The Golden Compass

I really don't like fantasy novels like this one. I can't put my finger on why I didn't enjoy the book. It's odd because I really love the Chronicles of Narnia movies but I just think the fantasy genre of book doesn't work well for me. I like to read something that is a little more believable and less unicorns, dragons, and elves and that kind of stuff(or crap in my opinion)...it just wasn't my cup of tea I guess.

The Hobbit

The story of The Hobbit is about a home loving hobbit named Bilbo who is given a quest to win a share of treasure that is guarded by a dragon. Bilbo's journey takes him from light-hearted, rural surroundings into darker, deeper territory. The story is told in the form of an episodic quest, and most chapters introduce a specific creature, or type of creature, of Tolkien's Wilderland. By accepting the disreputable, romantic and adventurous side of his nature and applying his wits and common sense, Bilbo develops a new level of maturity, competence and wisdom. The story reaches its climax in the Battle of Five Armies, where many of the characters and creatures from earlier chapters re-emerge to engage in conflict.

I enjoyed reading the book because it wasn't what I expected, although I found myself filling in imagery and scenes from lord of the rings movies. The book was easy to read which surprised me at first but then I remembered it was a children's book...The book was written with a lot of detail which helped me stop imaging the movies and created scenes in my own mind.

Vampires

I find it interesting that these stories that we're reading are about experiencing new life. I think Vampires are typically portrayed as sensitives people who are misunderstood. I think in Interview with a Vampire the characters are constantly looking to find their meaning for life. They don't really know where they can from or why they are the way they are. They want to be human but they will never truly be humans even though they try to act and feel the way true humans do. I think they are portrayed as selfish beings in that they are constantly looking to kill in order to survive. They seem to regret having to kill in order to survive but I think the fact that they live forever is something that they should regret more. Experiencing so much in life while never changing while the rest of the world passes you by is something that I would regret a lot. I don't know how I feel about the book. I have mixed emotions, but it was interesting to read.

Kwaidan

I found it interesting that I could honestly be spooked by a simple story. The traditional Japanese Horror story , in my opinion, starts of very boring but the will pick up at the climax and then immediately ends. It was a weird layout for me but a quick and easy read. Part way through the stories I found myself asking where this was going and what was the point. I think that's an important part of Japanese horror stories, you never really know what is going to happen or when it's going to happen. The stories are different from traditional American horror stories because they are there for the shock value. Kwaidan is about putting you in an environment and making you feel as though you are truly there. The suspense slowly builds and then scares the crap out of you. The amount of detail in such short stories really amazed me. I think knowing background information about characters deffiently helps put you in the mood for the fear. I really enjoyed the stories and I'm goign to try to find more to read. I think this really opened my mind to the J-Horror genre.

Monster Island

I really enjoyed reading Monster Island. The book drew me in really well and had a lot of intensity and suspense that helped keep my interest. I think it's interesting how the book took a different look at the zombie novel. It turned Africa into a safe haven while the rest of the world was falling apart, where in the real world Africa is in dire need of help while more countries prosper. I found myself becoming attached to the zombie Gary. He was struggling to survive but had a lot of inner turmoil that changed him. I think the book played out like a zombie movie and it keep the changing of subjects not very obvious or distracting. I've only finished the first part of the book so far, but I really look forward to finishing the rest of the book.

Why are zombie moives so popular?

I think zombies are so popular because it's something that we will probably honestly never experience in our lifetimes. Like in Frankenstein, people want to know is it possible to bring a body back to life and zombies give us that hope, a terrifying hope but it still means that dead bodies could come back to life. I also think everyone knows how ridiculous that idea is. There is an immense amount of humor in books like The Zombie Survival Guide which explains how to survive a zombie apocalypse.In Shaun of the Dead they took a serious movie and gave it a dark humor and made a zombie attack very funny. The terror also involved is interesting, we don't want to believe hat it could happen but then there's still a chance that we never know about. Personally, I think it's hilarious. Zombies roaming the earth while a few people try to survive in a mall is just funny to me. I think if there ever were a real problem it would be taken care of immediately and there probably wouldn't be a huge problem since we have field guides on how to deal with the mess.