Dark Descent by David Hartwell
Whimper of a Whipped Dog by Harlan Ellison - At first I didn't even want to read this story. It's a familiar stereotype that New York is such a cold city, people will witness an attack and do absolutely nothing about it. (Oddly enough, a far cry from what it's like now.)
Ellison is masterful, getting right into the head of his protagonist, his attention to detail is so exact that I was drawn in to the story after about the first page. He vividly captures the mindset of a particular city at a particular point in time, the cynicism, isolation and numbness of city life.
The ending was a letdown to me, because I see it as a Dieux Ex Macina. She called on the gods to save her, and they did. Granted, she had had an epiphany that she needed to appeal to god for what she wanted, ("Take him, not me, I'm yours, I love you.") which made her actions and the result of those actions consistent with the story. Still, it seems like an easy out to me.
Sticks by Edward Wagner
This tale truly frightened me from the very beginning -- something about being in an isolated area and finding weird bundles of sticks in patterns. If I found something like this I would immediately wonder what kind of person created this and for what reason? Immediately satanic rituals come to mind.
It reminded me of the bundles of sticks in Blair Witch. The creepy images they brought to mind were scarier than any monster.
This story had a satisfying 'full circle' experience. After Leverett stumbled upon the sticks in patterns, old colonial farm house and zombie-like person whom he axed in the head but chased him back up the stairs anyway, his life is forever warped. (The stone platform he finds the zombie on with a narrow channel around the edge for collecting blood during a human sacrifice is chilling.) Then years later when he is questioned about the house by a scientist doing research on Megalythic sites, the experiences he has leads him to believe that the sticks were "glyphs of alien dimensions." Four millennia past. The dead will become masters of the living.
It is the plot of an ancient, evil race to take over the earth. The questions about the origin of the sticks is answered. It was very clever the way he took mundane objects and turned them into artifacts from another dimension.
Dread by Clive Barker – This is a story I'll remember for a long time. "We happily chew over the minutiae of misery." Steve meets creepy guy, Quaid. Barker's description of Quade is so good, we get an immediate mental picture of him (both physical and psychological.) "Cheryl was being rounded up for the kill."
Barker is very perceptive about nuances of human personality and interaction. Everything rings so true and seems so realistic that when Quade brings Steve to his isolated house and shows him the photos of Cheryl being tortured, we completely accept it. Steve gets an uneasy feeling at Quade's house and could have easily run away, but Steve did what we all do. He thought he was being paranoid, he ignored his gut feelings of danger in order to be socially accepted by Quade. When we find Steve tied up in a strange shaft we can completely accept it. Steve let down his guard with Quade and told him about the horror of his childhood accident and resulting isolation he felt from temporary deafness. Consequently, Quade used it against him in order to study his feelings of dread and test the limits of Steve's breaking point. Later when Quade "gets his," it is very satisfying for the reader.
Fritz Leiber – Smoke Ghost – This is a ghost for the industrial age, one of the first personal ghosts ever written about. At first Catsby sees the ghost on the rooftops, looking like he is covered with soot and dirt. Later he sees evidence of this soot around himself. When he goes to see a psychiatrist and the psy sees the ghost, (mistaking him for an intruder) Catsby is relieved that he isn't imagining things. At that time, his worldview shifts to accommodate unseen forces. In a truly frightening scene, Catsby sees the ghost peering up at him through an elevator shaft in his own office building at night. He knows the thing is after him. Later, he's relieved when he hears footsteps and it is only his secretary. When he realizes the smoke ghost has possessed the woman, he gets down on his knees and says, "I will obey you. You are my god." He wonders how long he will be safe from the thing. This echoes a popular horror theme that we're safe . . . for now, but the horror will eventually return. The story seems to me to be an obvious allegory for the industrial age. The disease and pollution it brings will kill a person sooner or later. As long as it is worshiped as a god, the person can put the dangers of it out of his/her mind.
Charles Dickens – The Signal Man – This is an extremely atmospheric piece rich in the scents, sounds, and feeling of an underground railway tunnel. " . . . there came a vague vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a violent pulsation and an oncoming rush . . . " And " . . . it struck chill to me, as if I had left the natural world." We are afraid because we feel the character's fear. "The monstrous thought came into my mind . . . that this was a spirit, not a man." It turns out that he was right, but we don't realize that until the end of the story. "I detected in his eyes some latent fear of me. This put the monstrous thought to flight." Dickens cleverly uses this device to assure the reader that this is not a ghost, ensuring that the surprise at the end it indeed a surprise, something very difficult to do. Dickens makes us feel for the ghost as well, his fear of the whole situation. This is a tight, well-written story
I also read Three Days, by Tannith Lee, because I like "Dark Dance." This is a historical piece that is completely built on characterization. David meets his friend, Charles Laurent's, homely, frumpy ("sad combination of small bones and heavy flesh") sister, Honorine, at a family dinner. Their father is vile and poisonous, undermining the sister at every opportunity. He sees the sister several months later, completely changed, exuding an air of confidence and sophistication she never before possessed. The background is that Honorine has found out that she was an illustrious, beautiful, popular woman in her last lifetime, and now has been overtaken by the other personality, Lucie Belmains. Later when Honorine learns that Lucie killed herself after Honorine's birthday, she realizes that she is not really Lucie and kills herself. Still Lucie's words inspire David to run away with his fiancée (her father disapproves of him). In an epilogue, David learns that Lucie didn't really die until several months later. What struck me about this piece is the masterful use of subtlety in characterization to show Honorine's change to Lucy.
This story was an inspiration to me in writing a change of characterization between Rosalind and the Dop. They're essentially the same person, but because the Dop was created with some of Rosalind's personality traits enhanced and some diminished, it is difficult for the Dop to act quite like Rosalind even when she is trying to.
Whimper of a Whipped Dog by Harlan Ellison - At first I didn't even want to read this story. It's a familiar stereotype that New York is such a cold city, people will witness an attack and do absolutely nothing about it. (Oddly enough, a far cry from what it's like now.)
Ellison is masterful, getting right into the head of his protagonist, his attention to detail is so exact that I was drawn in to the story after about the first page. He vividly captures the mindset of a particular city at a particular point in time, the cynicism, isolation and numbness of city life.
The ending was a letdown to me, because I see it as a Dieux Ex Macina. She called on the gods to save her, and they did. Granted, she had had an epiphany that she needed to appeal to god for what she wanted, ("Take him, not me, I'm yours, I love you.") which made her actions and the result of those actions consistent with the story. Still, it seems like an easy out to me.
Sticks by Edward Wagner
This tale truly frightened me from the very beginning -- something about being in an isolated area and finding weird bundles of sticks in patterns. If I found something like this I would immediately wonder what kind of person created this and for what reason? Immediately satanic rituals come to mind.
It reminded me of the bundles of sticks in Blair Witch. The creepy images they brought to mind were scarier than any monster.
This story had a satisfying 'full circle' experience. After Leverett stumbled upon the sticks in patterns, old colonial farm house and zombie-like person whom he axed in the head but chased him back up the stairs anyway, his life is forever warped. (The stone platform he finds the zombie on with a narrow channel around the edge for collecting blood during a human sacrifice is chilling.) Then years later when he is questioned about the house by a scientist doing research on Megalythic sites, the experiences he has leads him to believe that the sticks were "glyphs of alien dimensions." Four millennia past. The dead will become masters of the living.
It is the plot of an ancient, evil race to take over the earth. The questions about the origin of the sticks is answered. It was very clever the way he took mundane objects and turned them into artifacts from another dimension.
Dread by Clive Barker – This is a story I'll remember for a long time. "We happily chew over the minutiae of misery." Steve meets creepy guy, Quaid. Barker's description of Quade is so good, we get an immediate mental picture of him (both physical and psychological.) "Cheryl was being rounded up for the kill."
Barker is very perceptive about nuances of human personality and interaction. Everything rings so true and seems so realistic that when Quade brings Steve to his isolated house and shows him the photos of Cheryl being tortured, we completely accept it. Steve gets an uneasy feeling at Quade's house and could have easily run away, but Steve did what we all do. He thought he was being paranoid, he ignored his gut feelings of danger in order to be socially accepted by Quade. When we find Steve tied up in a strange shaft we can completely accept it. Steve let down his guard with Quade and told him about the horror of his childhood accident and resulting isolation he felt from temporary deafness. Consequently, Quade used it against him in order to study his feelings of dread and test the limits of Steve's breaking point. Later when Quade "gets his," it is very satisfying for the reader.
Fritz Leiber – Smoke Ghost – This is a ghost for the industrial age, one of the first personal ghosts ever written about. At first Catsby sees the ghost on the rooftops, looking like he is covered with soot and dirt. Later he sees evidence of this soot around himself. When he goes to see a psychiatrist and the psy sees the ghost, (mistaking him for an intruder) Catsby is relieved that he isn't imagining things. At that time, his worldview shifts to accommodate unseen forces. In a truly frightening scene, Catsby sees the ghost peering up at him through an elevator shaft in his own office building at night. He knows the thing is after him. Later, he's relieved when he hears footsteps and it is only his secretary. When he realizes the smoke ghost has possessed the woman, he gets down on his knees and says, "I will obey you. You are my god." He wonders how long he will be safe from the thing. This echoes a popular horror theme that we're safe . . . for now, but the horror will eventually return. The story seems to me to be an obvious allegory for the industrial age. The disease and pollution it brings will kill a person sooner or later. As long as it is worshiped as a god, the person can put the dangers of it out of his/her mind.
Charles Dickens – The Signal Man – This is an extremely atmospheric piece rich in the scents, sounds, and feeling of an underground railway tunnel. " . . . there came a vague vibration in the earth and air, quickly changing into a violent pulsation and an oncoming rush . . . " And " . . . it struck chill to me, as if I had left the natural world." We are afraid because we feel the character's fear. "The monstrous thought came into my mind . . . that this was a spirit, not a man." It turns out that he was right, but we don't realize that until the end of the story. "I detected in his eyes some latent fear of me. This put the monstrous thought to flight." Dickens cleverly uses this device to assure the reader that this is not a ghost, ensuring that the surprise at the end it indeed a surprise, something very difficult to do. Dickens makes us feel for the ghost as well, his fear of the whole situation. This is a tight, well-written story
I also read Three Days, by Tannith Lee, because I like "Dark Dance." This is a historical piece that is completely built on characterization. David meets his friend, Charles Laurent's, homely, frumpy ("sad combination of small bones and heavy flesh") sister, Honorine, at a family dinner. Their father is vile and poisonous, undermining the sister at every opportunity. He sees the sister several months later, completely changed, exuding an air of confidence and sophistication she never before possessed. The background is that Honorine has found out that she was an illustrious, beautiful, popular woman in her last lifetime, and now has been overtaken by the other personality, Lucie Belmains. Later when Honorine learns that Lucie killed herself after Honorine's birthday, she realizes that she is not really Lucie and kills herself. Still Lucie's words inspire David to run away with his fiancée (her father disapproves of him). In an epilogue, David learns that Lucie didn't really die until several months later. What struck me about this piece is the masterful use of subtlety in characterization to show Honorine's change to Lucy.
This story was an inspiration to me in writing a change of characterization between Rosalind and the Dop. They're essentially the same person, but because the Dop was created with some of Rosalind's personality traits enhanced and some diminished, it is difficult for the Dop to act quite like Rosalind even when she is trying to.
posted by Sally Bosco at
10:09 AM
