Category: Articles

Gothic horror doesn’t always have to be set in a haunted English mansion. The core of the genre is an environment, a society, or a setting where the entire universe itself seems bent on controlling the hero’s every move. I’ve written before about how the X-Files is a modern equivalent of classic Gothic mystery or…

I’ve just finished putting my girls to sleep, and tonight marks the night when we finished reading the Bromeliad (Truckers, Diggers, Wings) trilogy by Sir Terry Pratchett. For those who may not have come across these stories, they were written in 1989-1990, and follow the adventures of Masklin and Grimma, nomes who leave their muddy…

For those old enough to remember, Jim Henson once produced a short series of fairy tales that were terrifying, enchanting, and romantic. My wife always adored this series, and even when we were dating could recite entire sections of her favourite episodes. For those who may not have seen it, The StoryTeller was a children’s…

I’ve been seeing clips from a recent stage musical based on Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, and thought I’d see how the original movie stacks up after all these years. Storytelling-wise, it stacks up damn well compared to a lot of movies I’ve watched recently. Let me explain… Beetlejuice (1988) was the brainchild of spooky, off-beat movie…

Beautiful, ethereal, poignant – The Last Unicorn is an 80s classic that I’ve wanted to dust off for years, and finally sat down with my daughters to relive the magic. For those who haven’t seen this film (spoiler free), Peter Beagle’s The Last Unicorn was an animated fairy tale about a female unicorn who learns…

I just finished sci-fi where the climax consisted of the hero being betrayed by two of his friends, one leading a group of rebels, the other trapping the hero in such a way as to render him defenceless. The twist was that the protagonist had planned for the betrayal all along; the first friend had…

My girls asked if they could start reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series (I’ve raised ‘em right), and while I was overjoyed, most of the books fell to pieces in our hands. Years of reading has taken its toll, and my prized signed copy of Small Gods has almost lost its cover from being opened too…

My last article on unreliable narrators touched on heroes struggling to remember their identity, and it turned my mind back to the subject of memory. This is something that I’m constantly thinking about these days, so let’s take a look at how different authors have used memory as part of their stories. The hero trying…

My local bookstore owner/writing guru recommended Philip K Dick’s “A Scanner Darkly” to me the other day and was horrified I hadn’t read it yet. The book was harrowing, horrifying, and all round an amazing read. I won’t give any spoilers away, but the story revolves around undercover narcotics agent Bob Arctor as he infiltrates…

Hi all, let’s start the week with an outrageous claim: You can write 3000 words a week, and still keep your sanity AND weekends. No, really. Don’t believe me? Allow me to share my writing schedule and see if I can convince you. The first thing you need is good prep, which is something I’ve…