David Wellington - Monster Island

I think zombie concept is one of the most popular “what if ?“ scenarios out there. And I see some really good what if stories more and more each day. Like Superman – The Red Son, where superman is the pride of Soviet Union and Lex Luthor is the smartest man and the hero of America. Great graphic novel, I recommend to everyone. Especially to the ones who enjoy reading stories where things are upside down. David Wellington's Monster Island is one of them. Things go upside down in this story. In many ways.

In Monster Island, we have a doomed world. A world with full of zombies, almost completely full. We learn that the most developed counties of the world are overrun by zombies and we have a chance to take a look at things at deserted streets of Manhattan in Dekalb's (the main character of Monster Island) perspective. So far things are pretty cliché for a zombie scenario right ? It still can be a good “what if” story even it's a cliché. But what differs Monster Island from other zombie stories is that in this scenario least developed 3^rd world countries are in charge of things especially Somalia, despite their fanatic (also scarry, to some people) ideological ideas, they are the only hope of the world - which is a great “what if” scenario when combined with the zombie setting. Dekalb is an American citizen, surrounded by Somalian girl soldiers (who are in school uniforms and very young and cold blooded – wow) and together, they seek something which they need desperately in streets of Manhattan and eventually many interesting things happen there. Not only in terms of action scenes but also in terms of cultural and social issues. Like the shock of an american character when he finds himself in Time Square with no lights while the world is full of walking human corpses. There are little things like that worth underlining in this story and I really liked the Wellington's sensitive attitude about it.

In Monster Island, we have an undead who's capable of thinking – another good “what if” to add to the story – Gary who used to be a medical assistant. I think he is a such an unfortunate character in terms of things that happen to him. But really interesting to read. In chapters which Dekalb and Gary are separate we see things in 3^rd person in Gary's parts and in Dekalb, we see things from his point of view. I think combination of this 2 different writing styles adds energy to the story and helps to keep things interesting for the reader.

If I had to recommend this book to someone in one sentence I would say “it's the combination of Walking Dead and Y, The Last Man on Earth” I think, that would explain enough.

Thoughts about H.P Lovecraft and Japanese Horror

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, one of the masters of horror/gothic literature – the creator of indescribable monsters and worlds. The first time i've heard this name I was 15 years old and to be honest, wasn't very interested in gothic literature with it's use of flowery words. Although I remember I read in somewhere that his style was not like the others, that his stories were way beyond it's time. I wanted to know more so I decided to read some of his stories. Some of them I liked, some I did not even understood back then. But there was always something in his stories, in his worlds that attracted me. When I saw some of stories on the list, I decided to take the opportunity of jumping into his mystical worlds again, this time with it's original language for the first time.(it had been 3 years since I read a Lovecraft story).

I read the two short stories on the list ( the unnamable and what the moon brings). And I must say I used the dictionary a lot and I think I am going to read them again. I don't want to write about the stories individually here. What I want to write about is that why I enjoy reading Lovecraft (even though having a tough time when I read of his works) and what is the relation between Lovecraft horror and Japanese Horror.

When I read a book, the first things I notice and pay attention to are the characters and the use of language, it's accessibility (like everybody). I must say none of those elements in Lovecraft's stories are enjoyable for me ; completely boring and passive characters, no dialogues, complicated and long descriptions. But once you get the picture that he describes... You don't need anything. You don't need to know the rest of the story, or it's ending. Everything is in that moment, in that place that you create in your mind. I think Lovecraft stories let their readers to figure things out on their own most of the time. He only shows some hints and then gives the rest to you. That old house and it's broken windows, and that “unnamable” demon for instance (in the short story, the unnamable). I sometimes ask myself the question of is it the power of my imagination or the power of the stories but I can almost smell the things that Lovecraft describes.

The connection between j-horror and lovecraft

In Japanese horror stories, things go slow, usually. Like it's discussed in the class, J-horror is very much like a rollercoaster that's heading towards to it's peak. I think same thing can be said about Lovecraft's style. They may not be similar in terms of settings, characters (popularity of women characters in J-horror can't be found in any Lovecraft story for instance) and culture but they still share the same techniques. In addition, the amount of intensity of horrific elements are almost at the same level in both styles and when compared to hollywood productions, there is a big difference In terms of that level of intensity.

H.P Lovecraft says that “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” And I think the fear of the unknown is the strongest element in J-horror.

Frankenstein

  I must say that I have never watched a Frankenstein movie or read any graphic novels related to him. So this novel is my first experience with the huge, sad monster.

  I enjoyed the Shelley's use of language and the way she explains the emotions that characters feel. This novel is one of the oldest horror, science fiction pieces so I did not expect something that would scare me or thrill me (I think H.P Lovecraft is an exception to this factor, his works will never get old)  so I focused more into the way it's written and the way Shelley described things. I must say that I really liked first parts of the novel. The mails sent by Walton to his sister adds the novel a realistic, some sort of a documentary feeling. As readers, those mails puts us to her position, and for the most part of the novel we, the readers are in Walton's position, listening the story from Victor Frankeinstein. This some sort of simulation, reading the novel from the perspective of a character is something I really like and find interesting in novels.

 I think my favorite character in the story is Victor, the creator of the monster. I don't think he was the villain of the story. He was just following his desires blindly which did not lead him to a good path.

Marry Shelley's Frankenstein, with it's strong depictions of emotions and it's combination of horror-science fiction is definitely deserves of being a classic. No wonder it did not fade away in the past.

Zombies and their popularity

   There are several reasons that make zombie movies so popular. I think the most important reason is that they can fit easily to most types of fictional movies or novels as monsters. So we see them in many horror movies or sci-fi horror movies. Zombies are one of the rare monster types that they can even be used as comedy objects. Like vampires (who can forget "Dracula 2000"), they can almost be part of any trend or timeline which makes the monster rich and give it many possibilities. I really don't think i would watch a fantasy movie which would make me think that zombies do not fit in it well. They are probably the richest monster type and yet they still continue to evolve with every movie or game or graphic novel.