Horror Novel:
Joe Hill’s sophomore novel, Horns, is a revenge thriller with all the pieces of a great story: characters that breathe, love, and bleed; a fantastic mystery yarn wound tightly and ingeniously; all-around great writing. The phenomenal voice and plotting found in Hill’s debut, Heart-Shaped Box, is present in Horns tenfold. After awakening one morning with a terrible hangover, Ig Perrish notices that he’s grown a pair of “knobby pointed protuberances” atop his head. Immediately thereafter, he starts hearing the sinful desires of everyone he’s ever known, and the evil that ruined his life starts to unfold into a search for his fiance’s killer, which will lead him to a terrible truth. One of the most chilling antagonists I’ve encountered in a novel.
Science Fiction Novel:
Tobias S. Buckell’s first novel, Crystal Rain, is the first installment in what he calls the Xenowealth saga, which also includes Ragamuffin and Sly Mongoose. Buckell envisions a universe where humankind has fled an alien-dominated Earth by way of a network of wormholes, some of which have been destroyed. As a result, humanity is scattered and separated; and on planet Nanagada, an isolated steampunk world populated by descendants of the Caribbean, alien gods in search of ancient machines ignite a brutal war.
Short Story Collection:
King is known, first and foremost, as one of the greatest living American novelists. Hell, that’s exactly what he is. But his short stories are among the best you’re likely to find, and this collection of somewhat mundane, post-9/11 terrors features some of the best work of his career. They’re full of life and insight, and exhibit King’s unwavering passion for language and storytelling. My personal favorites in the bunch are “N.,” which is rightly called a novella, and the strange but darkly believable “Mute.” This is the book that got me to start taking my writing seriously; it renewed my love of storytelling.
Nonfiction:
Edited by horror veteran Mort Castle, the Horror Writers Association’s On Writing Horror: Revised Edition has more to teach the modern writer of horror fiction than any other book I’ve read. I’ve read On Writing, How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Zen in the Art of Writing, Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, and How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and none of the advice in those books — despite how helpful they were, which was admittedly a great deal — even comes close to the level of relevance and utility to be found in this handbook. Each chapter is penned by a different established professional in the field, and no topic is covered twice. The TOC features names like King, Oates, Ramsey Campbell, J. N. Williamson, Joe R. Lansdale, Nick Mamatas, Jack Ketchum, Douglas E. Winter, and Scott Nicholson. Topics range from the value of stretching outside your comfort zone and learning something new through research to the importance of writing about the local color of your hometown/region; from researching short fiction markets to the value of horror anthologies (the “new pulps”); from the potential of the small press to the blurring of boundaries between horror and literary fiction.
Essay:
Ray Bradbury is one of the great artists of our time; a poet, a novelist, a man whose work feels invariably timeless and truthful. In his collection of essays on creativity, Zen in the Art of Writing, he reveals the learning process as he discovered it, and more importantly explains his technique for mapping and unearthing the fruits of the subconscious. In the essay “Run Fast, Stand Still, or, The Thing at the Top of the Stairs, or, New Ghosts from Old Minds,” he reveals how early in his career he began making lists of titles, essentially lists of nouns, which he would draw from the top of his head and then later, when it was time to create something new, would start to suggest relationships between events forgotten from his childhood or even recall old fears to the surface. One of the most enlightening, and downright comforting, explorations of the creative process. But of course when you’re Ray Bradbury, I suppose it’s hard not to make things sound easy.
Film:
Anton Corbijn’s 2007 biographical film of Ian Curtis, the tragic frontman of the short-lived, insanely influental post-punk band Joy Division, is nothing short of beautiful. Corbijn is quite probably the greatest portrait photographer of our time, and that is precisely what he gives us in his directorial debut, Control: a two-hour, black and white portrait of one young man’s rise to the height of his fame; and also an enthralling, and utterly heartbreaking, tale of lost love. Aside from some of the greatest cinematography I’ve ever seen, the film has a kick-ass soundtrack comprised of songs that span the band’s full career, starting with their humble beginnings in the smoky pubs of Manchester.
Album:
John Mayer’s music has carried me through some low, low times in my life. His 2007 album, Continuum, instilled in me an eternal love for the blues, a new appreciation for heartfelt lyrics, and a fascination with the soulfulness of a guitar played with subtlety and restraint. This follow-up live album, Where the Light Is, changed my guitar playing and musical taste forever. The balance of raw energy and masterful control is mind-blowing. You’d think his playing would fry his amps, but instead the creamy overdrive just gives his guitar a voice to rival even the all-time greats. The John Mayer Trio original “Good Love Is on the Way,” the acoustic ballad “In Your Atmosphere,” and tracks off the Continuum record, like the hard-hitter “Belief,” make this gorgeous feature-length film and companion double-disc album one of the greatest gifts music has ever given me.
Comic:
Alan Moore has been one of the most valuable contributors to popular culture and literature in the past century, and in doing so has made the graphic novel a mainstream storytelling format. Books like Watchmen and V for Vendetta are among the masterworks for which he’ll be forever revered, but my personal favorite is The Killing Joke, perhaps the darkest, most human tale of The Dark Knight’s greatest adversary. I’m a huge fan of Batman in the broadest sense, but if I had to choose one story that perfectly captures the essence of the mythos, it’s this medium-length graphic novel. I’ll avoid too many specifics, but will say that this is a gruesome, gritty, and all-too-believable story, which traces the origin of the Joker, and tests the threshold of Lieutenant Jim Gordan’s sanity. And for anyone wondering: the titular “killing joke” is actually hilarious; a real knee-slapper, even if it means I’m crazy for saying so.
Game:
I’ve been a fan of the Splinter Cell games from the start. A lot’s changed in this latest installment, though: Sam Fisher is a truly free agent, having no ties to his former career — only his friends, memories, and conviction remain. And as a result, the gameplay has changed a great deal to accommodate Fisher’s new temperament. Stealth is reduced to the bone, becoming merely a tactical component — most of the conversational and reconnaissance aspects of the game involve bashing an opponent’s head through a ceramic sink or window, or by targeting multiple enemies’ heads via the “Execute” gameplay function, hitting the “Y” button, and watching bullets and blood spray through the air with the level of flair and badassery you’d expect from a rogue Sam Fisher. The story follows Sam through a series of revelations about the fate of his daughter, her killers, the now-dead Lambert, who was once Sam’s boss, and other former comrades — such as Agent Grimsdottir, and a fellow soldier who fought alongside Fisher in Iraq during the first Gulf War. No fan of the Splinter Cell series will be disappointed upon trying out Sam’s continued story in Conviction, but will certainly be delighted — or made furious — by more than a few shocking surprises along the way.
