Tag: Reviews

Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice (1976)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, Interviews, Reviews1 Comment

“God kills, and so shall we; indiscriminately He takes the richest and the poorest, and so shall we; for no creatures under God are as we are, none so like Him as ourselves, dark angels not confined to the stinking limits of hell but wandering His earth and all its kingdoms.”

Anne Rice’s achievement in this book, among other things, was to bring vampires into a more modern context. It’s also such a well-written book that even people who don’t normally care for horror will find themselves up late turning the pages of this tale. The story of Louis and Lestat is well known by genre fans by now, but in 1976, it was something new and different. What would it be like if a vampire were stalking modern day America? How would such a creature survive? They’re immortal, after all, so what would a vampire’s life trajectory look like? How would it navigate society without causing alarm?

Rice set out to answer these and many other questions about her antihero, and readers responded to the tune of eight million copies sold; Rice has sold over 100 million copies of her other works, including the rest of the Vampire Chronicles, which this book spawned.

I really enjoyed the way this one got into the details of vampire life and the day-to-day troubles of such creatures. For example, when unable to find human prey, they’ll kill whatever small animals are at hand, including rats. Gross, and also not something I would have considered.  But what really made this book work for me was the relationship between Louis and Lestat. Since vampires live forever, they eventually have disagreements with one another and fall out, which makes perfect sense. In a way they are tragic figures, though they’re predators. Doomed to live forever and have no one truly know them, they form intense bonds with each other, but eventually things go wrong. Immortality in this world is more like a curse.

Interview was made into a successful movie, and more recently, a television show, as well as comic adaptations. Rice went on to write many more books in her Vampire Chronicles until her death in 2021.

Coheed and Cambria

On By Christopher TuthillIn music, Progressive Rock, Reviews, Science FictionLeave a comment

I’m an old RUSH fan super excited by their recent reunion announcement, and so I’m the perfect audience for a band like Coheed and Cambria. A friend of mine has been raving about them for years, but it was only a couple of months ago that I finally took the plunge and started listening. I’ve bought two albums and will eventually get them all. It is so cool to see a progressive band like this doing so well.

I have very limited time, and so I usually stick to my favorite bands from earlier eras, (Jethro Tull, RUSH, YES, Led Zeppelin, The Who, ELP, King Crimson, Dylan and Tom Petty and The Kinks and so on) with a few newer ones sprinkled in here and there. Sometime around the birth of my children, and having the demands of family and my job, I kind of lost the ability to know much about new music, but these guys are so good. The epic science fiction story of The Amory Wars, (for the uninitiated, every album is set in this universe) the amazing riffs and energy of these albums, it’s fantastic. I feel like there should be some kind of rare band act passed by congress to protect these guys. They’re so great. I’m glad younger people have a modern day Rush they can follow. My kids are already singing along in the minivan.

I’ve read a couple of the omnibus comics and am getting into the story a bit, as well. I love how the comic books enhance the whole experience; it’s incredibly ambitious and also such a cool thing for fans to get into. As a teen, one of my favorite things to do was to get a new album by RUSH or some other progressive rock band and spend hours listening, reading the lyrics, looking at the artwork, all of that. I still do that when Jethro Tull or some other favorite band of mine releases a new album, or re-re-releases old ones with dozens of unearthed tracks. It’s more than just listening to songs; it’s an entire experience, and Coheed and Cambria is carrying on this glorious tradition.

I may not have been able to get Rush tickets, but I’ll be sure and try to see these guys the next time they’re touring near me.

A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor (1953)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, Reading, Reviews, Short Stories1 Comment

“You can do one thing or you can do another, kill a man or take a tire off his car, because sooner or later you’re going to forget what it was you done and just be punished for it.”

One of the most anthologized and well-regarded short stories of the last century, A Good Man is Hard to Find, like some of the other stories on this list, deserves its towering reputation. O’Connor was a master of the short story, and this tale is one of the most shocking gothic stories I’ve ever read. I can still recall the palpable dread I felt as I first read it many years ago in a college class on the short story.

This tale involves a family that is out for a drive when unspeakable violence occurs, but there is plenty of foreshadowing, with the grandmother mentioning the ‘loss of values’ in the modern world; she also points out a graveyard filled with slaves from a bygone era. She remembers that there was a plantation in the area, and convinces her son, Bailey, to take a turn onto a deserted road, where the family has a sudden accident, flipping their car, and are met by the “Misfit,” a terrifying killer.

This tale is suffused with the south, and with notions of God and the possibilities of salvation and grace. The grandmother attempts to placate the Misfit, who clearly means the family harm, saying he is one of her ‘babies,’ and touches his shoulder. But there’s no salvation here for anyone, it seems.

I think it is best to read something like this, with such a well-known reputation, with an open mind. It’s better not to seek out or think too much about any of the criticism of it at first, just read it. It will probably leave you feeling desolate, as some of the very best horror stories tend to do.

Flannery O’Connor wrote two novels and thirty-one short stories and is considered one of the great American writers of the 20th century. Sadly, she was ill with Lupus and died at just 39. Who knows what she may have achieved had she lived longer; as it is, she left behind an amazing legacy.

The Turn of the Screw, by Henry James (1898)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, Reading, Short Stories1 Comment

“The summer had turned, the summer had gone; the autumn had dropped upon Bly and had blown out half our lights. The place, with its gray sky and withered garlands, its bared spaces and scattered dead leaves, was like a theater after the performance–all strewn with crumpled playbills.”

The Turn of the Screw is one of the most influential, classic horror tales ever written; everyone ought to read it. It’s a gothic story of a haunting at a British country estate, and the reader is never sure whether the ghosts are real or imagined. The story is told through a frame of a man reading a manuscript of a governess who believes that the children in her charge are being haunted by the ghosts of two former employees of the estate.

I find that the presence of children in fiction will usually increase the tension, and in a well written story like this one, you feel quite concerned for the children, worried that they are either being haunted, or being cared for by someone who is unstable and not up to the task. Either way, the sadness of these children, who are seemingly ignored by their parents, is something I couldn’t shake when I read this story. It was such a disturbing tale because of everything left to the reader’s imagination. In my opinion, this is usually the way to scare the reader far more than the usual genre tropes.

James was as prolific and famous as an author can be, and his reputation rests on a number of well known works, including Daisy Miller, Wings of the Dove, Portrait of a Lady, and The Golden Bowl, to name just a few. But it is Turn of the Screw that I always think of first, and I think this is likely true of other readers. It has been adapted no less than twenty-eight times, with numerous film versions, an opera by Benjamin Britten, various stage adaptations, and new adaptations still being made today. There’s something about this unsettling story that has deeply resonated with readers for more than a century.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, HIstory, Libraries, Movies, Reading, Reviews, Science Fiction3 Comments

‘Hateful day when I received life!’ I exclaimed in agony. ‘Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust? God, in pity, made man beautiful and alluring, after his own image; but my form is a filthy type of yours, more horrid even from the very resemblance. Satan had his companions, fellow-devils, to admire and encourage him; but I am solitary and abhorred.’

The first ever horror and science fiction novel, first published in 1818, when Mary Shelley was just twenty years old, Frankenstein has a reputation that has been as long lasting as it is deserved. A beautifully written tale that began as a legendary writing contest between Shelley, her husband Percy, Byron, Dr. John Polidori, and others who were spending a summer together in Geneva, Frankenstein bears little resemblance to the monster most of us recognize from the many film adaptations that we’ve seen through the decades.

The monster is philosophical and brilliant, almost superhuman, and the real villains are those in the story who judge him by his ghastly appearance. There are as many interpretations of the work as there are film adaptations: a warning against humans playing God, the irresponsible Victor whose thirst for knowledge leads to catastrophe, the humans who judge the creature by how hideous he is. Several chapters in the book deal with a family of poor, blind people who treat Frankenstein with care and respect because they cannot see him. It’s written in a beautifully poetic style, was immediately successful, and still finds new and enthusiastic readers today.

There are a few different versions of the book, which Shelley revised in 1831, but most scholars prefer the earlier edition. Shelley had a very difficult early life, losing her famous mother when she was just a few weeks old. Her father, also a well-known intellectual, remarried a woman with whom Mary had a very difficult relationship. Under these circumstances it seems a miracle she was able to write such a classic. Her husband, the famous Romantic poet, also caused a scandal when he left his wife for Mary, and had numerous affairs.

I could write a lengthy essay about this book and its influence and various interpretations, but I’m by no means an expert on her; countless scholars have already done that better than I could, and the purpose of my blog this month is to offer a few thoughts on some of my favorite horror novels. This is an essential one that everyone ought to read. It’s one of the great novels in literary history, a book that will help you understand where the genre came from.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, Movies, Science Fiction1 Comment

Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend is a book that may be overlooked by fans of vampires and zombies, but it’s one of the originals of the genre, inspiring three direct adaptations in addition to an entire industry dedicated to post-apocalyptic monster stories. Written in 1954, and set in 1976, it’s the story of Robert Neville, one of the last humans left alive after a pandemic that has killed most of the world population and turned the survivors (aside from him) into vampire-like creatures, complete with aversions to sunlight, garlic, and crucifixes. He becomes a vampire slayer, a legend to the remaining zombies, who are terrified of him. Eventually he learns more about the disease that has claimed so many lives, and befriends a woman whom he thinks may be immune to the disease, as he is.

Like some of the other books on this list, I Am Legend is a highly influential novel, and its stature has only increased with time. I read it after having seen Charlton Heston in the campy ‘Omega Man’ and Vincent Price’s excellent depiction of Neville in The Last Man on Earth. The most recent adaptation starred Will Smith, and of course there are dozens of other movies and television shows that have been inspired by Matheson.

Matheson’s other stories and novels are also well worth reading. I greatly enjoyed The Shrinking Man, a tale inspired by fears of radioactivity. Matheson had a long and successful career writing for TV and film, including some of the best-known episodes of The Twilight Zone and Star Trek, as well as screenplays for Roger Corman’s entertaining adaptations of Poe stories, which have delighted horror fans since the 1960s. Many of his works have been adapted for film as well. He had an incredible career and influenced a whole generation of writers, filmmakers and fans. If you’ve not yet read Matheson, don’t delay–start with I Am Legend.

The Body, by Stephen King (1982)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, Short Stories, Stephen King1 Comment

“It’s hard and painful for you to talk about these things … and then people just look at you strangely. They haven’t understood what you’ve said at all, or why you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear.”

Today I’m looking back to the 1980s again, a decade that was very good for commercial horror. From his excellent collection Different Seasons, The Body is probably my favorite King story. He’s incredibly prolific and has written lots of great stories and novels, but I find the realism of this one very gripping. It’s not a horror tale, exactly, but more a story of friendship and growing up.

By now almost everyone knows this story about four twelve-year-olds in Castle Rock, and their quest to see a dead body. These children all come from difficult circumstances, but form an unbreakable bond in this story, and King makes it all seem so real that we can easily relate to them. The main character, Gordie, is a storyteller, a stand in for King, I guess, since he also graduates from the University of Maine and becomes a successful writer.

I know many of King’s fans enjoy the vampires, monsters, and supernatural horror of his stories, and I like them as well and have read many of them. But to me, King is at his best when he tells a more restrained, realistic tale like this one. He’s a master of horror, I know, but I think what has given him such popularity and staying power are his observations on working class and poor lives lived in everyday kinds of places. It makes his characters quite sympathetic.

The other stories in this book are quite good, as well. Apt Pupil, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and the Breathing Method are all great novellas. Three of them, of course, were made into very successful Hollywood films. Most writers would be thrilled to have even one story as successful as any of these, but King has always been in a league of his own.

Fevre Dream by George RR Martin (1982)

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, George RR Martin, Halloween, Reading, Reviews1 Comment

George RR Martin is known for his groundbreaking fantasy novels, but back in 1982 he wrote this gem of a vampire book, about a down on his luck steamship captain, Abner Marsh, who makes a bargain with an odd man, Joshua York: he gets to have his dream ship, financed completely by the mysterious stranger, but he must transport the man, his friends, and their cargo, no questions asked. As you might imagine, this arrangement does not go as planned. It’s a fun read with plenty of adventure and scares. If you enjoyed the Song of Ice and Fire novels, I think you’ll love this book. There are some interesting characters, weird plot twists, great writing, and of course, vampires.

According to Martin, his book sales around this time were poor, and contributed to his decision to become a TV writer. For years afterward, he worked on things like The Twilight Zone and Beauty and the Beast, until he wrote A Game of Thrones in 1996, which marked his return to novels. I’ve enjoyed everything he wrote. Armageddon Rag is another excellent read, this one about a cursed rock band. His short stories, science fiction novels, and Wild Cards series are also worth checking out. I only hope we get Winds of Winter sometime soon.

31 Tales of Halloween

On By Christopher TuthillIn 31 Tales of Halloween, Books, Halloween, Reading, Short Stories, Young AdultLeave a comment
‘The Halloween Tree,’ by Ray Bradbury, 1964

October has long been my favorite month. I love Christmas, too, as well as every other holiday that affords me time to spend with my children. But there’s always been something special about October 31. As a child, I knew Halloween was a night devoted to kids, where magical things happened, where you had a bit of independence to go out with friends and have a grand time. The costumes, the folklore, the changing of the seasons, all add warmth and wonder to this grand day. My own children have enabled me to experience these feelings again. It is so fun enjoying the fall with them: decorating the house, creating costumes, getting ready. The anticipation of it, the colors and sounds and stories, are almost better than the day itself.

The stories are the things that really animate it for me. The list of writers I admire in this season is almost endless, but it begins somewhere around Shakespeare and continues into the present. Shelley, Poe, Hawthorne, Stoker, Lovecraft, Jackson, Bradbury—my list goes on and on. The only thing that stops me from reading all these authors constantly is lack of time.

This October, time permitting, I intend to have a project on this blog, where I write some thoughts about some of my very favorite tales in the genre. I can’t promise I’ll do so every day, though that is the goal. Certainly, I’ll do a post weekly, or every couple of days. These posts aren’t meant to be comprehensive, scholarly, or to offer some kind of profound critique. It’s mostly just for me, to write up thoughts and impressions and appreciation of these tales that affected me: why I like them so much, how they work, why I have such affection for them, in that vein. Hopefully I’ll add to the catalog throughout the year, with other seasonal tales. Maybe some readers out there feel the same way about some of these stories. My hope is to document some of my very favorite books and stories, and perhaps turn some readers out there onto some tales they may have overlooked, or never heard of. There are a great number of unappreciated stories out there that ought to have more attention, in my view.

So, I’ll see how it goes. If you’re a like minded reader, I hope you join in the fun by commenting or offering your own thoughts.

I’ll probably begin early, before October 1, with some other seasonal type stories to get started. I’ll throw in some children’s stories that I’ve been reading with my family as well.

I’ll post more soon. I hope those reading this enjoy the season. I plan to be outside as much as possible in the next six weeks, to enjoy the beauty of fall, before it gets too cold and the leaves are gone.

Happy Autumnal equinox. Enjoy your fall!

The Fantastic Four: Babies are Magic

On By Christopher TuthillIn Comic Books, Comics, Movies, Reviews2 Comments

These days, everybody is a critic. And every movie is based on a comic book, so there is plenty to criticize. I enjoy going to the movies with my kids, and consider the experience time well spent with them, no matter what. Even so, I have opinions, and now you’re gonna hear mine regarding the new Fantastic Four movie.

First off, let me say I’m pro family. I like babies very much and doted on my children endlessly. I still do, even though they’re not babies anymore.

“What the hell do babies have to do with Fantastic Four!” you might ask, and you’d be right to yell that at me. Well, the first half hour of this film consisted of a pregnancy test, an ecstatic mom and dad, and a fawning Thing and Human Torch constantly saying how they could not wait for the baby, how great it was that the baby was coming. How wonderful it will be to have a baby at Fantastic Four headquarters! Everyone exclaimed this, over and over. They make dinner and drink wine and talk about parenthood and read a book by Dr. Spock about child rearing and share many tearful, sensitive moments in anticipation of the new baby.

Oh, when are they gonna get to the fireworks factory?

I exaggerate, but not by much. Dr. what’s his name, Mr. Fantastic, ably played by the omnipresent Pedro Pascal, is worried he won’t be a good enough dad. He’s so very very concerned that the baby may be strange like he is, you see. He devises ways to observe the baby in utero. He is a loving father, a good person! You must know this. You better know this. He will be a GOOD DAD! Invisible woman frets and worries she may not be a good enough mom. She is going to be a GREAT MOM. We know this, she knows it. She worries and that is why she’ll be a perfect mommy. That baby has great parents!

Finally, a BAD GUY appears. His name is Galactus, and he’s pretty bad. But he’s given little to do aside from saying he wants to blow up the earth etc etc. UNLESS! And here’s the big twist: UNLESS he can have the baby! He dispatches the Silver Surfer to GET THAT BABY! The silver surfer is the coolest character in this film by a long shot. She gives not one fuck about babies or anything else, and just wants to fight the fantastic four. Thank you, Silver Surfer! You alone seem to know your assignment! Kick some ass!

Eventually there is a giant battle and NY is razed and the fantastic four defeat the bad guy. The baby, of course, has mystical magical powers and will enrich the fantastic four’s inner lives beyond their wildest dreams.

What happened to clobberin’ time? Well, there’s that fight scene, but as my son said, “Why did they wait almost two hours to get to the fighting?”

“I don’t know, son,” I replied, “I just don’t know.”

And we both wept.

As the end credits rolled, a sensitive folk tune played. It sounded like the singer was about to cry. It was all very touching, what with the baby and whatnot.

I think I would have had a better time just reading the old Jack Kirby comic. You will, too. I give this movie one star because the robot was kind of cool, and so was the Silver Surfer. The retro sets and graphics were neat. Otherwise, I don’t get why you spend a billion dollars on a movie and just talk about a baby the whole time.

No offense to babies.