Bethany's Literature of Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi Blog

For week 12 I read, I Live With You by Carol Emshwiller. This story was extremely interesting. It was told from the point of view of what I would assume is a woman. This story did not reflect the perspectives of majoritarian culture because both the narrator and the woman the narrator was stalking/living with were both sort of "wall flowers." These type of people go usually unnoticed in society. This woman who we don't learn much about as the readers seems to be homeless and just moves from place to place causing a ruckus. I found it interesting that she never steals anything though. I don't understand how someone could live in the same house as you and go unnoticed for such a lengthy period of time! It was very interesting to see things from the perspective of this strange character that snuck into the woman's house. I think it would've been even better if at some point we got to see the perspective of the other woman and the man that eventually enters the st

For week 11 I read Fragments of a Hologram Rose by William Gibson. In this reality, it is clearly the future and technology is much more advanced. There seems to be a power outage probably due to overuse of electronics and other technology. I have to be honest I didn't quite grasp the point of this story. My first reaction was that I didn't like it but it's really that I didn't understand a lot of the vocabulary being used. Even upon reading it a second time, I'm still not sure of how to make sense of it. ASP stands for Apparent Sensory Perception, so I guess that this holograph technology is similar to virtual reality. I thought it was interesting when it said, " Roughly a quarter of all ASP users are unable to comfortably assimilate the subjective body picture of the opposite sex. Over the years some broadcast ASP stars have become increasingly androgynous in an attempt to capture this segment of the audience." I wonder why this would be a problem. Esp

For week 10 I read I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison. This story was extremely dark and graphic. Torture was the main idea explored in this story in my opinion and you could really feel the character's agony as the story went on. This short story was just the right length because it allowed me as the reader to fully immerse myself in the story and feel like I was living through it even though it is still considered a short story. The author also explores the idea of machines gaining sentience which has been explored before but the way that this author does it is really interesting. Not only does AM gain sentience, but it also becomes almost like God. Am killed off the entire human race except for the 5 main characters. I like how the narrator, Ted goes through several phases in which he believes Am to be God and then realizes that AM is not God and decides to kill his friends in order to save them from their never-ending agony. I also liked when Ted was explainin

For Week 9 I read The Star by Arthur C. Clarke. This story combined religious references and beliefs with science and astronomy. It was very interesting to read because at first, I wasn't sure about who the main character was exactly. I think I assumed the main character was human traveling through space at first especially because in the beginning he says, " It is three thousand light-years to the Vatican. Once I believed that space could have no power over faith. Just as I believed that the heavens declared the glory of God's handiwork. Now I have seen that handiwork, and my faith is sorely troubled." I guess I assumed that aliens would have no knowledge of religion or Christian principles. I really like how the writer makes you slowly realize as you read that the main character must be an alien as he mentions the  destruction of the human race and Earth. I really wasn't sure if the main character was Human or not until he says, " Even if they had not been

In fifteen years from now, I think that marijuana will be completely legal for everyone from students to military members to buy. Self driving cars will have become the norm as well as virtual reality and 4D movies. Going to the theater will be a more interactive experience than it has ever been before.  Florida may already be underwater by then (hopefully not) but if it is, there will be people working to make a working underwater DisneyWorld with an Oxygen force field that provides air for everyone while in the park. They will be transported by submarine from a port in Georgia. Underwater DisneyWorld would definitely be the most popular park internationally which wouldn't be all that shocking since in fifteen years from now Disney will be ruling the world. 

1. What is your reaction to the text you just read? My reaction to this text was a feeling of confusion for most of it. The author was using words I dd not recognize and I am still unsure of what a Tlic is they are hardly explained in the story. Eventually, the reader figures out that the Tlic are aliens because they call the humans "Terrans" which I am assuming means earthling. Overall the story was enjoyable and it kept me engaged throughout the entire thing even though I was unsure of who was what until the end of the story. 2.  What connections did you make with this story. Discuss the elements of the work in which you were able to connect In ways, this story reminded me of Akata Witch there is an element of fantasy that feels similar to that novel. Whatever these Tlics are, which I am imagining as a giant parasitic insect, seem to have magical or fantastical qualities that allow them to control Terrans, or humans. I also think that the names used such a T'Gat