-
smile, get girls reading comics
Over the past year I’ve increased the amount of comic books/graphic novels I’m reading. Partly because I’m writing coming books now, and also because it’s such a fun, diverse medium. There are so many great titles being published to suit all tastes. When I was a girl I was not encouraged to read comics – I wasn’t discouraged either, but I didn’t know another girl my age who loved them the way I did. I’ve no idea where I got the notion that ‘comic books were for boys’, but it was something I understood. I didn’t agree, but I knew that my liking comic books was not the norm. It…
-
WoW, a review
Those of you who like video or online computer games probably noticed that the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in the world, World of Warcraft (WoW), released an expansion to its system in early December, called Cataclysm. Richmond and Vicky at the Hi-Ex! Blog asked me to review the game, and I was happy to oblige. My review went up yesterday. I’ve been an irregular player of WoW for a few years. Whenever I’m very busy I don’t play it at all, as there is no bigger thief of time than WoW when you really get stuck into it. I played more often than usual during the…
-
Little Crackers
Over the past couple of years the satellite broadcaster Sky has been venturing into commissioning original television programmes, which is generally a good thing as I’m always happy to see screenwriters getting work. Even though Sky is part of the Murdoch MegaCorp, it can have its benefits (as long as you avoid the news channels). This holiday season Sky has been airing a series of short films by male and female comedians called Little Crackers. Most of them are autobiographical, or at least represent the essence of the comedian (and the comedians usually appear in the short as a character). I’ve seen five of them so far and they are…
-
a terrible treasure
I decided to pick a work to feature in a “Horror’s Hidden Treasures” section of my own since SFX failed so spectacularly to ask women to promote an under-rated horror gem. I’d encourage other women to do the same. There’s no pressure to pick a woman’s work, but I’m doing so because this writer hugely impressed me with her work. Since the debacle last year about the lack of representation of women in horror I’ve been paying more attention to the subject. Even I was under-educated in the variety of women working in the field, but I’m hardly immune to a system that promotes men’s fiction and accidentally forgets to…
-
monstrous women are rarely rewarded
I’ve been meaning to write something for Women in Horror Recognition Month, which is a campaign to promote women who work within the horror genre during the month of February. I’m going to look at two films that I think deserve some attention and discussion: Ginger Snaps (2000) and Jennifer’s Body (2009). These two films serve as a useful balance, since the first is smart and thought-provoking, while the second is interesting but muddled. Ginger Snaps is based on a story by Karen Walton and John Fawcett, the screenplay was written by Walton, and directed by Fawcett. It’s a film about two sisters, Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigette (Emily Perkins),…
-
a weekend of horrors
I’m back from my trip to London for the horror film festival FrightFest, and I had a lovely time. The weather was great, mostly, and I avoided the occasional showers. When I wasn’t watching movies, I strolled around Soho in the sun, bought a bowler hat, and met up with mates who’ve moved to the city. This year I tried a new strategy in relation to the festival: don’t watch everything. There have been FrighFests in the past where I have attended every single screening over the five days. It’s not recommended, and impossible now since there are two streams of programming. This year I skipped all the late films,…
-
words on foot
I’ve been reading Nietzsche today. As thinkers go he’s clear and reasoned. In fact, he’s a little too perceptive for those who like their self-delusions, so sometimes his surgical excision of unpleasant human motivations can make for glum reading. He’s a bit of a grump at times too, especially when it comes to young people. In Human, All too Human he has an entire section called “From the Soul of Artists and Authors”, which had me laughing, nodding, and sometimes grimacing. He has high standards: Speak not of gifts, or innate talents! One can name all kinds of great men who were not very gifted. But they acquired greatness, became…
-
d day
On this day in 1897 a book called Dracula was published for the first time. In a strange bout of synchronicity my screenwriting group is looking at three screen adaptations of Dracula: Dracula (1931), the BBC mini-series Count Dracula (1977), and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992). Afterwards, we’re going to a screening of the marvellous Swedish vampire film, Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right One In – 2008). I’d been tipped off about the 1970s BBC version while doing research for the public interview with Kim Newman last month. Everyone who’d seen it heaped the adaptation with high praise, so I was interested in watching it. The series was…
-
FrightFest 2008 Roundup
Another year, another FrightFest. Here are a number of horror movie clichés I could do without in the future: A blood-covered girl being chased in the woods as a hook to start a film A woman being captured, locked up, and tortured Stating at the beginning “Based on actual events” Yuppies being menaced by psycho assailants Creepy mirror scenes that aren’t scary enough Comedy horror flicks that have more gore and rubbery intestines than story or funny lines Oh gosh, the bad guys are kids! The countryside is occupied only by crazies – even if you escape, you can be guaranteed you’ll fall back into their clutches just as you…
-
good reading and poor viewing
Hurray! Today the postie delivered my handsome contributor copy of Shroud Magazine, issue 2. I’m sharing the edition with my rather more famous countryman, Kealan Patrick Burke, along with Colleen Anderson, Steve Vernon, Marie Brennan, Nathaniel Lambert, Nate Kenyon, Tom Piccirilli and Ken Bruen, and Christa M. Miller. It’s a beautiful, well-produced, magazine. I’m proud my short story “Home” is in it. Recently, a mysterious benefactor in RTÉ sent me a free copy of Halloween (2007), the version (re)written and directed by Rob Zombie. I’ve gone on record in the past of not enjoying Rob Zombie’s films. Mr. Zombie likes the monsters who chop up and mutilate other folks. The…
