Jackie Foss: Lit of Horror, Fantasy and Sci-Fi

   Stardust by Neil Gaiman was the book I read from this week. Stardust has always been a movie I was captivated by. However, the movie doesn't give me enough of the world on the other side of the wall. The book gave me the information and sense of world building I was looking for. This book holds a different approach of fantasy, like many of his other books. Due to it being like the magical world is a part of our own and we ourselves can experience it if only we decide to go over our "wall".       Stardust gives readers a spark of hope and wonder of this world being real, more so than harry potter (only witches and wizards are able to be a part of this world). With a magical realm/ kingdom laying just next door is a different approach for it erases that line of separation in writing. Laying in between fantasy writing that is in a different world entirely, or it exists but only for special few. The world also semi mirrors our world with its hierarchy o...

8 Classes attended  1 Class missed  54 points for books plus movies I have read and watched

            His Dark Materials (trilogy) by Philip Pullman were the books I have read for this week. I have yet to watch the series and I watched the movie as kid consistently. However, the books while reading have a sense world building that the movie wasn’t able to present to its viewers. The first book explains the world/ dimension of the books and lets us be able to understand and be swept into it. With the soul connections between daemons and people and the corruption of the magisterium are values all three books show to the read.             Starting with the golden compass, in the book the compass is a truth-telling mechanism that is one of the last ones known in the world. However, the compass is the symbolism for a moral compass, encouraging the children who read these books to maintain a sense of right and wrong. Pullman criticizes the oppression, cruelty, and narrow-mindedness of soci...

       The books I read for this week were From Under the Mountain and The Hobbit . The first one was my first time reading, which I decided to read that one since I have seen the movie for the Hobbit. I wanted more worlds to think about and enjoy. In The Hobbit I definitely knew what was going to happen, but that’s how I can just relax and fall into the world easier. Let all the words soak in like in on paper, letting my senses change and images of the world become more alive. I sat there reading the book over and over again at one point. I couldn’t get enough of it. I even have two tattoos for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit , one is on my left thigh as the beginning quote from The Hobbit . The second one is not a quote from those two, it’s from Harry Potter however it’s in elfish and it’s on my other thigh. Therefore, it was nice to finally read series I was so in love with for so long. The Hobbit as a lot of different things, humor, action, suspense, e...

       The book that I have read for this week was all of the trilogy The Chilling Adventure of Sabrina by Sarah Rees Brennan. This book I decided to choose for this week because I got bored in the show and was wondering if I could actually get into the series if I read the book. This theory I had was proven correct, I read this book whenever I would take a bath. Why? Because I wanted a spooky Halloween feel, with candles and everything. It definitely helped that my bathroom if already a witch and cottage aesthetic. Furthermore, I loved this book, from its teenage struggles to life or death situations it really brings you into Sabrina’s life.                              The book itself has an immense female strength in Sabrina. From the beginning we are with her through school, relationships, and family. How she deals with her power and...

              Annihilation by Jerry VanderMeer is the novel I read for this week. This book much like A Wild Sheep Chase was a different experience than most horror I have watched or read. The book shows the values in society. For example, area x is a big symbol for sublime in horror, not only does it cause death and insanity, but it’s almost mesmerizingly beautiful and serene. Furthermore, this area is a living symbol for the beauty of the alien and the terrifying unknown. The words written on the tower walls as also representations of the absorption of humanity, from the organic makeup of explorers' bodies, to the words they write in their journals, and the way Area X repurposes the material and uses it to nourish itself. The book has many aspects to why it is intriguing, however the main thing besides the sublime and psychological themes it processes is that its huge on secrets of the society. As the novel moves along ...

              A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakam i was the book I have read for this week. The book, at first, I thought was slow. However, when I looked more into it and finally finished it. This wasn’t because the book was slow, it was because it was a different type of horror. A Wild Sheep Chase is a psychological horror. Most of the horror aspects are coming from inside the main character’s head.             The main thing I have realized reading this, besides the psychological aspect. The events throughout the book is random and unexpected. I had reread certain things because they were so unexpected, I thought I skipped something. The book is mostly about a guy feeling trapped in his own life and wants to continue life and his career how he wants to and feel joy coming out of it. Instead of his old, rusty, wheel cycle of life. In horror, even in psycho...