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Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid by Pic
http://horrorworld.org/msgboards/viewtopic.php?f=120&t=7439		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  ttzuma [ Mon Jan 04, 2010 1:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid by Pic
It's out, and it's great!

More info in the BUY THIS BOOK thread in The Cellar.

You can go to the Cellar and get more on it, or you can take a shortcut right here:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7435

Tt
Author:  ttzuma [ Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:59 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid by Pic
I was reading an article on August Wilson's, Fences this morning, and the article mentioned that some of Wilson's work could be considered to have noir elements to it. When ever I hear the term noir, Tom Picccirilli's name comes to mind right way, and I started to flash back to some of the conversations we had had on what noir means.

Well, to get to my point... between the article I was reading and my mental hopscotching about Pic's definition, I started to think that there may be a big difference when the term noir is used when made in conjunction with a novel or a movie.

In a movie, it would appear to be fairly obvious. It would have the requisite crime motif of a woman scorned somehow, a betrayal, and eventually, there will be some sort of revenge. A movie also has the benefit of visuals as compared to a novel to help convey its noir tone. So how come when I see a modern movie described as having noir elements to it, I can't see it sometimes? I think, or I'm guessing, that its because of the meat of the story, the actual plot rather than the trappings, just doesn't ring true. You can have all the black and white scenery in the world, the movie can be set in the 40's, cigarette smoke could be obscuring the screen, and all of the plot elements I've mentioned above could be there, but if I'm not convinced the story itself lends itself to these elements, I don't think it should be called noir. For instance, I wouldn't call Mel Gibson's movie Ransom noir, even though it contains a lot of those elements, but I would call Harrison Ford's movie Blade Runner a noir movie, because the script supports the trappings. Does that make sense?

Now in novels, I think it's fairly obvious as to whether a a book is noir or not. But I am not an expert by any means, I've only just started to read and appreciate this style of writing, so I could be wrong. For instance, would The Night Country by Stuart O'Nan be considered noir? I think it would even though its not crime fiction. Would Repairman Jack novels be considered noir? I would think not, but I bet someone could make an argument to me that they were and I would change my mind.

Well, anyways, I am writing a review on The Death Panel and turning it in, and hopefully it will be accepted by Nanci. I am going to write a little more here on this story (Blood Sacrifices..) later on, I just dug the hell out of it so much. I was going to do it this morning actually, and then I started to read that article....and my mind started to wander....and here I am.

Tt
Author:  ttzuma [ Mon Jan 25, 2010 8:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid by Pic
As I was thinking about this story on the way into work this morning, I was struck once again by the ending of this tale. In Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid, I made the mistake of falling into Pic's trap again, like I always do, by getting so involved with the story that I forget that a Pic short noir tale almost always is never goes where you think it will go. The man's sense of misdirection (I'm not sure if thats the right term though) is brilliant.

Tt
Author:  ttzuma [ Tue Feb 02, 2010 10:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid by Pic
For a review of The Death Panel in which this story appears, please click on the linc below.

http://www.horrorworld.org/reviews.htm

This linc is only good in February, after which you will have to go into the review archives.

Tt
Author:  Tom Piccirilli [ Tue Feb 02, 2010 12:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid by Pic
Thanks again for all the generous compliments about this story, Tony, so glad you dug it as much as you have.

I suppose all good dark fiction--whether horror or crime or noir--invites you into its world of danger and forces you to forget that once you're in you're not getting out without some bruises or scars. In a way, the writer is forced to lull the reader into a fale sense of security, where you might believe that all the characters you've come to like might actually get to the end of the tale unscathed. You know it's not going to happen. You know you're reading a horror or noir novel, but still, for a while there, you hold out hope. You hold out the hope the writer gives you, and then it's his job to take that hope away.
Author:  Mels [ Tue Feb 02, 2010 4:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Blood Sacrifices & The Catatonic Kid by Pic
That is a great review TT. I will put this on my list of books to pick up.
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