Types of Monsters

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

“That truth is that monsters are real, and ghosts are real, too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win.”– Stephen King, Introduction to The Shining (Simon and Schuster edition, 2002)

(I made that sign. Isn’t it cute?)

Ah, October. What a lovely, spooky month. And what better time to turn our minds to thoughts of goblins, beasts, vampires, murdering psychopaths, ghouls, zombies, and the occasional resident ghost?

Wikipedia tells me that “the word ‘monster’ derives from Latin monstrum, an aberrant occurrence, usually biological, that was taken as a sign that something was wrong within the natural order.” So if you think about it, monsters are simply the abnormal in the worst possible way — anything different that is perceived as frightening.

Since I love to categorize and classify things, let’s break it down, shall we?

(Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

I contend that there are only 2 broad types of monsters:
1) Physical
2) Metaphysical

A monster is one, the other, or both. No monster is neither, or it does not exist and is therefore not a monster.

And all monsters can be categorized in one or more of the following sub-types:

Alien– from another planet/world/dimension/time
example: Alien

Belief-based– only exists if the victim believes it exists
example: Voodoo creatures

Historical– long-lost, previously existing creature
example: Bigfoot, King Kong

Human– people, but bad
example: Psycho, American Psycho

Supernatural– things with no explanation other than “it just is”

Magic– spells, power, ritual, etc.
example: Pet Cemetary

Religious/mythological– beings created by higher powers
example: Cerberus, Satan

Biological– a being or creature with a viable scientific explanation

Man-made– an experiment
example: Mr. Hyde

Natural– a species created through evolution, etc.
example: apes in Planet of the Apes, Graboids in Tremors

Perceived/false– the faux monster
example: The Sandlot’s “The Beast,” To Kill a Mockingbird’s Boo Radley

And all of these types are scary for one or more of these reasons:
Malicious intent

Motive unknown
example: Michael Myers in Halloween

Motive known
example: Aileen Wuornos in Monster

Instability of motive
example: Jack Torrance in The Shining

Superior ability

Intelligence
example: Jigsaw

Strength
example: Jason

Speed
example: 28 Days Later zombies

Authority
example: Hellraiser, Lestat

Powers
example: The Ring, The Faculty

Willingness to do evil
example: villains in Scream, killer in Frailty

Physical appearance
example: Nosferatu, The Grudge, monster in Pan’s Labyrinth

The unknown
example: The Sixth Sense

Distant presence
example: The Blair Witch Project

All of this works together to create a sense of inevitability, a sort of looming powerlessness as if the protagonist/victim is helpless against what’s coming. And that, my friends, is why monsters are scary.

What do you think? Who (or what) is your favorite monster? What “type” are they? And of all the types, which kind is the scariest to you?

I’ll be doing several scary/horror-based posts this month in honor of Halloween. Welcome to my dark little corner of the world. Happy October.

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in Horror | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Organizational Tools for Writers

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

I have a whole page of free resources for writers: The Organized Writer. If you’re not already familiar, please stop by! Just hover over the tab at the top of this website for a dropdown menu, or go to: https://annieneugebauer.com/the-organized-writer-2/. … Continue reading →

More Galleries | Comments Off on Organizational Tools for Writers

Welcome!

Posted on September 26, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

Hello old friends, new friends, and random stumble-uponers! You’ve found my brand new website, AnnieNeugebauer.com. I’m so happy that you’re here. =)

Those of you who followed my old blog through Webs, which I had for 2 ½ years, might be wondering why I’ve switched to WordPress. There are several reasons. Webs made it incredibly difficult for you guys to leave comments on my blogs, which was disheartening for me and annoying for you. And since Webs is incompatible with outside programs such as Disqus, there was no way to fix that. On top of that, Webs’ sidebar was extremely limited, and didn’t allow widgets such as the Google Friends Connect membership box, which is the easiest way for most people to join a website.

My new website has both. You can comment on blogs using your Disqus, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Yahoo, or OpenID account. And if you don’t have any of those, you can still comment as a guest; just type in your name and email. You won’t be whisked off to other pages or have to retype your comment if you forget to log in first. And at the top of the sidebar, you can join my website using your Google, Twitter, or Blogger accounts. Another option is to subscribe by email. As you can see, showing your support and getting involved is a lot easier over here!

I’ve also made some obvious layout changes. The colors and graphics are all new (and much more representative of me and my body of work), the pages are organized in a slightly different, more streamlined way, and my URL is now my full publishing name.

I’m excited about the changes and happy for the move. I love the design and functionality of my new site, but I am sad about some unavoidable consequences. In closing Webs (who also isn’t compatible with any import/export systems), I’ve lost about 60 members, 7,500 hits, and countless comments on my blogs, guestbook, and poems. Ultimately, I had to switch sometime, and the sooner I did it the less I would lose. It was time.

So overall, my spirits are high. I’d love for you to join my site and/or leave your thoughts on posts, regardless of whether you were a part of the old blog or not. I have high hopes for my new digital home, and I hope you all enjoy the changes. Peace and penguins,

Annie

PS- Don’t forget to update your bookmarks and/or blogrolls with my new URL!

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in Updates & Announcements | Tagged | 6 Comments

15 Ways to Tell whether you are a Critique Group Regular, or Veteran

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

‎ Originally posted on Sunday, ‎September ‎11, ‎2011, ‏‎2:45:00 PM

15.

You’re a critique group regular if… your paperclips constantly mysteriously disappear.

You’re a critique group veteran if… your paperclips constantly find themselves replaced with different paperclips.

14.

You’re a critique group regular if… you know all the writing terminology (“show don’t tell,” “point of view switch,” “dangling modifier”;).

You’re a critique group veteran if… you’ve developed your own writing terminology (“distancers,” “emotional honesty,” “clarity paranoia”;).

13.

You’re a critique group regular if… your cat has finally gotten bored with your printer.

You’re a critique group veteran if… your cat has a personal vendetta against your printer.

12.

You’re a critique group regular if… you carry a red pen in your purse (or pants).

You’re a critique group veteran if… you carry a blue/purple/green pen in your purse or pants, because red makes you twitch.

11.

You’re a critique group regular if… you’ve become a master at doling out “shit sandwiches” (compliment, critique, compliment).

You’re a critique group veteran if… you’ve actually come to like the taste of shit sandwiches.

10.

You’re a critique group regular if… every night you tell your spouse or roommate what they could have improved on that day.

You’re a critique group veteran if… every night you tell your pets what they could have improved on that day.

9.

You’re a critique group regular if… you’ve begun recycling because you feel guilty using so much paper.

You’re a critique group veteran if… trees curse you as you walk by.

8.

You’re a critique group regular if… the regulars in your critique group have become some of your closest friends.

You’re a critique group veteran if… the regulars in your critique group have become your only friends.

7.

You’re a critique group regular if… when your alarm clock goes off, you think it’s time to move on to the next writer.

You’re a critique group veteran if… when your alarm clock goes off, you start talking faster.

6.

You’re a critique group regular if… you know better than anyone that libraries are the coldest places on earth.

You’re a critique group veteran if… you’ve learned to thrive in hypothermic conditions.

5.

You’re a critique group regular if… you can only read books six pages at a time.

You’re a critique group veteran if… all of your books have editing marks in them – even the library books (whoops).

4.

You’re a critique group regular if… you know to go easy on the noobs (double-stacked shit sandwiches).

You’re a critique group veteran if… you know instinctively which noobs to go easy on.

3.

You’re a critique group regular if… you’ve gotten more tactful at defending your choices during group.

You’re a critique group veteran if… you’ve stopped trying to defend your choices – ever.

2.

You’re a critique group regular if… you’ve started printing on the backs of your pages.

You’re a critique group veteran if… you steal paper out of recycling bins to print on the back of.

1.

You’re a critique group regular if… things you read/hear/see make you think of your critique partners’ stories.

You’re a critique group veteran if… things you read/hear/see make you think of your critique partners.

Note: My critique group is awesome! We’re full of regulars and veterans, plus the occasional unsuspecting noob. 😛 If you’re looking for a group in the Denton/DFW area, we’d love for you to stop by!

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in Silly Stuff | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Founding Fathers (and Mothers) of Horror Literature

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

Originally posted on Wednesday, ‎August ‎31, ‎2011, ‏‎5:20:00 PM

Great Grandpa Walpole

Horace Walpole (1717 – 1797)

“Posterity always degenerates till it becomes our ancestors.” – Horace Walpole

The horror genre, like it or not, has its roots deeply in Gothicism. In fact, although today gothic lit is a subgenre of horror, horror sprang from Gothicism. We have Mr. Walpole to thank for that.

Read: The Castle of Otranto, 1764

Great Aunt Radcliffe

Ann Radcliffe (1764 – 1823)

“It is women who bear the race in bloody agony. Suffering is a kind of horror. Blood is a kind of horror. Women are born with horror in their very bloodstream. It is a biological thing.” –Bela Lugosi

Ah, the first matriarch of the genre. You quite simply have to love her – long-windedness and innocence be damned. I talk about Radcliffe in my discussion of horror and terror, here.

Read: The Mysteries of Udolpho, 1794

Great Creepy Uncle Lewis

Matthew Lewis (1775–1818)

“Matthew Lewis [was] the genre’s first punk, the Johnny Rotten of the Gothic novel.” – Stephen King

Lewis used Radcliffe and Walpole’s ideas and twisted them all to hell. Talk about embracing the dark side. This is one uncle you don’t want at your family reunion.

Read: The Monk, 1796

Mammy Shelley

Mary Shelley (1797 – 1851)

“…Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.” –Stephen King

Ms. Shelley’s is the first gothic horror novel to be considered literary. She also, arguably, helped fuel the zombie genre. For that, I salute her.

Read: Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus, 1818

Papa Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (1809 – 1849)

“Poe was the first writer to write about main characters who were bad guys or who were mad guys, and those are some of my favorite stories.” – Stephen King

“Now all of my mail goes out with a picture of Poe on the cover, and under that stamp I always write: ‘My Papa.’” — Ray Bradbury

Papa Poe. The first American writer to popularize the scary, dark underworld of the macabre. We all owe him homage, from sci-fi to mystery to poetry to horror. I sing Poe’s praises here and here.

Read: short stories such as “The Tell-Tale Heart,” in the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

Great Aunties Bronte

Emily Bronte (1818 – 1848)

Charlotte Bronte (1816 – 1855)

“The intense horror of nightmare came over me: I tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice sobbed, ‘Let me in – let me in!’” — Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights)

“”Of the foul German spectre – the Vampyre.”” –Charlotte Brontë (Jane Eyre)

It is, perhaps, unfair to clump these two fearless ladies together… but it’s so convenient. Welcome to the crew, Sisters Grimm.

Read: Wuthering Heights, 1847 & Jane Eyre, 1847

Great Uncle Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 – 1894)

“Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm. ” — Robert Louis Stevenson (Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde)

Yet another horror author who has managed to earn the qualifier of “literary,” paving the way for us all.

Read: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 1886

Great Uncle Wilde

Oscar Wilde (1854 – 1900)

“The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.” –Oscar Wilde, The Critic as Artist, 1891

For ghouls like me, Dorian Gray was the best part of English class in high school.

Read: The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890

Great Step Uncle Twice Removed Stoker

Bram Stoker (1847 – 1912)

“Listen to them – children of the night. What music they make.” — Bram Stoker, Dracula

Who doesn’t love their great step uncle twice removed? I know I do.

Read: Dracula, 1897

Great Uncle James

M. R. James (1862 – 1936)

“Reticence may be an elderly doctrine to preach, yet from the artistic point of view I am sure it is a sound one. Reticence conduces to effect, blatancy ruins it.” –MR James

I admit that I haven’t read anything by MR James. But based on how many scholars consider him influential, he’s gone to the top of my to-read list.

Read: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, 1904

Great Uncle Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft (1890 – 1937)

“[Lovecraft has exerted] an incalculable influence on succeeding generations of writers of horror fiction.” –Joyce Carol Oates

“[Lovecraft is] the twentieth century’s greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale.” –Stephen King

Lovecraft is well known for his “weird tales” that weave together sci-fi, fantasy, and horror. He’s one of the most-referenced of the horror subculture, so he’s worth a read.

Read: short stories such as “The Call of Cthulhu,” 1928

Granddaddy Bradbury

Ray Bradbury (1920 – present)

“My first experience of real horror came at the hands of Ray Bradbury.” – Stephen King

One of my personal favorites, Ray Bradbury almost single-handedly brought horror and dark fantasy to the forefront of the 20th century.

Read: short stories such as “The Scythe” in his collection The October Country, 1955

Uncle Matheson

Richard Matheson (1926 – present)

“I had written a short story, which I basically had ripped off from a Richard Matheson novel called I Am Legend.” — George A. Romero on Night of the Living Dead

“When I was a child we had a story from the library called ‘The White Silk Dress.’ A child vampire told the story in the first person, and I thought it was quite wonderful. I was 8 or 9 years old and I never forgot it. I wanted to get into that vampire. That was the interesting point of view to me – the people right in the center of it all.” — Anne Rice on Richard Matheson’s “Dress of White Silk”

“The author who influenced me the most as a writer was Richard Matheson.” — Stephen King

“[Richard Matheson is] one of the most important writers of the twentieth century.” — Ray Bradbury

Although I am Legend is a vampire novel, it drastically changed the face of the zombie genre, and was the first novel to popularize the concept of a post-apocalyptic world.

Read: I am Legend, 1954

Uncle Stevie

Stephen King (1947 – present)

“I thought The Shining was just absolutely wonderful. Stephen King reaches all kinds of people. In the beginning he was just dismissed out of hand, which was terrible.” –Anne Rice

“People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy — and I keep it in a jar on my desk.” – Stephen King

Who hasn’t heard of Stephen King? He’s the most popular horror author of our time – arguably of all time. And gosh, isn’t he quotable?

Read: Carrie, 1973

Aunt Rice

Anne Rice (1941 – present)

“I know nothing of god or the devil. I have never learned a secret nor found a cure that would damn or save my soul.” — Anne Rice

Anne Rice is fiercely intelligent. She combined that with quality writing and a juicy subject to create a resurgence of the vampire.

Read: Interview with the Vampire, 1976

Aunt Andrews

VC Andrews (1923 – 1986)

“The face of fear I display in my novels is not the pale specter from the sunken grave, nor is it the thing that goes bump in the night. Mine are the deep-seated fears established when we are children, and they never quite go away: the fear of being helpless, the fear of being trapped, the fear of being out of control.” –VC Andrews

The most modern popular gothic, Andrews went back to the roots of the genre but set it in modern day. Make no mistake, these books might be shelved under horror, but they are gothic through and through.

Read: Flowers in the Attic, 1979

Uncle Ketchum

Jack Ketchum (1946 – present)

“Who’s the scariest guy in America? Probably Jack Ketchum.” — Stephen King

Another one of my personal favorites, Jack Ketchum is the epitome of contemporary horror. Prolific, critically acclaimed as well as wildly popular, well-spoken, and photogenic with unusually gorgeous hair, who wouldn’t love him?

Read: Off Season, 1980

Aunt Hamilton

Laurell K. Hamilton (1963 – present)

“I wasn’t like most girls.” –Laurell K. Hamilton

Ah, Ms. Hamilton. Anyone who reads my blog knows how much I love and am inspired by her. She’s not strictly horror, but that’s actually why she’s on this list. LKH has had a huge part in the division and dispersement of horror into other genres. And although I adore her rule-breaking genre melding (her books could easily be shelved in horror, fantasy, mystery, or even erotica — her main vampire made my Top 10 Sexy Vampires list), I admit that I am hoping for a horror renaissance any day now. Hopefully brought about in part by yours truly.

Read: Guilty Pleasures, 1993

What do you think? I know I left off someone you love! Go ahead, be outraged. Share your faves who didn’t make the list in the comments below. Don’t forget to tell us why!

Share this:
Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedintumblrmail
Posted in Authors | Tagged , , | 5 Comments