Changed My Life

While cleaning my humble abode, I've been thinking about books. There are so many out there. Too many for me to ever read them all. Heck, I really wouldn't want to read them all. Because even though there are good books, there are bad ones too. 

This isn't about the terrible novels. This is about the books that changed my life. 

A little dramatic, right? How can books change someone's life? Well, I'm going to tell you, because that's generally what I do on this here bloggy thing. I talk about stuff. All sorts of stuff. 

Here they are, in a very specific and thought out order, the five books that changed my life. 

1. The beginning is the beginning. When I was young, I had trouble reading, which I now find humorous, mostly because I love words so much. I know I was definitely put into a special ed. because of my inability to make words from letters on pages, but I don't actually remember going more than once. Interesting how the brain works, right? Anyhow, there were a couple books my parents used to sit down and read in order to help me get better. One of them was the Berenstain Bears book - The Bike Lesson. 

Why is this book so important? 

Because I memorized it front to back and tricked my parents into thinking I could read. This might not seem like such a big deal, but it turned out to be a spectacular thing for my developing brain. As I recited 'first come the lessons, then the fun' to my dad, I learned how powerful the brain was. Sure, I couldn't read it, but I remembered it all, and I came to the realization that I would one day be able to read. Sure, it was going to take a bit, but one day it would click and I catch up in school.

This book taught me I could do amazing things.  

 

2. Up next is a book that instilled in me the wonder of imagination. As far back as I can remember, I have always loved creating worlds, characters, plots - but it started somewhere. I don't actually know who first read me The Secret World of Og, or if it was something I read on my own in school, but I fell in love with the world over run with mushrooms beyond the trapdoor where the green creatures who live there know only one word. Og. 

Also, this might have been the book that stoked my love for alliteration. After all, the characters in the book are Penny, Pamela, Peter, Patsy and Paul. Enough said. 

This book taught me that if you have an imagination you will always have an escape. 

3. Okay, so I had to do some math in order to get the why of this one accurate and it seems a bit off. Prancer (the Christmas movie) came out in 1989 and I distinctly remember leaving my sister's copy of The Witching Hour by Anne Rice in the bathroom of the Guildford theatre. Why do I remember this? Because I honestly thought she was going to be enraged over it. Turns out, she never knew. Actually, I don't even know if she is aware of this fact now. I never told her and she never asked where her book was. But if this is correct, then I actually started reading horror at a very young age, at least age seven. The Witching Hour isn't my number three book, though. 

It's Carrie. Without Stephen King I doubt I'd have such a love for horror, books and movies. King also taught me some very important lessons when it comes to less is more. A lot of the terror in his writing comes from allowing the reader to conjure up the scariness on their own. This is why a lot of his novels don't translate well to the big screen, or at least that's what I think. As for Misery, it made me want to become a writer. That was a little joke. 

This book taught me never to pour pig blood on anyone. 

4. The Outiders by S.E Hinton. Don't laugh. It was eighth grade and the whole class was assigned the book. I took it home and devoured it. Probably didn't help that I was obsessed with the fifties and sixties and kind of thought I belonged in those eras. There is a sadness in this book that is only outshone by hope. It's really about love and friendships. And how there are some mistakes you'll mkae that will change you.  

Did you know S.E was actually a girl and that she actually wrote the book while she was still in high school? Crazy and inspirational.  

This book taught me the importance of captivating characters with flaws. 

5. This last one might actually be a bit surprising as it also comes from my high school days. The book is Of Mice and Men and the author is John Steinbeck. Now, let me make it clear, this isn't my favourite Steinbeck novel. So, why is it here? 

Because it introduced me to Steinbeck, who has, over the years, become one of the most cherished authors of my life. His writing is both inspirational and humbling. All his novels have similar themes about human nature and have a tenancy to revolve around greed, love, trust, and immorality. Still, he can craft a very beautiful sentence. 

This book taught me not all classics are boring. 

 

What about you? What are some books that changed you life? 

Underwhelming - Day 6

For the longest time, I've always said, it's hard to take Stephen King books and make them into movies. Because he truly is a master of horror, it can be tricky to translate his imagery onto the big screen. Don't get me wrong, it can be done, but I find myself loving the movies that are more dramatic and suspenseful than straight up horror. Great examples of this would be Delores Claiborne, Carrie, Misery, The Green Mile and The Shining.

Horrorfest 2013 had me being adventurous. I selected a unique blend of movies, some I'd seen and others I hadn't, and as you might have noticed, I was excited for this weekend. Unfortunately, last night I chose two  stinkers from the 1980's. The movies were Christine and Children of the Corn, and ended up being a huge let down for the wrap up party for the Stephen King weekend.

When I was thirteen, Christine was one of my favourite books. But a great book doesn't necessarily make a great movie. Because this was directed by John Carpenter I feel bad giving it a thumbs down, like I might be burned at the stake for saying something he put his golden hands on is crap. Sadly, that's exactly what I'm saying, even if he is sacrilegious to horror buffs the world over. Between crappy acting and a weak plot line, I was left feeling unfulfilled. In the book, the main plot was that Christine's previous owner Roland LeBay was so poisoned that his evilness possessed the car. The movie decided to go another route, which failed to explain where Christine's need to kill came from, even why she was doing it. With this one decision, the entire movie was derailed.

What could have been a truly genius film fell short.

Second was Children of the Corn. I do remember being terrified of this movie when I was a child and, for what its worth, it isn't terrible. Like Christine, though, it was left with bad acting and a terrible screen writer. While John Carpenter purposely cut out a pivotal piece of plot from Christine, director Fritz Kiersch apparently didn't change a bloody thing from the book version of COTC. The issue with this is, because Children of the Corn was only a short story, one would actually need to add elements in to have enough substance to make a feature film out of it.

If you watch this movie and aren't left with a lot of questions, then you clearly have a better imagination than I do. This suffered a lack of meat and meander all over the place. Don't get me wrong, the idea is great, it simply wasn't developed enough to make it a ninety-two minute movie. Lastly, what the hell was with Isaac's voice? Was that really necessary?

In the end, I can't really recommend either of these movies. This hurts me more than it hurts you.

Burn It Down - Day 5

Rather perfectly, last night Carrie teamed up with Firestarter to deliver a vegeful night fueled by fire. A quick review of Firestarter would be that it is Drew Barrymore's best acting since E.T. They could have cut the very last scene, though. Made it way too cheesy for my liking. And onto better things. 

Title: Carrie
Year: 1976
Synopsis: A young, abused and timid 17-year-old girl discovers she has telekinesis, and gets pushed to the limit on the night of her school's prom by a humiliating prank.

Tagline: If you've got a taste for terror ... take Carrie to the prom.

Boy, has Brian De Palma done a lot of noteworthy movies. While I would love to say when I think about him his legendary roll call springs to mind, like Carlito's Way and Scarface, unfortunately all I think about is Dressed to Kill and Phantom of the Paradise. And Carrie. 

It's hard to forget about Carrie. 

Perhaps I am bias because the novel by Stephen King was one of my most favourites when I was a ten year old kid. Still, I find very few flaws with De Palma's Carrie. In one breath, it is staggeringly heartbreaking and, in another, creepy as can be. There is a youthful innocence that simply radiates off Sissy Spacek. You believe her to be this young naive creature who knows nothing about the world. Stunted by an overly religious mother, who happens to have a severe case of dementedness, Carrie is screwed up from the word go. 

Timid and unsure, Carrie exists in an environment where she basically skates through without much notice. Other than being the weird girl. Or so is the impression you get as a viewer. It's only with her untimely first period that she is thrust out from the shadow of invisibility and brought into the limelight. Bullying has always existed and, as the girls pelt Carrie with pads and tampons and shout 'plug it up', all you feel is an immense sense of embarrassment and pity for the poor girl. Ten minutes in and De Palma has managed to bring to life a character you feel nothing but sympathy for. 

Then, when you meet her mom, it all becomes clear. The whole movie, as Carrie rebels against her mother, you want her to be contented. To experience a normal moment. A little happiness. But with the taunt of 'they're all going to laugh of you' ringing loud and clear, you get the sense that this is a very obvious case of foreshadowing. All hope is smashed apart in the last fifteen minutes of the movie. 

In a lot of ways, Carrie isn't exactly 'horror', but more a coming of age teen flick that just so happens to have a very bad outcome. 

And what about Sue Snell. The girl gets caught up in the moment, tosses some tampons and ends up losing her boyfriend and all her friends because of it. When I say 'losing' I mean having them burnt up in a fire and buried in the ground because they are dead. Her nice deed went completely unnoticed. Well, that's unfortunate. Especially when she might have been able to derail the whole pigs' blood incident. 

Honestly, this is one of my favourite horror movies. It delivers. And Sissy Spacek just did an astounding job at breathing life into Carrie. 

Pet Cujo - Day 4

Friday night kicked off the Stephen King weekend here for Horrorfest! Which means, I am partaking in movies based on King novels. I did in fact watch two movies last night, Pet Sematary and Cujo, but I'll only be reviewing the first, because the later makes me sad. There is something about the neglect of Cujo that gets me angry. I mean, did no one notice the gigantic wound on his poor little nose? These people deserved to be eaten.

Anyway, on we go.

Title: Pet Sematary
Year: 1983
Synopsis: Behind a young family's home in Maine is a terrible secret that holds the power of life after death. When tragedy strikes, the threat of that power soon becomes undeniable.

Tagline: Sometimes dead is better. 

As a pet lover, I'm not to sure why I chose two animal horror movies for one night. That said, I really love Pet Sematary, even though it does suffer some flaws. Let's talk about why I love it first and tackle the 'meh' parts after. 

Right off the bat, this is a zombie movie even though it rarely is ever recognized as one. The proof is in the pudding. The dead come back to life and they dine on people. No matter how you cut the pie, it still equals cannibalistic dead person. Zombie. Still, you won't ever find this in the zombie-fest movie line up, which I always thought rather curious. Why is it this movie isn't given the credit it so deserves? It's missed classification make me feel it is a hidden zombie classic that perhaps only I recognize the genius of.

Another thing you have to enjoy about Pet Sematary is Fred Gwynne. The minute he steps on screen I have to repeat 'Herman Munster' six times, just so everyone in the room knows that this man is the iconic Herman Munster from the hit television show The Munsters. Anyone, who is anyone, who loves horror, will know this man and how awesome he is. His voice is legendary and whenever I hear it I get a warm fuzzy feeling in my belly and imagine him telling Eddie the ups and downs of life.  Oh, hell, I'll just put it here so we can move on. 

From that point on, there is a lot to like about this short movie. The little kid who plays Gage does a bang up job and is very convincing as a demonic brat who just wants to play. Granted, his sister is the most terrible child actor ever to exist, but I hear balance is necessary in life. By far and wide, Church, the family cat, steals the show. Though, I always wondered why Church always seemed to hate Louis, the dad, so much. Right from the opening he only had hisses and growls for the man. Makes me suspicious. 

That said, for a movie called Pet Sematary, there isn't a heck of a lot happening with pets, other than Church's reanimation. There is a veiled back-story that involves a dog, but after not watching this movie for awhile it surprised me that there is actually a very minimalistic pet factor throughout. 

Now for the flaws. Well, I don't understand why Rachel takes the kids to go to her parents' house for Thanksgiving. After all, this is her family and they just got a brand new home, why doesn't she make dinner for the four of them and invite Herman Munster over to join them. Another confusing factor is the suicide of the neighbour. She hanged herself because of cancer, though I am uncertain how this contributes to the plot at all. I am assuming it is to breech the subject of death with Ellie, the daughter. Though it is never truly explained. 

Finally, why doesn't Louis Creed learn his lesson. The ghost of Pascow delivers a message from beyond the grave, heeding Louis of the power of the Pet Sematary. Still, he buries Church there. Then Jud, Herman Munster, better known as Gwynne tells tales of the people and animals who came back after being buried in the Pet Sematary. They are never the same. 

Still, he buries Gage there. Big mistake. And even after having to kill his son afterwards, rather unfairly, as Gage thinks, he still ends up digging a grave for his wife there. The delusional fools seems to think it will be different this time. But it is never different! It makes me think this man deserves what he got. I mean, he was warned more than once. 

This is an entertaining movie and actually quite fun. I have to confess, I think Rachel Creed's history with her sister is absolutely disturbing. And apparently, they couldn't find a woman bony enough to play the part, so Zelda is actually a man! If that doesn't entice you to give it a go, I don't know what will. 

Horror Fest Schedule!

For those of you who watch my vlog, here is the schedule for Horror Fest! 

I know, this is super exciting. And I am hoping people will follow along with me and watch the movies as I do. If you do, please check in and let me know what you think! :) I am thinking about writing blogs to coincide with what I watch, but that might be too much work, what do you think? 

Last year, I did the blogging A-Z challenge for October with a spooky theme. It was a lot of fun, so maybe reviews of the movies I am watching might be fun. I think I am trying to convince myself. 

For those of you who don't watch my vlog, shame on you, but here is this week's: 

I Is For IT

It probably isn't surprising that I started reading horror at a very young age. My sister used to read all those Christopher Pike books, which in turn meant I read them. She then graduated to John Saul, Dean Koontz and Anne Rice, and I did as well, but somewhere in there, I got on the Stephen King bandwagon and she didn't. I cannot remember the first King book I read, but I do know which ones left a lasting impression: Carrie, Dolores Claiborne, Christine and IT.

Thinking back, there are actually only two books, both horror, that stand out when I reflect on my preteeny life. Okay, three, but one of them is because I left it in the movie theatre bathroom and thought my sister was going to murder me over it. She didn't. In fact, I don't know if she ever found out about it. That book was The Witching Hour. The other two books are Come The Blind Fury. I remember reading this on a summer's day when I was thirteen. The scent of suntan lotion brings flashbacks of the book. And the last one is IT, which I remember reading on a blustery October night. 

Well, obviously I didn't read the whole thing in one night. I was twelve years old, for crying out loud, and the book is 1138 pages! But I distinctly remember it was October, the leaves were swirling, and I was snug in my bed, completely enthralled with this pack of kids trying to fight off this evil force. And what an evil force it was... 

There was something so sinister and frightening about Pennywise the Clown. To this day, he remains one of the most terrifying figures ever created in a horror novel and brought to life by the big screen. What was it that was so scary?

It might have been his smile:

Or those honest eyes. 

Then again, I think it was probably the fact that he preyed on children and could make your deepest fears come true. 

Since we're here, and I'm being honest, I've only ever read IT straight through once, when I was twelve. That said, I've read the first half of it at least a million times. Regular readers know what a sucker I am for hyperbole. But that doesn't change the fact that the beginning of this book is one of the most skin-crawling and engrossing things I've ever read. 

And, since I'm still being honest, whenever I watch the movie, I only ever watched it to the second VHS tape. That last sentence dated me, and now you all know how long it has since I've actually sat down to watch this. Maybe that needs to change. I mean, how could it possibly be that something which moulded me into the twisted individual I am today hasn't been watched or read in over a decade. Seems tragic. 

I think I need to remedy that.

So, what was it about the first half of this story that engaged me so much? The kids. Stephen King may be the Master of Horror, but he's also the master at writing kids well. This book gives me the same feeling that The Body did, which is what the movie Stand By Me is based off of. If someone is able to capture teens or preteens in all their glory then I am delighted. This book wasn't a kids book, but the seven main characters had qualities every adult could identify with, especially inexplicable fears. 

Maybe IT isn't the best movie or book ever made. Still, something about it has withstood the test of time and, like a lot of horror from my youth, I'm sure they'll end up remaking it. And we all know how I feel about remakes. 

Yeah, that's right. I hate them. 

See you tomorrow for another insert in this spooktacular A-Z blogging challenge.