Right now, short stories are my passion. Maybe that’s because they must be since my thesis project is a collection of short stories. Anyway, I’ve read more short stories over the past few months than I have in a long time. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed all of the short stories and have been able to learn a lot from them. Sometimes I learn how ( Read more... )

Richard Matheson’s approach to and addition to Vampire fiction is a very welcome instance. I know this story has been around for a long time and has been very influential to many writers but it doesn’t suffer from the common tropes of “I’ve read this before” that usually come with readings of influential works. For example, viewers experiencing ( Read more... )

I am probably not the only one saying this but The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum is a suburban Lord of the Flies; it was a Lord of the Flies with permission. When I was assigned this book to read, I knew nothing about it. I like to approach my readings with an open and unaltered palate. I like to see stories fresh without any preconceived notion. ( Read more... )

I think Misery is one of King’s finest works. Not only is the story way too close to reality but it is almost a lesson on writing a novel. I’ve suggested this book to more than one people who have said “You know, one day I’d like to write a novel. But I don’t know where to start.” I point them to one of the many used bookstores in town and tell ( Read more... )

I’m gonna go out on a limb with a genre mash up. Here is my limb, The Brood is not only a horror movie but a science fiction film also. Did I just blow your mind? Probably not, but I hope I got you to think about it for a little bit. There are things that do make this film mainstream and mainline horror, but I think there is a main element of the ( Read more... )

Psycho the movie and Psycho the book are two different animals, two different stories. Yes, they take us along the same trip, but one story is about a man and his mental problems. The other is about a woman and the money she has stolen. You could say that they are just two sides of the same coin as the book and the movie are almost identical. You ( Read more... )

Bonus Question. If the story was really true as in the painting changing and Dorian staying young I ask you this: Did the painting murder Dorian or did he kill himself?

Works Cited

Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. “Project Gutenberg,” http://www.gutenberg.org/files/174/174.txt

Today I’m going to talk about stories you think you know. The stories you already know what it is all about even before you read it. The story, so to speak, has entered the common vernacular. You know what Romeo and Juliet is about. Star crossed lovers that commit suicide. You that Dracula is about a blood sucking vampire. You know the background ( Read more... )

I’m choosing to talk in this particular blog about something that might not be thought about much in the realm of horror. Morality. No, I’m not going to give a sermon about how horror fiction is immoral or how evil it is. In fact, I’m going to make a blanket statement here and maybe this isn't the best thing to say, but I believe that the horror ( Read more... )

So, small update. My writing took a turn last night. I'm pretty certain the idea I was writing the night before last is more likely to be a novel than a short story. I always thought my next project wouldn't be as engrossing as another novel, but I think I've got in in me. I mean, come on, I've already written a novel, why not write another ( Read more... )