Abby's Blog for Literature of Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy , a satirical Sci-Fi radio show written by Douglas Adams, is as entertaining as it is crazy. On the day of Earth’s demolition, Arthur’s alien friend Ford helps him escape into the galaxy, traversing the universe by the seat of their pants and using information from the famous novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy to get them out of dozens of hair-raising, life threatening situations . From the President of the Universe to a paranoid android, the dynamic duo meet a wild array of characters in space and have the adventure of a lifetime. This radio show took me by surprise. I expected to like the story (and, of course, I did), but the production value was amazing! The radio show was complete with multiple voice actors, autotune, and sound effects. It was fantastic! I was quickly brought in within the first five minutes, and it kept my attention throughout the 12-part series. The writing is absolutely hilarious, the humor clever and the cha

Ever since the turn of the century, technological advancement has skyrocketed. Even in my own short 19 years of life, I have seen technology go from the simplest cellphone sans touchscreen and chunky computers to face recognition on Iphones and Virtual Reality as an available college major. If we continue at this pace, the next 50 years are sure to be full of giant technological leaps for mankind. I predict that by 2028, holographic imaging will have changed exponentially. Rather than using a touchscreen to communicate, holograms and VR-like screens will be used a la Tony Stark’s tech. We’re about to break the mold of the IPhone already. Google Glass will have been adapted into a more practical form, but no matter what I think it’ll become mainstream. Entertainment will be venturing deep into VR. By 2038, robots will have most likely taken over the workforce, causing a crisis for employment. This will effect the topics of films, books, and social media as people scramble to decide

“The Fiction of Ideas” is an interesting topic; change one thing about the human race, and an entirely new world is created. Such a wide variety of stories can come from this subgenre, each taking wildly different paths. Two short stories I read that fall under this broad category are “The Drowned Giant” by J. G. Ballard and “Come To Venus Melancholy” by Thomas M. Disch (I read a third story, “And I Awoke And Found Me Here On The Cold Hill,” that falls under this genre which is discussed in the previous blog post). “The Drowned Giant” is quite short, but in its few pages it tells a unique story. In this tale, we see what happens when a group of miniature humans find a drowned man washed upon the shore. The townspeople proceed to not only examine the giant body but crawl over it, kids using the nose as a rock to climb and the arms as stairs. The casualness with which the people treat the body is almost disconcerting, as if it’s just a large collection of rocks. Then, the scientists

And I Awoke And Found Me Here On The Cold Hill is a short story about a reporter going to a service port full of spaceships to try and find someone to interview. He finds a drunken, bitter man in uniform and asks him about the aliens around the port. Rather than getting a simple answer, the reporter gets a life story and lesson from the man about the human race’s unhealthy infatuation with aliens, going beyond sexual to just pure obsession. This brought something to light that I had never considered: people’s obsession with aliens may not be reciprocated. Aliens may find humans boring, worthless, or dumb. If we were to discover an alien race, we’d be fascinated with the first lifeforms in space we find. The aliens, though, may’ve mastered space travel and humans may mean nothing to them. This imbalance could lead to a subservient position for the human race, desperate to do anything to not lose this new connection and opportunity. People have always been obsessed with the unk

“Johnny Mnemonic,” by William Gibson, is a dystopian short story about a man named Johnny who acts as a living database, storing information for others. After a violent mix-up at a club, he and the girl who caused the death of his client run off and escape to Nighttown, where she and her partners take the information and end up battling in the ruinous town over the Floor. The storyline was a bit hard to follow, and I wasn’t always clear on what was happening or who the characters were. Parts of it felt random, and the chaotic vibe was difficult to unravel. Something that stuck with me, though, is that the scariest part of this short story wasn’t the blood or the augmented humans and dystopian ruins of society, but the empty shell that Johnny Mnemonic has made his mind. He collects information for others and spits it back out with no memory of what he said. Of course, at the end he decides to stop being a traveling flashdrive of a human being, but to live a life where your brain can

When one thinks about a “New Frontier” in regards to Space Opera, it usually involves space travel as the Biggest Advancement So Far. The shock value lies with finding new planets and interacting with aliens. In Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination , space travel isn’t the kicker, but teleportation is- or “jaunting,” as the book calls it. The novel’s story revolves around this concept of jaunting, which is essentially the concentration-based act of teleporting, and it’s repercussions on the world. The story starts out simple as Gulliver Foyle, our supposedly under-average man abandoned on a wrecked starcraft in space, is denied help by a passing spaceship called the Vorga-Ta^g. Furious, Foyle starts on a rampage to find and destroy the Vorga for abandoning him among the stars. He steals a spaceship from a tribe among the asteroids, where his face is tattooed like a terrifying tiger, and he flies back to Earth to find and wreak havoc on the crew of the Vorga. We follow Goyle as

The Ocean at the End of the Lane , by Neil Gaiman, is an urban fantasy about a man coming back to his childhood home and remembering a long forgotten otherworldly experience from his childhood. As a seven year old, his life changes for the weirder when an opal miner,  who had been renting out a room in the boy’s house, commits suicide in their family car. The death opens a door for a mischevious cloth-like spirit to start messing with the locals’ lives in twisted ways of giving them what they want. The boy meets the Hempstocks, an immortal family of three who live at the end of the lane, and accompanies the youngest, Lettie Hempstock, on a journey to bound the spirit. However, the spirit latches on to the boy and uses him as its gateway between worlds. Parading as a nanny named Ursula Monkton, the demon torments the boy through herself and his father. It’s up to the boy and the Hempstocks to send the demon away and restore reality. Gaiman’s imagination makes the book take flight. T

Over the past 20 or so years, Harry Potter has become a household name. Everybody knows the story of the Boy Who Lived and his enemy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone unfamiliar with the famous franchise; even those who never read the books or seen the movies has at least heard the name. The global effect of author J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world is phenomenal, but what makes the story of the young wizard so enticing? Harry Potter took the world by storm not only because of its wonderful cast of characters and in-depth world building, but its opportunity for self-insertion really boosts its fame. People love labels. It’s a part of why astrology is so popular, why months have birthday gemstones, why MBTI personality types are emphasized. Being able to belong to a group while simultaneously feeling special is something many people strive to find, and finding labels helps people feel defined . If you think about popular YA series, many include groups

“Unsettling” is how I’d describe Carol Emshwiller’s short story “I Live With You,” although it is still captivating. It follows a shadow-like being who impersonates and sneaks into the house of a woman named Nora with intent to heavily mess with her life. At first, this doppelganger keeps their presence a secret, but as soon as suspicions arise, they decide to have a little fun. Moving things around, leaving out trash, stealing and replacing clothes, the doppelganger plagues Nora’s house like a ghost. In fact, the imposter even goes as as far as inviting a man over and trying to both hook up with him as well as get Nora some action. Of course, this plan turns sour quickly and the doppelganger leaves Nora, who has changed into a more confident and assertive woman because of her ordeal. “I Live With You” is intriguing and puts you on edge, and the concept really makes you think. I found it interesting how Nora tried to convince herself that nothing was going on, and when things got

“At Daybreak” is one of Italo Calvino’s Cosmicomics short stories, and while it’s a bit difficult at times to visualize what is going on in this particular tale, the story is unique and open to individual interpretation. Of course, this Cosmicomic takes place in space, and it follows a family being disrupted from their routine life on the rings of a nebula. It is never disclosed what exactly the family is, species-wise. I assume they are particle-based, seeing as how the main character’s brother marries an algae at one point, but the topic is kept vague. While I typically prefer having character descriptions, the ambiguousness does make them seem more alien. These particle people live in the galactic matter of some space rings, blindly moving through endless time and simply, well, living. No activity, no progress, just talking to one another and playing sightlessly. Then, what I believe was either the creation of a Sun or just the introduction of the Sun to their world, heat is br

Italo Calvino’s “The Distance of the Moon” is one of his multiple Cosmicomics , which are all short stories about space. This one is about a world where the moon orbits elliptically around the Earth, coming close enough to leap to from the ocean. The main character, named “Qfwfq,” ventures out with his fellow sailors and deaf cousin each time the moon dips towards the sea to jump up and harvest the Moon Milk. However, the harvesters realize too late that the Moon is drifting away, which leads to Qfwfq and the Captain’s wife being trapped there for an entire cycle. Qwfwq followed his love for the Captain’s wife, Vhd Vhd, to the Moon, but realizing that she is far too obsessed with the Moon and his deaf cousin, he returns to Earth and leaves her behind to forever travel on the Moon. This story would be beautifully illustrated, and the writing is vivid enough to clearly picture every moment. While the description of the Moon is kind of odd, what with it being scaly with creamy flesh,

"Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler My first reaction to Octavia Butler’s   Bloodchild is a mix of interest and disgust. Using humans as a subservient society to the Tlic rather than having humans assert power over the aliens is a fresh twist on the usual sci-fi story. I’ve never read or watched a story that had humans as powerless as they are here- there’s no way for them to fight back, really. The human race has been completely taken over, and they’re generally okay with it, which is unsettling. It was an interesting read, that's for sure. Such a unique story gets the mind wondering about a world where humans aren't the superior species and don’t come out on top after an invasion, a concept far less explored in the sci-fi genre. The disgust I felt is, of course, for the humans’ role in the Tlics’ lives. Parasites are a big fear of mine personally, so reading a story where humans exist solely to be hosts to the worm-like children of the Tlic is absolutely terrif

The Hobbit , the fantasy classic by J.R.R. Tolkien, is the embodiment of the Hero’s Journey, leading us through Middle Earth on the formulaic Campbell’s path of tropes. Bilbo Baggins is a middle-aged hobbit, which is essentially a short human-like creature who lives a quiet life of comfort and luxury, who gets swept up into a quest with a troupe of dwarves to win back an abandoned mountain kingdom from the dragon Smaug. His life gets turned upside down as he’s plucked from his easy-going life, but after primarily refusing this call to adventure, Bilbo realized that he’s wanted something like this to come along. A great adventure, something to interrupt the routine life he’s lived. He, the troupe of dwarves, and Gandalf the Wizard trek along on the typical Hero’s Journey, complete with a road of trials, apotheosis, a magic flight, becoming “master of two worlds,” and returning back home as a new man- or, hobbit. Unlike a lot of L ord of the Rings fans, I actually really enjoyed th

Practical Magic , starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, is all around a good movie-  entertaining and interesting, though not necessarily something I need to watch again. The plot revolves around two witch sisters named Sally and Gillian Owens; Sally never wants to fall in love, but for Gillian it’s a life goal. Unfortunately, their family is cursed so that any man who loves an Owens woman is doomed to die. Sally starts a family and tries to lead a normal life, but just as the curse forewarned, her husband is killed. Gillian, on the other hand, had been hopping from man to man before getting tangled with an abusive kidnapper. Sally tries to save Gillian but accidentally kills the boyfriend in the process, then resulting to a revival spell in order to avoid murder charges. The plot thickens as the boyfriend haunts them as a ghost and the sisters try and keep their spooky secret from the lead detective. Quite a story! Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman’s performances are bewitchin

There’s always that one family member that everyone struggles to get along with at family gatherings, but I can assure you that nobody can compare to Aunt Maria. Aunt Maria , by Dianne Wynne Jones, tells the story of a family going to visit their Aunt Maria off in the odd and isolated town of Cranbury Head. While there, the main character Mig uncovers the twisted, magical matriarchy of the town- headed by her very own Aunt Maria- and faces witchcraft, brainwashing, ghosts, and local legends. I truly enjoyed reading this novel because of its wonderful cast of characters. Mig is a delightful and relatable protagonist, not afraid to act and be assertive. Her young age makes her fierce curiosity and strong emotions believable and real, and her point of view being executed through her journal entries makes for an interesting way to transition between chapters of the story. Mig’s brother Chris is a great character as well; his cleverness helps pull the plot along and prevents Mig from ha

King Rat , a “New Weird” fantasy-horror novel by China Mieville, is quite the tale. The story is centered around a man who is half human, half rat that gets accused of killing his father. When King Rat comes to break the man - Saul - out of jail, Saul is introduced to a secret version of London, including monarch-based animal societies, a relentless pied piper, and a unique view of the city itself. With his superhuman abilities, or rather super- rat abilities, Saul usurps the throne from King Rat and helps the birds, rats, and spiders of London take down the malicious Piper. The story is simultaneously familiar and original. There’s the typical coming-of-age plot used when introducing Saul to the world of the rats mixed with a detective mystery from the point of view of Mr. Crowley. Old folktales and fables are recycled into new renditions of themselves, such as Anansi the Spider and the Pied Piper. However, mixing the worlds of fantastical animal societies with urban, Jungle music

What do you like in a horror movie? Zombies? Ancient rituals? Blood and gore? A comedic, Scooby-Doo style? Government dystopia? Ghosts? Mermaids? If you checked any of those off as a “yes,” then Cabin in the Woods is the movie for you. I wasn’t sure what exactly to expect when I first started this film, but it immediately grabbed me with its humor and kept my attention through its ridiculousness. Now, don’t get the wrong idea that this movie is all just goofy gimmicks. Cabin in the Woods definitely has its moments of terrifying thrills and chills. The film manages, however, to seamlessly blend the two genres - comedy and horror - by orchestrating the most over-the-top horror movie I’ve ever seen. The movie follows a group of five young adults vacationing at an old, isolated cabin in the woods. Great idea, right? Well, this particular cabin is controlled by an underground government organization that uses its library of horrible monsters to kill its guests as a sacrifice to appeas

When people think of horror, it usually drums up the same images: a mindless monster, a woman screaming, jumpscares, blood and gore, terror- you know the clichés. It makes sense that these ideas are constantly correlated with horror, seeing as how they can be found in every horror movie these days. Correction: every American horror movie these days. Japanese Horror, Jhorror for short, relies on different tactics when attempting to instill fear in the hearts of the audience. Urban settings, suspense, dread, and sympathetic villains usually set the mood for the story.   This past week, I read Haruki Murakami’s novel A Wild Sheep Chase and watched Dark Water (dir. by Hideo Nakata) as well as parts of Kwaidan (dir. by Masaki Kobayashi) and Pulse (dir. by Kioshi Kurosawa). While all of these stories vary widely in content, they all share a few key characteristics that I’ve come to associate with the Jhorror genre. The first thing that immediately stood out to me was how much e

Victor Frankenstein, the now infamous mad scientist, creator of reanimation, and star of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein , is often imagined as a man in his late forties, using decades worth of knowledge and expertise to create his iconic monster. The real Victor Frankenstein, however, is merely a college student- a young, naive, and freshly independent college student. The idea of such a young man creating life and subsequently causing multiple murders because of it seems like a unique idea for a story, yet a college student committing a murder is the same plot of two other novels: Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Donna Tartt's The Secret History . All three of these books deal with a similar story involving a college student committing (or indirectly causing, in Frankenstein's case) a murder of someone they know personally. The murderer proceeds to fall ill, isolate themselves, undergo serious mental torment over the guilt, feel the urge to confess, and even