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Tom Perrotta is My Favorite Existential Uncle
September 25th, 2017
Photo y Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 3.0 Many families have that uncle who gets invited over for Thanksgiving and doesn't quite fit in. The black sheep, who doesn’t understand the concept of polite conversation or hold any of the same values as your family. He’s outspoken and crosses the line before the turkey even hits the table, sharing something completely inappropriate but interesting enough that the family wants to hear what comes next.
Read Column →Breaking Worse? The 'Ozark' Pilot Treads Dark Territory
September 22nd, 2017
Heavy spoiler warning!!! Ozark eschews the traditional "slow burn" that has defined (and sometimes plagued) television drama recently with a pilot episode designed to surprise you with gut punches—all to prepare you for the uppercuts yet to come.
Read Column →10 Stephen King Sequels I Want to Read
September 21st, 2017
Despite having published over fifty novels, Stephen King has never been too eager to write sequels. There’s the Dark Tower series, and the recent Bill Hodges Trilogy, then you have what else? Doctor Sleep and Black House? Of course, a good majority of his work can be defined as a loose continuation of The Dark Tower, but this article is referring more to direct sequels. This is, for the most part, a relief. Too often sequels feel like cash-grabs from washed up writers with no original ideas. But not always.
Read Column →Road Trip Horror: 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' and 'Nocturnal Animals'
September 20th, 2017
Nocturnal Animals, released in 2016, took a classic horror movie trope and added prestige to it. That is, the idea that traveling on rural highways, especially at night, will result in an encounter with lunatics and death. This has existed at least as far back as 1974’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, with its band of five teens picking up a hitchhiker which turns out to be a catalyst for a night of brutal violence and madness. Then there’s 1986’s The Hitcher, in which C.
Read Column →The Worst Required Reading
September 19th, 2017
It’s back to school time. According to the aisles of stores. Man, I hated that as a kid. It’s like, I KNOW we have to go back to school. You don’t have to put up a big banner about it. That’s like having a huge, enthusiastic banner at a funeral: “You’re Dead!” In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like that comparison. Those back to school banners do signify a death: The death of summer. The death of fun. The death of reading whatever the hell you want.
Read Column →The Little Genre That Could: Why Now is the Time to Read Bizarro
September 18th, 2017
For some strange reason, there are more articles about the origins and definition of bizarro than about what this genre is doing now. While the history of the genre is great, and defining it is as entertaining as anything else when it comes to debating literary definitions, the fact that bizarro has grown exponentially in the last few years is what I think we should be focusing on. Once an almost underground movement, bizarro is now everywhere, and the authors currently working under its banner are among some of the best contemporary purveyors of fiction across all genres.
Read Column →What Writers Can Learn From the Films of Darren Aronofsky
September 15th, 2017
Image I'm so stoked for Darren Aronofsky's new film, Mother! Ever since I saw Pi I've been a super-fan. I've watched all of his movies multiple times and have used them as background atmosphere while I worked on certain projects. Going through all of his films can be as helpful and inspiring as any craft book. One of my goals is to try to do what Aronofsky does with his films in my own writing.
Read Column →So I Heard Y'all Want to Float: The Past, Present, and Future of Stephen King's IT
September 14th, 2017
Disclaimer: The following article contains spoilers for the novel, miniseries, and recent film adaptation of IT. At this point it’s impossible to restrict IT to just a novel. It’s evolved into something much more. Thanks to the miniseries and new film adaptation, yes, but also to the countless coming-of-age monster invasion books and movies and TV shows clearly inspired by King’s novel.
Read Column →The Defenders: Defeated by Dull Writing
September 14th, 2017
The Defenders, Marvel’s epic crossover between its (mostly) beloved Netflix series, finally landed on the internet to a mixed response. While many fans greatly enjoyed watching their favorite heroes interact with each other (much like they did in The Avengers five years ago), others found their fun tempered by serious flaws in the storytelling. The show gets off to a promising start, but by the end it has squandered its potential by making all of the same mistakes as its predecessors, all while adding a slew of new ones.
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