October 2011

Happy Halloween!
To the surprise of no one who knows me, October is my favorite month. I love it when the days and nights start to get a little chilly, the leaves turn colors, and of course, it ends with Halloween! The trick-or-treat candy has been bought, but will remain safely in its packaging until October 31st because neither my wife nor I (especially "nor I") have enough willpower to leave it alone if left out in the open. I am especially excited for Little Bear's first Halloween, although the juggling of "cute" Halloween with my preferred "gates of Hell have opened" Halloween is yet to be resolved. Somehow, I just think that it will.


What I'm Reading
Orson Scott Card's novel, Ender's Game, had been sitting by my nightstand for over a year and I finally got down to the business of reading it this past month. Perhaps I built it up too high in my own mind as a classic of science fiction, because I was rather disappointed. I found it to be an adequate book, but certainly not mind-blowing or life-altering in any way. I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book the best, following a child prodigy through "Battle School" to hone his abilities to command Earth's military against a highly-anticipated alien attack. But the last third seemed repetitive to me, and I thought the last two chapters in particular were an avalanche of last-minute ideas that didn't seem to have much to do with the story up to that point, and I thought they were included just to provide fodder for sequels (and in case you think I'm simply being cynical, allow me to point out there are 11 "Ender" novels to date, including prequels, sequels and parallel stories).

I thought that, being such an award-laden book, that I'd be affected much more by Ender's Game than I was, but perhaps the answer lies in the reason why I'm much more of a horror fan than a science fiction fan. Please understand I'm not creating a hierarchy here, but Ender's Game seems to be a story about ideas rather than emotions. This is not to say that the character of Ender Wiggin doesn't have emotional conflicts and turmoil, but I thought such conflicts were always resolved rather quickly and easily. Fear, by contrast, is an emotion and is possibly the most powerful emotion of all. A good horror story wants to haunt you (pardon the pun). I think the after-effects should linger and continue to resonate well after you've put the story down. Bad horror will just shock and revolt you. Good horror is like a chill you can't get rid of, and that's the kind of emotional resonance I like in my stories. And in my humble opinion, Ender's Game didn't deliver.

What I'm Watching
 I like to watch a lot of my favorite horror movies at this time of year, with a sprinkling of new ones. Not that I'm watching a lot of TV or movies with Little Bear around, but I managed to get in a viewing of Deathwatch, which is a 2002 horror film from Great Britain. During World War I, a squad of British troops are separated from their unit during a pitched battle and find what they think is an abandoned German trench. The Brits secure the trench (including one German prisoner) and call for reinforcements, but spooky things begin to happen that gradually drives the squad members insane one by one. Finally, only the German prisoner and one British soldier (Jamie Bell, he of Billy Elliot fame) remain to face off against the supernatural power which has consumed the others.

I give it three stars, which means it's middle of the road for me. I'm not feeling motivated to go watch it again any time in the near future, but I would sit and watch it if someone else wanted to, or if I came across it while channel-surfing. It's a decent movie, but I think underachieves its potential. Director Michael J. Bassett doesn't give the suspense a chance to build - the whole film is in a rush to get from one scary image to another and by the end, when it's all supposed to add up to something, it doesn't. Still, the imagery is quite good and the story makes enough sense for a good time. I just felt the movie could've been more, and done more.

Booksignings
I've got three author events coming up in the next couple of weeks in Lanesboro, MN and Decorah, IA. Check out the Facebook fan page for details. Besides signing copies of Beyond Midnight I'll also be presenting a dramatic reading of one of my early stories, "They Hear if You Scream." It's been fun to go back to this story, and I'm pleasantly surprised to discover how much I still like it. 

All Hallow's Eve
I don't quite know yet exactly what Halloween will be like at my house. I don't really have a grand concept (or the time) for the lawn decorations this year. But there'll be something spooky roaming around my yard, you can count on it.

That's all the news for now that's fit to print. Until next time, I remain...

Darkly Yours