Bad Intentions
When does a complaint become what's actually a kind of compliment?
I ask because some readers have complained about a scary episode in The Colony. It comes early on and involves a reel of cine film shot in 1934 and recovered and restored in the present day.
It was shot on New Hope Island. It might or might not be a clue as to the fate of the community that abruptly vanished from there.
The footage is black and white and dates from a period decades before CGI. It's the work of an amateur cameraman. How scary, by today's jaundiced standards, can it possibly be?
Well, it seems to have raised a few hackles. It's as far as some readers have been able to get. And not because they were bored by the story.
I have to say I take this as a tremendous compliment. I wasn't going for schlock or even shock when I wrote the section describing the film footage. I was going for sinister and disturbing and hoping that the somewhat frayed and ragged subject of the film would stay with the reader for a while.
Not forever, you understand. Just for one or two slightly nervy nights...
To those faint-hearted readers who have stopped, I'd say give it another go. It's just a story. And cine film images don't come to life. Do they?
I ask because some readers have complained about a scary episode in The Colony. It comes early on and involves a reel of cine film shot in 1934 and recovered and restored in the present day.
It was shot on New Hope Island. It might or might not be a clue as to the fate of the community that abruptly vanished from there.
The footage is black and white and dates from a period decades before CGI. It's the work of an amateur cameraman. How scary, by today's jaundiced standards, can it possibly be?
Well, it seems to have raised a few hackles. It's as far as some readers have been able to get. And not because they were bored by the story.
I have to say I take this as a tremendous compliment. I wasn't going for schlock or even shock when I wrote the section describing the film footage. I was going for sinister and disturbing and hoping that the somewhat frayed and ragged subject of the film would stay with the reader for a while.
Not forever, you understand. Just for one or two slightly nervy nights...
To those faint-hearted readers who have stopped, I'd say give it another go. It's just a story. And cine film images don't come to life. Do they?
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Martin
(last edited Nov 05, 2012 09:46AM)
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Nov 05, 2012 09:45AM
Quite frankly I'm really surprised that you have received complaints F.G. It's meant to be a scary book, honestly these readers that moan, they really need to get a life or just put the book down and go and read Enid Blyton instead! The Colony is a great read that I loved very much and you carry on doing what you're good at...
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You're pretty much the perfect reader for a writer like me, Martin. You love this genre of fiction, read voraciously and you're opinionated, so I get intelligent, informed feedback.The complaints have come really from people taking a punt on a 99p download and to be fair, they've been good-natured enough.
I like to think its a pat on the back for atmospheric horror that relies on plausibility. Much of the torture-porn that passes for horror today doesn't unnerve anyone. It just makes them gag, when they're not yawning.
I thought the book was incredible! And the scene regarding the film was very scary and set the tone for the rest of the book beautifully. Brilliant as always F.G.
That was the plan, Mark! Don't know if the phrase, setting out your stall is used in the States, but that's what I was doing, saying; 'Get used to this, folks, this is what's on offer here.' Really glad you enjoyed it. Please don't be put off Scotland. It's a lovely country. I stayed at the hotel McIntyre visits towards the end in the Highlands and it was fabulous, though I didn't arrive by seaplane. And I didn't see any ghosts.
Firstly, when people buy your books they must know that ther are going to have frightening elements in it, it's clearly stated on the cover.In all of your books (sorry, not read The Colony yet. First book that will be added to my Christmas present though), there have been scenes that have stayed with me for days giving a sense of unease and a fair bit of disquiet and you know what, I love it. It's defintely a sign of a great read.
I love old news reels (especially pre 1914)as there is so much in them. But I always find there is such an unspoken sense of loss and whatever else you want to read into it. I think it's because it tells it as it is, with no distractions.
The discription of the cine reel sounds wonderful and I can't wait to read it.
I lent a copy of The Waiting Room to a colleague at work who catches the train to work from a Victorian town railway station. On a dark Saturday morning at 6.45, all he could think about was some of the passages in the book and wanted to go home! So good on you F.G. - just keep it coming. :)
You are a genuine scare-master F.G. and I love the quality of your writing. The opening chapter of The Colony gave me the worst sleepless night I’ve had in a long time, and strangely enough, I genuinely mean that as a compliment! (I may not quite have been thinking in those terms when I was imagining all kinds of things at 4am in my bed – lol.)
It takes quite a lot to unnerve me, but your skilful, eloquent prose does it every time. You are one of the few writers around who seems to understand that it’s not so much what is said as what is left unsaid; the seeds that are planted in the darkest recesses of your readers’ minds for their imaginations to run wild with. Psychological horror is far more effective than overblown descriptions of blood and gore, and you absolutely excel at the former. Your writing is subtle, beautiful, gently lulling your readers in until bam; suddenly every hair is standing up on the back of their neck and they’re scared to go and investigate that dark shadow they’ve just noticed in the corner of the room…
Well, that’s how your books make me feel anyway, and I’m a pretty seasoned (and I think, as I’ve got older, a pretty discerning) horror reader. Actually, I like your term paranormal thriller much better – it defines your books beautifully. It’s a real shame that some people have been too frightened to finish reading The Colony – they’ve missed a treat – but it’s definitely a compliment and a testament to your skill and mastery of this genre.
Oh dear! I read your books because I know I will enjoy being at the least a little uncomfortable and at best scared to turn the light off. Surely that is the objective with paranormal thrillers at least that is what I would expect, and I would be disappointed if it were not so.Keep 'em scary.
I agree with the readers above. You have mastered the art of squeezing the maximum level of exquisite creepiness from the written word: the haunted film in The Colony was brilliantly done. It was amplified by a sense of connection with your earlier horror novels in which an inanimate object conveyed something sinister and deeply evil. Contributing to the fear factor here may be the semi-conscious cultural belief that this IS in the realm of the possible...folklore, supernatural fiction and factual paranormal reports are full of examples of objects which appear to be somehow haunted or possessed. Please keep up the superb work. Your ability to describe fictional events so that the reader experiences them as almost a participant in the story (or at least a vulnerable witness) is unparalleled!
It's heartening how positive these opinions have been about the tone of The Colony. I think the issue was to do with pace, but if a place is terrifying, it has a right (in my view) to be terrifying from your first experience of exploring it. I wasn't trying to summon support for something badly judged. But I am really encouraged by the response to this blog post and intend to continue to make things go bump in your night and much worse, faithful readers!
Well put Jan, you've summed it up so well.F.G. please keep making things go bump in the night, and hurry up and wright some more - please :)
That is great news F.G.! I was concerned that you may feel the need to bow down to the few who were critical of the fear factor in your books. That is what makes them great. We read them because we know we will be shivering. I would have been very sad if you had felt that you had to water them down. I am a 60 year old lady and I love a good paranormal thriller!
There is not much I can add to what's been said before. I have read a lot of horror/paranormal/ghost stories and it takes a good writer to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The part about the film reel did. And it stays with you, which is great. That's what I like in a good story. Keep the stories coming.
F.G. wrote: "It's heartening how positive these opinions have been about the tone of The Colony. I think the issue was to do with pace, but if a place is terrifying, it has a right (in my view) to be terrifying..."Please keep them coming. Your books really are an oasis in the desert. It's difficult to find well-written paranormal thrillers other than yours. Yours is the name I pass on.
Who do you read for this type of thrill, one that is effective but not overdone?
Glad mine's the name you pass on, Sue, since word-of-mouth recommendation is priceless. The paranormal novels that have stayed with me are probably the obvious ones. I think that Stephen King's The Shining is the best novel I've read on the theme of residual or contagious evil. Peter Straub's Ghost Story is quite simply the best novel-length ghost story I've ever read.I go back to the short stories of M.R. James repeatedly to try to work out how he can create the sense of uneasiness he does in so few pages, with such economy. The answer is that he was a genius.
Rather than read for inspiration, what I actually do is try to write the story I would like to read had it already been written. If you can't entertain yourself, you've little chance of entertaining anybody else.
It’s interesting you mentioning M.R.James, because I’ve never really recognised the parallels between the two of you before. You have his gift for writing understated but totally chilling prose. I was introduced to his stories at primary school by a teacher who loved him and read “Oh Whistle And I’ll Come To You My Lad” aloud in class. It scared the life out of me as a child, but I was also instantly smitten. Maybe that’s where it all started for me. About six months ago, feeling restless with contemporary horror and unable to find anything that challenged my brain enough, I re-read all of M.R.’s works again. I agree with you wholeheartedly – it’s classic, gothic genius, and “Oh Whistle…” still makes my spine quiver with unease. The Colony has definitely spoiled me though. I’m peripatetic when a book doesn’t grab my undivided attention, and if I can’t settle completely into a story I jump between several books, reading them according to my mood. I’m in that no-man’s land now, so all I can say is please keep writing F.G. Your books are definitely a bright star on the literary horizon, and always something to look forward to. I’m trying to help expand your readership, where I can. Three of my friends are now reading The Colony, and one of them is also reading The Waiting Room (and loving it!)
That's high praise, Debbie. When I was writing The Colony in Shaftesbury last year I was living in a lovely cottage which was the easiest place to write in I've known. It was cosy and picturesque - not at all spooky. But I was there alone.One evening I picked up M.R. James and started to re-read 'Oh Whistle ...' more or less at random. Halfway through, I had to stop, persuading myself much too easily that I'd enjoy it far more in the morning when daylight returned. He's that good.
You've got a bit of a wait before my next one. But I can say that three chapters in, having written eighty pages, it's shaping up to be as sinister as anything I've done.
I was pleased to see that someone else drew attention to the fact that you have the same ability to create that dread atmosphere as M.R James! Likened your style to that of James and Poe in my original review of The Waiting Room back in September 2011. Just keep your nose to the grind stone, I can't wait for the next one either.
F.G. wrote: "Glad mine's the name you pass on, Sue, since word-of-mouth recommendation is priceless. The paranormal novels that have stayed with me are probably the obvious ones. I think that Stephen King's The..."I need to read James---he's actually sitting on the shelf waiting for me. I agree with you re: both The Shining and Ghost Story as far as their effectiveness in creating that mood that all of us here crave.
I too can hardly wait for your next book.
Oh, another author I really like that I think creates a good sense of place and mood (though not to the paranormal degree that you do) is Carol Goodman. She has written some wonderful novels, all with somewhat off center characters and hints of a world beyond this.
I read all of the M.R.James stories for the first time a long time ago when I was in bed with a touch of the flu. I can tell you the combination makes for some weird dreams ...
His demons caper and flap in such an unruly fashion. They intrude so rudely into the staid Edwardian world he describes. The stories still have the power to disconcert, but must have been truly shocking to their readers at the time of publication. I wouldn't read him fighting a fever. That would just be inviting trouble.
I had planned to read them around Halloween but it sounds as if timing really doesn't matter.
