Friday, March 12, 2010

I Know Who I Am!


When I was a senior in high school, I watched my very first horror movie. Up till then, horror was that section of the video store that meant nothing to me, didn't even exist as far as I was concerned. That kind of shit was not encouraged in my house, but my eyes were opened by a scary as hell movie disguised as a hardboiled PI flick called Angel Heart. Mickey Rourke, Robert DeNiro and didn't Lisa Bonet get kicked off the Cosby Show for making this twisted pic? Worth it, if she was.

And yeah, I'm a touch more sophisticated a viewer now, I might pick up on the clues a little quicker, but holy crap, when the end, y'know? the ending of that movie? when - yeah, y'know? Totally surprised me. I had no idea. I stayed glued to the TV through that whole amazing end credit sequence and was afraid to turn off the box when it was all over.

I'm not usually one to want that kind of thing in my hardboiled stories. (I've avoided the last couple Jack Taylor books because I didn't want the early stuff to be retroactively colored by that element), but it sure rocked me that first time and opened me up for the experience again.

Over at the Ransom Notes, I give a little love to William Hjortsberg, Joe R. Landsdale, Laura Benedict, Diana Wagman, Charlie Huston and Cullen Bunn.

Also a couple regional dudes tearing up the online crime scene: Malachi Stone has put up another chapter of Conjurer's Oath and Matthew J. McBride has had what six? seven? new stories up since the beginning of the year? That's a lotta links. Check out his blog, Got Pulp?

In other places, Keith Rawson continues his video interview series with a two-parter featuring Craig McDonald whose Print the Legend should be kicking Nicholas Sparks and James Patterson right off the best seller charts about now. Speaking of PTL, there's some great stuff in there about the state of modern narrative fiction, (aint it sad that you know what I mean when I put "narrative" in front of "fiction"?) For that interview check here and here.

Just a couple days left to enter the drawing for a free (used) copy of Scott Wolven's Controlled Burn. Hey, it's free. It's important. I care.

6 comments:

Nate Flexer said...

Angel Heart. My favorite movie of all time. I saw it in the movie theatre when I was maybe 13 and walked out in a complete daze. That's a film that has not gotten the love it deserves.

David Cranmer said...

A flick I haven't seen. Don't know how I missed it either.

jedidiah ayres said...

Nate - holds up don't it? Can't imagine a remake could come close...

David - get thee to a video store. Thank me later.

Rod Norman said...

One of my all time fav's, I still gotta thing with chickens & Lisa Bonet after all these years !

Sage Ravenwood said...

I'm a huge horror afficado. Someone once asked me why and I replied, "When you've lived through what I have, you get so you recognize the monsters in human guise."

There is a lot of creep undertones instilled in my writing. People who know me would be genuinely suprised. It's not gore that's horrifying, it's the unexpected. (Hugs)Indigo

jedidiah ayres said...

Indigo - you're right the most effective horror is what goes beyond the threat of physical violence.