New Weird

The New Weird genre of fiction is a modern take on the weird genre of the past; stories from Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, H.P. Lovecraft, and other authors. It is a pretty hard to define, since it is a blend of multiple genres, mainly horror with influences from fantasy, and science fiction. I think the main difference between horror and new weird is that horror seeks to frighten the audience outright, while weird fiction aims to disturb the audience and make them feel unsettled.

China Mielville's novel "Kraken" is a great example of New Weird fiction. It follows museum employee Billy Harrow’s adventure that begins when he discovers that the giant squid at the museum has disappeared out of nowhere. It takes place in some alternate version of London with spirits, a squid-worshipping cult, and a gang lead by a talking tattoo. The premise alone, along with the characters and the setting, is all pretty weird. I mean that in general terms, but also in the true definition of the genre. Already we see the author blending tropes of horror (spirits, cults), sci-fi (giant squid), and fantasy (magic talking tattoo). I found that the plot is not structurally sound or easy to follow, but the plot itself is not the main focus of the story. The plot is only there to link all the tropes and clichés of the New Weird genre together, which is the essence of what the genre is all about.

Kwaidan

Japanese horror is fascinating because of how different the values are from Western horror. We know that in Western horror, much of what we see is cheap tricks being used to try and frighten the audience. It is often full of gore, violence, and jump scares, and little to no morals to be learned. The plot lines are generally pretty simple in that the good people have to escape the evil things. Of course not all American horror movies are like this but it's a fairly accurate outline for a generic horror flick.
J-horror holds a different set of values that Eastern people identify more with. The "horrific" things in these stories are usually spirits, rather than murderers or monsters. These spirits are also not necessarily just good or evil, but rather a chaotic neutral. The spirits have their own ways of behavior and motives that humans may not understand. The values that these stories send to the audience is that spirits of the dead must be respected, and there is usually a moral lesson involved, rather than just being scary for the sake of it.

A good example of these themes in J-horror is a collection of short stories called Kwaidan. The first story tells of Hoichi the Earless. Hoichi was a minstrel that was convinced by a ghost samurai to go to the graveyard and play a song for a ghost nobleman and a ghost audience. Since he was blind, he did not know what he was doing, so when his priest friend found out, he wrote kanji letters on his body to keep the spirits away. However, he forgot to cover his ears, so when the ghost samurai appeared again he ripped off Hoichi's ears. This allowed the spirits to leave him alone forever.

Japanese spirits are unpredictable in the sense that they don’t follow any human-like ethical code, but rather act according to their own motives. Many Westerners might not understand why it was necessary for the samurai to rip off Hoichi's ears, but he wanted to so he did. It could be as simple as they enjoyed hearing his music, so when he stopped playing for them they were angry. Or maybe they wanted the ears as proof of the musician they loved. The point is that it is not as black and white as American horror seems to be. Some Americans love it and some do not, but it translates much better to people of the Japanese culture.

Interview With a Vampire

Vampires are creatures that have been a huge part of horror fiction for hundreds of years. In modern times, vampire stories often revolve around relationships between each other and with humans. Vampire love stories have more or less replaced vampire monster movies. This humanizes the creatures and makes them accessible as protagonists, rather than just mysterious antagonists like Dracula.

Interview With a Vampire explores how relationships among vampires work and the moral dilemma of having to kill people to keep living. Louis, the protagonist, initially is disgusted by the idea of having to kill people and by how casually Lestat will kill. He gets used to it soon though, and by the end of the novel willingly kills random people and lives in isolation. This stemmed from his relationships with Lestat, Claudia, and Armand making him cynical. The relationships between the vampires is both helpful and destructive. Lestat gave Louis a companion in a lonely life, but was also abusive and sociopathic. Claudia was a good companion to him, but when she was murdered it devastated him. Louis and Armand became close to quickly during the events with the theater vampires, but when they fled they're connection did not stay strong.

It is really interesting to explore the emotions of vampires and their relationships to each other. The novel enforces the idea that being a vampire is a tragic lifestyle, and even those who try to remain morally sound will eventually be corrupted and accept it. It is impossible to maintain positive relationships as a vampire because when you're immortal, eventually you get tired of everyone.

Frankstein

Frankenstein is an example of a story that has sparked an entire subgenre of horror. Frankenstein remakes (Frankenstein, 1931), spinoffs (Bride of Frankenstein, 1935), parodies (Young Frankenstein, 1974) and many stories with the same concept. It's referenced and redefined in pop culture so often that the original novel is forgotten about by many people. There are many traits everyone seems to associate with Frankenstein that are not referenced in the book at all. A green monster with spikes sticking from his ears is what most people think when they hear Frankenstein, but the original story never mentioned those things. He's also perceived to be a stupid killing machine, but the original monster grew to be quite intelligent and killed strategically to get revenge on its creator. It's also a common misconception that Frankenstein is the name of the monster, when it's actually the name of the scientist that created it.

Before Frankenstein made itself a staple in Hollywood, it was an iconic work of Gothic horror. While it was not the first, it is definitely one of the most well known and impactful. It displays many of the signature traits of a gothic horror novel. For instance, there is an air of gloom and mystery in every aspect of the novel, from the setting, to the characters, to the subject matter. The story is set mostly in Switzerland and Germany, mountainous areas where not very many people have been. Then towards the end when Frankenstein and the creature try to hunt each other down in the Arctic, it is a very mysterious location. They travel along vast areas covered in ice, something difficult for most readers to imagine. It's also gloomy to imagine our main characters in a desolate, frozen wasteland. Frankenstein himself is hard to identify with. He is a genius scientist but also a madman, and his rejection of the creature makes him even less sympathetic. The creature is mysterious as well, given that after he gets rejected by Frankenstein we only get to learn about him through his letters and only see evidence of him being places. Lastly, the mere idea of creating new life from parts of dead people screams the idea of Gothic horror. The subject matter itself is horrific and disturbing, and the fact that the method of creating new life is kept secret from the reader makes it all the more mysterious.