THE HORROR OF MY LIFE ALARIC CABILING
13/8/2021
The Horror of My Life is a series of articles that allows the contributor to discuss the films and books that helped to shape their love for the horror genre. Today we welcome author Alaric Cabiling to tell us about the Horror of their Life. THE FIRST HORROR BOOK I REMEMBER READING I was twelve and already a veteran of horror movies, but my first book was Edgar Allan Poe’s Collected Tales and Poems. It was suggested to me for a book report. I took the suggestion and ran with it. I was so taken by it that it changed my life. My first story was The Tell-Tale Heart. I was never the same. I wasn’t scared. I was engrossed. The writing was revelatory; it was exuberant language. Poe’s best stories manage to stay on point, rarely engrossing in exhibitionist prose designed to make him appear smarter than his loathed peers. The Tell-Tale Heart is an example of that. So is The Masque of the Red Death and Berenice, an underrated gem. THE FIRST HORROR FILM I REMEMBER WATCHING My brother loved horror movies that were really gross and sick. I just happened to love watching them, too. The first movie that made an impression on me was a VCR rental called The Gates of Hell. When the female lead saw Satan and she ended up puking her guts out through her mouth in response, it was the first time I saw someone’s insides out. The special effects on the gore was great. It looked like sausage links dipped in barbecue sauce, like the real thing. I couldn’t sleep for days. THE GREATEST HORROR BOOK OF ALL TIME I can already hear people laughing at me after reading this one. I love Stephen King, and Clive Barker’s Books of Blood has got to have some consideration for this distinction, but my fave book of all time is still Poppy Z. Brite’s Wormwood. It’s a collection of stories, and it sang to me like gin and juice when I was still a college kid. Poppy described it as splatterpunk, but it didn’t feel like it. Wormwood is goth, poetic without striving to be. The stories have range; they’re not central on one topic. More importantly, they spoke to my loneliness like no horror fiction book ever has. I identified with how lonely and desperate these characters sometimes were, and how brutal (and gory) life is and was to them. THE GREATEST HORROR FILM OF ALL TIME Stanley Kubrick changed aspects of Stephen King’s novel, The Shining, I believe. If I remember correctly, the novel had a supernatural element instead of Kubrick’s use of a more psychological one, and King was subsequently displeased with the film. However, it was the first horror film that made its mark on me, and years later, I still remember just how difficult it was for me to sleep at age eleven after watching it. I can still watch The Shining and know I’ll love seeing it. It’s that timeless. THE GREATEST WRITER OF ALL TIME Stephen King writes darn good stories; those stories are also highly literary. You can’t go wrong with him. And he’s also quite prolific. Easy pick. THE BEST BOOK COVER OF ALL TIME Too many good covers to choose from. THE BEST FILM POSTER OF ALL TIME Dawn of the Dead. Maybe Jaws THE BEST BOOK / FILM I HAVE WRITTEN Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories. There will be more. THE WORST BOOK / FILM I HAVE WRITTEN I’m getting ready to rewrite/revise all of my self-published books and recompile into one collection. My career basically starts with Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories. It’s a reboot. THE MOST UNDERRATED FILM OF ALL TIME The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. One of the most awesome black and white films ever. Enduring. THE MOST UNDERRATED BOOK OF ALL TIME I can’t say enough about Wormwood, but Poppy’s novel, Exquisite Corpse, was a ton of fun, too. I wish she’d unretire and consider writing about loud bands, New Orleans, alcohol, blood, sex, and violence again. THE MOST UNDERRATED AUTHOR OF ALL TIME Melanie Tem and/or Poppy Z. Brite come to mind. THE BOOK / FILM THAT SACRED ME THE MOST The b-movie, Driller Killer, was extra gory and violent. Just read the title. It looks like real heads and real brains coming out of the heads. THE BOOK / FILM I AM WORKING ON NEXT It’s called, The Last Stop, and it occurs in a rural town in Northern Virginia close to the mountains. The world-building is very detailed. Although the town is fictional, you can see things unfold because of the vivid portrayal and description. A feared contract killer has come to complete his last contract, and he happens to kill everyone in his path. The Feds are trying to piece it together before more people die, but he just keeps getting away. When they finally learn that everyone in town was stipulated to die in his contract, they try to learn just how he plans to do it. The supernatural and occult elements bring horror genre elements into this psychological thriller. Alaric Cabiling Alaric Cabiling is an author and producer living in Manila, Philippines. He resided in Richmond, Virginia, United States, for seventeen years, and much of his work takes place there. Cabiling loves the psychological horror, supernatural horror, thriller, and suspense genres. He uses magic realism in his work. He is disabled and identifies as gay. Twitter: @alaricpcabiling Website: alariccabiling.net Alaric’s Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories can be purchased here: https://smarturl.it/3uuoiz Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories |
Archives
April 2023
|
RSS Feed
|
|