J-Horror

A Dead Secret

I read a few of the short stories from this weeks alternative assignment. "A Dead Secret" was one that stuck out, this was indeed a short story, and I mean about 6 pages of reading. The story of a woman, who got married, died after four years of marriage and had one son. After she passes, her spirit is seen in the house because of something left in the house, a secret. The family doesn't know what to do after they removed all her belongings to her temple, so they get this guy to help out and find what her spirit wants. The man finds a letter, goes to the temple and burns it, no one reads it and her spirit is never seen again.

What I took away from this story was the connection we have with the material world even after death. Something that has been around in every culture since the beginning of civilization. We hope we can have our physical possessions in the afterlife like clothes, pets, jewelry etc., all these material things we owned when we were alive we now want in our afterlife to make it better, or to continue our existence. The element that drove me crazy was not knowing the secret on the letter. All the movies or stories I know we always find out the secret, or have some sort of hint at least. I think this is apart of western stories, we find the secret or the meaning to be the most important part. But this being a Japanese story it also comes with different morals. I believe that’s the word I'm looking for; anyways the secret itself is not important. The respect to the spirit and to our family is more important.

Vampires.......here we go again

A theatre of vampires pretending to be mortals pretending to be vampires

  Well, vampires; what more can I say besides everyone knows or should know who and what they are by now since they have become more popular than celebrities. But this book/movie is actually one of the few vampire stories I really enjoy. Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of vampires, just not todays version of immortal high schoolers walking around dealing with drama. 

I saw the movie before I read the book, which is always interesting because usually its the other way around, book and then the movie. In the end I really enjoyed both.

This novel has elements that most other vampire stories don't really touch on, like once Louis is turned into a vampire, he isn't this blood sucking machine that needs to feed! Which isn't really a bad characteristic of a vampire, but it just gets old after you see it five times a year in every movie that comes out. But Louis keeps his morals and decides to feed on animals, a vampire with dignity. After all when I think of a vampire I think of the two sides he should have, the human side which he uses to fool everyone and walk amongst the living. Usually really classy and elegant, a person with a higher standing is what we see them as. And then the monsterous side, a creature in its true form. So Louis eventually gives in and starts feeding on humans. Even has a vampire, with all his power he is still unable to escape the pressures of Lestat and bends under the will of him, which is the guy who turned him into a vampire.

Story goes on and I find the main characters in search of other vampires, being immortal must get lonely which seems to be a constant in all vampire stories. Vampires are always over emotional. So this whole time he is being interviewed by "the boy" who by the end of the novel wants the power of being a vampire and not having listened to Louis about his struggles and pain, really pisses off Louis. Showing us that once again humans just want the power in our mortal lives fearing that we can't control or escape death, and that a vampire, after all his years of traveling and experiences, he know's it has been filled with pain and wants to end it. Funny how when we are mortal we want to live forever, and when we are immortal we find out that death is better because of all the pain through the years ( or at least it is in Louis's case ).

Monster Island

Give me your life, your warmth, your flesh

This novel was very very interesting, of course I'm talking about "Monster Island" by David Wellington. I myself love zombie movies, novels, T.V shows and comics. They seem to be everywhere these days, now authors and directors are trying to push new concepts so its not just "run from the massive hoard of zombies as they try to eat you" concept. 

What I really loved about this novel was the different points of view as a reader and how much I could get "into" the characters head (without trying to eat their brains). I especially loved the half human/half undead perspective of stumbling out of the ice tub, pulling out the tubes confused, cold and no pulse. Busting out into the sun as if it was my first time seeing the light of day, my legs weak beneath me as I grasp to keep my lungs from bursting, then I collapse. Staring up at the blue sky, with the thought of being hungry. That little hint of being hungry was a perfect touch. Its like this primal instinct that takes over, but at the same time its not BRAINS BRAINS BRAINS! The author made it seem somewhat peaceful by letting us see it from our human side, and its something we can connect with and what I mean by that is waking up and having that natural instinct of hunger. Its a normal everyday thing, but of course he wasn't talking about breakfast of course.

I don't think I've read or seen anything that dealt with the undead that still had some human traits remaining, which got me hooked right away. I wouldn't say its a ground breaking concept but it was a breath of fresh air ( which is funny when the subject matter is the undead ). This novel is cut away from the dry and rotted zombie genre and gave me a nice refreshing look into what it would be like trying to survive in a world of the dead with humans trying to kill you .

Frankenstein Monster!

Is he human.....well he's actually parts of several

   I've read Frankenstein a couple of times before by different authors, I love this story. Its not just about a mad scientist and his creation the Frankenstein monster all the while chaos follows the doctor where ever he goes. I think this story is about point of view, understanding and not to read a book by its cover (no pun intended). 

  There's two main perspectives in this story, Dr. Frankenstein and the Frankenstein monster. The most misunderstood of the two would have to be the Frankenstein monster, so I would like to focus on him more. People just saw him as this creature, this abomination walking the earth who would if given the chance, rip you limb from limb. But he was 

essentially a new born from the moment he was created, did Victor know this? Highly doubt he did because he abandoned the monster, which only confused the monster more who just wanted the attention and affection from his creator. So its safe to say that this got under the monsters skin, along with the fact that he tried to become apart of human culture and was cast out, then he realizes his grotesque appearance. Now I don't know this for a fact but if Victor wouldn't have abandoned him, this probably could've been avoided. The monster begins to take his anger out on Victor by killing those close to him because this was the only person he had a connection with in this world and now his creator death is the only thing that will bring him satisfaction. The overview of the Frankenstein monster, he was misunderstood and came off as a frightening creature, which wasn't his fault. He didn't know any better, his creator and society had turned his compassion into remorseful revenge.

This is more than just a horror story, and like all good stories, I felt like I could connect with some of the characters at different points throughout my readings. Which is what a good book should be able to do, it adds another level of connectivity between the writing and reader. 

So it begins...

This will be my crypt where I keep all my stories for Literature of Horror, Fantasy and Sci-Fi.