What Gets Your Pulse Pounding?

I am NOT hiding under the bed. I’m…um…looking for dust bunnies.

With the smell of Halloween still in the air (that is chocolate on your hands, right?), it’s good time to ask you about the stories that thrill you the most.

Heart pounding. Heavy breathing. Laying awake at night, scenarios running through your head.

Be they action, thriller, disaster, suspense, horror or whatnot, which books, movies and/or tv shows get you going? Which ones would you read again and again and recommend to friends (or enemies)? Which ones do you dare not read again because they were that good?

Imaged Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
You can’t possibly see me hiding under the bed… by Ninithedreamer, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Has the Robot Uprising Already Begun?

While we’re all getting ready for the zombie apocalypse, the robots could be plotting to take over the world.

Has it already begun?

The hilarious folks at Cracked say yes…

You’ve been warned.

What do you think? Will computers ever gain sentience? And, if they do, will it be like Terminator or will we all coexist peacefully?

How Sympathetic Can a Zombie Be?

Zombies Were People Too

The 3rd Rot & Ruin Book

I recently read Jonathan Maberry‘s Rot and Ruin series, the story of four friends who’ve grown up in a zombie devastated world. As they try to find their place in this world, they have to choose between safety, an illusion crafted from stagnation and denial for many of the survivors, and freedom in a land where everything wants to kill them.

While the novels deliver all the shambling, flesh-hungry zombie terror you’d expect, it also packs a huge emotional punch. Good horror makes you care about the characters but Jonathan Maberry makes you care about the monster too.

Yes, we are talking about zombies here. And, yes, they’re still dangerous (getting more dangerous all the time too) but you can’t escape the fact that each one of those zombies had a life, a family. No matter who they were in life, they were somebody’s child, sibling, parent or love. They were people too.

Of course, those people are now zombies who will eat you alive and turn you into to one of them.

So, there’s that.

Actually, maybe it’s that we can see ourselves in the zombies that really makes zombies scary. They are us and show us what we could be.

What do you think? Can zombies really be sympathetic? Do those sympathetic elements make the zombie scarier or less scary?

Image Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
Image via jonathanmaberry.com (fair use)
Zombie by e_monk, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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Are You Ready for Fall Chills?

Fall is officially here. If the continued hot weather has you confused, just check out the sudden blossoming of Halloween decorations and candy displays in all the stores. Actually, the Halloween stuff’s probably been up since August. I’m expecting Thanksgiving stuff to start popping up by next week.

Anyway, it’s Fall and you know what that means…the return of some of our favorite tv shows. Dexter is already set up for a fascinating season and, in just about two weeks, American Horror Story and The Walking Dead are creeping back to tv screens everywhere.

Are you ready?

*note: the following contains mild spoilers for last season of The Walking Dead.*

The Walking Dead, Season 3
Premieres October 14

Last season, our ever dwindling group of survivors were forced out of the safety of Hershel’s farm by a herd of walkers. On the run and running out of fight, we caught a glimpse of their salvation…the prison.

What do you think?

What’s in store for Andrea, travelling with Michonne? Is Woodbury safe haven or worse than the outside?

At the prison, how far will Rick be willing to go to keep his group safe?

How closely will the show parallel the comic series this season?

American Horror Story: Asylum
Premieres October 17

Last season, we met the Harmons, a family coming undone even before they fell prey to the Murder House. While the spooks and haunts may have left us sleepless many nights, the unfolding of each family’s tragedy and how they intertwined with the Harmons’ was the true horror.

This season, it’s a new location and new story. Some of our favorite actors from last season will be returning in different roles. Rumor has it that last season’s enemies may be this seasons allies.

Given all the creepy promos, what do you think’s in store for our asylum staff and guests?

How Much Should Be Left to the Imagination in Fiction?

Some time ago, I came across this TED video with J.J. Abrams talking about what drives his creativity.

He talks about the Mystery Box, the idea that what we don’t need to know every detail about a story to enjoy it. In fact it’s what’s left to the imagination that really makes the story. The monster we don’t see. The conversation we see but can’t overhear. The closed door.

I admire J.J. Abrams tremendously. He radiates brilliance and passion when he speaks and his works are inspiring. But…I’m not sure how much of the Mystery Box I really agree with. I love a little room for my imagination to fill in the blanks but I don’t want to be left feeling like I just don’t get it. Lost, probably the best example of Abram’s Mystery Box ideas, left me feeling both ways…And I still can’t decide whether I really liked that or not.

What do you think? How much mystery is enough? Can there be too much mystery or is more mystery merrier?

Do Horror Writers Give Themselves Nightmares?

horror: hor-ror (noun)

1.  An intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust.
2. A thing causing such a feeling.

Do you ever have nightmares after watching a horror flick or reading a horror novel? Maybe just a case of the heebie-jeebies? Do you find yourself making double sure all the doors are locked when you’re home alone at night? Do you check the closets and under the bed? For a split second before you turn on the light in a dark room, do you hesitate, afraid to reveal the monster that might be lurking?

Oh sure, some of you are saying “Suck it up, you big baby. Horror never gives me nightmares.”

To you I say, “You haven’t been working out your imagination enough.”

Okay, okay. So not all horror gives me the willies. Most of the time, I brush it off. Good horror, the kind that does scare the tacos out of us, is hard to come by.

Vast quantities of blood and screaming do not a scary movie make. Nor do creative deaths.

Not by themselves anyway.

When a story is good, it gets me. Often, I’m taken by surprise. I’m prepared to brush off yet another bit of horror fiction but it’s planted its seeds in my mind and my fertile imagination will give it room to grow…and grow…and grow.

That’s when I send up a big cheer.

And sleep with all the lights on.

I have to wonder, if a good horror story works on the reader, does it work on the writer? After all, we readers just visit the world. The writer lives there for as long as it takes to create the finished product. They have to live with the monsters in their head and imagine all the dark scenarios that will wind up in that finished product and many more that do not.

Does it get to them?

Working on my current novel-in-progress, I’m finding myself dreaming about zombies I’m trying to bring to life (*snort*) on the page as well as the less undead monsters. Some nights, I’m slipping into my characters skin (there’s a mental image for you) and running for my life. In short, I am starting to give myself the creeps (I can only hope it translates to my finished product) even though my horror is more dystopian dark fantasy than straight up horror.

What do you think? Do writers like Stephen King, Clive Barker and the American Horror Story scribes give themselves nightmares?

***

If you do find yourself plagued with nightmares after imbibing some horror fiction, this WikiHow can give you some tips on how to sleep soundly.

Image Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
Scream by anguila40, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Scary Skull with No Eyes by Craig Walkowicz, on Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

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What if Your Favorite Feel Good Movies Were Recut as Horror?

Have you ever wondered what your favorite feel-good movies would be like if they were recut as horror movies?

Okay, maybe not.

But I bet you will after this.

An uncle plots to murder his brother and nephew, then take over the kingdom. But, you know, it’s a Disney movie…so it can’t be that scary…

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What if Sleepless in Seattle really made you sleepless?

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There’s nothing like a road trip aboard a haunted train to put you in the holiday mood…

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Okay, this last one’s a gimme. What isn’t creepy about a guy who dresses up as a female housekeeper so he can spy on his wife and kids?

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And just to show you that the editing knife cuts both ways, here’s The Shining recut as a romantic comedy:

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Which movie/television show would you love to see recut as another genre? 

 

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Pick Your Apocalypse

The end is nigh.

Or maybe it’s not. I mean, what is “nigh” anyway? Is it tomorrow? Next week? A billion years from now?

Anyway, we all know the world will end. Someday. The only question is how and when.

But the “when” is not really important for the purposes of this post. Just the “how.”

So, how will the the world end?

That’s up to you.

First, check out this After Hours episode from Cracked:

Note: it’s not especially work or kiddo friendly…so, you’ve been warned.

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Elmo. Is. Coming. For. You.

Now, you tell us which apocalypse you would pick (if you pick…which you probably can’t…so you might want to be prepared for them all…just saying)? Would it be aliens? Robots? Zombies? Pandemic? Asteroids? Elmo clone attack?

I kinda favor a Day After Tomorrow scenario. See, if I had to fight something, I’m pretty sure I’d lose and get eaten or enslaved or whatever (which really makes me want to go exercise right now).  And asteroids have all that agony of knowing about them ahead of time and waiting until they strike. At least a flash freeze would be a quick way to go.

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So which apocalypse would you pick and why. You can share in the comments section below or share via blog post and linky.

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Image Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
Abandoned City by lrargerich, on Flickr CC BY 2.0
my tickle me Elmo TMX by Adam Foster | Codefor, on Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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Living the Fantasy Life

The following was originally posted at Nicole Basaraba‘s Uni-Verse-City during her Writing in Different Genres series. I was pretty darn excited to be part of it. Here is the article in its entirely, free from commercial interruptions…

Living the Fantasy Life by Sonia G Medeiros

image via wikipedia

I blame my parents for my obsession with love of fantasy. As a child, I had what you might politely call an active imagination. I was often in trouble at school for daydreaming (though, really, I had already finished the work…usually). But did my parents act quickly to contain this? Did they enforce the boundaries of reality and the dangers of  dwelling in imaginary worlds?

Nope.

In fact, fueled by their passion for science fiction/fantasy, they fed my taste for the unreal with a steady diet of A Wrinkle in Time, Narnia, King Arthur, Wonder Woman, Conan, Lord of the Rings, Edgar Allen Poe, The Twilight Zone and WWF Wrestling (my dad *shrug*). They encouraged me to tell them my odd little tales and allowed me to pretend that I was a warrior princess from a magical world sadly marooned in this one without my powers.

Despicable, right?

Okay, okay. It’s not all their fault. They had some help from my grandfather who, while he may outwardly appear all CNN and Sunday Morning, further indulged my growing predilection for the fantastic by charging me with the task of collecting all the alien pods (actually the fruit of the sweetgum tree) from the lawn (a mighty sneaky way of getting the yard cleaned, if you ask me), listening to my sprawling Smurf epics and allowing me to watch The Neverending Story something like 642 times (although I’m sure he never intended me to make a career of all those wild imaginings).

So, there. As you can plainly see I have my parents (and grandfather) to blame for not being able to keep my feet on the ground or my head out of the clouds.

And I thank them for it every day.

image via wikipedia

Wikipedia neatly defines fantasy as “a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomenon as a primary element of plot, theme or setting” and distinguishes fantasy from two of its closest cousins, science fiction and horror, in that it generally “steers clear of scientific and macabre themes”. Yet, the overlap between fantasy, science fiction and horror is sometimes so great that it may not always be possible to tell where one ends and the next begins.

It seems generally acknowledged that science fiction accepts the natural laws of our universe and so is about stuff that could really happen, fantasy often flagrantly ignores natural laws and is therefore about stuff that couldn’t really happen, and horror could go either way.

I’m sure I don’t have to point out the problem with such a definition.

It’s true that fantasy is full of created worlds where magic reigns, and where there are dragons, wizards, elves, heroes of prophecy, Excaliburs, and kingdoms under siege by Dark Lords. But fantasy isn’t about any of those things as much as it is a way of looking at the world with a childlike openness to Mystery. It does not seek to limit what could be by what is generally considered “real.” The passage to a mystical realm could really be behind that cupboard door, never mind how many times you may have opened it only to find the cereal bowls. Fairies exist even if we never see them. And toys have a secret life.

This openness cuts both ways of course. The child accepts the horrible right along with the delightful. A monster might  live in your closet, no matter what your parents say.  That passage to another world could leave you stranded there forever. And the world is different in the dark.

Fantasy looks at the world with all the wonder and terror of raw childhood.

While science fiction insists on an explanation and horror is often about what should be unreal intruding on the real world, fantasy allows the world to simply be. What is fantastic isn’t necessarily in violation of the natural laws of the universe or unexplainable but neither is essential to the story (besides, sometimes the real seems at least as implausible as the fantastic…quarks, anybody?). Fantasy is the genre of limitless possibilities and the freedom to explore them, whatever the story consequences.

I love science fiction and horror but fantasy holds the dearest spot in my heart because, like Mulder, I want to believe.

A few fantasy suggestions to tickle your fancy:

• Piers Anthony’s very punny The Magic of Xanth series.
• Patricia Brigg’s urban fantasy Mercy Thompson series (yes, it contains hot werewolves and vampires…but they don’t sparkle).
• Greg Keyes Kingdom of Thorn and Bone series, especially The Briar King.
• Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story. As much as I loved the film version as a kid, the novel is vastly superior in every way.

What is fantasy about to you? What are your favorite fantasy stories, movies or television shows? Bonus question for writers: What inspired the genre you write today?

Image Attribution (In Order of Appearance):
Image via Wikipedia
Pain Inducer (Sweetgum Pod) by Jeff Kubina, on Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0
Image via Wikipedia

Has Horror Lost its Mojo?

Recently, I read an article by Cindy Zablockis asking “what ever happened to horror movies that actually scared [us]?”

I recently watched the latest version of Final Destination, not sure what number, I lost count. Within fifteen minutes I was bored. Nothing in the movie actually scared me or even had me on the edge of my seat. I haven’t felt that heart racing, eyes open wide as I wonder what will happen next for a long time while watching a movie.

Read the rest here.

An excellent question, really.

I can’t recall the last, recent horror movie that really scared me. Grossed me out, sure. Made me uncomfortable for all the wrong reasons, yep. But scared me? Left me having to sleep with the lights on? Nightmares?

Well maybe…no. Or…nope. Not that one either. Hmmm….