Ania Ahlborn's Blog, page 11

The Shining and Room 237

The Shining is one of my all-time favorite horror movies. At this point, I’ve probably seen it close to a dozen times, and somehow that doesn’t seem to matter. If the mood catches me right, I’ll sit down and watch it from the eerie opening shot of Jack Torrence driving up a majestic mountain to the end credits andstill think to myself, “damn, that’s one hell of a film.” That being said, when I heard about Room 237, I was eager to see it. It’s a shame I didn’t like it. I thought the analytical...

Storyville: Writing Horror

ARTICLE VIA LITREACTOR | COLUMN BYRICHARD THOMAS

In my opinion, two of the hardest genres to write are horror and comedy. Why? Because both are so subjective. What might make one person laugh will leave another unaffected, and what will scare the hell out of one person will leave another bored. So know that you are taking on a difficult task when writing horror. But as there are millions of books sold every year by the masters of the genre, there is obviously an audience for dark fiction. In t...

The Shuddering Giveaway!

Win an autographed copy of The Shuddering! Just click the link below and boosh, you’re in!
Giveaway runs from now until midnight, May 27th (MST).

I WANT TO WIN!

Entitlement Issues by Neil Gaiman (05.12.09)

Post by Neil Gaiman, 05.12.2009

Hi Neil,

I’ve recently subscribed to George RR Martin’s blog (http://grrm.livejournal.com/) in the hopes of getting some inside information regarding when the next “Song of Ice and Fire” book is due to be released. I love the series but since subscribing to the blog I’ve become increasingly frustrated with Martin’s lack of communication on the next novel’s publication date. In fact, it’s almost as though he is doing everything in his power to avoid working on his...

Forgetting the “Why” in the Narrative of Horror via LitReactor

Image by Reuters

ARTICLE VIA LITREACTOR | BYJOHN JARZEMSKY

Less than a month ago (at the time of this writing), two explosions ripped through downtown Boston. The blasts killed three people and injured 264 others. As the situation began to unfold, the pressing question of the hour changed. First, we all wanted to know what was being done to make sure things were being handled as well as could be expected. This is certainly a reasonable, and even practical concern. As soon as it became clear tha...

Filming To Start on King’s A Good Marriage via Rhino’s Horror

I’m not really one for all these Stephen King adaptations, but A Good Marriage was one of my favorite stories in King’sFull Dark, No Stars,and that story was partially responsible for my writing The Neighbors . So, yeah… they’ve got my attention. -Ania

Original Post from Rhino’s Horror| Written by Ryan

The last we heard about the film adaptation of Stephen King’sA Good Marriagewas way back when Joan Allen joined the cast to play Darcy Anderson who discovers her husband has been keeping an especiall...

5 Reasons Horror in Children’s Literature Is a Good Thing

Original Article on B&N.com | By Paul Goat Allen

I’m a genre fiction book reviewer, so it’s sometimes my job to read really creepy stuff. I’m also the father of two young girls—six and three—both of whom are undeniably fascinated by spooky things. Their new favorite animated television show on Netflix isRuby Gloom, a decidedly dark series that features characters like Skull Boy, Misery, and Doom Kitty. My oldest hasMonster High pajamas(black skulls on pink) and my youngest loves her black skel...

Top 10 Haunted Hotels via Listverse.com

Original Post on Listverse | Written byMike Devlin

I have always believed that if ghosts were to exist, it was less likely that they were sentient beings and more likely “psychic scars”, spiritual residue left on a place long after its inhabitants had passed. If that is indeed the case, there are few places in the world that have absorbed as much emotion as hotels. They see the unbridled joy of honeymoon couples and families on vacation. The workaday despair of businessmen living out of suitca...

Five Authors Who Prove It’s Never Too Late To Start Writing

Read the full article @LitReactor
Article by Kimberly Turner

Bram Stoker (1847–1912)

“We learn from failure, not from success.” —Bram Stoker inDracula

Before writing:Even poorBram’s Wikipedia pagecomes right out of the gate with the fact that, during his lifetime, he was better known for being an actor’s personal assistant and manager of London’s Lyceum Theatre than a writer, which just goes to show that even if you pen a genre-defining classic, your stint as an Applebee’s bartender is still goin...

7 F***in’ Great Ways to Build Your Writing Routine

I don’t necessarily do or agree with all of these tips, but it’s an interesting read… -Ania

Reblogged viaLitReactor | Post by Phil Jourdan

I spent ages looking for tips on building writing habits, and was disappointed. There’s a lot of bland advice out there: write every day, don’t edit while you write, have a goal… None of that is very helpful if you’re trying to understand how you should actually put this stuff into practice.

Fortunately, there are plenty of interesting books on habit-formatio...