News: September 25, 2020
Another late news update, this is what I had happening between August 26 to September 25—and let me tell you, I definitely didn't have a break! So, if you've been wondering what the Unhinged Alaskan has been up to, then wonder no more, you can find everything that I've been writing about here in this update!
A Glimpse Into My Writing Space
An impossible convergence of the tidy and the disheveled, I sit in an almost ironically retro office chair from the 70s—I don't want to admit it, but this hideous faded tiger-orange cushion-covered chair that I scavenged from the transfer site has grown on me. [Read More…]
From Traumatized to Terror Creator, the Life of Robert Bloch
Robert Albert Bloch was born in Chicago, Illinois on April 5 in 1917, to two German Jews, Raphael Bloch and Stella Loeb who, despite their Jewish heritage, had the family attend a Methodist Church. When Bloch was only eight years of age, he attended a screening of Lon Chaney Sr.'s The Phantom of the Opera (1925) on his own, where he was traumatized by his first horror scene—where Chaney removes his mask to reveal the Phantom's horrific face. [Read More…]
Fight if that's necessary, but run if you can, just so long as you run together. The words of Louis L'Amour echoed in her mind, she had lost so many companions already, it felt like a bad joke. She wiped the residue from her sweaty face with her charred sleeve, there was heat radiating from the building that lay in fiery ruin in front of her. She was alone now. Who could have known the only thing that would kill the creatures was immense heat? [Read More…]
Taking a creative writing course this semester, this week one of our prompts was to write a poem based on two contrasting paint colors—I immediately knew which colors I wanted to use, so here is After the Rain… [Read More…]
Drawn From Dreaming
Perchance I was dreaming, drawn from a dreary doze,
Sadly I was sleeping scheming but stricken from repose.
Stirred from a silence screaming, but it's not what I chose,
Echoes of the nightly screening seeming to not disclose.
Celebrating the Female Writers of Horror
Women don't get a lot of credit in any field that they may excel in, so why should the world of literature be any different? While, they get recognized by their peers, how many of you can name more than a handful of famous female horror authors off the top of your head? It's unfortunate that most can't, to say the least, but that's something that we plan to remedy here today. [Read More…]
A Gothic, Cosmic, and Psychological Lifetime of Horror: The 16 Greatest Short Stories from Robert Bloch
Robert Bloch wrote literature that ranged from the psychologically terrifying to the downright "weird" horror; his inspiration stemmed both from watching his first scary film on his own as a child—and his subsequent nightmares—and his admiration for the stylistic horror of H.P. Lovecraft. His stories, however, are and always will be uniquely Robert Bloch, a genius in psychological horror with a splash of the supernatural. His deep interest in serial killers brought back anti-heroes like Norman Bates and Jack the Ripper. [Read More…]
The Witch Who's Black as Pitch
Oh foulest witch, you inspire so much spite.
The way you cast hexes and love spells,
Invading my mind day and through the night,
Your spirit takes flight and then rebels.
Analyzing the Visual Elements of Art
This week we're going to explore the visual aspects of artwork in its many elements, whether that be line, shape, tone, color, pattern, texture, or form. I was tasked with finding artwork that resonated with me, presenting my opinion of the pieces, and analyzing the elements that appeared throughout the works in an effort to explain what made the pieces so special. So, without stalling any further, let's get started! [Read More…]
Robert Bloch: The Man Who Brought Us Psycho (1959)
During his lifetime, Robert Bloch traveled through the horror subgenres in pursuit of any and all things strange, morbid, or macabre. He started his writing career by imitating his mentor H.P. Lovecraft and subsequently becoming Lovecraft's peer when he began to expand upon the Cthulhu mythos. It's fair to say that without the influence and encouragement of Lovecraft, Bloch may never have become the successful and prolific author of horror fiction. [Read More…]
Duology of the Damned: Part 02 – The Monster Inside of Me
A short fiction created through a character study—I may never think of zombies the same again.
Such is the unnatural body of this god, which has no kinship with the dust of our world; indeed, it is not flesh as we know flesh, but as crystal or glass, and soft so that during his dreaming death it often breaks apart, but when it breaks it at once reforms itself, held in its pattern by the will of the great one. Such is the unnatural nature of this sleep, which has no kinship with those who were left standing… [Read More…]