Scary Fairy Tale

While walking around the Mississippi district in Portland last night, I came across a used copy of Terry Gilliam's Brothers Grimm on DVD (I also picked up a copy of the horror-themed version of Snow White, but I'll write about that later).  I snatched up the film because I have been intending to write about it since I started this new blog on horror fairy tales a few months ago. 

When I first saw this film a few years ago, I felt very ambivalent about it, not because the film is a wild fantasy-version of the Grimm's lives (although that is a little strange and audacious), but because I felt like the fairy tale elements were downplayed in lieu of the main plot (the Brothers Grimm as sort-of Ghostbuster charlatans).  Basically, the film didn't feel like a fairy tale to me because it attempted to string a bunch of fairy tale motifs into a longer plot-based narrative.  During this viewing, I threw out those pre-conceived expectations and enjoyed the film a lot more.  Mainly, I enjoyed the numerous fairy tale references and subtexts, many of which are very delightful to see portrayed with Gilliam's wonderful visual style, even if they are just fragments of fairy tales.  In some ways, what I liked about this viewing is exactly what I disliked about the first viewing.  Movie watching is an extremely subjective experience after all.  There are a few things that don't make any sense in the film, not even within the context of this zany story-world (mainly the gingerbread-girl sequence--totally baffles me), but I appreciate the relentlessly fantastical and imaginative storytelling overall. 

I enjoyed the allusions to Little Red Reding Hood and Hansel and Gretel, but I especially enjoyed the Snow White references, everything from the use of mirrors to the narcissistic queen and the girls sleeping in coffins.  I think my favorite element is the use of werewolf folklore--I love how the werewolf is wearing a wolf pelt when he takes human form.  Also, the use of torture devices in the film seemed fitting concerning how many witches are executed with torture devices at the end of the tales. 

Some things clearly diverted away from the fairy tale tradition, like the horse with the spider webs and the use of insects in general (seemed more like The Mummy in the digital insect department), but overall I enjoyed the storytelling and the use of fairy tale elements to create an engaging horror comedy.  I was definitely impressed by the writer's and director's knowledge of the fairy tales and their use of the gothic potential of fairy tales, and this was effectively paired with Gilliam's unique and boldly visual storytelling. 

I just posted my latest scary fairy tale, The Spelling Bee Champion, which features the epic quest of a young zombie who wants to be a real boy again, and his encounters with Satan, the great white whale Moby-Dick, the Angel of Death, Bartholomew of the Scissors, Bloody Mary, and my childhood dog Panda. 

Here is an excerpt:

Once upon a time there lived a spelling bee champion who was murdered with a hammer.

Soon the seagulls gathered around the body and took turns pulling bits of brain from the hammer holes.  The brain tasted quite delicious since the boy had filled it with beautiful words, which marinated like teriyaki.

Nearby a great fissure opened in the earth, and Satan leapt out of the hole like a rabbit.  He shambled over to the boy's body with his long hairy legs. 

Satan shooed the seagulls away and momentarily extinguished his great beard of inverted flame.  He gave the spelling bee champion mouth-to-mouth, but instead of life-giving breath, he opened up a pit of Satanic radiation in his belly and regurgitated some down the boy's trachea. 

Satan lit his beard again and meandered back to the fissure. 

When the boy found himself fully resuscitated a few minutes later, he was a zombie.  He remembered his name was Chad. 

"I need to get home--I'm late for dinner," Chad said, but he didn't know that now he spoke the language of the dead, which all scavengers can speak.

"You can't go home now. You're a zombie," said one of the seagulls who lingered in the hopes of more delicious brain. 

Chad ignored the talking seagull as if it were a dream, and staggered home. 

When Chad arrived at the front gate, he found his dog, a shaggy dog named Panda, guarding the gate.  He tried to enter, but Panda growled and snapped.

The seagull stood on the fence.  "Your dog can't let you in," he explained.  "You're a zombie now. It's a dog's job to protect the house from the undead."

His dog had never snapped at him before, and more than anything Chad wanted to cry, but since zombies can't cry, he said instead, "I don't want to be a zombie. I want to be a real boy."

This was what the seagull secretly waited for.  "I can help you become a real boy again, but you have to do something for me in return.  I want to taste just a little more of your brain.  You don't need it now--a zombie can't win a spelling bee."

"But I'll need it later when I become a real boy again," Chad said.

"When Satan grants your wish to become a real boy, he can just give you all the brains you need," the seagull explained.

"Why would Satan grant my wish?"

"He woke you up for a reason, of course." 

Then the seagull explained to Chad what he must do to become a real boy again; the steps of his quest were numerous and daunting.

Read all about Chad's exciting, horrifying quest!

Read The Spelling Bee Champion

I'm really looking forward to the second book in The Strain trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.  It comes out in October.  While waiting for the second book, I noticed this week that the mass market paperback for The Strain is out now, and I was thinking about my favorite part of that novel: the opening scary fairy tale.

The novel begins with young Abraham's grandmother coaxing the little boy into eating his dinner by telling him a story.  The story is one of the most chilling scary fairy tales I've ever read--and an amazing vampire story too.  This comes from the imagination of del Toro (the master of the scary fairy tale, in my opinion), and the story bears his wonderful signature style. 

Fortunately, you can read this opening fairy tale in its entirety by checking out the online preview.  In addition, I definitely recommend reading the full novel in anticipation of the next installment, "The Fall," which comes out in October. 

Read this excellent scary fairy tale, "The Legend of Jusef Sardu."

In honor of the newly-renovated wowio website (which looks really fantastic), I decided to update and expand my page for the horror comics that I wrote for Bluewater, including Bartholomew of the Scissors and six one-shots for Vincent Price Presents. 

The new page includes links to all of my horror comic ebooks available at wowio (that's most of the comics), links to the VP Prez trade paperback, links to conceptual galleries from the amazing artists that I worked with (like Daniel Crosier, Rey Armenteros, Joel Robinson, and Giovanni Timpano, among others), links to original comic book scripts with artwork, and links to various behind-the-scenes blog postings with stories about why I wrote the stories! 

I hope you enjoy all of the stuff on the Horror Comics page!

"Night of the Zombie Skunks" is now available at wowio!  I'm very fond of this horror comic, which I wrote for the Vincent Price Presents series a couple of years ago (it was published in March 2009). 

Here is the description:

In this special issue of Vincent Price Presents, adorable forest animals meet the apocalyptic zombie horde. Young Stevie the Skunk only wants to stink like the other boys at school. When he makes a devil's bargain with a sinister and powerful owl, all hell breaks loose.

Don't miss this twisted tale of adolescent angst and zombiehood. It's only cute until the horror begins.

Check out Night of the Zombie Skunks!