This Top Ten Tuesday’s topic is “10 Facts about Me”. I’ve tried my best to keep the last several very site-oriented, but decided to relax it a bit and have some fun with it. So, here you go, 10 book/movie oriented facts about me. You might be surprised! Top Ten Tuesday is, as usual, brought to you courtesy of Broke and Bookish.
10 Facts About Me
1. The first horror book I can ever (trying) to read was Stephen King’s Christine.
2. The science fiction book that planted the love of the genre in me was Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.
3. I have a ‘zombie-novels’ shelf on Goodreads with 57 books on it. I’m sure I’ve read more than that and just can’t remember them.
4. I grew up reading historical romances. Literally grew up reading them. I know I was reading them at 8 years old, and probably before then.
5. The grossest horror book I’ve ever read was by Richard Laymon. Pretty sure it was this one. There was this monster with, uhm, certain parts of the male anatomy for fingers….
6. I had night terrors as a kid, and I blame the majority of them on my mom letting me watch The Nightmare on Elm Street series. Seriously, you STILL couldn’t pay me to sleep on a waterbed, or relax in the bathtub with my eyes closed because of that series.
7. I’m scared of water. (Why is this on a bookish list, you ask?) Any movie (Dante’s Peak, The Wave, etc) that has a wall of water rushing at the screen scares me. I have to look away. I also can’t be comfortable in water where I can’t see the bottom because YES, SOMETHING IS DOWN THERE waiting to grab my ankles and pull me to a watery death. I was in my twenties before I could even close my eyes in the shower with water running over my face.
8. I’m not a fan of 1984. Yes, yes, I know. Its one of the THE dystopian books, but… it’s not very well written! I’m sorry I can’t toe the “Oh, this book is awesome line”, but it’s just not that good to read. Don’t get me wrong, the ideas are scary as all heck, but… it’s clunky and dry.
9. For a horror movie fan, I go against the grain when it comes to slasher movies. Friday the 13th and Halloween movies are, as a general rule of thumb, instantly on my Yawn List.
10. Possession books and movies are my favorite type of horror. Its very cliche, and not often well done, but I absolutely love them. I will go for a possession book or movie over other choices 95 percent of the time.
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I haven’t read Ender’s Game yet, but it’s for sure on my list. One of the great “classics”.
Slasher movies aren’t really true horror and more of shock I guess? I don’t watch much of horror, but I would watch psychological horror movies over slasher every time.
I think you’re right about the shock, not horror. I hope you enjoy Ender’s Game when you get to read it. For the record, I’m not a huge fan of the series. Just *that* book in particular.
I’m another horror fan who doesn’t care for slasher movies. They’re gruesome, but not scary…I prefer possession stories, zombies, vampires, ghosts. Have you seen the movie Ava’s Possessions? I watched it on Netflix the other day and thought it was pretty unique.
I haven’t watched it yet. I definitely intend to, though. I thought the whole concept of dealing with the After Possession was interesting.
My husband and I will agree with you on the slasher films – to me, they’re not really horror movies. Also, when possession is done well, whether in films or in books, it can be really terrifying and I think one of the scariest things in the genre.
What’s your scariest possession movie?
I’ll admit, I’m not really one for horror stories, but I had to laugh at number 5 – seriously?! For fingers?! How did that even work?!
I loved 1984, but I loved the ideas rather than the writing, because you’re right, with the best will in the world it is dry.
Great post 🙂
I’m kind of curious about Ender’s Game but I’ve heard very negative things about Orson Scott Card (i.e. that he’s homophobic) and it has unfortunately made me boycott his works, haha.
And I’d agree that 1984 was dry and clunky! I’ve tried more than 3 times to read that book but I just gave up in the end – it was super hard to get into and I already know what it’s all about, so I decided I’m just not going to. :/
Agree about the Ender’s Game series. In general I find his writing sort of … well, morally weird. 1984 is more a polemic than a novel. And as for horror movies, I’m the wimpiest person on the planet. When I was 5 or 6, our church showed some old movies for the kids, including Laurel and Hardy Meet Jekyll and Hyde. My cousin had to take me home because the movie scared me too much!
Not gonna lie – I had to look up what polemic meant. I agree with you, though, after reading the definition.
I also kind of giggled at your church story, sorry!
Btw: I am working on Escapee. It just isn’t catching me like your Alien Contact series did.
I liked Friday 13th and Halloween and Scream lol that is my kind of thing. I tried to read a slasher book though but just Couldn’t get into it. Scariest thing I have ever watched though must be The Exorcism of Emily Rose, I guess that falls under possession movies. The movie gave me nightmares and I still freakout when I lose sleep at 3am. Your favorite genre is super scary 🙂
Great post.
Yeah, I read a slasher book and wasn’t overly impressed with it – but on the other hand it entertained me more than the slasher movies!
The “classics” in the field, whether the field is horror, sci-fi, or whatever, can be very hit-or-miss. Part of it is that some works don’t speak to one, while others have outdated conventions that can disrupt the experience.
“1984” is much to the point. Orwell has been criticized for being more an essayist than a story teller, and 1984 is more essay (polemic, at that) than not. In fact, the essays on that world’s history and on Newspeak are much better than most of Orwell’s plot. How he ever managed to write “Animal Farm,” which stands the strengths and weaknesses of “1984” on its head, is beyond me.
I’m no great fan of the slasher films. Especially after seeing a few, there’s not much more to be said, which is why “Scary Movie” could make fun of them. Though I do give some credit to “Halloween,” because it’s light on gore and doesn’t celebrate the slasher, and the first “Nightmare on Elm Street” for the idea of a dream killer.
Speaking of possession, does Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House,” or its film version “The Haunting” (the 1963 version, I’ve not seen the more recent one) qualify?
Yeah. I can understand how some of them were probably fantastic at the time, but just don’t hold up now.
I’ve seen the 63 version, but don’t really remember it well enough to say. The latest version, though, is definitely straight up haunted house. Its actually a weird fun movie.
I, uh, own every single Nightmare on Elm Street movie except for that remake-that-shall-not-be-named. *shifty* I laugh my butt off at them now. Except for the The New Nightmare. That one, man, makes me make sure my sheets are tucked under my feet at night. But it’s more the idea there that’s scary – that a collective belief in a figure or object can ’empower’ or allow possession of it.
I love the fact that you so actively comment on my posts, by the way. Just wanted to let you know 🙂
Thank you.
Though if you write posts worth commenting on, then you SHOULD get comments. 😉