Home » Posts tagged "horror genre" (Page 31)

Media Tie-ins and Monster High

So, one of the things that we talk about at MonsterLibrarian is the value of using media tie-ins and cross-platform media to get people involved in reading horror fiction. Given the way our world is evolving today, the natural targets for marketers are kids. I watch kids who do a great job integrating existing media characters and stories into completely different scenarios (the Monster Kid’s many stories about the classic mystery solving team of Detective Baby Godzilla and Scooby Doo come to mind) but, frankly, Godzilla and Scooby Doo are small potatoes when it comes to marketing to kids today.

In a discussion of this very topic, two very different people recently asked me  “What about Monster High”? I’ve actually read quite a bit about the problematic nature (to put it mildly) of Monster High, but I hadn’t done any real digging on the topic. Fashion dolls representing the “hip,” teenage children of Universal Horror monsters? I was done on a personal level when I saw the words “fashion dolls”– those are code words for “Barbie”.  In spite of her popularity, Barbie and friends aren’t coming into my house anytime soon. And Barbie is wholesome looking next to the dolls for Monster High. However, the dolls are mainstream, and they are a riff on the Universal Horror monsters, who in turn are tied to some of the great horror stories of our time. For example, there’s Operetta, the daughter of the Phantom of the Opera; Draculara, Dracula’s daughter; and the imaginatively named Frankie Stein who… well, I’m pretty sure you can guess her famous relative.

What I didn’t realize is how overwhelming the presence of Monster High is now.  I knew it was more than dolls– I see licensed items all over the place (and apparently even my daughter’s best friend has a Monster High backpack. My daughter is five). I even knew there were webisodes. But a musical? A possible movie? A series of books? This is merchandising that outstrips what Scholastic did with Goosebumps, or at least comes darn close. Are these dolls really drawing girls to explore the horror genre? I have no clue. MonsterHighMom, a commenter on a post about Monster High on Peggy Orenstein’s blog said she used the dolls to introduce her 6 year old to the Universal monsters (you’ll have to scroll down– she actually made several comments regarding sharing the dolls, and horror movies, with her 6yo), but that doesn’t seem to be part of  Mattel’s marketing scheme. Mattel is trying really hard to push the line as having an anti-bullying theme, but researchers and marketers are getting opposite messages from the actual content Mattel is putting out. “Mean girls” given monster guise to raise the “cool factor” of a toy line are, well, icky. Mean girls are monsters without looking like them.

But the idea is kind of a neat one, even if the execution isn’t. My own daughter is surrounded all the time by monster action figures and images from B movies (which she’s only mildly interested in, although she’ll play Mommy and Baby Godzilla anytime). But she also likes Tinkerbell and princesses. I think maybe there are a lot of girls who are elementary aged who like monsters and also like dress-up. I think there’s a place for a doll– not an action figure, or a miniature, or a model, but a doll.  If you look at the Universal Monsters franchise, there aren’t really any girl monsters (except the Bride of Frankenstein, but she’s not exactly a dynamic character). A doll could create a place for girls where it really doesn’t exist, and provide the opportunity for all kinds of creative storytelling. I might be convinced to buy a monster doll for my daughter if it wasn’t all sexed up. Melissa Wardy of Pigtail Pals, in meeting with Mattel about Monster High, told them something similar. Her daughter, who is not that much older than mine, loves monsters too.

It’s been suggested that the Monster High franchise could be used to teach media literacy, and it’s probably necessary to do that to get kids to think about the messages they’re internalizing. But how would you feel about promoting Monster High as a way of introducing young girls to the monster genre? I think it would make me uncomfortable, in a way that Goosebumps doesn’t. All media franchises are not equal, and Monster High’s adult messages aimed at little girls bother me a lot. There are so many strong, creative, and intelligent women in the horror genre that I think it’s really important for girls to feel like there’s a place for them there as readers, writers, and creators. Monster High is the mainstream, and I don’t feel like it creates that place for them: my question is, what are the alternatives to this powerful media franchise?

Posted on April 1, 2013 by , 2 comments

Women in Horror Month: GIRLS NIGHT OUT Podcast at Charred Remains

I’m a little late to the party, but, as part of Women in Horror Month, our fantastic reviewer Colleen Wanglund participated in GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT, an episode of Char Hardin’s podcast Charred Remains, devoted to women in horror in both visual and written media. Movie producers, directors, actresses, reviewers, writers, podcasters, and more, all participated in this Women in Horror Month themed episode.  Be warned, there is content and language you may not want children or coworkers to hear, but it’s fun to hear the women of horror speak about it with passion.

As Char said, the genre can be pretty male-driven, but women can be “just as twisted, just as perverse, and just as gross.”  Maybe more. Read Colleen’s reviews, and you’ll see. Whether you listen to the podcast or not, it’s definitely important for reader’s advisory librarians to understand that the audience (and the creators) of the horror genre, are a varied group, and one that is certainly not limited by gender.

Posted on February 22, 2013 by , Reply

Women in Horror Month: Researching Women in Comics– Guest Post by Rachel Hoover, Librarian of the Dead

Rachel Hoover is a librarian and aspiring writer living in the Chicago area. She runs the blog Librarian of the Dead, where she blogs about the sorts of things you’d expect from such a title. She writes frequently about the horror genre–whether it’s books, comics, movies or games– as well as gravestone art, cementeries, and other items or topics that are dark, spine-chilling or have something interesting to say about our relationship with fear or death. Rachel is an official participant in Women in Horror Month this year, and is spotlighting women in horror comics this month.

With comics and graphic novels such a big topic in libraries right now, we wondered how you discover horror comics created by women, and Rachel offered to share her research strategies. It takes some work, but there are some interesting surprises. Until Rachel wrote about it, I had no idea Nancy A. Collins, who won the Bram Stoker Award for Sunglasses After Dark, also wrote for comics, including Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing! Want to introduce women in horror comics to both comics and horror readers? Read Rachel’s suggestions below.

 

On Researching Women in Horror Comics

Rachel Hoover

In honor of Women in Horror Month , an annual event put on by the Viscera Organization each February, I’ve been writing about Women in Horror Comics for a weekly series on my blog, Librarian of the Dead.

The goal of WiHM is to provide exposure, support and education about the typically underrepresented women working in the horror genre. So each Monday, I’m featuring a specific female writer or artist that works on horror comics, discussing their work, and asking them a few questions about the industry, what influences them and what advice they have for aspiring comic creators.

I came up with this project was because I couldn’t think of that many women working on horror series that I read or was aware of. It’s not always easy to stumble upon the names of all the artists, colorists, pencillers, letterers that make up one issue of a comic, one graphic novel, let alone the many people that could contribute to work on a trade paperback that collects multiple comic issues. It’s even harder when you’re only looking for women in one genre.

Since I am an actual librarian (that blog title isn’t just for fun!) I was up to the challenge. I used a couple of different strategies. No one had already created the kind of resource I was looking for, so I went with the next best thing: a list of women working in comics in general, and I found a nice long one on Wikipedia.

Part of my work was looking through lists like this and trying to either identify horror titles, or watch for publishers that I knew did horror series (Dark Horse, for example). I also worked the other way around sometimes, looking up a specific comic series or a graphic novel and checking if they had any women working for them. The main websites that I used to explore names and titles were things like Comic Book DB, Comic Vine, and  DeviantART, as well as the publisher and convention websites.

Librarians looking to stock female comic creators on their shelves should dig deep into the comics or graphic novels they already read and seek out the names of all of the writers and artists who have contributed to it. Research their careers and you’ll find new titles to check out. But be open to seeking out independent comics, there are a lot of wonderful unknown writers and artists that self-publish or work with indie publishers. They may not have easily-available trade paperbacks, and most libraries don’t stock individual issues of comics, but what about buying digital issues and loading them onto a tablet? Slap a barcode on that device and you still get circulation stats!

I would also recommend going to comic conventions and visiting with the female comic creators and artists that are there, talk to them about what they’re working on right now, what they’re reading and other women in the field who do work they enjoy. Once you start learning their names you’ll see them everywhere and realize what you and your library users were missing out on before. Maybe you can inspire them to become a fan of something they wouldn’t have picked up on their own. Maybe the girls and women in your community will even try their hand and writing or drawing their own comics when they see the possibilities. It’s a win-win: you and your library benefit, and so do the women out there already creating comics.

If you’d like to learn more about the women I’m featuring in my blog, I have a few up already. My first feature is on writer Rachel Deering and her epic werewolf comic ANATHEMA and my second is on cover artist Jenny Frison, who works on titles like HACK/SLASH, REVIVAL and ANGEL . I have two more to go, plus bonus posts of more women I discovered, but couldn’t fit in February. I’m excited and passionate about my project, because I believe these ladies are doing amazing work and deserve the exposure.

If you don’t want to miss the next features in my series you can subscribe to my blog, follow me on Twitter @rachelsstorm or keep an eye on all of the Women in Horror Month events through their website, Twitter @WiHmonth or Facebook page.

Posted on February 22, 2013 by , Reply
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