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Welcome to one of my many blogs! (Don't ask.)
Warning: here there be dragons!
This is a place where you can find me, Lexi, venting and ranting and commenting and just basically babbling about... stuff. I dunno why you'd want to, this is basically a look into a madwoman's mind... Well, as long as you enjoy it and know what you're getting yourself into, knock yourself out. Not literally, though, okay?
Smooches,
♡ Lexi (CherriFaerii)

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

In Which Lexi Talks About Scary Stories and Horror Fiction

It's that time of year again. The leaves are brown. The sky is gray. Terrifying TV ads are playing constantly during commercial breaks. There are entire broadcasts dedicated to the horrifying event that will soon be upon us. People are wearing ridiculous costumes and traveling from door to door, asking for stuff.

Yep. Election time. (Badum-tish!)

Yeah, I know that joke is ooooold. But it's still hilarious!


So, unrelated to the political shenanigans of the American presidential candidates, there's also Halloween. AKA my favorite time of year. All of the best TV movies are trotted out. I get to wear outlandish makeup and paint my nails orange. No one makes fun of me for wearing my normal clothes with ghosts and bats and creepy "gawfick" stuff on them. This is truly the best time of year. (The weather leaves something to be desired, but I live in Chicago. Chicago's weather is like a bag of crazy.)

Since this momentous time is nearly upon us (seriously, my favorite time of year. I'm practically vibrating) my fiction writing teacher gave my classmates and me three short stories to read for today's class. Highly recommended - check 'em out if you can!

Ursula K LeGuin - "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas"
The city of Omelas looks like paradise upon first glance, but the city houses a terrible secret as to why its inhabitants are all so completely happy...

Roald Dahl - "The Landlady"
Billy Weaver stumbles upon a bed and breakfast that seems entirely too good to be true, and the landlady is a little too eager to have him there...

Harold Rolseth - "Hey You Down There"
Calvin and Dora Spender discover a strange cavern at the bottom of a hole meant to be a well. And even stranger, there seem to be people down there...

All three of these stories had the Shyamalan-esque "wat a tweest!" type ending - or at least, a story structure similar to one of those films - and were quick reads for anyone who complains to not have enough time. Ursula LeGuin is a highly celebrated author, so you have no excuse to not check out "Omelas".

Other than those three, I've been reading a lot of Edgar Allan Poe. His stories aren't supernaturally macabre, but instead they probe the deepest, darkest parts of humanity. You don't need ghosts and goblins for true horror; mankind can cover that pretty well.

Best part of literature? I read horror year-round. Halloween is every day for me!

Happy reading!

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