I Love David Wong

Why do I love him? If you're a bit odd like me, you'll realize why after about a page of reading his stuff. He writes horror that is incredibly chilling as well as very funny, and  I was introduced to his stuff by Dwight Okita. Dwight never steers me wrong, so I looked at the sample of John Dies at the End.

As soon as I got to the part of the basement door handle and what it turned into, and what David (he's not just the writer, he's also the main character) says as a result, I clicked the Buy button. It was simply a crime not to get the book.

Make no mistake, the horror is very intense. Wong doesn't hold back on the gore and weird stuff that happens in his depressed, middle America town which he calls (Undisclosed.) However, I thought the most frightening part of the book was an online conversation between David's friend, Amy, and some other women. The concept was enough to keep me awake - and made me laugh as well.

Amy is a unique character. Like David, she is damaged, but she has her own strength and poise that transcends her need to take pain meds and a ghost hand. Her missing limb, in fact, is very important in the book. The relationship between her and David, as well as their dog, Molly (who might just be the best dog ever) is very real.

In fact, everything seems so real that I accepted without question an alien sentient drug called Soy Sauce, one that can bend time/space and give superpowers to the user. I accepted that there was a guy called John, a loud, boastful slacker given to much partying - which basically means he'll drink or inject any substance he's given.

Beyond those little weak points, John is loyal, brave, and at the end of the day, a great friend. However, his willingness to try Soy Sauce sucks him, David, and Amy into a series of adventures that grow more and more strange, taking them to Las Vegas, an abandoned mall, and an alternative universe.

John Dies at the End was so good that I saved up to buy the next installment, This Book is Full of Spiders (Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It.) Yeah, that's really what the book is called. The Kindle copy cost lots of dollars, too. Not so happy about that.

Spiders is just as interesting and horrifically funny as JDATE, but the storytelling falls apart in the middle. JDATE was all told from David's point of view; in Spiders, the author cheats and switches narrators and voice several times. I could understand if it was really necessary to do that, but as I'm reading, I can see how it could have been avoided, to make it a much tighter book, and believe me, I'm not a wonderful editor. 

Still, there is loads of action, plus zombies, Red Shirts, and, yes, spiders. And - how do I put this delicately? - let's just say that the O in Wong could be easily changed to an A. Yeah, there are lots of those flopping around.

Did I mention they made JDATE into a movie?  With Paul Giamatti in it?

Be aware that the books are NOT for children or anyone under 18 - and I might make that 21, actually. They aren't for the squeamish either. But if you would like to see what a book written by Stephen King's younger brother would be like, the one who dropped LSD concocted by Dr. Jekyll, decided he didn't like it and turned to writing instead, give JDATE and Spiders a try.

One thing is for certain - both books are very unique.

In A Perfect World...

courtesy imiorganizer.com

... I would be very efficient at filing things like receipts. I hate receipts.

... all my photos and news clippings* would be organized and popped into fancy albums with decorative borders. Scrapbooks, I guess they are called. Yes, I would be a scrapbooker.

... the gradual but merciless takeover of my kitchen cabinets by fast food toys, glitter, sidewalk chalk, and Barbie clothes would never have occurred.

... my hair would act more like hair and less like straggly seaweed.

... that one bite** of shrimp pasta that I just couldn't resist last night as I stowed the leftovers in Tupperware would not have gone straight to my waistline.

... my kid wouldn't beg to join the soccer team, only to have a meltdown when the soccer season actually is upon us.

... I would read more Dostoyevsky and less David Wang. Wait, no - that's not true. I'd keep the Wang.

... my freezer wouldn't be the kind you actually still have to defrost. With pans of boiling water and stuff. It's retro!

Good times, good times.
image courtesy alwaysorderdessert.com

... my husband and I would have the same sleeping temp preferences, not glacial (mine) versus tropical (his.) I'm menopausal, deal with it.

... my friends and I would hold our weekly coffee meetings each week, instead of once a year.

... I would actually SEND the Easter card to my nephew after signing, addressing, and stamping it, instead of filing it for next year, since it is May already.

... I would watch more MacNeil/Lehrer and less Fringe. Wait - that's not true either. I'd keep the Fringe.







*by "news clippings" I mean the one article published about me as a writer

**by "one bite" I mean several very large mouthfuls. Okay, maybe a small plate's worth.

Fringe - Take Deux

I used to be a huge Fringe fan; watched the show every Thursday and knew every nuance. Things got a bit odd in season three or four, and I missed a few episodes. Since it's a drama and continues to build on previous action, it was difficult to get back into the flow.

Enter Netflix, streaming past seasons of the show, to the rescue. Did I mention I never saw the pilot and first few episodes? Thanks to Netflix, now I have.

First of all: holy great premise. J.J. Abrams set up a plausible way to investigate fringe science, and do it with a fringe scientist, Walter Bishop - one of my favorite characters on television. He's so intelligent and childish at the same time; one minute he's redesigning thermonuclear physics, and the next he's trying to eat expired Devil Dogs. 

HIs relationship with Peter Bishop, his continually exasperated son, is spot on. And when Olivia Dunham enters the mix, along with assistant Astrid and Homeland Security chief Philip Broyles, the ensemble is taut and frenetically energetic. 

Walter Bishop, probably cooking up some LSD.

Yes, the comparison to The X-Files is obvious, although the working cast on X-Files was smaller and, therefore, the older show seemed to depend more on "What weird, creepy stuff can we come up with this week?"

There's still a lot of weird, creepy stuff, but the character of Walter and his history of strange experiments overrides it and makes the series very cohesive. 

Altered States, that trippy movie from the early 80's, is an obvious influence in the show. Blair Brown, who played William Hurt's wife in the movie, also appears in Fringe. Later on in the series, Leonard Nimoy shows up - swoon!

So, I'll be catching up on the past seasons, thanks to the rerun option. And what's next? Maybe I can finally figure out what really happened on Lost?