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Book Review: Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

Tor.com, 2022

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250788832

Available: Hardcover, paperback, library binding, KIndle edition, audiobook

This is not so much a horror novel as it is an homage to classic monster movies and a critique of golden-age Hollywood. Readers looking for blood and gore will not find it here. What they will find is a dark, beautifully written warning about the dangers of ambition. Told in first person by the protagonist, the story reads like a memoir.

CK is a Chinese-American girl obsessed with acting in the movies, at the beginnings of the talkies. She is working bit parts for children off the books for a director at Wolfe Studios, who wants to present her as his new discovery once she turns 18. CK is impatient and tracks down a retired actress who gives her information that will get her an audience, and a contract, with Oberlin Wolfe, using blackmail photos. Due to this leverage she is able to demand that she not be cast in stereotypical roles for Asian women (an issue faced by real-life Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong in this time period).. She takes the stage name Luli Wei, a name that happens to also be her sister’s.

Getting a studio contract is similar to making a bargain with faeries. In exchange for fame and fortune, the studio owner controls your life (this is a fairly accurate description of the Hollywood studio system at the time, even without faeries’ involvement). There’s even a version of Tam Lin that takes place within the story.

Directors don’t know how to cast CK since she can’t be cast in stereotypical roles, but finally she is cast as a monster, the Siren Queen, and the movie and its sequels are blockbuster hits. Despite her ability to cause scandal and her defiance, the studio can’t get rid of her. CK has a lesbian romance with rising star Emmaline Sauvignon which the studio ends because it interferes with their narrative of the kind of person Emmaline is supposed to be. Later, she gets involved with a scriptwriter hired to do edits on the script of the last Siren Queen movie.

Despite knowing her contract would eventually have negative consequences for her, I couldn’t help loving CK for her ambition and refusal to let studio officials and directors walk on her, and for her own love of playing the role of a vengeful monster and loving it. The classic monster movies are clearly an inspiration to the author, and the critique of racist stereotypes and queer erasure in casting at that time is something I am glad to see brought to the attention of modern readers. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on March 7, 2024 by Kirsten, Reply

Book Review: Cult Cinema: A Personal Exploration of Sects, Brainwashing, and Bad Religion in Film and Television by Howard David Ingham

Cult Cinema: A Personal Exploration of Sects, Brainwashing and Bad Religion in Film and Television by Howard David Ingham

Room 207 Press, 2020

ISBN-13: 9781684055982

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition ( Amazon.com )

Howard David Ingham follows up We Don’t Go Back: A Watcher’s Guide to Folk Horror with Cult Cinema: A Personal Exploration of Sects, Brainwashing and Bad Religion in Film and Television. In this book, Ingham posits that religious extremism has dogged humanity’s heels from the formation of Christianity up to the current era. Ingham does not solely focus on horror, looking at other genre sources such as situational comedy, drama, and more. The author looks at why and how people join abusive religious groups, the process of and what it means to brainwash, and at times eventual escape. He frames his book in terms of his personal experience belonging to the evangelical Christian church. Ingham’s time in this group gives Ingham’s analysis a firsthand account of what occurs with cults and cultish behavior. Ingham provides a look into what makes the cult “work”, or not. Just as fair warning from Ingham, and myself, if you are one to shy away from material regarding abuse in a myriad of forms, including child abuse, sexual abuse, rape, and others, avoid this one. However, if those sensitive topics are not triggering for you and you are interested in religious cults, carry on reading this review (and, of course, consider picking up this book).

In the first chapter, “God Only Knows What You’re Missing”, Ingham frames their conversion to evangelical Christianity with a discussion of their experience at a Polyphonic Spree concert in 2003 that felt like a religious experience, and how even an ardent sceptic can be converted in the film The Sound of My Voice. The second chapter, “The Opposite of Brainwashing”, begins with a discussion of four stages of conversion and subsequent brainwashing and the Moonies. All of this leads to a further discussion on cult deprogrammers. Films include Ticket to Heaven, Split Image, Holy Smoke, and Faults to show different applications and results of brainwashing and subsequent deprogramming. In chapter three, “Exiles” Ingham writes about how difficult it is to leave extreme religious groups, analyzing The Passion of Darkly Noon, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and The Endless. “The Atrocity Tour” covers the Big Ones. A book on cult activity would not be complete without mentioning the big events: Jonestown, the siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco, the Heaven’s Gates’ mass suicide, Aum Shinrikyo’s attacks on the Tokyo subway, and the Manson family murders are presented. Ingham covers film and television including Manson Family Vacation, Charlie Says, Mandy, The Sacrament, Red State, and American Horror Story: Cult. In chapter 5, “Live Together or Die Alone” Ingham describes the fictional popular culture theme of what they call the “Pagan Village Conspiracy,” emphasizing that there is no such thing in the real world of cults. The Wicker Man, Kill List, Midsommar, and Doomsday are the films in which this theme is strong. The Church of Scientology is the focus of chapter 6, titled “Clear”. Ingham looks at The Master and The Path for this section.

“You Can Be a Person by Being A Person”, chapter 7, focuses on cults that don’t necessarily have a religious component, but have more of a philosophical and sociopolitical center, such as fascist groups. Films Ingham includes in this chapter include Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss by Passing through the Gateway Chosen by the Holy Storsh, Safe, The Invitation, and Fight Club. The latter is explored at length in this chapter. In the eighth chapter, “Sects Education”: Ingham discusses different sects of Christianity, focusing on Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons extensively, looking at the films Apostasy, The Children Act, Son of Rambow, September Dawn, and Gentlemen Broncos. “Praise Be to He” presents an extensive discussion of American conservative evangelical Christianity. Ingham writes at length of their time as an evangelical, discussing the prosperity gospel, gay conversion therapy, what it is like to attend Christian conventions, and more. Ingham uses media such as The Righteous Gemstones, Don Verdean, But I’m a Cheerleader, and The Miseducation of Cameron Post to frame their discussion.

In the closing chapter, “Chastity, Poverty, Obedience, Pain”, Ingham tells the story of Father Stephen, the chaplain at their secondary school. He mentions the “cloistered divine” in Catholic circles, and looks at films including The Magdalene Sisters, Black Narcissus, The Devils, Mother Joan of the Angels, Flavia the Heretic, and Martyrs.

The book includes an index of film and television programs the author discussed in the book.

Original versions of many of the essays in this book were written between January 2017 and December 2020, and were published by Room 207 Press. Highly recommended.

Contains: spoilers

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Kirsten, Reply

Book Review: The PS Book of Fantastic Fictioneers: A History of the Incredible (volumes 1 and 2) edited by Pete Von Sholly

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The PS Book of Fantastic Fictioneers: A History of the Incredible (volumes 1 and 2) edited by Pete Von Sholly

PS Publishing, 2019

ISBN-13: 978-1786364258 (volume 1)

ISBN-13: 978-1786364265 (volume 2)

Available: Hardcover

Fantastic Fictioneers is a two-volume set from PS Publishing of short essays, arranged alphabetically, meant to celebrate 120 people who have contributed to what creator Pete von Sholly describes as the “imaginative arts”. This term covers individuals who have contributed to a wide swath of media, from children’s authors to comic book artists and writers, movie directors, animators, actors, publishers, and writers of science fiction, mystery, and horror. Some have passed away, like H.P. Lovecraft and Forrest Ackerman, and others are still with us, like Stuart Gordon and Ramsey Campbell. Each entry starts with a large illustration filling three-quarters of a page including the likeness of the entry’s subject accompanied by an illustration by von Sholly of what made them a prominent “fantastic fictioneer” (for example, the entry on Charles Addams pictures the Addams Family conjuring up Addams’ ghost in a seance; the background of Hiernomyous Bosch’s portrait contains creatures from his paintings; Ray Harryhausen’s face floats among his many models) followed by the first few paragraphs of a short essay. Some essays are detailed biographical entries, others are more personal accounts, and many are a combination. The entry on H.R. Giger includes musings and analysis on his work; the entry on Octavia Butler goes into detail on her life but includes a personal account; and Maria Alexander’s entry on Clive Barker is mainly a personal account of her experiences with him and his work. Each essay includes many photographs of artifacts and artwork related to the work of the essay’s subject, as well as photos of the individual. Von Sholly was able to get some prominent names to write many of the essays, including S.T. Joshi on Lovecraft, J.D. Lees on Ishiro Honda, and Harlan Ellison on Frank Herbert. If you have the time, you could spend quite a while turning the pages and learning a little about the varied “fantastic fictioneers” included.

The entries aren’t consistent enough in their format and content for the books to be used reliably as a reference source of biographical information, but the collection of individuals profiled crosses many areas of the “imaginative arts” and there is information on individuals that might not be typically covered (I had never heard of Seabury Quinn before). Although it could have benefited from a little more diversity (very few women and minority “fictioneers” are covered), Von Sholly explains that, outside of a few “obligatory” entries, the majority are subjective favorites. As long as the set already is, ultimately choices about what would be included had to be made, and there is no doubting that Fantastic Fictioneers is a labor of love. Unfortunately, while it is a gorgeous volume, it lacks an index, and many of the images are not credited, which could be a detriment to a library purchasing it. Fantastic Fictioneers will appeal most to collectors and fans, and large libraries interested in adding specialized biographical reference materials to their collections.

Due to the variety of individuals covered, and the expense of purchasing the set (about $130 for both volumes), I’m including images of the table of contents of both volumes below. It really is a wide-ranging collection of entries! For those fascinated by all aspects of speculative fiction, this is a unique collection!

Editor’s note: I received a PDF file from the publisher for this review.

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