StephenKingman's thread of HORROR!

[StephenKingman]

Im going to check out Silent House this weekend, its about a young woman (Liz Olsen) who returns to her childhood house to de-clutter it in order to put it up for sale and is terrorized in the house by an unseen/unknown force or forces, the trailer looks fantastic, check it out, and the movie is shot in what appears to be one single take (just an effect im sure). I will check back with review.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yLD4km_d1I

[sin]

Finished reading House Of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. Very very weird, frightening, thrilling, weird and did I mention weird?

The first thing that gets you is the way it's written. It is set out like a thesis, a man named Zampano has basically analysed a movie that was released called the Navidson Records. Johnny, the protagonist finds all of Zampano's work scattered about and decides to put it together adding his little footnotes as he annotates Zampano's work. Sometimes he goes off tangent and starts talking about his own life.

So the Navidson Records is supposedly a movie released a few years back before Zampano started writing his thesis. Upon its release it sparked a lot of debate and questions on whether it truly happened or if it was just excellent cinema brilliantly executed. It follows a family (the Navidsons) when they move into a new house in Virginia. The father (Will Navidson) decides to video tape his family's day to day life and puts cameras in every room of the house and gives a camera to his wife to record her thoughts (like a video diary) - think paranormal activity here. Things are going along pretty normally, they all adjust to the move etc and then they go away for a weekend only to find when they return that there is a door and a short hallway connecting the master bedroom to the kid's bedroom. They are pretty baffled, it wasn't there before, where did it come from? Will decides to measure the hallway and is even more baffled when he finds the interior measurement does not match the exterior of the house. It's longer. Finding this logically impossible he calls his twin brother (an architect) to check it out - they get sophisticated tools to measure and still find it longer so they call another guy in - it's still longer. Meanwhile, another doorway appears - this time in the living room. When they open this door and peer into what they think is a dark closet, again physically impossible to even be there they know something is up. The wife wants to leave, Will is like 'No let's investigate' and his wife is like 'I'll leave you if you go in there' so he promises he wont but of course in the dark of night (when else would you investigate a spooky closet/hallway that's pitch black and cold as death?) he decides to take a camera and a flashlight and see what's up with this. The closet is no longer a closet, it's this big yawning space of black and he actually gets lost in it for ten minutes or so before he finds himself back in the living room. So finally knowing this thing is ominous he decides to call in three experience cavers (coz that's what you do instead of getting the hell out of there and taking the kids with you) - the cavers after going a little way into this expanding hallway realise that it'll take days maybe even weeks to plumb its depths so they take provisions, food and tents and sleeping bags - flashlights and batteries and of course camera so they can record it. The three cavers go in, they stay in for about a week, Navidson stays in the living room with a radio to contact them. Then things go bad.

I wont expand too much here about that because it's hard to explain and only something that you should read. So Zampano is writing this thesis. Whilst he is, his writing becomes more erratic, according to Johnny (who is only present in the footnotes), there are bits that are scribbled out, bits that are burnt, sometimes its written upside down or back to front or slant ways (told you it was weird), sometimes there's only one word on a page. So Zampano is losing it, you also find that Johnny is losing it whilst he annotating Zampano's work. His life isn't going that well, he keeps picturing his death in pretty gruesome ways, he has hallucinations and he wonders if he is also going crazy.

The ending is quite ambiguous, a lot of unanswered questions and a whole lot of additional material displayed in the Appendix (photos of the house, the hallway, letters, that kind of thing). Danielewski goes out of his way to make this as real as possible - and it works. Sometimes you forget its a work of fiction (at least I did anyway) even though you know its crazy but I guess that's how gripping the story is, it takes you right in. And every time the word 'house' appears, because of the way it is formatted (different to the rest of the text) it sends a chill up your spine.

I definitely would recommend this book to any horror aficionado. It's well worth it. Plus I would love to hear what others think of it.

They don't sell it in Singapore anymore because I think not many people are reallyinto the postmodern kind of writing (including msyelf)...and I am not about to order it from Amazon unless I can find a copy and browse through it...

-- 06 May 2012, 09:27 --

Sorry, but I wasn't very much into 'The Woman in Black' (the book)...

My favourite horror story is still 'The Monkey's Paw' by W W Jacobs...I am generally okay with Poe, not a diehard fan. Not a fan of Ambrose Bierce..and certainly not H P Lovecraft (I don't even get what he's writing)...

Hell House sounds good.

[StephenKingman]

Ok, so I just finished seeing the movie Grave Encounters and I rate it a very healthy 8 out of 10, but I must stress that this score is primarily for the setting of the film, a long abandoned lunatic asylum which is the creepiest place i have spent an hour and half this side of the forest in Blair Witch..

This is another 'found footage' movie which claims to show what was the last episode of a ghost hunting crew TV show called Grave Encounters, who vanished a few years ago after spending the night in said asylum hoping to get proof of the afterlife. Thing is, the crew are a bunch of sceptics who dont actually expect to see anything (indeed, their psychic is fake) but when doors start slamming and voices start emerging from the upper floors, only then do they realise they are in grave danger and have to get the hell out of there. I wont give any spoilers, suffice to say shaky hand-held footage of long, empty corridors and shadows glimpsed from the corner of your eye is enough to rattle your nerves and unsettle you as the story unfolds. Some of the scares are formulaic and you can see them coming but that doesnt make them any less scary. The whole asylum is a massive maze of corridors, tunnels, wards and kitchens which is truly the stuff of nightmares- wheelchairs are tilted in patient rooms, ancient bloodstains are still visible and instruments of restraint and medicine are scattered everywhere, a genuinely frightening building. And when the BIG scares come, I jumped out of my seat on two occasions (anyone who has seen the trailer will know why), I cant imagine how scary this movie would be in a cinema, considering I saw it on a tv screen!

The downside? Some of the characters are downright stupid, and they tick all the cliche boxes of what NOT to do in a horror movie- split up (God, thats an old chestnut ), go back and investigate an empty room, grab their camera instead of running for dear life and generally being annoying and obnoxious. I guess Sasha is the best of a bad bunch but its hard to have any genuine sympathy for them, especially since the main character does something so stupid and illogical near the end that I felt like kicking the tv in! Im glad i stuck it out though as its a fantastic movie to watch if you want to be scared and unsettled, Ill be thinking of that hospital for weeks now, I couldnt think of a worse place to spend a nightmare. If you are in any way a horror fan you MUST see this movie.

[Jacob]

It seems that I've been missing out on some Stephen King stuff, famous book, "IT" had a 25th Anniversary edition. I have to keep more up to date on this stuff, IT was one of my favourite thrillers of all time! I have to get my hands on a copy.

[Twilight_2_Midnight]

The Walking Dead is an epic mini-series about zombies. There's some really sick gore in it (including horse's intestines and wearing zombie guts on your clothes) and it's seriously awesome. Also, I recommend reading Firestarter by Stephen King, and another one of his that's brilliant is Needful Things. Definitely recommended!

[trafficschool1234]

Ya I like to first of all read the story "women in black" and then i only i watch movie.

[Bighuey]

I read a good book about zombies a while back. It was The Magic Island by W.B. Seabrook. Its supposedly true accounts about zombies, the authors experiences in Hatai living among practicioners of voodoo and tells of how they call people up from the dead and use them as slaves and workers. Im not much into zombies, but this book is quite interesting. Even includes photographs.

[Daffodil]

omg I give up. 77 Shadow Street. Appalling.

[StephenKingman]

I finished 'House of Leaves' by Mark Z Danielewski this morning and I found it an extremely strange book, easily the weirdest book I have read in my life. The plot is quite hard to describe but I will do my best to review it:

Firstly, this book literally hurt my brain and eyes to read, its written in a style which cross references the main story of The Navidson Record and the house on Ash Tree Lane with the author's own descent into madness as he tries to piece together the fragments of the mystery he inherited from a man known as Zampano, who also went mad trying to analyse the meaning behind the house. This duel storytelling is shown by different fonts, half-finished stories as the two tales compete to grab the reader's attention. Added to this, there are detailed footnotes on almost every page in the book, meaning you have to reference what each number means (usually a fictional interview, poem, greek or latin saying), and as the explorations in the house continue, the text in the book changes from upside-down, words written on the side of the page, paragraphs half-crossed out and in several stages of the book, some pages contain only one word, and you follow the direction of the words jumping from one page to the next at various parts on the page. Its utterly bizzare to read and I felt at times like I had spent an hour or two getting an eye test, there were so many clues to follow simply reading the story!

This could annoy the reader and it started to annoy me, especially the first hundred pages, but stick with it and you are rewarded with a very intelligent and absorbing story. The Navidson Record is a movie about the events that took place on Ash Tree Lane when Will and Karen Navidson moved it with their 2 kids. Suffice to say the entire house is a physical impossibility, with interior measurments larger than exterior, closets and books shelfs simply appearing from thin air and an endless hallway and labyrinth discovered behind a door in their living room. A door which should lead to the backyard but instead houses an infinite series of dark hallways, rooms and a spiral staircase which seems to last forever. Navidson, his brother and a crack exploring team explore this area but it doesnt end well, with several people dead, some scarred for life and the mystery behind the house is ultimately left open for the reader. I would be reluctant to class the book as "horror"', its more a psychological study of the fear respsonse in men and women. Yes, there are several chilling moments in the dark tomb, especially when the titular "monster" makes its presence known with growls and bangs on the door but Danielewski never pulls the curtain off and leaves the reality of this monster up to the readers imagination.

The second story thread was one which interested me less, where the author details his descent into madness after discovering the remains of material connected with the Navidson Record. He has already inherited his faulty psychological genes from his mother (as detailed in the ending by a series of letters to the younger author when she was in a mental hospital; excellent and disturbingly realized) so he needs no encouragement as his obsession with the house grew. He is a loose cannon, bedding women non stop, brawling in bars and popping pills and he gradually goes insane as he feels the book has almost an infectious malaise, a point confirmed by people he has met who also became obsessed with the whole Navdison Record. I didnt find this story as absorbing as the Ash Tree Lane story personally but it was all well described and presented.

I like how Danielweski leaves it totally open as to the meaning of the house. Is it an ancient Labyrinth which houses the Devil in a place which defies physics, the yan to the worlds ying? Is it a projection of the characters insecurites and deepest psychic remnants? I like how the male and female response to the place is markedely different: Karen stays away from the place, dismissing it as obviously broken and dangerous whereas the men demand an explanation and vow to explore every inch until they are satsified. There is even a minor homosexual subtext in this book, with Johnny's prostate massage occuring at the same time as the obviously male creature wants to swallow up the unfortunate inhabitants of the Labyrinth. I think the author is gay himself and may have thrown this in to see if readers could spot it. The book also allows for the theory that the house means nothing and has no explanation at all, despite how intelligent Danielewski wants to appear with his whole nine yards of referencing and theoretical, mathematical and physical arguments. It takes courage to outline all the arguments for the house and then present it as possiby all a lot of rubbish, and the author deserves respect for this. I prefer the Labyrinth argument, as the point with the explorers from the 1600s finding stairs add credence to this theory.

I wouldnt class this as a horror book as i wasnt genuinely scared once reading the book, but its defintely an accomplished and intelligent story which is ripe for debate and analysis, plus thoroughly referenced from page one to the end. I rate it a solid 9 out of 10. I also love the following quote which really made me think and is a nice explanation for the book title.

"Little solace comes to those who grieve
When thoughts keeps drifting as walls keep shifting
and this great blue world of ours seems a house of leaves
moments before the wind"...

[RuqeeD]

^ Great review Mike. I'm glad you enjoyed it and well done explaining the story line - it's difficult to grasp sometimes much less explain!
I agree with you that the actual Navidson Record Thesis part of it was much more gripping than Johnny's own story although I appreciated how it added to the sub context of the meaning of the house and the Navidson Record.

I surprised you didn't actually find it scary, I thought the descent into madness some of the characters took was frightening, but then again for me it's always been the way the human mind can shift into something darker (such as when the leader of the expedition crew - can't remember his name....Holloway? goes crazy and his video account that they find later was downright chilling imo) and that gets to me much more than monsters or something paranormal (possibly because I look at things really logically - and logically monsters of the non-human type don't exist whereas monsters of the human type most certainly do). But I do agree with you, it's definitely a more psychological thriller type book than it is a classic 'horror'.

I'm glad you mentioned the male and female perspective of the house and how it affected each character. Karen, a certified claustrophobic, an ignore and forget type actually manages to plumb the depths of the 'hallway' and emerge more or less unscathed. Will Navidson, a brave adventurous type who's never satisfied with something someone else has done if he hasn't done it himself comes close to losing himself completely. That goes for Holloway (?) as well. I too thought it was well done that there is no ready explanation about the house and its origins. Much better to leave it as a question.

[StephenKingman]

^ Thanks Ruqs! I guess the jarring and constant interruptions in the book made the flow of the story in the hallways seem a bit like I was reading about it from a third person perspective rather than getting involved in the story. Having to constantly flit between two characters and the never ending footnotes dulls the horror in my opinion (if anyone saw me read the book, all squints and turning it upside down, i would be sectioned!) and made the story less frightenining, Who knows, if it was a strait laced story with a constant narrative I may have found it scarier.

I agree with your point on human madness- the authors' mother sent some crazy mad letters to him when he was a kid, the words getting more distorted and meaningless to represent her descent into madness, and I like the way her paranoid theories about the New Director and staff treating her bad are neither proved nor disproved so who knows it may be true...

I did a bit of research on this book and its been billed as "unfilm-able" by several directors and I have to agree, it would be nearly impossible to make a movie of this book, the only way they could do it is have a 4 or 5 part tv movie which I suspect would bore people or else cut out all the Johnny story and focus on the 5 Explorations and the House. Either way, its lose lose. A very interesting book for sure.

[keiyona]

i maybe just a little late but i just read the women black i found it very boreing and the best part was the last part and to me that just not a good book to me it seemed that the author said a whole bunch of nothen just to get to the very end . also i got this book called[ nightfall] by stephen leather if u liked the women in black then your sure to love this

[StephenKingman]

i maybe just a little late but i just read the women black i found it very boreing and the best part was the last part and to me that just not a good book to me it seemed that the author said a whole bunch of nothen just to get to the very end . also i got this book called[ nightfall] by stephen leather if u liked the women in black then your sure to love this

Shame you didnt like the book much, have you seen the movie? You may well find that better, its a very creepy and well acted movie.

[Sheila]

Wondering if anybody likes John Saul books. I was thoroughly engrossed with the God Project, Second Child and Shadows. He kind of reminded as a Christopher Pike for Grown Ups.

[Ant]

Wondering if anybody likes John Saul books. I was thoroughly engrossed with the God Project, Second Child and Shadows. He kind of reminded as a Christopher Pike for Grown Ups.

That's a blast from the past, and thank you for reminding me of him. I read one of his books years ago (late 70's I think) called Suffer the Children, and really enjoyed it, then just seemed to forget about him...got side-tracked with James Herbert , but will search out some more of Sauls books now...cheers.
Tony