Trees

A comment by Herman Hesse about trees. This really hit me between the eyes.

"In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfill themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves."

And

"Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness."
 


Back to my thoughts... I think given the complexity of social systems, and the unrelenting demand for the convenience of uniformity, within those systems, learning and thriving in the context of Hesse's analogy of the  tree is probably the most challenging thing around. And, 'hell, yes', it's a challenge I am going for because I want to be myself, not someone else's conception of what I should be or something that conveniently pours into and sets in the rigid social mold. I keep on returning to the only line I can remember from the high school prayer: "Lord, let me not bend my knee before willful might."

The larger piece from which I grabbed those Hesse quotes is here...

13 New Year resolutions for horror and speculative fiction devotees

1. The next time I cut my finger I will not give in to curiosity and suck the wound, in case it leads to something I didn't expect.

Movie night: Sebastian's Voodoo

One for all the voodoo fans out there... a poppet has to find the courage to save his friends from being pinned to death. In spite of the premise, it is touching in a demented kind of way. Just over four minutes from Joaquin Baldwin.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-12-28

Mammoth effigy burned for solstice, 'trepidation' is a four letter word, Skyrim is gruesome, Lisa McCourt Hollar's 'Xmas Shorts', some of the interesting Christmas links, rhino solutions and problems and instant New Year resolutions.

Competition for beginners

If competing against outsiders who don’t belong among us is the only way to pull a group together, and if the human race needs to pull together to save the future, my money is on an alien invasion as the sensible solution.

Christmas movie: Ornaments

Have you ever wondered what those Christmas decorations get up to while you are asleep. Here's one answer in just under 6 minutes from Aaron Erimez. Enjoy.

Movie night: Merry Bloody Christmas!

Here's a Christmas slasher. Think of it as a 13 minute tribute to other Christmas slashers. Written by Andy Tromans and directed by Danny Kelly. Here's the redeeming feature. In a time where almost nobody can imagine anything without a green-screen special effect, these guys get it right with tungsten spots, shadows and the power of suggestion.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-12-21

200th anniversary of 'Brothers Grimm', Hans Christian Andersen story resurfaces and something on the nature of happiness.

'Making Music' rewrite

In case you missed my breathless post on Facebook, I managed to rewrite 'Making Music' in a way that makes me want to read it, which means I am pleased as punch. After enquiry, I am told it will make it into a mooted anthology of erotic horror, which pleases me doubly. Read it here...

Checklist for the apocalypse

The world has to end sometime. This will probably be in a couple of billion years, but just in case the schedule does get moved up, here is a handy list of things you might want to do.

The Teenage Apocalypse, Santa is evil and the Krampus

Santa himself is not above bloodshed as many Christmas movies show. He's a furtive figure at best, who hangs around on roofs and slithers down chimneys, rather like  Eugene Tooms in the 'X-Files'. Do the words, 'dangerous', 'mutant' and 'freak', ring a bell? Decent people should show up with a friendly knock at the front door.

Christmas card

From detailed observations, these things are meant to hang around on mantlepieces for a while before Christmas, so here's one for your virtual fireplace or indoor braai area.

Christmas in Namibia

When asked what he or she wants for Christmas, the average Namibian will give the automatic response ‘rain’. This answer does not just mean rain during the coming year. It also specifically hopes for rain on Christmas Day.

Movie nights: Suckablood

Christmas is just around the corner. Here's something gruesome and unpleasant to get you in the mood. Just over 6 minutes from Ben Tillett and Jake Cuddihy. Now get that thumb out your mouth.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-12-14

On today's menu... fairypunk, more drivel from climate change deniers laid to rest and internet muses.

The awful empowerment of gun culture

The gun is a friend to the family. It keeps Daddy secure. Sometimes men need a buddy to tell them they are strong and manly. Viagra only works down there. It doesn't work up here in the head.

A quick note on 'The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey'

I just saw The Hobbit. If you're going to go all purist on this, stay at home with the book. If you are looking for more fun excitement than a sack full of monkeys, with some fun elaborations this is the thing for you.

Tomorrow's nostalgia

Parents routinely shove sauerkraut or some such down the throats of protesting kids, and after the gag reflex loses its force, gradually it becomes the taste of home and is associated with all the love and laughter that a home has to offer.

Piddling into the social network abyss

This week, there are two passages which I can't quote word for word, I can only remember the name of one author and there is a quote which I think is biblical, but I am unsure of its origin, so get ready for an extra big helping of qualitative gonzo goodness with no Einstellung effect.

Movie night: Invasion

Why do aliens visit earth? And what is the purpose of crop circles? The truth is revealed in just over 6 minutes from Clément Morin. Mulder would be revolted.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-12-07

Libraries in stories and legends, not getting turned on by horror erotica, women characters as real people, bloody Doha again and superhero underwear.

Movie night: Jornada del Muerto

Here's something I have been holding onto for a while, a little over five minutes of disturbing surrealism from Belcher and Benway a.k.a. BlackMilk Productions. Let your mind go to town on it. Please don't try to reenact any of these vague realities at home.

World AIDS Day 2012 - a local take

I know more people than I care to count who were lost to apathy, silence and refusal to change. Some of them were friends and acquaintances. Others were people who fleetingly passed by. The rate of infection has reduced but this is misleading. It means that less people are being infected, but it also means that people are still being infected.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-11-30

The last ninjas, the nuclear moon, acid seas, writing compulsion, a Ray Bradbury interview and bookish playpen props for sapiosexuals.

Glassy eyes

Here's some bits of found web art, reconfigured for the evening, and two lines of doggerel.

Forget about privacy. You're in the open anyway.

Forget about your privacy. The web collects information about you, even if it is as innocuous as establishing your country. Some websites are stringent and ethical. Others just don't care. If you don't want it out there, don't put it up there. Check the cookie policy and terms of use if need be. 

I haven't seen Breaking Dawn Part 2, twice

The first time I didn't see Breaking Dawn 2 was on Friday, when the queue was endlessly full of young teenage girls. I inadvertently put on my black trousers, black shirt and black shoes before heading out, so I am glad we didn't bother to queue. There is nothing sadder than the idea of an old goth type queuing with a bunch of young adolescents to see something like that.

Movie night: Ark

Here's a story of humanity setting out in ships, searching for new places to live, after a virus decimates humanity. But wait! There's a twist in the tale that speaks to the wannabe hero in all of us. Just over 7 minutes, from Grzegorz Jonkajtys.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-11-23

Mindset Cafe: 2012-11-23

On the menu this week, humans are getting dumber, the medieval arms race, HP Lovecraft, HP Lovecraft and some more HP Lovecraft, typewriters, bad news about Ebola, carbon emissions and the first of the Christmas idiocy.

Television: the fly in my ointment

Television has been my high horse this week. I worked with it in ad agencies where it had the glitz of money, but it has lost its shine. In agencies, there was the whole thing of the captive audience, the highest retention rates, and the alpha waves that are indicative of a mildly hypnotic state. It's also a very cheap medium if the client is able to do some basic division with a calculator. And blah, blah, blah, so just sign the quote already, or do you want that on an installment plan?

It's only natural... well, no, not really.

Modernity has a very bad reputation. It’s probably due to the complexity of life and pollution. On the other hand, there is no reason to chuck the baby out with the bath water, just because you are dissatisfied with the pace and byproducts of life as the rest of us.

A note on creativity

What happens is that a pattern is recognised and evolved. The basic pattern is learned, either in a school, a studio, from media or from winning entries in recent ad awards. There is very little new under the sun, just sometimes, someone manages to see things in a different light.

Evil aunties and the real human vampires among us

Watch people inflicting misery on others. Keep a close eye on their faces particularly as they turn from the scene or when they believe that nobody is watching them. It might not be a full smile, just a gleam in the eye or a raising of the right side of the lip. 

Movie night: The Separation

Conjoined twins are separated with very unhappy results. This is extraordinarily unsettling, and the animation adds to the horror. Nine-and-a-half minutes written, animated and directed by Robert Morgan.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-11-16

On this week's menu, more attempts to jackboot emotions from the DSM mob, a couple of scattered thoughts on young adult fiction and climate change unveils a new apocalypse.

Insects, the food crisis and fear of dung

You won't see me trying to kill a spider with a phone directory. I'll more likely be rooting for it to catch more mosquitoes. The scorpions that wander in during winter, get put back outside.

Dystopian future: conformity and global social networking

No doubt you have read Ira Levin's 'This Perfect Day'. If you haven't read it yet, you should. It is one of the most unsettling depictions of a dystopia imaginable. At the time or reading, it seemed far-fetched. The radical society which it portrays is still difficult to imagine, but it grows closer.

Movie night: The Forest

A young girl comes up against her father and society as she finds a life within her own mind. Just over six thought provoking minutes from David Scharf. Sometimes I need things like this.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-11-09

On this week's menu, the woman who broke into a house and cleaned it, women's literary awards, literary horror and a strange story of a man-eating leopard.

War games and war comics

I'm catching up on some odds and ends and writing tonight, so here's an old column that I still quite fancy.

Hypochondria: entertainment and economics

My guess is that there is an economy to hypochondria and sick leave. It's probably an unspoken thing. If you see someone getting sick, you watch for the sick leave. If it is a matter of getting sick leave, then other people in the office will roll out similar symptoms on a staggered basis, so that everyone gets a turn to be sick, but nobody actually gets left holding the baby on his or her own.

Dystopian future: the age gap

Once upon a time, lifespans were far shorter than they are today. Sixty was old age. Today the age of retirement is set well past sixty. In most developed countries, a lifespan stretching into the seventies is the norm, and this can easily stretch into the eighties. Unfortunately, this can become a nightmare.

Movie night: The Legend of the Scarecrow

Here's the melancholy story of a scarecrow who didn't enjoy his job, and why crows are black. It's 9 minutes, written and directed by Marco Besas, with subtitles.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-11-02

On this week's menu, the Disney Star Wars thing, Saul Zaentz takes ownership of Hobbits, a useful book on plotting, how witches are being portrayed, industrial fishing, horror knitting and a surprise.

Voluntary lobotomy and behaviour that angers me

In terms of shallow, this behaviour has the depth of the thin film of spit that a dog leaves in its bowl after it has finished licking its bowl clean. The whole thing of 'first impressions count' should not be put in the heads of people who believe that dumbing down is the way to manage your life.

Halloween movie night: Ravens Hollow

If Mattel ever hired Steven King as a creative consultant, this is what Barbie movies would probably look like. 11 minutes, directed by Colin Clarke.

Dystopian future: diseases

Disease. It's the one thing over which humanity has very little control. Did you read that right? Yes, you did. Germs may not know we exist, but they are out to get us, and it is quite possible that they will. There is no hope of conquering disease, only a series of lucky, temporary defenses.

From the Innsmouth Observer, October 29

Innsmouth Police Chief in desperate plea to pet owners

"Please stop feeding your pets Dunwich Happy Buddy Pet Food," said Innsmouth Police Chief  Severity Johnson on Monday, October 29. "The pet company has issued a recall on all batches shipped before Friday October, 26, and we kindly request all pet owners to return batches before this date as soon as possible."

Halloween and what it means to me

Whether approaching darkness, or the long hot days of the southern summer, Halloween has become important to me, to the point where I made a comment on Facebook that I am worried about the encroachment of the pink of breast cancer on the day.

Movie night: Before Sunrise

Shadow creatures play throughout the night in a fairytale village, but on this night one particular shadow is tired of his mischevious life and discovers something altogether more magical. 5 good-natured minutes written and directed By Kealan O'Rourke.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-10-26

On this week's menu, 30 cm spiders, a sick note from a sangoma, Kim Newman's 'Dracula Cha Cha Cha', superbugs in animals and the 'Thesaurus of Emotions'

Dawning revelation ('Breaking Damn!')

I have been a bit (very) slack in getting on with rewriting 'Coffee'. This morning, as I was writing, I let loose with words and things started moving along. As I looked at the situation, I realised that what I have been trying to do is to write in a 'writerly' way, limiting things like figures of speech and so on. By letting go and going with what I love, the words came thick and fast. That is, I am almost certain, also the reason why I have procrastinated on the rewrite. There is no reason for me to attempt to be excessively prosaic if the first object of the exercise is joy in finding the story and fleshing out its textures. LESSON: 'Have fun first, you knucklehead.'

Dystopian future: water

A large part of humanity thinks that water comes from a tap. Part of the rest of humanity don't believe in taps, knowing that they are science fiction. They know that water comes from a bucket, hauled from the well, a couple of hundred meters away, if they are lucky, but more likely a couple of kilometers away. The third part of humanity know that water is to die for, literally.

The return of 'The Fourth Gift'

This got rejected by Shimmer in a way that feels strangely like a triumph. It wasn't rejected out of hand, it was bumped up to the editorial board and then it was rejected on grounds that were entirely different to the reason I believed they would reject it. I'm posting it again (while I experiment with my own structural changes and seek absolute clarity on the definition of temporal cues and what cues are ideal). First, though, I have to knuckle down and get it together with the 'Coffee' rewrite which is moving at the pace of about a sentence a day mainly due to my own stupid procrastination.

Training a bat to fly

If you need to do flight training with a bat, put the mite in your hand if you can't get it to hang from your finger. Drop your hand and see if the bat panics enough to flap. Just make sure it doesn't fall, and have something soft beneath it.

What I've figured for myself about writing

Reading a story you enjoy and realising you actually wrote it produces the sort of surprise and elation which is difficult to describe, except possibly as someone giving you a hard, sharp rap on the forehead, with a knuckle. Bonk! Is your head spinning yet?

Movie night: Still Life

A young man drives into a town full of figures frozen in place. Fassbinder-style tableaux begin to form around him. Kraftwerk would be proud of this one. Just shy of 10 minutes, directed by Jon Knautz.

Mindset Cafe: 2012-10-19

Every week, I post links on my blog and explore others for personal fun. It's a feast of ideas, and I am going to share the context with anyone who cares to read. I'll also comment on what I am reading. Have fun, but let's start with something on a darker note first...

Dystopian future: life by the sea

I wrote about the basis for dystopian fiction a while back, and while trolling for ideas to write about tonight, I stumbled on the idea of the various aspects of the dystopian future. As it is such a rich seam, I decided to write a series of pieces on it, with no particular discipline, just ideas, known stuff and the probable future. This week's topic hovers around the idea which is most sensationalised, sea level rise.

From the Innsmouth Observer, 16 October 2012

Innsmouth gardening contest winner announced

Mrs Harpsichord Withers has scooped the annual Innsmouth Flower Fanciers Best in Show Award for a new hybrid bloom created by grafting a Venus flytrap onto a South American corpse plant. 

OK, shut it already! Global noise and pointless forms of protest...

Look at a child running towards friends. The yells and shouts proclaim, "I am here! See me!" Like the demonstrators, noise is a way for young people to be noticed. Kids shout to one another and shout louder to drown one another out.

Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, flags and banners

The interesting thing about the scenario, for the purposes of this column, is the very human way in which Morpheus chooses to separate himself from that which defines him, in this case by concentrating his powers in tools. Following this analogy back to its roots, you get humanity, and that which defines each individual: beliefs.

Movie night: The Passenger

Man, that is one very scary goldfish... one of the most unlikely monsters I have ever come across outside of Half Life 2. Seven minutes by Chris Jones.

16 reasons why you really, really don't want to be a telepath

It's been a while since I did a list, so here's one to think about (just not too hard)...

1. A very real sense of inadequacy.
2. Non-delusional paranoia.
3. The ruinous hangover of the guy sitting next to you on public transport.

Maybe it's a postcard from some underheated neighbourhood of Hell...

I'm not sure what to say about it. It's a picture that has been fluttering around in my head (like a desert crow on a mission to defend its turf, not a butterfly). There's no thousand words in it that interest me, but it does have cool half-tones. Maybe it's a postcard from some underheated neighbourhood of Hell, in which case, you can write your own thousand words. Anyway, enjoy.

Damned! Evil! Unclean! A quick note on Christians and horror

There's not much that can be changed, and no real reason to find thrills in mucking with the minds of these individuals, but we have to give credit to the Bible and various religions for laying the groundwork for most of modern horror and providing a rich source of tropes and scenarios.

Abracadabra is too imprecise: spells and the power of words

In alchemy, for instance, these people would study things, observe them, and once they were understood, they were named. The use of the name evoked understanding and the understanding was theoretically a pathway to control. The idea of the atom is a good idea of this at play.

Dystopian fiction and evolution of the scenario

Dystopian fiction cannot be effective without some hope of survival. Imagine this scenario: "He knew he was going to die, so he ran around a bit like a headless chicken, until a sense of complete hopelessness set in, and he sat down and waited for death."

Don't be scared of snakes

Let's twist this into a premise for a horror flick. Imagine a being about sixty meters tall. Imagine this person walking down a street leaving squishy red splodges in the places where people weren't quick enough to get away. The army would be around to greet our very tall being with firepower before too long. The snake operates the same way.

Movie night: When Genevieve Ruled the World

Genevieve has all the toys a child could want, even toy makers to provide toys that aren't for sale. One day she realises she has it all, so... Brilliant. Slightly macabre. Thought provoking. 9 minutes.

Thing One and Thing Two: some personal stuff

If a tree falls in the forest and there is nobody to hear it, the laws of physics dictate that it will make a sound. However with nobody to hear that sound, the tree will not be assessed for its value as a part of the ecosystem and its future, shaped into a product or a carving, might also be in doubt. The fact that you read what I write gives value to the words, and for that I can never be grateful enough.

The solution to climate change: gruesome catastrophes

Everybody is harping on about sequential tropical storms and the rising water level. I have something scarier to report. I live in an arid country, a large part of which is desert. A couple of years back it rained every day for four weeks. Now it snows in the desert. That’s scary.

‘Say hello to my little friend’: tokoloshes and world horror

As far as reading goes, I'm a sensation seeker. After the first few thrills, things have a way of palling. How many vampire stories is it possible to read before the things become boring? And there are so many of them. 'World horror', new storylines, tropes and threads, are one way out, a fresh new source of speculative fiction. Tracie McBride gave me an opportunity to write my take on it and guest post on her blog, Exquisite Corpse. Take a look at where my mind headed, here...

Slapstick economics and insensitive fun with the fuel price

At this point, you may be tempted to go out and buy a hybrid that saves fuel and the environment. Think carefully...

...but you can CHOOSE a book by its cover.

This may seem awful to say to someone who writes horror, but go with the stereotypes when it comes to the cover. By analogy, people take a lot of convincing to buy a car that doesn't look like their sort of car. Imagine trying to sell a station wagon to a sports car enthusiast.

Tokoloshes, HP Lovecraft, Jedis and mutable beliefs

Jedis are one thing. Gods with tentacles hanging off their faces are another. But no. Someone had to 'reconstruct' the fictional Necronomicon, and the next step would predictably be development of a set of rituals and rites, complete with a bunch of wide-eyed people quite willing to believe.

Movie Night: Teddy's Nightmare

Put down the books for seven minutes of dark entertainment from Mateusz Staniszew. Teddy wakes in a nightmare. It's the sort of stuff that video stores put on shelves without watching, leaving parents with tweens who still want to share their parents' beds.

From the Innsmouth Observer, September 28

Innsmouth tourism initiative stirs controversy

An Innsmouth resident has launched a private tourism campaign to attract visitors: 'Interesting. Intense. Innsmouth.'

Said Philomena Jermyn of the newly established Innsmouth Tourism Company, "The town is rich in history, folklore and cryptozoology, and has been written about fondly by many authors. With this campaign we want to address the omission of this important part of America's heritage from guidebooks and travel maps."

Say hello to scary Mr Mouth

You are probably trying to do some intellectual dentistry with the goal of separating the teeth from the mouth. I thought about it as well. Without the context of a mouth to move them, teeth can be little more than components of a necklace for a surfer or a tourist, or a weapon for Harry Potter.

Hidden history

“Big trees from little acorns grow,” as Tolkein noted. But history doesn’t look too deep and, more often than not, a large and very significant part remains unconsidered, or is completely ignored. Tupperware, punks and ‘gangsta’ movies aren’t the sort of phenomena that make for great academic careers or even the briefest of footnotes.

Pure comedy, guy style...

The thing about guys is that we are all macho to a greater or lesser degree. And we all have this raging urge to get rid of our problems as quickly as possible. We look for the quickest solution possible and try not to spend too much time meditating on it or allowing it to eat away at our souls. 

Movie night: Red Balloon

A babysitter looks after a kid who slightly resembles Kubrick's Danny Torrance. The babysitter deserves everything she gets, and horror fans will know why. The stuffed rabbit makes it work. A film by Damien Mace and Alexis Wajsbro.

Five fives for the rhino...

Use of rhino horn to cure cancer is a clear sign of idiocy. It does not cure impotency either. In fact it just tells everyone that the user is impotent. Namibians, help out by downloading and displaying this poster which can be blown up to A3 size. Click here...

Swag... how much would you pay for a good-looking hammer?

Does that ownership of the graphics rendering machine make people who don't do graphics rendering any better than they already are at things like, for instance... word processing, basic spreadsheets, browsing and e-mail?

Meditations of a coffee hound

I am not choosy or a connoisseur in any way. I have stopped pretending that coffee tastes better with the addition of milk and or sugar. Milk happens rarely and sugar is only added if I need a little bit of extra energy, otherwise I drink it straight up. As long as it doesn’t taste of chicory.

The apple on the tree

The biblical apple tree has become an orchid. The serpents are retreating before the onslaught of callous feet. Never before has knowledge been so accessible, or held so much promise.

The hidden triumphs of 'ordinary' people

After a while, after a long, long while, the ordinary begins to seem like nirvana. You wake up in the morning, envious of people who go to work in ties and grey suits. You wonder wistfully what it would be like to have an orderly, predictable day, with no excitement and no surprises whatsoever.

Noun of the week

'Swag', in the sense of objects that make us swagger with pride, boost our egos and feel good about ourselves for having them.

Movie night: The Balance

Here's a thought provoking, Oscar-winning short from Wolfgang and Christoph Lauenstein. Sometimes something new can disturb the balance of things.

'Paperclips turn me on...' Approaches to passion.

Passion is a recipe for disaster and disappointment. In fact, the advice of ‘flat-earthers’ and other religious conservatives on the sense of excitement is probably right: if you experience a moment of passion, go and take a very cold shower.

Something revolting for International Roald Dahl Day

Here's a personal favourite from Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes, 'Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf'. Enjoy.

Words that become barren

One of my favourite acrobatic words is ‘sophistication’. Think about what it means. In most uses, the word is associated with a compliment. People who are ‘sophisticated’ are generally seen, at least in the mind’s eye, to be intelligent, well-dressed, wealthy and aware of what is good and what is not.

Anne Rice's Claudia and the idea of immortality

Herein lies the paradox: with limited years, we try to live forever, courting every form of medicine and snake oil that looks even halfway credible, yet with unlimited years many of Anne Rice’s most credible characters choose oblivion.

When time slows down

The secret of time, the spell and the magic that the ‘Borderliners’ discovered was that unless you watch the clock and count the time as it passes, time can be as variable as you want it to be.

Movie night: In Chambers

Men come for people with numbers in this grim slum. Ten minutes of clever work from filmmakers Aleksander Nordaas & Bendik Heggen Strønstad, with a bonus surprise ending.

Who needs tame dragons?

Whatever the case, dragons should be bad because having a cuddle buddy that is capable of incinerating villages and devouring whole convents is a waste of a good antagonist. And putting all that firepower at the disposal of a hero seems to defeat the purpose of a hero in the first place.

From the Innsmouth Observer, September 6

Revolutionary, new wifi service for Innsmouth Library

The Innsmouth Library has introduced a new, free wifi service for avid readers and community members. According to the Chief Librarian, Venal Marsh, the new service not only gives access to the world wide web, but also represents a quantum advance on web latency.

Not my type at all

Surgery is as clever as all get out. Everyone knows that surgeons are highly trained folks, and they don't do their own home surgery in case they make a hash of it, scream and bleed all over the house.

Noun of the week

'Font'. I reckon I can write something about that.

The future has a sell-by-date

I come from a distant past in which push button phones were modern and 50 megabytes was unimaginably excessive. Cutting edge involved a couple of very two dimensional bats passing a square puck backwards and forwards on a screen.

Respect for my elders? I'll think about it.

Now consider the person who became manipulative, cynical, deceptive and / or acquisitive as a child. That sort of behaviour will almost certainly manifest itself in later life. No doubt after a lifetime of this behaviour, the patterns, reactions and reasoning will not mellow out but will instead become more habitual and pronounced.

Movie night: Conviction (A Tribute to H.P. Lovecraft)

Someone says she doesn't want to live forever. Oops! Is that a statuette of Cthulhu by her bedside? And is that Nine Inch Nails in the background? Take six minutes with this Fewdio production.

From the Innsmouth Observer, August 31

Rep. Senator Legitimate Jermyn
launches Marital Counseling Center

The Innsmouth Marital Counseling Center, on Yellowgill Road, opened its doors to couples from the community. Established by the City Fathers and the Elders Committee of the Obed Marsh Memorial Swimming Club with the goal of reversing the decline in family values, the institution is expected to serve the community of Innsmouth and to attract couples from as far afield as Dunwich.

Welcome to your life. Here's your desk.

If there are ten units of work that are really worth doing in a two-desk office and desk one contains two units of work, then desk two must contain eight units of work, or seven if you include the variable of the unit of work that is moving between offices or that is gathering dust on top of the filing cabinet in the corner.

Shallow is good as well...

How are people supposed to look at a blue sky and realise that it is supposed to represent something as abstruse as the size of a computer manufacturer? A blue sky means no clouds, which symbolises no rain again and use of the hosepipe, damn-it!

Noun of the week

It was 'endeavour', but somehow it became 'random'.

Randomness confuses me, I think

Going to space has been great for technology, and for the art of quick rationalisation. I'm not entirely sure what to do with the knowledge that the moon isn't made out of cheese.

Fullstop by Pierre Mare

The bitter execution
Of a fullstop
Denotes the interruption
Of your dream
Stop

There is such tension
Present in a fullstop
It seems too much
To ever be explained
Stop

Movie night: The Lady and the Reaper

Sometimes giving back can be taking away.

Silent radios

Radio was something that could be enjoyed almost anywhere in the house. Sometimes it was so gripping and vivid that I stopped what I was doing and just listened.

A rough guide to Namibian roads

“Larger antelope, particularly kudu, are as unpredictable, stupid and dangerous as drunken drivers, albeit more sober. Drivers should keep a close eye on the side of the road and slow down at the first sign of an animal.”

Convention on the Rights of the Child in child-friendly language

Here's the story. I was helping my daughter with some homework on the rights of children but the only easily accessible thing in child-friendly language on a Google search was a huge, full-colour PDF which is not going to be particularly useful anywhere except where they have large A3, full-colour printers. That is not in places where this sort of knowledge is most needed. I've copied the text out of the thing and cleaned it up. Copy it from the post and spread it around where it is needed.

Hello, hyena

The first time I came across a hyena was on a school camping trip in the Namib. We were there to help a biologist count mice that live on the side of dunes. The area was wild and full of the sort of creatures that are found in the desert.

The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft, free!

If you still think HP Lovecraft is a misspelled laptop, you need to read a bit more than you have been. Discover the writing of the father of modern horror with free ebook downloads of his complete works in several formats from the inestimable Cthulhu Chick.

Short movie: HP Lovecraft's 'Shadow out of Time'

An adaptation of H P Lovecraft's famous sci-fi story, and a bit of B-movie fun. This 14 minute short is a collaboration between Richard Svensson, Daniel Lennéer and Christopher Johansson. Åke Rosén stars, and John Hutch narrates.

From the Innsmouth Observer, August 19

 

Innsmouth SPCA calls owners to claim pets

The Innsmouth Observer has asked owners to claim lost pets that were put outside during the recent door-to-door visits by the Federal Government.

Movie night: The Lovers

Everything gets slightly tangled up in 'The Lovers', another thought-provoking piece from Thomas Dorman and Black Milk. Includes knitting and wool.

The truth is out there, and it's better left out there

Ghost Valley is urbanised, has been sold and developed in extra-large, heartburn-mortgage chunks. The fairy circles are tourist attractions, a couple of minutes to gawk, snap and stretch legs between here and way, way over there.

Veld fire, Rocky Crest, 16 August 2012

I've seen the veld fire
Crawling through the night

I've seen the mantis hesitate

I hope for cold rain
Falling in the night

The metaphysics and economics of mud

Sanitised living isn't great, except for makers of horror movies who make money with swarms of flies and patches of grime that make you gag when you wonder what it would be like if you licked your fingers.

Dressing for success, the Namibian way

“As far as personal grooming is concerned, a manly five-o-clock shadow is allowable, but only if you are a man.”

Noun of the week

'dirt'

From the Innsmouth Observer

 

Shock Ban on Skipping
at Lavinia Whateley Primary School.

According to sources who are nameless, the inexplicable ban on skipping in pre-primary classes at Lavinia Whateley Primary School is attracting attention from the highest levels including the City Fathers and the Elders Committee of the Obed Marsh Memorial Swimming Club.

Chilling out is reality

By accepting the presence and counterbalance of the completely unreal and strange, we might even begin to be able to appreciate the facts. You can start right now by accepting that I like being cold...

Photo removed from Facebook

This photo was removed from Facebook so I did a print screen and posted it here.

Movie Night: Zero

Zero is nothing until he finds the love of another Zero. Beautifully made. Twelve and a half minutes for everyone who has struggled with feeling out of place.

A quick note and a new page

I have been theorising how to take over the world again. Normal posts will resume once my mind stops racing.

In the mean time, keep an eye out for new stuff on the left column. another movie tonight and take a look at my new page 'Semiotics' at the top, towards the middle. (Yup, up there.) It focuses on repetitive global signals from news media. Having a future means it's going to be a brave new world. Whether it is good or bad depends on whether you see the upside or downside. Whatever happens, you'll get used to it. I'll add some more items in a couple of hours.

Tom Waits - Hell Broke Luce

A new video off his 2011 album, 'Bad As Me'.

Tom Waits, the fallacy of perfection and the sweet sound of gravel in the can

As far as I am concerned, I seem to have lost the map that points the way to perfection. And strangely enough, it’s not a place I’m entirely sure I want to visit. I’d probably embarrass myself by dropping the bone china, staining the rug and having a beer too many.

If you have good intentions be extremely cautious

Most religions ask their believers to do something individually. For instance the Bible says, 'Love your neighbour.' It does not say 'Form a committee to love your neighbour.'

Amazon reviews and likes for Kindle

Reviews and likes on Amazon don't seem to count for much in the Amazon marketing / sales department. I took a look at the sales ranking of a book (Kindle format) that I would have sacrificed a gonad to write and noticed that it was far below mine. This was in spite of about eleven more reviews (mostly five and some four stars) than my own single review, and umpteen more likes.

Fifty Shades and Twilight, arts and crafting

For the last few months I have been watching and thinking about the various threads I follow surrounding popular books, particularly Twilight and Fifty Shades. I have tried to put it together in a meaningful way, but haven't come to anything coherent yet other than my personal feelings on the matter.

Some blather and a note on thinking deeper when it comes to kids

The time I set aside for writing seems to have vanished. I have the beginnings of three stories on the go and one in the rewrite stage. Instead of pecking away at my keyboard I spent the time at a festival type of thing for kids with my daughter. You probably know the sort of thing: stalls and activities designed to part children from their parents' money. We have a fair amount of brand loyalty on the go tonight.

For about a minute, I turned into a raging conservative. Here's what happened...

Movie night: The Sandman

I had something with a science fiction feel to it lined up for tonight but before I could get to it, I found myself scratching around for something about the Sandman. Chordettes? Nah, not really. Metallica? Nothing to write home about. But I did find this creepy little treasure animated and directed by Paul Berry in 1991. It's not Dream of the Endless, but I'm sure Lord Morpehus would approve.

Finding your way in Namibia (a visitor's guide)

The absence of maps produced generations of Namibians who were adept at finding their way under the most difficult circumstances. Their cunning method was to stop and ask someone if they knew where something was.

Fear of food and scorpions on the menu

The meal of the future looks like it will draw a lot more on global influences than the current fusion style of chicken tikka pizza. If I were a scorpion I would be drawing deeper under my rock right now. If cockroaches, termites, meal-worms and ants could read, they would probably be extremely worried.

Whatever happened to witches?

I'm sure you know those little old ladies. You would probably leave a trail of stones when visiting them, but you know it's not polite. As it is, you are grateful for your GPS. A visit is a trial. You wonder if you will make it out of there without any lasting damage. It could be the incessant  wheedling or a bit of venomous nastiness, calculated to harm, but delivered with a deadpan face and unimpeachable intent.

Kick in the head

A quick post. There are things to be done and more work to get through after that. The day has been tough. I submitted 'Aunt Amelia at Dinner' and 'First Time' and await rejection. Apparently it builds character.

Coffee by Pierre Mare

Waking has never been easy. Even as a young girl, with the wonders of the day ahead, my vigor was slow to catch up with the clock. The promise of shopping and sodas in town could not rouse me from my Saturday morning slumber. My lazy flesh was unmoved by the threat of Hell and Damnation for a tardy arrival at Carver Street Congregation on a Sunday morning.

Movie night: The Invention of Love

Love, tragedy and melancholy in a steampunk setting show that utopias and lives based on technology aren't the smart way to go.

Listening to 'Southern Gods' (and review)

I took the step of getting hold of 'Southern Gods' as an Audible production. I didn't want to add the book to the tail end of a long and joyful 'to read' list. I also reasoned that I could listen while I worked. That didn't pan out. Either parts of the story got lost or parts of the work came to a stop.

Thrills: all the questions and no decent answer

Teenagers are particularly dumb when it comes to finding excitement, sometimes even dangerous to themselves and others. Drinking, drugs and sex have become commonplace, and that's just the childhoods of US presidential candidates.

Thought for the day

It's high time that modern zombies got their own religion, and I'm going to give it to them.

Rewrite: The Man Who Feared Wednesday

This has been a bugger to rewrite, but I am satisfied with it for now as it better resembles a story than a list of things.  It's a substantial rewrite that involved a lot of chopping as well. Read it here...

(And if you have any comment, please pass it on.)

Movie night: 'Endless'

A knife, an eyeball, a bite, the maiden, mother and crone, all packed into a couple of minutes with a heap of Fassbinder stylization. Brilliant and multi-award winning. This thing is like the end of a short story. It asks you to imagine from where it all comes.

Mandela Day - Something on reading for Namibians

One of the challenges in Namibia is to introduce a culture of innovation. There are only so many cuca shops and shebeens that the economy can bear.

The question of water in a wine glass

Why bother to wait for the water that comes out of a plastic bottle to arrive in a wine glass? Why sip it in a refined way? What is the flavour of that sort of sophistication? How about putting wine in the wine glass?

Inventory: things of fear and horror for storytellers

I have worked on this list for a while now to set up a basic inventory of the things that storytellers use. The first half of the mythological / traditional section comes from things mentioned in Marina Warner's 'No Go the Bogeyman' and 'From the Beast to the Blond'. This list is not exhaustive but it does give the main things that crop up in stories. The list is very Western. I will add to it as I go along and read more non-western mythology and horror.

A note on frightening horror readers

I don't know what it is that might frighten a seasoned horror reader. After the first few reads, everything becomes dispassionate, yet another 'creature feature'. This is born out by the fact that the movie market which uses tropes such as ZVW and killers is almost entirely targeted at kids, with the exception of a couple of art movies such as 'Pan's Labyrinth' and 'Let the Right One In'.

Movie night: Regression

Here's another little gem from Black Milk and Thomas Dorman. Possessive love, madness, grue, acting with brilliant expressions and what appears to be an afterlife (of sorts). Although it seems to be a bit beside the point, please note that it contains nudity so if you are offended by that sort of thing, don't click.

Happily confused: knife culture at Independence

Things seem to have changed now. I know that knives are still carried by a lot of people, but scanning the press leads me to the conclusion that there are too many guns around for knives to be a major feature of Namibia's violent underbelly.

Thought on writing

Quite often I write things almost automatically. When I go back to read the things, I end up saying to myself, "How in God's name did you get that right?"

It's as if the writer and the reader in me are two different beings. This leads me back to Terry Pratchett's idea that there are particles of inspiration sleeting down, waiting to find a mind that is ready to give expression to them. It's amost as if the story or thought really is out there, wanting to be told, looking for someone to tell it. It's not as if the ideas are forced. I do a little bit of planning and then let go. The story chooses where it wants to go, and the amazing thing is that those ideas work out.

Rewrite week...

Eight weeks and seven stories in, I can say it has been a hectic learning curve. At this point I feel the urgent need to get things fixed and tidied. It's time to revise on the basis of several very welcome suggestions and some very useful guides to writing. Pronouns must go! I'll repost the stories as things move along. I'll post a new column on Wednesday or Thursday evening and then pick up with Alan Dale's DNA, Movie Night and  a new story on Sunday evening (hopefully). I'll keep on updating 'The Stream' and 'Watch this...' daily. A special word of thanks Selene M'Only and Tracie McBride for the pointers.

Movie night: 3:00 AM

This is one of those movies which can easily be watched between fingers. Enjoy.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

The Barbie doll, and its implications for personal appearance, has been studied and discussed in depth. Why has nobody ever questioned the idea of even considering a plastic toy for prepubescent girls as important? It seems insane.

Your fears will find you

Fate is a Calvinist with a wickedly perverse sense of predestination. If it sets out to get you it will. In this regard, consider the experiences of a friend who will go unnamed. After a first burglary, he put up a two meter wall. This piqued the burglars’ interest and they went over the wall. He too installed an electric fence. The burglars broke through the wall, beneath the thief-zapper. He finally installed expensive, directional motion sensors. Unfortunately, the thieves saw their value and took those as well. Fate is a four letter word.

Shoes and the subconscious

Fears, repressed desires and anger have a way of becoming fuel for the slow-burning fire of life. Yet the dark frustration is often partially directed at someone else. For instance, someone may have a subconscious fear that his shoes make him an object of ridicule. The result is that his shoes are obsessively kept gleaming, and that everyone around is expected to keep their own shoes in same condition.

The genetic and philosphical inevitability of guns

If you want to de-stress and affirm your manhood, throw a punch. If you haven’t yet seen that inestimable movie, ‘The Fight Club’, you’re missing out on a noteworthy piece of modern-day philosophy, and a convincing one-step self-help programme for the emasculated.

Maybe They Get Lonely by Pierre Mare

(A ghost story for my daughter)

Holidays! Without any school to complain about or make the afternoon feel more exciting, Nancy was so bored she could scream. Her insides itched with frustration. What could she do? All her DVDs were the same DVDs she watched yesterday and the day before, and the day before that. Her books? Well, she had read most of them, and the ones she hadn't yet read were the books she would read later. She thought for a moment about writing a book report or updating her blog.

“No,” she told herself. “Those are another day things, not today things.”

Movie Night: Tim Minchin's 'Storm'

Feel free to believe what you will, but do take a moment to enjoy this animated riff on belief vs. science (in rhyming verse).

The tooth fairy: put away those damn pliers!

Once children come along, we remember the old faces and places, and happily resurrect them. Why should they not share our childhood thrills?

The lost delight of four letter words

Like many young people I used four letter words in place of punctuation. It is sometimes far easier for kids to get people to understand that they have their own needs when everyone stops to listen in shocked silence.

What is the reward of frightening myself?

My 'better version' of a monster would have to be something that is scary enough to keep me locked in the bathroom with my family, almost too scared to breathe, worried that the pounding of my heart might give me away. Interestingly, it could be a hotel. Stephen King's 'The Shining' was one of the few books skillful enough to give me frights. It's a pity that everything else he wrote came across so tame.

Johnny & the Curious Clock by Pierre Mare

I wrote this story for 'children of all ages' in a few idle (frustrated) hours. Inflict it on any nearby kids. They'd probably rather be watching television, but words are self improving. Please let me know how they react.

The Man Who Feared Wednesday by Pierre Mare

The Prophet of Winchester looked up at the stars and breathed blood. His left leg twitched among the litter, twitched and twitched again. Eddie D stared down at the damage, and wished he could go back five minutes, not have done that or have to see it now.

Movie night: Emma-O

'Women are Essentially Water'. Grab the popcorn and a cup of coffee. Shut the kids in the bedroom (with teddy bears). Here's an award-winning short horror film with water from Black Milk Productions.

Alan Dale's DNA (Code Flesh) Episode 5

“She won’t talk, we don’t know her name,” Corrine said as she ran her free hand gently over the girl’s light brown hair. Her stunning black eyes staring into an invisible mirror. One that danced with images of death, gore and hopelessness, she would never forget. Bridjett meets a child. Read more...

LuckyGoldstar and the rehabilitation of Dr. Fu Manchu

Fu Manchu's ongoing battles against the incredibly unobservant Nayland Smith and hilariously lovestruck Dr. Petrie are unfortunately not supported by obvious economic policies in the books. There is no indication of what Fu Manchu might have done once the Si Fan had taken over the world: give up breeding poisonous, coma-inducing fungi and indulge in a fetish for endless bureaucracy and ongoing diplomatic initiatives perhaps? The results would probably be indistinguishable.

A lost dog and the curse of blackjacks

It is widely known that scientists can untangle genes and synthesize almost anything. My suggestion is that they get to it and start cultivating blackjacks in labs, because when it comes to the biodiversity stakes, those are one thing that won't get my vote.

Shakespeare and the monkeys that write him

Would we be able to programme a robot to throw a coffee cup or storm out for a beer whenever the significant other said something insensitive? Could manufacturers offer warranties against separation or divorce?

Urgent appeal for Tsumkwe Bushmen

Willem de Wet is appealing for urgent help in Tsumkwe. According to reports, some of the San Bushmen are having a hard winter and lack very basic necessities to survive. Please help.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow...

I'm writing a story for Father's Day, so I don't have time to concoct or compose a post. Thanks for coming by and here's a rather fetching (disturbing) cartoon, 'The Backwater Gospel' to keep you amused.

Three bedtime rhymes for horror buffs by Pierre Mare

Now I lay me down to sleep

To dream of things that ooze and creep,

And should they not want out tonight

I pray for some other hideous fright.

Seeing things in a different light: splatters and blobs

Many people now believe that spatters of paint are the epitome of creativity, and they are willing to buy it, be it production line artwork, sold on the street by hawkers claiming it comes from starving student artists, or an expensive piece bought out of a gallery or from the artist who actually is starving.

Summary report on the death of patient Maria Prevarian (MP-R12593) by Pierre Mare

Admission and and initial diagnosis

Mrs Prevarian, aged 54 at the time of her death, was admitted to this facility in April 2002, manifesting symptoms of paranoia, with occasional hallucinatory episodes. On admission, she was diagnosed with dendrophobia, fear of trees, however after refusal to enter her room and an incident in admission, the common area, the consulting psychiatrist's room and the dining area, the phobia was reclassified as xylophobia, fear of woods and wooden objects.

Reassessing Lovecraft: H.P. Lovecraft's essay 'Supernatural Horror in Literature'

If you are a 'serious horror reader', you will know this one. Someone asks you what you watch or read or write, and instead of saying something wise like 'Japanese technical manuals', you blurt out the 'H' word to be rewarded with a blank stare and a moment's pause before the response comes. “Oh, you mean like Stephen King?”

Chickenscratch Prayer by Pierre Mare

This is an incantation I wrote a while back in one of those moments when I was really desperate to write.

Chickenscratch ink
On farmyard pages
Biting thoughts
And teeth and claws

11 reasons why you don't want to be a werewolf

1. The tickly bit on your side which makes you twitch your leg
2. Waking up with groin strain from scratching
3. Getting put out in the back yard because you beg and whine when the family has dinner 

Cannibalism: the likely difference between then and now

What's with this business of eating man flesh? It's not like we're evolving to become orcs.  First there was the guy who ate the face of this other guy. Then there was the guy who ate the brains of another guy. And now there is a porn star who may have taken the figurative idea of eating someone one step too close to the literal side of things.

Relax. I'm safe. Now put away those silver bullets.

The little dears don't eat people: their teeth are too underdeveloped to break skin when they bite, usually. And they prefer sweet stuff, or mushy carrots.

Due to unforeseen circumstances...

...which included some other stuff, some time wasting, some work, getting waylaid by interesting questions and a power cut, here's a risque picture of a cactus instead of the usual writing. It's called 'Impediments'.

Some thoughts on the zombie apocalypse

Lately zombies seem to have lost their shine. It's hard to be brooding, sensitive and attractive to teenage girls, who ought to know better, in the vampire-nouveau kind of way when you are a couple of days on the smelly side of rigor mortis.

Chuck Norris and the appreciation of prawns

What sort of hungry desperation drove someone to look at a prawn and put it in his mouth? If those things walked on land, even Chuck Norris would watch where he put his feet.

Coming soon: Moomins and the Comet Chase

I can hardly wait for this. First released in 2010, it just premiered at Cannes with a new voice cast. I grew up with these books, and heartily recommend them to parents. If you haven't heard of the Moomintrolls yet or 'discovered' Tove Jansson, take a look at this...

Review: Simon Kurt Unsworth's 'Quiet Houses' has more fun surprises than a barrel full of scorpions

The idea of ghosts used to terrify me when I was a kid. That was before I learned about vampires, werewolves, zombies and headmasters. After a while Caspar the Friendly Ghost came along and ruined the shuddering thrill of running through the dark to make it to bed and under the covers before the ghosts got me. Simon Kurt Unsworth's 'Quiet Houses' has helped me relive that thrill a bit, although I no longer need to shove my head under the covers.

More about civilization: tomato sauce

Everybody needs a change from their occupations, every now and then. Accountants probably inventory the contents of their paperclip boxes. Doctors probably disassemble Barbie dolls. And journalists, this I know with almost absolute certainty, produce top ten lists of things that range from 'sexiness' in male and female celebrities, to really stupid ways to die.

Vicious villanelles: wolves on two legs

Here's rhyme without reason in the form of several dark villanelles on the topic of werewolves, from Lori R. Lopez, Tracie McBride and Pierre Mare.

Africa Day: pain and the defense of love

Africa Day is supposed to celebrate the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). It can also be an event to celebrate Africa. Whatever your take on the day, positive introspection and good feelings both come with severe challenges on 25 May 2012.

The dreaded green mankini, eating eyeballs and two degrees of horror

A photo of an overweight man in a standard, green Borat mankini, with a few pubes showing, caused interesting reactions on a Facebook group recently. It's one of those viral photos that does the rounds of Facebook, collecting likes and comments, alongside the cute kitties and inspiring attitudinal quotes. It wouldn't be anything to write home about in most of Europe or the Mediterranean locations, except perhaps in winter.

Some people just don't appreciate curiosity whatsoever

Let's play this one theologically. Man is made in God's image. Man is curious. Hence, curiosity must be a Godly attribute, and so we get to 'curiosity is also next to Godliness' and is probably hanging out next to the obsessive compulsive guy washing his hands for the fourteenth time in as many minutes.

Harry Dresden and the idea of thresholds

I keep my Harry Dresden books in my 'Pulp' folder, alongside Robert E. Howard and Sax Rohmer. The Harry Dresden series rocks, sort of like a hard-boiled Harry Potter or a lowbrow 'Watch' series: vampire factions, werewolves, the fae winter and summer courts, demons, gangsters and cops. It makes great reading, good enough to postpone making supper for a bit and braving the complaints. It's a pity the whole of the whole thing was so expensive. Still, it's worth all the money.

So what does Harry Dresden add  to the various genres? The thing that grabbed me, aside from the Bob the Skull, was Jim Butcher's very conscious use of the threshold.

Review: Autumn Christian's 'They Promised Dreamless Death' and a riff on zombies

Zombies have become associated with the walking dead. They are typically video game fodder, mildly shivery at first, but once you get past the idea of dead flesh and into the swing of whatever weapon you are playing, they become a bit more entertaining. Autumn Christian's story 'They Promised Dreamless Death' gives a timely reminder that it is not always that way and that, from time to time, it also helps to think of them as or to call them the 'living dead'.

Milton Louw's 'Future Namibia' published

He says, "In this book I hope to objectively evaluate Namibia’s economic problems in terms of Namibia’s realities. I read a very interesting piece on 'Solving Africa’s Commercial Poaching Pandemic' by Ron Thomson and use his analogy below in relation to our economic problems. To begin to solve the problem we have to identify its real causes. "

Ebooks: the current frenzy and some likely outcomes

Thanks to the ebook revolution, anyone with a book, an internet computer and the patience to learn a little bit of html has the ability to publish. There are now about more than a million ebooks on Kindle, so it feels very much as if everyone is publishing. Factor in other ebook formats and it is easy to reach the conclusion that everyone and then some are publishing. This is absolutely wonderful, but it creates a new set of challenges for writers and readers.

Review: Lisa McCourt Hollar's 'Monsters!', wicked fun with sex, death and demon babies

The wonderful thing about indie self-publishing is that an author does not have to tone down to suit the widest possible demographic. Lisa McCourt Hollar's 'Monsters' is an example of this in practice. 'Monsters' is a collection of 13 short, visceral stories that immediately grabbed me by ignoring two of the major mass market horror taboos: horrifying sex and demon babies.

Review: Christine Sutton's 'The Walker', a fun short story and a culinary meditation on the taste of souls

Christine Sutton's 'The Walker', a story about a soul eater, pulls off a neat trick with a refreshing short tale that manages to zip from the present to the 1880s, ancient Egypt,  and back, while incorporating a brief meditation on the culinary drawbacks of corrupted souls in just 8 pages.

Fun with poisoned chalices: fossil fuels, nuclear and renewables

Phased renewables, for very rich environmentalists who can afford the installation and who ignore the needs of the poor, is one way to go, but that doesn't satisfy all our power needs and it pushes manufacturing costs, way, way up there.

Climate change and horror: fresh scenarios and older tropes

'Carson looked at the sarcoma on his arm. Last night it had been half an inch worth of busy. He angled the box knife and gritted his teeth. Too late for sunscreen now.'

'Blakefield's stomach churned as he watched the line of tornadoes doing a quickstep across the horizon. Would they want him as well, small as he was?'

'The djinn's smile lit up as he stepped off the plane and sucked in the diesel-scented fumes of the city.'

These are prompts for stories that still have to be told.

How to help children to enjoy reading

Many parents have a common complaint: their children don't read, resist reading or don't enjoy reading. Instead their children turn to the television or to games for amusement.  This is unsettling. Reading is one of the activities that is most likely to develop the ability to think, to be creative and to communicate. Reading is also a key requirement for doing well at school. What can parents do to help their children enjoy reading? Here are some very successful suggestions that I have tested.

How to make a great first impression with Nazi fetish gear

Clothes are a form of diplomacy. The right apparel is an emissary that conveys the message of the wearer. The burning question is can you trust the message?

My first review for 'The Writing is on the Coffee Cup'

Someone whom I think is an awesome writer gave me this review: "Books like these are the E-book Revolution's reason for existence. A mainstream publisher would never have acquired this, a collection of essays from a non-celebrity. It is difficult to succinctly describe, even more difficult to pigeon hole, and I imagine nigh-on impossible to market. And yet, without modern technology and the ever-egalitarian Amazon, the world would be deprived of this gem."

Read the rest of the review here...

(And if you have a moment, please add your own.)

Meyer, Disney and mainstream assimilation of goth culture

In the past, the various horror genres have had relatively limited readership, waxing and waning with the trends of the day, yet always pulling through on a small core of loyal readers of the genres. Readership of horror is growing again. Anne Rices' vampires, Stephanie Meyer, adult series such as 'True Blood' and lately even the Disney Channel series offering, 'My Babysitter's a Vampire', show that the occult creature is more popular than it has ever been in the last few decades. Vampires are everywhere and so is 'soft horror'.

Why Dan Brown deserves the Nobel Prize for Literature

And as far as depth goes, the book is about as deep as a saucer of milk for a rather skinny cat. There is nothing much to puzzle about or ponder. You can pick up the book and read it from cover to cover without the supervision of a person with literary leanings.

Vampires are wimping out

From stinking, crawling corpses to brooding, drippy teenagers, the vampire has been transformed. Anne Rice, Stoker and Polidori have a lot to answer for: our delicious fears have been shortchanged.

Review: Tracie Mcbride's 'Ghosts Can Bleed' brings fresh ideas to the bookshelf in ways that other writers should envy.

If you are the sort of person who waits in anticipation for the next Neil Gaiman collection, Tracie Mcbride's 'Ghosts Can Bleed' will very comfortably fill that gap, and like Neil Gaiman, you will wait in anticipation for more.

Stephen King sequel to 'The Shining' announced

According to the official Stephen King website, 'Doctor Sleep', a sequel to 'The Shining' will be published on January 15, 2013. 'Doctor Sleep' will feature an adult Dan Torrance, who was the young protagonist of 'The Shining'.

Goodbye Maurice Sendak

Maurice Sendak, writer and illustrator of 'Where the Wild Things Are' has passed away at the age of 83. The illustration on the classic children's book, a picture of a monster sleeping under a tree, seems to sum it up fittingly.

Review: Armand Rosamilia's 'Bones. Death. Cenote.' is something different from somewhere else

Armand Rosamilias brief collection of horror stories with a South American flavour is something fresh in a genre dominated by Eurocentric tales and tropes.

Civilization in a pot

Noodles represent a pinnacle of civilisation, even though they are woefully under-represented alongside other important things like fire, paper, movable type, computers and console gaming.

Review: Kat Yares' 'Vengeance is Mine' is a small town apocalypse with feminist flair

Kat Yares' novella 'Vengeance is Mine' sits well amongst the growing collection of feminist horror lit, but also successfully taps into the growing anger against the abuses carried out by religious movements.

Review: Joseph Nassise's 'Sharp End' is a sharp story.

War and the creatures of horror stories fit together well in Joseph Nassise's 'Sharp End', a neat opener to a coming series featuring zombies in the trenches and in flying squadrons during World War 1.

Review: Kim Newman's 'Bloody Red Baron' is more than a rip-roaring story

There isn't much need to praise the pacing and storyline of 'The Bloody Red Baron', the second volume of the 'Anno Dracula' series. Anyone who has read Kim Newman's other stories will know what they can expect, and their confidence will be rewarded.

Buffy vs. Scully and the plausible plot

Which of the two is more believable: the demoniacal plot to take over the earth or the alien plot to take over the earth? This is a trick question...

Avengers: Hulk steals the show

The hotly anticipated Avengers is here. Loki makes mischief but the Hulk steals the show.

Review: Shaun Jeffrey's 'Mutilation Machination' is a treat for experienced horror readers

Here's a secret spilled. Hardened horror readers aren't scared by what they read. Instead they seek out new ideas that expose the bare bones of reality by wielding a scalpel. Sex can be degrading. A game can easily become a violent incident. An act of kindness can be rewarded with brutality.

Soft drinks: adding fizz to development

Welcome to first break. Look at the scrum of young ones over there. It's not a schoolyard brawl, though you can be forgiven for mistaking the mob for impromptu kiddie entertainment. Actually the tuck shop just opened. See Peter. See Jane. See Peter and Jane going for the soft drinks. See Peter and Jane zoom around the playground on a sugar buzz.