Work...

Do you have trouble getting your horror novels or short stories reviewed? Do you want an honest and forthright critique from an experienced writer and reader?

I'll review your horror novels and short stories and then send you my critique. I'll give you both the good and the bad news as both a reader and a writer. My foundation background is in forensic nursing, midwifery and Public Health, as well as in creative writing. I have a MSN in nursing/midwifery, a Masters of Public Health and PhD (c)  in Public Health and I'm currently working on a Master's of Fine Arts (MFA). My first novel is in the works, but I've had poems and short stories published in places like 69 Flavors of Paranoia and I've reviewed many stories.

For a sense of how I construct my reviews, take a look at my blog and critiques of horror novels and short stories. Only you can decide if you think my review is worth what my fee. I'll dig into your story and send back a full critique for $1.00 per page of an already published novel or short story. If you like the critique, I'll publish it on my blog, Amazon and Goodreads and other websites of your choosing. If you don't like the critique, then it stays in your hands and I'll never post it. The critique stays with you. My stipulation is that if you want my review posted, then the entire review (both praises and criticisms) is placed on the Internet for all to read. I'm objective and fair, and my reviews need to read exactly as I write them.

Some writers have great difficulty getting their stories recognized, but some good reviews can help push you toward that coveted Stoker's Award. If you're interested then contact me and I'll put you into my schedule. First come, first served and I only have room for a couple of novels a month!  I can be reached at querusabuttu@live.com.

Quirkily Yours,

Querus Abuttu "Q"

Review of "Supernatural Noir" (Stories 1-4) edited by Ellen Datlow

Welcome Reader,

Please join me as I travel on a journey through the anthology titled, "Supernatural Noir." My review will be in stages as I read through the shorts. I'll try not to include any spoilers, but share my impressions instead. If I fail, my apologies in advance. I'm not supernatural. Just a humble reader, consumer of horror and avid writer.

This anthology starts out with an "Introduction" by the editor, Ellen Datlow. I enjoyed her description of "Noir Fiction." She paints it as, "...notably dark, brooding, cynical, complex, and pessimistic." Datlow describes Noir Fiction as "...thick with criminality and rife with betrayal," and states she feels there are only a scant number of Supernatural Noir stories. The editor highlights her love for dark edgy tales which contributed to her desire to edit this book.

As I started reading the first story, "The Dingus," by Gregory Frost, what hit me dead on was that this should not have been the starting story of the anthology. It was a fairly enjoyable read, but not the page turner that should have set the tone for the book.  Frost's story was rather slow paced at the beginning and picked up toward the end, and there were places where 'passive voice' made the prose too cumbersome. The last paragraph of page 15 took me right out of the story with several "had" and "had been" phraseology in the text. This error (I call it an error) occurred in other places as well, and I noted an overuse of the pronoun "he" on pages 27 and 28. Aside from that, I thought Frost's story was solid and creative. I loved his monster creation, which you simply must read to appreciate. Still, this story would have been better presented in the middle of the book, and would have read better if it were just a bit cleaner.

Paul Tremblay's "The Getaway," was the second read in this anthology. I admit up front that I'm not a fan of stories written in present tense, and there's a ton of narration in these pages that make it a stiff piece to read. The main character visualizes and reminisces quite a bit, and then finally on pages 35 to 38 we get to some dialogue, but it's an overly verbose argument as to whether or not one of the other characters is actually in the trunk of a car during a getaway. I found myself skimming through the story, through what seemed like nothing but a perpetual state of confusion among characters, and when I finished the tale I felt as if I'd gone on a wild car ride that ended up at a dead end. I guess I expected more, and perhaps it's there and I missed it, but after reading this story three times I can't really say I found anything intriguing about it.

I took a gulp and another chance at reading the third story in this book titled "Mortal Bait," by Richard Bowes. It takes the Private Investigator route in this piece, and at this point I'm trying to remember how many stories I've read that have P.I.'s as a main character. But I easily know the number. Way too many. Passive voice creeps into this story on the first page. It's about as subtle as a 2 ton brick dropped on a gallon of jello, and again I found myself skimming. By page 50 I was more than a little disappointed. I expected a description of hours old coffee to be something other than "old and tired." Day old coffee could be 'blatantly bitter, festering like the anger of a woman waiting for her cheating husband to come home late from work again.' But "old and tired coffee?" And this piece included elves and fairies in it, which (to me) didn't fit the definition of 'Supernatural Noir.' With all of the writers out there who probably submitted to this anthology, I expected something much more "noiry."

A couple of writers I really respect told me this anthology was very good, but by the time I finished the third piece I began doubting their judgement. "Mortal Bait" didn't hook me, and could have seriously benefited from a shave and a haircut.

While reading, I began to wonder if this anthology suffered from a pressing deadline. Passive voice and excessive pronouns in the stories made the work in this book seem like a mish-mashed compilation of rushed prose. Maybe my standards are too high, or maybe because I spent $19.99 on this bound copy I expected my money's worth. But by this point, I wished I'd just borrowed a used copy from someone instead.

Only because my previously mentioned writer friends stated an approval for this anthology, did I choose to press on to the fourth story in the group titled, "Little Shit," by Melanie Tem. FINALLY, here was a story worth reading! Definitely a tale worth my $19.99! This piece of work should have been the first story in the group. It started out at a fairly rapid pace and it kept me reading...not skimming...but actually reading. Pedophilia, psychosocial schemes and themes, borderline entrapment entangled in mind-reading webs...these ideas hit the pages with an intense wave that grabbed me as a real 'noir' story. Tem's pages gave me guilty pleasure and made me want to rip out the first 72 pages of the anthology in order to give it a proper start. Her work is a gem among ordinary stones, and it was a wonderful read. Because of her brilliance, I decided to keep this book instead of tossing it into my recycling, and I will brave reading more. What will I think of the rest? Stay tuned and I'll let you know. I'm not ready to give up on this anthology, yet.

"Elements of Fiction Writing: Scene and Structure" (Chapters 7-14) by Jack M. Bickham

As I finished "Scene and Structure," (from Chapters 7 to 14) I concede that it had some nice tidbits in places.  Still nothing stood out so me as all encompassing "Yoda" wisdom of prose, but instead it had chapters with 'nice to know' info that may or may not apply to your own style of writing.

What I got out of this text was that there is a method and madness to a general style of writing. But what I know from experience is that Bickham's guidance is not the "end all--be all" to the process of novel writing. Basically Bickham used what his mentor (Dwight V. Swain) taught him, and put his own twist in the text. Linking scenes, tricks to control pace, variations of scene writing and how to fix problems in scenes are his focus in later chapters of the book. These are techniques that I think are intuitive for one style of writing but do not mesh with other styles or author preferences. 

Bickham's method works better with a linear style novel where the protagonist (ONE protagonist) starts out on a path, climbs a mountain and ends up the hero at the finish line. It's very simplistic and perhaps that's what bothers me. The dull formula can be used to tell any story and it's pattern is utterly and completely predictable.

I also felt that chapters 13 (the structure of chapters) and those following should have actually been at the beginning of the book (The Scenic Master Plot..."). If these chapters had come earlier, the book would have made more sense if I were using it to really write my novel.

Overall, "Scene and Structure" was an OK 'how to' book but I finished it feeling like I'd just attended a Republican convention. It's outline was one-sided. It's waters were stagnant, and I would have liked to see Bickham show riskier elements to the scene and structure of a novel. Instead, his narrative remains a well-worn roadmap with a brand new cover, and I (personally) want something that travels beyond the Yellow Brick Road. I'm searching for a path that goes over the field of poppies and takes flight far past the view of the ordinary rainbow. Still, for those who like concrete, this book is for you.

Just don't step on the cracks.


~"Q"

"Elements of Fiction Writing: Scene and Structure" (Chapters 1-6) by Jack M. Bickham

I didn't start to get into this book until Chapter 3. Chapters 1 & 2 were more introductory, covering topics such as, "The Structure of Modern Fiction" and "Strategy: How to Start Your Story and End It." Chapters 3 and 4 really gets into the produce of what a mid-level writer needs to know. "Structure in Microcosm: Cause and Effect," really helped me think about cause and effect in my novel, and Chapter 4 ( Structure in Larger Elements: The Scene) helped me to analyze each scene in my story.

Chapter 5 (Structure in Macrocosm: Scenes with Results) resonated with me, as I have done what this author warns against which is to write a grand scene and end up in a blind alley of manuscript with no where to go. This action reminds me of that science cartoon where the guy is writing an equation on the board and in the middle of it he writes *then a miracle happens* and the rest of the equation follows. I'm actually in a tough spot with my novel right now because some of the choices my characters have made put them all in a particular place with the need to get a specific thing done and I can't quite figure out how to do it without the *miracle* in the middle. Either I'll have to scrap some chapters or be clever and figure out something that's plausible.

Through Chapters 5 and 6, Bickham's techniques suit those who plan and who outline ahead of time but is not exactly for the 'pantsers' in the crowd. Chapter 6 deals with "Planning and Revising Scenes for Maximum Effect," and so as a part time pantser I could see where his technique wouldn't necessarily work for certain writers. However, if one were to go back later and apply some of what Bickham suggests it may be helpful. As of now, I"m on to Chapter 7 and will give more reviews later. So far there isn't much in this that I haven't been told already. It's a good review for general creative fiction novel writing but there's nothing that has completely rocked my world as a writer. More soon!

"The wooden door frame was scored and gouged into a welter of fresh splinters...

Mbwun by caramitten (deviantArt)

"...as if something with claws had been scrabbling at it."
 ~ The Relic, by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (1995)

I read this story years ago, and when I read it again this month I had a weird sense of deja-vu. Not because I'd read the novel once more, but because there was a film that was oddly similar to it in comparison. Then it hit me. The movie "Hell Boy" (2004). The museum, the overall description/vision of the monster, were much the same. 

Regardless, I have to say I loved this novel. It reads like a well researched tale, from descriptions of the museum to the autopsy scenes. There wasn't much I found unbelievable on the pages except for a couple of autopsy and death investigation missteps. For example, the pituitary does not come out when the brain is removed. It's located in a very small space inside the skull and has to be manually extracted with a long handled scalpel (Personally done it, so I know...). The medical examiner would have to be looking inside the skull for it, not at the brain (page 61). In addition, hands on dead bodies are not covered with plastic when they are recovered and sent to the morgue from a crime scene. Plastic degrades DNA and ruins good evidence. The hands would be covered with paper bags instead.

One other mistake I noticed was on page 80, there is mention of 'ballistics analysis,' but there were no 'ballistics'/bullets to analyze. The correct term would be "blood-spatter analysis," I believe, also termed 'bloodstain pattern analysis' by some. Blood-spatter analysis is the term that's been used since the 1950's, and I was surprised at that mistake. Ballistics is the study of things related to gunfire, trajectory of bullets, examination of patterns on casings, etc. Blood-spatter analysis looks a patterns of blood in relation to a crime (or suicide). Arterial spurts, splatters from hammers or other tools used on human bodies or other 'bleeding' episodes, constitute blood-spatter analysis.

There were some lovely made-up tidbits such as the "Callisto effect," Callisto being one of Jupiter's moons, or (in Greek mythology) the nymph Artemis turned into a bear and set into the stars, but that was an enjoyable piece of fun to read amid real scientific information such as "convergent evolution."
There was a lot of research put into this book, and I enjoyed much of it.

There were some parts of the novel that dragged for me. Some of the anthropological discussions were long winded and unnecessary, and slowed the pace of the story (example page 55, Kindle version). I think the long winded pieces were merely a case of trying to incorporate too much hard earned research into the text. Some of these pieces could have been edited out for a punchier tale.

Still, there was a lot of intrigue, fast action and suspense in the prose. The monster becomes more and more real, until we actually see it through the eyes of agent Pendergast. It's evolution is still in doubt until the truth of it's origin is uncovered in the epilogue. (I still have trouble understanding how it made it back to the U.S./New York undetected.) And I loved how the ending left room for several continuations of the story. Kawakita: possibly infected (his asthma gone/his shoes too tight). Possible infection of drug users in New York city, as Kawakita doled out what he thought was a 'controlled' substance (pun intended). And what IF there were other connections to the virus-plant that were loose in the world? Many possibilities!

Overall, a very fun book, and I look forward to reading "Reliquary" in the future.

Relic by ndhill (devinantArt)

"In people, they can move around and do whatever they want..."

"Her muddy brown eyes swung back to Todd. "They can feed." ~Snow, by Ronald Malfi (2011)

In the Winter of My Second Death by Fangfingers (deviantArt)

Little known fact about me, unless you know me well...I hate the cold. And I'm not a huge fan of snow. It seems no matter how many layers of clothing I put on, once my fingers and toes are chilled I''m utterly miserable. And yes, I've gone to do those 'fun' winter things like sledding and skiing, but the icy white stuff and me...well, we're arch enemies that's for sure.

In the book "Snow" (the largest monster portrayed) is exactly that, it's the ultimate enemy. It causes  delays and wrecks frozen havoc. As for me, I prefer heat any day or time of the year. Even when I was in Kuwait, suffering the blazing sun of August, I preferred the sand and fiery sky to an atmosphere drenched with cold. I don't know why, but that's always how it's been. Snow and cold are my number one enemies in life.

But in this story, the snow also serves to conceal a host of monsters in the little town of Woodson. Monsters whose arms can turn into sharp harvesters of the soul. My number one enemy fosters zombie-like creatures controlled by cognizant icy crystals of death. They slash, they hack, and have a bloody good time under the gray clouds and layered blankets of snow.

I enjoyed Richard Malfi's overall writing style, however the beginning of this book dragged on too much for me and I had a hard time getting into it until Chapter 7. It took me several starts to finally get going with the story. Add the fact that secondary characters start to die in this piece, and I suddenly knew which characters are wearing the "red shirt," and which were gonna survive, so much of the mystery of the plot was ruined for me. Other things that tend to bug me in writing are overuse of metaphors/similes/analogies and inconsistencies. Particularly in Chapter 10, there were a ton of similes and metaphors that I noticed and some inconsistencies throughout the novel.

Examples of noted inconsistencies:
Chapter Nine, Kate goes into the bathroom and actually gets hot water to come out of the facet. This wouldn't happen if the electrical died, unless it's a solar water heater, or maybe gas.
Chapter Ten, Kate goes for ammunition while Todd starts picking out guns and they're not communicating on the type of firearm they're going to get. Sure, they decide on handguns, but different caliber handguns require different types of ammunition. The story makes it sound like any ammo will do. Later Kate asks about getting the right kind of bullets, but they never have time to sort it out, and as the story goes along it always seems as if they have just the right kind of ammo needed.

After having read "30 Days of Night," "I Am Legend" and "World War Z," and having recently watched "The Thing" and "Alien," I confess I'm a little jaded at this point in my reading. I'm sick of post-apocalyptic tales, cold winter scenes and zombies. After a while, these themed stories seem to run together in an endless racetrack of similar plots and settings.

Don't get me wrong. I would definitely read a sequel to this story if Richard Malfi decided to write it, or if he writes another novel in the future. He's a really good writer and incorporates some awesome description in his prose. But the next story I read will be anywhere but in a freezing/isolated setting, and I'm not gonna go near zombies, vampires and werewolves for a while. There's more to horror than icy wastelands and traditional monsters (even if they have been reinvented and seem totally new).

A recent manuscript review by a friend and crit partner of mine likened my own writing to "splatterpunk," a sub-genre of horror I didn't know existed and it's the first time I've ever heard the term (Thank you, Joe Borrelli). In between mandatory novel reads for MFA requirements, I'm going to read some more Clive Barker, and some Richard Laymon and Edward Lee (many thanks to my friend Chris Shearer for the suggestions). For anyone else out there who has some good SP for me to grind and gulp down, please share your favorite authors/SP style novels. Until then, I think I'll go back and read Dante's Inferno...just to warm up a little and thaw out from wandering the wastelands of white. One thing is for sure, just for a little while, I'm going to avoid reading anything that's remotely cool.

~Cin

Death of a Snowman by CheshireBat (deviantArt)

"I am a thing without a proper name," it pronounced...

"I am a wound in the flank of the world. " 
( "Human Remains," by Clive Barker)

Human Remains by Silent Funeral

Clive Barker is ten years older than me, and I've read so many of his stories and compared them against the work of other writers, that I've declared him to be my favorite writer. While I've never aspired to BE exactly like Barker, I do hope that one day I will produce a piece of work that reads with the fluidity and animalistic self assurance that he so flawlessly exudes.


I'd be interested to know when CB wrote this short story. It seems like a much later piece. (Shades of Imajica.) I've read Barker's ideological struggles on Twitter in the past, his musings over male on male relationships and so on and I noticed a couple of years ago his Twitter messages were much like what is in this short story.


I love that Barker created a new monster with this piece. Two new monsters really, and he does an excellent job of highlighting a few of the monsters we see every day. In some ways, the monster he creates is similar to the vampire and in other ways vastly different. I was immediately drawn into the beginning of the story of the young good-looking 'bumboy' and his material ambitions. Barker is a master craftsman of language. He teases the worst terrors imaginable from his brain and sets them down like a bear-trap on a waiting page, and then before you know it the steel jaws of his concocted nightmares spring up and grab you in a merciless death-shake. Amazing.


The main character, Gavin, is an odd protagonist. He is a nocturnal human making a living off of selling his body for other people's pleasure. I never really 'liked' him in the story, and I didn't ever feel sorry for him, even when he suffered at the goon hands of Preetorias (I'm guessing an adapted word-form of the Praetorian: a Roman bodyguard). It only took one slip-up of the night, one poor miscalculation of a pickup, and Gavin is led to the ending thread of his old life and ushered into a bizarre and twisted world of the new. The beautiful man who once used his looks to get what he needed/wanted out of life suddenly loses his physical perfection, his one claim to fame and perhaps he truly loses his soul. Perhaps he loses it to a spirit once encased (or created) inside an ancient artifact. Or maybe it's simply an exchange of the heart.


There's not a lot I can say that would do justice to this story. I loved the innuendos, and the subtle meanings woven throughout this piece. And the macabre play on words was priceless. Christian. Not Christian. Crime of Fashion. Barker's prose holds disturbingly endearing and dementedly engrossing passages woven into a short story filled with prickly precision and an 'in your face' punch. All of it revealed under the flicker of a golden light jumping up from the flame of a well-timed match. Which reminds me to say that this story brought my thoughts back to the famous lines in Macbeth:


"Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more." (~Macbeth. Shakespeare)

And Barker's tale reaches out and brings death to our door, unveiling the Reaper who always wants more...


~Factum Est

All What Remains b LadyLood

"'That orbed maiden with white fire laden...

...Whom mortals call the Moon.'" (Sir John quotes Percy B. Shelley in The Wolfman (2010), by Johnathan Maberry)

Wolfman by bark45 (deviantArt)

No semester of monster-reading would be complete without something that included a werewolf.


I watched the DVD (2010 remake of the 1941 film) 6 months ago. The film starred Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt. I loved the film. What's not to like about Anthony Hopkins breaking out into a swarthy hairy beast? But this blog isn't about the movie, it's about Maberry's book.


First of all, I thought it was clever to write a story/novel based on a short story and movie which had outlived it's copyright. I'm not sure, exactly, of all the legalities involved but it's smart to pinpoint a novel on something related to a topic (movie/short story) you love and write on it. If it's beyond copyright law, then awesome. Never mind that your story is already outlined for you and all you have to do is fill in the words. It seems sort of like painting by number. 

This is not to devalue Maberry's work, mind you. There's very good paint by number people, and those that suck at it. Some choose their own colors without paying attention to the number/color guide, some have no technique and just slap the paint on there, and some make paint by number seem like an original Picasso because they are  masters in understanding brush strokes, color and they have finesse. Maberry is the latter. If I hadn't seen the film I would have still enjoyed this story. Immensely.


I will have to admit (because I bought the Kindle version) that the editor in me highlighted the passive voice which seemed overused throughout the prose. I did wonder why, on page 18, Lawrence considers the moon 'threatening.' It seems illogical. He considers it threatening as he parts the curtains of his room only to see what he thought was the moon, was actually the face of Big Ben. It was a  foreshadowing, but it was something that didn't make sense to me since Lawrence hadn't transformed into a hairy were-beast. Not yet.


I had to look up the word daguerreotype, which was educational. It's French for the first successful photographic process. The novel was different from the 2010 film in that Lawrence received notice of his brother's disappearance via a hand-written letter from Ben's fiance' (instead of in person), but the part where the walking stick he received from a kindly old gentleman on the train (which bore a wolfhead design and parted into a sword-like/rapier weapon) was basically the same. More foreshadowing. (If I were to write a book, based on this story, I should like to do it from the perspective of the old Frenchman that Lawrence met on the train.)

Maberry writes the Frenchman's words: "It is one of the few privileges of the old,” the Frenchman said, “to pass on our burdens to the young.” (page 28). I loved that line, and intend to use it on my children. And maybe my grandchildren. Or my great-grandchildren. Time will tell. 

In the movie, Lawrence politely but respectfully refuses the cane. In the book he accepts it in trade for his own plain one. An interesting difference, but I think the later holds much more meaning.

The name of the town, Blackmoor, has a foreboding quality to it. Although I already knew the story, the name of the town still filled me with a certain...curious dread. Maberry's description of Talbot Hall was both poetic and frightful. The fact that Lawrence felt he had to knock on the door at a place he grew up in said so much. "...he had never been here as a man"(page 29). 

Sir John was as distant and unapproachable as seen in the film, and Maberry drew his countenance on paper as if it were a photograph. The fact that Ben's body was discovered, and that Lawrence's father broke the news to him seemed out of place somehow, but I went with it. And so it goes throughout this novel, certain things that are different, a twist here and there, which make the reading of the novel interesting after having seen the film. What I also enjoyed was Maberry's use of language. The story 'sounded' as if it were written in older times, as if crafted in the 1800's, and Maberry made the 'feel' of it equal to the tale at hand.


A hundred and eight pages in, we finally see a werewolf. And the way it wrecked havoc on the gypsy camp was painted in gory detail. Everything about the werewolf is speculation up until then, but after that scene there is no doubt as to the werewolf's existence, and how devastating the slash of it's claws can be.


When I first started watching the movie, and when I later read the book, I didn't get the splintered hints of the love story until the end. And it wasn't just one love story. From the slash and bite of the werewolf's claws and fangs on Lawrence's body to the final showdown at the end between Werewolf and Wolfman, there were the love stories of father and son,  mother and son, of brothers and that of man and woman. And finally there was the story of ultimate sacrifice.


Would I read this story again? Absolutely. Maberry did an excellent job with it. Despite the number of 'nods' I noticed in the sentences (Timons Esaias, you have forever ruined the 'nod' for me), and the frequent lapses into passive voice, the writing was beautiful and I enjoyed every minute of it. I think Maberry pulled this novel together with moonlit finesse. I heard the monster howl. I felt and smelled the blood. And I experienced the loss that perhaps not just humans, but beasts, feel as well.


"Fate’s way is a cruel one. But she seeks a greater end.”


~Cin

The Wolfman by Miss-Misery 1313

"I just cannot believe...

...in any of this voodoo bullshit." 

~Childs. 
(The Thing. 1982. Directed by John Carpenter/Screenplay by Bill Lancaster)

The Thing by fritosparrow (deviantArt)

It was 1982 when this film first came out. The same year as when I first joined the military. I hadn't seen many films that truly scared me. This was one of the few.

I watched this film with my kids, not long ago, before we went to see the new film (which I thought was a remake, because the title is the same). Imagine my pleasure when I found out the new movie wasn't a remake, but instead...part of the sequel...even better, "The beginning."  

But although this blog review isn't intended to talk about the new movie, and is specifically designed to discuss the older version, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the much older 1951 film, "The Thing From Another World." All of the movies are based on a short story written by John W. Campbell (Don A. Stuart) in 1938 (titled: "Who Goes There?). If I can get my hands on the tale, it will be my next read.

The John Carpenter 1982 film, The Thing, was (at the time) one of the most fantastic movies I'd ever seen. Watching it years later, the special effects I'd oo'd and ah'd at with the initial view, seemed a bit hokey (I guess I'm spoiled with the modern CGI point of view). Still there were things that remained suspenseful and horrific in the film. I'd never seen the VERY beginning before, with the ship coming from outer space, but I loved when the helicopter comes into view over the barren icy tundra and the husky-dog races over the snow (A discerning eye can now tell there were TONS of footprints and other traffic that traveled over the set before filming). And I adored watching Kurt Russell sitting at "Chess Wizard" at the American outpost, "chilling out" as it were. Back then I thought it was amazing to play chess against a computer. I guess I still do.

The setting for this story was perfect. What could be more bone chilling than to be stuck in a freezing environment with a monster that wants to take over your, and everyone else's, warm blooded body? And there were the scene enhancers, such as the sound of the arctic winds constantly blowing and the music which played like a deadly heartbeat, mechanical but rhythmic, slow but ominous. I think the combination of the wind sounds and the music made a huge contribution toward developing tension in this piece. 

I really liked the part where Kurt Russell's character (MacReady) flies to the Norwegian outpost to investigate why one of their members went on his bizarre rampage. As a viewer, I was able to 'investigate' through the character's eyes. I was part of the confusion, wondering what had happened, just as much in the dark as the people in front of me. It was a little different from books or movies where the reader or viewer knows something the characters don't. Instead of 'being in the know' I was surprised as the clues unfolded before me, and then I had to put the pieces together. I found I kind of liked that secretive approach. It added to the suspense because I knew just as much (if not less) than the main characters did.

It's hard for me to believe it was 30 years since the release of this film. It seems like just yesterday in many ways.  From the steaming corpse MacReady brings back to their unit, to the pack of dogs becoming infected and breaking out into whipping tendrils of "wild things" lashing out in the darkness, I was just as transfixed with what was happening 'modern day' as I'd been the first time I saw it.

The desperation of knowing you've got a monster who imitates human form, that there's not anything you can do about it AND that you're trapped in a place far from civilization, makes for a compelling tale. It takes on most of our fears of not being able to call for help, of being stranded with few options and of our bodies being invaded. Thirty years later, even without foo-foo technology, I saw 'The Thing' still rocks. From creepy autopsies by "Blair", Wilford Brimley (who kept reminding me of round boxs of Quaker Oats), to the tortuous incineration of misshapen aliens, I gotta say I loved almost every minute of it. Sure, there were inconsistencies (the foot-printed snow), but the story was excellent and I can't think of many ways it could have been done better.

Will there be a Thing Three? One never knows. But if it comes to the theater I'll definitely be there. I'll sit in my seat and hug my blanket of popcorn and wait to be scared to the depths of my core. When it comes to 'The Thing," I just can't help it. And who said letting it take over was even the worst? Assimilation can't be as bad as feeling the fear of it. 

~Give me a bottle of J&B and some forty below weather, and if I'm left in the dark listening to an alien roar I might fight to the end, but in the true end, Death will still scoop me up and carry me through its icy black door.~

Sweet 'thingy' dreams,

~Cin

The Thing by Mark Welser (deviantArt)

"Don't worry,...

...everything's gonna be alright." (Gu, "World War Z" by Max Brooks)

World War Z by jetRink (deviantArt)

My horror writing buddies will go into shock when they find out I'm not a zombie fan. Hell, I even dressed up as one (Thanks to Mama-Zom's excellent make-up skills!) during Seton Hill's 2012 winter WPF residency. It was then that I convinced myself that perhaps zombies had a tiny bit of merit. Miniscule.

But really, I don't get the dead flesh dustrags. They don't even creep me. They're messy, distasteful and they're not very smart (as a rule) so I don't understand how they got to be popular. I mean, at least a werewolf or a vampire has  a measure of intelligence and style. 

Zombies are nothing more than thrift store horror. Rags and old blood pasted onto walking decayed flesh. What's sweet about that? I think my next t-shirt's gonna say, "Got Brains?" A fun loving poke at those who tout a passion for the ghouls.

But I digress. I'm supposed to be spouting off my review of "World War Z." Honestly, I thought it was going to be a painful read. My thumbs flipped through the pages and I eyeballed the text and thought, OMG, there's f'ing zombies in this book. Apocalypse in my hands. What on earth shall I do?

I often look up writers that I haven't read before, see what they've written and so on. I didn't know Brooks wrote, "The Zombie Survival Guide." Guess when you're a writer and you discover your niche you stay there for a while. What I found interesting, zit-popped from our beloved 'Wikipedia,' was that Brooks did a lot of research for this book. Everything from the technology to military tactics. I think that's part of what made it so believable when I read it. A reader can tell (most of the time) when an author knows their topic well versus blowing smoke up the rectal canal.


I didn't understand how this book was put together at first. I was confused until I realized that each chapter was an interview with a different person. Now, while Zombies aren't my thing, interviews are. There's something about asking questions and listening to people answer that fascinates me. And it's not just asking questions, but asking the 'right' questions. So, where just any old Zombie novel might have turned me off, I found I enjoyed the interview style of this story.


Things I wondered as I read: How did the main character get to all of those different global locations ? There's no date/time-stamp so it's hard to tell how long it is between interviews. I understand he's a UN employee, but wow...despite the crisis he sure seemed to get around with no problem. And I didn't make any connection to the places he travels. They don't seem to have a purpose. They're completely random to me. 


The other thing is, as someone who does interviews, there would be more interaction/dialogue from the main character. It's not realistic to have someone launch into a long diatribe  about their experience or background. Still, it was a fun read. And timely, given the explosion of Zombie movies, novels, graphic novels and other media today.

And present day, Zombies are spreading across the airwaves. People play with the walking dead in games like Black Ops, and if you believe in any kind of hostile Big Brother, then the jokes on you. BB not only learns how you think, but teaches YOU how to think. Resistance is futile. Chew on that.

I blame my primrose path thinking today on the fact I'm almost 50 and plagued by a debilitating form of arthritis. It keeps me in bed on off days when it's cloudy and cold. But most days I have to say, "fuck it and gutt it," and go to work, or go to the gym to try to stay fit, or go surfing because it's one of the things I enjoy and the cold water actually helps reduce the inflammation of my joints. And yes, I have medications. Sad news is they don't usually help. Maybe if I was a zombie, I'd get around better. So hey all you zombies out there, bite me.

~Cin

World War Z I Poster by WorldWarZatEMU

"Thou shalt not lay palm...

...upon thy victims." (The Law. Yattering and Jack by Clive Barker)

 A Yattering by ashnkatt

This tale was a fun short story that reminded me a lot of "The Screwtape Letters" by C.S. Lewis. It is a fairly old story of the demon who fights to turn an innocent man into a corrupt soul. Barker's approach was a bit different since "The Lord of the Flies" wanted Jack's soul in payment for his mother reneging on a promise to be his and going to heaven instead. I read Clive Barker's commentary on the story, which became an episode adapted for the Television series, "Tales from the Darkside."

Despite the gross visuals of cat deaths, particularly Freddy the III, this story was oddly funny for a Barker piece. And later (as a vegetarian) the Christmas turkey, oozing stuffing, dancing in the kitchen, was a disturbing mix of dark comedy and grim food distortion. I'm not sure I'll ever see Christmas dinner the same way again.

As in Barker's short-story Rawhead Rex, the point of view of characters shifted often, although in this piece there was a protagonist and a main story theme. And similar to Rawhead, I didn't mind the shifts. Didn't bother me a bit. I also liked getting into the head of the Yattering demon, hearing his thoughts and suffering his angry frustrations at Jack.

I found it interesting that Jack thought of Yattering's abuses as an overall 'game'. From the kitty deaths to the spinning Christmas tree, and his daughter's injuries from pine-needles and multiple spinning flying objects in the house... at the end of it all Jack keeps his composure (for the most part) and seems to know just what to do to drive the Yattering to its maddening edge. He pushed the beastie past its point of binding law. And having crossed the line by laying hands on the human, the Yattering suddenly belongs to Jack . A demon held in abeyance by a gentle soul. 

"Che sera, sera."

The Yattering and Jack by Medusapupil

“The bones are bent outward...

...like he exploded from inside.”

Dallas (Alien. 1979. Directed by Ridley Scott/ Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon)

Alien by Buchemi (deviantArt)

I remember when the film 'Alien' first came out. It was 1979, and my mother wouldn't let me go to the theater to see it. After the first week it played, I endured all of the group jokes about the little Alien popping out of the chest of poor Kane, and I kept quiet during the movie discussions so my fellow high-schoolers wouldn't know how 'uncool' I was. Mind you, with my thrift store attire and mouth full of braces, it wasn't like I had any type of reputation to keep. I just didn't want it to get worse. (I was naive to think it could have gotten worse.) 

When the film was released, it was like every Monday at school after the latest Saturday Night Live only tripled, maybe quadrupled, in effect because I loved horror and I could have cared less about SNL. (I know, I know...sacrilege. Spare me. I watched the re-runs years later and finally got the Gumby jokes...) The first of the series of films I actually saw on screen was Aliens. It wasn't until the early 90's that I saw Alien. 

Viewing this movie again was timely, since the release of Prometheus is scheduled in June 2012.  I watched the trailer for the new movie, and I have admit I'm really exited. There is not one movie in the Alien series that has ever disappointed me and I'm expecting a lot from the newest endeavor.

From the moment I saw the Alien monsters, I adored them. Each gargantuan spine-tingling beast was the epitome of what I feared most. Larger than ordinary earthlings, spider-like limbs, a face fitted with several layers of bone-crushing teeth, bloody acid running through the circulatory system AND they were wet and slimy...what wasn't to love and fear about these creatures?

If you want a story breakdown, you can read the play by play on Wikipedia. I do recommend reading it, because there's some fun info-tidbits there like the fact that Alien was Sigourney Weaver's first leading role, and that the Alien was actually played by a 7'2" Nigerian design student named Bolaji Badejo. I had no idea.

One of the things I noticed while growing up in the 70's and 80's, was that there were very few strong female roles in modern film. Ripley was one of the first big-screen female heros that resonated with me. She wasn't wearing high-heals, she didn't try to be sexy...she was pure stone ovaries, determined to win against the odds.

What this film doesn't really bring out, but which is highlighted in later films, is the fact that the human 'monster'  exists among our species. It is, in many ways, much more horrifying. At least when you see the Alien, what you see is what you get. When you look at a human, you never know. The monster Alien used camouflage to 'hide' it's presence. Among humans, our flesh IS our camouflage, and we never know where the enemy hides until it's too late.

~Cin

Alien by Hurrock (deviant Art)

"The town is burning...

30 Days of Night by Gypsy-Savina (DeviantArt)

...there's carnage everywhere."

"30 Days of Night" by Steven Niles (Compilation published 2008)...A Cinful Review...

I've always loved comics, and I'm a graphic novel snob meaning I only like to read the good stuff. I grew up smothering my eyes in  X-Men, Spider Man and many other comics too numerous to name. Lenore (Little Dead Girl) by Roman Dirge is one of my new favorites. I expect a lot from a comic or a graphic novel, and I'm envious of those who can team up and create a piece of work that results in a fun read. Naturally, I was anxious to devour this bit of horror. It was new for me, and ultimately refreshing. The fact that Clive Barker endorsed it in the intro only added blood to the fire.

The story starts out with one of my greatest nightmares...being stuck somewhere in an environment of intractable cold, on the eve of thirty days of darkness. The images are bleak, and I made it worse by reading this novel at 2AM during one of my insufferable bouts of insomnia. 

It's a petty item to point out at first, but one of the things that bothered me (as I planned my commentary) was that the first few pages had no page numbers. Bear with me because I'm hand counting as I go along...

Page 6: People are reporting their cell phones missing, and there's an image of a burnt pile of cellphones on the page.  I found myself wondering..."How the hell did people report missing cellphones if they didn't have a phone?" Maybe all of them had landlines too, but I think about Barrow, Alaska (so remote) and I consider my own phone bills and my conservationist attitude toward my hard earned dollars...and I wondered that many folks out there had both a landline and a cellphone. At my home (in California) our family all carry cell phones and we quit having a hardline. It was too expensive to have both, and the only people who called the landline were soliciters, so...

(Of course, the dates in the novel say the story occurred in 2001. Back in 2001, I barely knew what a cell phone was. It wasn't until 2004, when I moved from Japan back to the U.S., that I finally owned a cell, so having both back then is likely.)

 Later, call me petty, but on page 37, Niles writes, "Endless night, and an endless supply of blood and meat". The idea of vampires finding a place where there was 30 days of night was brilliant. Then the fact that the boss vamp showed up and claimed how idiotic the blood feast was, and how it compromised their mythological existence, was even more brilliant. The reality of the population of Barrow, however, was overlooked. In 2001, Barrow's entire population was listed as 4,581.  This hardly makes the blood and meat "endless", although Niles writes later that the population was only 462 (a big difference in number). He also mentions that people leave before the winter. I had a hard time believing over 4,000 people would vacate their home for that time period.  And, logically, one would think the blood suckers would like to go back to a place like Barrow in the future and have another red-cell banquet, so killing everyone just didn't make sense. 

Be that as it may (suspending my disbelief there....)...I found the protagonist's (Eben's) solution to taking on the vampires, interesting. After he turned himself into a vampire, he was still able to control himself well enough to fight for the humans, destroy the head honcho and not munch on his wife. In the end, it was a sappy love story, as Eben sacrificed himself on the first day of light because he couldn't endure not being with his mate. Ashes to ashes, and you know the rest.

Reading the back cover,  it's obvious this story continues on and now I'm curious about this series and would like to read more. Another thing that bothered me was, I had no sense of what part the Louisiana folks played. A mother sent her son to Barrow to get some video recording, he dies just after sending the video feed, and we never learn the link between the Louisiana folks and the vampires. I'm guessing that info comes later in other episodes. 

Overall, I loved reading this piece and the artwork was awesome. The monochromatic color with the exception of scarlet (maybe a yellow or green here and there) was an eerie touch. And Robbie Robbin's artwork was raw, rough and unrefined. The stark color increased the overall feeling of cold and brutality. One visual problem (for me) was that with my poor eyesight I had a hard time reading the 'vampire' script and I would have appreciated larger text. I found myself wishing I could read this in an 'enhanced' form online or in an e-book where I could enlarge the photos and the print. The entire time I read through the story, I kept thinking a graphic novel like this would be fun in an e-enhanced version. (Music for the background, maybe even a voice-over for the text.) Gotta admit I just bought the DVD and can't wait to see how it compares to the print.

In conclusion, high praise for "30 Days of Night" and now that I've finished the book at almost 4AM, I'm sure I'll have a couple of hours of fitful dozing before the sun rises. And when the sun rises, well, it's then that I'm sure I'll sleep like the dead.

~Cin

30 Days of Night by milxart (deviantArt)

"Fear was for those who still had a chance of life:

...he had none."
(Clive Barker, Books of Blood: Rawhead Rex. 1998

Rawhead Rex wallpaper by mercy1313 (DeviantArt)

I have a bias toward Clive Barker. He's a mastermind writer that can do no wrong in my warped opinion (Let us not talk of 'Abarat', for that would be a lengthy discussion...)

Clive Barker has a unique penchant for story telling, and Rawhead Rex highlights his talent beautifully.

( I wanted to see the film for comparison, but the DVD on Amazon it sells for $94.99 used. That's right. $94.99. Used. Needless to say, I didn't pay to see it.)

Still, what an excellent story! I grew up on a farm and so I empathized with the trials and tribulations of the first character, Thomas. This was a man who found rocks, boulders and other soil impediments in the good earth and cleared them away with the (hopeful) goal of planting fruitful seed. As I read, I felt Thomas Garrow's desire to get this huge rock out of the fertile soil bed. His persistence won out over the troublesome boulder. Alas, persistence does not solely reap rewards. Thomas found that out first hand.

The POV switch Barker inserted as Rawhead rose from his prison, was spectacular. I felt as if I WERE  Rawhead, smelling the sky...drinking in a world of sensations I'd been deprived of for eons. Then I was Thomas again, bewildered, amazed... then dropped on my head... dead.

Barker does some things in this piece that writers are told never to do in a story (short or long). He switches POV often, and he introduces multiple characters who have little in common except the thread of their existence in the town of Zeal. All of those things, and he uses the word grimace (or a form of it) at least four times in the short story (OMG: What would author Tim Esaias say? There are no gargoyles in this prose. SHU'ers  you know what I'm talkin 'bout.) A sin in writing, for those of us taught by those who are great.

Regardless of the grimaces, and Barker doing all of the things we are taught NOT to do as new writers...he is the master of the macabre. His language, his 'page turner' ensemble of words is fantastical. I couldn't help but love each grossly detailed, sickening and twisted moment.  Clive Barker is, perhaps, the best (non-personal) writing instructor I've ever had. His is the work I study. His is the prose I most want to capture the idealism behind. He is frank, honest, visual and forthright. He is the mixed martial artist of the writer's arena, practicing with no holds barred. An aberration of the mat, and an opponent never to take for granted. If I were in front of him, I would bow low but I would never, never take my eyes off of him.

Did I find it hard to believe that the 'Venus of Willendorf' was the arch-enemy, the nemesis of Rawhead Rex? It was a bit of a stretch, but the story played on ancient history, and I loved the gender battle. In addition to the story-line, Barker wracked the limits of human endurance in the reader. An innocent  young girl dies, and an intellectual boy (writers might feel for because of his introverted self) dies as well. Granted we don't have enough time to fall in love with the boy too much...still...he was only a child), and we get to see the perspective of Rawhead as he revels in his own renewed greatness. He is God once more. We feel the beast's thirst, we hunger for dominance, we understand the confusion of a different world that meets us after centuries of burial in a prison in the ground. The world is strange. It has changed. And even with the last breath (and final urination), we are convinced that Rawhead's reign has not ended. That he will be back. As the female energy is omnipresent, so is the male, and like a male organ gone temporarily flaccid Rawhead Rex will rise again. All he needs is time.

Rawhead Rex Poster
 by Sibbs00000 (DeviantArt)

"Where were all the Arnold Schwarzeneggers...

Artwork: Spider by eat01234

...when you really needed them?" 

~Sarah Pinborough (2011). Breeding Ground

Breeding Ground was a surprising read in many ways. It had an interesting story premise, which reminded me of Matheson's "I am Legend" only crawlier. I enjoyed much of the writing, particularly at the beginning, although I felt some of the novel dragged at bit in the middle. Despite that, Sarah Pinborough has an excellent writing voice and many scenes in the story were superb. For some reason, however, this story took a longer time for me to read than other novels I'd read recently. I can't quite put my finger on why. I didn't have that 'I can't put this book down' sensation that I'd had previously with Richard Matheson's stories, or novels by Clive Barker. 

Although Pinborough wrote this story with the kind of monsters I have an affinity for, something in construction of the work and in the prose (in different places) was lacking at times. At the very beginning, I didn't buy off on Matthew Edge's '...I can't tell you how this all happened...' premise, where this horrible 'disease' is suddenly taking over the women of the world. And then to read later that Dr Whitehead, the scientist, says that the disease came about from genetically modified food, was a mental turn off. I think I could have bought it if I'd seen/read some indication of it earlier...but to just have the idea dumped on me in Chapter 16 was a bit much.  And it was inconsistent. Matthew Edge acts as if he had no idea what happened in the Prologue, but then we find out it's humans who created the aberration. I wanted to see the genetic experiment somewhere, to feel it happening, to understand and know about it  instead of having it placed in my lap midway through the novel.

Genius moments for Pinborough were the initial descriptions of the women gaining weight and the subtle changes going on, coupled with the female transformations. I adored reading about Chloe's physical and mental changes, and the overtly gross verbiage of birthing her baby and eating half of it (Why only half, I wondered), but after that things didn't get interesting for me until the battle with the widows at the boy scout hut. Then the amputation of Dave's arm and their finding safety/shelter at Hanstone Park were excellent. The story concept itself, along with the dialogue, was well done. 

Still, there were overly extended/unnecessarily long run-on sentences in this piece that could have been chopped in two to make the story better. It made me think about my own writing and how I need to cut down on lengthy prose. And in some places there were  sentences that I couldn't believe an editor let slide. Take this sentence for example:

 "Another pang of loneliness and heartache stabbed inside, and I hoped that there would be a time when I felt safe and secure enough to allow some time for all the grief inside to come out and then allow me to keep her close inside."

The word "inside" is used three times in the above sentence, and reading it let me see how mistakes like this can pull a reader out of the story and make it less enjoyable. It was definite food for thought.

At one point Pinborough describes the human rules of their small group trying to survive:

"We were like scavengers now—the morality of taking what wasn’t ours no longer applied."

 
I thought the above phrase was a great line to describe how their social order, the norm of things, had decayed and was replaced with a different philosophy  of existing.  She does this one more time toward the end of the book:

"We’d all reached the conclusion that this was what had to be done, and we needed to see it through together. A new order had taken hold and our old laws no longer applied. I think this was the first day that we accepted that."
 

 Overall, I thought the work Pinborough did on this was brilliant. She kept tension throughout the story, and the conflict she wove into it was almost continuous. The worst part for me was (honestly) the ending. Unlike Matheson's "I am Legend," (which I frequently compared this story too because the overall concept was the same) this novel ends on a non-conclusive but hopeful note. Perhaps Matt and Rebecca (and the unborn baby) make it somewhere and survive. Perhaps George and Chester arrive at their destination unharmed. 

But the entire premise of the book makes their survival unlikely. The ending wasn't satisfying for me and I can't describe why. It was like a thread hanging from a web...not part of the symmetrical construction, and not completely free. In the end, I wanted to be convinced that mankind would prevail, that this new world order would diminish. I wanted to believe that the human species would go on despite a massive global anomaly. But how long does it take before an anomaly becomes the norm? How long does it take before the web of life that has changed world structure is no longer something terrible and unexplainable, but is instead, a new breeding ground for the acceptable? One thing is for sure... change bites.

~Cin

 

Spider Witch by GENZOMAN

"He looked up with the accredited expression for...

...the Asking of Painful Questions."  (The Funeral by Richard Matheson)

Artwork: Funeral by DerRiedl

     After reading "I am Legend," I expected this short story to deal with the monstrous case of the vampire again, and it didn't disappoint. I didn't find this a surprising read, but it was highly entertaining. What made the piece most enjoyable was Matheson's extraordinary use of language and the way he moved from a sedate and serious situation to one of almost perposterous chaos. One moment, there's a barely pulsatile funeral master ready to guide a bereaved customer into the forest of grief and out again with lighter pockets, and in another moment his quarry disappears out a window flapping his wings. This story rapidly stepped across the pictorial line of a believable (albeit macabre) every day situation and leaped a dark chasm to embrace the fantastical and chaotic mosaic of the undead.

     Yes, I'm a sap for Matheson I suppose. Some of his language is overly flowery and some people might consider it borderline purple prose...but his combination of words is set on the page so masterfully that I can't help but read his work over and over again. I've never read any other piece of prose that described a man's eyes as 'liver-colored,' (and having done autopsy, I know what a fresh human one looks like) and I adored the pet names Morton Silkline used for his traditional bereaved-one's process. The "Grieved One's Chair" and "The Asking of Painful Questions" were priceless phrases that gave me a huge amount of insight into Silkline's character and day-to-day life.

     I did wonder at the end if Morton might make it to the realm of the undead himself, since he was considered (potentially) tasty...but then I was pleased and thoroughly enjoyed the ending. Successful businesses are tough because they demand a lot of the business-person. The greater the pay, the greater the difficulty (in one way or another). Whether it be fame and the loss of freedom that comes with it, or serving a clientele that is demanding and that others find less desirous...business is business and each coin exacts a toll in...all circumstances. 

     Live long and prosper.

     ~Cin

Artwork: Her Own Funeral by vinegar