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Girls Gone Missing? Halloween and Monster Movies for Kids

Margot Magowan runs the blog Reel Girl , which focuses on gender equality in the media (mostly on the representation, or lack thereof,  of girls) does a regular feature called “Girls Gone Missing”. With Halloween just around the corner, she did a Halloween edition of this feature and shared her impressions of the three Halloween/monster movies for children out this fall, ParaNorman, Hotel Transylvania, and Frankenweenie. noting that in all three movies there is a major skew toward male leads and secondary characters, with almost no female characters in any of them. Margot and the Reel Girl community see this as a major problem, not just for these movies but for children’s movies in general, because there’s no reason that some of these male characters couldn’t be girls without the story changing at all. To paraphrase one of her commenters, does the story in ParaNorman change that much if Norman becomes Norma?

There are so many girls who love Halloween and monsters and movies about them, who grow up to be women who love Halloween and monsters and movies about them. So why should they be left out of the story, or a token character? But it’s one thing to identify the movies girls are missing from and another to offer options that show strong girls taking the lead. So, I asked Margot:

 

What do you recommend as far as monster movies intended for kids, then? As the editor for MonsterLibrarian.com and the mother of a monster-loving boy with a sister willing to go along for the ride I’d be interested in what you DO think are good choices. We held Monster Movie Month in July, which, while mostly at choices for adults, was inspired by my son’s love of the classic movies, and the three of us picked some movie choices parents could share with their kids, but I’d love to know what you think. Halloween is our busiest month of the year and our children’s section is one of the most popular parts of our site and that’s something I would love to share there.

Margot asked the Reel Girl community for suggestions, and here are some of the titles they came up with.

Coraline
Scooby Doo (the animated series)
The Corpse Bride
A Series of Unfortunate Events
Hocus Pocus
Kiki’s Delivery Service
My Neighbor Totoro
Monsters vs Aliens
The Addams Family

As a Halloween title, I’ll toss in the Charlie Brown Halloween special.

The general portrayal of women in horror movies also came up in the discussion, but that’s kind of irrelevant to my question (although it’s something I would be happy to start an individual post for if you want). For those of you reading this, do you agree with their choices for Halloween and monster movies that have gender equality (or at least strong female characters who haven’t been sexualized)? Do you have additional suggestions? I would love to hear what you think!

Posted on October 2, 2012 by , Reply

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro Guest Post: Writing on the Walls

Among her other accomplishments, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is the author of the Count St. Germain series of vampire novels, which begins with Hotel Transylvania, a nominee for HWA Vampire Novel of the Century. The 25th (and newest) book in the series,Commedia della Morte, will be released this month. Chelsea has shared her insights into libraries and the research process in the past, and today, as part of the blog tour for Commedia della Morte, she’s got something to say about the the importance of literacy, in all its incarnations. Thank you, Chelsea, and good luck!

 

In Praise of the Written Word


When researching Blood Games many years ago, I found myself reading a fascinating book on graffiti throughout the Roman Empire; there was a lot of it. Most of it was fairly typical: Good fortune to Pulcheria, who has the greatest tits in the Lupanar; Marcus Flavius is a cheating pig; Greens forever; Arnax will beat Sepulins on Saturday’s Games; special at Antonius’ trattoria today and similar kinds of comments; a few were more pointed and political, but all of them provided significant insight into the attitudes and behavior of a large portion of the people of Rome. The examples in the book were an engaging collection, and more so because they were familiar — modern graffiti are much the same. Yet there are vast stretches of history that seem to be graffiti-less, and what little exists is pictures, not words. Which first and foremost tells you that in those times, most people could not read or write: graffiti is proof of a level of literacy that is not often encountered in many historical eras, or a great number of cultures. The Romans were unusual in that they encouraged reading and writing in almost all classes of society, and along with it, kept public records and documenting all manner of transactions, which makes researching their history and culture far easier than, say, researching everyday life in Moscow in the fifteenth century, or in the Amazon basin in 1920. Archaeologists discover ancient and often unknown cultures that remain largely a mystery due to the absence to some form of written language, starting with the presence or absence of graffiti.

Social continuity is contained in many aspects of the society, but the one that bestows the greatest continuity is written language, which allows the understanding of one generation to be built upon by subsequent ones, thereby retaining a reliable line between past and future, and keeping a link from the present to the future. If you want to put this to the test, read some of the theories about Egyptian hieroglyphics that were embraced before the Rosetta Stone was found and decoded, and then look at what we learned about that vanished civilization afterward. And yes, it was vanished in spite of some of the most spectacular monuments ever built, walls and walls of graffiti and bas-relief carvings, paintings in tombs, and papyrus scrolls. The written word revealed the ancient Egyptians to us as no pyramid or temple ever could, and it is through the written word that we have learned what all those tremendous artifacts were all about.

Of course, language changes over time, words mutate, new words come into use, old ones fade away, but where there is writing and reading, the culture remains coherent. As wonderful and revealing as folklore is, it does not offer the level of documentation written accounts do. Where literacy is rare, folklore flourishes, adapting over time to changing conditions among those who do not read or write, and although folklore provides context and sagas of all sorts, it does not allow the development of society through cumulative thought, be that thought academic, commercial, legal, entertaining, pragmatic, or aligned to any other endeavor.

When literacy is restricted, learning is compromised. When reading and writing are limited to one sector of society, information becomes the tool of that sector. Writing and reading provide opportunities for moving beyond the “what is” to the next step, and that next step emerges when thought is made lucid through writing and accessibility to others who read and write. So welcome graffiti: it means that language is active and that most of the society can read and write, can think for themselves, and know how to question what they see around them, and can pass all those things and many, many others on to those who come after us, as well as enriching our own lives.

Posted on March 23, 2012 by , Reply

Check It Out: HWA Vampire Novel of the Century

 

A couple of months ago we got a press release from the Horror Writers Association. It read, in part:

 

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the international association of writers, publishing professionals, and supporters of horror literature, in conjunction with the Bram Stoker Family Estate and the Rosenbach Museum & Library, proudly announce the nominees for the Bram Stoker Vampire Novel of the Century Award™, to be presented at the Bram Stoker Awards Banquet at World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah, on March 31, 2012. The Award will mark the centenary of the death in 1912 of Abraham (Bram) Stoker, the author of Dracula.

A jury composed of writers and scholars selected, from a field of more than 35 preliminary nominees, the six vampire novels that they believe have had the greatest impact on the horror genre since publication of Dracula in 1897. Eligible works must have been first published between 1912 and 2011 and published in or translated into English. The winning book will be announced on March 31, 2012. HWA will also celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary on that date.

 

 

We at MonsterLibrarian.com are here to help you learn a little about these titles. Here’s a link to a page we’ve created with reviews of each of the nominated books. Some of these are now out of print or difficult to find (The Soft Whisper of the Dead was a limited edition of only 2,800 copies) but if you search your existing collection you may find these books are already on your shelves. Even if they aren’t, and you can’t snag yourself a copy, this is a great time to showcase your vampire novels and movies. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro has just come out with the twenty-fifth book in her Count Saint-Germain series, Commedia della Morte. Nominee Hotel Transylvania is the first book in that series. Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend has been made into three movies since it was published in 1954.

Want to find out more about the authors and their works? Click on the name of the author of each nominated book on the list below.

 

Nominees for HWA’s Vampire Novel of the Century

The Soft Whisper of the Dead (1983) written by Charles L. Grant.

Salem’s Lot(1975) written by Stephen King.

I Am Legend (1954) written by Richard Matheson.

Anno Dracula (1992) written by Kim Newman.

Interview with the Vampire (1976) written by Anne Rice.

Hotel Transylvania (1978) written by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

 

I personally have a hard time believing that it’s possible to pick ONE vampire novel from the past hundred years as having the most impact on the horror genre. But a list? That’s interesting, and it gives us- reviewers, librarians, educators, and readers- something to talk about and to share with others.  So several of our reviewers volunteered to write reviews for the books on the list. Some of the books were treasured possessions, others were library copies or first time reads.

I learned new things from reading about the books and their authors. Four of the named books were first in a series- Charles L. Grant wrote twelve books set in Oxrun Station; Chelsea Quinn Yarbro just published the 25th title in her Count Saint-Germain series, which begins with nominee Hotel Transylvania; Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula is the first in a trilogy; and Anne Rice followed Interview with the Vampire with so many other vampire tales that I’ve lost count. Three of them were published in the 1970’s- Salem’s Lot, Hotel Transylvania, and Interview With the Vampire. Interview With the Vampire, Salem’s Lot, and I Am Legend have all been made into movies. I was surprised to find that a few of the books are difficult to track down or out of print- Hotel Transylvania is only availalble as an ebook,  Soft Whisper of the Dead had a very limited print run, and reviewer Sheila Shedd had to send away for her copy of Anno Dracula. Again, check  your library shelves to see if you already own these. You might.

Even if you don’t own the books and can’t get them, this is still a great opportunity to showcase your vampire books and movies (no sparkles allowed). Chelsea Quinn Yarbro’s Commedia della Morte comes out this month, for starters; and if you click here you’ll find a list of additional titles as well as a few links to help you fill out your display. This is also a gold mine for discussion.  Here are some interesting questions to get you thinking…
 

  • Is it possible for there to be one vampire novel with more impact than any other?
  • Do you agree with the novels nominated for the award? Is there another book you’d include?
  • Which book do you think will win the award? Which one would you like to see win the award?
  • Did any of our reviews intrigue you enough to check out the book, if you haven’t already?

This inquiring mind would love to know! Enjoy, and please leave a comment!

 
 

 

Posted on March 12, 2012 by , Reply