A Christmas Peril

It's that time of year again; the halls are decked, mistletoe is hanging and we're anxiously waiting for the fat guy in the red suit to slide down the chimney and bring us gifts that we probably don't deserve, much less need.  The malls are swamped with people who feel the need to buy presents for family and friends they don't like and wouldn't if they didn't feel obligated to do so.  People's homes are covered in obnoxious lights with blow up reindeer in the yards, each neighbor trying to outdo the others' horrific display of holiday cheer.  Kids are suddenly not so nasty because this mythical being is supposedly watching over them, with the threat of getting coal in their stocking instead of iPods or Pokemon, or whatever it is kids want these days.

As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of Christmas - it's not the spirit of the holidays, it's the commercialization of a day that has been overtaken by corporate America, diluting the original idea of the holiday.  Nonetheless, one thing I love about Christmas is Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol.  Why would a horror lover/emerging writer find joy in a story with such a positive message and happy ending?  If you think about it, it's a pretty scary story.

If you've lived under a rock for the last century or so, A Christmas Carol is the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, a wretched old man who has no love or compassion in his life.  He's visited by ghosts - the first being his old partner, Jacob Marley, who tries to persuade him to change his ways.  Throughout the story, he's visited by the Ghosts of Christmas, Past, Present and Yet to Come, and they show him the true meaning of Christmas - and in the end, he does indeed change and becomes a generous and caring man.  Lovely.

I'm not in any way trying to disrespect A Christmas Carol - it is one of the best stories ever written, in my opinion.  But, if you really look at it, removing all the political theories about the true meaning of this story, it's a pretty scary concept; spirits coming to visit a frail old man in the middle of the night, threatening to kill him if he doesn't change his ways.  It's a twisted concept, especially for a tale that has been adapted by everyone from the Muppets to Bill Murray, and is something kids have read or watched for 170 years.  The most amazing thing to me is how a story with such dark undertones is associated with the Holiday season.  Yes, it does have Christmas in the title but, if it had taken place during Halloween, would have it been as successful with the same longevity?  I'm going to go out on a limb and say no.  The truth is, like it or not, people like to be scared.  Whether it has some kind of moral anecdote at the end or it's just a flat out horror story, people thrive on fear.  Why else would the author of Great Expectations write such a dark story about the time of year people are supposedly at their best and kindest?  Think about it.  And as you're tucking in your kids on Christmas Eve and putting those presents under the tree, remember that fear is everywhere.  Have a Merry Christmas and watch out for those ghosts.

Why I like to write "crazy"

As an aspiring writer, I’m beginning to find inspiration in the oddest places. I was under the impression I would need to go to the right places, hang out with the right people or be in the right environment to become inspired, but I’ve found that none of those things really matter. I’ve come to the conclusion that inspiration is something that is deep inside of us, trapped in the cages of our souls like starving, wild animals who will jump at the first chance at freedom. The only way that animal can be pardoned is for you to do it yourself; you’re the judge and jury, you hold the key to the dark cell within you and it is your responsibility, your duty, to let it roam free. The creature inside of me has been laying dormant for a long time but it is not fueled by food or its own will to survive, it’s bolstered by insanity.

I can see you rolling your eyes at this statement, but allow me to explain. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been drawn to characters who begin as normal, functioning human beings living ordinary or socially acceptable lives until something happens that changes them. It could be a traumatic experience, such as Harvey Dent, a.k.a. Two Face in The Dark Night, isolation and frustration like Jack Torrance in The Shining, or just being fed up with the world like The Narrator in Fight Club, I loved watching these characters evolve from respectable people to the psychotic and sometimes senseless individuals who wreak havoc on their families or the world at large. These type of characters have dimension and depth that can’t be compared to your average “sane” character, and add so much to a story that would average without them. So, when I started to write my own manuscript, my goal was to have my main character slowly lose his mind and walk the reader down his path to insanity.

The story begins with a seemingly normal college student, who after leaving school for a year, thrusts himself back into a world that isn’t quite the way he remembered. He feels a tremendous amount of pressure to right the wrongs he had created but is plagued by nightmares and a rouge deer who seems to be stalking him, forcing him to witness its body slowly decaying at every meeting. There is also a cute, redhead girl named Chloe who berates him and every opportunity for reasons Eric is unsure of, but his best friend Justin is trying to make sure they wind up together. All of the fear and pressure is weighing down on him and causes him to slowly lose touch with reality as he begins his decent into insanity, while his friends and girlfriend, Birdie, are doing all they can to steer him on they path they think is best for him. It culminates into a maze of uncertainty for Eric, when he finally snaps and has to make a choice that will effect him and those around him for his remaining days.

Morphing this character into a psycho had been a lot of fun, and is the foundation for the writing I want to produce; horror without all the gore. To me, the human psyche is one of the most terrifying attributes of people, as it can make us unpredictable and unaware of our actions. And that’s a lot scarier than a vampire or a zombie because it’s real. Or maybe I’m just crazy…

The Shining Changed My Life

It might sound like an obvious, shameless plug designed to grab your attention, but, as sick and twisted as it may seem, it is true.  I was around 11 or 12 years old, and my dad said I should get a book before we went on vacation; probably an effort to keep me quiet in the car, but little did my dad know it would have an impact on my life.  So, he brought me to Walden Books in the mall and told me to pick something out.  I wandered around for awhile, looking around at books that I had no interest in reading, then I came across the Stephen King section.  My dad was a fan of horror; there were books by the aforementioned Mr. King and Anne Rice to accompany his collection of Kurt Vonnegut and Sci-Fi novels, having an obvious influence on my choice.  I asked him what was a good Stephen King book and he suggested The Shining, but warned me it was a scary story and he didn't want to hear me crying about not being able to sleep while reading it.  The cover didn't do much for me, it was a grey to black gradient with a faceless man shown, which I thought was too simple to be scary, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I never read the description so I started reading without any idea what the story was about but was intrigued from the beginning. From the introduction of the characters on to the first snowfall, discoveries in room 217, twins, insanity and faulty boilers, I was terrified but completely in love.  This began a lifelong obsession of horror and the macabre, which stands true today.

My desire to be scared has been a bit of a love/hate relationship; as much as I love the genre, it becomes frustrating with some of the, for lack of a better term, cheesy horror stories and movies that have been released over the years.  My faith was somewhat restored after seeing the Paranormal Activity films and, more recently, The Conjuring, but I still feel as though the majority of what's out there is awful.  So, I started to think about what I would do differently if I were writing them and thought I would give writing my own manuscript a shot.  I had an idea for a story, partially based on my experiences in my early 20's, put a lot of thought into the structure, characters, plot, etc, and started writing it about a month ago.  Great, right?  Well, it has been moving along but not without it's struggles.  Which brings me to why I've started this blog; I thought it would be cool to document the process an aspiring writer goes through writing their first novel.  I may be a glutton for punishment and might regret this down the road, but I'm putting this out there for all to see.  God help me.

Feel free to comment, share or just ridicule me, I'm game for anything.  Along the way, I'll post some snippets of the book, sharing the story as I go.  No spoilers, but I'll make it entertaining.  As for the copy of The Shining my dad bought me all those years ago, I still have it.  It's been through countless moves, had beer spilled on it in college and it's been read at least 5 or 6 times, but it's survived.  Just like this genre has and will, as long as there are people who want to be scared, and freaks like me who want to tell stories.