Kaidan: Japanese horror stories

For this week in Literature of horror, fantasy and sci-fi I read the “Kwaidan”, a series of Japanese horror stories. The stories I read, I found to be very fascinating I didn’t think they were scary per say, in fact I found them to be more supernatural occurrences, so I guess they were “ghost stories” in every sense of the word. I also realized that many of the stories included some romantic aspect to them for instance there was one story about a man who’s fiancé died and her spirit returned to him years later after he made her a promise that if she was to appear to him again in the future he would marry her.  It’s stories like that, that make the collection less horror and more paranormal it’s a really fun interpretation of the atypical romantic or ghost story, by combining them it sheds a little light on both sides of the coin and gives them both an interesting twist. I really found it strange however that the stories weren’t terrifying. I guess expected more of a horrific vibe seeing as most of the horror movies in the States are based on horror movies from Japan which, if you watch the Japanese originals, are some of the most terrifying movies I, or most of the American public, have ever seen.

            I researched Japanese horror a bit after reading the Kaidan tales and I found out some interesting things about Japanese horror fiction and Japanese culture.  For instance the Kaidan actually dates all the way back to the Edo and Meiji periods in Japan as sort of traditional ghost tales. Horror fiction seems to be a very deeply imbedded portion of Japanese culture not only because it dates back to the 1600s (actually horror fiction in Japan is evidenced to have first appeared in the Heian period (794-1184)) but because even today the people of Japan are completely riveted by the idea of the Japanese ghosts or Yurei. The nature of Japanese horror seems to be psychological and suspenseful with many themes found in folk religion such as poltergeists, exorcism and shamanism. I think when you consider the nature of traditional Japanese ghost stories the Kaidan makes more sense, because they all have to do with the idea of rituals and unfinished business which tie the ghost to the physical plane.  All in all the Kaidan was a fun read, not particularly scary I would see but rather more eerie or spooky, things that if it happened to you it would make your hair stand on end but reading it didn’t really have a strong effect on my nerves.

Interview with a Vampire: Anne Rice

Reading this book I was less than enthused, I’m not sure why I wasn’t as gung ho to read this book because honestly at first I was intrigued. I had heard so much about the movie and the novel itself and I know Anne Rice was such a prolific author in the Vampire culture of America, but for some reason I couldn’t wrap my head around the book. I can see where this book contained all the classic elements of vampire lore. We have the overtly seductive Vampire who, in a sense entrances the victim and introduces him to this new fantastical world, where he didn’t need to be afraid of the things surrounding him or of anyone really, and you also have the main character as a sort of all knowing being who, we as mere mortals, couldn’t exactly “pull a fast one over”, even if we tried. The main premise of the story is a vampire who is relating his entire 200-year existence to a reporter that is referred to as “the boy” despite the fact that we are told his name, Daniel Malloy. I found the characters to be very interesting with very human and very typical emotions and internal struggles. I particularly took to Claudia’s story line because it was a thought-provoking notion on wanting to grow up but not being able to. Thanks to Claudia’s being “turned” at a very young age, her mind progressed but her body could not leaving her in this really weird limbo of how do you grow up when others around you won’t acknowledge you as an adult. It’s this problem of never truly being able to realize her potential I feel that causes her to lash out and grow a putrid, festering hatred for Lestat, who she blames for turning her and leaving her in such an awkward position.  Another very fascinating idea presented in the novel is “in the end is immortality worth it?” This is perhaps the main idea behind the primary character arc, that of Louis. He has seen so many things like the death of Claudia, who is like a daughter to him, and the loss of his family in general and having to burn down his family’s plantation and flee from the people of his homeland. In fact his entire reasoning behind the interview was to show that while the glitz and glamour and allure of vampirism is all well and good, it’s only a gilded notion under which lies the rotten truth of the matter which is that immortality isn’t worth the suffering and the loneliness, which is what he had to endure.  Although I didn’t take to this book I do see why many people liked it. I think it did a very good job in bringing out very mortal elements in immortal beings. I think it was an excellent representation of what vampires in the typical sense might have to endure. I really did find the book to be intriguing as an idea, I just wasn’t particularly fond of it as a whole.Reading this book I was less than enthused, I’m not sure why I wasn’t as gung ho to read this book because honestly at first I was intrigued. I had heard so much about the movie and the novel itself and I know Anne Rice was such a prolific author in the Vampire culture of America, but for some reason I couldn’t wrap my head around the book. I can see where this book contained all the classic elements of vampire lore. We have the overtly seductive Vampire who, in a sense entrances the victim and introduces him to this new fantastical world, where he didn’t need to be afraid of the things surrounding him or of anyone really, and you also have the main character as a sort of all knowing being who, we as mere mortals, couldn’t exactly “pull a fast one over”, even if we tried. The main premise of the story is a vampire who is relating his entire 200-year existence to a reporter that is referred to as “the boy” despite the fact that we are told his name, Daniel Malloy. I found the characters to be very interesting with very human and very typical emotions and internal struggles. I particularly took to Claudia’s story line because it was a thought-provoking notion on wanting to grow up but not being able to. Thanks to Claudia’s being “turned” at a very young age, her mind progressed but her body could not leaving her in this really weird limbo of how do you grow up when others around you won’t acknowledge you as an adult. It’s this problem of never truly being able to realize her potential I feel that causes her to lash out and grow a putrid, festering hatred for Lestat, who she blames for turning her and leaving her in such an awkward position.  Another very fascinating idea presented in the novel is “in the end is immortality worth it?” This is perhaps the main idea behind the primary character arc, that of Louis. He has seen so many things like the death of Claudia, who is like a daughter to him, and the loss of his family in general and having to burn down his family’s plantation and flee from the people of his homeland. In fact his entire reasoning behind the interview was to show that while the glitz and glamour and allure of vampirism is all well and good, it’s only a gilded notion under which lies the rotten truth of the matter which is that immortality isn’t worth the suffering and the loneliness, which is what he had to endure.  Although I didn’t take to this book I do see why many people liked it. I think it did a very good job in bringing out very mortal elements in immortal beings. I think it was an excellent representation of what vampires in the typical sense might have to endure. I really did find the book to be intriguing as an idea, I just wasn’t particularly fond of it as a whole.

I am Legend

A Legend can be described as a narrative that takes place within the context of human history with some sense of having miraculous parameters. A legend, essentially, is just a tale that is historicized, and passed down verbally throughout the generations. It’s that definition of what makes a legend that opens up the conversation for the novel “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson. Written in 1954, this book presents the story of a man faced with an interesting predicament. Robert Neville is a man that happens to be the seemingly sole survivor of a pandemic that renders its victims to vampire like symptoms. The story explains that the seeming cause of the disease is a war that has caused various dust storms that have helped spread the disease.

Robert Neville’s story is one that follows him on his quest to figure out what exactly causes the disease and how to stop it. Through a series of flashbacks, we as the reader find out more about Neville’s past, for instance we learn of how his wife and child fell victim to the disease that has seemingly ravaged the entire nation. It goes on to explain how he had to kill his own wife and has lived barricaded in his house in an attempt to avoid the creatures everyone else has now become. At the beginning of the novel he lives out his morning scavenging for supplies and driving stakes through the hearts of the weakened vampires while at night he boards up his house and shrouds it in mirrors, crucifixes and garlic to ward off the horde of vampires, led by his neighbor, who surround his house at night, searching for a way to get in. Neville not only has to conquer his nights with the vampires, but also he has to deal with his constant depression and alcoholism, making for an interesting and complex character. Later on in the novel, Neville decides to take his fate into his own hands, which sets him on the path to researching this new brand of vampire like humans and the disease that caused it.

With the knowledge he has obtained in hand, Robert Neville goes on to try and destroy the vampire creatures, leading up to a climactic clash between himself and this new vampire like civilization. I think “I am Legend” was a good read, the character development was interesting to see play out especially since he is a character that is alone for the majority of this novel. It was an interesting read and the end result of Neville’s realization that he is now a legend in his own right in this new civilization’s folklore was an interesting insight into the way a legend is born.

Frankenstein- Mary Shelley

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is a very eloquent and well-versed novel that I was surprised to discover was written when she was around nineteen years of age.  The story involves Dr. Victor Frankenstein and goes on to explain how he first became enraptured and mystified with the sciences, becoming attached to it at a very young age. It wasn’t until he was older, however, that he thoroughly became consumed with the thought of actually creating human life. Yet, upon doing so, and actually having his creation come to life, Frankenstein fully understands the gravity of what he has created when the monster opens his eyes for the first time. Frankenstein is soon disgusted and afraid of his creation and runs leaving it behind. The rest of the tale is basically about Frankenstein’s constant attempts at evading a monster that is practically stalking him. The monster is following behind Victor, killing his family and friends, practically at every turn.  The turning point of the novel comes when Victor decides to devote his life to exacting revenge upon his creation and tracks him all the way to the North, somewhere that is covered in ice and snow.

            The real heart of the story comes from the characters themselves, it seems to me that Frankenstein’s monster, who was assembled from random body parts and chemicals, is really just a creature who turns to hatred because it is all he’s ever known. From his creation, the monster has been rejected by his father figure, Victor Frankenstein, and also by the society, which he so desperately tries to fit into. It is no wonder that he soon turns to hate himself, because it is all he has ever known, not only that the creature at the beginning of his life was a soft hearted soul, but is constantly rejected thanks to his disgusting outer appearance, all these things culminate in his need for revenge on Frankenstein and so sets the wheels of our story in motion. Victor Frankenstein’s character development throughout the novel is also a noteworthy one. The reader watches as Victor goes from a bright eyed, youthful, and curious soul and morphs into a biter disillusioned and guilty man, who has watched the product of his arrogance kill the ones he loves, leading him into becoming an obsessive hunter of his creation. Overall the story was very interesting, and very well written, the characters all have a very human element to them, which makes the reader sympathetic to their plight, and makes for a very complex and interesting read.