Home » Posts tagged "nonfiction" (Page 8)

Documentary Review: All Hail the Popcorn King directed by Hansi Oppenheimer

All Hail the Popcorn King directed by Hansi Oppenheimer

Squee Projects LLC, 2019

Not Rated

Run time: 55 minutes

Available: on the convention circuit currently; DVD preorders available through website: https://squeeprojects.com/

“If you’ve read Joe Lansdale, you love Joe Lansdale.”

–Mick Garris

Award-winning East Texas-based author Joe R. Lansdale is the focus of director Hansi Oppenheimer’s documentary film, All Hail the Popcorn King. Oppenheimer follows Lansdale as he discusses growing up in Nacogdoches, TX in the 1950s, and what influenced his love of storytelling. Lansdale also talks about how he embarked on his writing career, how he has woven personal experiences into his work, and how he created his own unique genre. Included in the film are interviews with Joe Hill, David J. Schow, Del Howison, Brian Keene, Rick Klaw, Don Coscarelli, Bruce Campbell, James Purefoy, and more.

Q & A at the Nacogdoches Film Festival

Watching the documentary, it is clear Lansdale loves history. His eyes light up as he takes Hansi through the community center that used to be the library, discussing historical figures such as Davy Crockett, whose portrait hangs in a display case behind glass. As he talks about his love of drive-ins and movies, especially reminiscing about watching but not hearing films being played at the drive-in from a window, with his mother making up the story unfolding on the big screen, it is apparent where his love of storytelling comes from. Of course, there is much conversation about his works, such as Bubba Ho-Tep, the Hap and Leonard series, The Drive-In, and more. Joe also discusses the martial science he developed, Shen Chuan. Bruce Campbell says of Lansdale, “Do not sneak up on Joe.”

Hansi and Joe at the Cocteau Theater in Santa Fe, with George R.R. Martin

In the summary of the documentary, it reads “We pay homage to one of the Great American Authors.” Indeed, the film accomplishes this. Oppenheimer does a great job weaving the interviews with Joe and everyone else with comic book and drive-in movie style graphics that add a unique touch to the content. Listening to Lansdale talk about his life and history will make anyone want to take it all in. All Hail the Popcorn King belongs on any bookshelf that contains his works, and also provides a great introduction to new and potential readers. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on July 10, 2020 by Kirsten, Reply

Book Review: Shapeshifters: A History by John B. Kachuba

Shapeshifters: A History by John B. Kachuba

Reaktion Books Ltd, 2019

ISBN-13: 978 -1789140798

Available: Hardcover

Do you know the origin of the word berserk? Have you heard about a community of vampires in Buffalo, New York? Do you think of Jesus as a shapeshifter? These are some examples of information from the ancient past to the present that you will find in John B. Kachuba’s Shapeshifters: A History. This is a short book packed full of interesting details from myths and legends from around the world, historical research that sifts through the beliefs about shapeshifters in different cultures, and many brief stories of the exploits, drama, and dangers associated with these sometimes frightening creatures whether animal, human, or supernatural in form.

Kachuba presents a wide-ranging array of shapeshifters that stretches the definition of the word from physical transformations to psychological anomalies. He branches out to consider masks and costumes as ways people attempt to shape shift. Individual chapters suggest narrow categories such as the shapeshifting powers of gods, goddesses, and faeries, even gender transformations, but within the chapters, there is an attempt to pull in so many different categories, time periods, cultures, and religions that some sections become descriptive lists interspersed with storytelling and repetitive analysis. The vampire and werewolf chapters contain mainly information that will be familiar to most seasoned readers, but even so, there are fresh perspectives and analysis.

As Kachuba takes us back and forth through the centuries, he provides historical perspective and takes time to examine the origins of the beliefs and how they have been related to morals, values, education, and parenting. He notes the positive and negative influences that a belief in shapeshifting has had around the world and over time. The section on literature and the media provides young adult readers with information on related books, films, art, and television shows that will reveal how shapeshifting is still interesting to us today. Overall, this entertaining book is the type you’ll want to dip into according to your whims and use to further your own explorations on the topic. Recommended.

Reviewed by Nova Hadley

Editor’s note: Shapeshifters: A History was nominated to the final ballot of the 2019 Bram Stoker Award in the category of Superior Achievement in Non-Fiction.

Posted on April 7, 2020 by Kirsten, Reply

Interview: Cecilia Abate, aka Horror Scholar, Talks to Lizzy Walker

Cecelia Abate

We’re a little past Women in Horror Month, but why limit ourselves to one month a year? There are way too many awesome women who are a part of the horror community to do that. Monster Librarian primarily reviews fiction, but I actually like reading nonfiction, too, as it widens my knowledge of horror and I think makes me a better reviewer. Also, despite academic jargon, the ideas can be really compelling. Any researcher who doesn’t have the resources of a university or similar institution knows the challenge of actually getting your own stuff written, researched, and published. Enter Cecilia Abate, aka Horror Scholar, founder of Horror Scholar Journal, a new online journal that provides an avenue for independent researchers to get their work published. Reviewer Lizzy Walker had the opportunity to interview Cecilia recently, so read on to learn more about her!

Lizzy: Hi, Cecilia! Tell Monster Librarian readers about yourself.

Cecilia: Hi there! I’m an independent horror academic & researcher with a focus in data-heavy quantitative analysis. I run a research brand under the title Horror Scholar and am currently employed at Google during my daylight hours.

Lizzy: Describe your path to horror studies. How did this become an interest for you?

Cecilia: Actually, total accident. As I was getting through my BA, I remember *hating* pop culture studies and literary analysis. I was rereading Frankenstein for a sci-fi studies course and I bought an edition which had about 4 analytical essays included in the back. I remember flipping through them and just scoffing, being like, “Oh my god, who cares? The monster is a monster, leave it alone.”

Somehow, in the next few years, that opinion completely reversed. I did my last essay of my college career on colonialism in The Nightmare Before Christmas. And as I was laughing at myself writing it, I started to go “oh no… this is actually a lot of fun.”

Lizzy: What made you start Horror Scholar Journal?

Cecilia: Frustration and a drive to lead a project, honestly. At the time—I don’t fully remember the line of thought, but I remember being frustrated at the gap between being an independent academic (not backed by a university, therefore less credible) and needing my work published. And I sort of thought, “You know what? I’m gonna do it myself. I’m gonna make a change here.”

Lizzy: The inaugural Issue of Horror Scholar Journal which focuses on American Horror Story was great. Could you talk about your American Horror Story research you started prior to the journal?

Cecilia: Thank you! So in 2015, I started conceptualizing a thesis about the usage of sexual violence on AHS, but I didn’t have the numbers to back it up, which resulted in me starting a data project to record and process all the incidents of sexual violence on the show. I’ll be doing that until the show ends and I’m currently almost caught up – I’ve got to finish the numbers for the previous season.

Lizzy: So, Hannibal is the focus of Issue 2. What made you want to focus on this iconic horror figure?

Cecilia: One of the things that pushed me was the passion of his fans! The Hannibal fandom is SO ALIVE. While I know is most certainly due to the 2013 show, there are still tons and tons of classic Lecter fans out there. When I put the call for theme suggestions out on Twitter, the Hannibal fans answered strongest of all. It’s a rich canon, the books & movies are great, and it made for a bunch of very strong essays.

Lizzy: What can we expect for more themes of future issues of Horror Scholar Journal?

Cecilia: Phew. My girlfriend most recently suggested the Alien franchise, which is a pretty strong bid. Ideally, I’d like to take on things that aren’t the most obvious suggestions. Like, I’d never do “Dracula” or “Frankenstein” because the topics have been diced every which way already.

Lizzy: Why should librarians recommend Horror Scholar Journal as a resource?

Cecilia: I’ve always seen librarians as a particularly revolutionary and rebellious arm of academia, so I think my goals for Horror Scholar align with those sentiments – accessibility (both intellectually and financially), critical thought, creativity.

Lizzy: Do you have any upcoming projects you would like to mention?

Cecilia: I’m prepping a paper on vampire identity and social strata in What We Do In The Shadows and Being Human (UK). While I’m secretly not hyped for this paper, I AM hyped for attending the Popular Culture Association Conference for the first time to present it!

Lizzy: How can people get in touch with you for more information?

Cecilia: My email, horrorscholar@gmail.com is fine – OR we’re available on FB and Twitter! www.facebook.com/horrorscholar or www.twitter.com/scholarhorror.

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Kirsten, Reply