THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY BY NATHAN NISH

2/6/2021

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY by nathan nish

This is kind of like that silly game Snog Marry or Kill, where you are given the opportunity to talk about something that you love about the genre (The Good), something you don't like about the genre (The Bad) and something that you wish you could expel from the genre for all time (The Ugly)

Good: Psychological and philosophical boundary exploration.

Horror is perfect for exploring psychological and philosophical boundaries. Sure, Fantasy and Science Fiction help build the pillars and foundations for a metaphorical house, but without a horror prowling outside walls we don't really know if our the walls will be strong enough to keep us safe. Horror shows us what kinds of walls we have and where they need boarding up to keep the zombies out. It even seems to have grown with us, at various points in time, from Goosebumps to Eraserhead to The Father recently being categorized as a bit of a horror movie, too. It is here we can express the anxieties and fears of life or answer questions like, "What's under the bed?"

Bad: Horror franchises as horrifying as the monster coming back at the end of every installment of the film.

The junk food of horror always exists in excess: Yes, horror franchises these days are as horrifying as the monster coming back at the end of every installment of the film. Almost just as predictably, I'm not about to skip the next Nightmare on Elm Street or Scream (neither of which are in the works right now, to my knowledge.) I do have my limits. Halloween is going to Halloween, The Conjuring is going to keep me not watching. (As my mind shifts to, "But are they done with those Insidious movies?") Every horror fan has their own guilty pleasure here. Even for the ones we don't like, you know the number of us who are more than happy to try the William Shatner death mask is more than a few.

Ugly: Torture films. Mostly.

Among the furthest boundaries are torture movies. To top it off, most of the ones that come to mind also happen to have franchises: Hostel, The Human Centipede, Saw. I'd rather spend my time with Eli Roth when he's playing baseball or telling me about where to find the clock in a house. Sure, there's the occasional "must-see", like the first Saw (starring none other than The Man in Black, Cary Elwes) and the one-time-watch Martyrs. The titles of interest tend to be far between and probably wouldn't be missed if they were expelled from the horror genre altogether. In any case, this sub-genre isn't selling anything I'm interested in buying.

Nathan Nish started life in a small town before fleeing from it with his parents within weeks to a desert. After wandering around a college for almost ten years, he obtained an Associate degree in sociology. He wrote most of the Branching Chaos series during his time teaching. When between writing projects, he enjoys making music and listening to more music. Otherwise, a lot of his free time went to watching horror movies, most of which were not scary.

Latest project, Branching Chaos:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D7153H5/

Website:
https://emptypizzabox.weebly.com/

Current work in progress:
https://branchingchaos.weebly.com/

Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/Nathan-Nish/e/B07JG36H45

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18531783.Nathan_Nish

Social Media:
https://twitter.com/NathanNish1
https://www.facebook.com/boxpizzaempty
https://www.instagram.com/nishnathan/

Presents the three digital novellas The Dreary House, A Place to Stay and Chance of Tragedies by Nathan Nish as one book.

Anna’s project is due today but one more day to work on it would really help. At least, until she notices shadows flickering.

Anna begins the day again in class. Through shadows shifting to become something else, she becomes trapped in a haunted house while searching for one of her friends. In another reality, she stays at a hotel with her friends during a storm as a nightmare unfolds. Join Anna for a scary tale of adventure through multiple realities!