Horror and Sci Fi Musings

Well this is definitely weird. Railsea by China Mieville is essentially a modern-fantasy take on Moby Dick, with trains and giant moles instead of ships and giant whales. But that’s not all, this Earth exists in a world where aliens visited many years ago and now the world is polluted beyond repair, haunted by gargantuan beasts. The setting is very interesting, but I’m not super fond of all of the characters aside from Sirocco, which made Railsea very difficult to read for very long.

I listened to an audio book for Good Omens and wow, what a funny book. I love the concept of an angel and demon that have been enemies for so long that they’re basically friends. The demon, for one, is the serpent responsible for giving the apple to Adam and Eve and prods fun at the angel that he may have done a good deed in the long run.  Even without fully understanding all Christian references, this story is very clever and most readers should be able to pick up on most of the jokes. One of my favorite jokes in the beginning is that God made the dinosaur fossils just to fuck with paleontologists. I love the satyrical approach to everything biblical. As Americans, I’d say even those of us non-Christians have been exposed to plenty of biblical themes and stories, all of which take themselves very seriously, so this is one of the most refreshing tales I’ve seen in a very long time.

The idea of using language as a weapon is incredibly bizarre and I wouldn’t have thought a book would try to tackle the concept, but hey, Babel 17 does just that. Now, I have heard of the concept before but only in the video game Metal Gear V: The Phantom Pain where the story was, well, bad. The idea was that a disease of some sort was spread by an underground military group and this disease would respond to a certain language spoken by killing the host. Not a bad idea, but it wasn’t explored to its full potential. At least now I know where Metal Gear potentially got the idea. Babel-17 approaches the “weaponized language” concept in a different direction as it’s more of a boon to the user than a bane. Someone who learns the language Babel-17 has their brain rewired to think in the language, which is so precise that the user can think a mile-a-minute and describe intricate scenes in mere moments. Babel-17 tackles the concept of the self and whether we as people can ever truly un...

This is a weird topic for me because I love cyberpunk but I’m not a fan of steam punk. Very few things have pulled off steam punk for me, most of which are video games and some books. Movies never seem to do it quite right. In terms of reading, the Edge Chronicles was my favorite book series growing up, with crazy monster designs and lovely illustrations to accompany the writing thanks to Chris Riddel. The steam punk attributes to the Edge Chronicles universe actually blended quite nicely, with imaginative airships powered by float stones instead of balloons and unique steam-punky outfits the crews would wear. My favorite example of cyberpunk is Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s film adaptation of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Everything about it is the definition of cyberpunk—it is so beautifully realized. 

I remember reading Harry Potter as a kid and not really enjoying it. I found it to be a chore but I finished it because my friends seemed to enjoy it a lot. I ended up very disappointed and watched the movies to see if I’d missed something. Though the films were good, I was still not a fan. I’ve since rewatched the movies and I’ve warmed up to Harry Potter a little bit. My main issue then was the world building. I didn’t understand the limits of what existed in the Harry Potter universe. I had many questions, such as: how are there trolls and goblins yet none of the normal people know about them? I didn’t quite understand the border between reality and fantasy within the Harry Potter universe and frankly, I still don’t.  I like certain aspects of Harry Potter, the films in particular capture some good magical moments. A famous example of capturing the magic would be the scene where Harry departs from platform 9 3/4 and enters the train to Hogwarts. 

I’ve read some of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and listened to the original radio show. I have to say, what an entertaining story. Something about it is so clever and cheeky. The humor constantly gives me Monty Python vibes and I could easily see the Monty Python troupe acting in a sort of Hitchhiker’s Guide film, which sadly can’t happen and instead we have a shitty 2005 movie in it’s place.  I’ve found lighthearted and imaginative space stories to be the most entertaining. With space, there are infinite possibilities for story telling and the imagination can go wild. With that said, I’m a little bothered when space stories take themselves too seriously or try to be realistic. Hitchhiker’s Guide is incredibly refreshing after growing up watching space films that try so hard to out-perform each other with bigger “better” stories and visual effects.  An admittedly strange thing to bring up would be the Marvel Universe, in particular Guardians of the Galaxy and Tho...

I read some of the Stars my Destination by Alfred Bester. Fascinatingly, the main character is completely unrelatable and nearly unlikable. His only purpose after being stranded in space for a very long time is to get revenge on the ship that wouldn’t save him. A very fascinating ability exist in this universe, where people can “jaunt” or teleport hundreds of miles as long as they know a location.  The most famous example of the Space Opera that everyone knows (everyone that matters, anyway) is of course, Star Wars. Star Wars is the definition of space opera.  Though I did grow up with star wars, I’m not a die-hard fan. Star Wars is full of inconsistencies and bad writing, especially the prequels. 

After listening to the Crake and Oryx audio book, I’ve decided that it’s an incredibly strange story. It kicks off highly disorienting, with a strange homeless man talking to alien-like children. It revolves around an apocalyptic present with flashbacks every now and then that explain the story bit by bit. The story manages to gets more strange when the main character’s love interest is revealed to be a girl he first saw in child porn (of all things) that he and his friend watched for fun (that’s fucked up). It almost feels as if the story is deliberately trying to be as weird as is literarily possible. It doesn’t help that this universe also has man-made pig monsters that were designed to house human organs for extraction. All-in-all, this was a bizarre but oddly enjoyable listen. I may finish it this summer, given the chance.

I’ve always appreciated asian horror more than western horror, at least when it came to films. Asian horror is significantly subtler and attacks an individuals comfort and personal space instead of relying on jump scares and gross-out gore. In general, asian horror strikes me as a more psychological in it’s approach, which is something western media could learn from. I both read some of Battle Royale and watched the film. I absolutely love it. The premise is really inventive and still resonates today. In fact, there are two games that came out in the past year that are completely based around the premise of the Battle Royale, even using the namesake. There are several other inspirations that made their way to the big screen, Hunger Games being the most popular example. The horror aspect of Battle Royale is something anyone can understand; if you’re a kid, then it’s about your peers being slaughtered in a massive “game”…but if you’re an adult or parent, it’s about children being ...

Witches to me have always seemed like a creature spawned from the negative perspective of women-empowerment, or at least a dramatic caricature of the worst kinds of women. They can be anything from what men fear to what women fear to become. One of the most classic witches is the Wicked Witch of  the West from The Wizard of Oz. The Witch is grotesque, selfish, controlling, and dangerous. She antagonizes Dorothy and is the epitome of everything Dorothy despises. I read the Redlands comic and found it to be pretty interesting, though rushed. The three witches are the primary focus of the story and they want power. They take over Redlands with force, killing all of the men in charge. The witches are not portrayed as pure evil though. They have a plan in mind and target Redlands because it’s a corrupt and failing town. Instead of leaving it to burn or becoming dictators, they simply work the jobs of the people they killed. These witches fit a morally gray area. They’re undeniably ki...

I feel dirty after reading Bloodchild. Like I need a cold shower. I was almost relieved when they started explaining the meaning for the giant bug people and their fondness for plump humans, even if the truth was disturbing. The fact that the strange scenario wasn’t addressed until a few pages in is probably the most unsettling thing about this story. There’s something inherently creepy about a giant bug lady essentially molesting young children with her many legs, grabbing them and hugging them like pets whilst feeding them drugged eggs.   So what I gather from the story is this: Humans or “Terrans” now live on an alien world inhabited by strange centipede monsters. These centipedes allow humans to live with them, but the price is that humans become vessels for centipede eggs. On top of that, humans are treated like lesser beings. Not like slaves, but very similar to symbiotic pets. The centipede we encounter in the story is “kind” all things considered, but if they are like...

Vampires have always had an air of sexuality to them. Whether it’s the fair, powerful, and rich man or the seductive and enchanting woman, vampires are hardly androgynous.  In interview with a Vampire, sex is arguably the main theme. Louis describes becoming a vampire at the hands of Lestat as pleasurable as opposed to frightening. What happens soon after is significantly less pleasurable, with Louis’ human fluids forcing their way out of his body, but it was pleasant at first. Tranforming into a vampire seems to be compared to sex, or at least sexualized, which makes the transformation of Claudia at the hands of Lestat all the more creepy.  Lestat goes from an interesting villain to Frieza from Dragon Ball Z. He just will not stay dead. I believe he returns from death at least three times, making his return less and less impactful every time. His return after Louis and Armand flee to New Orleans was hilarious at this point.   I also found it funny how everyone...