tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76195759153753177592024-03-12T21:16:10.888-05:00Librarian of the DeadRead about all things dark, spooky and fascinating. Including horror, gravestone art, cemeteries, ghost stories, Halloween, the undead and more.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger159125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-91318652263623391212018-10-19T09:00:00.000-05:002018-10-25T13:33:43.997-05:00Why Horror?<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you're already a horror fan, this isn't much of a question. You know, you understand. It's an unspoken common ground we all share. But I hear this often from people who don't like horror, who don't understand the compulsion to read, see or experience scary things. "Why would you want to be scared?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There's more to this question than one might assume at face value. For one thing, there are different levels and variations on fear. There are jump scares, and then there is lingering dread. There is discomfort and anxiety. There is a visceral recoil. They all have their own reason for existing, and different reasons why people might seek them out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's easiest to discuss the type of scare that makes us jump, gasp or scream. It's adrenaline. It's roller coasters and sky diving. It's getting on a stage to sing or tell jokes or act. The thrill of being alive in the face of the fear of failure. "I did this and I survived." That isn't difficult to comprehend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What about the rest? Why do some of us want to be haunted? Often it's a way to process things we're already scared of, already worried about. If we can stare it down, look at it without blinking, examine the details and feelings and come out the other side, we feel we can survive it. I am terrified of spiders, for example. But I will stare at a spider, I will look at spider photos online, I will read about them and learn about them in an effort to master my fear. I am afraid, and so I am obsessed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Body horror has a similar motivation. We are mortal beings of flesh and blood, and the idea of that being mutilated or morphed into something alien, something unnatural, causes a physical and mental recoil. But many of us will encounter bodily fears over our life: chronic illnesses, injuries, surgeries, failing organs. The feeling of a part of your body rebelling against you, or even trying to harm you, is a unique experience. I myself have a chronic auto-immune disease and it's a challenge to reconcile the idea that my immune system wants to destroy essential parts of my body out of a genetic misunderstanding. It feels like I am at war with it. In my mind, I think about my body as a separate being that hates me and wants me to suffer. It makes sense to see that reflected in horror, and helps to process that feeling. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lingering dread is perhaps the most uniquely human experience. We know we are mortal creatures who will die someday. Either by age, disease, accident, purpose, or disaster. When I was a child I would think about death, wonder what it was like. I tried to imagine what "nothing" felt like. It was terrifying. But I kept doing it over and over again. What drove me? The unknown. The worse option. If I knew what was in store, I could feel resolution. Not knowing was worse. This is why in horror, not understanding the source of terror is always worse. If you don't know where the monster came from, why the serial killer was killing, what was causing the haunting, it was so much scarier. Because, you wonder, what if there is no reason? Then the world is chaos, then we can't know what's going to happen, and we will be alone and afraid when we die no matter what the cause or reason. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Personally, horror is also a way to process the nightmare of my own mind. Ever since I was very young, I had nightmares. Countless nightmares. Some of them I still remember now, after 30 years. There were particular types that I had so often and were so distinct that I had to name them. Apocalypse dreams and dream loops. In the former, I always saw the world end. In the latter, I kept thinking I woke up only to find myself in a new nightmare, still sleeping. I learned how to lucid dream while very young, because I couldn't handle the recurring nightmares I had and needed a solution. I had to learn techniques for escaping dreams in case they became too scary. Then I started having sleep paralysis, and it felt like my entire body was betraying me and thwarting my efforts to escape fear. Even when I was technically awake, I was still living the nightmare and couldn't escape. I had to wait it out until my brain released my body and I stopped seeing and hearing things that weren't really there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">People-- even family-- say this is because of the scary books I read, the scary movies I watch. But the sad truth is that my nightmares sparked my interest in horror, not the other way around. Horror made me feel understood. It made me feel like I had control of an otherwise uncontrollable situation. It gave me the escape I craved.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I'm not weird because I like horror. And I don't like horror because I like being scared. I like horror because I am weird and scared and I long to find a place where I can belong and control my fear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Horror is the way to process this. We can face our fears, face the chaos, and yet come out alive and well at the end of the story. Because it was just a story... wasn't it? </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-52715612482243187182017-11-04T00:20:00.000-05:002017-11-04T00:54:33.749-05:00EXTRA LIFE UPDATEI'm very excited to say that thanks to generous donors, we've raised $325 for Lurie Children's Hospital! Since we hit the $300 mark, I've agreed to do a Spooky Storytime from one of my spooky pop-up children's books.<br />
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Problem: I can't seem to find a way to full-screen the webcam through Xbox's Twitch app. So I'm going to have to switch to my laptop for book talks and the Spooky Storytime, which means I have to schedule the book talks and can't do them between games. I've also updated some of my games/times, so my new tentative schedule is below.<br />
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And if you'd like to donate but haven't done so yet, you can still contribute anytime before, during or after the Extra Life Game Day stream! Visit <a href="https://www.extra-life.org/participant/268932">my Extra Life fundraising page here</a> and be sure to say hello or hang out for a while during my stream <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/rachelxstorm">here on Twitch</a>. Thanks to everyone who has donated, I'm excited that together, we'll be making an even bigger contribution than I imagined for my first year in Extra Life!<br />
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9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. <b>Minecraft</b><br />
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11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. <b>Portal Knights/Fortnite</b><br />
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1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. <b>Book Talks Part 1 with mini-break</b><br />
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1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. <b>Trivial Pursuit</b><br />
<b><br /></b>3:00 p.m. - <b>Spooky Storytime</b><br />
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3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. <b>The Evil Within 2 or Prey</b><br />
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4:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. <b>Book Talks Part 2 with mini-break</b><br />
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5:15 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. <b>Dead by Daylight</b><br />
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6:00 p.m. <b>BREAK!</b><br />
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7:00 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. <b>Trivia Murder Party</b><br />
<i>(or Dead By Daylight/Fortnite if no one is available)</i><br />
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8:45 p.m. - 9:15 p.m. <b>Book Talks Part 3 with mini-break</b><br />
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9:15 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. <b>Layers of Fear</b><br />
<i>(I might switch to something else the last hour if it gets too intense)</i><br />
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12:00 a.m. - 12:30 a.m. <b>Book Talks Part 4 with mini-break</b><br />
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12:30 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. <b>Dragon Age Inquisition</b><br />
<i>(Multiplayer for a bit, then campaign)</i><br />
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2:00 a.m. <b>BREAK!</b><br />
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3:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. <b>Trivial Pursuit/Scrabble</b><br />
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5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. <b>Probably some kind of nap break and Minecraft</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-84102597812801684232017-10-24T11:04:00.000-05:002017-11-02T20:32:34.857-05:00Extra Life Game Day Countdown!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Game Day for Extra Life 2017 is less than two weeks away! Thanks to everyone who has donated so far! If you haven't yet, there's still plenty of time. Every dollar helps, and it will go towards medical care for Chicagoland kids at Lurie Children's Hospital. You can submit your tax-deductible donation through <a href="https://www.extra-life.org/participant/268932">my Extra Life fundraising page here</a>.<br />
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Whether you're able to donate or not, I invite you to join me during my 24 hour gaming marathon on November 4th! I'll be <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/rachelxstorm">streaming on Twitch</a> from my Xbox (gamertag: Rachel Storm), and it would mean a lot to see folks pop in during the stream, whether it's just to say hi or to join me in a game. I'll have adventure games, horror games, peaceful games, book talks between games, and I will even be playing a game or two that anyone can play along with from their mobile phone. You can see way more details in my <a href="http://libofthedead.blogspot.com/2017/09/extra-life-2017.html">original blog post</a>.<br />
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And speaking of the games, I've put together a schedule of what I'll be playing and when. These are all Central Standard Time, and could change depending on how the day goes. In between games I will do quick book talks, so if you're looking for reading suggestions then tune in around the time I switch games.<br />
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9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. <b>Minecraft</b><br />
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11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. <b>Portal Knights</b><br />
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1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. <b>Fortnite</b><br />
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2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. <b>Trivial Pursuit</b><br />
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3:00 p.m. - <b>Spooky Storytime</b><br />
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3:15 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. <b>The Evil Within 2 or Prey</b><br />
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5:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. <b>Dead by Daylight</b><br />
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6:00 p.m. <b>BREAK!</b> in Minecraft Library of the Dead<br />
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7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. <b>Trivia Murder Party</b> <br />
<i>(or Dead By Daylight/Fortnite if no one is available)</i><br />
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9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. <b>Layers of Fear </b><br />
<i>(I might switch to something else the last hour if it gets too intense)</i><br />
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12:00 a.m. - 2:00 a.m. <b>Dragon Age Inquisition </b><br />
<i>(Multiplayer for a bit, then campaign)</i><br />
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2:00 a.m. <b>BREAK!</b> in Minecraft Library of the Dead<br />
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3:00 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. <b>Trivial Pursuit/Scrabble</b><br />
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5:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. <b>Minecraft</b>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-25671613552382827032017-10-13T00:43:00.000-05:002017-10-13T00:43:18.672-05:00Invasion of the Podcasts: Friday the 13th Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Happy Friday the 13th, Library patrons! I'm so excited that one of these infamous days occurred during October this year. At my real-life-work library we're running a special Friday the 13th superstition-themed escape room tonight, and I'm following that up with a special spooky night with friends. I am so much in the holiday spirit that I'm even dressing up as Jason Voorhees for the day. Just because I can, and it makes me laugh. Which is my motivation for most weird things I do at home and at work, my own amusement.<br />
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To help you celebrate, I have a special Friday the 13th edition of my podcast recommendation series, and this one comes with double the podcasts because I just couldn't stop myself. So whether you want to hear about superstitions, creepy stories, the movie series, or the video game, enjoy this special prequel-to-Halloween Friday the 13th however it pleases you.<br />
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<b>BrainStuff Audio</b> "<a href="http://www.brainstuffshow.com/podcasts/why-is-friday-13-considered-unlucky.htm">Why is Friday the 13th Considered Unlucky?</a>"<br />
Why do we consider Friday the 13th so damn unlucky? Learn more in this super short but educational entry from BrainStuff.<br />
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<b>Nightmare on Film Street</b> "<a href="https://nofspodcast.com/podcast-voorhees-jolly-good-fellow-top-5-friday-13th-films/">Voorhees a Jolly Good Fellow: Top 5 FRIDAY THE 13TH Films!</a>"<br />
Horror fans Kim and Jon rank their favorite five movies in the Friday the 13th franchise in this week's episode. Not necessarily the best five, but the ones they enjoy the most. I was excited that both Jason X and Freddy vs. Jason made the cut, as I would also count them as two of my favorites as well. It's a fun episode chock full of franchise facts, debates and theories.<br />
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<b>Lore</b> "<a href="http://www.lorepodcast.com/episodes/1">They Made a Tonic</a>"<br />
Today Amazon Prime premiers the TV series adaptation of the Lore podcast, so if you haven't listened to it yet, now is a great time! Start at the beginning with "They Made a Tonic," or browse through any of the dozens of episodes to learn about the very real stories in which humanity's deepest fears are rooted.<br />
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<b>Return to Camp Blood</b> "<a href="http://campbloodpodcast.com/2017/06/the-voice-of-chad-kensington-cbp103/">The Voice of Chad Kensington</a>"<br />
Today the physical copies of Friday the 13th: The Game are released, but for those who have already been playing-- or spectating-- and enjoying the game will be familiar with the character of "Chad Kensington." Return to Camp Blood is totally dedicated to the Friday the 13th franchise, exploring every movie, kill, fact, actor, etc. and in this episode they talk to voice actor Ben Diskin about his experience voice acting and specifically playing "Chad."<br />
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<b>Bizarre States</b> "<a href="http://nerdist.com/bizarre-states-120-friday-the-13th-with-brad-meltzer/">Friday the 13th with Brad Meltzer</a>"<br />
This Nerdist podcast featuring Jessica Chobot and Andrew Bowser explores all kinds of strange topics with trademark Nerdist humor. In this episode from earlier this year, author <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Meltzer">Brad Meltzer</a> joins the hosts to talk Friday the 13th, weird news, and conspiracy theories.<br />
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<b>My Neighbors are Dead</b> "<a href="https://soundcloud.com/user-167053449/6-friday-the-13th-with-rachael-mason-susan-messing">Friday the 13th with Rachael Mason & Susan Messing</a>"<br />
In this improvised comedy podcast, host Adam Peacock interviews lesser known characters from popular horror films and stories. In this episode he talks to a couple of Christian counselors from a camp across from Camp Crystal Lake about their perspective on the slayings at the camp.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-73767477062315348422017-10-05T13:00:00.000-05:002017-10-05T13:00:17.697-05:00Halloween Flashback: Watcher in the Woods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One of the most memorable live action scary films from Disney that I watched back in the day was Watcher in the Woods. On October 21, just in time for Halloween, Lifetime is releasing a remake of the film directed and produced by none other than Melissa Joan Hart, also a major part of my youth. The trailer looks pretty good, although I don't know what the plague doctor mask has to do with anything:<br />
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I loved this film as a kid: spooky ghost activity, a mystery to be solved, an old manor, British accents. I have very fond memories of watching it on a yearly basis. But I suspected my memory was a little colored by youth. The last time I watched it was probably pre-high school. So I was wary when I ordered it through my library. I didn't want it to be ruined by my more experienced and savvy adult brain.<br />
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If you aren't familiar or don't remember, Watcher in the Woods is about a family that moves into an old English manor being rented out by a widow, Mrs. Aylewood, whose daughter Karen disappeared mysteriously thirty years prior. Mrs. Aylewood lives in a cottage on the property and is very picky about who lives in the house.<br />
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The Curtis family consists of musician Paul, children's book writer Helen, teenage girl Jan and a younger girl, Ellie, who talks a lot about food. They are deemed acceptable, likely because Jan looks an awful lot like Karen.<br />
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Strange things start happening to Jan and Ellie. Jan sees images of Karen in mirrors, and Ellie hears things that Jan can't. As they meet and talk to other locals who apparently live 5 seconds away and never have anything better to do, Jan starts to put the pieces to Karen's mystery together.<br />
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The cast is actually worth mentioning, as some of the actors have been in noteworthy roles both before and after this film:<br />
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<li><b>Bette Davis</b> as Mrs. Aylewood, and... well, she's Bette Davis, enough said.</li>
<li><b>Lynn-Holly Johnson</b> as Jan was also in "Ice Castles"</li>
<li><b>Kyle Richards</b> as Ellie was fucking LINDSEY from "Halloween"! How did I never know that!</li>
<li><b>Carroll Baker</b> as their mom, but once she was nominated for an Oscar for a film called "Baby Doll", where she played a "sensuous nineteen-year-old virgin."</li>
<li><b>David McCallum</b> as their dad, who has been in some decent stuff like "The Great Escape" and "NCIS"</li>
<li><b>Benedict Taylor</b> plays teen love interest Mike, and was also a nameless fighter pilot in "Star Wars Episode I", which is probably a best case scenario for being associated with that film.</li>
<li><b>Frances Cuka</b> is Mike's mother, and I was pleasantly surprised to see she had a role in "Snow White: A Tale of Terror."</li>
<li><b>Richard Pasco</b> as Tom Colley, who was also in the Queen Victoria film "Mrs. Brown"</li>
<li><b>Ian Bannen</b> who starred in "Waking Ned Devine"<br /></li>
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Overall, the movie still had a nice eerie factor to it, and the mystery of how Karen disappeared is actually even more interesting to me now that I've been reminded what happened. I think the spoiler-expiration has more than passed, but I'll limit myself to saying that this is a great example of unexpected sci-fi horror. It's set up as a ghost story, but it's not a ghost story. Kinda cool, and I totally forgot about that part.<br />
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I think one downside is the special effects. The images of Karen are done well enough, but the computer generated colors and lights look really weird and out of place. Another downside is Lynn-Holly Johnson's performance. When her character's emotions are level, she's mostly fine. Still a little overdone at times, but acceptable. When she gets angry or passionate or excited, her voice just ramps up to irritating heights. And she goes from zero to screaming pretty fast. It's hard to take by the end.<br />
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And given that, I will point out that if and when you visit the film's IMDB page, you'll notice that it won an award. I was a little surprised-- while it will always be a favorite from childhood, it just didn't seem like an award-winner. Sadly, the award it won was a "Stinker" bad movie award in 1981. The strange part is that Kyle "I was in Halloween motherfucker" Richards won for worst performance by a child in a featured role. I would have given it to Johnson, personally, although I suppose she might not have been a "child" at the time. Girl was chewing the scenery something fierce. I thought Kyle did a fine enough job, and she has some truly creepy moments when the "ghost" possesses her.<br />
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So if, like me, you hold a certain degree of nostalgia for Watcher in the Woods, it would be worth borrowing a copy to at least indulge your inner child and remember where your love of creepy things started.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-69135606880840445552017-10-01T16:38:00.000-05:002017-10-01T16:38:03.210-05:00Halloween Flashback: Disney's Halloween Treat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Of all the Halloween-themed movies and specials and TV show episodes that I've seen over the years, nothing ranks higher in the nostalgia department than <b>Disney's Halloween Treat</b>. It's one of the first things I want to watch when this time of year comes around.<br /><br />There are technically two very similar specials-- one is <b>Disney's Halloween Treat</b>, which features a talking pumpkin as a host, while the other is <b>A Disney Halloween</b>, which has the magic mirror from Snow White as a host. <b>A Disney Halloween</b> takes Treat and adds more clips from <b>Disney's Greatest Villains</b>, as well as the Heffalumps and Woozles nightmare sequence from Winnie the Pooh, the Mickey cartoon Lonesome Ghosts, and the Donald Duck cartoon, Trick or Treat.<br />
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It was interesting examining the differences, because it made me question whether the one I remember most was <b>Halloween Treat</b>, or <b>A Disney Halloween</b>. I'm fairly sure I saw both multiple times, but the odd thing is that there are clips from the latter that I remember well, and ones that I'm not sure I ever saw. Then again, I'm relying on memories from about 25 years ago.<br />
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Either way, both are wonderfully creepy specials, and they're something fun and scary that can be shared with the whole family. They still hold up remarkably well in the chills department, which says a lot about the content Disney was putting out back in the day. You may not have seen it in some time, but the very first clip in <b>Halloween Treat</b> features Madame Mim from A Sword in the Stone, and that scene is solidly creepy for an animated Arthurian fantasy. A lot of animated features from the 80's were delightfully dark in their own ways.<br />
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During October I'm going back over several more Halloween themed specials and shows from the 80's and 90's, so if you hail from those decades as well be sure to subscribe or follow me on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/libofthedead/">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/rachelsstorm">Twitter</a> for more holiday fun!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-46504695093745026742017-09-27T12:00:00.000-05:002017-09-27T12:30:00.917-05:00Extra Life Update: Stretch Goals!I’m super excited to say that thanks to your amazing generosity, we’ve already hit my initial $200 goal for Extra Life! That means: STRETCH GOALS! All of which help the Extra Life Chicago guild reach our team goals for Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.<br />
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For $300, during my stream you get a Spooky Storytime where I read from/demonstrate one of my three scary pop-up books (see photo below). Make it $400, I will play at least 3 rounds of Dead By Daylight as a killer, while wearing my Jason hockey mask in order to channel my inner slasher.<br /><br />
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We still have over a month to raise money for the kids being treated at Lurie, and you can visit my fundraising page here: <a href="https://www.extra-life.org/participant/268932">https://www.extra-life.org/participant/268932</a> and you can read more details about donating, as well as what I'll be doing during my stream in <a href="https://libofthedead.blogspot.com/2017/09/extra-life-2017.html">this blog post</a>.<br />
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Thanks to everyone who has donated so far, you're fantastic and I hope I get to do some ridiculous things on November 4th!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-62092248253144053192017-09-25T11:00:00.000-05:002018-01-12T13:41:17.460-06:00Comics Review: Monstress Volume 1 & 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FNX9XLrgbX8/Wb7tPFZBtNI/AAAAAAAAM4M/WZD_d3kMs3MrHZ5bsooekBTAnpGd6EIZQCLcBGAs/s1600/Monstress_Vol1-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="585" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FNX9XLrgbX8/Wb7tPFZBtNI/AAAAAAAAM4M/WZD_d3kMs3MrHZ5bsooekBTAnpGd6EIZQCLcBGAs/s320/Monstress_Vol1-1.png" width="208" /></a></div>
Monstress is a dark fantasy story written by Marjorie Liu (<i>Astonishing X-Men, Dark Wolverine</i>) set in an alternate version of 1900's Asia where gods, magic and monsters all dwell among humans and part-animal half-breeds. Our protaganist Maika Halfwolf is one of those half-breeds, known as Arcanics. She has survived a major war, and in the beginning of volume 1, she has purposely allowed herself to be sold off at a slave auction in order to learn more about her mother's life and death.<br />
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Volume 2 reveals much more about Maiko's backstory, her mother's history, and the mythology of this world in general. In every issue they peel back one more layer and it gets more and more fascinating as you go. I won't reveal too many details, because the best part of this series is discovering these links and layers for yourself firsthand. But I will say that one of the highlights of the story is the same theme the title so clearly advertises. Is Maiko, herself, a monster? How will this struggle change her? What does that mean for her relationships with others? How will her mother's secrets change how she views herself?<br />
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Monstress is the most gorgeous comic I've read all year, thanks to the brilliant artwork by Sana Takeda (<i>X-23, Ms. Marvel</i>). There is a clear anime influence to its style, particularly the way the characters are drawn. But in the clothing, interiors and buildings there is a solid Western influence. It's very Art Deco, and it works beautifully. The art also lays full claim to both the horror and fantasy genres; there are many intense, dark scenes to convey the hungry monster inside Maiko that threatens to take control. But you also get a sense of how big and complex this alternate world is through the intricate scene details, and the expert work on the half-human half-animal characters.<br />
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For all these reasons, <i>Monstress</i> has become my new go-to recommendation for both horror and fantasy fans. It has a rich mythology, as well as engaging themes of otherness and fear that are well explored through the horror of slavery and invasion.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-35392809987282290962017-09-18T10:30:00.000-05:002017-10-05T12:12:01.915-05:00Extra Life 2017<b>UPDATE:</b> Thanks to your generous donations, I hit my initial goal of $200! I've created stretch goals that will help my team, the Extra Life Chicago guild, reach our team goals. Plus you get to make me do ridiculous things on my stream. See below for more details about how your donations make an impact, and what games we can play together on game day.<br />
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I'm participating in Extra Life this year! The tl;dr version is:<br />
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<li>Extra Life unites gamers to raise money that helps sick kids</li>
<li>Tax-deductible donations made through me will benefit Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago</li>
<li><a href="https://www.extra-life.org/participant/268932">You can donate here</a></li>
<li>I’ll be streaming my November 4th gaming marathon on Twitch at <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/rachelxstorm">https://www.twitch.tv/rachelxstorm</a></li>
<li>There will be solo games, games we can play together, book talks and recommendations</li>
<li>Donate $15 and up and <a href="mailto:libofthedead@gmail.com">email</a> me some info and I’ll give you personalized reading suggestions</li>
<li>Donate $35 and up and you can pick a game I play during my marathon</li>
<li>Follow me on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/libofthedead/">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/rachelsstorm">Twitter</a> for updates and details</li>
<li>See details below, and help spread the word!<br /><br /></li>
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For a few years now, I’ve wanted to participate in Extra Life, and I’ve decided 2017 is go time. If you’re not familiar, Extra Life benefits Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals by uniting gamers around the world to play games while raising money to help save sick children at the hospital of their choice. Every year they host a 24 hour fundraising and gaming marathon, and this year it falls on Saturday, November 4th.<br />
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I’ll be playing for Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, so your tax-deductible donations (<a href="https://www.extra-life.org/participant/268932">which can be submitted here</a>) will be helping local Chicagoland kids and families who really need it. Lurie is ranked as the top children’s hospital in Illinois, and the money raised through Extra Life will help support critical treatments, healthcare services, pediatric medical equipment and charitable care -- basically it will help them keep doing the amazing job they’ve been doing for Chicagoland families for 130+ years.<br />
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I never take on a charitable cause without having a personal reason -- and no, it’s not to have an excuse to play games for 24 hours. I could do that on my own for no reason at all. The gist is that for me, Extra Life is an opportunity to help local families and sick children by supporting Lurie’s efforts. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to have a sick child, but I absolutely know how expensive serious medical care can be and what a burden it is on top of the medical issue itself. If I can raise enough money to help even one family out a little bit, then it’s worth it.<br />
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So if you’re able to donate any amount of money to help the hospital, to help local families and their children, it would mean a lot. If you can’t, I know all too well how it is to be broke and unable to donate to a cause. You can still help by spreading the word wherever you can-- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, your blog, anything and everything helps.<br />
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I’m planning to stream my marathon on Twitch, and if you’re free November 4th you can even play games with me. I will be playing and streaming on my Xbox One -- if you play Xbox too, my gamertag is Rachel Storm. If you want to be sure to play together on November 4th, add me, send me a message, and make sure you’re following me on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/libofthedead">Facebook</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/rachelsstorm">Twitter</a> for updates on what I’m playing when.<br />
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Even if you don’t play Xbox, you can still play along! Saturday evening I’ll be playing a trivia game called Trivia Murder Party from Jackbox Party Pack 3, and anyone can play along on their computer, tablet or mobile phone by going to jackbox.tv and entering a room code that I’ll release on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/rachelxstorm">my Twitch channel</a> as well as on <a href="https://twitter.com/rachelsstorm">Twitter</a>.<br />
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In between the games I stream, I’ll be doing book talks. They will all be relatively new, and I’ll try to cover a variety of genres and formats: thrillers, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, YA, comics, and non-fiction. I’m a librarian, I’m going to play to my strengths.<br />
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I will also send personalized book recommendations for anyone who donates $15 or more and <a href="mailto:libofthedead@gmail.com">emails me</a> the last book they read that they loved and why, and how they want the next book they read to make them feel. Happy? Awed? Creeped out? Surprised? Inspired? Amused? Sad? Get creative.<br />
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Anyone who donates $35 or more will have an opportunity to pick a game for me to play. It can be any game I can play on Xbox One that I either already have or can borrow from a library. You can <a href="http://libofthedead.blogspot.com/p/games-i-own.html">click here to see a list of games I own</a> and click <a href="https://goo.gl/ZDZeTm">here</a> and <a href="https://goo.gl/c7BWdP">here</a> to see games that I can borrow from a library. If you’re not sure about the game, feel free to email or message me before you donate and I’ll check for you. Pick something ridiculous, pick something scary, pick something hard that I’ll suck at, or pick something we can play together. But pick it by October 28th so I can get it in time.<br />
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So far, these are the games I am definitely playing that day:<br />
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Dragon Age Inquisition Multiplayer<br />
Dead By Daylight<br />
Trivial Pursuit<br />
Rocket League<br />
Minecraft<br />
Layers of Fear<br />
Trivia Murder Party<br />
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This could change as we get closer to the date, and I’ll eventually post a schedule on my Extra Life profile as well as here on my blog, so keep an eye out for that if there’s a game you’d really like to watch or play with me.<br />
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Phew! If you made it this far, thank you! Now let’s get going and help improve these kids’ lives!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-40633395109087235622017-09-07T11:00:00.000-05:002017-09-07T11:00:05.441-05:00Invasion of the Podcasts: Monsters, Stories, Stories about Monsters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Lately I've been thinking a lot about monsters and stories, and if I have my way I'll have a new blog post soon to show you why. I thought it would be a one shot, but it's turning into a series now. I'm not really sure where it's going yet, but if you like reading things about monsters in stories, especially ones that take place in something called a Dragon Age, then we can pass the time until the next game together.<br />
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Until then, let's talk podcasts again. They're (mostly) relevant to what's been on my mind, and very recommended.<br />
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<a href="https://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/">No Sleep Podcast</a> - If you love short spooky stories, this is the podcast for you. It has a really great eerie atmosphere, well-written stories, and talented voice actors.<br />
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<a href="http://ohnopodcast.com/">Oh No Ross and Carrie</a> - Ross and Carrie explore fringe science, religion and the paranormal in each episode, and right now they're near the end of their journey through a UFO conference called "Contact in the Desert." The first episode of the series was so funny and interesting that before I knew it, I had downloaded part 2. They're great storytellers, and I have learned about SO MANY new conspiracy theories.<br />
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<a href="http://twentypercenttrue.blogspot.com/p/the-twenty-percent-true-podcast.html">The Twenty Percent True Podcast: Modern Monsters</a> - Carolyn has a great storytelling voice that will suck you into each episode's short story about a modern monster. Fans of fables and fantasy will really enjoy this.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-86801559116471320502017-08-24T12:00:00.000-05:002017-08-24T12:00:07.546-05:00Book Review: Gwendy's Button Box<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If you're a Stephen King fan but you don't quite have the time for his usual wonderful but lengthy novels, Gwendy's Button Box should satisfy your King craving. This horror-fantasy novella, written with Richard Chizmar (<i>A Long December</i>, <i>October Dreams</i>) clocks in under 200 pages.<br />
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We meet the titular character Gwendy in Castle Rock, Maine, in the summer of 1974. She is 12 years old and has committed herself to climbing the Suicide Stairs-- which zig-zag up a cliffside-- every day in order to lose weight before the school year begins. On this particular day she meets a strange, but not dangerous man in black named Richard Farris. <br /><br />Mr. Farris gifts Gwendy with a button box that has several buttons of different colors and two levers, one which dispenses a piece of chocolate, the other giving out a valuable silver dollar. He explains how powerful the box is, and what the buttons do, and insists that Gwendy must keep it safe. The rest of the novella follows Gwendy through young adulthood, as the box both blesses and curses the course of her life.<br />
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It ends up being both a dark fairy tale and a coming of age story. Gwendy begins to realize the weight of her responsibility early on, but it's only as she reaches full adulthood that she experiences the real price of the box. It's a classic "What if?" kind of story that will make you wonder what you would have done in Gwendy's shoes.<br />
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Overall I enjoyed the story and Gwendy herself, although there were moments where I felt like she lost a little bit of dimension to her character. Was that supposed to happen as an effect of the box? I'm not sure. But it's a fun experience, and will leave you wanting to know more about the box and where it came from.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-44141125882017782912017-08-21T10:00:00.000-05:002018-04-04T21:49:04.408-05:00Invasion of the Podcasts: Ghosts, Psycho and Murder<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks to some freelance work I’ve been doing, every week I get to learn about new podcasts and audio stories by reading through podcast recommendation newsletters. The irony in all of this is that I process information I see better than information I hear, so listening to podcasts takes real work for me.
But I also love stories and learning, so podcasts are wonderfully tempting and I will absolutely make the effort when I hear about one that’s right up my alley. Especially after I discovered my optimal podcast-listening task: washing dishes.
I love sharing the podcasts I learn about, so I’ve put together three podcasts I’ve discovered recently that horror or ghost story fans would enjoy. I hope for this to be a regular series here on Librarian of the Dead, and if so, I’d like to explore other genres, topics, themes, etc. But this is probably an appropriate way to get started.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://jimharold.com/category/jim-harolds-campfire/">Jim Harold’s Campfire: True Ghost Stories</a></span><br />
While ghost stories are a staple of this podcast series, Jim and his guests cover a wide range of supernatural and mysterious phenomena: UFO’s, cryptozoology, psychic abilities, and more. Guests are fans who submit their experiences, and Jim invites them to record and tell their story for his show. They are often fascinating tales, whether you’re a believer or not.</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://wondery.com/wondery/shows/insidepsycho/">Inside Psycho</a></span><br />
It took me a while, but I started watching Bates Motel recently so I’ve had Psycho on my mind quite a bit. If you want to further explore the inspiration behind the series, Inside Psycho is a great way to do so. The very first episode will start you off with the real life serial killer Ed Gein, who closely resembles the character of Norman Bates from the book Psycho, which inspired the Hitchcock movie (so many layers!)</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://stuff.libsyn.com/">Black Hands: A Family Mass Murder</a></span></div>
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In 1994, five members of a New Zealand family were murdered in their home. The only survivor, David Bain, discovered them when he returned home from delivering papers. It wasn’t clear who the real killer was: David, or his father, Robin. The podcast explores the case and evidence to try to find answers. And if you really want to creep yourself out, listen to the first episode of Black Hands right after the first episode of Inside Psycho. They’re very different in style, but going from the disturbed mind of a notorious serial killer to the scene of a mass murder has a chilling effect. </span><br />
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If you have any of your own podcast recommendations, I'd love to hear about them in the comments!</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-87772422943420877462017-08-14T12:00:00.000-05:002017-08-14T12:00:34.834-05:00Sick Day, Bloody Sick Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o-crrn942bo/WY4L0guq1PI/AAAAAAAAMz0/drgnHldukgMZGfqeXoPqrRw9ogUAnu5pgCLcBGAs/s1600/081417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1100" height="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o-crrn942bo/WY4L0guq1PI/AAAAAAAAMz0/drgnHldukgMZGfqeXoPqrRw9ogUAnu5pgCLcBGAs/s400/081417.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week I had the pleasure of my second summer cold of the season, and while lying around coughing uncontrollably I thought about good sick day movies. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-a4a223ca-d2c8-e19c-f2d8-aefa717f4f54" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For me, a good sick day film has to be relatively low on gore and surrealism. Even mild fevers mess with my head, I don’t need the film to add to it. So I tend towards older films that are creepy or fun in a spooky way. Even better if it’s something I’ve seen a billion times, so I won’t miss out if I drift in and out while sitting on what I have dubbed the Couch of Doom, due to its seemingly mystical ability to cause sleepiness even when one is perfectly healthy and alert. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So as my immune system waged a war so forceful that I hoped my respiratory system would remain in tact, I came up with three solid pre-1970’s films starring horror icons to help me pass the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s a guy to do when the woman he wants is engaged to another man? Why, take away her willpower and make her a zombie love slave, of course! The would-be lover Beaumont turns to witch doctor Legendre (played by Legosi), who uses his zombies to… run a mill? Sure, why not. The film is actually refreshing as a zombie movie. After the modern onslaught of undead created by biological means-- which I love, don’t get me wrong-- I appreciate something supernatural. Let’s bring back a voodoo-zombie based manufacturing economy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s not a real party until you have 5 strangers competing for $10,000 in a spooky old mansion rented out by a married couple who despise and try to kill each other. Honestly, you could pick any Vincent Price film at random and they would all be perfect sick day films. But I find House on Haunted Hill particularly fun. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Horror Hotel (1960)</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>starring Christopher Lee</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Young college student Venetia decides to use her winter break to research witchcraft in New England. Been there, girl! Her professor, played by Christopher Lee, suggests she visit a village called Whitewood and stay at the Raven’s Inn. Just don’t mind that coven of undead witches seeking young flesh for their master. You might even experience some deja vu from Lee’s line “Fear, superstition, and jealousy” since it was sampled in Rob Zombie’s “Dragula.” </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-53411595192017229342017-03-10T09:00:00.000-06:002017-08-11T14:32:12.642-05:00Welcome to the Hellmouth: The 20th Anniversary of Buffy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Exactly 20 years ago, I was 14 years old and halfway through my freshman year of high school. It wasn’t a great time for me. Junior high had been pretty terrible, and I didn’t recognize at the time that much of it had to do with my first severe bout of depression. I also had a lot of social anxiety and difficulty figuring out how to behave around others, which came off to others as being overly sensitive, shy, awkward, cold, and sometimes, a jerk. That isn’t to say I didn’t have friends, but I felt very lonely most of the time. My home life was filled with a lot of movies, music, video games, and of course, television. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ever since I was young I had been fascinated by all things dark and scary. The fact that this blog exists is a testament to that. I loved scary books, ghost stories, the supernatural, magic, folklore, monsters, horror films-- anything that plumbed the strange and unknown depths. But I didn’t talk about these things with most people, because I felt so weird. I assumed no one else I knew would understand, or maybe, even be just like me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">On March 10, 1997 something significant happened. I saw the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I found one of the most important homes I would find during my life. It was intelligent, well-written, funny, scary, and embraced the weird. The main character was a girl struggling to have a normal life, when she was anything but normal. Her friends were nerds. Her mentor was a librarian. To say this had an impact on me would be an understatement. It was a meteor crashing into my world.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve written about how important Buffy is to me</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> <a href="http://libofthedead.blogspot.com/2013/05/10th-anniversary-of-buffy-tvss-chosen.html">before</a>, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">but given this big anniversary I will risk being a little redundant. It’s worth repeating. It’s worth saying again.</span></span>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Thank you everyone that was involved in that show. You gave me somewhere to belong when I needed it the most, helped me learn more about myself than almost anything else in my life, and planted seeds within me that have made me who I am today. It's silly and amazing and crazy, but it means more than you'll ever know."</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you for saving the world a lot. Mine especially.</span></span></span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-60347377015512747862016-10-24T14:23:00.000-05:002016-10-24T14:36:09.760-05:00Haunting Reads<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Earlier this year I had a rare opportunity to make some horror recommendations for a library user who likes creepy mysteries, horror, and ghost stories. What luck! I exploded with ideas. Since we're getting close to Halloween, I thought this would be the perfect time to pull out my choices for anyone looking for a last-minute haunting read.<br />
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I’ve broken down my selections into classics, newer releases, and graphic novels, depending on what type of reading experience you’re looking for.<br />
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CLASSICS</span></h3>
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Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson</i></h4>
These days a story about a group of people investigating a haunted house has become a well-worn trope, but this book helped define 20th century supernatural horror. This is The Book you want to read if you like psychological horror, mysteries, and intricate character development. The 1963 film The Haunting is based on this book, and is amazing in its own right. But Jackson’s original story is so eerie and surreal that it will take up permanent residence in a shadowy back corner of your mind.<br />
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<i>Hell House by Richard Matheson</i></h4>
While the premise of Hell House is very much the same as Jackson’s novel, it remains distinct in my mind. It deals with much nastier horrific elements than “Haunting” does, so it has more violence and examples of sexual perversion that have essentially infected the titular house. It has a slow build with a flurry of intense activity, and has much more about parapsychology and spiritualism if you enjoy those topics. Hill House takes its time swaying visitors into staying forever, but Hell House wants to corrupt and destroy those who disturb its rest. This too has been adapted to film as “The Legend of Hell House.”<br />
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<i>The Shining by Stephen King</i></h4>
Of my three classics, I think “The Shining” is probably the best known film adaptation of a book. But you may not know that Kubrick’s 1980 film is not exactly what Stephen King had in mind (to put it lightly) which is why he wrote his own TV mini-series adaptation in 1997. In this story, Jack Torrance takes a job as a caretaker for the Overlook Hotel, dooming his wife and son to an entire winter season stuck inside the haunted locale. His son, Danny, has strong psychic abilities, which wakes up the Overlook and begins to drive Jack to madness. King’s version of a haunted house story is not just about the ghosts, however. It’s a book about family, addiction, violence, isolation, and connection. If you love it, you can even read its recent sequel, “Doctor Sleep.”<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">RECENT RELEASES</span></h3>
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<i>House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski</i></h4>
House of Leaves is not that recent, but it’s such a different book from my other classics, it needed to be with other 21st century literature. If you want to know what it must be like to be worked on by a house (or a story, or a book) that has a mind of its own, this is the book for you. If you like puzzles, this is one you will never solve, but can’t resist trying. If you give in to it, you will fall farther down the rabbit hole than you ever have before. I recommend taking this in small chunks, and scheduling some time outside in the sunlight and fresh air to reconnect with reality in between reading sessions.<br />
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<i>Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill</i></h4>
Deciding to be a writer when you’re Stephen King’s son has to be a tough gig, but Joe Hill is an excellent author in his own right. He has his own unique, modern twist on horror storytelling, and has even been extremely successful writing graphic novels (which I’ll get into below). This was his debut novel, about an aging, reclusive rock star that buys macabre objects. He lives to regret purchasing an actual ghost, attached to a suit contained in a heart shaped box, when the ghost takes control of him to exact revenge for past sins.<br />
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<i><br />Supernatural Enhancements by Edgar Cantero</i></h4>
If you’re a fan of haunted house stories like I am, this is my top recommendation for a modern version. It clearly relies on a classic structure, but brings its own unique twists to the table, including a protagonist that remains a bit of a mystery himself. We know he’s European, and has inherited a house in America from a cousin he never knew about, but seems curiously linked to. He and his mute friend explore the house, and try to uncover its secrets. It uses devices like journal entries, letters, and ciphers to add to the story, and young, modern characters to bring old school ghost stories and mysteries into the 21st century while still paying homage to the classics with an eerie atmosphere and unexpected twists.<br />
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<i>The Damned by Andrew Pyper</i></h4>
The other books I’ve mentioned so far are about haunted locations, or haunted things. The Damned is about a haunted man named Danny, who had a near-death experience as a teenager. The fire that he survived claimed the life of his twin sister, and she has been haunting him ever since. When she was alive, she tortured and manipulated everyone around her. Death hasn’t changed that, and she does everything she can to punish Danny for being alive. I honestly think this is something fans of The Shining/Doctor Sleep would enjoy. It’s a great mix of horror and mystery, because learning about the secrets in Danny and his sister’s past reveals truths about what happened to her and how Danny might be able to free himself. Pyper writes very relatable and interesting characters, and is good at keeping a steady, but intense pace.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000;">GRAPHIC NOVELS</span></h3>
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<i>Harrow County by Cullen Bunn </i></h4>
If a horror story and a fairy tale had a baby out in the rural South, they’d probably read Harrow County to it at bedtime. The woods around a small rural town crawl with ghosts and monsters, and the main character is going to learn how she’s connected to them, and to a witch that the town burned before she was born. It’s perfectly creepy and authentic, and the little bit of mystery keeps you flying from panel to panel to find out more.<br />
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<i>Through the Woods by Emily Carroll</i></h4>
When I was a kid, a lot of the horror I read was in the form of short stories collected together. Through the Woods is a strong reminder of those kinds of books, in that it’s five different stories-within-a-story that are all about the deep dark dangerous woods. If you love ghost stories and want something as spooky and chilling as the ones you used to read when you were young, this is a must-read.<br />
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<i>Locke & Key by Joe Hill</i></h4>
While I already gave Joe Hill a nod for his prose in the prior section, it would be outrageous to talk about great, scary, mystery-laden graphic novels without talking about Locke & Key. In the series, a father is violently killed, and in the aftermath of this tragedy his wife and three children move into Keyhouse, the father’s old family home. But Keyhouse has secrets, magical doors, and a dark entity inhabiting the well, which all play into the fate of the Locke family. It’s a story about grief, how the mysteries of the past come back to hurt us, and the importance of family. The art is unique and intricate, you can truly get lost in some of the larger spreads. But it’s also a very dark and sometimes violent story, so it is a true mix of horror with fantasy.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-12762374367208845772014-09-16T13:42:00.000-05:002016-10-24T15:34:54.410-05:00My Summer Getting Adults to Read Comics in the Library<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last year when I heard about the <a href="http://www.ala.org/gamert/will-eisner-graphic-novel-grants-libraries" target="_blank">Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grant for Libraries</a>, I decided I wanted to apply and try to do something more with my library's graphic novel collection. The trouble was, I didn't have any pet projects in the pipeline, no great idea that was only waiting for funding.<br />
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The truth is, the community I work in doesn't have a strong natural comics readership. Our graphic novels go out enough to warrant having them, but they don't fly off the shelves. I knew I wanted to give the collection a signal boost, not only to give it more press, but because I believe in the literary value of the format and I hate when it gets the shaft. As both a highly visual and linguistic adult, I consider both types of literacy to be precious, especially at a time when we are relying so much on digital interfaces to accomplish tasks.<br />
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Luckily there's an embarrassment of riches in the world of adult comics. That's something I wanted to share with the people in my community, both for their own edification and awareness, and to help connect them with other family members or friends who might be comics fans. And maybe, just maybe, I might convert a few of them into fans themselves.<br />
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So after generating some ideas with our teen librarian, we settled on a graphic novel themed summer reading program. For adults. Adults who likely have never even thought about picking up a comic before.<br />
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It's a little bit easier to sell a graphic novel summer reading program for kids or teens. The format is popular with those age groups, and parents might at least consider it an acceptable way to get kids who don't like reading prose involved in summer reading. The ol' "At least he/she is reading" rationale. Not so with adults. Most of our summer readers would be reading anyway, but our program engages them with a theme, they read new things, and they earn chances to win prizes.<br />
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The "reading new things" part was our way in. In our summer reading program, one of the most consistent pieces of feedback we get every single year is how much the participants like reading things they wouldn't have picked up if we hadn't recommended it. Our requirements for our program are pretty loose. We have book logs with space for six items, and only one has to go along with our theme. The rest can be anything they want, and they get raffle tickets for each item, plus bonus tickets and a completion prize if they fill the book log. In order to help our users choose that one theme book we make bookmarks listing recommended titles. The lists are pretty popular, even among readers who aren't participating in the program.<br />
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We decided that in addition to our usual summer reading plans, we would think of additional events that would help support the theme. The grant allowed a portion to be used for an event, and it made sense to invite graphic novel creators or even a comic art expert to speak at the library to help promote the value of the medium, and connect readers with writers and artists. We also planned to include movie screenings of films that were based on graphic novels. Much of the grant money would help bolster the adult portion of our graphic novel collection, which was unfortunately still missing a good deal of wonderful books and series that are considered essential.<br />
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I was really proud of what my co-worker and I had come up with. Maybe it wasn't the most innovative project, but we knew it could work for our community. Our users' open-mindedness during summer reading was an opportunity to try something different, and broaden their reading horizons more than ever before with a new type of reading experience.<br />
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Then... we didn't get the grant. Damn.<br />
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Luckily, my co-workers still wanted to go with my plan even without the grant. We couldn't book more expensive programs, and we'd have to update our collection out of our own budget, but it was do-able.<br />
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So we got to work on designing book logs, making bookmarks, buying more books and getting them processed, and booking speakers. <a href="http://jodihooverart.com/" target="_blank">My sister</a> did an amazing job creating <a href="http://jodihooverart.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-fords.html" target="_blank">illustrated versions of our library founders</a>, Thomas and Edith Ford, that we used not only on the cover of our book logs, but on our print and online promotional material, and on the tote bags we chose as book log completion prizes. My co-workers gave Thomas and Edith funny dialogue promoting the value of comics (and affirming that ol' Edith is a Batman fan, I knew I liked her for a reason).<br />
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Despite the Batman reference, we knew who our audience was and that we wouldn't get buy-in by suggesting they read superhero comics. Our users were much more interested in literary fiction, mystery, drama, memoirs, current events, and other non-fiction. This was another key part of making the summer reading program a success, knowing our audience and catering to their tastes.<br />
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After all of that planning, the only thing left was to let it fly and brace myself for whatever the reaction would be. Not that I thought people would be coming after me with torches and pitchforks. But I wanted it to be successful so badly that I knew if I got a lot of negative feedback, the summer would be miserable and I'd feel like I had failed. So I had to be realistic and set my definition of success at a reasonable level. I decided that I'd consider the whole project worth it if I got just one person to say, "I never read a graphic novel before this, and I liked it."<br />
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I know, it feels very "Lowered Expectations" to me too. But in a small library where most participants just go with the flow without much comment one way or another, knowing that one more person opened their mind to comics, would be trying out more graphic novels in our collection and watching for new ones-- that would make it worth it. That would balance out any negativity.<br />
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Now, post-summer reading, I can say that I saw even more of a success than I expected. It wasn't overwhelming, and I have not converted our entire summer reading group into comics fans. But I talked to several people who said, "I'd never read graphic novels before, I didn't even know there were comics for adults, and I really enjoyed it." I had conversations with people about how much more the images can bring to a story. I saw book logs where readers have gone beyond reading their one required graphic novel. I watched families bond over some of the comics we've put on display. I received wonderful reviews of graphic novels from members.<br />
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On the other hand, we also received some criticism. Not everyone liked the first book they chose, which is a shame, but inevitable. A couple of community members did not consider graphic novels to be acceptable literature for our reading program or the library. There were other participants who were neither here nor there about the choice, they tried it but probably won't pick a comic up again anytime soon. I'm okay with that. I know comics are not for everyone, just like romance and horror and science fiction and audiobooks are not for everyone. And I accept that a few people consider graphic novels lower literature. If they didn't, I wouldn't feel driven to promote them and increase awareness about their literary value.<br />
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But we did receive positive comments, and our programs went well. We had writer and artist <a href="http://www.lucyknisley.com/" target="_blank">Lucy Knisley</a> talk about her book "<a href="http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781596436237" target="_blank">Relish: My Life in the Kitchen</a>," which was a recent Alex Award Winner. We didn't pack the room, but we got a normal sized attendance with a lot of engaged and curious people. Lucy was a fantastic speaker, and everyone loved it. We also had <a href="http://jessicacampbellpainting.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">Jessica Campbell</a>, formerly of Drawn & Quarterly and currently at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago speak about the art of comics, how the art and words work together, and the relation between comics, poetry and design. Our attendance for this lecture was much smaller, but it was still a great presentation that I'd recommend to anyone. The movies were not a big hit, but I don't know if it was the movies we showed, or the dates/times, or both. It's a programming mystery for another day.<br />
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Overall, I'm proud and happy that our experiment went well. There were a few critics, but I got good feedback from most of the people I talked to, and I feel great about improving our graphic novel collection and making some new speaker and comic book shop contacts that I can hopefully use again in the future.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-46268285358645211192014-07-09T10:00:00.000-05:002014-07-09T10:00:00.112-05:00Summer of Fear: Safe as Houses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I consider myself lucky that when I wake up in the morning, I almost always remember at least one dream I had the night before. <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-some-people-can-always-remember-their-dreams-others-never-can-180949803/" target="_blank">Not everyone does</a>, and I find many of them full of insight that help me understand myself better. Sometimes they even help inspire me to a song or story. I can even still recall highlights of dreams I had when I was a child, although many fade from memory after a few hours.<br />
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There was one particular dream I had a few years ago that I found helpful in another way.<br />
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I don't recall anything else in the dream besides the fact that the sliding door that led to my balcony had been left unsecured. In our apartment buildings, they have both a lock and a bar that would keep even an unlocked door from being opened. I had left the door unlocked, and the bar out of place, and I know it led to some unwelcome consequence. I can't say that someone or something definitely got into my apartment, because I don't remember that detail, but I can only assume that was the result. I didn't consider it remarkable, and had almost totally let it fade by the time I was leaving my apartment for work the next morning. But some piece of the dream nagged at me, so I stopped before walking out the front door and checked my balcony door. Sure enough, I had left it completely unsecured, just as I had in the dream.<br />
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Some part of my mind had obviously realized what I had done, even though I didn't know it consciously. The dream reflected that unconscious concern, and it was enough to make me pause in real life. I don't believe that anything bad would have necessarily happened just because I dreamed it did- but it was definitely a fear being expressed, in a more constructive way than usual.<br />
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I've had a lot of nightmares about people breaking into my home. I'm not unusually paranoid about it, but the thought does seriously frighten me, and I end up on high alert rather easily. Sometimes all it takes is a strange noise outside a door or window, and where I live, if the exit is facing the outdoors it's very likely it's a squirrel (and it has been, most of the time.) But I once had a pulse-pounding experience when I still lived with my parents.<br />
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I was home alone at the time, and we had an alarm system that the last person leaving the house had set that day, knowing I was there by myself. The alarm went off while I was puttering around the house, and I, of course, panicked. Now I should mention that we would occasionally get a false alarm, I believe from one of the windows. That's the only reason I can think of for explaining why I didn't just call the police. But I did call a friend to come over, grabbed the biggest knife in the kitchen, and had her come with me to check around the outside of the house for... I don't know what. If someone had tried to get in and heard the alarm, surely they wouldn't have stuck around "just in case" I didn't call the police. I also did not think about how it might look to the neighbors, to see me creeping around the house with a giant kitchen knife in my hands. But for some reason, I thought it was a perfectly reasonable course of action. Behavior made out of fear is not always very reasonable, of course.<br />
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But this is one reason why films like "Black Christmas" scare me so much. The whole "he's calling from inside the house!" is terrifying to me. That someone would invade the one place you should be safe. The outside world intruding with intent to do harm. Anyone would be shaken by a robbery, worse than shaken if the intruder intended to do something more horrible. For me this fear is not technically specific to what the intruder does once inside- not that I like the idea of being murdered, for example- it's of the primary violation of home and safety.<br />
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It's an instinctual assumption I think, which must be why so much horror does play on the idea of home not being as safe as you would like it to be. Serial killers, hauntings, possessed family members, Indian burial grounds. It's all very spooky, but break-ins are a separate animal. They happen every day, they're entirely possible, even in the safest neighborhoods. How do we each deal with that? Well, as I said earlier, I consider myself lucky to remember my dreams. I guess that's how I deal with it, and sometimes that's the only way to process and convert the negative energy of that fear.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-28305997149198082212014-07-02T11:30:00.000-05:002014-07-02T11:30:00.659-05:00Summer of Fear: Kiss or Wave Goodbye<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've written about some very typical and sometimes ridiculous fears so far in this series, so the tone of this entry will be a shift. But I never intended <i>Summer of Fear</i> to be all fun and spider stories.<br />
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Something about me that often goes unspoken, but likely not unnoticed by my friends, is how badly I take it when people I care about move away. I would go so far as to say I am sometimes traumatized by it, depending on who it is. I lash out in weird ways. It's very strange, but it's a sort of fear of abandonment that grips me when I hear news of a move. "They're leaving me! I'll be alone!"<br />
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As far as I can remember, I wasn't abandoned or lost as a child. My parents kept an extremely close eye on my sister and I, and we were both such shy children that we wouldn't have wandered far from them in public anyway. I'm accustomed to being alone as an adult, and while I cherish and absolutely need physical social interaction with friends, I'm also fairly self-reliant and independent, and appreciate time alone. So why is this such a big deal?<br />
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I've only been able to trace this fear back to my early school experiences. It's true, there were several times, especially early in grade school, when friends of mine ended up moving away, never to be seen again. Some I was very attached to. Maybe that in combination with other negative social experiences made me feel left behind, alone to face every confusing and painful interaction that marked off my school years. It's the best explanation I have, although I don't understand the magnitude of it without a significantly traumatic beginning.<br />
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As an adult, this deep-seated, knee-jerk reaction has to be reconciled with rationality, an objective and realistic understanding of people's needs, and an appreciation for new adventures in life. It doesn't reflect anything about me, and with so many technological tools at hand it definitely doesn't mean the end of a friendship. So what's the problem?<br />
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I don't have a good way to wrap this post up, because I don't have this fear figured out. All I know is that it's deep and cutting and occasionally leaves me with an incredible urge to pick up and run away from everyone first. My only tactic has been my old go-to for anything I don't know how to deal with: Suffer quietly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-40046754315108980402014-06-24T10:00:00.000-05:002014-06-24T10:00:07.455-05:00Summer of Fear: Spider crab, Spider crab<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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THIS IS A REAL LIVING THING. Spider crabs are the physical embodiment of every nightmare in the history of the world. It is a real live monster. When I see it sitting there, up against the glass at the aquarium, I can sense it fantasizing about eating my head. And I'll bet it would make that fake hissy movie spider noise when it attacks, too. WHAT KIND OF WORLD WOULD ALLOW SUCH A THING TO EXIST.<br />
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Worst. Creature. Ever.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-50807786705797364802014-06-20T10:00:00.000-05:002014-06-20T10:00:05.043-05:00Summer of Fear: Chucky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One thing I love about the long history of horror films is how each decade his its own unique type of horror film that's a product of new generations of filmmakers, new technology, culture, politics, media, and so on. They each have something special to offer. The 50's were a fantastic time for creature features, the 60's for psychological, suspenseful scares, the 70's got a lot bloodier and gruesome, really running with the serial killer trend. Then there were the 80's.<br />
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Boy, I don't know what happened, but things got kind of weird. I think it's the source of the campiest horror I've ever seen, and some of the most surreal plots. That's the decade of excess for you. It sounds disparaging, but that isn't my intention. The 80's had its clunkers-- every decade does, and even those have their place. But even something campy, weird, or surreal can be amazing. Think about the plots of movies like Evil Dead, Hellraiser, Nightmare on Elm Street. That's some weird shit, but they're incredible films.<br />
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What's really cool about these running themes throughout specific time periods, is not just how society made them, but how they made society. Specifically, how they terrorize a generation of kids, giving birth to new horror fans, writers, directors, and artists.<br />
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I think most horror fans around my age and older distinctly remember the first horror film (or films) they saw that scared the snot out of them, usually at an age that conventional wisdom says is too young. I'm not entirely sure whether this trend has continued through the younger millennials and beyond, though. Either they're being protected way more than we were, or the movies aren't as scary, or they're super-human robots who fear nothing. I could be very wrong, I have no evidence, only feels and intuition based on the web.<br />
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Thankfully, I was born in the 80's, and my dad did not see anything wrong with letting his young daughter watch the sci-fi and horror movies he was watching. I'm also pretty sure I'm not a robot. Like 80% sure.<br />
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The film that affected me the most was Nightmare on Elm Street. It forever takes the prize, because I had a real life terror of bathtub and shower drains for an embarrassing number of years. I was convinced that was where Freddy's hand was emerging from in Nancy's bathtub scene. I also found the Crypt-Keeper scary as hell, and had nightmares about Tales from the Crypt being on TV, and not being able to turn it off. Third on my list of childhood fears based on horror is Chucky, from Child's Play.<br />
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I had nightmares about Chucky too, usually chasing after me. It never metastasized into a greater fear of all dolls, but some of the creepier ones do make me a little nervous. Especially the ones that talk and move. Even more especially a doll that I owned.<br />
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It was one of those dolls that you could press a button to make it talk, or move, or you could press a fake bottle into its mouth to feed it. If you're an 80's kid too, you probably know the type I mean. Unfortunately one family holiday, my cousins got a hold of it and messed around with it so much, its hair got permanently weird, and very much like Chucky's. It didn't help that they started calling her "Chucky's girlfriend." She inevitably became a new special guest in my nightmares, and I'm pretty sure I stopped playing with her for that reason.<br />
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Fast forward a few years, and my parents' friends are over with their kids, who are around me and my sister's ages. We're playing ping-pong in the basement, like we usually did on nights like these. My friends find this horrid doll, and we goof off with it the rest of the night. It doesn't work at all anymore, but is still fairly creepy just to look at. Later, as they're leaving, I'm sitting at my kitchen table with the doll in front of me. I'm not even touching it. Out of nowhere, it starts talking. Probably said "Mama" or "Feed me" or something. I learned that day that my knee-jerk reaction to a situation like that is to throw the offending object across the room in terror.<br />
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And I think the best lesson we can all take away from this, especially parents, is that you absolutely should let your children watch scary things when they're young. It doesn't make them crazy, bad people. It makes them rightfully wary of possessed dolls and shower drains. You'll buy less toys, and they'll take shorter baths and showers. WIN WIN.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-73611402354427722692014-06-16T10:00:00.000-05:002014-06-16T12:18:31.447-05:00Summer of Fear: Heights (...and Falling From Them)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Earlier this month I went on a little mini-vacation for a weekend-long, outdoors workshop for women. If this already sounds interesting to you, they have these "Becoming an Outdoors Woman" workshops <a href="http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr-ap/bow/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">all over the country</a>, and I absolutely loved mine. You spend a lot of time in a natural setting, you learn all sorts of new things from awesome instructors, and it's a great opportunity to meet new friends. True story, I met three other librarians without even trying. We sort of gravitate to each other that way, it's a beautiful thing.<br />
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In the classes I took I got to do a lot of cool things, like a ton of hiking, learning to identify trees and plants, chopping wood, learn self-defense, learn a lot about power tools, and even use a couple to make myself a little two compartment box. The one class that I was really out of my element on was Deer Hunting. Honestly, it was not one of my top choices for that day because I am not terribly interested in hunting. But I still thought it sounded like it could be a valuable and interesting class, and I was definitely introduced to a whole new world through it. The instructor was really passionate about what she does, and not in a "I just like killing deer!" sort of way. The biggest and most important thing I learned is how much hunters respect the animals they hunt, and how they consider hunting an important method of maintaining a local environment. Plus, she hunts with a bow and I am all about archery. </div>
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Our instructor talked a bunch about tree stands, which I was not familiar with at all. It's a platform attached to a tree a few feet or so above the ground, with a ladder to get up there. You harness yourself in to prevent falling, and set in for your hunt. She brought one to show us and give us the opportunity to climb up. While my weekend was very much about stretching my comfort zone and trying new things, this was the one time over the course of the workshop that I took a pass. The thought of climbing up that ladder and sitting on this small platform, even just a few feet up, made something inside me panic. </div>
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To be fair, I don't have a severe case of <a href="http://www.planet-science.com/categories/over-11s/human-body/2011/02/fear-of-heights.aspx" target="_blank">acrophobia</a> (fear of heights). I would call it mild. I ride rollercoasters, I've been in the St. Louis arch, I can get on a plane without totally losing it. But it does provoke a great deal of anxiety, and it takes time and work to psych myself up to the task. On the day of my Deer Hunting class, I was not at all in that place, and knew I would panic and possibly embarrass myself if I tried getting up in that tree stand. </div>
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This is one phobia that is thought to be an evolutionary advantage, which makes sense. It's helpful to be cautious of heights, and more specifically, falling from them. A bad enough fall could kill you. But a phobia can be more crippling than is beneficial. I can't pinpoint when I developed mine, I know I once fell off a bed when I was a baby, but I don't personally remember it and I can't say that the anxiety began right after that. It's a good candidate, and given that my mother is also pretty afraid of heights as well, I'm sure there was some learned fear in there. </div>
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Looking on the bright side, at least being afraid of heights means it's easy to give yourself a little thrill: just get on a ladder! As I mentioned before, I'll even get on a roller coaster to really give myself a jolt of "I'M ALIVE!" But I have my limits-- I can't do the rides that are a straight drop, and I don't think I will ever be mentally capable of sky diving. I hate to say "never" about anything, but my life may have to go by without the mental breakdown that would result from purposely jumping to the ground from thousands of feet in the air. In fact, just the thought of it... I think I'm going to go lie down on the floor for a little while. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-87600994374482971702014-06-13T10:00:00.000-05:002014-06-13T10:00:03.289-05:00Summer of Fear Not Scared! Edition: Triskaidekaphobia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When I was young, I once read a book all about superstition. The only topic from it that stuck with me was about why we say "Bless you" after someone sneezes. The author said it had come from a superstition that our souls could escape or could otherwise be vulnerable to evil forces. Looking back on this now, it appears the author was <a href="http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.asp" target="_blank">not necessarily right</a>. Good ol' Snopes.<br />
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Either way, it had a tremendous impact on me. Being a curious child who was taught to think critically about the information I received, I reacted appropriately. "That's ridiculous," I thought. "I don't believe that, so I'm going to stop saying 'Bless you.'" And I did-- from that day on, I never again uttered those words after a sneeze. Even if that isn't the real origin, I still see no reason to bless anybody because of a sneeze. I'm not religious, blessing things has no significance to me. And we don't feel compelled to bless anybody after they cough or vomit or anything. Why the sneeze? Sorry Snopes, but your explanation just isn't good enough to get me to start it up again. Doing something just because we've always done it is a poor reason to continue any irrational practice.<br />
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While this superstition is pervasive, it doesn't have an intense psychological effect on anyone, as far as I know. I've never had anyone sneeze, panic, grab me and scream "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BLESS ME OR WE'RE BOTH GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL."<br />
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There are others that can create serious phobias, with the most well-known being <a href="http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Triskaidekaphobia.html" target="_blank">triskaidekaphobia</a>.<br />
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Fear of the number 13 can supposedly be traced back to a couple different myths and religious stories (<a href="http://mentalfloss.com/article/23266/13-reasons-people-think-number-13-unlucky" target="_blank">this article</a> says Norse and Christian specifically). I'm not going to rehash them, but the Last Supper is a notorious offender in slander against 13. It honestly makes me wonder how people felt about it before all of these stories started bashing it.<br />
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Businesses often avoid 13 in anything they might have to number (floors, seats, rooms, etc.) and party hosts are wary of having 13 guests. People who have this legitimate phobia may go even further, avoiding any significant business or life decisions on the 13th of a month, avoiding the 13th step in a flight of stairs, or any home address that contains the number.<br />
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Now, I don't personally suffer from this phobia, but in thinking about this "Fear" series, I realized there were really interesting fears that I don't have, but are worth mentioning. A fear based on superstition may seem odd, but it makes a lot of sense to me. Some phobias are centered around very real things (spiders!) but are at their core, still irrational. I'd be the first arachnophobe to stand up and admit how silly it really is. I'm sure there are some theories about phobias developing for good reason, to keep humans from messing with dangerous creatures and situations. But in my life in this century in my part of the country, I have little reason to be afraid of a spider crawling on me. Mostly they run away, and even if they didn't, the worst most could do is a non-venomous bite.<br />
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Triskaidekaphobia is about a number, which is real, but is based in the idea that the number itself is "bad luck" or harmful. It's irrational, just like my spider thing. There's no logical reason to be afraid of it, yet people definitely are. I don't mean that as a judgement though, because your phobia is just as real and debilitating (with varying degrees) as mine is. We're both suffering from irrational fears about things that are not actually dangerous (usually). You get 13 people in an elevator built for 5, well, maybe that's just asking for trouble. Just like if I decided to start sleeping with a black widow in my bed. Bad ideas, but not a reason to always be afraid of every 13 or every spider-- especially if that fear starts significantly affecting your life.<br />
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In wrapping up, if you don't have triskaidekaphobia (or paraskavedekatriaphobia!) enjoy your <a href="http://www.npr.org/2009/03/13/101715052/whos-afraid-of-friday-the-13th" target="_blank">Friday the 13th</a> and spend it with someone special. If you do have the aforementioned phobias, stay safe and hunker down. It'll all be over soon.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-75843256484076183482014-06-10T10:00:00.000-05:002014-06-10T10:00:00.335-05:00Summer of Fear: Stage Fright<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One fear that I think almost every single human being has in common is that of stage fright. Even experienced performers and speakers regularly admit to feeling anxiety before they do whatever it is they do in front of an audience: sing, dance, speak, tell jokes... juggle man-eating poodles while riding a unicycle? Not sure about that last one.<br />
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Being usually human, I too suffer from this condition. I'm neither a novice who craves the anonymity of the audience, nor an experienced pro. I'm somewhere in the no-man's land between. I've danced a little, I've done music, I teach classes at the library I work at, and I've even experienced the enviable opportunity to be an zombie extra on a small local stage for a musical "Night of the Living Dead." (Thanks Ali!)<br />
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That said, I am terrified of performing, and I'm not terribly good at "performing" so much as curling up in an emotional ball and pretending I'm not there long enough to get through what I'm doing. Not that I'm bad at any of those tasks. I absolutely can dance, sing, speak and do the old shuffle-and-moan. And I want to do them, no matter what my brain might claim minutes before. Kind-of-a-secret: I like having an audience. I like people paying attention to me. But it is simultaneously frightening.<br />
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What's worse, even if you can wrangle your brain into submission, it's tougher to stop some of the <a href="http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety" target="_blank">physical effects</a> that it's already put into motion. For me, it's mainly trembling and a racing pulse/breath, which are a real problem when you're trying to sing and play guitar, let me tell you. Back in grade school, a teacher once confessed to me after a class presentation that she was very seriously worried that I was going to pass out. I did not, and luckily I got better at speaking in front of groups as I got older.<br />
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One of the things I learned about speaking specifically, is that I am much more comfortable when simply reading something that I did not create myself, or when I'm speaking about a topic that I know so well, I don't need notes to get through it. As soon as I start relying on slides or note cards, the presentation gets a little bumpy. Get me up in front of people to talk about zombies, and fuck the note cards, put some film stills from awesome movies in back of me and I'll be great. This might not apply to other people, some may find note cards comforting in a way, but I think the main trick is finding your best style.<br />
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As for everything else, I don't have any good tricks besides plowing through. <a href="http://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/stage-fright-performance-anxiety" target="_blank">WebMD</a> has some decent ones, especially physical habits to get into, but I really like some of the ideas put forth in this <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/finding-your-voice/201011/performance-anxiety" target="_blank">Psychology Today</a> article. I absolutely agree that stage fright isolates you, and makes the performance all about you, and how you'll be judged. But the best performers I've ever watched always share that focus with the people watching. And one of the key thoughts I keep in my mind when I'm worried about how a library class will go is that the people coming already decided they want to hear what I have to say, and think I have something valuable to contribute that will enrich their lives. They're coming to learn something, not to judge me.<br />
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With other type of performances, it's helpful to consider that the audience has come ready to have an entertaining experience. I don't think it's productive to get obsessed and anxious about whether you'll be entertaining enough or good enough either, because that shifts it back to worrying about you when you're only one piece of the equation. It is helpful to remember that most of the audience is open and ready to enjoy whatever you're doing. And the few that aren't are jerks anyway, so fuck 'em. Hell, depending on what type of performance you're doing, most of the people there are either more worried about performing themselves, or hitting on somebody (hello open mics at bars). It doesn't get the anxiety to go away completely, and I don't think anyone ever gets it to go away completely. But it stops that chain reaction of negative thoughts and gets you over the hurdle of getting started, which is the worst part.<br />
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Keep in mind, I am not qualified to give psychological advice. I have an undergraduate degree in psychology, I'm basically qualified to apply to grad school or get a job in another field. All I can tell you is my thoughts and experience, and you should absolutely think for yourself, no matter who you're looking to for ideas. If none of this jives with you, then my advice is to swallow your fear, do it anyway and enjoy the sweet, sweet adrenaline rush while you're alive enough to enjoy it. Even if you're terrible, you'll still make the person who has to follow you feel WAY better about their own performance, so you're still contributing something positive to the world!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-58037636342540606572014-06-06T07:39:00.000-05:002014-06-06T07:39:08.524-05:00Summer of Fear: Spiders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Let’s start with something easy and funny to talk about. Something universal. Arachnophobia is a very common fear, and I've suffered from it for as long as I can remember. Spiders are everywhere, both in real life and the media we consume. And they are horrid. I don’t even understand our need to create imaginary monsters, because we have them: nature gave them to us, free of charge.<br />
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This applies to everything from the lowliest jumping spider to the most heinous black widow, the gigantic spiders that live in parts of the world I’m likely to never see. Hell, I know Daddy-Long-Legs ain't a spider, but fuck that guy, he sucks too. Don’t even get me started on tarantulas.<br />
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Alright, so why am I afraid of them? I attribute something sinister and dangerous to any spider I see. Even if it’s just a little garden spider, which I know is not poisonous, my default assumption about all spiders is that they can’t wait to crawl all over me. Maybe they won’t kill me, but the thought of having one on me feels like the wrongest thing in Wrongington Town. The universe should implode, should that happen. It’s never happened as far as I know, but don’t worry, I've been assured by people who care about my psychological well-being that there are all sorts of creepy-crawling things that roam over me while I’m sleeping. Thanks, Dad.<br />
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The sick thing is, I’m also not-so-secretly fascinated with spiders. As I work up the nerve to kill one, I stare at it in awe. Horrified awe, but awe nonetheless. This is one of those weird things about the human psyche.<br />
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As you may or may not know, I watch a lot of horror movies. To this day, the only film that has ever made me audibly scream and hide my face was Arachnophobia. ...It’s a comedy. A sci-fi/horror comedy about spiders. I've only seen it once, and I will fight anyone who makes me watch it again. There’s a scene, at the end… I’m shuddering just thinking about it. Did I just feel a spider crawling on me?!?<br />
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Horrified awe aside, I have no conscious method for dealing with this. The reassurance that the spider is more afraid of me doesn’t help, because in my mind that means it absolutely will attack/crawl on me in order to enact a sort of kamikaze “Terrify or be killed” sort of action. It’s not true at all, but this is an irrational fear that has absolutely nothing to do with the truth.<br />
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I still have this torturous phobia, but there was one thing that took the edge off for me. One summer during college, my car happened to get infested with a ton of spiders. I always said they were garden spiders, but now looking at photos (SHUDDERSHUDDER) they were not. I don’t know what they were, in retrospect, but whatever they are, they're extremely common in the Chicagoland area. They mainly stayed outside, and only appeared at night, but it was one of the most horrifying real life experiences I've ever had. I have memories of killing several every time I got into my car. They were not the most scary spiders of all, they were light-colored and relatively small, but having a car infested with them every night over a summer gives you a new appreciation for spider-free living. It also makes you thankful for the typical one-spider-at-a-time encounters you will have over your life.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7619575915375317759.post-73697325902426332772014-06-02T10:00:00.000-05:002014-06-02T10:00:00.903-05:00The Summer of Fear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Numbers. Let’s talk numbers from the past year. I’m getting bad vibes from the number two. I’ve been through: two cars, two human deaths, two back injuries. On my second car, I’ve been through two semi-expensive repairs. What does it all mean? It means after also having to put my 18 year old cat to sleep last month, I feel like I’ve got another death hanging over my head, just waiting to happen. <br />
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So going through all of that is, oddly, not conducive to writing. You’re supposed to use emotional things like this to fuel your art, right?<br />
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My art is as dry as my gas tank before payday, and speaking of being broke as hell, this is as good a time as any to point out my “Buy Me a Coffee” spare-dime rescue mission over on the right side of the page. <br />
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It does prompt a shitload of thinking that precludes the art, though. I’ve done a hell of a lot of thinking over the past year. The past three years, really. I don’t have any helpful conclusions, this is not one of those Winking-Buddha-Secrets-of-Happiness blogs. (Not that I don’t sometimes read those on occasion). I know about as much as anybody, which isn’t as much as most people would like you to believe. <br />
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But one of the biggest fights of my life has been with my fears, and all the death that I personally have dealt with lately, not to mention those that have indirectly affected me through friends, have me thinking about those fears in overdrive.<br />
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The specific nature of each and every one of my fears is not terribly important to the “Big Picture” I’m advocating here, but I don’t think I could adequately demonstrate why this is so important to me without ticking off the nitty gritty details. <br />
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So what is this “Big Picture” I’m talking about? It’s not a cure for living life without these fears. I don’t have that, and I don’t want it. You know how some people talk about loving someone because of their flaws, not despite them? That’s how I think about it. You don’t need a way to live life without fear, or despite it. You’ll never get it to go away, and it’s not a chore to be done before you can do the thing you really want to do. What I think, what my goal is, is to live life because of fear. To seek out irrational fears and embrace them. When the thought of doing something scares me, I say to myself: That means I should do it. Why?<br />
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Because I know too many dead people who can’t. They will never do anything that scares them again. And that’s the most terrifying thought of them all.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0