Ghost Stories for Christmas

 “His ghost stories transformed the genre like a galvanic shock. His universe — the one which made him famous as a first-rate writer of ghost stories — is not one of clear boundaries between good and evil, but one in which the two merge and blend, trespass and encroach. He was deeply concerned about human corruption — both more broadly in society and individually within the spirit — and this plays out chillingly in his best tales.” — M. Grant Kellermeyer, from his introduction to A Warning to the Curious, Count Magnus, and Other Horrors: The Best Ghost Stories and Weird Fiction of M. R. James 

For my last blog post of the year, I thought that I would write about Christmas and ghosts. I never realized how connected they are until recently. 

Most people who celebrate Christmas are probably familiar with the song “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” as sung by Andy Williams. I listened to it growing up and I heard it recently in Hawkeye, the latest series from Marvel. I wonder how many people are familiar with one particular line though:

There’ll be parties for hosting

Marshmallows for toasting

And caroling out in the snow

There’ll be scary ghost stories

And tales of the glories of 

Christmases of long ago

Huh. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve listened to the song, but I don’t remember the line about scary ghost stories. Although telling ghost stories in December isn’t a thing in present day America, I learned that it was quite popular in Victorian England. While that tradition made it over to America it never really caught on. The writers of the lyrics seem to remember though.

Telling spooky stories at the end of year began as an oral tradition, stories told around a fire during long dark evenings. This tradition became even more popular in Victorian England with the invention of the printing press. I was familiar with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, but I had no idea that he also wrote other ghost stories and that he included lots of ghost stories at the end of the year in the magazines that he edited.

Last month I learned about a reading challenge where participants were to read the ghost stories of M.R. James. He was a medievalist scholar, and he was provost of King’s College, Cambridge and of Eaton College. Many of the stories were written to be read out loud to his friends at the end of the year. 

The creator of the challenge made a list of twenty-six stories with the idea being to read one story a day from November 30th to December 25th. I decided to join in since I already had his first collection, Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, but hadn't read it yet. The Kindle version also includes his second collection More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. That still didn’t cover all the stories on the list, so I also downloaded a complete collection, and I was all set.

I enjoyed the stories a lot and decided to learn more about the author. This led me down a rabbit hole. I eventually learned about the lyrics above as well as other connections between ghost stories and Christmas, like the annual A Ghost Story for Christmas specials from the BBC. 

A Ghost Story for Christmas is a series of television specials from the 1970s. Most of them were adaptations of M.R. James stories and directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. The BBC has revived the series recently in specials directed by Mark Gatiss. The latest one was just released, an adaptation of “The Mezzotint” by M.R. James. I’ve watched most of them and enjoyed them. One thing that added to my enjoyment was spotting actors who have played Time Lords on Doctor Who. So far, I’ve spotted four. 

While that was fun, I’ve been thinking about why I’ve been drawn to horror fiction recently. It’s much more than just the thrill that these kinds of stories can provide. I think it’s because I’ve become more concerned about the things mentioned in the quote above.  

Ten Things I Learned from National Novel Writing Month 2021

 “Finish things.” - Neil Gaiman

This year was my fourth year participating in November’s National Novel Writing Month. I had three goals this time. Beat my previous year’s word count, write every day, and finish a story. 

So how did I do? Well, I beat my word count by the 15th, wrote every day (some days more than others), and I finished a story. Now technically the story isn’t really finished. It’s a first draft. A pretty rough first draft so it needs plenty of work. But it still feels good. 

While I’ve learned something from each year’s experience, I feel like I learned the most this year. So here are ten things I learned from participating in NaNoWriMo 2021. 

One: I’m a plantser.

A “planner” believes in rigorous preparation and a “pantser” believes in hardcore spontaneity. A “plantser” is somewhere in between. While I didn’t have everything plotted out in detail this year, I didn’t jump in blind either. I had a goal in mind and a number of story beats that I knew I wanted to hit. I found that this helped me with keeping forward momentum and it allowed the freedom for new ideas to develop. This kept me interested. 

I’ve spent way more time in my life thinking about stories instead of sitting down and writing them. When I did sit down to write I didn’t finish. I either lost interest or I wasn’t sure where I was going and gave up. Now I have a better idea of how much I need to figure out before sitting down to write. 

Two: Using a timer can help you be productive.

I learned about this method last year. Set a timer and don’t stop writing until it goes off. If you stop writing, stop the timer. This method worked really well the first couple of times I tried it out. I started off small, just fifteen minutes. Then I went from thirty minutes to an hour. My problem in the past was that I wasn’t doing it regularly. I tried it again last month and was more consistent. Funny thing is, after seven days I stopped using the timer. I found that I didn’t need it anymore!

Three: Write fast, edit later.

Don’t second guess yourself. Unsure about including a scene? Include it. Can’t decide between which way to word something? Write down both ways. The most important thing is forward momentum. You can always cut stuff later. 

Four: Talk to a writing buddy.

Whether it’s in person or online, talking to someone who is also writing can be motivating. Even just reading comments from others who are sharing their struggles and accomplishments. 

Five: Hemingway was right when he said, “Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next.”

I’m familiar with this advice but it didn’t have an impact until now. Maybe because I wasn’t so focused on finishing a story until last month. Since I had a number of story beats worked out ahead of time, and because I learned new things as I was writing, whenever I stopped for the day, I knew what would happen next. I felt good and it left me motivated to jump in the next day. 

Six: You need a goal. 

This is pretty obvious of course. The most common goal is a daily word count. I wasn’t reaching the recommended 1667 words per day. I figured that was okay since I wasn’t working on a novel. My goal was to finish at least one scene per day.  It left me with low word counts but I felt a sense of accomplishment after completing a scene every day. The downside to this was even with just working on a short story, I was behind at the end of the month. I think a word count goal is something I still need to consider. 

Seven: Take notes as you write.

This helped me stay in writing mode.  While I was writing I would get new ideas or think of ways to improve previous scenes. Instead of stopping the flow by tinkering with previous scenes or starting something new, I’d make a note on the document somewhere or add to a list in a notebook I kept by my side. 

Eight: Find a way to stay organized that works for you.

After a few days and trying different things, I found myself working between two documents and a notebook. The first document consisted of the story draft, character names and notes, place notes and history, and conversations. The second document consisted of a general outline and list of story beats. The notebook consisted of anything that popped into my head, for example, background information, small details to add, and notes of inconsistencies to address later. 

Nine: Find a workflow that works for you. 

My main rule was this: When working on the draft, stay focused on the draft. No editing. This became more challenging the more I wrote. The longer the story got, the more the logical part of my brain wanted to create order, fix things, and tinker. This was bad for forward momentum. 

So, my other rule was I could edit before or after, either as a warm-up or as a warm-down. This helped me focus on finishing scenes and moving forward.

Ten: Read for motivation. 

I discovered pretty quickly that one of my weaknesses is writing fight scenes. Since I was working on a fantasy adventure story, I started reading Robert E. Howard again. He’s a master of action scenes. I also read Damon Knight’s Creating Short Fiction. It was an enjoyable read and I got a number of ideas out of it. 

Bonus: Don’t wait for motivation. 

You get a lot farther from sitting down and doing the work, even when you’re not motivated, than waiting for motivation to hit. Also, you’d be surprised how often motivation actually kicks in once you get started. Who knew?! Well, a lot of successful writers apparently as I see this advice given a lot. I guess some people just need to learn this for themselves.

Closing

I have mixed feelings about month-long challenges like this. On one hand, it’s a way to be productive, but on the other hand it can be stressful. Whether it’s drawing, writing, or something else, doing something creative every single day takes time and energy. 

NaNoWriMo is over. So now what? I realize I need to keep doing the things I learned throughout the year, not just one month out of the year. So far, I’ve continued to write a little bit every day since last month. I may not continue to write every day from here on out, but hopefully I’ve developed some good habits. Habits that will help me finish things. 

(Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month)

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance

 “I lived beside the ocean – in a white villa among poplar trees. Across Tenebrosa Bay the Cape of Sad Remembrance reached into the ocean, and when the sunset made the sky red and the mountains black, the cape seemed to sleep on the water like one of the ancient earth-gods…All my life I spent here, and was content as one may be while dying Earth spins out its last few courses.” - Etarr from "T'sias," by Jack Vance

The Dying Earth is a collection of six loosely related short stories originally published in 1950. The stories are set in a far distant future where the Sun is nearing the end of its life and magic has returned. Magic and technology exist side by side but many secrets to both have been lost. While some people have left the Earth for the stars, others have remained living in cities scattered across the planet, some in ruins. 

I really enjoyed Vance’s writing style. His descriptions were lyrical and poetic. I was surprised by how beautifully he used colors when describing the unusual flora and fauna. I liked the dialogue as well. While characters often spoke in a romantic and formal style, there was also some deadpan humor. He also used lots of interesting vocabulary. I learned more than a few new words. 

The characters in the stories are all searching for something. In one story a magician is trying to create life. In other stories characters are on quests. During their journeys we learn more about the characters and the world of the Dying Earth. For example, magicians have to prepare spells in advance by memorizing them. Each spell has a specific purpose and has to be re-memorized once used. The spells have descriptive names like Phandaal’s Gyrator and The Spell of the Omnipotent Sphere.

All this reminded me of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game. It turns out that The Dying Earth is one of the books listed in Appendix N of the original D&D Dungeon Masters Guide. Also, creator Gary Gygax credits the book with being the inspiration for the game’s magic system. 

Although I’ve played D&D before, I didn’t know about Appendix N until last year. I learned about it through the excellent blog on the DMR Books website. 

Appendix N is a list of authors and works that influenced the creation of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Besides Jack Vance, the list includes Poul Anderson, Leigh Brackett, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lord Dunsany, Robert E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, Andre Norton, Michael Moorcock, J. R. R Tolkien, Manly Wade Wellman, Roger Zelazny, as well as a few others. Many of these authors are favorites of mine. 

"Turjan of Mir" (3/5)

The magician Turjan has been trying to create human life but has not been successful. He travels to Embelyon, a realm not of Earth and seeks help from the mysterious Pandelume. On the way he meets a very unfriendly woman by the name of T’sais. Pandelume agrees to help but only if Turjan retrieves an amulet from Kandive the Golden. Turjan learns that T’sais was created by Pandelume but that “...what we hold to be beautiful seems to her loathsome and ugly, and what we find ugly is to her intolerably vile…” 

I liked the spell battle that followed and how things played out after Turjan gained the knowledge he was seeking. It came across a little like a science fiction/fantasy fairy tale, one that involved tragedy as well as hope. 

"Mazirian the Magician" (3/5)

This story begins with Turjan from the previous story, a prisoner of Mazirian the Magician. Everyday a woman from the forest observes Mazirian. She thwarts all of his attempts to capture her. Finally, he memorizes five spells and prepares his Live Boots, boots that allow him to run at great speed. When she appears again a great chase and battle of wits ensues. 

"T’sais" (4/5)

T’sais from the first story tells Pandelume that she wishes to leave Embelyon and travel to Earth in order to learn more about beauty and love. Pandelume warns her that Earth is a dangerous place and we learn more of its history.  

“Earth,” mused Pandelume. “A dim place, ancient beyond knowledge. Once it was a tall world of cloudy mountains and bright rivers, and the sun was a white blazing ball. Ages of rain and wind have beaten and rounded the granite, and the sun is feeble and red. The continents have sunk and risen. A million cities have lifted towers, have fallen to dust. In place of the old peoples a few thousand strange souls live. There is evil on Earth, evil distilled by time…Earth is dying and in its twilight…”

But T’sias has heard that Earth is also a place of beauty and she has the urge to learn more. Pandelume agrees to send her. He gives her an amulet that repels magic, a sword, and a bag of jewels. On Earth she has an encounter with Liane the Wayfarer, a vain, smooth talking, dangerous thief. Eventually she meets Etarr, a kind man who keeps his face hidden because of a curse. 

I liked this story a lot. T’sias pushes herself to understand her feelings, manages to get out of a couple of bad situations before meeting up with Etarr, then joins him in his efforts to remove the curse.

"Liane the Wayfarer: (5/5)

We meet Liane again, the vain and dangerous thief from the previous story. He meets a beautiful woman named Lith. He is infatuated with her but she will have nothing to do with him unless he performs a task for her. Lith shows him half of a beautiful tapestry.  She explains that the other half has been stolen and placed in some ruins in the north. His task is to recover the missing tapestry. He agrees without hesitation. 

When I started this story, I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, but it became one of my favorite stories from this collection. Short and sweet with one heck of an ending. 

"Ulan Dhor" (4/5)

Prince Kandive the Golden sends his nephew, Ulan Dhor on a quest to retrieve a pair of ancient tablets from the lost city of Ampridatvir.  When combined the tablets provide a key to ancient knowledge. The tablets are controlled by two rival factions. Each one of the factions has one of the tablets in their temple. Ulan Dhor makes his way to the city and learns more about the factions and why each of them guards one of the tablets. We see a lot of ancient technology in this story, from anti-gravity devices to flying cars. By the end of the story we learn all the details about the mysterious city and the two tablets. 

"Guyal of Sfere" (5/5)

Guyal of Sfere is not well liked. As a child he constantly asked questions in order to understand everything around him. This continued into adulthood, much to the annoyance of his father. He decides to go on a quest to find the mythical Museum of Man so he can ask the supposedly all-knowing Curator questions. To aid him in his journey, Guyal’s father gives him a white horse, a magic shelter, and a glowing dagger. Guyal heads north and has a series of adventures as he searches for the museum. 

Guyal quickly became my favorite character after reading the answers he gave to questions he was asked. When asked if all the people from the south are as inquisitive as he is, he responds with:

“In no degree,” said Guyal. “Everywhere normality of the mind may be observed. The habitants adroitly perform the motions which fed them yesterday, last week, a year ago. I have been informed of my aberration well and full. ‘Why strive for a pendant’s accumulation?’ I have been told. ‘Why seek and search?’ Earth grows cold; man gasps his last; why forego merriment, music, and revelry for the abstract and abstruse?”

He continues:

“The rumor goes that I am demon-bereft of my senses. Such may be. In any event the effect remains, and the obsession haunts me.” 

I love that Guyal stands his ground and pushes back against what everyone else thinks about him.

Later in the story after a long journey and various encounters, he is about to face a new danger. When asked how he can be defiant against the oncoming danger he responds with:

“In truth I do not know…Perhaps I find it incredible that the Norns would direct me from pleasant Sfere, through forest and crag, into northern waste, merely to play the role of cringing victim. Disbelieving so inconclusive a destiny, I am bold.” 

He’s brave and he’s not exactly sure why, but he’s not giving up!

The first two stories were the shortest. They’re a little simpler than the later stories. While I enjoyed them, the stories really took off with the third one. Each story had interesting characters and worldbuilding. The combination of unique prose and unique and sometimes satirical settings, made for an enjoyable reading experience.

Jack Vance wrote three sequels to The Dying Earth. They are The Eyes of the Overworld, Cugel’s Saga, and Rhialto the Marvelous.

Thoughts on National Novel Writing Month

 “The truth is that there’s always a gap between the story as you imagined it - compelling, insightful, rich with subtle nuance - and what actually ends up in the manuscript. This is because stories must be written, and read, one word at a time…” - Nancy Kress 

This is my fourth year participating in National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. Every November people try to write a 500,000 word novel in thirty days. It’s recommended to write 1667 words a day. I’ve never been a stickler about the official NaNoWriMo rules. I don’t often hit 1667 words a day and I don’t think my ideas are detailed enough for an entire novel. 

I’ve had story ideas and characters running around in my head for years but I haven’t written many of them down. I figured participating would be a way for me to finally finish something. That’s been more challenging than I thought.

Although I have yet to complete a story, let alone a novel, I did get something out of the work I put in. Each year has been a learning experience.

2018

The project for my first year was a science fiction/fantasy story that evolved from a story I came up with in my childhood. Although I didn’t finish it, by writing for a month I saw my characters come to life. At the end of the month I had a partial draft and I knew how the story would end. That’s more than I had before I started. It felt pretty good. 

2019

For my second year I decided my project would be a collection of at least four short stories. My plan was to write one story per week. It sounded like a good idea at the time but I wound up spending the entire month on the first story. I didn’t finish it. On the positive side I beat my previous year’s word count. 

2020

It took me a while to figure out what to do last year. My first thoughts were to finish a previous project or start a new story. But I also had some essays that I wanted to write. So I took last year’s idea and tweaked it a little. I named my project Short Fiction and Essays. I worked on one piece of fiction and a variety of essays. 

Once again, it sounded like a good idea at the time. It was a way to get me writing. I beat my previous year’s word count once again but the only thing I finished was one essay. The essay became a post for my blog. But at the end of the month I didn’t have the sense of accomplishment that I had the previous two years.

I thought having separate mini-projects would make it easier for me to finish things. Instead, I didn’t feel as focused as the previous two years. I only finished one essay and I didn’t think that was much of an accomplishment. Since I update my blog at least one a month, I would have written that essay whether it was National Novel Writing Month or not. In the end I didn't see the point.

As disappointing as last year’s experience was, it was still a good learning experience. It helped me understand that NaNoWriMo works best for me when I use it to focus on writing fiction. I decided on this year’s project pretty quickly. 

2021

This year I’m putting all my energy into one story again. If I finish it before the end of the month I'll start another one.

I wrote my first short story when I was in high school. I don’t have it anymore but I remember some vague details. I tried to write a new version of that story once before but nothing came of it. But I didn’t stop thinking about it and it kept growing. I decided that this year’s project would be based on that story. 

Before the month started I gave myself three goals:

Write every day. 

Break last year’s word count. 

Finish the story. 

The month is just over half over. I’ve written and updated my word count every day so far. I broke last year’s word count on the 15th. That was huge for me. Not so much because it’s a higher number, but more importantly because I’ve gotten further into a story than in previous years, in half the time.

I don’t have everything worked out story wise but I’m finding that things get worked out as I sit down and write. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the first time and it feels pretty good. 

(Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month)

Scary Movies

“When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at tenth-row center in a theater showing a horror movie, we are daring the nightmare.” - Stephen King

I watched a lot of horror movies this October and it got me thinking about how I got into horror. I was always a science fiction kid. I grew up watching Star Trek and reading books from the Science Fiction Book Club. I did read some Lovecraft and stories from Weird Tales but they didn't grab me when I was younger. I eventually got into horror but it wasn’t until I was much older older. 

When I was in grade school I often watched movies after school. One of the Atlanta channels showed afternoon movies during the week at 4:00 or 4:30. I seem to remember a host introducing the movies but it was just some guy in a suit. Each week would have a theme. I saw my first Godzilla and Gamera movies and I loved them. I also remember seeing the color Tarzan movies for the first time. I grew up watching the black and white Tarzan movies with Johnny Weissmuller so seeing the newer color ones was like finding treasure. 

The station also showed a lot of other monster movies. Movies like The Incredible Two Headed Transplant were more goofy than scary. On the other hand they also showed the Hammer Horror versions of Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman. I remember parts of The Curse of the Werewolf and The Brides of Dracula being pretty scary. 

There were two movies in particular that I found the most scary. First was Attack of the Mushroom People (Japanese title Matango, the movie poster is above) directed by Ishiro Honda of Godzilla fame. It's about a group of people shipwrecked on an island with weird plant creatures. I remember the entire movie being creepy but especially the ending. I re-watched it recently and it holds up. The other movie is The Navy vs. the Night Monsters, another plant creatures on an island movie. Spoiler coming up. It’s a really low budget mess of a film but I didn’t notice at the time. I thought that the plant creatures that finally appeared were scary but there was one scene that really had me jump. When the movie started I was excited because I recognized the actor playing one of the Navy characters. “Cool, it’s Bud from Father Knows Best!” Later in the movie one of the plant creatures rips his arm off. “Noooooooo!” Scared the heck out of me. 

The channel stopped showing afternoon movies around the time I started going to movie theaters. As a science fiction fan I was excited to see Alien in the theater in 1979. I didn’t like it that much. I thought it was well done but it was too dark for me. I skipped Aliens at the theater but finally saw it on DVD years later. That one I loved and I still prefer it over the first one. By this time I was into action movies and I liked that aspect of it.  Alien 3 lost me in the first few minutes and the rest of the movie didn’t do anything for me.

Around 1979 I also saw Phantasm in the theater. It’s a surreal horror movie with some minor science fiction elements. Watching it was like riding a roller coaster and I absolutely loved it. The Tall Man is one of my favorite villains and the movie is one of my favorite horror movies. As much as I liked it I still hadn’t become a fan of horror movies though. Around 1982 I saw John Carpenter's The Thing. Didn’t like it. These days? It’s another one of my favorites.

For whatever reason, except for Phantasm, I didn’t enjoy scary movies when I was younger. What changed? I’m not exactly sure but I remember when the change happened. It was right after watching a particular director’s movie that grabbed me from the opening and didn’t let go until the end. It’s my all time favorite horror movie but I’ll save talking about it for another time.

Berserk: Sword and Sorcery Manga as Nietzschean Tragedy?

 “...to live is to suffer, to survive is to find meaning in the suffering.” - Gordon W. Allport

Berserk is the story of Guts, a mercenary known as the Black Swordsman. The story is set in a medieval fantasy world which includes elements of horror and the supernatural. 

Berserk Deluxe Edition Volume One collects the first three volumes of the regular editions in a larger format and on better paper. While volume one of the regular editions is an okay introduction to the character and the world, the story really gets going in volumes two and three. 

I’ve seen Berserk referred to as a blood-soaked sword and sorcery epic. That’s a good description. Guts puts his weapons, a tricked-out crossbow and a rather large sword to good use pretty quickly. The art doesn’t hold back in terms of violence and gore which may turn off some readers. The action and battle scenes are outstanding. The scenes of gore can be off-putting. 

As the story progresses it becomes apparent that there is more going on than just wild action scenes. The art is amazing but it’s the hints of a deeper story that have made me want to keep reading.

Which brings me to another point. In an interview in the Berserk Guidebook, Miura talked about his influences. He mentions all kinds of things including American action movies, the Fist of the North Star manga, Robert E. Howard, The Name of the Rose (1986), magic, witchcraft, and Disney movies. I find this really interesting but on top of that it looks like Miura was also influenced by philosophy. 

I found a video on YouTube titled Berserk as a Nietzschean Tragedy. It mentions that Berserk includes allusions to Plato, Descartes, Hegel, Jung, as well as Nietzsche. It also states that Berserk is an example of the paradox of tragedy. This refers to tragedy, while something that people want to avoid in real life, is something that people sometimes seek out and can get emotional catharsis from in fiction. Because of the events in my life over the last few years I’ve found myself more and more interested in philosophy and the storytelling found in tragedies. 

So, is Berserk a Nietzschean tragedy or an adolescent fantasy about a guy with a big sword? I’m thinking it’s a little of both and I’m intrigued to read further.

Fear by L. Ron Hubbard

"The state of being 'grown up' was a state beset by as many worries, and just as false, as those of childhood." - from Fear by L. Ron Hubbard

Fear is a psychological thriller-horror novella written by L. Ron Hubbard in 1940. Soon after a university professor writes an article mocking the existence of devils, demons, and other superstitions, he loses four hours out of his day. He also loses his hat. He starts meeting strange figures and he starts seeing something out of the corner of his eye. He’s warned that if he finds his hat, he’ll find his four hours, but if he finds his four hours he’ll die.

I had never taken L. Ron Hubbard seriously enough to want to read any of his work, but then as I was re-reading Harlan Ellison’s introduction to Angry Candy, I came across a quote where he talks about Hubbard after his death:

“...and despite the looneytunes scene his Dianetics and Scientology had become, he was always still just Ron Hubbard, who’d written To the Stars and Final Blackout and Fear and Typewriter in the Sky and Slaves of Sleep, all of which great pulp fiction I can still still reread with pleasure…”

I looked up more information about the book. It turns out that Fear is considered a pioneer of modern psychological thrillers. Authors who have praised it include Robert Silverberg, Algis Budrys, Robert Bloch, Ray Bradbury, and Stephen King.

So I decided to give it a try and I enjoyed it. It’s atmospheric and creepy in a pulpy way. Some parts felt like an episode of the Twilight Zone, other parts felt like an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The ending hits hard. It puts something that kept coming up throughout the book in a new perspective. While it has a great ending it took a little too long to get there. I think it would have worked better as a short story. 

L. Ron Hubbard had quite the writing career before Dianetics and Scientology. He wrote science fiction, horror, westerns, mystery, and adventure. I liked Fear enough that I’ll check out the other books Ellison mentioned. 

Addendum:

The black and white artwork above is by Edd Cartier. It's from the July 1940 issue of Unknown Fantasy Fiction in which Fear was first published.

Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

 “There’s no way not to suffer. But you try all kinds of ways to keep from drowning in it.” - James Baldwin 

Going to Meet the Man is a collection of eight short stories by James Baldwin. I’ve read two of his essay collections but this is my first time reading any of his fiction. Themes that show up in these stories include identity, family, religion, love, racism, and bigotry.

When I first flipped through the pages I got a little nervous. I saw a lot of long paragraphs. It’s been my experience that long paragraphs are usually slow and boring. Luckily that wasn’t the case here. My one critique is that most of the stories took a few pages to get started. Once things were set up I was drawn into each story though. James Baldwin writes beautifully. 

These five stories had the strongest impact on me:

“The Man Child”

“Previous Condition”

“Sonny’s Blues” 

“This Morning, This Evening, So Soon”

“Going to Meet the Man”

Out of those five, “Sonny’s Blues” and “This Morning, This Evening, So Soon” were my favorites.

“Sonny’s Blues” is about a man trying to reconnect with his younger brother who struggled with drug addiction in the past. The older brother is skeptical of his younger brother’s desire of becoming a musician. When the older brother suggests something more practical the younger brother responds with “I think people ought to do what they want to do, what else are they alive for?” 

“This Morning, This Evening, So Soon” is about a successful black actor/singer who is nervous about returning to the United States after having lived in France for many years. Like a lot of Baldwin’s fiction, this one seems based on his own life experiences. I thought of James Baldwin’s debate with Paul Weiss on the Dick Cavett show while reading this story. During the debate he mentions how moving to another country saved his life. It’s worth a watch:

James Baldwin and Paul Weiss Debate Discrimination In America | The Dick Cavett Show - YouTube

The blurb on the back cover does an excellent job of describing this collection:

“By turns haunting, heartbreaking, and horrifying — and informed throughout by Baldwin’s uncanny knowledge of the wounds racism has left in both it’s victims and perpetrators…”

Two of the stories are incredibly dark, but there’s a haunting beauty in all the others.