The horror, the science fiction, the references!
I have to admit, I have to come clean: I adore horror films and equally adore science fiction.
You could also wonder if there is anything wrong with me, but apparently my therapist (if I ever had one) assures me that I am in fact quite sane. I am also rather sanitary, so you could order one of me as a pet and not have too many problems in getting another version of me house-trained, which is quite a comforting thought.
I do believe that my love for these genres stems from my early years in exploring the wondrous world of the local library.
Yes, I also love books and reading. I am thàt weird.
My grandmother used to read stories to me a lot of the time when I was but a sapling, and as tradition wants, a great deal of the reading concerned fairytales. You would be forgiven in asking where the correlation lies between fairytales and horror/science fiction, but in my opinion, the link is pretty darn obvious. You see, most fairytales already have a certain amount of horror in them. There are limbs separated from bodies, burnings, decapitations, transformations, ogres, dangerous animals, dragons, lions and tigers and bears, oh my! So in that respect, a fascination with fairytales does lend itself to exploring the darker themes of the literary and audiovisual world. So imagine my elation when it turned out I could explore the vast expanses of the library and pretty much take what I wanted and could to read and explore some more! Well, sure, there were certain age restrictions, but in point of fact, my library was rather lenient when it came to which books I could read. Or maybe they just did not care, that is also a very likely possibility. I have never understood age restrictions on books anyway, because they are often so silly and random. I mean, if you read a lot, you automatically get better at reading and join a higher echelon of other readers, so why on Earth would anyone stunt your growth because you happen to be two years too young?
But my major inspiration and interest was always pekaed by comics. I loved the darker ones, the ones with intriguing and captivating covers and more often than not, these were found in the aforementioned genres. What is there not to like about covers that display blood, monsters, robots, lasers, far-off worlds and the like?
Precisely.
So henceforth my love for those things was born and grew and was stimulated by my subsequent refusal to pretty much read anything outside of those boundaries. I will be the first to admit that this narrow vision probably denied me of many a great novel, but what the heck.
And then the magic age where you could venture into the adult section. I was twelve. Things were never the same. Because I discovered Stephen King.
Yes, you could argue that the good man is rather prolific and that many (if not most) of his stories have the same tropes like alcoholic writers, Maine and kids, but then you would in fact be missing the point of his genius. Stephen King novels read like nothing else. They pass by swiftly, yet you never feel that you are missing anything. The man knows his atmosphere and knows how to get your attention. It works on so many levels and nowadays it is easy to make fun of his recurring themes and tropes. But you should not forget that he has written the proverbial shitload of books, so there are bound to be elements that return.
I love Stephen King to the death and will violently defend him. In writing. Perhaps not physically. Although...
Science fiction was the other end of the stick and there I also have to 'blame' cartoons for my obsession with space, aliens and robots. Or space alien robots. Or any variation of that terminology you would like to throw out there. Blame 'Masters of the Universe', 'Thundercats', 'Fist of the North Star'. And before all else: blame 'Transformers'.
I am not too proud to say it out loud: I will always, deeply, truly, madly love 'Transformers'. I even have the logo tattooed on my right shoulder, because I want to take them with me wherever I go, even into death.
So yes, I also have a thing for robots, and that already came into fruition even before I realized that Japan had/tons more of giant robot content for me to peruse and enjoy.
Life truly became wondrous from that point on. And I will never back down from these obsessions.
Bah weep granna weep niddy bong.
And if you don't know what that phrase means or where it comes from, I'm sure you can look it up. If you do know what it is, I applaud you and you have come to the right place.
You could also wonder if there is anything wrong with me, but apparently my therapist (if I ever had one) assures me that I am in fact quite sane. I am also rather sanitary, so you could order one of me as a pet and not have too many problems in getting another version of me house-trained, which is quite a comforting thought.
I do believe that my love for these genres stems from my early years in exploring the wondrous world of the local library.
Yes, I also love books and reading. I am thàt weird.
My grandmother used to read stories to me a lot of the time when I was but a sapling, and as tradition wants, a great deal of the reading concerned fairytales. You would be forgiven in asking where the correlation lies between fairytales and horror/science fiction, but in my opinion, the link is pretty darn obvious. You see, most fairytales already have a certain amount of horror in them. There are limbs separated from bodies, burnings, decapitations, transformations, ogres, dangerous animals, dragons, lions and tigers and bears, oh my! So in that respect, a fascination with fairytales does lend itself to exploring the darker themes of the literary and audiovisual world. So imagine my elation when it turned out I could explore the vast expanses of the library and pretty much take what I wanted and could to read and explore some more! Well, sure, there were certain age restrictions, but in point of fact, my library was rather lenient when it came to which books I could read. Or maybe they just did not care, that is also a very likely possibility. I have never understood age restrictions on books anyway, because they are often so silly and random. I mean, if you read a lot, you automatically get better at reading and join a higher echelon of other readers, so why on Earth would anyone stunt your growth because you happen to be two years too young?
But my major inspiration and interest was always pekaed by comics. I loved the darker ones, the ones with intriguing and captivating covers and more often than not, these were found in the aforementioned genres. What is there not to like about covers that display blood, monsters, robots, lasers, far-off worlds and the like?
Precisely.
So henceforth my love for those things was born and grew and was stimulated by my subsequent refusal to pretty much read anything outside of those boundaries. I will be the first to admit that this narrow vision probably denied me of many a great novel, but what the heck.
And then the magic age where you could venture into the adult section. I was twelve. Things were never the same. Because I discovered Stephen King.
Yes, you could argue that the good man is rather prolific and that many (if not most) of his stories have the same tropes like alcoholic writers, Maine and kids, but then you would in fact be missing the point of his genius. Stephen King novels read like nothing else. They pass by swiftly, yet you never feel that you are missing anything. The man knows his atmosphere and knows how to get your attention. It works on so many levels and nowadays it is easy to make fun of his recurring themes and tropes. But you should not forget that he has written the proverbial shitload of books, so there are bound to be elements that return.
I love Stephen King to the death and will violently defend him. In writing. Perhaps not physically. Although...
Science fiction was the other end of the stick and there I also have to 'blame' cartoons for my obsession with space, aliens and robots. Or space alien robots. Or any variation of that terminology you would like to throw out there. Blame 'Masters of the Universe', 'Thundercats', 'Fist of the North Star'. And before all else: blame 'Transformers'.
I am not too proud to say it out loud: I will always, deeply, truly, madly love 'Transformers'. I even have the logo tattooed on my right shoulder, because I want to take them with me wherever I go, even into death.
So yes, I also have a thing for robots, and that already came into fruition even before I realized that Japan had/tons more of giant robot content for me to peruse and enjoy.
Life truly became wondrous from that point on. And I will never back down from these obsessions.
Bah weep granna weep niddy bong.
And if you don't know what that phrase means or where it comes from, I'm sure you can look it up. If you do know what it is, I applaud you and you have come to the right place.
Reacties
Een reactie posten