Musings & Meditations

What Women Want…in Horror

Posted in Art & Society, Books, Horror, Women in Horror by Pam Keesey on November 23, 2009

From the archives: Paula Guran interviews women writers, editors, and readers — including Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tabitha King, Joyce Carol Oates, and yours truly — about what women look for in horror film and fiction.

A lot of the appeal of horror for women comes from its gothic roots,” says writer, editor, critic Pam Keesey. “Gothic literature, often dismissed as ‘women’s literature,’ was women’s adventure literature, women’s quest literature. Traditional gothic literature often put women at the center of the story, testing their strength, intelligence, bravery, and endurance, often in the face of supernatural adversity. Those elements still appear with frequency in horror films and literature — John Carpenter’s Halloween comes to mind — and I think is, in part, what women find appealing about horror.

Read the full article: What Women Want…in Horror.

The Nightmare by Fuseli

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Nothing is Original

Posted in Art & Society, Quotes by Pam Keesey on November 19, 2009

Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photos, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: ‘It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to.’

~ Jim Jarmusch

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Christopher Lee Knighted — “Arise, Sir Dracula”

Posted in Art & Society, Movies by Pam Keesey on October 30, 2009

This just in! Christopher Lee was knighted by Prince Charles in a ceremony eariler today. Remembered fondly by many for his role in many classic Hammer Horror films, he was discovered by a new audience in his roles in Tim Burton’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the soon-to-be-released Alice in Wonderland, as well as his role as Saruman in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. Look for him in the first Hammer film to be released in more than 30 years, The Resident, co-starring Hilary Swank.

Death is the opposite of life

Posted in Quotes by Pam Keesey on October 6, 2009

Let us beware of saying that death is the opposite of life. The living being is only a species of the dead, and a very rare species.

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

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Queer Vampires: A Morbid Curiosity

Posted in Art & Society, Books, Events, Mythology and Folklore, Sexuality and Culture, Vampires, Writing by Pam Keesey on August 13, 2009

Queer vampires, Vampire-Con, and me featured in Frontiers in L.A. magazine

From Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire and Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer to today’s craze over Twilight and True Blood, the vampire genre has come from out of the grave to take center stage.

Read more….