Support Local Poetry

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

Originally posted on November 22, 2010 at 2:20 PM

The Denton Poets’ Assembly just celebrated 5 years! Yay! Happy anniversary, DPA!

I must say, I’m not one for mushy stuff. But when I moved from Austin to Denton to live with hub-a-dub, I hated it. I love hub-a-dub, but I hated Denton with a passion. When people would say conversational things like, “So, how are you liking it here so far?” I felt like reaching out and strangling them with my bare hands as I stomped on their feet and spit on the ground shouting, “I HATE IT HERE, DAMN IT. CURSES TO YOU ALL!” Okay, so maybe that’s a bit much, but I would shrug and say, “I’m still getting used to it.” Truth was, I didn’t think I’d ever be ‘used to it.’

That is, until I stumbled upon the Denton Poets’ Assembly. From the first time I went three years ago, I knew it was a group I wanted to be a part of. No matter that I was about 35 years younger than the average age or that my poetry was about vastly different things than most, they welcomed me with true enthusiasm and acceptance. It was going to that meeting each month that first made me feel like there was something in this town for me – that I might someday want to call this home.

Not only that, but it was DPA who encouraged me to start submitting my work to contests and publications. It was J. Paul Holcomb, the group’s mentor, who inspired me to start learning and writing in traditional poetic forms in any real way. It was a few special ladies who invited me into their small critique group and encouraged my confidence and pursuit of this passion I have. I count all of the members of DPA among my friends, and several of them among my closest. Thank you, Denton Poets’ Assembly, for all you’ve done for me. How ever did I get so lucky?

So it’s with true enthusiasm that I tell you all now about our newest fundraiser, which is easier and cooler than any fundraiser I’ve ever heard of. You shop on Amazon.com, yes? You plan on buying Christmas gifts there this year, yes? Well, perhaps you could add one extra click to that process. If you first go through our website and click to Amazon that way (just click the banner at the top of the page), between 4 and 15% of what you buy during that shopping trip will go to our organization. That money supports cool things like the Merging Visions Exhibit we participate in each year. Gift cards, books, home wares, DVDs, etc. all count, and once you click on our link it’s just like shopping on Amazon regularly, no extra cost to you. That’s it, seriously – no extra work. One click. We’d be much obliged.

This blog has been long enough, so I’ll bid you all farewell, good poetry, and happy shopping. (Tell your friends!)

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Vampires and Zombies, part I: introduction

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

Originally posted on December 15, 2010 at 4:25 PM

Vampires and zombies! Ah, the age-old debate.

I’m going to go ahead and say now that I’m not an expert… more like a well-educated fanatic. I know more about vampires than zombies, and won’t try to hide that I favor vampires over zombies – although I absolutely adore both. I’ve written college essays over vampires. I’ve done in depth research about both, from pre-written folkloric history of the myths to contemporary literature and movies. So I can’t pretend to know it all, but I will say that I know a lot. In fact, I think I know too much to be contained in one blog. Instead, I’ll make a little mini-series about it. How does that sound? (Before you scaredy-cats go running, trust me when I say that even if you don’t enjoy watching/reading zombie/vampire literature and movies, there is still a lot to learn from the myths and what they’re saying.)

To start with, let’s talk about the fact that the distinctions between vampires, zombies, ghosts, ghouls, and revenants weren’t always so clear-cut. In general, in the times of spoken legend and myth, there were “monsters.” Any and all living come back as the dead were terrifying, believed to be real, and sort of all the same. Ghosts, vampires, and zombies all tended to come back for loved ones to torture them and perhaps take a sip or a nibble. In fact, vampires used to not only drink blood, but eat flesh. What differentiates that from a zombie? Well, before the pop culture concept of zombies being virus-caused, which I’ll get into later: nothing.

Now, ghosts didn’t necessarily have corporeal bodies, but they could be seen to have bodies, even if they couldn’t touch. And truly, they could touch, according to some beliefs. Ghosts could inflict bodily harm just as a vampire or ghoul could. In fact, ghosts sometimes visited in people’s dreams to drain the life from them, much like our modern concept of the incubus and succubus (vampires). Again: blurry lines.

The Haitian zombie, also known as the Voodoo zombie, and the West African zombie, also known as the Vodun zombie, were thought to be brought back to life by evil magic. This is not at all unlike the Romanian and Romani vampire, which were thought to be brought to back by the dead having caused some evil crime during life. Both were thought to crawl out of their graves at night. Both were thought to feast on the living. Different cultures, such as the ones listed above, have become stereotypes or prototypes for the ancient versions of these myths, but they are by no means the only sources or the only versions. And when one removes the cultural distinguishers such as the type of religion, the race of the dead, the type of evil/magic, and the setting… well, the very first zombies and vampires become pretty much interchangeable, don’t they?

In Sex and Death in Victorian Literature, Regina Barreca states that “[a]s revenants, the once-living returned, vampires and ghosts were originally scarcely distinguishable. The first use of vampire the Oxford English Dictionary records, in 1734, defines them as ‘evil spirits’ who animate the ‘Bodies of deceased persons.’ Only gradually did vampires lose their identification with the human world to acquire the menace of a separate species.”

Next up in the discussion: the separation and popularization of both myths. Until then, interested in further reading? There’s always Wikipedia, but here are a few of my faves (some to learn from and some to disagree with):

• Auerbach, Nina. Our Vampires, Ourselves. Chicago: The University of Chicago P, 1995.
• Barreca, Regina. Sex and Death in Victorian Literature. Ed. Regina Barreca. London: The Macmillan P Ltd, 1990.
• Gilbert, Sandra M., and Susan Gubar. The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New Haven: Yale UP, 1984.
• Twitchell, James B. The Living Dead: A Study of the Vampire in Romantic Literature. Durham: Duke University P, 1981.
• Williams, Anne. The Art of Darkness: A Poetics of Gothic. Chicago: The University of Chicago P, 1995.

Be sure to check out the other posts in the series:

Vampires and Zombies, part II: the popularization of vampires (in western culture)

Vampires and Zombies, part III: the popularization of zombies (in western culture)

Vampires and Zombies, part IV: compare and contrast

Vampires and Zombies, part V: surviving the living dead

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More

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

Originally posted on November 8, 2010 at 5:55 PM

Perhaps my blog yesterday came off wrong. First and foremost, I’d like to clarify: I love blogging, and even though it’s a lot of work, I enjoy maintaining my website. I would do these things no matter what, I believe, so don’t think I have any illusions of grandeur. My main point of yesterday’s blog was venting frustration with the industry, their expectations, and the overflow of advice. I feel like I’m in a rat race.

There are sometimes things that my writership fails to illuminate for me – certain feelings and thoughts that words can’t quite shed light on. Nonetheless, I will try, because that’s what I do.

I feel something that is all but none of these things: discontent, restlessness, ambition, hopelessness, hope, eagerness, longing, aching, sorrow.

The closest thing I can think of to this emotion is when I was in high school my senior year. Senior year was really hard for me. I was captain of our dance team of about fifty girls, and I’d sort of overthrown the system and caused a lot of upset from the people who expected what they expected. (Too cryptic? Ah, delicacy.) I had broken up with my boyfriend of a year and a half, was going through a rough patch with future-hubby-to-be, still struggling with my parent’s divorce and my dad’s alcoholism, and beginning to lose my best friends to Life. I wanted out.

I knew, I just knew that I wanted to go to college out of state. Screw the costs, the homesickness, the starting over. I wanted out of Texas, my life, my unrest. I wanted more. That’s the best way I can say it. I wanted more.

(That ended up not happening, I think for the better.) But the thing is, I’ve always felt this way. I’ve always felt a sort of disquietude in the background. Usually it is soft and pliable, but at times – unprovoked by any real reasons, as far as I can see – it flares up and leaves me anxious, antsy, dissatisfied. I crave something I can’t understand or explain, and I don’t know how to get it. And I know some of you have gone there in your heads, so I’ll go ahead and say no, it’s not sexual. I’m satisfied in that department, thankyouverymuch. It’s something else. It’s almost like I’m waiting for magic. I just want more.

I’m feeling that now, that almost magical longing for something mysterious that never seems to come, and perhaps I’m taking it out on my career choice right now, because I don’t know how else to let it out. I have no reason to be dissatisfied. I have the happiest marriage I know of, a pet I adore, a beautiful house that’s all ours, a career I’m passionate about, and for that matter, a decent amount of success for my level in that career so far. And besides all that, the feeling isn’t simple ambition. So why do I feel this way? Why have I always felt this way? Why do I always want more?

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Listy McListersons

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

Originally posted on November 10, 2010 at 10:35 PM

It’s a wide-open future out there, with a lot of options. For those of you who are curious, I thought I’d break down my interests and non-interests. (Note: things I write may have elements of the list of “no” genres, but wouldn’t be classified as such.) And… I’m well aware that time changes things. I remember SWEARING to my mom when I was little that I would NEVER EVER be interested in gardening, but I’ve done quite a bit of it by now. So we’ll see. But here’s how I see it now, for all of 30 genres.

Genres I have written/would like to write some day:

• horror
• literary fiction
• gothic
• children’s lit
• poetry
• erotica
• humor
• urban fantasy (our world with a twist, a la LKH or Kim Harrison)
• women’s fiction
• slipstream
• bloggity-blog-blogging

Genres I can’t see myself ever writing:

• memoir
• sci-fi
• the “Tolkien” type of fantasy (more elves and dragons… I’m very picky about my fantasy)
• romance
• journalism
• chick lit
• crime fiction (neither detective nor true crime)
• mystery
• thriller/suspense
• steampunk/cyberpunk
• action/adventure

Genres still up for persuasion:

• select types of nonfiction
• historical fiction
• young adult
• literary criticism
• mainstream
• western
• autobiography
• scholarly essays

Aren’t quite sure what some of these are? (Hey, even industry profs can have trouble keeping up these days.) This website is rather useful, and there’s always Wikipedia!

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The Bestest Scariest Campiest Worst Funniest and Most Lovable Horror Films of All Freaking Time

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Annie Neugebauer

Originally posted on October 31, 2010 at 12:09 AM

In honor of Halloween, a lot of scary movie lists have been floating around cyberspace. As both a Halloween fanatic and horror movie enthusiast, I feel like the “Top Horror Movies of All Time” and “Scariest Movies Ever Made” lists have it wrong, for the most part, because they try to shove everything into one list. In reality, movies can be scary, fun, graphic, campy, and/or in the “horror” genre, and those are vastly different things. So I made 7, yes 7, different lists for your reading pleasure and discrimination. (Disclaimer: as much as I wish I’ve seen every horror movie ever made, I haven’t. Please forgive if I left off one of your faves.) Enjoy.

Top 16 Scariest Movies

1. Paranormal Activity- understated chill fest. The only movie that can actually keep me up at night when I’m trying to sleep. (Plus, this movie gets bonus points for not relying on CGI for the spooks.)

2. The Shining- a classic, but the book is even better. Read it.

3. Texas Chainsaw Massacre- I like the new one.

4. The Exorcist- If you were raised in religion—especially Catholicism—this one will push your buttons.

5. Halloween- Classic jump-out-and-scare-you thrills.

6. 28 Days Later- Perhaps filled with less BOO moments, this movie is terrifying for its eerie scenes and moral implications.

7. Friday the 13th – Muy divertido.

8. Psycho- One of the first horror films kids are allowed to watch due to its black-and-white innocence, this movie’s beautiful cinematography and slow pace stick with you for years.

9. Quarantine- The best zombie movie I ever saw that I went into not knowing it was a zombie movie. Perhaps scary because it’s the most realistic movie on my list.

10. Rosemary’s Baby- Another oldie, this movie strikes a chord.

11. Nightmare on Elm Street- “It’s okay, sweety, Mommy killed him.” ‘Nuff said.

12. Alien- Tension, suspense, and a set so dark you can’t see the monster until he’s right on top of you. Plus, Sigourney Weaver strips to her undies at the end, and apparently people think she’s hot (I don’t get it).

13. The Silence of the Lambs- A truly terrifying psychological thriller.

14. The Omen (1976)- Creepy-ass kid. Viscous graveyard dogs. Worked for me.

15. Dawn of the Dead (1978 )- Scarier than the new one because the zombies still walk, and somehow, much more beautifully gory.

16. Night of the Living Dead (1968 ) Black and white, slow, well-turned, and lovely. Not to mention really freakin creepy.

Top 5 Overrated “Scary” Movies

1. Jaws- Okay, I know it made a huge splash when it was new, but come on. We’re over that now, aren’t we? Haven’t you seen Shark Week???!

2. The Ring- The beginning of a long line of American films that rip off Japanese horror.

3. The Grudge- See above.

4. I am Legend- The book is so much better. The ending of this movie was a cop-out. Plus, those lions and vamps are the worst CGI I’ve ever seen.

5. Cloverfield- Not. Scary. At. All. (or good)

Top 3 Underrated/ Overlooked Scary Movies

1. Wait Until Dark- Best climax scene in a horror movie, possibly ever. The innocence of this age made scary movies work hard for their frights, and this one did. Plus, Audrey Hepburn is charming as the heroine.

2. Session 9- Low budget, predictable, but with a few scenes I will ALWAYS remember.

3. Drag me to Hell- This newer movie is a delightful throwback to the campy horror movies of yore.

3 ‘Horror’ Movies that are Great but not that Scary

1. Let the Right One In- poignant, beautiful, haunting, but not scary.

2. The Fly- fun, campy, and gross, but not scary.

3. Seven- wonderful, sick, and a masterpiece of the detective thriller genre, but not scary.

4 Movies that Aren’t Supposed to be Scary but Are

1. Earaserhead- Oh. My. God.

2. Pan’s Labyrinth- I nearly peed myself.

3. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves- The Disney version is a bit disturbing too, but I’m talking about the made-for-TV real live actors version we VHSed when I was a kid. That shit is effed up!

4. Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)- tunnel scene.

4 Awesomely Bad Horror Movies

1. Bleeders- I’ve never laughed so hard at the poor quality of a movie. An albino Johnny Depp look-alike finds out he’s related to inbred royalty monster that live under an island. The last line *spoiler* is, and I quote: “John was reunited with the Van Dam family, and he found that he too had a twin, and although his sister could make love to herself, she welcomed her long lost brother, and loved him too.” How could you NOT want to watch that?

2. The Asylum?- I wish I could find the title of this awesomely bad flick, but I can’t pin it down. Low budget, predictable, hilarious. The best scene is when one guy opens the fridge, is decapitated, and the killer gets ketchup-blood squirted all over his ghost-style sheet frock. Darn.

3. The Blob- So, so bad. Ah, the innocence.

4. The Saw Franchise- Unapologetic, disgracefully conniving, high-budget cheese.

And 1 Just Plain Bad Horror

1. Mothman Prophecies- Not good enough to be good; not bad enough to be funny. Please, oh please, don’t ever see this piece of crap.

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