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

In the future, The film/movie theater industry will have found a way to stay afloat and not become a forgotten past time. I think that movie theaters will become an interactive experience where you truly feel like you're in the movie yourself. It will be a combination of virtual reality, special effects, and technology that will cause the seats to move and vibrate. There will probably be thousands of options for streaming services and cable television will be obsolete. The environment will most likely be continuously getting worse unless by some miracle we get someone in office who actually cares to change policies when it comes to being more environmentally friendly. Although our planet is suffering I think that things won't get really bad until well after I'm dead and gone. Technology-wise I think that we will see enormous progress in the next twenty years it's hard to speak where we'll go because it almost feels as if anything is possible in that field. Overall,

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

For week 8, I read Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. This book was so much fun! I had a much easier time getting through this one than last week's "The Magicians". I found something to chuckle at almost every other page and the way that Gaiman weaves the stories of Anansi the African trickster God into his novel is very interesting. According to the book, all stories belong to Anansi. That was one way that Gaiman seems to kind of reinvent myths and make it relevant to the contemporary world.  Gaiman even gives some of the evolution of the tales, explanations of how some people sometimes think that Anansi is a rabbit, how Anansi’s tales became African American Br’er Rabbit tales. I really enjoyed the book and learned a little about mythology in the process. I do wonder though if someone who is actually from the Caribbean or from the African diaspora  would enjoy the novel as much as I did, having no knowledge of Anansi beforehand. Neil Gaiman is from England if I'm not mist

For week 7, I read the Magicians by Lev Grossman. This book took me a little longer to get through and at first, I wasn't sure why. I think that the reason I kept putting this book off and taking forever to finish it was because the main character, Quentin Coldwater is ridiculously negative! It was so bad that I started to feel his negativity affecting me even after I had stopped reading! I could imagine reading this book as a young high schooler and probably not realizing just how negative he was but as a more mature reader I found it to be quite obnoxious.  " If you will, for just one second, look at your life and see how perfect it is. Stop looking for the next secret door that is going to lead you to your real life. Stop waiting. This is it: there’s nothing else. It’s here, and you’d better decide to enjoy it or you’re going to be miserable wherever you go, for the rest of your life, forever.” “You can’t just decide to be happy.” “No, you can’t. But you can sure as hel

For week six, I decided to read Terry Pratchett's short story  Troll Bridge.   The Hero's journey is definitely a prevalent device in this novel as it follows Cohen the Barbarian, now an old man and his horse. The journey starts off with Cohen planning to take on a Troll in hand to hand combat. He says that his father told him that if you've killed a troll you can take on anything. This was Cohen's call to adventure so that he could prove himself. Cohen plans to combat this troll in single hand combat with no aid from his horse or anything else. This is the refusal of supernatural aid. Crossing the first threshold would be when Cohen comes across the Troll called Mica at his bridge and gets ready to fight him but Mica brings his family to come and marvel at Cohen. Cohen then starts to feel conflicted about killing the troll. The belly of the whale proves much more difficult to identify in this story. If I had to guess, I'd say the belly of the whale is Cohen's r

For this week I read Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. This novel has been my favorite read so far in this course.  Part of it had to do with my fascination of the country of Nigeria and my curiosity about albinism but the story was very interesting and kept me engaged the whole time. The society of the Leopard People and the school of Hogwarts in Harry Potter have many similarities and it's definitely something that you pick up on while reading. It was very fun to learn about the Leopard People though because there was this introduction not only to magic and mystery but to Nigerian culture as well. I loved the excerpts from Fast Facts for Free Agents, it made me feel like I was learning along with Sunny. I related a lot to Sunny, especially the dynamic she seemed to have with her father. Her father obviously didn't hate her as Sunny assumed but he was much harder on her than her siblings. I wish that the author could have explored their relationship a little but more in the story

For week four, I read the novel Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer. Throughout the entire novel Vandermeer is toying with the reader's psyche. This place called Area seems to be a type of nature reserve however we learn that this is the 12th expedition into this place because the previous teams couldn't seem to find answers. The deeper into Area X the scientists get, the more unnatural and unpredictable things become. It becomes hard to trust the characters because they continue to do things that don't really make sense like venturing off on their own or disappearing. Area X is a dangerous place with strange creatures and yet these scientists think that they can split up and do things on their own. As the readers, we understand that these women are some of the best in their respective fields so it makes us question their mental stability when these strange occurrences start happening. The characters in this book, especially the biologist, have this need to analyze and find exp

A Wild Sheep Chase was definitely an interesting read! Although, I thought the story started off slow didn't understand why the book was called A Wild Sheep Chase , I soon couldn't stop reading it and it became very apparent why the book holds that title. Murakami is a very strange author. The way this book is laid out is very different from any other story I've ever read. I thought it was a strange choice to not name any of the characters throughout the entire story. I liked how every part introduced a new character that the narrator had to encounter. The sheep that the narrator ends up looking for is this paranormal-like being that takes on hosts in order to influence them. The novel has a constant theme of identity which is why I'm assuming Murakami didn't give any of the characters names. The sheep would take over characters and then their identity would be challenged if not taken. In the story, the Sheep Professor wonders how much of himself is him and how muc

I absolutely adored Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire! I found the story so interesting, that after finishing the book, I went and watched the film as well. There were definitely some differences between the film and the novel, but overall I would say that the film was also very good. The idea of lust and sexuality when it comes to vampires is a very interesting topic, especially in the context if this book.  It seems that the main character Louis was homosexual when he was human but this is unclear in the novel and especially unclear in the film. It also seems more obvious that Lestat, the vampire who turned Louis, was bisexual when he was a human. I mention when they were human because from what I can gather from the novel, it seems that once one becomes a vampire there is no longer a need for sexual activity. Vampires lust more after blood or certain feelings but never really for sex. In the beginning, I found it interesting that Louis was much more aroused by Lestat when h

I remember reading this book my sophomore year of high school. I did the audiobook back then and revisited the same audiobook this time around. This story is rather sad and I really felt for Victor throughout the entire story. All the guilt and suffering that he had to deal with because of his creation. Even though Victor really brought it about himself by being a coward and running from his monster time and time again instead of facing the problem. Had Victor actually treated his dealing with the monster in a different way, the outcome of the story would have been completely different. The ending is truly tragic when Victor dies and the monster comes to mourn his creator's death and then commit suicide himself. I think that many people have a relationship in their life that is similar to that of Victor and the monster's. They seemed to hate each other but they were the very reason for each other's existence. I think that in life, while those types of relationships are defi