Final Blog Post

Out of all of the readings we were assigned for this semester, my absolute favorite has been Kwaidan. It was the perfect combination of my favorite elements in a story: myth, history and horror. On a more personal level, these stories were an inspiration for my senior thesis animated film which pokes fun at the long-haired Japanese ghost girls. 

The most interesting element to me about the Kwadain is that although the stories are based in Japanese mythology and folklore, the man who compiled this famous set of stories was in fact not Japanese. Lafcadio Hearn was a unique man who for most of his early life wandered around internationally before finding a home in Japan. Born in Lefkada in 1850, moved to Ireland, and emigrated to America, Hearn was a very cultured and eccentric man of his time. He eventually travelled to Japan as a newspaper correspondent, married Koizumi Setsu and became a Japanese citizen.

    I wonder how much of his Western aesthetic affected the retelling of the stories in the Kwaidan. From what I gather, Japan was still shrouded in mystery to the Western world in the late 1800s. In our class discussions, we talked about how in Japanese folklore, there is no clear good vs. evil story line. From reading the Kwaidan it is clear he hadn't strayed away from that concept, but it would be fascinating to see the reviews of Kwaidan from western audiences at the time of its publishing. I

    In our day a lot of cultures are interconnected. There is much more exposure to international audiences, and thanks to the internet we can have friends from all over the world. Unless you live in a media bubble (which I hope you do not) there's a good chance you have become more exposed to other cultures. In the 1880s, they did not have this opportunity- but perhaps having a Western man publishing Japanese folklore would bridge the gab of the cultures. 

    Thinking about the cross between cultures led me to read What the Moon Brings by H.P. Lovecraft. I noticed this short story was listed under the J Horror week, but as most people would know Lovecraft was an American Author. I was curious at first why this short story was chosen for J Horror week, but after reading I think I might have an idea why.

    What the Moon Brings is a horror story without a clearly defined good vs evil theme. It revolves purely around the horror of the inevitable- death. A man was walking through an old garden on a clear night with a shining moon, when the shadows and lotuses twist into terrifying faces of the dead. These ghost-like flowers along with a haunting black condor are reminiscent of the japanese spirits that embody different aspects of nature. There are also descriptions of creatures that are reminiscent of folklore beasts. Lovecraft describes a hoofed beast crawling from the muddy water, which reminds me of the Kelpies in Celtic folklore or the water spirits known as Kappas in Japanese folklore. He also makes a reference to a pagoda in the old garden, which is an architecture that originates in Asia.

    Although Lovecraft has said this particular story was based on one of his own dreams, I would not be surprised if Japanese culture had found a way to to slip into his subconscious to inspire it.

   

The Neglected Garden

The Neglected Garden by Kathe Koja was an intense story for only 4 and a half pages! I find it to be really impressive when an author is able to communicate such a detailed and imaginative story in so few words. Anyone can fill up pages upon pages with descriptions with "fluff" words, but the writers who can keep a story simplistic and still impactful are extremely talented.

Like the previous weeks, the way this short story is written lends a lot to the overall "horror/suspense" feeling it gives. We start off with our main characters and a break up scene. The man is ending the relationship, cutting the girl off and telling her to leave. Many people can relate to this scenario, whether experiencing it themselves or through another person. This is the first thing that engages a reader because they can relate to this situation on a personal level.

Now that we have the reader engaged and into thinking this will turn out like most break ups do (arguments, phone calls, cold shoulders etc) the author gives us gruesome surprise. The man discovers the woman in his backyard, "crucified" by the rusty fence, seemingly inflicted on herself. I would hope no one could relate to this experience! As I was reading The Neglected Garden, I was keeping in mind the kind of genre this short story would be classified under. From the beginning, it was hard to ground it into any genre- perhaps non fiction? Immediately, the little diagram in my head pinned "horror" as I arrived at this gruesome scene.

Then things began to change. While the man was horrified by the woman tied up in his backyard, he wasn't exactly going through the steps I would take in the situation. I'd call the police and get an ambulance over immediately- but our character hesitates on the phone with police and hangs up. He consults his friends, but eventually shuts himself into his house, avoiding neighbor and friends all together. He mocks the woman and shouts at her, but then all together tries to ignore her.

That's when the woman starts to become a part of his garden, grass grows and flowers sprout from her body- yet she is still "alive." This is a terrifying image. As the woman's body degrades and decomposes into nature, we see our man's mentality doing the same.

Personally, I didn't really see this story as "science fiction" because I interpreted the woman in the backyard as being a manifestation of his guilt. I feel like the woman haunting him from his garden and his constant struggle to ignore/destroy her image is how his subconcious is trying to handle the break up. I never been in an experience where I had to break up with someone, but I did have a god awful fight with a friend that led to absolutely no communication for years. Mentally, I would say my mind was probably with this guys. Your image of them never quite leaves your mind, its haunting- especially if your last encounter was emotionally devastating (the man having to force her to leave). The mental anguish the man had to go through was overbearing, and towards the end it seems as if he lost the fight. He was consumed by the guilt of his actions.

Though as I said, that's my interpretation. Perhaps the woman really did just become a part of the earth, destined to destroy the guy- it is a story, anything can happen.

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas

Like with Bloodchild, I really enjoyed the writing style of The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. The short story is written as if you are sitting down and listening to an old folk story about some mysterious place called Omelas. What makes it feel genuine and conversational is the the tone of speech and the rhetorical questions the author brings up. For example, the piece begins with a description of this glamourus festival, from the music to the meadows, to the decorated horses until it leads to the question "How is one to tell about joy? How describe the citizens of Omelas?"

Then we go on to learn about the Omelas. Bit by bit, the image of a glorious society, where everything is joyous and beautiful, begins to crumble. While the citizens appeared happy- they were not. Eventually, we discover the poor, starving sacrifice hidden away from the public's eyes. Out of sight, out of mind. A child starves for the happiness of the Omelas!

 It was a turn I was half expecting. The beginning reveals such a beautiful, wonderful, perfect society. But we all know nothing can be perfect, who would write a story about a perfect place? The story would be over in a few seconds. So I was definitely waiting for things to get worse, but I was not expecting this little child. Although the author earlier stated these people, "were not barbarians" I would consider torturing a young child the most barbaric thing to do!

As I mentioned in our class discussion, The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas reminded me of The Giver. I had to reread it for my Children's Lit class last semester, so the story was still fresh on my mind. It too had a Utopian society with a dark secret. Both stories have ambiguous descriptions to "leaving" the society, where it appears that a person most likely would have to die in order to escape the utopias. I looked up the two stories, and apparently there have been a lot of essays and comparisons written about The Giver and the inspiration it draws from Omelas.

The Biggest difference for me however is that I greatly enjoyed The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, and I really despise The Giver.

Bloodchild

This was definitely one of the most bizarre stories I have ever read. The way Octavia Butler's Bloodchild had been written contributed to the uneasy feeling while I read it (though perhaps this was intentional.) Bit by bit, we are introduced to a strange world where humans are eating eggs as if they are drugs. T'Gatoi is mentioned, but not immediately described. At first, my mental picture of her was some sort of human like species of Alien- nothing as terrifying revealed later on. Starting with vague snippets of her appearance- long velvet underside, limbs (at first there is no number revealed, but soon we discover she has as least 7) and so on. The reader begins to realize this world is very far off from our own, and that these seemingly drug like, life prolonging eggs have a much more sinister side to them.

I really loved this sort of "climbing" reveal in writing. If the author had gone off and set up the climate of the world and overall relationship of the humans and these creatures, our main character's story would not be so impactful! So even though the story became more twisted and horrible for the characters (and almost painful to imagine), the writing style was really fun.

That being said I was also really surprised by the ending of Bloodchild. So many "sci-fi" genre movies and shows revolve around the humans having to stand up and conquer the aliens. Same old story with a few twists and different characters. So I was really thrown off when the girl accepted to be this kind of "vessel" for T'Gatoi's eggs. It's a very strange story...it's a horrific tale of humanity's survival, but also the struggle for coexist-ion.

Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk is an interesting mixture of high technology with a punk lifestyle. Grungy science! I have never really been "hooked" on the genre as a whole, but I do enjoy some specific media that has been created out of the genre. The Matrix for example (while based upon earlier works like Neuromancer) is one of my favorite movies.

After reading a bit more about cyberpunk, I began to realize that one of my favorite television series is definitely based in this genre. Batman Beyond was a television series that took place in "Neo-Gotham," a futuristic, advanced version of Gotham city. Gotham was as dangerous as ever, but with crazy technological advances and a new underground of hackers. The world was grungy and insane, with the advances in technology allowing people to customize their appearance from purple eyes to being injected with animal DNA. Bruce Wayne is an old man, but now the young Terry McGinnis is proving to be an amazing batman in his own way. It was definitely one of the more darker animated series of Batman.

It's interesting to see how cyberpunk has found its way into all sorts of media, from books to movies, comics and television series. It even has found its way into different brands, like Batman. In this case, a cyberpunk genre was a successful twist on the Batman Beyond series, as it still remains one of my favorites!

Narratives from the Multiverse

    For the readings this week I chose to read the short stories "Repent, Harlequin!" Said the TickTockMan and Come to Venus Melancholy. They were definitely what I consider to be a "sci-fi" story, based on the subject matter and setting of the story.

    Each story was set in the far off future. "Repent, Harlequin!" was set sometime past the year of 2389. Come to Venus Melancholy did not mention a specific date, but it is in a time where humans have the ability to travel and live on Venus, and create cyborgs out of people. In each case, humans have advanced in knowledge of technology in the future, but each civilization has their downfalls.

     In the Harlequin story, civilization had developed so rapidly and depended so much on the idea of "time" and schedules, that humanity began to be ruled by time itself. Everything that a person did in their lives, whether it be job interviews or simply meeting a friend, began to rely on exact timing. Being late was considered to be very dangerous to civilization- you threatened to delay the schedule. In this world, the TickTokMan was created to rule "time." Not everyone believed in this world of schedules and punishable lateness, and that's where the Harlequin stepped in.

     In Come to Venus Melancholy, civilization has branched out into other planets- specifically Venus. Cyborgs are a thing of the present (though not exactly how I pictured cyborgs, the ones in this world are combined more with houses rather than walking humanoids.) From what the cyborg tells us, we can gather that humanity was lost to another war, despite all the technological advancements. Also, the cyborg (supposedly the peak of technology) has plenty of defects. Cyborgs are known to go completely insane!

     Both authors seem to warn readers about the technology of the future. While it appears that humanity may advance and do all sorts of wonderful things like live on new planets or become an organized society, these very things can cause humanity's destruction.

The Anansi Boys

I knew absolutely nothing about The Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman before I started reading the book. The only thing I could assume at first glance was that the book had something to do with the infamous Anansi- the trickster spider that many people have read about in folk tales as children. I used to read the Anansi stories when I was little in elementary school. Spiders really freak me out, but I always make an exception for Anansi.

I have only been able to read up until the middle of Chapter four, but I've got to say I'm loving this book. I love when authors use a combo of modern themes and supernatural, old world myths and ideas. Fat Charlie, the unfortunate, flawed character, is thrown into a world of gods and folklore. The beginning started off really "ordinary." Just an unfortunate character with an eccentric father. The funeral scene was a great, I was feeling horribly embarrassed for Fat Charlie. I was really surprised to see the first conversation with Mrs. Higgler take a turn towards the bizarre. I would've reacted the same way when some lady started throwing out ideas of Gods and a mysterious brother you've never met!

I'm interested to see what kind of direction the "magic" in this book will take. So far, there's been hints to Anansi being able to heal sick and be incredibly lucky, and the communication between people and spiders. It seems like it'll be more of a nature kind of magic- more old world and less magic tricks and waving wands.

Finishing the Night Circus will have to wait, because I am really enjoying the Anansi Boys!

The Night Circus

I wasn't able to read the Night Circus in time for class Thursday, but this weekend I had the opportunity to read up until the end of Part 1. I'm not sure if I have read far enough to get a really good grasp of the book. It's beautifully written and there are pages of description, but I feel like the actual pacing of the events in the book is slow and confusing. I'm assuming they are time skipping between the events before the creation of the circus and after it's traveled around, but for me it's hard to keep a time frame in mind for the events that occur.

That said, the dark kind of magic that has been introduced in the book is really interesting. While Harry Potter had elements of dark magic, what I have read so far in the Night Circus feels a lot more ominous. I think maybe one of the striking differences so far from what I've read of the first part is the lack of "love". Harry Potter has plenty of dark magic but "love" is what conquers it. In the Night Circus we've got these two children who are instantly pitted against each other- both with a distinct lack of love and affection in their life. Marco is restricted access from the outside world for the majority of his young life and Celia's father crushes her bones and inflicts physical pain in order to train her with magic. Their world seems dark and hopeless- their lives being controlled by puppet masters. It'll be interesting to see how their lives turn out in the next parts. I hope the story gains some consistency as well. It's still to early for me to tell if I'm really into this book yet, but I'll give it the chance and try to get to the next parts this week.

The Hobbit

I've known the story of The Hobbit since I was very little; my brother and I used to watch the animated movie constantly. My brother still watches it when I go back home for break, and the songs are left stuck in my head for days. But aside from watching the movie on repeat- I had never read The Hobbit until now. I was surprised to find all the songs were actually written in the book and they were not just an addition to the animated film. They were a nice touch to the story (and a lot less annoying then the film's chanting verses).

I found the writing style very appealing, and Bilbo to be an extremely charming and witty fellow. He is such a likeable character to me, because he starts out as such an unlikely hero. He's just a simple hobbit, minding his own business and enjoying the daily routines of eating and smoking his pipe. Simple, plain, and ordinary. Of course, we discover how extraordinary Bilbo can be later on. But even through all his adventures, his encounters with dwarves, elves and a fiery deadly dragon- Bilbo is still a hobbit and returns home in the end (although with much more appreciation to adventure). It gives me the sense that no matter who you are, you can be something extraordinary and still staying true to yourself.

Gandalf is another of my favorite characters (but seriously who doesn't like Gandalf?) He's always got this god like quality to him. He seems to know everything and everyone, and always happens to be there just in the nick of time to save the day (but only when he's needed most). What I like and respect about Gandalf as a character is that he disappears from time to time and lets the other characters and Bilbo fend for themselves. He could technically just kick everyone's butt and god mode the whole way through to defeating Smaug- he's got the power to do it: but he doesn't. He lets the other characters learn and grow from their trials.

(Though I go to say, it feels like they rely on those eagles to get them everywhere way too much. But I suppose there wouldn't be much of a story if they just let the eagles fly them everywhere.) I'll end this with one of my favorite comics about the eagle subject:
http://www.dorkly.com/comic/47169/why-gandalf-never-uses-the-giant-eagles
And a great pun:

Aunt Mariah

What an awful woman she was, that Aunt Mariah!

And I can't help but feel a teeny bit guilty saying that- and that's not because I'm under her spell (or at least I hope not!) The way Aunt Mariah would make her demands by not suggesting them was brilliant, but reminded me of my grandmother so much. As soon as we met her, when she talked about "camping out" because of not having the nice silverware out, I felt like I was slapped over the face with how much it reminded me of how my own grandmother would say little things like that! Luckily, my grandmother isn't a wicked lady like Aunt Mariah and as far as I know she hasn't turned anyone into an animal. Either way, I was hooked.

I loved all the characters in this book, and how well defined each of their personalities were- my favorite being Aunt Mariah. A sweet teddy bear and the vicious Queen Bee. I really identified with Mig's personality. She was strong lady and tried her best to please, but had a sharp tongue when she needed to. She was definitely no Ms. Urs.

I enjoyed the way Diana Wynne Jones portrayed the witches in this book. I'm so used to either the ugly, cackling wicked witch or the sexy possessive witch that I was pleasantly surprised to find these awful witches hiding under the rouse of perfect little old ladies. It's such a bizarre take, because the little old lady persona would be the last thing identified as witch like. But I realized along with Mig that further on in the story Aunt Mariah and her friends were just as awful as any wicked witch, even if they pretended to be cute little ladies eating cake all day.

I found the men vs. woman witch theme to be a bit confusing though. What I understand is that the men and woman witches lived by a set of rules and oversaw certain things specific to their genders, and after Anthony Green was buried the town became unbalanced. What I don't really understand though is if it was being implied that all the woman witches were bad?

Aside from that, I thought this was a great book. From some searching around on google, I found out that this book was turned into a play. I'm curious to know how it transitioned into theater, because I wasn't able to find any videos online.

Kwaidan

Unfortunately, I couldn't make last week's class (which was a shame because I absolutely love j-horror) but I did get a chance to read a bunch of the short stories from Kwaidan! I read all of the suggested stories, and a few others.

What I really enjoyed about these stories was that there wasn't always a black and white definition of "good and evil". The character's were usually in a grey area- unlike the usual Western superhero and villain. For example, in one of the stories, the snow maiden with pale skin had promised not to kill the man as long as he never spoke of their encounter. But in the end, even when he did spill the beans she spared his life for a second time because of her love for their children. In Hoichi the musician's story, the ghostly samurai under strict orders might have ripped away Hoichi's ears- but Hoichi healed and became an even greater and more famous musician after!

There was never really any epic showdown between the good and bad guy, which is why I enjoyed these short ghost stories so much. Even though Kwaidan is filled with bizarre and amazing creatures, the personalities themselves are more realistic in my opinion. It also made the plots themselves less predictable.

My favorite story from Kwaidan was Jikininki. I loved the idea of that this creature would come at night to consume the dead of the village and that everyone in town just kind of accepted the fact that the bodies of their dead would disappear in a mysterious way. Having the monster end up being the corrupted soul of an old priest was a great twist.

It's great to be able to read superstitions and folklore from other parts of the world. It really gives an insight to the culture of that era, and its fascinating to me to find the differences and similarities between the folklore of other regions. This has so far been my favorite book in the semester, and I plan on finishing up the rest of the stories when I have the free time.

Interview with a Vampire

I would usually consider myself a fan of the vampire genre, but I had a hard time getting hooked onto this book. I have not read it before and I haven't seen the movie, so I was able to take it as a new experience. I can't really put my finger on it, but there was just something that didn't completely grab my attention. (The whole little girl vampire with adult mind scenario was pretty unnerving and uncomfortable to read so perhaps that is one reason.) I did like the twist at the end of the interview though, with the boy asking to become a vampire. I sure wasn't expecting it, and apparently neither did Louis.

The book was able to break the mold of the classic vampire (Dracula, Nosferatu) by having characters with such different personality types as vampires. Lestrat was like the old take on the monster- bloodthirsty, violent, seductive and manipulative. And despite his bloodthirsty nature, he was alluring. It was fitting for Lestrat to be the first vampire introduced. But then we're introduced to Louis, who was this new, sympathetic take on a vampire. He had flaws, morals, felt love and compassion but would occasionally give in to the temptation of his "vampiric" side. His character is made up of tragedy and romance. Practically all modern takes on vampires have a character that evolved from the sensible Louis.

As I said earlier, I am a fan of the vampire genre. One of my favorite vampire book series is the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. One of the main vampire characters, Bill Compton, is very similar to Louis in that he is also one of the tragic, romantic vampires. They both have had their hearts broken in their past, lost family members, and had unwittingly turned another into a vampire in awful circumstances. Having read this series before Interview with a Vampire, I can see now where Charlaine Harris probably got her inspiration. They are short books too (and murder mysteries!), so I'd definitely recommend to give them a read if you enjoy vampire novels.

I Am Legend

Somehow, I was one of those people who missed the I Am Legend movie frenzy, so I was lucky enough to be able to read the book with fresh eyes. I'm not really sure how close the movie related to the book, but from what I heard I was under the impression that this was a zombie novel. Personally, I felt this was a lot more like a vampire story with a twist - germs causing the vampiric attributes rather then turning a person. Now, usually I love these kinds of twists on what's culturally known as supernatural lore. Vampires repelled by garlic, killed by the sun etc. I loved the way that the vampiric traits of people were spread by disease carrying insects, and how that disease initially came out of war. I though this was a clever explanation behind the apocalyptic setting. For me, the drawback to the book was the main character, Robert Neville.

For one, I felt that the main character wasn't believable for the majority of the book.  There's an outbreak of terrifying blood-thirsty vampires harassing him outside of his house, and each time he happens to take a gander at one of the undead ladies he can only think about taking them to bed. For me, I never really found the appeal of something that can rip your head off- I'd be more focused on survival. Second, for all the reading he did into vampires, why did it such a big revelation to him that they couldn't go out in the daylight? It seemed so bizarre that it was like some big epiphany to him, when it was pretty obvious those who were infected retreated to the darkness during the day. There was a very hopeless feeling to his character throughout the novel- that no matter what he did or tried, you just knew it wasn't going to work out for him.

The only part where I really sympathized with his character was when he first found the dog. I felt his emotions and reactions were real and desperate, and his struggle to gain the dog's trust was painful. I was more moved by his last moments with the dog then the story of his family. Perhaps this is because as a reader, we weren't given enough time to become attached to his wife and child?

I did find the ending to be interesting in the fact that the "survivors" were what caused Neville's death in the end. But altogether, I don't feel as moved or horrified by I Am Legend as I was with Frankenstein.

Frankenstein

I had never read Frankenstein before taking this class and I knew very little of the original story and its characters. For the longest time, I used to believe Frankenstein was simply about a crazy scientist and the monster he creates. After reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, I realized that was only the tip of the iceberg. Frankenstein was portrayed as a determined man seeking knowledge. He had a rich childhood surrounded by nature, friends, family and so much opportunity to succeed. Frankenstein had a great life, before he was consumed by his creation.

While some people would find themselves afraid of ghoulish, re-animated monsters, I was horrified by watching Frankenstein's descent into madness and secrecy. What's so scary about Victor Frankenstein's situation was that he tried so desperately to keep his creation a secret to his family, that it began to destroy all normalcy from his life and even began to drive him insane. Each time Victor thinks he has a shot at life, that he just might be able to move a little bit past his horrible secret, the monster appears and rips out all hope.

And while the monster was a cause for much of the misery to Victor Frankenstein's life, the monster wasn't entirely to blame. Resurrected by the ravings of a man seeking to be the ultimate creator, the monster begins life striving for the nourishment and attention that a young child would. As the monster explains, he was meant to be an angel in his master's eyes. He was his creation! I find this no different then seeking attention and care from a parent. To me, there could be nothing more hurtful then losing the love and attention of a parent, and I sympathized with the monster's rage towards Victor. I pitied the awful creature, and with him I also began to despise Frankenstein. Towards the end of the book, Victor's existence became a selfish one. He was either encompassed by a longing to forget the monster, or with the passion to destroy him.

I really enjoyed reading Frankenstein, and was happily surprised to find a horror story filled with the kind of drama that Frankenstein portrayed. I wish the kind of horror seen in Hollywood reflected the style of Frankenstein. Pop-up screamers, gore and violence can get a few screams, but the corruption of a man's mind is really terrifying.