Tag: Horror Drive-In

Horror Drive-In: Why I Dislike 'Star Wars'

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Horror Drive-InTags , , , , , 8 Comments on Horror Drive-In: Why I Dislike 'Star Wars'

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Why I Dislike Star Wars

SWPosterI was sixteen years old when Star Wars came out. Sure I saw it. Who didn’t? But allow me to go even farther back in time than that.

Science Fiction was always important to me. I had the advantage of having older siblings. Three brothers, and they all read SF. I was introduced to the genre very early on, and in fact the very first real book I read was Robert A. Heinlein’s Have Space Suit – Will Travel. Despite its unsophisticated title, it is a smart novel that is at once a satire, a rousing adventure story, and a sober look at the mechanics of human life in low or zero gravity.

From Heinlein I went on to others, like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. These guys, and maybe a few others, were about the extent that my brothers delved into the genre. Me, I went on to read it voraciously.Continue Reading

Horror Drive-In: The Book is Usually Better

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Horror Drive-InTags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments on Horror Drive-In: The Book is Usually Better

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The Book is Usually Better

You hear it all the time: The book is always better than the movie adaptation. Oddly, I mostly hear it from non-readers. They wearily repeat the mantra they’ve heard from tiresome readers like us. “I know, I know, the book is always better.”

But is it? The source novel of any adaptation is certainly much, much, better in most instances. Nearly all of them, in fact.Continue Reading

Horror Drive-In: Learning to NOT Act My Age

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Horror Drive-InTags , , , 6 Comments on Horror Drive-In: Learning to NOT Act My Age

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Learning to NOT Act My Age

I’m really not that old. Older than many readers, sure, but, hell, fifty-four is not too old these days. Anyone with at least a few years over me can roar out an accusing, “You’re just a KID!”

Fifty-four isn’t that young either. I’ve been around the block more than a few times, and I’ve been an enthusiastic genre fan for as long as I can remember. I’ve seen the trends: Indian Burial Grounds, Evil Children, Vampires, Serial Killers, Vampires, Transgressive Fiction, Zombies, Gross-out shenanigans. I’ve enjoyed all of these tropes to varying degrees. At least until they became tired cliches. And sooner or later (usually sooner) they all do.Continue Reading

Horror Drive-In: Pros and Horror Cons

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Horror Drive-InTags , , , , Leave a comment on Horror Drive-In: Pros and Horror Cons

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Pros and Horror Cons

When I mention that I am going to a horror convention, I am invariably asked the same question: Are you going to wear a costume?

Once upon a time, back in more literate days, fantasy conventions mostly consisted of professionals in the field–writers, editors, artists, publishers, etc.–getting together to talk shop. Fans also came to meet and hang out with with the authors whose works they loved.

It’s not so much like that anymore. Oh, most cons have readers, and you’ll see self-published writers along with pros trying to sell their wares. However, the focus has largely shifted away from the written word.Continue Reading

Horror Drive-In: Reading in Public

Author Cemetery Dance OnlinePosted on Categories Horror Drive-InTags , , , 14 Comments on Horror Drive-In: Reading in Public

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Reading In Public

Like most Cemetery Dance readers, I am sure, I rarely leave the house without a book in hand. Sometimes I leave a deluxe edition home and have a travel book to take with me. I guess it is similar to how some people feel about carrying a gun. Better to have a book and not need it, than need one and not have it.Continue Reading