Chantal Boudreau writes fantasy and horror. She has several novels out and has been included in several anthologies. ForHorror Addicts Guide To LifeChantal wrote two articles. One was “Hosting A Creepy Crawly Party” which will tell you everything you need to know about having a horror themed party. The other article is called “Bedtime…Horror Addicts Style” which will make going to bed a little scarier and more enjoyable. To read Chantal’s articles along with several other articles on living the horror lifestyle, pick up a copy of Horror Addicts Guide To Life. Recently Chantal was nice enough to tell us what she likes about horror:
What do you like about the horror genre?
I like the dark aspect to the genre. The fear is cathartic. It’s also one of the speculative genres that lends itself well to realism. Monsters don’t have to be supernatural. There are things out there in everyday life that can generate plenty of horror.
What are some of your favorite horror movies, books or TV shows?
I’m a fan of anything zombie so I love Romero movies and The Walking Dead. I also enjoy anthology series like The Twilight Zone and psychological horror flicks. I’m an avid reader with a penchant for short stories, so I like horror collections. I don’t have one particular favourite author but I have a real affinity for Tanith Lee and Fredric Brown.
In what way do you live the horror lifestyle?
I have to laugh at that one because most of the time I’m a mundane, plain-looking accountant. But my leisure time is spent reading, writing and watching horror and I love Halloween. I don’t get out much thanks to a demanding job and family responsibilities, but I’ve been to Goth dances and zombie walks in the past and participated in some Lovecraftian LARPs. I’ve also helped my daughter organize some spooky parties for her friends.
What are you currently working on?
I’m in the middle of one of my dystopian novels, Dominion, at the moment as well as working on an essay for a competition, but I always have several horror ideas in the works.
Sometimes you just need a Twilight Zone fix. Any fan of classic science fiction, fantasy, or the unusual and bizarre knows what I mean. The entire series is available in a variety of DVD sets, collections, and compilations; so here’s some help on two discs containing some of the 1959-64 series’ gems. The Twilight Zone: Volume 7 and More Treasures of The Twilight Zone are a fine chances to introduce young fans to Rod Serling’s iconic series or to wax nostalgic on black and white, thinking man’s television.
The Twilight Zone: Volume 7 contains four classics, two from the first season and two more from season two. ‘Perchance to Dream’ introduces us to Richard Conte (The Godfather) and his difficulty to separate his heart condition from his daily life and his dreams. We all know the tales about dying in our dreams and how the night visions can trick the brain into thinking we are dead. Charles Beaumont’s examination of the heart, mind, and body still captivates us because we understand the fear of falling asleep and the harbinger of death it can bring.
Captain Embry (Robert Cummings, Dial M for Murder) finds his plane in the desert and his crew missing next in ‘King Nine Will Not Return’. Though it harkens to World War II, Serling again makes veiled social commentaries through fanciful fiction. Lost planes and soldiers reliving former war losses and glories for real or in the mind’s eye is certainly a story that can carry on the a Vietnam veteran or a Gulf War hero.
Likewise, Charles Beaumont and guest player Dennis Weaver (Duel) blur the lines of understandable dreams and realities in ‘Shadow Play’. A man on death row tries to convince the inmates and authorities around him that this is all merely a recurring nightmare from which his waking is worse than execution. Is a good night’s sleep really more important than our most terrifying dreams? What if our waking life and the dream world were in fact, reversed? Although the sixties styles onscreen and the filmmaking technology behind the scenes may seem dated to some, the intrigue of watching an intelligent half hour of television wins out again and again for The Twilight Zone.
Lastly on The Twilight Zone: Volume 7, ‘The Hitch Hiker’ serves up Inger Stevens (The Farmer’s Daughter) as Nan Adams, a young woman driving cross-country under the threat of a mysterious, reappearing hitchhiker. Maybe Serling’s story has become obvious by now. However, in addition to great twist endings, it’s The Twilight’s Zone’s unique ability to suspend our belief in getting there that lasts. Again an all too realistic fear keeps us entertained whilst in the Zone.
Instead of weeding through volumes and volumes of expensive DVDs, More Treasures of the Twilight Zone puts some of the most famous episodes of the serious all in one place for fans to enjoy. ‘The Masks’ starts things off here with the dying Robert Keith (Guys and Dolls) and his greedy family during Mardi Gras. This memorable season five episode from Rod Serling again quietly boasts real life statements veiled as the horrific. Keith asks each member of his family to wear a mask for Mardi Gras, a mask that shows more about who these people really are then their own faces. Again, probably not so hard hitting today because its so famous and oft imitated, ‘The Masks’ still makes us uncomfortable because it touches too close to the things we’d rather not face in ourselves.
The relevant social commentary continues with two back-to-back episodes from season two. ‘The Howling Man’, stars John Carradine (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) as a religious zealot whose warnings about his howling prisoner go unheeded by a misguided guest. The acting here is a little over the top as a lot of older pictures are, but the double creepy ending warning us of the devil’s tricks and man’s weakness. The old school horror elements and the off the cuff handling of the serious subject matter keeps us thinking about the error of man’s ways fifty years on.
And of course, More Treasures of the Twilight Zone concludes with perhaps the series’ most famous tale, ‘Eye of The Beholder’. Where some folks may simple say, ‘You know that Twilight Zone episode where this happens or that person this…’, that does not happen with ‘Eye of the Beholder’. The title alone brings back all the beauty versus ugly, totalitarian commentary that The Twilight Zone is about; and of course, it’s masterfully captured in the likes of futuristic plastic surgery as only Rod Serling can write it. There really isn’t a famous star this episode, which is fitting, since the tale is about a woman waiting for the bandages to come off her new surgery-a surgery which will hopefully make her look like everyone else. Sure we know the outcome inside and out, but rewatching ‘Eye of the Beholder’ never gets old. There’s always something new here to notice and reflect upon. For most of the episode, we see no human faces-all covered up, hidden, and shadowed. How fascinating that in a visual medium, we are enthralled by a story about beauty, in which we almost see no faces! That, my friends, is the power of The Twilight Zone.
These and other Twilight Zone DVDs are available at most video retailers, online shops, or for rental. ‘Shadow Play’, ‘The Howling Man’, ‘The Hitch Hiker’, and ‘Perchance to Dream’ are also available to view free at IMdB and fancast. The Twilight Zone can also be found at Amazon on demand for a fee. The Twilight Zone: Volume 7 and More Treasures of The Twilight Zone help this timeless series keep its hold on us well into the 21st century. Relive the primitive science fiction, bizarre fantasy, and thought provoking horror again or introduce the next generation today.
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When other kids were playing with dolls and teddy bears, this South Jersey born and bred addict KBatz was watching Price, Lee, Hitchcock, Dark Shadows, Alien, anything and everything in analysis of what was scary and why. In the dark ages of 20th century high schoolery, a teacher coined her ‘Mistress of Darkness’ thanks to a penchant for horror fiction, quirky essays, and paranormal reviews – and this Susie Homemaker style with a side of spooky lives on today. Be it vamps, scares, or weres, you name it freaky or macabre and she is there – irregardless of how you pronounce macabre. For more bent paranormal fiction and horror film, television, and literature reviews, find Kbatz’ insanity on the web at: vampfam.blogspot.com and ithinkthereforeireview.blogspot.com
writers workshop winner: a.d. vick, desillusion, dracula 2000, the twilight zone
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Chantal Boudreau writes fantasy and horror. She has several novels out and has been included in several anthologies. For Horror Addicts Guide To Life Chantal wrote two articles. One was “Hosting A Creepy Crawly Party” which will tell you everything you need to know about having a horror themed party. The other article is called “Bedtime…Horror Addicts Style” which will make going to bed a little scarier and more enjoyable. To read Chantal’s articles along with several other articles on living the horror lifestyle, pick up a copy of Horror Addicts Guide To Life. Recently Chantal was nice enough to tell us what she likes about horror:
HorrorAddicts.net 