This was going to be a fascinating, intelligent discussion on the contradiction of the term “objective reality” but I got distracted.
I opened the newest issue of Cemetery Dance and my attention was caught by a prominently displayed book on the inside cover. If a person were to explain the cover in generic terms, they might say a little girl smiling into a camera. Sounds innocent and sweet, yes? It is SO not. This is a horror novel after all, so the little girl is in shadow. Her skin has a creepy, funky pasty color and her chin is down so she’s looking up at you through her lashes. Light reflects off the whites of her eyes and all of the sudden, that smile isn’t cute. It’s sinister. And damn, now I need my nightlight.
Why, you ask? Think about how many horror books and movies have centered around a child or a ghost child. Innocence makes us care. Makes us want to cherish and protect. An evil child just goes against our very instincts — takes away what’s still right in this world. So it’s scary.
Remember the Haunting of Julia? The Changeling? These are classics in my family. My sister brought The Changeling over on Halloween this year and the movie still got me. Too bad so many of today’s scary movies don’t cut it.
This novelist must be dancing over this book cover. It’s a great one. I’ll probably read the book. Yeah, the cover creeped me out enough to take notice, but some of his cover quotes weren’t the stale, generic sort you see so much of these days. Words like mysterious, moody, macabre and then they add emotional wallop… I’m hooked. Now, after reading the warnings on gore, I’m hesitating. Not a huge fan of the icky books… but there’s that cover! Here, look for yourself. Barnes & Noble.com – Berserk – Tim Lebbon – Mass Market Paperback
Can you name some good, creepy books or movies featuring children? Besides Damien. Eck.