Literature of Horror

Cabin in the woods redefined what a movie going experience was for me at the time when it came out. I remember going by myself after being forced out of the house by my mom who was hosting a wine night with the other single moms of the neighborhood. At first when I bought the ticket I was hesitant, thinking that I was going to watch just another run of the mill horror flick with the same jump scares and loud noises they all rehash time and time again. Especially since I had already seen some trailers for it too and they all made it seem like a very predictable watch. But upon viewing it, I was surprised to find that it took every horror trope I could think of and flipped them in very different and unique ways. This movie knew what it was and embraced it.   It was funny and scary in the best ways. I had a lot of fun with it. This is a movie that my friends and me revisit frequently because of how ridiculous it is. Whenever you think you know what’s going to...

At the beginning, I found it kind of hard to read “A wild Sheep Chase” because so many things were mentioned but never brought back up again and a lot of possible plot lines were glossed over to later just be forgotten. But with that said I found this book to be extremely relatable, even though we don’t really know the main characters name I still found myself very attached to his character. His lack of motivation and true apathetic tendencies really resonated with me. It reminded me of the person I don’t want to be, someone full of potential but with the inability to push themselves. When the main character meets the ear model, upon glancing at her ear once he becomes almost obsessed. The book references the star sheep and how the sheep’s host can accomplish anything they desire even going as to mentioning how Genghis Khan was able to conquer almost all of Asia thanks to the power of the sheep. In a way the ear model served as his sheep, his unending muse or mo...

Vampires used to be in my list of favorite monsters but in recent years the idea of what represents a good vampire has slowly shifted. The Twilight book series paved the way to a more women centric vampire, in turn taking away what made a vampire so mysterious and scary. Although I can’t really knock Twilight too much since one of my first introduction’s to vampires was the “Blade” movies with Wesley Snipes and Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman, which, to be honest, these movies don’t hold up well at all. The story begins with Louis telling the boy about the death of his brother and how the unending guilt of this drove him to a path of self-destruction. In one of his death wish fueled nights he is attacked by the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt. Louis divulges on his kills with Lestat and how Lestat would treat his kills with intimacy almost enjoying the pursuit of his victims as much as the kill itself. One of the things that I really liked about the story was how Anne Rice depicted chil...

Reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein felt very refreshing especially since most of my readings consist of comic books and manga. Although I have read some of Junji-Ito's horror manga, being introduced to what is considered one of the staples in horror literature, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, made me appreciate what makes good horror stories. Shelley’s Frankenstein is known as Gothic horror, a genre that was made popular in the late 18 th century. Shelley uses many gothic elements to create an air of suspense and an overall tone of dread through out the book. The gothic theme of the book is constantly being pushed from the interactions the characters have with each other to the weather and lighting, which makes it so everything is very unpleasant, dark and eerie. The book begins with a number of letters that captain Robert Walton wrote to his sister during his voyage. He describes how his mission is put to a halt by seas full of impassable ice; soon he encounter...