Save the Books!

With the recent news that the Borders book chain is going to soon be closing it gets one to thinking about the future of books and bookstores. It really is a scary, strange time for books, for authors, and for the fans of the physical reading medium. The thing right now is that e-books and the digital medium has such a spell over us that a lot of people lose sight of what has existed and not really changed a whole lot since its inception, and that is the book. Sure, sure, it evolves, it always evolves, but in essence it is now what it has always been. E-Books and the digital medium are great, and we need to embrace this buuuuuut we need to do it in the right way. I guess I can see why the digital medium is gaining ground but we need to keep in mind that there may come a time when the ‘cloud’ and our personal backups fail us. There may come a time when we lose all our photos, movies, music, all of it can disappear if there’s a system failure. And sure, a book can fall apart, a CD, DVD, or Blu-Ray can break but it is a lot heartier and a lot more substantial than something that you cannot see and touch. The thing is this, the digital and physical can co-exist, there just has to be a meeting in the middle.

And the meeting in the middle is where we, and the book store come in (I am leaving music stores out but honestly, you can swap music store for book store and music stores are in worse straits right now but that’s a different story). The best thing about the digital media, in music AND in books is that it can resurrect the dead. All of the old books, the old music, all the forgotten things can get life again as free and inexpensive downloads. A new generation can discover the roots of today’s stories and music. So much has been left behind and never reprinted or pressed to CD it is frightening. Sure, it’s fun having newer stuff digital but the old stuff is where we need to focus. The stuff we are losing. In our rush to make bookstores everything the library wasn’t we took the emphasis away from the books and so the books became the last thing people worried about. They came for the coffee, the magazines, the movies, the music, the poetry readings, and the hang out spot and the books, well, they were just books.

Just books.

I love books. I love bookstores. I love the chance to discover the world there. As much as I love them though I admit I don’t buy a lot of books. A big part is price, books have become too pricey. And another part is time, I don’t have time to read a lot. Wait, I don’t TAKE time to read a lot. There is a connection to books, the art, the physicality, the layout, the ART of what a book is, that we cannot duplicate. Just as we cannot duplicate it with music. We try but we cannot do it. It is more than the object itself, story or music, that makes the thing magical, it’s the full package. Bookstores lost that connection. They, like music stores, were the refuges for those of us that are in love with the art of books. They were the churches of the book. Libraries are the museum of books, but the church was the bookstore. That was where you went to get the new book, to get a cheap paperback, to thumb through the weird things you found but would never buy. Bookstores needed to mature, needed to stay current but when they started obsessing over bringing music in, and movies, and gift items, and these elaborate coffee shops it just pulled the attention from the books. The big box stores are doing the same thing. They were once the place to buy movies, and music, and the general big electronics but then they moved to books and mags and the rest. UGH. Sure, sure, the online outlets took a HUGE bite out of bookstores, a huge bite, but there was still a way to fight back. They needed to embrace their region. The local books, the local music, and needed to use that to bring people in, and to beat the stores by having things in stock. Maybe they needed to become a local hangout, a local coffee shop but to me the further you get away from what you do best the bigger risks you are taking.

And are bookstores and traditional books dead?

No. Not at all. I think the thing with books is they need to stop producing so much stuff, honestly. As much as I hate to think that it is true. Publishers need to stop riding every hot trend. We need to make less books in general. Stop producing a million copies of supposed best sellers. Cripes. Embrace print on demand. Set up kiosks that allow a person to order a book on site and have it printed as they wait. Do it for classic books and at an inexpensive prices.  Bookstores need to localize themselves and seek out the local and regional authors. They need to build the future. You can’t get Stephen

King but you can get the next Stephen King. Or whomever. Again, same with record stores. If you cannot directly compete with say, Amazon then don’t, but beat them where you can, which is locally and regionally.

There is no magic bullet for either place, for either venue, but because things are changing doesn’t mean that these places need to die. They just need to re-focus and renew the faith people had. They don’t need to be huge stores, they need to be intimate, knowledgeable (What happened to the employees knowing books?), and they need to focus back on the books and the rest of if can go hang. And maybe we authors can help with all this. We can fight back against the mass market cash in books that are all about the fad by connecting to our local bookstores and supporting and promoting them. Maybe the future is there.

Wherever it is though there is a future. I just hope it’s not one without the magic of the physical book.

c

www.meepsheep.com

Exit 33 – review

   When you are younger it almost becomes second nature to envy and covet what other people have – success, love, perceived happiness, wealth, extravagance, friends, whatever – because you have not seen enough of the world or lived enough of life to know better. If you’re lucky, and wise, you generally get past that stage in development (though we all have our lapses) and I can happily say that it’s not often that I find myself looking at someone envying something they have that I don’t. I can say in utter confidence that I don’t envy one bit the fate of someone like actor/stuntman Kane Hodder, who had done film work for years but who most famously portrayed Jason Voorhees in several of the latter the Friday the 13th films and has become a fan favorite because of this. He is a rarity in that he was one actor playing what was essentially a part for stuntmen (which he was at the time) and a character that had no speaking parts. Ah, but Hodder made this character his by making Jason a physical character, one of defined movements and defined motives. After Jason was killed off and re-cast though it left Hodder without an identity. He has made a name for himself as the ghostly killer in the Hatchet films but the man isn’t that old and still wants to act. Ah, but sadly he still gets cast as the killer, either by choice or by fate, and as good as he may be in that role, well, this film is not one of his shining moments.

   Exit 33 is the last chance for gas on a lonely stretch of rural road and its owner is a cold man with little to say and less to offer. What he has though is gas and when he’s the last stop for miles there isn’t much choice. When several travelers happen across Exit 33 over the course of a few days that the owner, Ike, is celebrating hunting season and the travelers are the prey. The secret that drives Ike though and what might stop him may lie in the visions of a dead woman that he keeps seeing but unless one of the victims can figure out his secret no one will survive.

   Playing out like yet another killer on the loose movie this one takes the tact of rooting for the killer, where the victims are pretty mindless, very useless, and little more than window dressing. In fact, the plot has the same effect, being discarded as soon as Ike is set loose. There is a vague attempt to cling to the plot but it is about as important as the characterization. No, this is a movie about Ike, and his madness. I have to admit that it bummed me out to see Hodder as an even more mindless killer than Jason ever was. When you find out what he’s doing (sort of) and why, well, it just doesn’t mean anything. There is no effort to make him or the victims people, they are just pawns in a film. This is well filmed (though there are some poor editing and music choices early on), and shows a lot of promise for the filmmakers. And there are a few story touches that almost work, they are so close, but overall this just feels unfortunate. Too much time is spent on Ike murdering and tormenting his victims and the rest of the movie feels like the thin reason why he is doing it.

   A lot of Hodder fans will get a kick out of this film and certainly some horror fans will as well but I was hoping for a lot more. Too often horror focuses on the monster and unless the monster is genuinely sympathetic we lose the connection to the horror, the danger, and to the reason why we are watching. Monsters and killers are interesting in films but they are not meant to be the stars, not in the movies that last for years and years.

5 out of 10

Where I Will Be This Saturday

If you are in Mid-Michigan and wanna come check out my books and art, and hopefully buy some of both, I will be at the first ever Buckham Alley Festival in downtown Flint. Totally free event and looks to be pretty amazing.

Come on out.

Solomon Kane – review

So, tell my why it is that we get so many ridiculous films released in the United States yet when there’s a funky or interesting film made overseas we tend to ignore it or remake it? Such is the case with the film adaptation of the classic adventure novels by Robert E. Howard, Solomon Kane. This adventure/horror hybrid is a wonderful little gem from Europe that was made a few years ago and hasn’t found its way to a traditional release and that’s a shame because it’s a heck of a film.

Solomon Kane is a man haunted by his past. Having committed a great sin in his youth he tore through his life wildly, killing men with impunity and never worrying about his future but when the Devil begins trying to collect on his soul he realizes that he has lived a useless, rage filled life and that he must change if he is to find salvation. Pledging his soul to the Lord, Kane gives his life to peace but when a family that has saved him from death meets their own dark fate because of his non-violent path he has no choice but to serve as the sword and judgment of God and he accepts this begrudgingly. What Kane does not realize is that the sins of his past are the evil that is haunting the lands and this evil is corrupting all it touches and has its sights set on Solomon and unless he can come to grips with his fate and what he is, he may finally fall into the Devil’s hands for good.

This is such a fun, dark horror/adventure story. Great production values, very good acting, a fun story, and a really well made film. The size of the production is really amazing considering how little you will have read about it. When I say this is a good film, I am dead serious. This would never be a blockbuster but it’s a great gothic adventure. There are some silly logic moments that exist in most of the movies of this scope, sadly, but it’s a great ride with a very good ending. I mean, you get zombies, monsters, demonic followers, a sorcerer, a witch, and some great battles.

Solomon Kane is one of those movies of myth and legend that you hear exist but never manage to track down or see. It’s my sincere hope that somehow, some way this gets a chance to find a broader audience because this is a wonderfully fun movie and I am dying to see it again.

8 out of 10

Bigger Than the Work

Summer reading season is an interesting time. I suppose it’s because people take vacations around this time so I guess it’s natural that books get more publicity around the warmer months, though that’s pretty sad because you can always find a little time to read, I mean, really. Come on now. Anyway, it’s interesting right now because books and e-books are at the fore so it gives you a chance to peruse some of the new titles and authors out there. It was interesting because last night I came across something didn’t shock me but made me stop and ponder a bit.

I came across a book where the name of the author - Melanie Booklady – was the focus of the cover and the title of the book – My Dumb Summer Book Of Words - was in a much smaller font beneath it. Now, I can dig that the author here had made themselves a name, a brand if you will, and that’s what will move the books. We are drawn to what we know and to commodities and properties we know, that’s just many of us are. And if you are an author you are working for years to build your library and your name brand and recognition because if people read something of yours and like it then the chances are good they will read something else by  you and will like that as well. It’s good business. The thing is though that it always freaks me out when the author is bigger than the work. As a writer I know I write to be its own thing. I would use my name and past work to entice people to check out other work but in the end it’s my hope that the book stands on its own. I would hate to feel like I was more important than the work and to promote the work that way because it feels like you don’t believe in it. Like, well, I released this, and it’s new and junk, but, you know, you should trust me because I wrote it and you’ll prolly like it. Bwah?

Being where I am a writer it’s easy to say all this stuff. I am a small guy selling my books at small shows and online. I have no marketer, no publicist, no publisher. I have me and that makes things more streamlined, yes, but it also makes things a lot, well, smaller. It means, in essence, that I am not anywhere near the leagues of these other writers. And I won’t fault any author that has built a career and brand because in this era it isn’t easy. I just wish that the work was always first, even if it was just first enough that it wasn’t downplayed on the cover of whatever the new book is. Sure, a lot of that falls on how the publisher wants to market the person but in the end the decision is their own and for me, if I am ever more important than what I am writing then as successful as I may be, well, I did something wrong along the way and need to remind myself why I fell in love with writing in the first place – the stories.

It’s always, always, always about the stories.

We writers are simply the ones that got those stories put down on paper or screen.

We all need to remember that, I think.

c

Bloodlust Zombies – review

   In the world of horror movies if you want to sell your movie and get some publicity then the two things you can do is invariably to make a zombie movie and then throw in an adult film actor as the star. Such is the case with Bloodlust Zombies, a movie high on EXCITED ACTING and low on ideas. How low? Let’s find out.

   Within the confines of a government funded science lab tests are being run which could aid American war efforts and protect service men and women. When the trials are done and reported to the corporate heads it looks like the the dream of protecting U.S. soldiers in battle and making a profit have been achieved and now it’s time to celebrate. While everyone is celebrating though two of the scientists working on the project break protocol and pay their mistake with their lives and in a matter of moments the entire building and the employees within are in lockdown and trapped with a spreading virus that turns its victims into rage filled monsters. Unless the workers that remain can work together to either escape or stop the things trying to kill them then none of them will survive.

   Ok, so that’s sort of the plot. Take that and take a step back and throw in the word rage and take out the word zombie, which they do during the film. Suddenly you are looking at the 28 Days movies. Yes, they shamelessly took two modern classic films that live on the outskirts of zombie movies and made a tacky, cheesy horror comedy out of it that is about as funny as it is scary, and that’s not at all.

   Horribly written and needlessly sleazy, the movie is totally watchable. The actors are decent and do their best to raise the level of the film but man is this script awful. If the characters are not doing stupid things then they are saying them and that Alexis Texas, an adult film actress, is the star when her character is completely minor until the last ten minutes and the turn it takes to make her the star is a joke. I feel for her though as naturally she has to get naked a couple times, needlessly, because of her other career. Good grief. It is gory, it is well shot, and like I say, is watchable, but it isn’t good. Not at all. This is one of those movies that makes you shake your head and feel as if you could make a film and get it picked up if you chose the right topic and made sure the lens cap was off the camera.

   There are too many movies like this on the market. Pretty but vapid and in the end a waste of time. If you need to see every zombie movie out there then hey, go for it, but for me this isn’t worth more than having on at a party or in the background as you macramé.

4 out of 10

Strangers Online – review

With the saturation of social networking people are able to update everything they are doing, everything they are, revealing even the most intimate details of their lives, at a moment’s notice. Add to this the fact that most computers and phones have photo and video capabilities so the boundaries we had lived with for so long have no fallen away and we can now enlighten and embarrass in equal measures. Strangers Online is an examination of this world, of sorts, though I am afraid any higher moral ideals are lost in the sleaze.

Strangers Online is the story of a popular internet DJ with a risqué show that has become a hit because of the taboos it embraces. His show features people calling in to vent, reveal, reach out, or just put a show on. The show skirts the edges of legality but it is this dangerous element that has gained the show its audience. What the viewers don’t know though is that the host hides a dark secret that still haunts him – his ex fiancée was brutally murdered and that murder remains unsolved, and serves as a constant nightmare for him. When the DJ falls prey to the sexual advances of an intern he opens a doorway that leads not only to a dark future but to a dangerous past and he may well become the next hot topic on his own show.

I feel like I mailed it on that description but this is a hard movie to describe. It’s sort of like Basic Instinct meets Fatal Attraction meets Chat Roulette. It’s weird. And not good weird. There is far too much sleaze and too little sense. There are interesting ideas here, such as the notion of an online talk show that skirts the edges of what is appropriate, but any higher ideas are lost in the random sex scenes and titillation. Sigh. It’s frustrating. The film is not made poorly, the acting is decent, the production values, outside of the awful digital background work, is good, but man, that story is bad. What begins as an examination of how our evolution as a society is leading us down a dangerous path but the filmmaker is too interested in the seedier sides of the story and that’s where things fail.

Not too bloody, not that sexy, and horribly written this is a potboiler best left for the lower shelves at the video store or as a late night streamer online, otherwise, steer clear.

4 out of 10

Peering Into Darkness

As a writer and fan of the macabre I can appreciate and fully understand the pull of the abyss. As  humans we are all drawn toward the darkness of the human spirit, the human heart, and the awful things we are capable of doing. That is one of the things that sets us apart from the animal kingdom – our cruelty and occasional joy in it. If you question that then turn on the television and watch one of the dozens of crime shows that are one. We all feel the pull of a roadside accident, or the allure of televised carnage but most of us turn our heads when we have sated that curiosity. Some, but not all. And for those few that keep looking when the blood flows there are all manner of movies, books, television shows and more for them.

Now, this is not meant as a condemnation of people drawn to the dark side as unless someone crosses the line and commits an act of violence themselves, but most don’t. Some people just look longer into the darkness, and their reasons are their own. For once though, I wanted to look into the abyss a moment longer to see what was there.

Now, when peering into the darkness you have to set a few ground rules, you have to understand what your limits are, what you are willing to see and what you just cannot handle. Me, I don’t dig on the ‘true death’ stuff. Not for me. I can see why some people are drawn to it and can even feel that morbid pull but am not interested in seeing the stuff. For me, the little I have seen was more than enough. I had my fill. Only you can set parameters and you do need them because you have to understand that it’s one thing to go to the deep end of the pool when you are learning to swim and another to dive into the ocean. Baby steps, people.

But sometimes you need to look into the darkness to remind yourself why you cling to the light.

So I found two movies streaming on Netflix and thought I would take a walk on the dark side for the night. I won’t say which films I watched because it wouldn’t be fair to publicly judge them as I fast forwarded the films. I can walk on the dark side from time to time but it doesn’t mean that I didn’t leave a nite-light on. Just saying. Anyway, it isn’t fair to condemn the movies by name because I didn’t fully commit to them. I will say I got the gist of both and got all I was going to get out of them. I saw enough.

What I found is that really, the fringe of horror has never changed, it just evolves. When I was a kid growing up we were into the foreign gore films and the harder they were to track down the more we wanted to see them. After that people got into the true gore films like Faces of Death. After that the fringe and the mainstream got together and turned out movies that were mainstream gore films that dragged the skeletons out in front of everyone, making us all confront our taste for torture and death, making us face our taste for the perverse. But when movies like Hostel there was a need to push further out, and that brings us to the new breed, the newest evolution. With the availability of affordable high def equipment amateur and budding filmmakers can now make films for next to no money, can edit them on their home computers, can burn copies on their computers, and can sell and distribute their films online. Now the fans are the filmmakers and with social media they can get immediate feedback and can give the fans exactly what they want. A blessing and a curse because there is a point where fans, knowing they have your ear, will keep pushing, pushing, pushing and you won’t be an artist, you’ll be a factory.

What I found was that the old is still new. Gore is still in, more realistic, for sure, but still as fake as ever. With the gore you get some other bodily fluids, some vomit, some pee, some blood, and if you look hard enough maybe poo. With all of this you get torture, you get borderline hardcore sex, you get sadism, and from the couple I saw, you get very little story. Now, this is not at all to say that every movie is the same as I am sure there are gems out there waiting to be discovered but, well, the dark side is out there for a reason. I can still watch the old gore movies from my youth and enjoy the heck out of them but I can totally see that these were definitely not great films, they had their charm, but often that charm was to spite the filmmakers and their efforts. Now there is little charm, just a purer taste of the dark. How long these filmmakers and their films will last remains to be seen. Like all trends, they will pass, they will become too timid, or maybe too dark, and tastes will change. Happens all the time. Even on the dark side. It is interesting to see what the fringe parts of horror are up to, interesting to get a pulse on things, but the fringe doesn’t do much for me anymore, and I don’t really mind that.

I don’t condemn the fringe, the dark side of horror, and never will. It’s pretty hypocritical to damn something for being different. For being extreme. And while the two films I sorta watched were not something I would want to see again I will grant them that there were kernels there, there were ideas that could turn into something if they were fleshed out. And the thing is this, I may not like the movies on the fringe but I admire the passion to make movies with only the money you can scrape together, and doing it with the understanding that you may never get rich off of what you are doing. Horror often thrives in the underground, and while the fringe is more of the basement to the underground, their spirit is what makes me wish them well, and hope that they find ways to focus on the storytelling first, and the shocks second, though, really, I have that hope for most horror, new, old, mainstream or indie. And in that, all movies are the same.

…c…