Book Review: To Each Their Darkness, by Gary A. Braunbeck
A horror writer's semi-memoir about writing and the horror genre.
Apex Publications, 2010, 330 pages
2010 Stoker Award Winner for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction
Explore the world of writing horror from a Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild award-winning author's point of view. Gary Braunbeck uses film, fiction, and life experience to elucidate the finer points of storytelling, both in and out of genre. This part-autobiographical, always analytical book looks at how stories develop and what makes them work--or not work--when they're told.
Be warned: reality is as brutal as fiction. Rob Zombie, police shootings, William Goldman, and human misery are all teachers to the horror neophyte, and Braunbeck uses their lessons to make To Each Their Darkness a whirlwind of horror and hope for the aspiring writer.
There is a type of book I like to read now and then, which is writing advice by writers. Often I don't get much out of them, especially when they mostly consist of standard recycled tips like "Make your characters interesting" and "Don't overuse cliches" and "Do your research" and "Spelling and grammar is a thing," etc. Others just yammer on about their favorite books and authors, which can be very hit or miss for me.
But some writers go deeper and even if they don't offer much in the way of novel writing advice, just reading their takes on writing, publishing, and life can be entertaining. Sometimes I get a feel for their writing even if I haven't actually read any of their fiction. And sometimes their analysis of favorite works actually motivates me to chase down some writers I'd never heard of.
Stephen King's On Writing is widely considered one of the best examples of this genre, and it's one of my favorites. (It helps that I've been a King fan since high school.)
Gary Braunbeck is no Stephen King (as he admits in one humorous chapter in this book in which he, the writer, breaks the fourth wall and has an argument with, literally, a shelf full of Stephen King books), but To Each Their Darkness shares a lot with King's memoir/writing book. Like King, Braunbeck is a horror writer. Like King, Braunbeck is very enthusiastic about the genre, and the books he reads. And like King, he's had a pretty fucked up life which has inspired him to write some pretty fucked up shit.
Unlike King, I haven't actually read anything by Braunbeck before. And as cruel as it may be to say this, his writing style seemed very well-suited for this semi-autobiographical narrative about the horror genre, but it was a little too sardonic and self-depreciating at times and I'll probably chase down some of his horror at some point, but honestly, he sold me on some of the other authors he talked about more than he sold me on himself.
Between excerpts about his own rather harrowing experiences (if all of his stories are to be taken at face value - and I must also admit that at times I found myself just a little bit skeptical that he wasn't letting his writer persona get the best of him in relating everything from almost-fatal police encounters to taking his mother off life support), Braunbeck talks about horror a lot. He is an enthusiastic horror fanboy, and he seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre. He doesn't just talk about books, he also talks about movies, and not just the classic ones but the crappy teen slashers and Rob Zombie flicks too. He waxed so enthusiastically about some obscure writers I've never heard of that I went and found some of their books to read. I really liked his enthusiasm and his gushing adoration of gore and grue and psychological suspense and emotional torture and all other forms of darkness.
That said, his range seems deep but narrow (as opposed to Stephen King, who talks a lot about books outside his genre which he also admires). There is an entire chapter of Braunbeck republishing his introductions to other author's works which you may or may not find to be a waste of space (I didn't, I went and got some of those other works). The writing advice itself, what little there was, did tend towards the banal sort of stuff you get in every book of writing advice or writer's workshop, but Braunbeck is humorous about it.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to, and I will have to give Gary Braunbeck's horror novels a try.
My complete list of book reviews.
Apex Publications, 2010, 330 pages
2010 Stoker Award Winner for Superior Achievement in Nonfiction
Explore the world of writing horror from a Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild award-winning author's point of view. Gary Braunbeck uses film, fiction, and life experience to elucidate the finer points of storytelling, both in and out of genre. This part-autobiographical, always analytical book looks at how stories develop and what makes them work--or not work--when they're told.
Be warned: reality is as brutal as fiction. Rob Zombie, police shootings, William Goldman, and human misery are all teachers to the horror neophyte, and Braunbeck uses their lessons to make To Each Their Darkness a whirlwind of horror and hope for the aspiring writer.
There is a type of book I like to read now and then, which is writing advice by writers. Often I don't get much out of them, especially when they mostly consist of standard recycled tips like "Make your characters interesting" and "Don't overuse cliches" and "Do your research" and "Spelling and grammar is a thing," etc. Others just yammer on about their favorite books and authors, which can be very hit or miss for me.
But some writers go deeper and even if they don't offer much in the way of novel writing advice, just reading their takes on writing, publishing, and life can be entertaining. Sometimes I get a feel for their writing even if I haven't actually read any of their fiction. And sometimes their analysis of favorite works actually motivates me to chase down some writers I'd never heard of.
Stephen King's On Writing is widely considered one of the best examples of this genre, and it's one of my favorites. (It helps that I've been a King fan since high school.)
Gary Braunbeck is no Stephen King (as he admits in one humorous chapter in this book in which he, the writer, breaks the fourth wall and has an argument with, literally, a shelf full of Stephen King books), but To Each Their Darkness shares a lot with King's memoir/writing book. Like King, Braunbeck is a horror writer. Like King, Braunbeck is very enthusiastic about the genre, and the books he reads. And like King, he's had a pretty fucked up life which has inspired him to write some pretty fucked up shit.
Unlike King, I haven't actually read anything by Braunbeck before. And as cruel as it may be to say this, his writing style seemed very well-suited for this semi-autobiographical narrative about the horror genre, but it was a little too sardonic and self-depreciating at times and I'll probably chase down some of his horror at some point, but honestly, he sold me on some of the other authors he talked about more than he sold me on himself.
Between excerpts about his own rather harrowing experiences (if all of his stories are to be taken at face value - and I must also admit that at times I found myself just a little bit skeptical that he wasn't letting his writer persona get the best of him in relating everything from almost-fatal police encounters to taking his mother off life support), Braunbeck talks about horror a lot. He is an enthusiastic horror fanboy, and he seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the genre. He doesn't just talk about books, he also talks about movies, and not just the classic ones but the crappy teen slashers and Rob Zombie flicks too. He waxed so enthusiastically about some obscure writers I've never heard of that I went and found some of their books to read. I really liked his enthusiasm and his gushing adoration of gore and grue and psychological suspense and emotional torture and all other forms of darkness.
That said, his range seems deep but narrow (as opposed to Stephen King, who talks a lot about books outside his genre which he also admires). There is an entire chapter of Braunbeck republishing his introductions to other author's works which you may or may not find to be a waste of space (I didn't, I went and got some of those other works). The writing advice itself, what little there was, did tend towards the banal sort of stuff you get in every book of writing advice or writer's workshop, but Braunbeck is humorous about it.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to, and I will have to give Gary Braunbeck's horror novels a try.
My complete list of book reviews.