Posts tagged ‘horror’
SUPERNATURAL, A GREAT TV SERIES
I’m somewhat behind the curve when it comes to popular culture; think Neanderthal. However, on Netflix I stumbled upon a series, Supernatural, which I think is fantastic. I also discovered that a local station carries the series, probably has for years.
I spend hours each night catching up on past episodes. In a nutshell, the series follows two brothers who investigate strange occurrences and hunt the monsters causing these events. Also involved in the continuing story line are a host of demons and angels. Turns out, not all demons are bad, and not all angels are good.
I love this show!
The writers are beyond excellent, providing twists and turns in a continuing plot with always a new element that will grip your attention and keep you guessing ‘What could possibly come next’? On occasion, the writers also provide a bit of humor with episodes which introduce the ‘Ghostfacers’, along with other episodes that will leave you chuckling, in spite of the horror.
The dynamics of the relationship of the brothers is also a constant conflict keeping the storyline unpredictable to say the least. All is not rosy with this series, as well it should not be.
If you enjoy horror as much as I, do, and great writing, something rare these days in TV, find a source and begin watching Supernatural.
REVIVAL BY STEPHEN KING
Published as a paperback by Galley Books in 2015, with Revival, Stephen King has done it again; taking us on a ride through interesting characters with a touch of horror, maybe more than a touch. I enjoyed this novel. Now let me tell you why.
First, some background.
Stephen King and I are the same age, and we’re both writers of horror. The similarities stop there. King has bucks coming out his butt because his novels sell because they are excellent reads. I just have a butt with the usual production, but I’m working to change that. I love King’s work, and with this last novel, I’m beginning to understand why.
We grew up together.
I enjoy all of King’s earlier novels, written while he and I were young or of middle age, the characters kept my interest and the storylines were magnificent horror. But the age of the characters was unimportant to both me and the work. Then, as he grew old, and life took its toll, his writing began to change, and being the same age, I now strongly identify with the characters.
There is no guide to getting old, thank God, for if there was, some might chose not to. Everyone’s experience is different and unique. There are those who do not have a chance to experience the aches, pains and loss of the purpose they once knew. You know the only way to not grow old, think Marilyn Monroe. They are the ones who suffer the loss of opportunity of time and accomplishment.
Now, about the story.
Revival centers on a minister who loses his faith and a young boy he encounters before circumstances cause this loss. Even after his loss of faith, the minister holds revivals and accomplishes cures using ‘secret electricity’, an unknown form of electricity which he is sure exists. He also feels this electricity will allow him to glimpse worlds we cannot normally see. The result is not pleasant. King goes totally H.P. Lovecraftian at the novel’s conclusion. Being a fan of Lovecraft, I loved it.
Revival is an excellent tale of horror, but it is much more. It is also a skilled description of the ageing process through the life of its characters. Until you are there, advance age cannot be truly described. This is what give a richness to King’s tale. Through personal experience, King does a fantastic job of combining advance age, and bearing the crosses of life’s experiences. I also bear crosses, and am stumbling through the years.
Treat yourself.
Read this book.
CHRISTOPHER LEE DIES AT 93
As a writer of horror, I feel we should pause and offer a moment of silence for the passing of Christopher Lee.
I grew up watching him dine on nubile women and issuing terror into my young mind. He journeyed onto the screen in the footsteps of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. Stay out of character, Christopher, and rest in peace.
BLAZE BY RICHARD BACHMAN (STEPHEN KING)
Written in 1972-1973, this novel brought me a new appreciation of the ‘master’ as I have never felt before. In this story, Helen Keller could have seen the gifted writer which would emerge on the horror scene.
Surprisingly, this work, in the strictest sense, in not a horror novel. There is a dead accomplice giving Blaze, the main character, a brain-damaged man, advice, but he only exists in Blaze’s mind and memory. What I found remarkable about this work is how King creates a multi-faceted who kidnaps and kills, yet you’re able to get into his mind and past and find sympathy for his actions.
I’m not giving away any more detail. Buy the book and fill the ‘master’s’ coffers. You won’t be disappointed.
RANTS & RAVES: SCIENCE FICTION MOVIES WITH NO BELIEVABLE SCIENCE
This may be the rants of an old man, or the product of age and wisdom. Age and wisdom, really.
Anyway, whatever it is, it is not a commercial for Netflix. But if they want to pay me, the income would be welcome. But I doubt they would see my comments worthy of pecuniary rewards. (There goes three years of high school Latin.)
I have been, of late, watching a great deal of horror and science fiction using Netflix’s instant viewing option. Just a side comment. While watching horror, both American and international, I find that Japan, in my opinion, produces the best horror after my limited sampling. The Ring, The Grudge, both remade by U.S. studios, are Japanese movies. I have viewed other Japanese horror offerings that will scare the hell out of you, not through gore and special effects but through story and setting. Some movies had twists I did not see coming, or circumstances that make you think after the movie is over, and experience which stay with you.
Now, back to science fiction.
I’d like to discuss two recent viewings, The Ring of Fire and 500 MPH Storm, both Netflix offerings and both, I’m sure, originally from a cable channel, but I could be wrong. It has happened before.
The first, The Ring of Fire, takes place in Oregon focusing on a corrupt oil company executive and his daughter, an environmentalist, locked in combat over a drilling venture in the state. The premise has the oil company drilling a well far deeper than they were permitted, and instead of tapping a huge dome of oil, headed for magma. Puncturing the magma dome could set off an event, tied to the volcanoes surrounding the Ring of Fire, triggering an event that would destroy all life on the planet. For those who don’t know, the Ring of Fire boarders the Pacific Ocean and is the most geological active area in the world.
I must be open as to why I found this movie lacking. My published novel, New Moon Rising, involves a catastrophic event also involving the Ring of Fire. First, as I point out in my novel, scientists insist that geological events occurring in the Ring of Fire are unconnected. The movie assumes that every volcano is connected to a source which would cause them all to explode because of the drilling in Oregon. Finally, the method the characters in the movie use to solve the end of life on the planet left me chuckling. View it yourself and see if I’m wrong. Just a side note, in my novel, all is not remedied.
The second video, 500 MPH Storm, makes Plan 9 from Outer Space, a classic in its own right, worthy of Oscars, looking like well thought-out science. The science in this film is nonexistent. The scientific logic escapes me. The special effects were poor, at best. The last comment brings me to the inspiration for this article.
In my opinion, some of the science fiction movies produced today have little to do with science. I know it is fiction, but the inclusion of science fact, not just make it up to fit the story, adds enjoyment to the work. Today’s science fiction movies are ruled by special effect and lack any scientific redeeming qualities.
I enjoy including science fact in the science fiction I write. I feel that it allows the educated reader to become more involved with the story.
What do you think?
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
THE NIGHT ETERNAL by GUILLERMO DEL TORO AND CHUCK HOGAN
The Night Eternal, the final book in The Strain Trilogy is a wild ride and a ‘must read’ for anyone at the least interested in vampires or the source of this horror.
Never before has there been a scientific explanation behind the myths and legends of these monsters, how they infect, how they react to sunlight and mirrors. The authors have changed some characteristics, replace fangs with a method of infection beyond repulsive, but it is all to their credit. And never before, to my limited knowledge, has there been an explanation involving the birth of the original vampire. And I must tell you, the source of the original vampire will rock you.
I cannot strongly enough implore you to read The Strain Trilogy.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble.com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS
This short post will surely tell what I was doing today.
I firmly believe, if someone out there wants to be awarded a Nobel Prize, category yet to be determined, they should delve into the electric logic of Christmas lights. Here is the problem to be solved. What is the logic behind these strands of insanity? They light in the garage, yet when taken into the outside environment will not illuminate. I have recently discovered a new phenomenon with my indoor tree, lights one fine are now dimmed. What demented spirit governs these strands of torment?
Am I the only one that thinks there is some demon lurking to do me wrong?
You’ll hear from me again, I know you will as the lights chose their own fate.
Time to watch the Eagles’ game.
What is that noise? Sounds like some demented Christmas bells.
I’m sure you’ll hear
THE STRAIN by GUILLERMO DEL TORO AND CHUCK HOGAN
In the past I wrote about the FX series, The Strain, and indicated that I intended to read the novel. Well, I kept that promise and am now well into, The Fall, the second of the three book series.
The TV series closely follows the novel, with a few alterations and new characters that have little or no impact on the storyline. What I enjoyed about FX series, which will continue in the future, I found reinforced in my reading of the book, i.e. the science. We’ve all grown up with Bram Stoker’s classic novel, Dracula, and watched film presentations beginning with Nosferatu and on to movies starring Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee. Vampire movies still popup, usually during the summer movies season focusing more on the scantily clad, or more commonly unclad, maidens, and less on the traditional legend. What makes The Strain unique is, for the first time, there is a detailed scientific explanation for the vampire condition. Low and behold, and I don’t think I’m giving too much away, the condition is the result of a virus, a virus that has been around for hundreds or more years. Other vampire characteristics are also explained scientifically; I love it. There are also hints as to the origin of the malady and I’m looking forward to that revelation.
As a former scientist, I enjoy playing with scientific fact in my writing to make the storyline plausible and to pack a little punch. For instance, my as yet unpublished novel, The Beast Awaits, has a terrifying beast produced from mishandling stem cells, and I rely heavily on my tissue culture experience to make the story believable.
In this day and age of daily scientific breakthroughs, I feel the reading public wants and demands substance behind the terror.
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble. Com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
STRUGGLING TO GET IT PUBLISHED: SCI/FI & HORROR MARKETS
In the past I introduced you to Duotrope, a fantastic resource for writers’ markets. It’s still my favorite go-to place to place my work. The site provides you with the ability to make a highly specific market search, and then save the search if your first submission should be rejected (a little writer humor). But, there is always a ‘but’; it is not free. You can, however, give it a trial run free of charge.
For those of you who produce science fiction and horror, and on a tight budget, i.e. broke, Ralan.com is for you. The site provides a wealth of market information as well as additional information critical for writers no matter what your genre such a host of links to finding and checking on the credentials of agents.
This site may take a little more effort that Duotrope, but for you sci/fi and horror writers, the price is right.
Ralan.com
http://www.ralan.com/index.htm
Duotrope
Here are some links where you may purchase my work.
Melange Books
http://www.melange-books.com/authors/walttrizna/index.html
Barnes & Noble. Com
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/walt-trizna?store=book&keyword=walt+trizna
Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=walt+trizna
STRUGGLING TO GET IT WRITE: HOW MUCH OF ‘YOU’ IS IN YOUR CHARACTERS?
This is a question I often ask myself of the author while I read his novel. How many of the characteristics of a main or minor character are yours?
I’ve recently finished reading Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. It’s a strange, enjoyable read. In the book, one of the characters is the creator of the characters in the story which makes for a strange interaction. The ‘author’ character refers to elements of his past. I’ve also recently completed reading And So It Goes by Charles J. Shields, and all the facts and incidents mentioned by the ‘author’ character are also true for Vonnegut.
As in the above, what I like to do when I find an author whose work I enjoy is seek out facts about the mind behind the words by reading their biography. Here’s a sampling of whose fiction I’ve enjoyed and whose lives I wanted to discover.
I expect that you know by now that I enjoy writing horror. One of my favorite authors of the genre is H. P. Lovecraft. I have a volume of his complete works and occasionally visit the volume to enjoy a short story or one of his longer works. His writing is quite dated but I find the worlds he creates interesting. Lovecraft gave birth to a subgenre of horror which lives on. Sometime ago I read a biography of his short life. I recall he died around the age of 49. He initially fancied himself a poet but eventually fell into horror much to our benefit.
Frederick Exley is a writer I found to be both funny and sad. For a great read, find a copy of his novel, A Fan’s Notes, a work following the career of Frank Gifford and is a weakly veiled account of Exley. The biography of Exley I read confirmed this. As an example of Exley’s outlook, in one episode of the book the main character thinks he is dying. He decides to practically take up residence in a bar and then relates how he gained twenty pounds while wasting away from cancer. You’ve got to feel sorry for the guy and yet love him. As I said, funny but sad.
Jack Kerouac is another author I enjoy and read his biography. His classic novel, On the Road, closely reflects his life with the names changed to protect the guilty.
So many authors endure lives that are far from pleasant, something I’ll touch on in a latter post concerning the merits of good vs bad in an author and his characters. But with their many and sometimes tragic faults, we readers reap the rewards of their work.
So back to my original question to you writers: How much of your characters reflect details of your life? As far as my work is concerned, there is one character in my novel, New Moon Rising, who is me, and I’d like to challenge my readers to name the character and reap a reward.
To be continued…
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