13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010: Night #6 1408

Tonight's movie is one from the mind of Stephen King about one of the most haunted hotels, Manhattan's Dolphin Hotel. Everyone whostays in a particular room gets the full on haunting treatment. That room is 1408. John Cusack plays a paranormal debunker writing a book about haunted hotels and the Dolphin should prove to be crowning chapter. Cusack always seemed to skate just along the periphery of horror or other genre movie roles until recently, but he certainly stepped into it with 1408. This movie is something of an oddball and I almost didn't include it in the thirteen nights. There is so much more than a regular haunting going on in this movie. You'll just have to watch it to find out, if you haven't already seen it. I have only seen the theatrical version so far and cannot comment on the director's cut, which was included in the set that I bought.

There are also some other familiar faces in this movie, such as Samuel L. Jackson as the hotel manger. He certainly gets aroundHollywood movies across all genres. Horror newcomer Mary McCormack plays Cusack's ex-wife. She doesn't have a lot of screen time, but it was probably a good gig in between TV shows. Tony Shalhoub has a spot too as Cusack's literary agent. I just have to point out that Shalhoub was also in the heavily haunted movie Thir13en Ghosts, though here he doesn't get in on any of the action. That movie's ghosts put me in mind of the ones 1408 a little bit. The 1408 ghosts aren't so over top or gruesome, but they are stylized, and honestly I was a little disappointed in that quality of the effects. I'd even compare them to back when The Lawnmower Man came out, but this is maybe all too much information. Don't let this dissuade you from watching 1408.

Mood: contemplative.

Music: House Of 1000 Corpses by Rob Zombie. MP3s

Scareless Horror

One of the distinct qualities of the horror genre is that it does not strictly have to rely on actually causing the emotion for which it is named. A crime novel cannot be without a crime in it. An action movie must have action. A science fiction role-playing game has to have science--though admittedly it need not be fictional science, the fiction stemming from either plot or character or the fact the gaming isn't real is sufficient.

Horror can have no scares for the reader or viewership. It can have no horror for the characters involved. What it needs is to have certain elements. A good example of this is the current trend with vampires. For these stories to be, say urban fantasies, they would have to have certain tropes that make it fantasy. This would cause its own problems since much of what describes fantasy is rooted in medieval or Tolkienesque fantasy.

Certain character types just scream horror (or fantasy) even if they engage in drama or action or comedy. Sometimes these rise to the level of cross genre, other times they do not. This seems to be very true of drama. There are no cross-dramas. Drama is integral to anything and everything that is dramatic or a dramatisation. So too is horror except in a pseudo form of reverse. This makes for great versatility and draws in a larger audience, which is good for all involved.

Mood: harried.
Music: Coming Soon by Queen and Black Lodge by Anthrax.

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Just A Flesh Wound

The first game-changer that came to mind, and spawned this brief series of discussions, is one very much ingrained in fantasy settings. To a certain degree it has been built upon ruthlessly in video games so much that it is entirely a staple without which most of those games would not exist. The premise comes from the earliest of fantasy fiction, at least modern fantasy fiction--older fantasy tended more toward mythology to outright belief. It seems to have a certain home in D&D as well. Without this specific element in these fantasy settings the games would be very much changed. This game-changing factor is the ability to miraculously heal at accelerated rates. It can include regenerating limbs, psychic abilities to heal and perform surgery, and the staple fantasy resurrections.

Amazing accelerated healing may come about by different means. Psychic abilities to heal the body have been mentioned. There are healing spells and magical potions that restore health. There are salves, balms, tinctures, and other forms of arcane herbal and alchemical methods of healing not only bodily damage, but also removing disease and congenital defects. Changing genres there are advanced forms of science driven healing from chemicals and drugs, to nano-bot surgeons injected into the blood stream, to the melding of man and machine with cybernetics. What is important about these forms of healing is not the exotic nature, not the unnaturalness--that would be normal for the given settings--but the efficiency and speed at which they work.

Whatever the method, these forms of healing change the dynamics of the setting. Militaries with these capabilities are more aggressive and likely to go to war. Consider the turn around of injured soldiers. True bravery is less, but daring moves--manoeuvres and strategy--more common. Extreme actions are frequently taken because the risks are less. Safety and carefulness is less important. Permanent damage taken out of the equation alters the dynamics of fear as well. What happens when terrorists' victims can be raised from the dead? Or the terrorists themselves resurrected? Thought should be put into how people will try to counter superior healing and returning the dead to life. This kind of healing will also alter people's life spans, which changes the game in other ways.

Mood: calm.

Music: Deep Unknown by Stratovarius and Obsolete by Fear Factory.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #3-3: Do You Feel Cyber, Punk?

An easy pairing for near future science fiction horror begins with the cyberpunk genre. Cyberpunk deals with technology that is more advanced than today and focused in two main directions. The Internet, computer software, and artificial intelligence play an important role. This is followed a close second by human augmentation that is commonly in the form of cybernetics, and military hardware. The technological level of sophistication depends on how many years in the future the story takes place. Another factor common to the genre is that most settings involve massive, global corporations that control just about everything between them, even the governments that are supposed to be running the world’s countries. These companies are great motivators of plot in the stories.

The protagonists in cyberpunk are the punk part of the equation. They battle against the monolithic corporations and work outside of the often-corrupt law. Keeping with the dark dystopian mood that permeates the genre these protagonists are not always the most moral of characters. To the common people they are indistinguishable from the criminal element. The heroes of the setting are aware of the true nature of their society and unwilling to leave things the way that they are. They end up fighting, incapacitating, and often killing people in authority even as they do the antagonists. They steal information Robin-hood style. It is not uncommon for them to work with and for criminals, and tread the fine line between doing what they’re paid for and what is right.

Horror is as natural a fit with cyberpunk as it is with modern settings, in some ways perhaps more so. The powerful cyborgs, the futuristic weapons, the surveillance society, and the great scientific achievements all make for a world--human emotions and intentions aside--that is strongly grounded in reality, practical, and logical. The power available to even a single person with the right connections lends to a sense of security unfelt any time before. What better place and milieu is there to shatter with the illogical, the incomprehensible, and the supernatural? Powerful technologies versus the supernatural have a long history hearkening back to the spectacular but ineffective lightning cannons in the Gojira movies. Cyberpunk brings this to the more intimate, personal, horror level.

Mood: roguish.
Music: Wilderness by Brian May and Pork and Beans by Weezer.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #3-2: Binomial Nomenclature Horrorificus

There are three classes of science fiction that are the initial focus of the horror/science fiction cross-genre author. There is Hard Science Fiction where there is great accuracy to the science. There is Cyberpunk, essentially already a fairly dark genre. Then there is Soft Science Fiction where the science is not that strictly correct. These classes can be broken down further. In addition there are other classes of science fiction. The class with the least to say about mixing it with horror would be the Hard Science Fiction. The reason for this is that focus on accuracy and reality. This is not to say that it is flawless, but it does not particularly settle for verisimilitude. The Hard sub-genre requires horror strongly based in reality and might be best relegated to thrillers.

Cyberpunk has restraints upon it that also limit the horror that can be mixed into it. Or so one would think. Anyone who has come across GURPS Cthulhupunk or Catalyst's CthulhuTech RPG will agree. Though the focus isn't on horror Shadownrun is another example of cyberpunk and the fantastical. Cyberpunk can actually be written as horror without stepping outside of the technology that makes up the backbone of its science. It's all a matter of focus, where criminals with advanced weaponry like cybernetics and smart guns roam the streets, and hackers get their brains fried plying their skills against faceless monolithic corporations that are more sadistic and powerful than the worst dictators. Still, it is a genre ripe for adding upon in even more nefarious ways.

Soft science fiction is the most open class of science fiction covering a multitude of different styles from Space Opera like Star Wars, to modern day uses of unconventional science like Fringe, to the goings-on of Utopias with trouble like Isaac Asimov's Caves of Steel--itself a mystery cross-genre work--to dystopian stories like Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Soft science fiction immediately has a built-in cast of characters directly usable for horror in the form of aliens. There is no lack of alien horror stories. Being alien means extra-terrestrial beings are an unknown. Its already been discussed that science can be used for nefarious purposes, however even benign purposes can have unseen affects. Soft science fiction often has strong social overtones, which lend themselves to horror.

Mood: bright.
Music: Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden and Before the Winter by Stratovarius.

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Anatomy of a Horror Setting #1: Psychic Powers

In working on my psychic horror game there are several considerations I have had to make, and several more yet to be decided upon. In this first article of how many I do not know, I will start with my first point of necessity, and the considerations that it entailed. Later articles will take a look at these considerations as required.

The first requirement was that it was going to be a horror game. I of course set out to make a game with psychic powers so there was the second game priority. While I am discussing my game these ideas in no way need be relegated to role-playing games, they should work perfectly for any short story, novel, or movie setting within the genre. The limiting factor will be the inclusion of psychic phenomena though by no means will it be inclusive to humans for other people's setting purposes or any other settings I might pursue.

For a horror setting with psychics you first need to set out a list of the powers that you want to see. Next you need to look at how these powers will work. This requires looking at how the powers work in the following ways. First, what cost is there to using the powers? It can be none, it can be some kind of psychic points, it can be physical fatigue, and it can be mental fatigue. Next, are there any downsides to using the powers too much aside from any associated cost? The downsides of fatigue are obvious. Certainly sometime the use of such supernatural power has a negative impact, such as nosebleeds, and headaches if the powers come "naturally".

A psychic not need to be born with the powers or have them flourish on their own at the onset of puberty (a common time in fiction). The powers could be granted by a supernatural entity, or they could be the result of experimentation. These ideas alone open up a lot more vistas of possible exploration in your setting than just having the psychic abilities innately. They also express another important facet of a psychic horror setting, how does the rest of the world react to these phenomena and the people who wield such powers? Something for next time.

Mood: crisp.
Music: You Are all That I Need by Twisted Sister and You're All I Need by Motley Crue.

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Best Necrotised Foot Forward

The other day I answered a survey about DVDs. When questions came up regarding as to which genres I was buying I noticed something I felt was interesting. For the Horror genre, they had chosen what might be an obvious choice, but at the same time made me wonder, is this really the best representative for the genre currently. Their choice of representative for horror was the movie Saw. I have to admit I haven't seen this movie yet myself. As such I cannot judge whether this is an excellent choice or a poor choice or anywhere in between.

I have a fair idea I think in regard to what Saw is about, and as far as the sub-genre I believe it belongs in, I have to think, based on reviews, that it sounds like the best example of that kind of movie. This is without regard to the film's popularity, and obvious success. Saw seems to be one of those father films that spawn a lot of progeny. People saw (oh the pun!) how well it did and started making their own movies in the same vein. There is nothing wrong with that as long as you are differentiating yourself rather than being derivative. So, we have Saw, and then we have others like Hostel and Touristas just for example. Of the batch of them I think I'm only interested in seeing Saw.

Back to the representation aspect I do ask, is Saw the best foot forward? The survey is just naming a movie that I as a buyer in the genre am likely to have heard of, but what went into their decision to use it as the sole example? I have to ask, given that the first Saw film is not that new, why not say The Texas Chainsaw Massacre as an example? Either the remake or the original could be held up as an example of which people have heard. The remake spawned its own sequel, which in context says great things about it, given the number of sequels out there from the original. What movie would you pick to be representative of the genre, and at the same time be popular enough for practically any moviegoer/watcher to have heard of it?

Mood: calm.
Music: Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard and Inertia by Bruce Dickinson.

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