13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2010: Night #4 Route 666

Route 666 is the fourth movie in our thirteen. It stars Lou Diamond Phillips--no stranger to small horror titles--as a Marshall incharge of retrieving and protecting a run away witness played by Steven Williams--who for me will always be Creighton Duke from Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday. Phillips is partnered up with some other law enforcement men and women, one of which is played by Lori Petty. They take the titular Route 666--a part of the normal Route 66--as a way of eluding some hit men after Williams. The road has been closed for some time for being dangerous, but of course the terrain is the least of anyone's worries since it's viciously haunted. I will let you know that this isn't your usual haunting and I for one really like the different take. The ghosts follow their own rules and that includes their appearance.

The ghosts could easily be mistaken for zombies until they’re seen in action. As far as their background they are a prison road crew complete with equipment for use to deadly effect--that's all I'll say here. I really like the makeup jobs, and their mannerisms are just icing on the cake. It's great that people make offbeat, out of the ordinary movies like this one. The director is William Wesley who also directed Scarecrows (1988), which sounds like a similar horror layered onto a crime drama storyline. Movies like this, that meld more than one kind of story together, are sometimes distracting, but I think it was well used here. It puts me in mind of Dead Birds except better organised and executed. I found the music to be interesting, but not as much as the jackhammer sound effect, which really stood out as different and stuck with me.

Mood: furtive.

Music: Haunted by Type O Negative. MP3s

Disconnected Series

Sometimes a story needs to be told over a length that is greater than feasible or in some manner desirable. Feasibility is quickly falling by the wayside when e-books can be of any length with no regard for spine width or holding the pages together. Desirability is a function of a few things. Cost asked for the book. The amount of time a reader is expected to stay with a story at any particular interval without seeking a change of pace. A similar need in the author either to write something different for a while or simply take a break. That author break may be researching something different later use, which doesn't break the fiction flow or feel of the current story while still giving the brain cells a chance to change gears. A series of books or stories starring the same main character(s) isn't the only kind of series. This sometimes feels like an idea that gets lost and or forgotten.

I've been thinking about this topic for the last little while because in the recent Killing Time - Horror E-Rag Issue 2-2 I released in PDF the first of my devil stories. It is titled "Toasty Warm" and so far is part of a trilogy where the only tie is that there are devils involved in the plot. Nothing else binds them. No repeat characters; not even the devils. So how is that a series? The stories are related. They are a part of the same vein of the same mythos--at least as I've done them. It's the same as they would be if they were a more coherent continuing series rather than a series in spirit or intent alone. I haven't put much more thought into the series since the conclusion of the third story. The time is appropriate to look at returning to the themes into which these stories play, what they are expressing about that corner of the mythos I wish to build, and should there be more.

The question is more what? The simple answer is that it may be time to look at pulling the strings together between these stories and bring some kind of greater coherence. This could be bringing out an overarching story that requires the previous parts--at least for the continued readership who has been witness to the events from start to newest finish--yet can stand on its own. Moving from disconnected to connected is not a given. It may not even be desirable. Sometimes trying to pull off the connection diminishes the feel that was previously held. It can weaken the strength born of their uniqueness. It may just be unfulfilling and have no bearing on the past. Either way it is a question that needs to be asked before embarking on such a goal. The rewards and the satisfaction are great if it can be pulled off though. It's something that requires a deft hand and good forethought.

Mood: reflective.

Music: Anthem of the World by Stratovarius and Sister of Pain by Vince Neil.

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