proficient
11-07-2011, 08:47 PM
Lovecraft- From Beyond
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuC6t2u831g part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKe9tlytQk4 part 2
H.P. Lovecraft has been such an influence in my work.
A song about nothing, I just like the song but I need to listen to this after that awesome reading.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5TnPjOd_To
review of my first book (extinction chronicles)here 3/5 stars Forword Clarion Reviews
It is always exciting to discover a new voice in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Rare is the writer who can splice the Lovecraft Cthulhu mythos with 1950’s Cold War fear and our twenty-first century worries of terrorism, xenophobia, and climate change the way Jamie Horwath has in the short story “Hazel,” which is part of his collection of short stories, Extinction Chronicles. “Hazel,” as well as the dystopian short story, “The Observer,” and the clever reboot of the werewolf mythos, “The Blood Harvest: Any Town USA” each examine a variety of horrific ways in which mankind is in the crosshairs of annihilation.
Extinction Chronicles shows great potential that is only limited by lack of editing. The overall punch of the stories is lessened by spelling and grammatical errors, and over-the-top purple prose that screams author intrusion. Even with such flaws, readers will still get sucked into the heart and marrow of each story. “Hazel,” the longest story in the collection, is a Lovecraftian nightmare wedded to the environmental disaster theme. Divided into four sections, Migraine, Bar Flies (this title contains a witty double meaning), Sub Blackness (cripple words), and Dwellers From Within, each story or vignette appears to be unrelated. The author weaves them together around his protagonist Kaley Walls.
The story begins when Kaley wakes from a nightmare with a seemingly innocuous migraine headache. She sets into motion a chain of events that changes her life and impacts all of humanity. The opening paragraph contains a sentence that demonstrates some of Horwath’s powerful descriptiveness and lyricism. He writes, “Her shadow flickered in the anemic moonlight.” The crafting of such an effective and haunting sentence allows readers to share
Kaley’s nightmare. But the same story also has a sentence that reads, “Laugh, why would I laugh
I’m hear to help you.” The misspelling of the word “hear” is a mistake that would have been
found and noted in the proofs by an editor. Again, the sentence above about the anemic
moonlight is gorgeous and descriptive in its simplicity and musicality. However, Extinction
Chronicles also contains sentences that are clunky, full of author intrusion, bizarre similes, and
metaphors that are more distracting than functional. Horwath writes, “The sound began to trip
the light fantastic toe with Klein’s fading tone. Only to cast off the fading feeble attempt with an
intimidating try at a diabolical click of social prepossession.” The meaning of the entire quote is
unclear. Proper editing would have pointed these mistakes out as well.
Regardless, of the misspellings, typos, ambiguous sentences, and other short-comings,
Horwath’s writing has some of the poetic prose of Ray Bradbury, the characterization skills of
Stephen King, and the succinct narrative abilities and eclectic humor of Joe R. Lansdale and
Clive Barker.
Lee Gooden"
Excerpt from a Vote to Kill-a change in writing style here that I wasn't all that happy with so I scrapped the story until next year. Which is a nice way to say to myself this sucked.
Stone continued running toward the man and quickly grabbed a garbage can lid from the trash station as he passed it. With his left hand Stone held up the lid like a shield. His assailant fired his pistol and a pulse of light headed toward Stone. The light deflected off the garbage can lid. Stone never waivered his gait and flipped the lid around in his hand and slammed the Transit Team member dead in the face. A garbled ahhhhh escaped from the bird mask and the man fell backwards. Stone dropped the lid and continued down the alley. A large granite wall blocked his progress. Stone looked around and saw a fire escape to his left. He jumped up, grabbed the lower rung, and pulled himself up. Stone’s muscles ached as he climbed up the ladder. He could feel the fire burn in his shoulders but he pressed on until he reached the roof of the building. A service entrance stood in the middle of the roof. Stone ran toward it then fell backward as a strong gust of air pushed him off his balance. A large floating vehicle rose from far ledge of the rooftop. The box like chassis had two small wings extend from the sides and under the wing turbines spun and propelled the craft into the air. The hover vehicle stopped just above the roof and the side compartment of the chassis slid open. A Transit Team member beard down on Stone with a rifle and took aim. He fired, producing an explosion of light that screamed toward Stone. The light opened up like a web and struck Stone in the chest. His body felt compressed as the light wrapped around his body and held him fast. The man with the rifle hopped out of the vehicle and walked over to his quarry. Stone looked up at him with a pair of frightened silver eyes and watched helplessly as the butt of the rifle smashed into his skull. Everything went black…
Across the Trade District, within the confines of the shadows, the lights began to click on in the Adult Entertainment Area. Casting aside the vintage Victorian lines of the architecture found within the Trade District, the Adult Entertainment Area clung to sleek lines and a futuristic theme. Buildings zipped with a flowing and modern style framing smooth metallic sidewalks and a conservative road system. Flashing neon signs littered the shop fronts and various digital windows hosted acts of fornication or other erotic entertainment that played via a digital recording. Three-dimensional theaters boasted the latest in interactive voyeurism and showed clips of the audience gasping and flinching during the classic money shot. Scattered throughout the digital debauchery stood billboards holding Venerable Corporation slogans and propaganda, which provided a grounded backdrop to the heated passion that floated in front of the passerbys?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuC6t2u831g part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKe9tlytQk4 part 2
H.P. Lovecraft has been such an influence in my work.
A song about nothing, I just like the song but I need to listen to this after that awesome reading.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5TnPjOd_To
review of my first book (extinction chronicles)here 3/5 stars Forword Clarion Reviews
It is always exciting to discover a new voice in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Rare is the writer who can splice the Lovecraft Cthulhu mythos with 1950’s Cold War fear and our twenty-first century worries of terrorism, xenophobia, and climate change the way Jamie Horwath has in the short story “Hazel,” which is part of his collection of short stories, Extinction Chronicles. “Hazel,” as well as the dystopian short story, “The Observer,” and the clever reboot of the werewolf mythos, “The Blood Harvest: Any Town USA” each examine a variety of horrific ways in which mankind is in the crosshairs of annihilation.
Extinction Chronicles shows great potential that is only limited by lack of editing. The overall punch of the stories is lessened by spelling and grammatical errors, and over-the-top purple prose that screams author intrusion. Even with such flaws, readers will still get sucked into the heart and marrow of each story. “Hazel,” the longest story in the collection, is a Lovecraftian nightmare wedded to the environmental disaster theme. Divided into four sections, Migraine, Bar Flies (this title contains a witty double meaning), Sub Blackness (cripple words), and Dwellers From Within, each story or vignette appears to be unrelated. The author weaves them together around his protagonist Kaley Walls.
The story begins when Kaley wakes from a nightmare with a seemingly innocuous migraine headache. She sets into motion a chain of events that changes her life and impacts all of humanity. The opening paragraph contains a sentence that demonstrates some of Horwath’s powerful descriptiveness and lyricism. He writes, “Her shadow flickered in the anemic moonlight.” The crafting of such an effective and haunting sentence allows readers to share
Kaley’s nightmare. But the same story also has a sentence that reads, “Laugh, why would I laugh
I’m hear to help you.” The misspelling of the word “hear” is a mistake that would have been
found and noted in the proofs by an editor. Again, the sentence above about the anemic
moonlight is gorgeous and descriptive in its simplicity and musicality. However, Extinction
Chronicles also contains sentences that are clunky, full of author intrusion, bizarre similes, and
metaphors that are more distracting than functional. Horwath writes, “The sound began to trip
the light fantastic toe with Klein’s fading tone. Only to cast off the fading feeble attempt with an
intimidating try at a diabolical click of social prepossession.” The meaning of the entire quote is
unclear. Proper editing would have pointed these mistakes out as well.
Regardless, of the misspellings, typos, ambiguous sentences, and other short-comings,
Horwath’s writing has some of the poetic prose of Ray Bradbury, the characterization skills of
Stephen King, and the succinct narrative abilities and eclectic humor of Joe R. Lansdale and
Clive Barker.
Lee Gooden"
Excerpt from a Vote to Kill-a change in writing style here that I wasn't all that happy with so I scrapped the story until next year. Which is a nice way to say to myself this sucked.
Stone continued running toward the man and quickly grabbed a garbage can lid from the trash station as he passed it. With his left hand Stone held up the lid like a shield. His assailant fired his pistol and a pulse of light headed toward Stone. The light deflected off the garbage can lid. Stone never waivered his gait and flipped the lid around in his hand and slammed the Transit Team member dead in the face. A garbled ahhhhh escaped from the bird mask and the man fell backwards. Stone dropped the lid and continued down the alley. A large granite wall blocked his progress. Stone looked around and saw a fire escape to his left. He jumped up, grabbed the lower rung, and pulled himself up. Stone’s muscles ached as he climbed up the ladder. He could feel the fire burn in his shoulders but he pressed on until he reached the roof of the building. A service entrance stood in the middle of the roof. Stone ran toward it then fell backward as a strong gust of air pushed him off his balance. A large floating vehicle rose from far ledge of the rooftop. The box like chassis had two small wings extend from the sides and under the wing turbines spun and propelled the craft into the air. The hover vehicle stopped just above the roof and the side compartment of the chassis slid open. A Transit Team member beard down on Stone with a rifle and took aim. He fired, producing an explosion of light that screamed toward Stone. The light opened up like a web and struck Stone in the chest. His body felt compressed as the light wrapped around his body and held him fast. The man with the rifle hopped out of the vehicle and walked over to his quarry. Stone looked up at him with a pair of frightened silver eyes and watched helplessly as the butt of the rifle smashed into his skull. Everything went black…
Across the Trade District, within the confines of the shadows, the lights began to click on in the Adult Entertainment Area. Casting aside the vintage Victorian lines of the architecture found within the Trade District, the Adult Entertainment Area clung to sleek lines and a futuristic theme. Buildings zipped with a flowing and modern style framing smooth metallic sidewalks and a conservative road system. Flashing neon signs littered the shop fronts and various digital windows hosted acts of fornication or other erotic entertainment that played via a digital recording. Three-dimensional theaters boasted the latest in interactive voyeurism and showed clips of the audience gasping and flinching during the classic money shot. Scattered throughout the digital debauchery stood billboards holding Venerable Corporation slogans and propaganda, which provided a grounded backdrop to the heated passion that floated in front of the passerbys?