NIGHTMARES IN DIXIE, Or Short Stories That Make Good Movies

On the recommendation of T.S. Dann, a fellow member of the Atlanta chapter of the Horror Writers Association, I read Nightmares In Dixie, a collection of horror stories set in different states in the American South. Some were by authors I already knew about like Manly Wade Wellman or Karl Edward Wagner, but others were new to me, like Henry S. Whitehead.

(Whitehead as a person was particularly interesting to me, since not only he was he a horror and fantasy writer who corresponded with H.P. Lovecraft, but he was also an Episcopalian pastor. He served as Archdeacon of the Virgin Islands, where he learned about voodoo and through his fiction brought it into American popular culture.)

This reminded me of something S.M. Stirling once said at DragonCon--books make good miniseries and short stories make good movies. Some of the stories in the collection are too short to justify making an actual film out of them, but they could be put together in an anthology film in the vein of Creepshow or V/H/S. Here's how I'd break it down...

Full Films

"Coven" by Manly Wade Wellman-You could have a prologue set during the Civil War, with the main thrust of the story set in the 1880s. A young Confederate soldier, who'd been captured by a Union sergeant at (I think) the Battle of Shiloh, comes across the sergeant working as a preacher somewhere out west decades later. And said sergeant is fighting a group of Satanists.

"Ooze" By Anthony M. Rud-A man who's the legal guardian of the young daughter of a close friend after the death of said friend and his wife decides to investigate just how they died. He ends up running into some mad science down in the Delta. This is very stylistically like Lovecraft.

"Dark Melody of Madness" By Cornell Woolrich-A New Orleans band leader follows a bandmate whom he suspects has black ancestry into the black part of town and ends up involved in voodoo. He tries to incorporate voodoo rituals into his music and trouble ensues. Given how trendy it is to complain about "cultural appropriation," this might be timely.

"Where The Summer Ends" By Karl Edward Wagner-This is probably one of if not my absolute favorite story in the collection. Who or what is living under the kudzu that's slowly overgrowing a decaying part of Knoxville? You could make this a 1970s period piece, which would explain things like an old-but-not-too-old WWII veteran, the lack of cell phones to call for help, etc. Some stuff that's told could be shown to ensure it's the proper length. Also here's an audio version of the story.

"Beyond The Cleft" by Tom Reamy-In a small mountain town, the children start attacking other children and their parents. It's like a pint-sized zombie apocalypse.

"Night of the Piasa" by J.C. Green and George W. Proctor-A young Native American woman who thanks to a Spanish ancestor can pass for white has adopted a European-style name and has been doing her level best to conceal her heritage. However, she finds out she has a downright supernatural link to her past. Owing to increased awareness of sexual abuse of Native American women this could be a timely movie.

Parts of An Anthology

"The Fireplace" by Henry S. Whitehead-This is a ghost story involving a man murdered in a hotel.

"Fast-Train Ike" by Jesse Stuart-I couldn't even really understand what was going on here. I'm only including this for completeness' sake.

"The Legend of Joe Lee" by John D. MacDonald-This could conceivably be stretched into a film, but it would work much better as a short in a collection.

"The Wait" by Kit Reed-A young woman and her overbearing mother are stranded in a small town in rural Georgia where weird stuff happens.

"Cry Havoc" By Davis Grubb-This was not one of the stronger stories in the collection to say the least. Think the "Chief Wooden-Head" sequence of Creepshow 2, but with toy soldiers. Maybe work in some wartime PTSD for the father's character? With the prolonged wars in Afghanistan and Iraq leading to a whole new generation of veterans suffering from it, that could be timely.

A Friend's Short Stories, Free To Read

A friend of mine is disabled due to an antibiotic mishap and hasn't been able to regularly work since she started getting sick. She's gotten a gig posting these short stories online and she gets paid if you read and like. So here are her first few stories:

"Daffodils"-This one features a police officer responding to a call in a neighborhood of predominately elderly residents.

"Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Jews"-She's not only Jewish, but she's also a convert to Judaism, which is not particularly common. Here are her thoughts on Jewish religion and culture.

"Hiccup"-A woman deals with aging, but it's got an upbeat ending.

"Testify"-Near-death experiences.

Hopefully more short stories will be coming. Enjoy!

"Remember the Texas," Or WWII Starts In The Atlantic

Here's another fun alternate timeline from the public section of the alternate history forum: "Remember the Texas! The United States in WWII." It diverges from real history in June 1941 when a German U-Boat captain mistakes the American battleship USS Texas for a British battleship and sinks it. Although the U.S. and Germany had an undeclared naval war going at this point, this represents a truly massive escalation. The United States declares war on Germany (even the isolationists are not going to tolerate this), despite the U.S. military being absolutely nowhere near ready.

(If you read An Army at Dawn, you can see how horrendously unprepared the U.S. was for Operation Torch, and that was much later against a much less motivated and less competent opponent.)

Highlights of the timeline include:

*Different British generals commanding in different theaters, which almost certainly means a more competent defense of Singapore when the Japanese come south. The author argues that Japan will attack Western colonies in Asia due to the same issues that drove their attack in our world, and with the Pacific undermanned they might have an easier time. In this world, that war begins in the Far East and there's no Pearl Harbor, so American society as a whole is not going to be as vengeful. Hopefully no Japanese Internment in this history--even J. Edgar Hoover thought that was a bad idea and he wasn't exactly a champion of civil liberties.

*A lot of experienced personnel are pulled out of the Philippines for the European war, which will make the islands' almost-inevitable fall much less severe for the U.S. in terms of personnel and equipment losses.

*Per the above, Douglas MacArthur commands U.S. forces in China. Given his blunders in the Philippines (this paper makes a strong case that the Japanese conquest was largely due to his mistakes), this is going to be another improvement on real history, although one wonders how an ego the size of MacArthur's would coexist with an ego the size of Chiang Kai-Shek's. Hopefully they can keep each other's yes-men away--as someone points out in the thread, MacArthur when he didn't have cronies telling him what he wanted to hear could come up with pretty clever stuff like the Inchon Landings.

*Operation Chariot, in real history the St. Nazaire Raid, gets beefed up with U.S. aircraft carriers and battleships into a much larger operation intended to hash the German fleet based in French ports and eliminate (or at least greatly diminish) the U-Boat threat. Most of the timeline so far consists of this world's Operation Chariot and discussion about how plausible this would be.

How I'd Cast a BATTLE FOR THE WASTELANDS Film Or Television Series

Awhile back, I appeared on the podcast Here Be Tygers to discuss The Thing in the Woods and how I'd cast a movie or TV series. Here's the episode. I later elaborated on that in a spoilery blog post.

Well, here're some ideas on Battle for the Wastelands, which would be good as either a series of feature films in the vein of The Lord of the Rings or (even better) an each-book-a-season prestige show like Game of Thrones. An earlier version was originally published a few months ago in my newsletter, which comes out every two weeks and is the first place to go for news of my public appearances, writing updates, etc.

Andrew Sutter-The protagonist of the novel, around 21 years old. Tall, lanky, with green eyes and straw-colored hair. Alex Pettyfur could conceivably work, although his being British is a problem. We don't want some kind of "Cary Elwes in Twister" accent situation. Dylan Sprayberry could work as an alternative. However, I'm not familiar with either's acting ability.

Sarah Sutter-Andrew's twin, also 21. She'd need to have the same hair and eye color and general coloring. Elizabeth Olsen and Emma Stone have the look, but they're too old to play the character. Maybe Hayden Panettiere? Here's a list of blonde actresses under 25. Some of these overlap with some of my ideas for Astrid Grendelsdottir (more on her later), although Astrid is several years younger.

Grendel-Antagonist, military dictator of the known world. Middle 50s and of essentially Viking background, but dark-haired rather than stereotypically blond. Built like a linebacker. Stellan Skarsgard has the right facial structure for Grendel and he seems to be around the right age, but he's too blond and people might not him seriously as a villainous warlord after seeing him as the comic-relief Erik Selvig in the Marvel films. It's not like he was really impressive as the Saxon king in King Arthur, where he just growled a lot. Lars Mikkelsen might work as well, since he doesn't look so old and Grendel is described as only starting to turn gray hair-wise.

Falki Grendelsson-Grendel's eldest surviving son and heir, around 20 years old. Whoever's cast as him would need to convincingly convey intensity and physical danger--he's a hunting fanatic, an extremely dangerous foe in hand-to-hand combat, and advocates harsher and more vindictive policies than his father. And due to his mother dying of cholera (and him nearly dying of it himself) as a child, he's more than a little bit of a germaphobe. However, he does have a couple Adorkable moments in the book, so there's a lighter side to him. Grendel's late wife was Jiao (a fantasy counterpart culture combining Chinese and Japanese elements) and Grendel's children most take after their mothers in looks (other than how they all have Grendel's gray eyes), so an Asian or biracial actor would be best. The cover of "Son of Grendel" is the one canonical image of Falki, so that can be a guide. Henry Golding from Crazy Rich Asians might work, although since I haven't seen the film I don't know how he could play an intense and kind of grim character.

Alonzo Merrill-Leader of the last major anti-Grendel force between the mountains and the deserts and the seas, in his 30s. Between how the Merrill culture gives me serious Rohirrim vibes and given Eomer's role as Eowyn's protective (if somewhat overbearing in the third film) older brother in The Lord of The Rings, Karl Urban would work well. He has the right intensity (in The Two Towers, he puts the hurt on the slimy Wormtongue when he figures out he's turned traitor in exchange for Eowyn as a reward) and can convincingly play military. The problem is, Urban is too old for the part and he'd basically be playing Eomer again, updated for an age of firearms. Scott Eastwood has the right look, although I've never seen him act. Anson Mount? A bit on the old side to play the character, but he was in the Western Hell on Wheels.

Jasper Clark-Commander of the Flesh-Eating Legion, a vassal regime of Grendel's known for ritual cannibalism. Dave Bautista has the physical presence, but he looks too young even if he's probably the same age as the character. Arnold Vosloo has the right look, but Jasper Clark (and the Flesh-Eaters more broadly) are the hill people in comparison to the lowlander Merrill elite and their subjects. Despite the differences in lifestyle and religion, they're broadly the same ethnically. A white South African would be a bit too exotic to play essentially an Anglo-American, although since I've only seen him in the Mummy films (where to be fair he convincingly plays an ancient Egyptian priest) and in Hard Target, I don't know his range. From a cash perspective Vosloo would be better, as owing to the MCU and Dune Bautista would probably be too expensive.

Catalina Merrill-Alonzo's younger sister and unwilling concubine of Grendel, very early 20s. In looks I based on her on early-career Danielle de Luca--red hair and hazel eyes. However, according to IMDB de Luca was born in 1978, making her older than me, let alone the character she'd portray. Also, Catalina is very, very math-smart in addition to being attractive and is particularly dedicated to her four-ish-year-old son's proper education. Felicia Day might be a better choice given how she's the Internet nerd queen, although she's only a year younger than de Luca.

(Having watched Baby's Day Out for a Myopia Movies bonus Patreon episode, Lara Flynn Boyle circa 1994 or someone like her would work even though her facial structure is rather different and her voice comes off as rather insipid. To be fair, that might be her character rather than her--I haven't seen her in anything else.)

Alyssa Carson-Andrew's tomboy love interest, part of the Merrill cavalry, in her early 20s. Blake Lively kind of looks right, although Alyssa's hair has more curl in it and the actress would be rather too old for the part. Alyssa is more worldly than Andrew and is the aggressor in their relationship, but she's not nearly twice his age. If Saoirse Ronan can play tough like Hailee Steinfeld in the 2010 True Grit, that'd work.

Arne Grendelsson-Grendel's second surviving son, in his late teens. Inherited his father's sharp mind, but easily bored (possible ADD?). Timothee Chalumet (playing Paul Atreides in the upcoming Dune mega-adaptation) might work, since Arne has dark and curly hair. Also although he's been physically trained in combat and other military matters since childhood like a medieval noble, he isn't assigned a formal military role until the second book and hasn't yet commanded men in battle. That Chalumet doesn't come off as as tough as a lot of other actors wouldn't be an issue, although I doubt Grendel would tolerate a son who's too emo.

Astrid Grendelsdottir-Blonde Sejer (Norse) girl in her late teens. Lilli Reinhart might work, especially given the more Germanic angle. Maiko Monroe from It Follows would work too. Of all of Grendel's children she seems like a more conventional teenage girl, especially in contrast to her grim older brother Falki, so mining CW shows for actors seems doable.

Signe Allensdottir-Grendel's senior concubine and Falki's de facto stepmother--Falki explicitly wishes his father would have married her formally rather than having a harem of much younger women. Someone like Jody Foster, Helen Hunt, or Laura Linney would work. She's not actually in the first book (she's referenced as away visiting relatives), but given her role in Grendel's gross personal life and her importance to Falki (as the mother of Arne and Astrid, whom Falki actually values rather than viewing as rivals, and advisor when he sits in for his father), that could be tweaked.

Lenora Starr-Another of Grendel's concubine's, mother of his third surviving son and greatly desirous he be heir instead. Amber Heard might be a bit on the young side to play the character. Anna Paquin could work, but she's so associated with Sookie Stackhouse from True Blood and Rogue from the X-Men films that people might have problems taking her seriously as a later-30s/early 40s schemer-type. Blake Lively might be more suitable for this part given her age.

Jessamine Keith-Grendel's youngest concubine and the first one we meet on-page, probably in her early 20s or very, very late teens. Here's a list of possible choices.

Sam Cotton-Andrew's hometown best friend, also early 20s. Ansel Elgort from Baby Driver might work, as could Freddie Highmore, although I've never seen them act. Chalumet from what I've seen him in comes off as too emo and pretty-boy to play a hardscrabble Old West small-towner.

Movie Review: SHADOW IN THE CLOUD (2020)

Owing to COVID, most theaters are closed, the ones remaining aren't playing a lot of new movies, and a lot of movies that would otherwise have been released to theaters are getting sent to streaming. One such movie was the WWII horror film Shadow in the Cloud. The initial streaming price was $20, so I waited until the price dropped to $5.99 before I rented it. Here goes...

The Plot

It's 1943 in New Zealand and the war against Japan is full swing. Maude Garrett (Chloe Grace Moretz), a women's auxiliary carrying a mysterious package, unexpectedly boards an outbound bomber for Samoa. The all-male bomber crew are generally not pleased with her being there (and make this very obvious), but orders are orders. Relations between the crew and their new passenger continue to degrade, made worse by threats from Japanese raiders and a mysterious evil force menacing Garrett in the ball turret where the men have stashed her.

What exactly is going on? Stay tuned to find out...

The Good

*The movie is short and fast-moving. It don't think there's ever a moment where it's boring, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies.

*The movie has a pretty original concept. The only WWII horror film that's come out in recent years that I can think of is Overlord. And military folklore of the war was replete with gremlins as the cause of things going wrong, so as a period piece that kind of works. Furthermore, the Pacific Theater gets much less pop-culture attention than the European Theater and the contributions of non-American Allied nations like New Zealand even less, so remedying that is a good idea. And based on the credits sequence, the movie seemed like it was intended to pay tribute to the contribution of women to the Allied war effort. That's something else I can get behind.

*Moretz is a good actor who does a good job with her role, conveying Maude's physical prowess and the horrors of her back story and current situation. When she's alone in the ball turret there are some truly squick-inducing moments that she really sells.

*The film realistically depicts the arbitrary violence of war. One minute someone is talking and the next minute they're shredded.

The Bad

*For the first third of the movie, none of the characters are likeable. The men are largely misogynist jerks who treat Garrett with absolutely grotesque levels of sexualized disrespect and one is racist toward another crew member on top of that. Meanwhile, Garrett herself is a shriek who is clearly trying too hard. Captain America: The First Avenger handled it much better with Peggy Carter's remark about how she knows what it's like to "have every door shut in [her] face." Although to be fair I don't recall Carter ever facing the absolutely ridiculous degree of disrespect Garrett gets, she handled odious men much more competently.

*Garrett seems to be good at absolutely everything. As I mentioned earlier the film seems like it was intended as a tribute to the WWII women's auxiliaries and so she clearly has to be competent, but she overshadows the men a lot of the time. I could imagine her being very skilled at one or two things (i.e. a mechanic or a pilot who's had weapon/combat training), but everything? This goes overkill into "girl power" territory. I won't say "Mary Sue" because she's too flawed a personality and has too much horrible stuff happen to her to be a perfect self-insert who never suffers, but it's getting there.

*The male characters aren't well-developed. Obviously one can't do too much with a movie this short, but still. None of them have bad delivery and all seem to play their parts, but none of the characters or the actors who play them really stick out enough for me to comment on them.

*Although we meet a few of the individual crew early on, there's a scene where they introduce themselves one by one to Garrett over the radio (after they put her in the ball turret for takeoff) and they're depicted individually against a dark background in what seems like the introduction of game show contestants. That was kind of lame, plus it made it harder to keep track of who was who when, for most of the film, we hear rather than see them. It would have been better if the film had cut from Garrett in the ball turret to the men above passing the microphone around or started the movie by introducing the crew and then having Maude show up. And then there's a scene where the men are all fighting among themselves that's shot in almost freeze-frame sequence against black that could also be shot more conventionally.

*After the big reveal about Garrett's mysterious package, the plot takes a turn for the ridiculous. We're talking about "climbing around on the outside of an airplane in the middle of a dogfight" level of ridiculous. And then there's that ridiculous moment you probably saw in the trailer. No more discussion for reasons of spoilers.

*The ending has a last-minute scare sequence that gets into even more unsubtle "girl power" territory. I might've been more forgiving of the earlier stuff (maybe she's just a quick study and a good listener who's running on adrenaline) if it weren't for the very end.

The Verdict

I waited a month or two for the price to drop from the new-release price of $20 to $5.99. If you must see this, wait until the price drops further and in the meantime watch Overlord. Never boring and a good concept, but from halfway through the movie on an increasingly ridiculous execution. 6.0 out of 10, barely, and that's because it's exciting.