Thursday, April 16, 2015
Blog Set # 13
For my readers choice I am doing Demons. I know covered ghosts but I think the most popular supernatural spirits these days are definitely demons. I think they are scarier than normal ghosts because they are not human and can often times cause harm and take over the bodies of its victims. Most movies todays don't have a haunted house of just a dead person they almost always involve the work 0of some sort of no0n human presence praying on the people living in the home. The novel I picked was the Exorcist by Willi8am Peter Beatty. This book is terrifying and the movie was one of the first horror films I ever saw which is probably why I have such a love for the genre. It is very well written and the book inspired the movie which started an epidemic and widespread fear of possession and demons. It is an iconic piece of work and a great scare.
Blog Set # 12
Premature Burial
I think the medical condition in the story Premature burial cold have been very real. There are many documented cases of premature burials ad diseases which often time mimicked signs of death. I could never imagine waking up in a coffin already in the ground and not being able to do anything about stopping my death. That has to be one of the scariest things to ever go through because all you can do is lay there and wait and suffer while your body gives out. In the story much like people centuries ago the character was obsessed with death and making sure that he took precautions to never be buried alive. Ultimately he wakes up one day thinking he is buried alive when he is actually on a boat. It must have been a horrible time period when people actually had a legitimate fear of waking up in a coffin. In current times that seems so bizarre and so far fetched its hard to think of that ever happening. Even though it is unlikely now the fear is still there do to the fact that it could happen on purpose instead of on accident like most cases.
The story of the monkeys paw has a always been a good read for me. There are many mystery in the story and the reader is never sure if there are actual supernatural elements happening or just weird coincidences. In the story a man obtains a magic monkey paw meant to grant three wishes. He makes a wish for two hundred pounds and the next day he is informed that he son was killed in a factory accident and for their troubles the factory will give them two hundred pounds. The man is horrified and refuses to believe that he caused his sons death by wishing for the money but his wife is so distraught she blames her husband for the death of their son. She makes her husband wish that her son was alive again that night when they are in bed and in the middle of the night they hear a banging sound on the door The wife is convinced it is he dead son so she runs to the door to try and let him in, knowing how disfigured his son was thru husband is terrified to see him and does not want his son back. The knocking grows mo9re violent and the man makes a final wish on the paw and the noises stop as soon as he does. When the wife finally gets to the door there is no one there it is just darkness. I think this story did have supernatural elements to it rather than just coincidence because of how the background history of the paw and the fact that there would be too much coincidence for all of the mans wishes to come true every time he made a wish. Although it could have been just the wind knocking on the door what are the chances that on the night that he made a wish the win would have been that violent sounding to wake them up? The sons death and the two hundred pound grant the factory gave the family could just be a tragic mishap that happened but the specific amount the man wished for matching thru factories payment it a little to eerie to be called coincidence.
I think the medical condition in the story Premature burial cold have been very real. There are many documented cases of premature burials ad diseases which often time mimicked signs of death. I could never imagine waking up in a coffin already in the ground and not being able to do anything about stopping my death. That has to be one of the scariest things to ever go through because all you can do is lay there and wait and suffer while your body gives out. In the story much like people centuries ago the character was obsessed with death and making sure that he took precautions to never be buried alive. Ultimately he wakes up one day thinking he is buried alive when he is actually on a boat. It must have been a horrible time period when people actually had a legitimate fear of waking up in a coffin. In current times that seems so bizarre and so far fetched its hard to think of that ever happening. Even though it is unlikely now the fear is still there do to the fact that it could happen on purpose instead of on accident like most cases.
The Monkeys Paw
The story of the monkeys paw has a always been a good read for me. There are many mystery in the story and the reader is never sure if there are actual supernatural elements happening or just weird coincidences. In the story a man obtains a magic monkey paw meant to grant three wishes. He makes a wish for two hundred pounds and the next day he is informed that he son was killed in a factory accident and for their troubles the factory will give them two hundred pounds. The man is horrified and refuses to believe that he caused his sons death by wishing for the money but his wife is so distraught she blames her husband for the death of their son. She makes her husband wish that her son was alive again that night when they are in bed and in the middle of the night they hear a banging sound on the door The wife is convinced it is he dead son so she runs to the door to try and let him in, knowing how disfigured his son was thru husband is terrified to see him and does not want his son back. The knocking grows mo9re violent and the man makes a final wish on the paw and the noises stop as soon as he does. When the wife finally gets to the door there is no one there it is just darkness. I think this story did have supernatural elements to it rather than just coincidence because of how the background history of the paw and the fact that there would be too much coincidence for all of the mans wishes to come true every time he made a wish. Although it could have been just the wind knocking on the door what are the chances that on the night that he made a wish the win would have been that violent sounding to wake them up? The sons death and the two hundred pound grant the factory gave the family could just be a tragic mishap that happened but the specific amount the man wished for matching thru factories payment it a little to eerie to be called coincidence.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Annabel Lee
Blog Post #11
BerniceOnce again I feel super biased about this story because I literally love everything Poe writes but I can't help but like this story a little too much for how violent and a little twisted it is. This story really got my attention because of how violent it is without necessarily being really violent. It skips the details of the actual acts but you're still able to get the full feeling of uncomfortableness just by his use of language afterwards. The line "Why... did the hairs of my head erect themselves on end, and the blood of my body become congealed within my veins?" is a great one in the story because Poe does not include a scene of teeth pulling and violence but instead an eerie unknown after thought of the narrator. Another spine tingling element of this story was that the Poor cousin Bernice was actually a live when found mutilated. This story is very dark and really draws the line between love and unhealthy obsession,
The Furnished Room
I really liked this story and the way it was written giving small clues one by one. The plot twist at the end about his lost sweetheart killing herself in the same room her did gave the story a romantically tragic twist. I think this story definitely reflects the authors negative way of thinking about city living by saying in this story that city living can somewhat be cruel just like the people living in the city and that there is no room for romance or love when living in such a transient setting. This story almost reminds me of Romeo and Juliet because of the tragic end to a young love. A young boy is dying to find his lost love in the city and end up killing himself in the same room that she tragically took her life in a week earlier. The Lady in charge of renting out rooms failed to tell him that she had rented a room to his love when he asked because she did not want to lose his money by saying that someone died in his room which is a reflection of the greed and dishonesty many people display in this world.
The Boarded Window
In this story there was anything supernatural going on. The wife was never fully dead and the panther came in through the window to get her and in order to save herself she fought for her life and attacked back at the panther taking off some of its ear and making it bleed. The wife not being dead is further confirmed because of the fresh blood that is found and dead bodies do not bleed. The man in fear of the panther returning then boards up the window. In this story the reader is lead to believe that there are supernatural occurrences happening in the beginning of the story because of the husband failing in his burial rituals and that it is night time when the wife is presumably coming back from the dead so the reader is left wondering what possibly could have been strong enough to move a table without being seen. I liked this story a lot because of the twist at the end and again not knowing all the details until the end of the story. It was a fun read and just further condemned by believing that living in isolation in the woods is a good idea.
The Furnished Room
I really liked this story and the way it was written giving small clues one by one. The plot twist at the end about his lost sweetheart killing herself in the same room her did gave the story a romantically tragic twist. I think this story definitely reflects the authors negative way of thinking about city living by saying in this story that city living can somewhat be cruel just like the people living in the city and that there is no room for romance or love when living in such a transient setting. This story almost reminds me of Romeo and Juliet because of the tragic end to a young love. A young boy is dying to find his lost love in the city and end up killing himself in the same room that she tragically took her life in a week earlier. The Lady in charge of renting out rooms failed to tell him that she had rented a room to his love when he asked because she did not want to lose his money by saying that someone died in his room which is a reflection of the greed and dishonesty many people display in this world.
The Boarded Window
In this story there was anything supernatural going on. The wife was never fully dead and the panther came in through the window to get her and in order to save herself she fought for her life and attacked back at the panther taking off some of its ear and making it bleed. The wife not being dead is further confirmed because of the fresh blood that is found and dead bodies do not bleed. The man in fear of the panther returning then boards up the window. In this story the reader is lead to believe that there are supernatural occurrences happening in the beginning of the story because of the husband failing in his burial rituals and that it is night time when the wife is presumably coming back from the dead so the reader is left wondering what possibly could have been strong enough to move a table without being seen. I liked this story a lot because of the twist at the end and again not knowing all the details until the end of the story. It was a fun read and just further condemned by believing that living in isolation in the woods is a good idea.
Blog Post #10
Fall of the House of Usher
Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite writers of all time. He makes reading scary stories enjoyable and its no wonder that The Fall of the House of Usher was one o9f the first stories to really set a typical setting for the "Haunted House". Horror fans owe much to Poe because of his writing and the way it has shaped the settings and stories of their favorite movies and stories after his work. In this story it plays with the readers mind not giving them full disclosure if the house is really haunted or if Roderick is a vampire. Realistically he is not but the reader is given all kinds of clues that he could possibly be one. I like this element of the story because cheap scares and gore are not the only way to freak someone out. The unknown is most times the most terrifying as well as psychological games. This also allows the reader to make the story what they would like to believe as it goes a long. This story really set the framework for the look an feel of the scary house that we think of today and for that reason alone I really liked this story. How could I not its by my main man Poe.
Afterward
The story afterwards I think definitely falls under the definition of "American Gothic" Because it has so many of the definitions features. The whole story is mentioned with darkness, hidden passageways, ghosts, the past coming back in a horrible way. The setting of the story also shared many characteristics with American Gothic stereotypes because of how it is described to be in disrepair and in a beat up state. The characters somewhat fall in love with the dilapidated house which goes back to the dark romances of the American Gothics definition. This story almost finds beauty in the supernatural and the broken down. I really liked this story because of the unknown factor. Making the reader think I think is always on of the best things a writer could do in one of their books. The hints of foreshadowing in the story also made it very enjoyable to read because it gives the reader clues and the ability to try and solve the mystery for themselves.
Edgar Allen Poe is one of my favorite writers of all time. He makes reading scary stories enjoyable and its no wonder that The Fall of the House of Usher was one o9f the first stories to really set a typical setting for the "Haunted House". Horror fans owe much to Poe because of his writing and the way it has shaped the settings and stories of their favorite movies and stories after his work. In this story it plays with the readers mind not giving them full disclosure if the house is really haunted or if Roderick is a vampire. Realistically he is not but the reader is given all kinds of clues that he could possibly be one. I like this element of the story because cheap scares and gore are not the only way to freak someone out. The unknown is most times the most terrifying as well as psychological games. This also allows the reader to make the story what they would like to believe as it goes a long. This story really set the framework for the look an feel of the scary house that we think of today and for that reason alone I really liked this story. How could I not its by my main man Poe.
Afterward
The story afterwards I think definitely falls under the definition of "American Gothic" Because it has so many of the definitions features. The whole story is mentioned with darkness, hidden passageways, ghosts, the past coming back in a horrible way. The setting of the story also shared many characteristics with American Gothic stereotypes because of how it is described to be in disrepair and in a beat up state. The characters somewhat fall in love with the dilapidated house which goes back to the dark romances of the American Gothics definition. This story almost finds beauty in the supernatural and the broken down. I really liked this story because of the unknown factor. Making the reader think I think is always on of the best things a writer could do in one of their books. The hints of foreshadowing in the story also made it very enjoyable to read because it gives the reader clues and the ability to try and solve the mystery for themselves.
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