Darrell: Horror, Fantasy & Sci Fi

Fantasy novels were a way for the reader to escape from reality and enter into a fantastical world. J.R Tolkien was a founder of fantasy novels and created the greatest imaginary worlds to date. What I love about The Hobbit is everything ranging from the characters, the creatures and the environments. Not only was Tolkien a genius at telling a good story, but he also made the reader feel like they are actually in the world he created. The story starts of in the Shire and ends in the Shire. As soon as the characters leave the shire, things begin to intensify. In a way it’s similar to life. Reading the Hobbit for the first time when I was younger was a journey and a great read, but reading it now allowed me to see it in a new perspective especially now that Im older. Just Like Bilbo Baggins I was in a safe space which was home. I went to school, spent time with friends and Family and enjoyed life. When I left my house and started living in college it was like entering a whole new world.

Reading Akata Witch was a very charming read for me. It was a great choice to make the main character an Albino. Most people are familiar with Albino’s and unfortunately are usually seen as an oddity. However, Sunny was no odd character.    She was a witch in the country of Nigeria which I think is a very cool setup. The story of Akata Which was definitely a great way to merge into the fantasy genre. Even though witches are from the Horror side of storytelling, Akata which felt like more of an action-packed adventure. The past couple of weeks reading tons of horror tales was enlightening. I’m not that big into horror overall. However, by reading all of these fascinating stories on vampires, Frankenstein and now witches, I was able to explore a theme that I wasn’t so sure I would have liked all that much until I gave it a shot. Now that I finished it off with Akata Witch, I can say that delving into horror for a few weeks wasn’t all that bad and was very thrilling.

Japanese culture has always fascinated me. I love their films and literature and when reading Kwaidan I enjoyed discovering horror from another culture. The difference I noticed when it comes to eastern and western horror was how they approached spirits. Spirits in Western Culture are seen as horrifying beings that poses humans. They are made to be afraid of and are usually never known as being nice or friendly. Eastern culture spirits on the other hand can vary. There are some spirits who are known to help humans and not become hostile towards them while there are some who choose otherwise. Eastern culture horror stories almost feel like urban legends or folk tales. These stories are filled with horror yet have a poetic feel to it. The Woman of the Snow is a great example. Yuki-Onna who is a ghost isn’t necessarily gory or horrifying. Instead she is a very elegant spirit in the book Kwaidan.

This week’s reading reminded me of the fantasy genre especially when reading Kraken. The horror stories from previous readings felt like general horror stories. However, with a creature such as the Kraken making an appearance in this week’s reading, it felt very mythical and other worldly. This giant squid like creature reminded me a lot of Cthulhu which lead me over to Lovecraft’s work. I am familiar with some of his creations such as Cthulhu but haven’t read Supernatural Horror in Literature until now. A word that can be used to describe his writing would be grim. Going back to Kraken, I realized that the aspect of Horror was a lot more natural in this instance. Even though it is a giant squid like being, it does poses godlike powers. Reading about the Kraken was a neat and different take on Horror.