Canavan’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Canavan’s comments from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.

“ The Man Who Escaped This Story”, Cody Goodfellow

(view spoiler)[Goodfellow’s story is a sort of Ligottian version of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author. Following the twists and turns is occasionally diverting; the story might have benefited from some pruning. (hide spoiler)]

✭✭✭½

“The Company Town”, Nicole Cushing

Like Fiona, I enjoyed this one — maybe even a bit more than she did. (view spoiler)[The approach isn’t as oblique as in many Ligotti tales, but the ideas about corporatization and the mordant humor seem to me to tie directly to some of his favorite themes. I found it darkly ironic when the Information lady reveals that she, too, is a customer who has been paying down her fee for 27 years. (hide spoiler)]

✭✭✭✭

“The Xenambulist: A Fable in Four Acts”, Robin Spriggs

I wrestled a bit trying to figure out exactly what I thought of this one. In the end I gave it a marginal thumbs down. (view spoiler)[Our protagonist embarks on strange and dreamlike (hence the title) journey that somehow or other ties to the notion of the Lamed Vav Tzadikim, or 36 righteous people, an idea found in (among other places) the Kabbalah. I think we are meant to assume that the narrator is one of the 36, but I have no idea what the melding process that occurs at story’s end is supposed to signify. Someone better versed in Jewish mysticism may have a better grasp on what, if anything, is going on. (hide spoiler)]

✭✭½

“No Signal”, Darrell Schweitzer

(view spoiler)[I’m not a big fan of this particular author, but this story, which basically involves the freeing of some evil entity who has been trapped by spell, isn’t too bad. I will say, however, that the set-up is by far the best part of the story. Given the strong start, I wish Schweitzer would have eventually taken the reader somewhere a bit more interesting. (hide spoiler)]

✭✭✭½

“Basement Angels”, Joel Lane

After “Moth”, we are given a tale that seems much more firmly ensconced in Ligottian territory. (view spoiler)[In Lane’s story, the protagonist becomes convinced that beyond the “real” world is some other plane of reality that includes other aspects of himself. His dealings with a mysterious “outsider artist” ultimately show that he was correct, but nevertheless lead to tragic consequences. Solid story from a very good writer who, unfortunately, left us far too soon. The story reminds me a bit of an old one by Ray Bradbury , “Skeleton”. (hide spoiler)]

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Graeme wrote: And to think, I hesitated.

That’s probably my favorite line in that movie. It’s one of the few parts I clearly remember.

Graeme said: I very much enjoyed the first two Hellraiser movies, with the 2nd as the best of the pair, then I found the 3rd movie somewhat 'meh,' and stopped at that point so I'm not exposed to the rest of the franchise.

You have me at a distinct disadvantage, Graeme. My recollection of the second movie is a bit fuzzy. I vaguely recall thinking that it was okay, even if not quite as good as the original. I more clearly recall what I thought was a sharp drop-off in quality with Number 3. And I remember fast-forwarding through the last one I saw, either 5 or 6. I should probably stress at this point that I never thought Doug Bradley was a bad actor; the writing just got stale.

J. said: They both had monstrous humans getting introduced to S&M sans safe-words by cenobites of the Labyrinth. How well do you remember either of them?

To be totally honest, J., I never saw the last two entries in the franchise. As best I can recall I cut the cord after the fifth or sixth, when Doug Bradley was still involved. I know you’ll disagree (and that’s fine, of course), but for me after that initial film the entries increasingly became less and less about ideas and more about banal torture porn perpetrated by a guy who may as well have been Freddy or Michael Meyers.

J. said: They're missing the point. The main reason that we are fascinated by Pinhead is the performance of Doug Bradley.

I’ll guess I’ll play the contrarian again. What always interested me was the weird mix of pseudo-religiosity and sadomasochism embedded in the original Clive Barker novella, “The Hellbound Heart”. When I later saw Hellraiser, I thought it did a decent job of capturing some of the ideas found in that novella, but while I thought Doug Bradley did a perfectly adequate job as the lead Cenobite, it never occurred to me at the time that he was irreplaceable.

“The Human Moth”, Kaaron Warren

Unlike some of the stories to this point, “Moth” is relatively easy to understand. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to think about it, however. Sympathy? Horror? Bemusement? It doesn’t strike me as a very Ligottian tale.

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Lena said: Pinhead is being reimagined as a woman

Thanks for posting, Lena. After a tiny bit of poking around, as best I can tell this is more or less a remake of the original 1987 film. Clive Barker isn’t directing or writing, but is on board as a producer (whatever that may mean). I did like the first two films in this franchise, so may watch this new one, although I don’t like the notion of subscribing to Hulu in order to do so.

“The Secrets of the Universe”, Michael Cisco

I’m not going to say much about this one. Reading it reminded me why my least favorite undergraduate course was Western Philosophy. Embedded in Cisco’s story is a lot of epistemological nonsense that I found painful to wade through. There’s something going on at the very tail end that I didn’t quite follow, but by that point I had stopped caring.

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Lena said: Because true stories can be magic: The Lost King:

I’ll probably give this one a pass. I’ve always thought that Philippa Langley was a bit of a kook.

Lena, responding to J., said: I think if they were going for scary they nailed it. They/them look like the Joker’s unfriendly pansexual sibling.

Yes, Mason Alexander Park looks an awful lot like Desire as depicted in the Neil Gaiman graphic novels. Likewise, his creepiness more or less matched my preconceptions based on reading the books. I heard that Park actively campaigned for the part, appealing directly to Gaiman.

There have been a few casting choices I’ve been less than enthused about, the major one being Jenna Coleman as Johanna Constantine. To this point at least her character seems oddly flat. Choices that have worked (in my opinion) particularly well include David Thewlis as John Dee, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer Morningstar, Charles Dance as Roderick Burgess, Kirby Howell-Baptiste as Death, and Sarah Niles as Rosemary.

Stuff I’ve watched over the past week:

Fire Over England, William K. Howard (1937) ✭✭✭
The Bravados, Henry King (1958) ✭✭
Cinderfella, Frank Tashlin (1960) ✭✭✭
To Kill a Mockingbird, Robert Mulligan (1962) ✭✭✭✭✭
Charade, Stanley Donen (1963) ✭✭✭½
Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Mary McDonagh Murphy (2010) ✭✭✭½
Jedi Junkies, Mark Edlitz (2010) ✭½
Saving Mr. Banks, John Lee Hancock (2013) ✭✭✭✭
Nonstop, Zac Manuel & Marta Rodriguez Maleck (2021) ✭✭✭½

Some stuff I listened to over the weekend:

My Fair Lady [Original Broadway Cast Recording], Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (1956) ✭✭✭✭
Johnny Horton’s Greatest Hits, Johnny Horton (1960) ✭✭✭
On the Rebound, Floyd Cramer (1961) ✭✭✭
My Fair Lady [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack], Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (1964) ✭✭✭✭✭
My Fair Lady [1976 20th Anniversary Broadway Cast Recording], Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (1976) ✭✭✭½
My Fair Lady [2001 London Cast Recording], Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (2001) ✭✭✭
Egypt Station, Paul McCartney (2018) ✭✭✭½
My Fair Lady [2018 Broadway Cast Recording], Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (2018) ✭✭✭½
Harmony, Bill Frisell, Petra Haden, Hank Roberts, & Luke Bergman (2019) ✭✭✭½
Valentine, Bill Frisell, Rudy Royston, & Thomas Morgan (2020) ✭✭✭

I watched the first episode of HBO’s House of the Dragon. Nice production values, pretty decent acting, &c., &c. I’ll probably continue watching this, but it has a huge plot hurdle to overcome. Like other franchise prequels, this one has the the problem of trying to sustain our interest when we already know what’s going to happen.

Lena said: Looks like the cartoon too. Still cringy:

Gomez’ original unflattering appearance may in part reflect the fact that Addams’ cartoons of the family were darker than any of the filmed versions we’ve seen to date.

“The Lord Came at Twilight”, Daniel Mills

(view spoiler)[Mills’ contribution is a prequel to Thomas Ligotti’s “The Mystics of Muelenburg” (1987). I honestly don’t remember the plot details of “Muelenburg” all that well (and am disinclined to re-read it), except that it kinda dealt with the shifting nature of reality. Mill’s rather depressing story reads to me as a sort of extended metaphor about religious belief. Reading it reminded me of the Voltaire quote, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.” (hide spoiler)]

✭✭✭½

Lena wrote: …but the Gomez had me cringing.

He looks a lot like the character as originally drawn by Charles Addams.