Aaron C. Bennett's Writing Journal

Nightmares and Werewolves

I watched a really interesting video from the library. It was called "Nightmares," it was apparently done by A&E. It tells the truth behind the writing of Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. The little series focused on the Victorian horrors and how they affected our modern world. I thought it would be much broader in scope, but it turned out better than I had expected. It was highly informative, very well-researched. It was very interesting from a writer's perspective. Only Doyle's work didn't come from nightmares. It debunked many of the stories that the authors themselves have put out about the writing of the stories. If I can, I plan on showing this series when I teach these novels. I learned more in these half-hour segments than I did in my Lit classes when we studied them. I heartily recommend them to anyone interested in the books, or in the minds that create horror. The production qualities were very good. They made the topic lively and interesting. A&E really outdid themselves on this one.
Thor ended pretty predictably. Thor saves the day. There were setbacks, but they were overcome. Thor was sent to the pound for biting Uncle Ted, but Teddy frees him. That means Thor can make it home for the final showdown. Did I mention the annoyingness of names? Normally naming two characters the same name is a definite no-no. It could have worked here, and does most of the time. The problem comes from Teddy wanting to be called Ted now that he's older. That makes a few spots a little tough as you have Uncle Ted, and "pup" Ted. Thankfully, there are only a few such places. It was a little odd to have Dad's name as Tom. The two adult males having names that are one long syllable, starting with a "T", and being very whitebread; is something that can cause a tiny bit of trouble. It also doesn't help that Dad is called Dad from Thor's POV, but Tom from the others. This can cause a mental pull-away in the headhoppings, but those shouldn't be there anyway so... Thor thinks he is kicked out of his pack because he killed Uncle Ted. Dad finally brings him around and all is well. Smith gets in some good licks with Thor's musings on the Natural Law and Dad's Law. These are the sections where Thor's voice is good. The headhopping parts continued to be annoying right up to the end. It showed promise. This would have been an excellent book in the hands of a better writer.
I started October Country on tape. I like Bradbury's more horrific stuff. He and Harlan Ellison do a good job of crafting intelligent horror shorts. Both are known more as Sci-Fi writers. I've enjoyed the stories so far. A welcome change from Rice and abridged Saul tapes. I also got some Anishanabee legends and John Updike stories.
I started on Howling Mad by Peter David. It is a framed story told like Interview with the Vampire. Because it's set up like that, the POV works with it. You can have headhopping, and it actually adds to the story. This works because the head that is hopping back and forth has the same brain inside. The man telling the story has the unique POV of a human who was a wolf. He can explain things he didn't understand as a wolf. When the story breaks into the story of the flashback, he can still cut in with comments that he thought later as a human without it pulling the reader out as much. This frame also allows more telling than is normally allowed. This allows the novel to progress at a fair clip without feeling like we're missing much. Those deep sections where we are right there as it's happening are as rich as any other novel. We just get to skip the boring parts. A good page to take from Elmore Leonard. It's not horror, more a fantasy that happens to deal with werewolves. It is much like Lives of Monster Dogs meets "An American Werewolf in London." So far it is a very enjoyable read.