Friday, February 12, 2010

The creepiest horror writers

One way I judge a good horror novel is not always by how quickly the action keeps moving, but by how many times I check the locks on my doors and sleep with the light on. The master at that in the modern age is probably Stephen King. If you don't believe me, try reading "Salem's Lot" and then getting a good night's sleep. That is not what I consider an action book, but it is definitely horror. The creepy "Nosferatu" vampire guy and his assistant are enough to invade anyone's nightmares.

Bentley Little always manages to creep me out a good bit, as well, with his bizarre settings and even more bizarre monsters, e.g. the frizzy-haired Mogollon Monster of "The Return."
Edward Lee, too, with his mysterious, deserted island settings and slimy worm-like things that like to invade the human body and control the human brain.
There are lots of other creepy modern-day horror writers, too, like John Saul, Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell - well, you get the idea.

But all of these writers were inspired by other writers that came before them, just as I was, and two of the most influential of them are Edgar Allen Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. Those guys practically invented creepy.

Take, for example, The Tell-Tale Heart. The sound of the thumping heart, the milky-white eye of the old man, the way the beam of light shone on it just so, just enough to see the eye and nothing else. Then, the sound of the old man's heart beat - after he's been killed.
Or how about Montresor walling the poor Fortunato in the wine cellar? Talk about keeping the lights on!

H.P. Lovecraft's descriptions of the dark recesses of the cosmos and of beings so alien that any similarity to humans is non-existent, is some of the most disquieting reading ever. It's so slow it makes Stephen King's "IT" look like a roller coaster ride. But it's major creepy - you almost have to put the book down just to digest the weirdness of it all to continue reading. He's the guy that invented the "Cthuhlu Mythos" and the Necronomicon, or Book of the Dead and wrote for lots of pulp magazines in the 30s. The man was not much for dialogue - there's hardly any talking in any of his stories - but believe me, you never miss it. You're too busy getting creeped out by "The Whisperer in the Dark" or "The Colour Out of Space."

But there is one book that I have yet to read because it creeps me out so much I can't even get past the first page. It's by Shirley Jackson and it's called, "The Haunting of Hill House." Want to know why I haven't read it? Because I've never been able to get past the line, "...and whatever walks there, walks alone."
That, in my opinion, is one of the creepiest lines in all horror literature.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Classic vs. modern horror movie magazines

I grew up reading good old Famous Monsters of Filmland, edited by the one and only Forrest Ackerman, who unfortunately passed away recently at 90 years old. He was one of the most dedicated people to fantastic cinema that ever was and his magazine showed it. Most all the photos in the magazine were his, and he even had his own movie museum in his house in California, called the "Ackermansion." Unfortunately, he was forced to sell most of it off because of legal problems caused by some unscrupulous folks.
The old "FM," which began it's first issue in 1958, lasted until the 80s and then was brought back for a brief period in the 90s and early 2000s, but it was never what it was when "Uncle Forry" was in control. The magazine mainly paid homage to classic horror movies from the silent era through the 80s and was impeccably done, with few spelling or grammatical errors and lots and lots of great photos and memorabilia that was sold on its back pages. It could be making another comeback soon, but it looks to have a different focus on "newer" movies.
For those who like the latest horror movies, Fangoria would probably be the best bet. They really go for the gore with graphic photos but the stories are in-depth and well written on everything from the "Saw" franchise to straight-to-DVD movies like those from Lion's Gate I'm always seeing at Blockbuster.
For the more classic movie oriented among us, I recommend Scary Monsters Magazine, which focuses mainly on horror, and Filmfax, which covers a broader range of genres in the classic movie field.  Filmfax is a slicker, more polished magazine, while Scary Monsters seems to be written mainly by fans, like me, for instance. I wrote one story for them and also for the "new" Famous Monsters a while back. Scary Monsters even has some pretty good comics, short stories and lots of great photos and articles on not only movies, but on conventions and other related happenings. It also has a lot of items for sale, such as reprints and leftover issues of out of print magazines. It's really a throwback to the old-fashioned classic monster magazine you remember as a kid.
 Of course, all these mags have Web sites, too, which you can look up by just putting the name in a Google search. So good luck and happy reading.