Fantasy in general

So watching the Screen Actors Guild Awards I have gotten to thinking about movies and television series. And naturally because of this class, my mind floated to fantasy. So what do I do? I googled fantasy. What I got were definitions almost always involving magic. Yet, in our class magic hasn't been much of a theme at all. This week's short story "The April Witch" is the only magic-related story we've read, I believe. Of course, the best known fantasy series of our age, Harry Potter, is centered on magic. However, I think fantasy doesn't always have to involve literal magic, though I think it's pretty safe to say that all fantasy is "magical".

Thoughts on magic and fantasy? Is it an essential theme? Or is it simply very common?

Disappointment

So, I'm about to finish "The Haunting of Hill House" and so far I haven't been scared. More than anything I just think the people in it are being silly. I mean, I know they're being that way because they're scared, but I'm not. I always thought reading would be scarier than watching, but so far I'm a bit disappointed. I'm hoping I'll be scared during at least one of the books. Clive Barker's "Mister B. Gone" actually scared me a little, so maybe I just need to read more like that. Maybe I just haven't been scared because I keep reading this book around people or in well-lit places...haha.

However, I would like to put out a question I've always wondered about. I've never watched a silent horror movie, so I don't know the answer but maybe one of you do. Is it the music that makes a scary movie scary? I've always felt that if I didn't hear the crescendo before a jumpy part, that I wouldn't jump, but I've never had a way to prove it. Does anyone know a musicless horror movie that I could watch?

PIXELCON is TOMORROW, Y'ALL

The above is an image from last year's PixelCon. As the first PixelCon, it wasn't very grand--and it was awkwardly scheduled on a Sunday. But this year's is going to be bigger, better, and on a Saturday. :D If you're interested in going or for more info, you can check out their website or find them on Facebook. (Facebook will probably be the most useful.)

I know I keep bringing this up, but I really am excited about it, and since I worked all summer with one of the founders of PixelCon, I felt I should help promote it. :)

Now, as was stated before... I love costumes. And Japanese culture. It happens that I have the opportunity to write a senior thesis this semester, and I will be doing a creative nonfiction piece about anime and video game conventions that I have attended (few though they may be) and the unique culture that surrounds them. That's why I'm so con-crazy lately: it's now connected to my academic work. (AND HOW FREAKIN' AWESOME IS THAT?!?!?!?!)

And so. If you happen to stop by PixelCon, or if you happen to have attended cons before, I may want to talk to you. I'd like to get some other people's opinions and ideas--although I'm not sure of the structure my thesis will take, it may be useful to have some interviews or impressions from people who aren't me. So let me know if you have anything to say. :)

Also, PixelCon is NOW HAVING A ZOMBIE WALK. You can read about it on Facebook. Anyone? Anyone? :) Zombie walks are pertinent to our class, I think. Zombies certainly are. I'll probably have to follow the zombie walk around and learn more about it--I've never been in one, and I wouldn't want to this time (it would mess up my costume), but the fact that they are a relatively common occurrence nowadays is absolutely crazy and fascinating to me. --While I'm on that topic, anyone ever been on a zombie walk? General thoughts on zombies?

Well, I guess I'll leave you with a picture:

Pictured above: me as a Team Rocket person from the Pokemon games (I have a pokeball on my belt and--even though you can't tell--a giant plush Pikachu that is also a backpack) and Tiara Dees, my composer and co-con founder friend. (Note: This costume--in addition to the fact that when I went up on stage I recited the Team Rocket motto EVEN THOUGH that's technically from the anime and I was dressed like a nondescript video game character--earned me first place in my first ever cosplay contest. ^_^)

Yours in nerd-dom,

Meg

The Finale of My Pics!!!

I was able to go home this weekend and scan these polaroids from the midnight book release of the Deathly Hallows.

Apparantly I'm very frightened of Death Eaters.


Hooray for Madame Hooch and Dumbledore!!!!!

And in honor of Cristina from "For the Blood is the Life" and, according to some of you, Luella Miller ... Me as a VAMPIRE!!!

Oh the Horror...

Don't want to be too random but couldn't help but be terrified by this story about taco bell. This is an example of horror going beyond psychological and into the realm of the physical. Too much of a strech? Perhaps. Anyways the link is in the title if anyone wants to regret every trip to taco bell ever. Warning: you may not want to read this if you ever plan on eating fourth meal again. Also, nyc.barstoolsports.com is pretty offensive, though funny, so those of delicate sensibilities beware.

That sounds familiar...

So I'm checking some news sites today and I happened upon an article that seemed a little ominous to me. It's probably nothing to worry about, but it just struck me as odd that the article was pretty much THE EXACT FREAKING SAME as the beginning of Stephen King's "The Stand."

Utah Army base locked to solve 'serious concern'

(AP) – 10 hours ago

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah military base that carries out tests to protect troops against biological attacks was locked down Wednesday to resolve a "serious concern," officials said.

Base commander Col. William E. King said no one was in danger and the gates will reopen as quickly as it's feasible.

His statement did not provide any details of the problem.

Base spokeswoman Bonnie Robinson told the The Associated Press early Thursday that officials hope to have the problem resolved shortly.

"We are working as quickly and as thoroughly as possible to resolve a serious concern within the Test Area," King said.

"Measures like these (lock down of our gates) are not taken lightly. No one is in immediate danger but these steps are required," he said.

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that a lockdown began at 5:24 p.m. MST Wednesday, with no one allowed in or out of the base. There were about 1,200 to 1,400 people at Dugway at the time.

Military weapons are tested at Dugway, located about 85 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. Its primary mission is defending troops against biological and chemical attacks.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

So yeah, no worries.

The Moonlit Road

“The Moonlit Road” reflects several aspects of Ambrose Bierce’s own life. First off, Bierce worked as a journalist for various newspapers and periodicals, and I think this shows in the way the story was pieced together bit by bit through statements from the three people involved. Second “The Moonlit Road” was written in 1907, three years after Bierce divorced his wife, after he discovered compromising letters between her and an admire, which is reflected in Joel Hetman’s suspicion of his wife, even though the wife is innocent in this case.

But what I really find interesting is the way he disappeared. In 1913 he was following Pancho Villa’s army as an observer, the last thing ever heard from him was a letter to a friend in December of 1913, which he closed with "As to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination," after which he seemingly vanished without a trace, much like Joel Hetman seemed to disappear in “The Moonlit Road,” although I might be just making some connections that aren’t there.

More like "Yuki- OH NO!"

Unfortunately, this week I will have to miss class and am therefore including my discussion points about the story for which I was supposed to lead the conversation. If you have not yet read Lafcadio Hern's "Yuki-Onna," you may not want to finish reading this post until you do.

I looked a little into Hern's life and discovered that he was primarily a journalist (although he always did have a darker side to his writing) and that his writings generally covered the area in which he happened to be. Therefore, "Yuki-Onna" was published just before his death while he was in Japan, the setting fits. However, I was not struck with a sense of journalistic style from the story as I have been with other writers such as Hemingway. Did anyone think this story had some aspects of journalistic writing that I didn't pick up on?

Furthermore, did anyone else see the big "twist" coming from the moment he came across O-Yuki, a name that means Snow according to a footnote? I actually enjoyed the story, as it brings up questions regarding the nature of death and love, but I thought that there was little to no effort to disguise the true identity of O-Yuki.

Did she love him? Or was she simply waiting to catch him telling the story she had forbidden him from telling? If she did not love him, why would she have had his children and consequently prevented herself from carrying out the revenge she had promised him? And if she did love him, why did she leave forever?

Finally, there was a film made from this (and three other stories from a book of short stories that Hern wrote in this genre). The "Snow Woman" part is on youtube and begins in the link in the title.

that 'Thing' our stories do

Hello again!

I hope everyone has had a stellar week, I know it won't be complete until our weekly nerd meeting tomorrow. Anyway, I have no idea who is doing the discussions for our stories tomorrow, but I wanted to point out this strange little fact that caught my attention while reading...

the use of 'Thing' with a big ol capital T. I noticed it first in "For The Blood is The Life" when it describes the "Thing" on the grave. But then, it happens again in section III of "The Moonlit Road" and then of course we have a story called "The Thing on the Doorstep."

So here's my theory on why this keeps coming up:

someone had a post earlier on why we see so many evil/demented women in fantasy. I commented that I think it has something to do with fantasy being male-dominated (which I'm not sure if this is 100% true, it's an educated guess... especially considering that we are right now in the early 1900s in our reading) I said that it is because we fear the UNKNOWN, and women are like a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle with no two pieces that fit together for a man. So, I would assume that the writers using "Thing" would think that this would be more horrifying, because the narrator has no other way, or wants to, describe what they are experiencing.

So what do ya'll think about the use of "Thing"? Does it make it more horrific that it is unknown or do we just have some writers with poor imaginations?

Oscars snub Chris Nolan... again.

Yeah, it's me again. I promise, I'm keeping it short this time.

Oscar nominations are up, and I was shocked (as are many, from what I've read) that there were a whopping 6 people up for the 'Best Director' category--and Christopher Nolan isn't one of them. Inception is nominated for just about everything it could be, and yet the man behind the movie had been ignored by the Academy Awards, just as he was for his work on The Dark Knight. No doubt there are angry Nolan fans everywhere. I'm sure he feels like crap, as well.

Okay, mini rant is over. Sorry.
[Of course, anyone in class last semester knows I would vote for Nolan for Best Director, (or maybe Arnofsky... but probably Nolan) and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for Best Actor. teehee]

Dead Space 2

So, I bought Dead Space 2 last night and its actually a really really good game. It improves on the first in almost every way. It is also now (at least as far as I have made it), a lot like the F.E.A.R. games. It also strangely fits really well with our women-directed horror and psychological is-it-real or is-it-in-your-head themes. Here are some (admittedly) pretty bad videos I took while I played it.

They aren't really very spoilerful, and certainly arent anything youll be like, crap, I just unlocked the whole story kind of spoilers. Just some examples of the horror you are to experience in the cut scenes. Ill see if I can get some combat videos later for those who haven't seen or heard much of Dead Space.

Video clip 1
Video clip 2
Video clip 3

All in all, I would give it a 3 out of 5 on the scare scale. With 4 being the scariest game ive ever played and no game ive ever seen or played being yet worthy of a 5 from me. I would also give it a 5 for enjoyment if anyone was debating whether getting this game or not.

What is it with women?

I've started pondering about how a ton of fiction portrays women as evil, as do modern horror movies. What do you think it is that makes women so scary? Does it tie into the history of men fearing that women are tied closely with nature, which is seen to be evil? It seems the women mostly prey upon men in the horror tales we've been reading. Just something to ponder...

The Curse of the Pink Shirt

Hey all. Funny story: the other day I decided to see which of my professors had the distinction of having their own little slice of Wikipedia devoted to them, and lo and behold, our own Andy Duncan is the only one (link's in the title). But that isn't my favorite part. The thing that had me smiling all day was the fact that single picture in the entry is of Andy in his now semi-famous pink shirt. It really did make me laugh. Andy, I just thought you should know that this shirt is haunting you. Attempts to get rid of it will be futile.

ALSO, I am a big fan of StumbleUpon, and a lot of the things I find there end up on the blog in some form or fashion. For example, this week I bring you movie buffs a list of the 55 sci-fi and fantasy movies to look forward to in 2011. Looks like it should be a pretty good year...

ALSO, I hope everyone is enjoying the readings because I know I am. Short stories are the best (at least if you ask me).

Harry Potter & other fun with fantasy-related costumes...

Sorry I'm blowing up the blog today. But since everyone else is showing off their Potter costumes...
I don't have any pictures of Rita Skeeter! :( Sad day, I know. BUT don't be too upset. You still get to see my nerdy Potter-fanatic self all decked out as Nymphadora Tonks. Honestly I like this costume the most anyway.

My Death Eater best friend and I duking it out at the book release party for The Deathly Hallows.

Note my Weird Sisters band tee. It has their tour dates on the back. :) I also drew his Dark Mark, which I don't think you can see here. Oh well.


We had him outnumbered, obviously.

And ignore what a terrible picture of me this is and check out the "Weasley is Our King" shirt. I believe this was for the Order of the Phoenix movie premiere.


AND last but not least... (I hope Katy doesn't kill me for posting this without asking--she knows where I sleep!)... bask in the awesomeness of Harley and Ivy... Halloween 2009.


Isn't Katy's hair amazing? :)))))

The Psychology of Horror

After reading some of our short stories from Straub, particularly The Adventure of the German Student, Berenice and The Yellow Wall Paper, I've been sort of plagued by thoughts about just how much of horror fiction is in fact "horror" as we think of it. Monsters, ghosts, strange happenings that cannot be explained, considered supernatural or paranormal. And honestly, after considering it, I've realized that a huge number of the movies and books considered horror or "scary movies" do not involve these things at all.

Maybe this is in response to seeing Black Swan too many times. I don't know. But think about it. In 'The German Student,' there is nothing to suggest any of the tale actually happened as the student tells it, at all. In fact, I'm led to believe it was mostly all in his head. One of the side effects of Irving's warning against being too introverted or obsessive about things.

Same goes for Poe's 'Berenice.' There are no monsters in this story. Only people. Sick people, who do the unimaginable. And you know what? I think it's more horrifying that way. People are the most dangerous monsters in the world, after all. Countless tales of real life and of fiction have proved it time and time again.

The Yellow Wall Paper is nothing more than the story of a woman who has been cooped up too long, not being listened to by those she trusts the most, who goes mad from the stress of it all. But yes. It is horrifying.

The Amityville Horror, if I'm remembering correctly, didn't actually have any monsters or anything in it, right? Just a man who went crazy and started killing his family? Even movies and books which do have ghosts and things, like The Shining... Is any of it even real? Or just what someone is making up in his/her head, induced by the feelings he or she gets from the environment and legends passed through time?

I'm sure we've all seen Fight Club, yes? If not... go watch it/read it. You'll be glad you did. Think about that for a moment when considering horrifying works of fiction. It isn't exactly in the horror genre on the shelves at Blockbuster, but I think the premise behind the whole movie is one of the scariest things that can happen to a person.

So... What are your thoughts on what makes something true horror? How much of the genre today (or in history) is actually psychology-related? Do 'real' monsters and ghosts make horror more enjoyable? Less believable? Do you feel closer to the story if it's all in someone's mind? Or is there any difference to you? Just something to ponder...

Ahead of the game...

I will not ruin anything for you, but I just finished The Haunting of Hill House. I must say I'm a little confused by the ending and I know I could at least get Andy's and Bailey's inputs on the story.

For those of you that have not read it, no worries! Andy chose the perfect story as a transition into reading entire books in short periods of time. It's a slow start but moves quickly once you get into it. I was really disappointed last night when I finished the book because I couldn't find the movie On Demand. I really need to get NetFlix...I was looking up the movies on trusty IMDB and noticed something odd. All the character names are the same in both, besides Dr. Montague. In 1963 he was Dr. Markway and in 1999 he was Dr. Marrow. Wonder why the movie makers had to change the character's name...

Now to read more Straub for next week and start Pretty Monsters. My other classes can wait ;)

Hello

Hey all, I'm Mary Grace. I grew up right here in Tuscaloosa and we have a few ghost stories. You are all probably familiar with Old Bryce, but there's another somewhat famous tale concerning a house near the Waysider called the Drish Home. It's actually featured in 13 Alabama Ghosts.

Because I'm lazy, I'll just link you all to the story -> http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lelandva/drish.html

That's about all I know of local ghost lore.

Back in middle school, I was actually quite interested in the type of fantastic horror that we are covering. I read just about every book of ghost stories that I could get my hands on. This grew into a love of fantasy and SciFi in general. Of course, I love the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. Harry Potter is also one of my favorite series, though sometimes I feel as if that is terribly cliche. I've read several book by Holly Black, focused on Faeries, you know, the kind that steal your children, not the kind that take you to Never land. I am also a fan of Tamora Pierce. There are many more that I can't quite remember right now without going through my collection of books, which is currently at my parents' house.

I'll watch just about any kind of horror movie and oftentimes have trouble finding someone with whom to watch them. I love the thrill and the suspense. I am currently obsessed with the show Fringe, which is a wonderful cross between horror and SciFi. I was also quite in love with Lost, at least until the last season, which was a total cop out (I could rant about that for days).

I was raised by Trekkies (not Trekkers, let there be no confusion), so I know more about Star Trek than any person should unwillingly know.

About Clute, I think that the basic outline is pretty accurate, though I have encountered several stories (not just in Straub) that completely disregard the Aftermath phase. Sometimes this seems to make a horror story more...well, horrific. Without a conclusion, the horror is still present and capable of continuing the story. We see horror movies do this to an almost disgusting degree to set up for sequels.

I really look forward to this semester!

Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows Part 1 @ midnight!

I have a polaroid I took with a death eater from the midnight book release of The Deathly Hallows that I'll post when I get the chance to scan it onto my computer. As for photos I currently have, these are from The midnight premiers of The Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows Part 1. Yes, I am casting the lumos spell. Professor Flitwick taught me well, I got an O in Charms on my OWLs!

Half-Blood Prince Midnight Premier

Deathly Hallows: Part 1 Midnight Premier

Sorta Creepy Poe Story

Just thought I'd post this story I just found since we went over Poe in class today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110119/ap_on_en_ot/us_poe_mystery_visitor_7

Back to the Begining

I think that every post before mine did a great job of covering Clute's analysis. I agree that his use of language was evocative and that his general theory was sound (if nearly universally applicable). What Clute describes is a perverse version of the theory of stage magic presented in The Prestige. The first stage of an illusion is "the pledge": the audience is show that all is as it appears. In horror the pledge is twisted to show the reader that something is not quite normal. "The pledge" can be seen to combine both the "sighting" and the "thickening". The next stage is "the turn" in which the magician, in this case the author, makes the object presented do something extraordinary (or extraordinarily horrific). This is the "revel" in which the world is turned upside down and expectations are defied. However, during this stage, the audience is looking for the trick. Surely there must be something that can reconcile what they are experiencing with their internalized understanding of the how the universe works. Then there is the final aspect, "the prestige." In this part, "you see something that you have never seen before." In magic, this tends to be something that shocks you out of your state of skepticism and into a state of wonder. In horror, "the prestige" or the "aftermath" is the revelation that "the world so exposed is in fact the real world," which pushes the audience from a state of confusion, terror, or disgust to the state of horror.

While I do not have much experience in the genre (what little experience I have is derived mostly from Michael Crichton novels and the game Bioshock) and do not have any ghost tales of my own to tell, I am really excited about this class. Like John, my tastes in literature have a rich fantasy pedigree. I began with Redwall, the Chronicles of Narnia, ect. moving on to pulp high fantasy such as Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms. From there I moved to better high fantasy such as Mercedes Lackey and Michael A. Stackpole. I confess I am not a Tolkien fan, I like his plots but cannot stand his writing style. Recently, most of my reading has been directed at Scifi however. The little fantasy I have had time to read lately has been either Terry Pratchett (who is a great satirist/fantasy author) or Piers Antony (who I must confess I read not for literary merit).

Hey Team, It's Me

Hey,
I'm Joe. I am from Birmingham and my major focuses on film. I only repeat that after having said it in class because that is pretty much the source of my encounters with fantasy/horror. I watch a lot of movies so that is where most of my exposure comes from. And since I am from Birmingham, there are really very few local legends/ghost stories that are in any way original.

My great grandmother's house was rumored to have been haunted by Confederate soldiers (like I said, not original). Upon learning this I became scared to go over there and was creeped out the whole time I was there. I later found out that she had moved out of said haunted house before I was born which I think probably says more about me than it does the paranormal.

I have visited "Old Bryce" but the only figures I saw there were the police officers who kicked me out and called me a trespasser. They did tell me that they keep the light on in the crematory out back (which I did see) but that really seems more like an unnecessary waste of public energy than a creepy occurrence. I feel like my stories aren't very scary...

My mom also used to own the book 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey but I was just a small child when we had it so I couldn't read it and I just remember that all the pictures were conveniently blurry. It is supposed to be true, but since a lot of the class is native to Alabama, that is not really specific to me.

As I said, I am a big movie person so that is where I get most of my horror/fantasy. I like the common ones listed by other people (though I greatly prefer Star Wars to The Lord of The Rings). My favorite horror filmmaker is Hitchcock but mostly I like it when a director who is known for other genres tries their hand at horror (e.g. Coppola with Bram Stoker's Dracula, Spielberg with Jaws, and Scorsese with Shutter Island).

I thought the Clute article was interesting. I agree with the idea that these genres came about as a cultural response (Hawthorne makes this abundantly clear) but I fail to see how his four parts apply specifically to horror. As was discussed in class, they are common to all stories as they seem to be a different way of labeling the traditional model of storytelling (exposition to rising action to climax to falling action to resolution).

So far I think the short stories are cool, hopefully they stay that way.

Intro/Clute

Hi all,

My name is Parker Dennison and this is the first time I’ve been associated with a blog outside of reading one. My only other experience with posting on a blog was the ill-fated attempt a friend and I had a couple of years ago with starting a sports blog (we signed up and everything!). So hopefully I’ll do better this time.

I have been a fan of horror in literature and movies for a long time. I grew up reading Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Tom Clancy, and John Grisham because those were the books my Dad was in to, so I think that gave me a good start in horror, sci-fi, and thrillers. Of those, King is the one that I have read/enjoyed the most and still have the most to read of because he’s written roughly 700 novels and short stories. He wasn’t kidding about that constant reader thing if you want to finish all his work. I’ll also say that the only time I have ever had a nightmare from the reading of a book was while reading “IT,” so if you want one to really freak you out that is a good one to start with. Over the last few years I’ve gotten big into H.P. Lovecraft because it seems to me that he is writing a different type of horror story. Many horror stories have a single villain/monster that is the antagonist. Not Lovecraft, one monster is just not enough for him; he needs an entire mythology with ancient evils that cause insanity just by their mere presence. I love his use of the psychological horror that sometimes may only be hinted at. This type of psychological fear is what I really like in horror movies. My favorite horror films are “The Thing” and “Alien” because they mix themes like isolation, paranoia, and fear of the unknown with great sci-fi settings. Also I’m a sucker for slasher movies like the Halloween series, artistic value be damned. I’m looking forward to seeing the films we have ahead of us in this class and hope to get plenty more good recommendations.

I’m not as versed on sci-fi/fantasy movies and books as I’d like to be but I’ve got a decent enough background. Like I said I love Crichton because of his ability to write a great sci-fi story and back it up with enough research to make you wonder if his stories are actually possible. Of course I have made my way through the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings books a few times and loved them as it seems everyone here has. One of my favorite sci-fi series was the Ender’s Game series. They were great books to read when I was younger that made me much more interested in Sci-Fi as a genre. Also the sci-fi writer that I most want to get into is Vonnegut so maybe someone here has an idea on the best place to start.

As it goes with paranormal experiences I guess I have two:

1) I grew up in Elora, TN where we have a farm. My Dad grew up on the farm and said that he and my aunt would go down to the old train track that ran though part of it to see a ghostly light that would travel down the track some nights. He said the light was supposedly the ghost of a worker on the train who would get off the train at night to move debris off the track. He carried a lantern to see what he had to move off the track. One night he fell on the track and was run over by the train and from then on you could see a ghostly light moving down the track some nights. Clichéd I know, but that’s what he told me and my brother.

2) I moved to Huntsville, AL when I was 15 and the ghost story there was about “Dead Children’s Playground.” It is a small playground behind Maple Hill Cemetery which I believe is the oldest one in Huntsville. Supposedly there was a serial killer in the 50’s(?) that killed some children and buried them under the playground. Not sure about that but I will say that the Dead Children’s Playground is very freaky at night but we didn’t hear any children crying when we went there but we didn’t stay too long. Supposedly there is a group of Satanists that hold a ritual there every Halloween night, so that’s fun too.

On to Clute( finally, I know). This is a very interesting article and I definitely agree with most of it. To me he is saying that Horror as a genre is the reaction to the fear of the unknown about our surroundings that will always exist. We can learn everything we can about the world around us, but it will never be enough and there will always be something lurking in the darkness that we just don’t understand. His four-part model is also very interesting. I thought of the way Lovecraft sets up his stories immediately upon reading it. Lovecraft hints at a great evil in the world, builds up tension with the main character, reveals the horror to the main character, and then shows the protagonist that what they have seen is how the world is and there is nothing they can do about it. I love this idea in horror that the story can end without a happy ending and the story is better for it.

Thoughts on Clute/ "The Yellow Wallpaper"

Hope everyone had a great long weekend! Also as Director of Communications for SOURCE I MUST say this: SPRING GET ON BOARD DAY TOMORROW IN THE FERG BALLROOM 10AM-3PM! GET INVOLVED ON CAMPUS!!!

Ok, first I would like to comment on Clute: in agreement with most of you, I too, think that his 4-part model is pretty accurate/useful for most "fantastic" texts (I say most, because there is always that one that strays...). Again, I agree with some of you that have aforementioned that they found It's A Wonderful Life to be an odd example to use after a discussion on horror texts, but hey, I guess it worked Clute. Unfortunately, I'm now kind of scared I will look at the movie at a 4-part model of fantastic horror...

I think that this model is easiest to see in longer texts, like screenplays and novels, but I think it is also reflected in our short stories in sort of an expedited style. It is so very evident in The Haunting, but as I'm sure most of you haven't read it before now, I won't spoil it. Let's just say it's a nearly perfect example (remember that I called this out before anyone when we get to that discussion...) I also think that the easiest way to identify this model is through "the sighting." I'm glad there is a formal word for it, because in some of my notes I have used the phrase "foreshadowing? kinda?" when you see that first sign that this is going a horror way, not a feel-good fairy tale way.

And, to go ahead and get ya'll all geared up for my leading of a class discussion tomorrow, here's what I find to be most note-worthy about "The Yellow Wall Paper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman:

-the statement it makes about women being submissive: at the very beginning, we are not sure if she is "ill" or if her oppressive husband and brother are making her think she is

-"the sighting": the angles of the wall paper pattern "commit suicide" (it can be said that most of the metaphors used to describe the pattern are gruesome, morbid, etc.)

-the importance of the PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE. I would argue this is one necessary part of the horror/fantastic model that Clute left out. I think it is entirely critical to show psychological affects on the characters in order to make the story effective. Without the psychological collapse of our narrator, we would not consider this story "horrific;" it would merely be a story about really bad wall paper.

More in class, I could go on and on about this stuff, but I think it will be more fun to see what ya'll have to say :)

SEE YOU AT SPRING GET ON BOARD DAY!!!!!!!

Matt Meng intro post and thoughts on Clute

Hey all

I'm one of the Matts in the class and due to the popularity of my first name I've learned to respond to Matt, Matthew, or Meng over the years. Contrary to what most people think when they see my last name, I am not Asian. Actually my last name was Menger (German) before those bastards on Ellis Island condemned my family to countless calls from people spewing unintelligible asain languages. I have never blogged before although I read a few (nyc.barstoolsports.com) so I'm looking forward to the experience.

Most of my experience with fantasy has come through epic fantasy. My great grandfather gave me a set of LOTR when I was in elementary school and ever since then I've been hooked. I've read and re-read more fantasy series than I can remember so if anyone ever wants recommendations let me know. Some of my favorite fantasy authors have been Tolkien, Rowling, Hobb, Jordan, and recently Sanderson (just to name a few). I read voraciously throughout elementary, middle, and high school but my reading really dropped off until I discovered Kindle for the iPhone and iPad and now I can't stop (my parents actually got mad at me for spending too much money on the kindle store if you can believe that, I couldn't) I've never been much into Sci-Fi although I'm currently reading the Caine series by Stover and I've enjoyed some of the sci-Fi elements in it. I love horror films and I've enjoyed a few horror themed video games (dead space, Alan wake, resident evil series) but I've never really read much horror besides studying Poe in high school.

On Clute:
I thought it was incredible that he could break down any horror story into four parts (I especially liked part 3 "revel"). I thought that his line that sci-Fi "declares that certain fixes answer the world" was, in my experience, maybe a little off. Most sci-Fi I've had experience with shows how humans attempt to fix the world with technology and their utopia usually collapses in epic fashion showing that their solutions don't work. I totally agree that fantasy gives people escape into another world which is one of the reasons I love the genre. I also agree with his assessment of horror as giving insight to the "prison of the world".


Sent from my iPad

l'aventure de l'étudiant allemand

So, just to know what you guys think, I figured I would start my discussion here on the blog. Washington Irving's The Adventure of the German Student seemed like your basic old-time horror story, right? The student is having weird dreams, is borderline mental before the night of the actual story even occurs. Then lo and behold, he meets the girl of his dreams, literally. But of course this is a horror tale, and not everything is what it seems. Basically, he has sex with a dead chick. :| Awkwarrrrd.

So let's analyze a little bit. Speculate. Theorize. Personally, I'm not sure if any of it actually happened. It could have all been in his head, as is the way of many fantastic tales and horror stories. He might have been in the mental institution the whole time. Not to mention the narrator at the end, who was also in the mad-house. Who says we can even trust him? Perhaps he made the whole thing up. What do you all think?

I looked up some other things about the story, and Irving's message overall... It was apparently written as a criticism of "enthusiast" nature. The German student ignores reason and is a dreamer. He leads an unhealthy, obsessive lifestyle. And what happens to him? He goes mad. Irving is warning his readers not to behave this way, and to listen to reason, keep themselves level-headed and grounded so they do not endure the same fate. The setting and mentions of the French Revolution also play part in his symbolism, but I don't really feel like getting into that. Feel free to comment on it if it interests you. Overall, I just think this was a classic little creepy story to read and enjoy.

Hey yall my name is Jennifer but you might as well just call me Pansy. I will go ahead and volunteer to be the chicken of the class. When we watch these movies, I will be the one hiding under the table. When we read some of these novels, I will be the one calling my mother and having her calm me down about the material. I AM excited to read these horror stories despite my pitiful tolerance for scary anything though.

I do have experience in fantasy and LOVE it. I play all the Harry Potter/LOTR games on sporcle that they have. Witches, vampires, zombies, werewolves, dragons etc. all fascinate me and I have read about them for years. Before I had my 11th birthday, I would pray to get a letter from Hogwarts because I wanted it to be real so badly.....yeah I'm a nerd....

As far as my experience with all things paranormal, I'm severely lacking yet NOT complaining. It fascinates me but I'm not big on being scared. That would be why I have never read horror. When I read, I read to escape my world and relax in another. Scaring myself silly is not my idea of relaxing. I apologize in advance for my opinions in class because they will more than likely be similar to the obnoxious "it wasn't a happy ending so I didn't like it" variety.

I really am excited for this class. I've always wanted to read Steven King and I'm glad I finally have an excuse. Buena suerte con este semestre a todos!

Jenn

Katy, correct my Spanish when it's wrong please :)

Introductions

Hello, everybody, this is Matt LaCoste, I'm a gamer and a nerd, not really sure what else to say, I've always hated having to describe myself.

I've been a fan of fantasy as long as i can remember, especially fantasy along the lines of Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, dragons and magic, that kind of thing, my dad first introduced me to Tolkein sometime around when i was in first grade, maybe a bit sooner, I can't remember exactly when. I've also always been a fan of science fiction like Star Wars. As far as movies go, I have never been that big on horror, given a choice, I'll take a comedy over a horror movie almost every time, but I still do like a good horror movie, and I do mean GOOD horror movies, not those god awful blood and gore movies like Saw, I can't stand that.

Now for my own experience with the paranormal and whatnot. I personally do not believe in the supernatural, I've always been the scientific minded, "show me proof" kind of person, but that still doesn't stop me from getting scared during a horror movie. Anyway I'm from New Orleans, I lived there pretty much my entire life until I came to Alabama. My grandparents live downtown in the French quarter, they retired years ago, but the still work as tour guides in the city, and one of the tours that my Grandmother gives is one of the "Ghost tours" in the city, which goes by many of the supposedly haunted spots, places where someone was murdered, or committed suicide, or some other gruesome thing, and there she would tell the story of what happened, and why people thought the place was haunted and all that stuff. Anyway my Grandmother always used to bring me and my cousins along on these tours with the group and try to give us all a good scare. I'm not going to get into any of these stories because I don't really remember the details well enough to tell them, and besides its one of those things that you really have to actually be there to get the effect, but anyway that's about all I've got to say about this

My personal experiences with the paranormal.

Professor Duncan and Meg both commented on my post regarding what I've actually experienced. I figured I'd just post it here. The small town that I'm from is Jemison, Alabama. It's a really small offshoot of Clanton in Chilton County, if anyone's ever seen the giant peach water tower right off of 65, that's Clanton. I'm mainly reluctant to share my stories, because everyone I've ever told just brushes it off or thinks I'm a complete and utter loon. Also, they still frighten me a bit.

Both of my great-grandparents died in the house we live in about 2 years ago. It isn't an old house, it was built maybe 30 years ago by my great-grandparents. We've always lived with them and taken care of them. Both died slow deaths from cancer, which is a really hard thing to watch. My great-grandfather passed first, a year before my great-grandmother, and right after he died we started having things happen around the house. My mom, great-grandmother, brother and I were all sitting around in the living room chatting one night when a table-fan that was sitting on a table flew across the room. No one was near it, it wasn't on therefore it did not work it's way off the table, the cord was not tugged, it was nowhere near the edge of the table, and when I say flew I mean it had a lot of force put behind it, almost as if someone threw it. We've also been having shadow people, we'll be sitting around an see a black figure standing in the hallway or doorways of room. We've had voices whispering and calling to us, laughing. I've run several times into the living room because I thought I heard someone call for me, but no one was home.

We've also heard screams, which have me and my mom meeting in the hallway thinking something is wrong with the other. There have been doors that close by themselves and other objects moving by themselves when no one was near. We have recurring dark masses floating around, they seem to focus more on my mother than me. I can remember her telling me about the black masses years before my great-grandparents became significantly ill. They come through the walls and cover her, which leads to her being paralyzed. She has also experienced them entering her body through her chest. It has happened twice while I was home and I would run into her room, because she was screaming and as I turned on the light I saw a flash of it withdraw. My dad has experienced things scratching the walls and the closet doors. We've even had our old door bell ring and play haunting music, the thing is that there's no battery or any source of power in or going to the doorbell. It hasn't worked since I was 5.

Needless to say my mom and I were frightened to begin with, but fortunately things have settled down a bit and it's been about 6 months since anything has happened. We just started to ignore it and not get scared when stuff did happen, and it looks as though that's working. I've spent many a sleepless night in our house, because I can feel breath on my cheek or have someone whisper in my ear. I'm just glad things have died down to where we can function like normal human beings in our home. We want to think that maybe it was my grandparents trying to let us know they're still with us, but we're not sure what it was.

**EDIT** On a lighter note: my tastes in fantasy literature... I meant to post this earlier, but forgot in all of my posts.

Let me start by saying I love Tolkien. The Hobbit was my best friend my Freshman year of high school. I love, love, love Harry Potter! I've went to all the midnight book releases as well as midnight showings of the movies. I'm just your regular, everyday Ravenclaw although I don't have a Ravenclaw tie so I usually don the dress of a Griffyndor. I know, shun me for being untrue to my house! I have read all of the Twilight series, and (hate me if you will) am a fan. I also enjoy the Sookie Stackhouse novels and Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. As for movies and tv series, I love Harry Potter, Star Wars, LOTR, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, True Blood, A Haunting, Paranormal State, and The Walking Dead. I'm sure there's more I can't think of right now, but there ya go!

Ready. Set. Go.

Greeting, greetings one and all! Welcome to this, the first of many blog posts. My name is John, and I'll be your tour guide today as we take an excited and fun-filled journey through the deep reaches of my previous experience with fantastical fiction (mind the horror bits, they may not be appropriate for all ages), with a small detour at the end to "The Gallery of What I Think About What Clute Thinks" (our newest exhibit). Please, no flash photography, no touching the exhibits, and, for god's sake, ask a couple of questions! That's what guides are for, right? And, for those interested, you will be able to stop off in the gift shop before you depart. Right this way!


Well, when it comes to fantasy in its many forms, I must admit that I've always been a more high fantasy sort of guy. I remember when I was very young and on a long car trip my dad told my brother and I the story of The Hobbit from memory (we can only assume he did it with some accuracy, because I can't quite remember, and he would never admit to the contrary). It was AWESOME. Blew me away. Even at my tender age, I knew that this was some heavy, badass, epic stuff. So I started reading (or being read) more and more fantasy. I started with the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, moved to McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern, and then graduated to Tolkien himself. Man, what a trip. I wasn't reading stories anymore. No, these were tales, tomes, and adventures of the grandest nature. As best I could, I jumped in feet first in elementary school, and I haven't looked back since.

There were, of course, numerous other literary experiences along the way (mostly in the realm of science fiction), but there was one other notable bit of fantasy from my childhood that we all know and love: Harry Potter. I mean, come on! We grew up with this kid. Granted, he had a way cooler (or way WAY worse, depending on how you look at it) childhood and education, but we could all still relate to those characters in one way or another. I will call you a liar if you say you read those books and never wanted to be a wizard, go to Hogwarts, or have Harry, Ron, and Hermione as friends. This was Pokemon-level childhood defining shit right here. And that's big. It created a whole generation of fantasy lovers, of one kind or another.

And now we come to horror and the creepy crawlies and whatnot. I can't say I've had too many literary encounters with the dark fantastic before. I usually enjoy scary movies, and I've seen plenty of them (anyone else seen Hellraiser? Not enough have... Its really good! Makes you think.). What I have read has been basically limited to assorted Stephen King works, with a big emphasis on his short stories. I love those things. My favorite (and likely the one least related to the supernatural) is called The Long Walk which he wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. Highly recommended. I've also delved into horror board games with Arkham Horror, the H.P. Lovecraft game. Its kinda like Clue, but actually fun and filled with monsters and the potential end of the world. So, long story short, I'm looking forward to expanding my understanding and involvement with dark fantasy/horror. Should be fun.

Finally, now that we've reached the end of our tour, we can take a look at Clute's interpretation of fantastic horror. In the excerpt we were provided, Clute defines the differences between sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, and then goes on to provide an outline for "many horror stories." I have to agree with him on all points, I think. I particularly agree with how he defines the triplet sub-genres of fiction. And I find myself agreeing with the outline of horror simply because it is so simple. It is straight forward, accurate, and basic. It is these things to such an extent, that even non-horror stories can easily be applied. So while I agree with the structure and the application, I am a bit disappointed in the simplicity. This is not to say that I believe I could do it any better. I just wish there was something more. Maybe something deeper, maybe something different, but I wish there was something fundamentally horrifying. But maybe that's the beauty of it. You never know exactly what is going to happen...

We just figured out Clute's clues...

Because we're really smart?

Yeah, I don't know. It's late. I get a little odd in the wee hours. (As opposed to being so normal during the day.... :| )

So I just read through Clute's model and I have to say it does indeed seem to work for just about any story out there. In fact, I know I remember hearing George Lucas use a very similar description for his model of an epic plot. Something like "First, you introduce all of your characters and establish the scene. You bring in the major problems and the plot begins." i.e., Clute's Sighting and Thickening methods. This would be Star Wars: A New Hope. Lucas went on to something such as "In the middle of the story, you build up to the worst possible point you could imagine your characters being in." This is of course the Revel, the big event that screws everyone over. Empire Strikes Back. Han is frozen in carbonite. Luke is a cyborg now. Vader and the Emperor's plans are going swimmingly as far as the Rebels know. It sucks. "In the third act, you get them out of it." Couldn't have said it better myself, George. So yeah. This is the Aftermath. We know what happens in Return of the Jedi. The Jedi return. The Ewoks are happy and dancing occurs throughout the galaxy because the Death Star, Jr., is dead along with its commanders.

Every story needs a beginning, a middle and an end, so yeah. Clute's model works for those. One thing I can say I really liked about his article is the language used. Like Meg, the Revel section in particular made me happy. "...good becomes evil; parody becomes
jurisprudence; the jester is king; Hyde lives; autumn is the growing season." Simplistic enough, but powerful images and ideas we're all familiar with. It gets the point across while making perfect examples.

As far as horror and fantasy embodying how we see the world/want to see it, I agree for the most part. Sure, some horror is probably just written to weird people out or because the author likes to scare people. Not everything has to allude to some parallel in our world. But plenty of it does, in horror and fantasy. I do agree that fantasy is mostly taking things we wish we could see in the world, or changing things we already have seen and making them more pleasing, more exciting, more dangerous. Because it's fun to escape. I definitely have used fiction and movies to take a mental vacation my entire life. I still do very frequently. It keeps me sane or adds to my slight insanity. Either way, I'm hooked.

Scattered Thoughts on Clute

Some thoughts on Clute, scattered as they may be:

* Is there any word better than "revel"? His definition is just fantastic and has given me an idea for something I want to write. If I actually follow through, it would possibly be my first horror piece.

* Clute's thoughts on the origin of horror were fascinating, I suppose because I haven't thought about it before. Horror as a rejection of, I guess, superior Enlightenment-ideas is an interesting perspective to take. However, I'm having difficulty accepting that this is entirely the place from which horror was born. Perhaps I'm broadening the category and we mean--or Clute means--to be only discussing a smaller group of stories, but I would argue that stories about ghosts, demons, witches, unexplained things, and what-have-you have been around for a long time, with older civilizations, before "Enlightened Europeans" mattered. --Am I totally missing the point? I feel like it's unfair for me to want to contradict him, but I would want to suppose that other tales that even fit his model of horror have existed before this period to which he attributes horror as being a response to. The issue is that I really have no idea; further, I am probably wanting to count oral tradition and folktales, which were not often written down. --And now that I've gotten this far, I would suppose that Clute is saying horror isn't JUST ghosts, demons, etc. as I mentioned above but ALSO or maybe INSTEAD this model of a plot. (Anybody following me? Any thoughts?)

* ON THAT NOTE, I was surprised by this article when I read that Clute had mentioned It's A Wonderful Life. I've read here on the blog that some of my classmates have expressed similar surprise and/or doubts at the example. I will say that as I read through the four-step process I immediately thought of "Young Goodman Brown," which we are reading for this week (and which I had read in the past and, as a thirteen-year-old, remembered as "the dumbest story ever"). Oddly enough, I want to give Clute the benefit of the doubt. Classifying literature, stories, etc. is difficult if even possible, and Clute's model doesn't claim that things like Texas Chainsaw Massacre are not horror but, rather, that "horror" is a much broader term which we have come to narrow through repeated use. What comes to mind is the idea of gothic novels--the modern idea of what the word "gothic" means (from our pop culture, i.e.) is different from what it means in a more literary and historic context. Therefore, in a weird way, I'm willing to accept what Clute has to say about horror because I'm pretty impressed. --However, I do think that when one hypothesizes a certain "model" for a story or type of story, it's extremely easy to find ways for many diverse stories to fit into it. [I once did a project on Beauty and the Beast stories. Going off what I guess I would call a folklore model, i.e. a definitive list of the parts that make a story a Beauty and the Beast-type story, I included in my project Inuyasha--a modern Japanese manga. It may have been a stretch, in that the plot is much more than the Beauty and the Beast model, but I was able to argue it successfully.] --Regardless, I am willing to listen to Mr. Clute. For the purposes of this course, however, the "It's A Wonderful Life-as-horror" model may be irrelevant.

* ALSO, (sorry, y'all), while I can go on his shorter definition of horror in comparison to science fiction and fantasy, I would want to investigate science fiction and fantasy more thoroughly before, I guess, believing him. I guess it's the definition for science fiction that bugs me the most. --Those of y'all that know more about science fiction than me: what do you think?

Maybe it's the fact that I've had several Blogger blogs before--but there's just something about a post editor like this that makes me want to write forever. Begging your pardon,

Meg

Lets get this party started

Hey everyone, this is Ken, I am a veteran of Andy's as well as I have taken his sci-fi class back in '09. I am a bonafide nerd, not gonna lie. I like video games, movies, books, etc.

I will admit I have not read a lot of horror, but I consume horror in a lot of other ways. Movies for one. I love a good horror movie and range from zombies, vampires (which by the way do not wear glitter. Meaning, I disregard twilight as vampires), slasher movies, etc. Some of Johnny Depp's movies are great, and I'm not talking about Pirates (although Pirates is good as well), I mean movies like The Ninth Gate, The Astronauts Wife, From Hell, Secret Window, and Sweeney Todd. If you havent seen these movies, let me know and I can let you borrow them, but I do want them back!

Although, my favorite medium of horror is video games. This is primarily because only in video games are you actually immersed inside the horror and are not just watching it unfold like in movies or books. If you want a good game that will freak you out, try the F.E.A.R. games or the Fatal Frame games. They are both quite impressively scary and will keep you scared after you play them.

My other fantasy experiences are in the "Epic" Fantasy genre. I absolutely love medieval fantasy with magic, swords, knights, dragons, etc. So LOTR is awesome, AGoT (A Game of Thrones) series is totally awesome (I havent finished the series yet, but I am working on it when I have free time). AGoT is coming to HBO in april by the way, which I am wordlessly excited about.

I dont have any personal horror or haunting stories that I can think of. The few times I have been to places that are supposedly haunted, I have not felt, seen, or experienced anything, so I am inclined to disbelief. Although, that does not mean I am careless and I am quite certain nothing good can come from certain actions. I, by default, assume all graveyards to be "haunted" in the sense that disturbing a grave will result in severe negative consequences (a "curse" if you will). Basically, taunting the dead or areas of "power" (religious areas, places where events of strong emotions occurred, etc)

Finally, on to Aclute's excerpt. I think it is absolutely stunning in its simplicity. Being able to break down every horror story, which can then be expanded to every fantasy story, to four simple parts is pretty awesome. Because this allows for easier analysis and comparison of stories.

*wall of text hits you for 9001 damage* yes, you read that right, it is OVER 9000. (I did mention I was a nerd right?)

To sum up, I apologize as I am long winded at times. But I am excited to get back into the flow of this class. For the newcomers, this class is one of the best classes you will have, so enjoy it and dont be afraid to blog random stuff!

--Ken

Story volunteers for Jan. 19 (corrected)

According to my notes, here are the folks leading our Jan. 19 discussions, story by story. Correct me if I err, please. And keep in mind that you needn't wait till Jan. 19; the discussion can begin sooner, here on the blog.

• Jordan Staggs: Irving, "The Adventure of the German Student"
• Katy Santi: Poe, "Berenice"
• Mark Penner: Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown"
• Ken Geller: O'Brien, "What Was It?"
• John Harris: Morrow, "His Unconquerable Enemy"
• Bailey Carpenter: Gilman, "The Yellow Wall Paper"
• Matt Meng: Chambers, "The Repairer of Reputations" (corrected from my original post) 
• Meg Brandl: Wynne, "The Little Room"
• Jennifer Palm: Atherton, "The Striding Place"

Intro Blog Post

Hey ya'll! This is Bailey (one of the class veterans) and I'm super excited to be back on one of Andy's blogs! (not gonna lie, I missed blogging when I got super excited about something really nerdy...)

So, that said, yes, I am a nerd, and darn proud of it, which means I do have experience with fantasy. Of course, I am a major Harry Potter fanatic, so that would throw out #1. I also get pretty excited for Tolkien, esp. Lord of the Rings. (Gandalf is my homeboy). I am a number one Disney kid, and I would say that qualifies as fantasy... I also had a near-obsession with "The Neverending Story" movie as a child that continues on into today. I really like wizards and magic and zombies and WITCHES. Gregory Maguire has made me pretty happy by twisting old fairy tales into full on novels that are slightly too believable. (for those who don't know he is the author of Wicked, but also has written several other novels that are just as amazing) As for horror, I have read some Stephen King short stories like "Children of the Corn" and "Night Shift" but I would say horror fiction is definitely something I would like to read more of since it so appeals to my morbid side. I have already read some of the books for the class and I am already impressed/hooked/coming up with paper topics! I will read pretty much anything fantasy, and at the top of my list I really want to read that Unicorns vs. Zombies short story collection/battle that I heard about last semester from Holly Black's blog...

Of course I have ghost stories that include:
-cry baby bridge (Leeds-ish, AL) where it is rumored you can hear the baby a mother threw off the bridge crying (I've never heard the baby, but I always get the most horrifying feeling driving down the road that goes to the bridge... quite terrifying. This area also has a Sacred Hollow road, I'll let your imagination run...)
-A graveyard in Irondale where my neighbor and his friend were sitting in an unmoving car when a bible on the dashboard unexplainably flew into the backseat with far too much force
-And finally, the house my mother has inherited from my family is a 100+ year old Victorian 6 bedroom home that all the local people say is haunted. I don't think so, but, then again, would my own family harass me in our home? Don't think so. But friends who have stayed there with me swear all the floorboards creak and door open/close of their own accord. Class field trip?

Looking forward to the semester! Keep up with your blogs and reading :)

Meg's Intro Post

Hey y'all. Meg here. I tend to write a lot. I'll try to be concise, but my apologies in advance.

As I mentioned in class, I don't do scary movies; I'm much too good at freaking myself out. Also, there's this show that comes on the Discovery Channel called A Haunting and there's one episode called A Haunting in Connecticut and I swear it is the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life.

I am a big fan of vampires--in high school I discovered Anne Rice and have read at least five of her vampire novels, including the big three in the Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, and Queen of the Damned. I've also read all of the Twilight series, and while I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan, I admit I have defended it on occasion (on the grounds that it is, while stupid, just a teen novel and not a model of behavior that I believe any girl would want to emulate... though, I don't know, maybe I overestimate the capacity of some people?)... and may have dressed up like Bella once. I just like costumes.

--Anyway, I've read some random other things that are fantasy-ish: a little Neil Gaiman, some Stephen King (I'm not too fond of him; I did enjoy Dark Tower but didn't finish the series), the entire Sookie Stackhouse vampire series by Charlaine Harris (before I'd even heard of True Blood, which I have only seen the first season of). I've watched a couple of episodes of Supernatural (clinging to my boyfriend and hiding behind him at the worst parts), loved this old show that used to come on Disney channel called So Weird (all about the paranormal--it was SO COOL, but it freaked me out), used to watch Are You Afraid of the Dark? but only while the sun was still up, and still turn on Ghost Hunters even though it sometimes leads to me staying up all night because I'm terrified. >< I'm also a fan of Japanese anime and manga, so I've seen a few things that I think count as horror (e.g. series called Blood+, Witch Hunter Robin, and Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust). I also read at least six or seven of the Vampire Hunter D novels, but I quickly picked up on how formulaic they were, and they weren't as "beautiful" as Anne Rice's vampires, so I lost interest.

Oh, and Harry Potter. If you were at the Cobb Theater standing in line outside for the midnight showing of the seventh movie, you may have seen me:

An attempt at Bellatrix thrown together in the chaos of Thursday football game-ness.

--Briefly I'll share some interesting stories: there's an antique store in my hometown that the owners claim is haunted, and my mother has told me that she and some friends once lived in a house that was haunted (she awoke to see a man standing over her bed, and she knew he was a ghost so she shouted the Lord's Prayer at him until he disappeared).

When I studied abroad in Japan, it was really interesting to find that ghosts were basically part of everyday culture. I went to a museum that had an exhibit of art devoted to ghosts, demons, etc. and it was fascinating--it's just a part of Shinto and a part of tradition that even everyday objects can turn into ghostline entities if you mistreat them. --There was some legend about the property our university was on; I don't remember what it was, but it was something about the fact that it had been Komatsu plant property (the plant was behind the school) and there was a big explosion and a bunch of people died so weird things happened on that part of the property, or something.

Also, the dorm I stayed in in Japan was right next to a graveyard. My friend who lived in another dorm (which was NOT next to the graveyard) told me that the "dorm mother" where she lived liked to watch the security monitors and supposedly saw ghosts on them. She never saw them in person, but every now and then she'd see a visitor with an entity following him or her as they moved through the dorm. It was a fact that she only saw ghosts following people who lived in my dorm--supposedly because we picked them up from the graveyard next door. I never wanted to ask if okaasan saw a ghost following me.

Lastly, I personally had, freshman year here at UA, what I thought were a few paranormal experiences. I would be having dreams where I was in a completely empty house but I knew something was there and it was making me increasingly uneasy. Finally at the end I would be panicking and trying to get out, realizing I was dreaming, but I couldn't move or open my eyes. I felt my body in my bed, but I couldn't escape. Once I felt like a force was pushing down hard on my chest, pinning me to the bed, and another time I dreamed that I woke up to the head of my bed rising up off the bedframe, slowly sitting me up, as if something was pushing it. When I awoke for real the covers were undisturbed, so I figured it couldn't have really happened, but for the longest time I thought that some kind of demon had been attacking me in my sleep. I have since randomly come across articles on the internet and concluded that all of this is connected to what is referred to as "lucid dreaming," which is a frightening phenomenon to read about in the first place. Whatever the case, I almost never sleep on my back anymore.

Thanks for reading. ^^;

~Meg

Clute's model for horror...

What makes the horror genre so appealing to me is that sense of foreboding. I didn't finish reading The Notebook and spend the night fearing the love of my life was hiding in my closet, waiting for me to close my eyes and kill me, but after seeing Saw or Child's Play I find myself being more cautious about my actions and avoiding talking dolls. To me, you can have any model in the world, but in order to have horror you have to have the element of the tale that strikes fear and sits with people for days/months/years.

I agree that most horror stories unfold in the way Clute describes, but I think this is a simplistic model of what any story has. I think what is unique about horror is the sense of foreboding in the aftermath. At the end of romance, comedy, and children's tales things usually are placed in a neat little box and tied with a bow of “happily ever after.” The thing that sets the horror genre apart is the aftermath. Without the sense that nothing more can be done and still a bit of worry I wouldn't feel right calling it horror. I don't watch Nightmare on Elm St. and expect the end to be the end of Freddy. I always have an ominous feeling and end up fearing for days on end that sleeping will lead to my ultimate demise. The extreme honesty about how horrible the world can be is what draws the people into the horror genre.

Clute's Thoughts

I tend to be longwinded, sorry about that. I'll try to keep things shorter.

I found this article very interesting! I never would have thought about comparing three genre's views of the world and its problems. After reading what Clute wrote, I can easily agree with his argument, though as with everything, the lines between genres can easily be blurred.

His analysis of the four phases of horror also makes sense. However, I think this is not seen only in horror. Compare the four phases of the monomyth cycle or even to the simple gradeschool definition of a story: beginning, climax, end. Must it follow the four phases to be horror or if it contains the four phases does that make it horror?

I have not seen "It's a Wonderful Life" since I was young, so I do not remember it well enough to see the phases. However, another Christmas movie that seems to follow the phases is "A Christmas Carol". The sighting could be when Scrooge sees Marley's ghost, the thickening when he travels with the first two ghosts, the revel when he is with Christmas Future and the aftermath when he wakes up. But you could also say it follows the monomyth: the call to action, trip underworld, and change of the character.

Clute's phases do make me more confident about watching scary movies. Now that I think about it, his phases are similar to the scary movie jokes everyone always says such as who is going to die first, when the jumpy moments are and the jump at the very end after everything is over. At least I know what to look out for now.

My Fantasy Experiences

As you heard in class, I live in a tiny town just above Birmingham called Pinson. It is currently frozen solid. I have lived there since I was three and before I was here in Tuscaloosa.

I have always been a quiet person, especially in school. I came out of my shell in high school, but before that I mostly stuck to books and my small circle of friends. Fantasy is my favorite genre and definitely got me through the horrible eight years I spent in the Pinson school system before going on to JCIB. I have always been easily scared, so I tend to avoid scary movies. To me, the scariest movie/story I have ever heard is "The Shining". No matter how many times I watch it, I am still terrified. I do appreciate the horror genre though and am slowly moving farther into it (I recently watched "Nightmare on Elm Street", woo!)

I absolutely love the Harry Potter books, mostly because I have grown up with them. I have always been the same age as Harry when reading the books. I think that made them just a little more special to me. Growing up I read from J.R.R. Tolkien (I was the LOTR geek in middle school...) to Garth Nix (his Abhorsen series is amazing!) to anything to do with Merlin. I have read the Twilight books and enjoy them when I want to completely shut down my brain. The simplicity of them is a great escape from school work.

At the moment my favorite author is Neil Gaiman. I saw him read last year and could have died happy that day. His books are awesomely weird. I have read everything of his that I can get a hold on.

As far as ghost stories go, only one silly one comes to mind. When I was about six, the older girls in the neighborhood told me that when the sky turned red, a monster would come out and eat little girls...obviously to get me inside. I also used something similar to beat my younger sister for the top bunk.

I was raised on the books "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey." Kathryn Tucker travelled all over Alabama and compiled a list of popular ghost stories such as Crybaby bridge and the Montevallo ghost. They are creepy, but fun to read. It was recently turned into a musical.

I am very excited to learn more about the darker side of fantasy. It is definitely an area which I have neglected.

Sometimes it's good to be bad.

I grew up about 2.5 hours north of Tuscaloosa in a tiny little town outside Florence, Alabama. It's called Greenhill. Yeah, I know, where the heck is that, right? My house is about 2 minutes from the Tennessee state line, if that helps you at all figure out how far into the boonies I really was.

Anyway, we had our local legends just like anyone else. There was the "Headless Lady" which haunted the small banks of Goose Shoal Creek. I'm pretty sure my grandfather made her up. But he wrote out her whole story and it's in a book somewhere, though I can't remember the title.

Another one wasn't too far from the creek actually, where there stands an old house on a windy backroad that once belonged to a doctor by the name of Stutts. Now, it's said that the doctor's spirit still lingers in the house. He isn't hostile, though. In fact, the story goes that years ago, a small boy was riding his tricycle on the second floor, and rode straight out a large window which took up most of the wall on one side of the hallway. When his mother heard the crash and ran outside, she was confused to find her son not only alive but unharmed. She then asked what happened, and he said "The Doctor caught me." I'll be honest. I don't know if I believe any of this, but that place is creepy to drive by at night.

Then in the near city of Florence lies the Sweetwater Plantation, supposedly one of the most haunted places in Alabama if not the country. I know Ghost Hunters has been there, but I don't think they really found anything. The woman who now keeps the place can tell you a lot of stories, though. Many people like to go out there and try to hear/see/photograph ghosts, whatever. Here's a video documentary I found on YouTube about it...



As far as my personal interest in the Dark Fantastic, it's pretty much limited to books and movies, although I enjoy "ghost hunting" now and then. Of course I love Harry Potter and other popular books. I also really enjoy the works of Poe (The Tell-Tale Heart is probably my favorite) and what I've seen and read of Stephen King (not a lot) and Hitchcock (The Birds, etc.).

I've written a few things that sort of fall into this category, though some of it is mere fanfiction. I've done scenes from the villain's point of view. Voldemort is one of my favorite characters to write. I don't know. There's something fascinating and empowering about writing truly evil characters. But then again, when you write them, you don't think they're evil. Because you know their motives, their reasons for everything, their thoughts and feelings. It changes the way you look at things.

Just sitting here thinking about it I realized how many of the fantasy movies and books I enjoy do have a darker side to them. I'm proud to say it was I who got Katy to watch every season of Supernatural. :)

Every story needs a villain, right? The ones we love to hate. It's what makes the story compelling and have a purpose. The undead pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean, the witches and monsters in nearly every Disney movie and fairy tale, demons and ghosts in virtually ever horror movie that comes out these days. Aliens. Vampires. Werewolves. Mummies. Curses. It's everywhere. A huge part of ancient legends and stories as well as popular culture.