Blogtober Day 23: Ghosts

Unlike witches, ghosts don't serve many purposes in fiction. They fall into one of two categories. Ghosts are either evil and responsible for the misfortunes befalling the protagonists. Or, they're victims and the only way they can be free and "move on" is for the protagonists to learn what happened to them and either right a specific wrong or let the world know their story. Today, let's talk about the common plots and storylines that ghosts tend to have.

Get Out of My House!

This one is pretty straight forward. Everyone's seen or at least knows about this one. The ghost just wants to be left alone. He or she died in the house the main characters just moved into, disturbing it's rest. The story goes as follows: the ghost tries to make the new inhabitants leave, they don't succeed, the protagonists call a priest, a paranormal investigator or some other "expert" to make the ghosts leave. The ghost is usually defeated by said expert, but there's enough leeway to justify a sequel.

Evil, Evil, Evil

This ghost doesn't want to be left alone. It wants to cause mayhem. These are the ghosts that either draw people into the place that they haunt. Sometimes, it's to trap more people in the building, and create more ghosts. Other times, getting someone to enter the creepy, abandoned house might allow them to possess living, so they can be an even bigger menace.  Sometimes, they were evil in life, and they're not going to let something as trivial as dying stop them. Other times, they died so traumatically that they become vengeful spirits and need to kill. They were good once, but now, they've been twisted into something else.

"Tell The World"

These ghosts can't move on to the afterlife. Maybe they died violently and can't work through the trauma of that. Maybe they've got unfinished business they need to complete. Maybe the only way they can move on is for the truth of their death to come to light. The movie The Sixth Sense is based on this premise, although we don't know how central it is to the plot at first. In one of the later sequels/spin-offs of The Ring it's implied that Samara created the deadly tape so that her story can be shared, but that was later retconned. This category is where a lot of films featuring ghosts that aren't horror fit. Like Ghost or pretty much every kids movie with ghosts.

What's your opinion about ghosts in media?

Blogtober Day 22: Most Creative Movie Monsters

There are plenty of monsters out there. Some are good, some are bad, and some are a little bit of both. While every film needs a bad guy and thus, depending on the genre, a monster to defeat. However, not all horror monsters are created equal. Some are, for lack of a better term, boring. Vampires and werewolves and ghosts have kinda been done to death, as have zombies.

Today, I want to talk about some creative monsters, mostly in horror. Some are considered horror classics by now, others are new to the genre, but they have something in common, they're unique. As a side note, I'm using the term "monster" literally. No human characters, or characters who were once human appear on this list because they don't qualify.


Pale Man- Pan's Labyrinth\



This list wouldn't be complete without at least one Guillermo del Toro monster on it. This entire list could just be del Toro characters. While there are plenty I could choose from, the Pale Man is my favorite. There's just something about his design that gives me goosebumps. Pan's Labyrinth is more dark fantasy than true horror but this part of the film really freaked me out. 


Crawlers- The Descent



These humanoid cave dwellers that feast on humans are relatively new to horror. Still, they packed a punch. They were the perfect monsters for a film about people lost, and being hunted, in an unknown cave system.

Sam- Trick or Treat



I won't lie, I thought Sam was just a creepy kid when I started watching Trick or Treat. He's definitely not a kid, but his design made him an instant horror icon when the movie premiered. I also found his motivations to be particularly interesting. In that, he doesn't seem to have one beyond wanting people to follow the rules of Halloween. The design seems simple, but its not, and it's his behavior that makes him such a creative monster.

The Thing- The Thing



I feel like this one doesn't need an explanation. Not only was the design of the monster amazing, but the story behind it was too. Nearly indestructible, able to hide in plain sight, able to assimilate other life forms into itself. Great character design, great backstory, great monster.

Creating a creative monster comes down to a few things in my opinion, unique design being one of them. Having an interesting story/goal/motivation is another. These four creatures pop into mind when I think about movie monsters.

What are your favorite movie monsters?

Blogtober Day 21: Nightmare Escapade

Nightmare Escapade is a 2012 horror anthology book by Waylon Piercy. I first became aware of it when I was searching Amazon for horror books to read during October. Since the book is a collection of short stories, I'm going to discuss each story on its own and my thoughts, rather than discuss the whole book at once. That seems like the most fair tactic.

"No Such Thing" is the first story in the collection. It tells the story of a little boy who is out playing in the woods and sees something. He comes to believe its a monster and, regardless of what he tries to tell his mother, she doesn't seem to see it. Ray soon becomes worried that the monster is going to get him and he is terrified at the thought. This story does a good job of portraying the fears and worries of children, especially the primal fear of the dark. "No Such Thing" isn't a particularly scary story, but it does leave the reader feeling a little unsettled.

"The Terrible Stranger" is the story of a soldier traveling home who comes across a terrible stranger, as the title implies. This story, along with two others, are part of a larger dark fantasy novel the author has been building for years. On its own, "The Terrible Stranger" is one of the best body-horror stories I've read in some time. Piercy paints quite the unsettling visual as the protagonist tries to escape to freedom.

The third story is titled "The Drum". The best way I can really explain it, without giving too much away, is by saying for once, horror is happening to the right person. Ever notice how the characters in horror are either unlucky or just stupid and that's how they end up being pursued by a mass-murderer or possessed by Satan or something? This tale is a little different. Harold isn't a nice person. He doesn't stumble upon something not meant to be found, he's not in the wrong place at the wrong time. He's just a jerk and winds up angering the wrong people. I like seeing, for once, that the right person is being terrorized.

"Apex Predator" tells the story of a former police officer trying to locate a missing girl. He finds her, only to discover things aren't what they seem. She's no longer among the living and soon, neither is he. The story doesn't end there, however, and I enjoyed seeing a different take on the specific "monster" in this story.

"The Basement" is a very short story. I believe its the shortest one in the book, being only a few pages. I can't give anything away that doesn't spoil the ending, but I found the point of view for the story interesting. It's told from a different perspective than most stories in its subgenre.

"Bones" is a story that's connected to "The Terrible Stranger". They aren't directly connected, but take place in the same world/universe. It's the closest thing to the traditional ghost story in the book, albeit with a twist. Since its part of a larger story, it doesn't fully explain things and leaves a lot open-ended, but I found it amusing at least.

"The Trunk" is the closest I got to a typical haunted house story in this book. Calling it a story about a haunted house isn't fair, since the house isn't haunted, the new owner is just curious about an old trunk left in the attic. The trunk isn't imprisoning a ghost, it doesn't contain pure evil or cursed objects. Instead, it offers something much more mysterious and "The Trunk" has a very surprising ending.

"Duel" takes place in the same world as "Bones" and "The Terrible Stranger". Unlike the others, its not a horror story. It fits more under the dark fantasy umbrella. The story is a snippet of what the author has built for the world, but I'm cautiously optimistic about the directions the story could go or what could be done with the aspects I read so far.

Nightmare Escapade consists of eight stories. They're entertaining for the most part, but I didn't find them very scary. Additionally, they suffer from a length problem. They are short stories, but a few are a little too short. Their endings feel a little rushed or cut-off. An extra few pages would've made the difference between an "okay" story and a good one.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Blogtober Day 20: Things About Horror That Don't Make Sense

Horror has a lot of tropes, and like any trope, how effective or "good" it is, depends on how well its implemented. Some tropes though, they make no sense. I read it, or I watch it happen, and I wonder why this trope exists. Or I convince myself this must take place in an alternate dimension where no one has common sense. Today, I'd like to talk about some things in horror that just don't make sense.

Why Would You Buy This House?

This shows up a lot in movies or books that involved haunted houses. A new family moves into the house and weird things start happening. And, they don't notice. Or they find a way to justify how all of the freaky, supernatural stuff isn't ghosts or demons or the like. Now, that's a staple of the genre, and I love a good haunted house.

What annoys me are the people who know the house's history and move in anyway. They know some lady drowned all of her kids in this house, or that a man sacrificed his entire family to Satan, but they move in anyway, because it has a lovely kitchen backsplash or something. And they don't move away, although occasionally, this aspect is explained in the text/film.

The Buddy-System is for Kindergarten

Now, I know, this one pops up a lot. Why would you split up to search the house? Why wouldn't everyone stick together as they try to escape the chainsaw-wielding maniac? Slasher movies can't be slashers if no one's getting slashed, and that happens easiest when people split up. What I don't understand is when this trend is called out, in the film, show or movie, but they do it anyway. A character specifically mentions how splitting up, in a horror movie, is a bad idea, but it ends up happening anyway.

It's the Book Written on Human Skin

First of all, how did someone even make a book out of human skin? Second, why would anyone go anywhere near it? How did you not notice the "ink" is actually blood. It's one thing for a cursed doll to be behind every death, its another when the whole plot could be avoided by staying away from the item clearly created by a serial kill and/or Satan worshipper.

The Tone-Deaf Depiction of Mental Illness

I'm just going to come out and say it. Why are people with mental illness always the bad guys? You can have a homicidal murderer without needing to make them schizophrenic, or bipolar, or have dissociative identity disorder. The villain can be the villain without needing to give a reason "why" to make the reader or audience feel better. Even if that explanation is a must, mental illness isn't always the answer. You do realize the mentally ill are more likely to be victims of violent crimes rather than the perpetrators, right?

Those are a few things about horror that don't make any sense to me. What aspects of horror don't make sense to you?

Blogtober Day 19: Books I Regret Reading

There aren't many books that I regret reading, but they do exist. For the most part, I've been pretty lucky in the sense that most books I've read, I was able to find something about them that I enjoyed. Even if they weren't my favorite book ever, I was able to connect with or find interesting something about them.

Yet, every once in a while, I find a book that I just can't stand. I don't like it. I regret reading it. If someone recommends it, I get a little annoyed at the person for suggesting it in the first place. Here are five books that I regret reading.

1) Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

My issue with this book isn't that it's bad, it's that it's boring. Boring and predictable. Something interesting could've been done with the story, but nothing was. None of my expectations were subverted and I was annoyed at the friend who suggested it.

2) The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

I don't know why this is considered one of the great American novels. It's boring. There's almost no real plot. I hate every character. I was forced to read this for school at least twice and I hate it so much. If I have to hear another person discuss the symbolism behind the billboard of the eye doctor one more time, I will scream.

3) Extras by Scott Westerfeld

This is the fourth book in the Uglies series (Uglies, Pretties, and Specials). I thought the first three books were okay. They weren't groundbreaking, they weren't terrible. They were based on an interesting idea. The problem is, the series was supposed to be a trilogy. Since Specials was supposed to mark the end of the trilogy, this feels tacked on. Tacked on, a little derivative and something I wish I'd skipped.

4) The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

This pick is different from the others. It was the only book where I started reading with specific expectations. I thought this series was going to be similar to the movie with Anne Hathway. Boy, was I wrong. Mia's grandmother is nothing like the character Julie Andrews plays and several aspects are completely different from the film. I guess I regret reading this book only because it seemed like a letdown from the Disney film.

5) Go Ask Alice

This one just depressed me, so its on this list. I don't like books that completely bum me out.

(I know, I know. Most of the time, these lists will either have Twilight or the Fifty Shades series on it. Here's the thing: Twilight isn't terrible. It isn't good, but if we take it for what it is, it's not "the worst thing ever" like some people claim. As for Fifty Shades, I never read those books. I never wanted to read them. I knew I wasn't going to like them. Therefore, I didn't read them, and I can live regret-free on that count. I regret having to see 5,000 trailers for the movies though.)

Those are the five books I most regret reading. What are yours?