Bloodsucking Fiends:
1. Look over the discussion questions for Bloodsucking Fiends. Start a discussion going by posting your answers to Questions 2, 3, and 4 of "More Questions" and responding to the comments of others.
2. What fictional or mythical characters could you possibly write about? Why do we think about ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other monstrous creatures around the Halloween season? Do you enjoy "scary" movies? Can scary and fearful personifications be dealt with humorously? As a writer, why do you think people enjoy reading or seeing movies that portray these characters?
3 HWK:Finish Bloodsucking Fiends (if you haven't already done so).
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6 comments:
I think that somehow, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, etc. all became popular for no really direct reason, other than the writing and film that's been made about them. It would be really easy to come up with another monster if we tried -- we'd just have to market it well. Because Halloween is a time of year that celebrated death and food, we bring those two elements together and celebrate monsters -- death-making food eaters.
For the record, I hate scary movies. I don't mind something that's intersting and has a good story, but not something scary as hell that's just going to be 1 and 1/2 hours of muscle-clenching terror. I've had experiences like that and I just hate it.
I definetely think that it would be possible to deal with supposedly "scary" personifications in a humorous way. You just have to make the monsters awkward or stupid or put them in a situation they would not be normally put into, like "Seth the Vampire goes to work at the Stock Market" or something.
People like watching these monsters at the movies because.... I have no idea why, really. I think they're overplayed and corny now. There's really not much scariness left in the idea of a vampire or a werewolf or something. But there's probably some thrill for audiences when they get to watch absolute horror on a screen and know that they're safe. I think that's what it's all about.
1. See my comment under the "More Questions" section.
2. The fictional creatures I first think of writing about when I think of Halloween are vampires (duh), the creature from the black lagoon, mummies, ghouls, ghosts, and lumberjacks with hatchets. I DO NOT enjoy scary movies, because depending on their severity they give me nightmares for forever and I hate it. However, scary personifications can definitely be made humorous such as in Scooby Doo and all three of the Scary Movies (which are stupid, I think). I think that people enjoy watching scary movies for the thrill of being scared, that adrenaline rush that really comes in handy when your boyfriend is over and you need an excuse to hold onto him. Don't lie, that's the biggest reason people watch them.
--Hayley
1. I could possibly write about anything, for example elves,demons, other beings fron a different world.
2. We write about those things because sometimes our teachers make us and we have no choice but to do it. Also because it's so in season and it seems right. It's almost like a tradition to have scary things on Halloween.
3. No, I do not enjoy scary movies.
4.Sure it can. Some scary things are ironically very humorous. People that are scared is humorous.
5.I feel that people enjoy reading and watching these characters because it gives them the sense of something new. They're able to step out of the real world for a while and test the zest of a crazy, abnormal one. It's a bit like watching theatre,the peoplewant to be there to be entertained and escape their lives and be pushed into a new one.
Yup. That's it.
Sharliery A. Garcia
I actually like reading books or watching movies about mythical characters. I rather read and watch instead of writing about them. I think that people enjoy reading or watching these types of things because they know it not real and exactly have a good laugh at the things that the characters do.
Why do we associate these things with Halloween? Its because they're not normal, to our very humanized definition. Things that are not normal scare us, yet also arouse curiosity. Traditionally, Halloween was used to drive away these things-- ghosts, ghouls, vampires, werewolves (and all the other varieties of werecreatures, such as the much dreaded weresquirrel). The humorous factor of fear is actually one of the most common ways of dealing with fear. Even I'm guilty of it. WHo doesn't enjoy asking odd creatures if they're comign to poker this weekend, talk to skeletons you haven't seen since college, and give hugs to Bob the friendly werewolf (despite his menacing appearance)?
I think I would write about the more "humanly" monsters so to speak; such as vampires and witches. They have a bigger human aspect than other monsters; they can be easier to write because they are closer to ourselves. I think Halloween has a bad reputation because of the history of the holiday and how people have acted on the day in the past. Scary things usually humor me, I can be scared but I tend to find horror and gore funny. I think in some ways finding the humor in things is a coping skill when in reality you don't want to face the fears being portrayed in the movie. I think some people do love to read horror stories as long as you as an author can handle it in a light enough way; people like to be scared just as much I think people like to be scared.
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