Kampung Kreepy

I’ve been reading Algernon Blackwood’s ghost stories. In case you don’t already know, Blackwood (1869 to 1951) was an English journalist and author. He was one of the most prolific ghost story writers of his time. “The Willows,” considered his best work, influenced many horror writers, including H.P. Lovecraft. Blackwood was an expert at crafting an atmosphere of dread. His rich and vibrant descriptions were particularly effective at setting the scene for one of his favorite themes—Nature as a sinister force. One of the challenges I face as a writer and storyteller is balancing description and narrative. Should I fully flesh out the scene (but risk slowing the reader down), or should I drive the narrative forward by keeping my descriptions spare? Photo: Aislinn Brander at Pixabay.com A lot depends, of course, on the story you’re trying to tell. It is worth noting that Blackwood wrote in a different time in which the pace of life admittedly was slower. I personally think most reader...

When people hear I write paranormal fiction, they want to know whether I’ve seen, or believe in, ghosts. To be honest, I tend to think there is a logical explanation for most things, no matter how strange or weird they appear. That said, I did have an eerie experience while backpacking in Cornwall quite a few years back. Photo: DarkmoonArt_de at  Pixabay Cornwall is a county in South West England with Celtic roots. Even if you’re not familiar with it, you may have heard of Cornish landmarks such as Penzance, a historic port town of the pirates fame.  Or how about St. Ives (“As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives.” ), Land’s End (England’s most westerly point) or Bodmin Moor (the setting for Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn )? The area has been inhabited since the early Stone Age. The ancient peoples who lived there left behind numerous monuments, including stone circles, neolithic tombs, hill forts, standing stones, and holy wells. It’s said that the Land’...

I’m a big fan of the movies in the Conjuring Universe, and I was reminded why after watching The Conjuring 2 recently. It was my second time watching the movie, but I was still as terrified as the Hodgson family when they discover their Enfield house is haunted. Kudos to director James Wan. He did a great job ratcheting up the tension, and used the dreary London weather and 1970s-era dim lighting to good effect. Photo: Netflix.com On a side note, the haunting at Enfield, a suburb in London, allegedly occurred between 1977 to 1979. The Enfield poltergeist was well covered by the media at the time. It’s been the subject of several documentaries, movies and television programs. See, for example, this British TV mini-series from 2015: The Enfield Haunting . Netflix is currently streaming The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2 . So what makes the Conjuring movies so successful? Like any good franchise, you can count on the quality of the movies. The acting and scripts are good. The movi...

Last night I watched a horror movie— Fragile (original title Fragiles )—that I’d like to have written as a book or short story. The movie has all the elements for a satisfying read: atmosphere, a great setting, good pacing and relatable characters. It also involves an old-fashioned ghost, which is increasingly rare in today’s movies. I like other types of horror movies too (as long as the gore isn’t too gratuitous), but nothing beats ghosts, in my opinion. Photo: Roku Channel Fragile is a Spanish-British production that was released in 2005. The plot features an old hospital on the Isle of Wight (the largest island in England). The hospital is about to be closed down. Unfortunately, a recent train accident has left a neighboring hospital full so the children’s ward hasn’t been able to move yet. Calista Flockhart stars as Amy, a new night nurse at the children’s ward. She comes with baggage, believing she killed a patient through negligence. As she settles into her new job, Amy find...

I finally watched The Wandering Earth , China’s 2019 science fiction blockbuster, now streaming on Netflix . The special effects were amazing, and the movie involved truly epic and innovative ideas. Everything was done on a grand scale. And the action was nonstop. However, so much was happening that I found the movie a little hard to follow. The fact that I had to read subtitles probably didn’t help. I also had a problem with the main characters. They weren’t fleshed out very well. I didn’t find them particularly relatable, or memorable. Photo: Netflix.com The movie’s basic premise is that the solar system is disintegrating (the sun is expanding and about to go supernova). Earth needs to find a new star system in order to survive. The countries of the world band together under the aegis of the United Earth Government. The joint aim is to migrate the planet to Alpha Centauri, a journey that will take 2,500 years. Trouble starts when Jupiter experiences a gravitational spike that pul...

While watching Frozen on Hulu last night, a thought struck me. You don’t always need an elaborate or complex plot when you’re writing fiction or making a movie. The plot of the 2010 horror movie (it’s not the one with the Disney princesses) is simple—three college students are trapped on a chairlift just as a storm breaks. It’s night, nobody else is around and the ski resort has shut down for the next few days because of the storm. They’re dangling above the snow and it’s very, very cold. If that’s not bad enough, hungry wolves start appearing. Photo: Pixabay.com Implausible? Perhaps, but the movie had tension, fear and excitement. Even hope. You even liked the characters. As a writer, I’m perpetually on the lookout for something that might make a good story. The movie demonstrates that you don’t always need weeks of research or endless plotting to deliver something entertaining and interesting (although accuracy is always nice, and character development is paramount). There are ...

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Netflix ’s Space Sweepers . The movie has been described as South Korea’s first space blockbuster, and it was my first time watching a South Korean science-fiction flick that takes place in outer space. Space is particularly challenging because so much depends on the filmmakers’ and set designers’ creativity. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. It was a fun, fast-paced and exciting adventure that pays homage to Firefly , Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy . The premise was believable, I liked the characters and the sets and visual effects were amazing. One example—that ground to space elevator! The movie is set in 2092, and Earth is polluted and ailing. It’s a dog-eat-dog world down here, which the rich and powerful escape with the help of UTS, a company founded by philanthropist James Sullivan. UTS has built a floating utopia in outer space where the grass is green and people live idyllic lives. UTS’s next plan is making Mars habitable and shi...