Literature

In honor of this month of spooky stories here's a little topic for fun.

What is the best type of spooky story? – Is it the thriller that makes your skin crawl, or is it the bloody killer that seems unstoppable, or is it the monster that appears making you jump in your seat?
What makes a spooky story effective?
Are visual narratives (film and television) better at evoking fright or are written narratives (short stories and novels)?
What are the best all time scary stories in film and novel form?

I'm sure you could turn this into an interesting article, even just engaging in a discussion between the different types of scary stories (thriller vs horror) or even by examining the different trends in scary films (stalker vs serial killer).

But I thought perhaps in the comments we could also add our favourite Halloween scary stories….

As more young adults surpass their teens and move into their early adult lives, the books that they are reading are not moving with them. YA books have become universally loved by age ranges of all kinds, striking a chord in the heartstrings of people of all ages. That's what makes it so great. However, in a genre that is specifically titled "Young Adult", it poses the question: What defines the young adult genre? Is it the age of the protagonist or the backdrop of the story or is it simply just a marketing tactic that doesn't have much substance to it at all?

In the book the Shack by William P Young, Mack has major trauma after his youngest daughter is murdered during a camping trip. The author uses Spirituality as the main force to help Mack overcome his guilt and to help him work through his grief and trauma. Explore how spirituality is used in the book/film.

Paranormal romance is a new genre of literature that is identified as being a story that predominantly focuses on the romance between characters who are either both, or at least one, supernatural beings. For example, 'Twilight' falls into this category as it focuses on the developing relationship between a human and a vampire. There are many examples that range from werewolves, vampires, dragons in human form, fairy-creatures, etc. Largely this genre is making use of the growing popularity and interest in supernatural creatures in a less monstrous form and more as a form of sexual taboo. However, this genre is also of concern for the perpetuation of rape fantasies and the lack of consent. Part of the problem is that it is handled in a manner that can be argued as being due to supernatural influences rather than a true "rape" as we understand it. However, rape is considered as an act without ongoing consent. Just because a character is under thrall, or a spell, or under the "animalistic drives" of their other form, this does not diminish the importance of consent. The use of statements such as "she couldn't resist," are very similar to the style of romance novels known as "bodice rippers" which are historic novels where women are "freed from their social constraints by the presence of a real man." Regardless of the supernatural presence, a number of these paranormal romance novels perpetuate the normalisation of rape culture and this needs to be called out.

Within feminist discourses there are a number of texts and authors who are held up as the exemplars and originates of the movement. Some of the most famous are Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote the first seminal text 'The rights of women,' then we have Virginia Woolf with 'A room of one's own,' Simone de Beauviour with 'The second sex,' and Germaine Greer's explosive 'The female eunuch,' and so many more. Yet how well do these texts still speak to the women of today? What would Wollstonecraft, Woolf, de Beauviour and Greer think of the behaviours and portrayals of women today? Especially those that perpetuate some of the behaviours these women originally fought against. Has the social context changed so significantly that these texts no longer offer a valid perception? I would argue not, but perhaps there is a need for a new voice to frame the next wave of feminism?

Firstly, I am not using "adult" as an innuendo for pornography or erotica, I actually mean adult as in the state of being over 18. Picture books are often relegated to being considered only of value to very young children. Although recent artists and writers have been producing work that fits into the young adult category, there is very little that would be categorised as an adult picture book that does not then become a graphic novel. Largely this is a matter of categorisation, as publishers are uncomfortable with the idea of an adult picture book, and that many people too would not be comfortable purchasing one. Yet those picture books that end up categorised as young adult are usually very mature in their subject matter, dealing with issues as diverse as mental health, sexuality, grief and death, love and social responsibility. A prime example of this is Shaun Tan's 'The Red Tree' shows the journey of a girl through a myriad of situations in a dark world that we would recognise: isolation in a crowd, depression and anxiety, feeling trapped by a situation, loneliness, a loss of direction, a loss of self, all without engaging in any writing and yet this is still considered as only a children's book. Another example is 'Meh' by Deborah Malcolm about a boys experience of depression, and then there is 'Michael Rosen's Sad Book' by Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake that depicts a father's grief and mourning for his son, it even comes with a warning about the serious and realistic depiction of grief. Graphic novels and comics used to suffer from this assumption of immaturity, but many are now comfortably accepted as being adult-only.

So why is it that we still cannot accept that a book that is primarily full of pictures can be for adults, and by extension may actually have something very real and important to say?

The genre of detective literature – murder/mystery – has never actually experienced a period of absence. Much like the action adventure or the romance, it is a broad enough category to appeal to a wide audience. Yet what is it about detective stories that continues to engage audiences across time, across societies and across cultures? Is it that we all fundamentally like to solve puzzles? Or is it that we like being carried along with a brilliant sleuthing mind? Often it is discussed that we love the "I figured it out before the hero" sensation. So do we just like feeling smart? There are a myriad of great detective stories out there, but it would be worth honing in on the two most enduring, which is the 'Sherlock Holmes' stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Agatha Christie mysteries that feature a number of different lead detectives, including Hercule Poirot.
So what do you think? Why does everyone seem to want to be a detective?

The modernist period in literature saw a massive shift not only in the structural and generic elements of literature, but also in the thematic foci. One area that began to gain greater representation was the discussion of mental illness, especially through the lens of female authors. Great examples of this are Virginia Woolf's 'Mrs. Dalloway', Janet Frame's 'Intensive Care' and much more, Charlotte Gilman Perkins 'The Yellow Wallpaper' and more. We are almost 100 years on from these breaking edge works that helped shape a greater understanding of experiences of mental illness. The prompt I would suggest would be to look now at examples of contemporary fictional works that deal with mental illness and how those experiences and stories are creating new conversations.