JP Schiller: Lit of Horror, Fantasy, and Sci-Fi

  The Haunting of Hill House (5 Points) The sheer promise of terror was what propelled me to read this book, alongside watching the Netflix adaptation that loosely followed the book and being relentlessly recommended the tale throughout my college career, and it did not disappoint. At first, I thought the book tended to drag on in its introductions, but I appreciated the character building and establishment of the setting. I also really enjoyed the introductions and descriptions of each character at the beginning of the novel, as it made each of the characters more notable and set me up to root for the protagonist, Eleanor. As the book progressed, I felt the tone of the story was very normal and almost cheerful and Eleanor put behind her life of caretaking for her late mother for a new prospect in Hill House with Dr. Montague's invitation. The characters also had a lot of amusing chemistry upon socializing with one another. I was also fascinated that although Luke, Theodora, and El

  Nosferatu (1 Point) I have to admit upfront that this film was not my first encounter with the death bird Nosferatu. I actually first saw the being in the Nickelodeon children's television show "Spongebob" and for those who saw the episode, this character became a childhood legend in comedy. I'll leave a link to a youtube clip of the episode here .  This fond memory along with this week's exploration into vampires ultimately spurned me to watch the film with a few friends, and it was a fun evening event. I found myself very impressed with a film of such age to still be able to frighten me and my friends based on his appearance alone, which was then enhanced by his slow movements and fun film effects. I was genuinely unnerved by Count Orlok's demeanor, expressions, and strange vampiric abilities, and even though we found much of the film to feel rather silly and overdramatic at points; most of us were very much enthralled in the plot of the film and wanted to

  Interview with a Vampire (6 Points) Being a tween during the time of a pop culture tempest such as Stephanie Meyers Twilight was my first introduction to the concept of vampires in storytelling, outside of Halloween marketing and youth television programs like Scooby-Doo.  I'll say that I've always found concepts like vampires to be both fascinating in their many stipulations of vulnerabilities as well as horrifying in their diets, but I simply was not prepared for one quality in Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice: How absolutely erotic much of the text was devised to be.  Now, I don't say this in a negative way, or to imply that this book contains heaps of sexual events. In truth, I've always felt that much of the modern world can be a very prude and appreciate the growing normalization around sexuality and sex itself. I was merely taken aback by the sheer passionate and lusty language crafted for the reader to imagine as the story progressed, as well as the heav