BOOK REVIEW: Writing Horror by Edo van Belkom

I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. I realized I wanted to write scary stories at age 8 while reading Goosebumps books.

Unfortunately, I usually can only make it halfway through a story before I decide it's garbage and scrap it. So I've been reading some books about writing.

Edo van Belkom's book, Writing Horror, has an advantage over the other books I've read because it is specifically about the horror genre.

Within the 216 pages, the following topics are covered:

• A definition of horror and its sub-genres
  
• The elements of a story (plot, characters, setting, dialogue, etc.)
• How horror works
• Revising
• Selling
• Manuscript format and how to send it
  
• The horror fiction marketplace
• Contracts and agents
  

The book also features brief, three-question interviews with authors including Richard Laymon, Douglas Clegg and Kathryn Ptacek.

Writing Horror was helpful to me, as a beginner, but I'm unsure whether it would be beneficial to others who are more experienced. It covers the basics and not much else. And hopefully anyone who is interested in writing horror will already know the horror sub-genres and have read most of the authors listed. The book can also be repetitive at times (especially about being persistent), but it works to drill it into your head. But I found the exercises to be useful, and learned about things I never knew much about before, such as SASEs and manuscript format.

If you are interested in reading more books about writing horror, Stephen King's novel, On Writing is helpful. There are also a few other books on writing horror specifically: On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association and Writers Workshop of Horror.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK NEWS: Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street with the Man of Your Dreams

Too bad I forgot about this book when I was blowing the money I received for my birthday. I guess I'll have to put it on my Christmas Wish List. Anyway, Hollywood Monster: A Walk Down Elm Street is Robert Englund's autobiography. Right now on FEARnet you can read excerpts from it. They're going to be posting full chapters from the book until until the premiere of Fear Clinic, which stars Englund. Here's the book description:

You've seen him in the A Nightmare on Elm Street series — and in your darkest dreams. The sadistic killer with the flame-charred face. The knife-blade claws. The razor-sharp wit. Freddy...But you've never seen him like this. Unflinching. Uncensored. Unmasked.

Meet Robert Englund, the award-winning actor best known for his role as Freddy Krueger — the legendary horror icon featured on the American Film Institute's "100 Greatest Heroes and Villains" roster — a character as unforgettable and enduring as Bela Lugosi's Dracula and Boris Karloff's Frankenstein. Now, for the first time, the man behind the latex mask tells his story in this captivating new memoir, published to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first A Nightmare on Elm Street film.

You see, Robert Englund is no monster at all, but a deeply funny, charming Hollywood veteran. Packed with Robert's hilarious stories, playful self-deprecation, and a generous helping of never-before-revealed A Nightmare on Elm Street trivia, Hollywood Monster offers an unparalleled look at the beloved film icon. With insider savvy and gallows humor, Robert recounts his audition for Wes Craven, the inspiration for Freddy's character, the grueling makeup sessions, his soon-to-be-famous costars, the often disastrous on-set blunders, and the wave of popularity that propelled this humble California surfer kid all the way to the top.

Of course, fame and fortune as Freddy came years after the young actor shared a trailer with screen legend Henry Fonda, was punched in the face by Richard Gere, took down Burt Reynolds, andmuscled his way between Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sally Field, and Jeff Bridges.

But soon after his high-profile stint in the groundbreaking TV miniseries V, Robert Englund took on the most celebrated role of his career — the macabre and wisecracking killer who quickly became a household name. From the moment Freddy Krueger dragged his claws across a rusty pipe in the opening dream sequence, a legend had been unleashed — and a star was born. This is his story.

And here's a video where Robert Englund talks about his book:

BOOK REVIEW: Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide

Stephen King movies have a pretty bad reputation (just watch Maximum Overdrive or the dozen Children of the Corn movies and see what everyone is complaining about). But I like Stephen King movies, for the most part. Some of my personal favourites are: Storm of the Century (a mini-series written by King), Sometimes They Come Back (a film based on his short story of the same name) and Creepshow (anthology film with a screenplay written by King based on his own short stories). And of course there are the classics like Carrie, The Shining and The Shawshank Redemption.

I don't really understand when people complain that King movie adaptions "ruin" the book because movies are never as good as the book anyway. Here's what King has to say about that:

"They may not be good movies but they haven't ruined the books. Look here they are, lined up on the bookshelf."

Creepshows: The Illustrated Stephen King Movie Guide is a thorough handbook for all films based on King's work. Some of the films I haven't even heard of before. And it's fairly recent; the last movie featured is Rose Red, which came out in 2002. The book also includes short films, forthcoming projects (so far only two of them have been produced), unproduced projects, associational titles, King cameos, television episodes, other media (i.e. plays), recurring talent in his films and an interview with King.

The write-up about each film includes the tagline, a listing of the cast, a description of the film, how they made the film, a brief background on the book/short story it's based on and various quotes from reviews, King, and people who worked on each film. Each write-up is incredibly thorough and it's interesting to see what King thinks of the movies based on his work. But the films are listed in chronological order rather than alphabetical, making it annoying to find a particular movie without looking it up in the index, unless you know the year it was released.

Creepshows also features a lot of nice illustrations, such as movie stills, film posters and book covers.

This is an interesting book and I would recommend it if you're a fan of Stephen King or just a fan of horror movies.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: The B List

"There are so many bad horror movies. A good one is incredibly hard to make. It has to feel a fundamental sympathy for its monster, as movies as different as Frankenstein, Carrie and The Silence of the Lambs do. It has to see that they suffer, too. The crimes of too many horror monsters seem to be for their own entertainment, or ours. In the best horror movies, the crimes are inescapable, and the monsters are driven toward them by the merciless urgency of their natures." - Roger Ebert

This is a quote from Roger Ebert's essay on May in The B List: The National Society of Film Critics on the Low-Budget Beauties, Genre-Bending Mavericks, and Cult Classics We Love edited by David Sterrit & John Anderson.

The B List is comprised of several short essays (and I mean really short, most are only two pages long) by film critics about a variety of B movies. In each essay the critics talk about what makes each film great.

There's a huge variety of the types of films featured. For example, here are the sections in the book:

Out of the Shadows - Film Noir
Nightmares in Technicolour - Neo-Noir
From Grindhouse to Art House - Madness and Melodrama
The Allure of the Unknown - Science Fictions
Dark and Disturbing Dreams - Films of Horror and Terror
Burning up the Blacktop - Road Movies
Gunfighter Nation - The Wild Western
Up Against the Wall! - Political Pictures
Whole Lotta Shakin' - Rock, Pop and Beyond
Provocation and Perversity - Cult Classics
Transgressive Chic - The World of Midnight Movies

The movies featured in the horror section are Tales From the Crypt, The Fly, The Rage: Carrie 2, The Son of Kong, I Walked With a Zombie and May. And there are a few horror titles among the other sections such as The Stepfather, Night of the Living Dead and Peeping Tom.

Finally someone recognizes how great The Rage: Carrie 2 is. I kind of like it even more than Carrie. I saw it before I saw Carrie, and for some reason if I see a sequel before the original, I like it more. Anyway, the essay about it pretty much sums up why I love it so much.

It's fun to read what the critics think make all of these films great. It reminds me of why I love them and makes me want to watch them again.

There are 58 movies in the novel, but it's only 215 pages long. I wish each essay had been longer. Two pages just barely scratches the surface of what makes each movie awesome. Not all of the essays were that short. Some were about five pages long and I enjoyed reading those the most. The length of those was just right.

Although it may be short, I would recommend The B List to all B-movie lovers. It will make you want to re-watch all your favourite B-movies.

Rating: 4/5

BOOK REVIEW: The Book of Lists: Horror

Everyone loves a list. The internet is littered with them. Amazon has their Listmania lists, where you can make your own lists of books, movies, etc. And pretty much every other shopping website has ripped this off. Most of your favourite websites feature top 10 lists. And blogs are filled with lists (I even made one myself). So why not a book comprised of just lists?

I had read other editions of The Book of Lists, and enjoyed them. Some of the lists are really fascinating. And when I found out there was a Book of Lists dedicated to my favourite genre, I knew I had to check it out.

The Book of Lists: Horror is broken up into five sections: movies, books, music, miscellaneous (which includes T.V, video games, etc.), and lists submitted by horror fans. Most of the lists are by celebrities in the horror community such as Stephen King, James Gunn and Eli Roth.

Some of my favourite lists from the book:

Charles Black's Five Favourite Nightmare on Elm Street Tie-In Products - I had no idea there was a 1-900 number where you could call Freddy. Or a Freddy's Greatest Hits album.

Anthony Timpone's Ten Movies I Wish I Never Put on the Cover of Fangoria - Who knew putting Species II on the cover of Fangoria would be a mistake?

T.E.D. Klein's Twenty-Five Most Familiar Horror Plots - I can't even count all the times I've read a story ending with it being all a dream.

I was surprised how varied the lists were. I thought there would be a lot of repeats of the classics, but there were only a few.

What I liked most about The Book of Lists: Horror, is that it gave me tons of movies and books I had never heard of before. Now I have a huge list of books and movies that I want to check out thanks to this book.

This book is a must-read for all horror lovers. Even if you're not into horror you would probably enjoy it. Lots of the lists are funny and all of them are interesting. It's definitely fun reading.

Rating: 5/5