The idea of “sin” is a prevalent one in horror stories. In terrifying tales, the monstrous against the human also explores good vs. evil.

There is often a “sin” perpetrated by horror Protagonists. The classic Psycho begins with Marion Crane stealing money from her job. Her intentions are understandable, maybe ...

Probing these mists for a console ancient
Caught in its patience I unsealed the gate
Prying those depths for a future latent
Omens so blatant I entered the gate
Pending the screams for a horror dormant
Leaving from torment I buried that gate


NaaN (Now, always and Never)

So for us Orthodox Christians it's Good Friday today and it'll be Resurrection Day (Good Saturday) by the time you're reading this. In the neighborhood where I live, a new (boisterous and with many members) family has moved in, who brought a live rooster a few days ...

my webcomic, Typical Strange, uses many fake films in its video store setting

A few years ago I spotted a book in the second hand store - one I'd read as a kid. I bought it and reread it. It was definitely more suited to the younger me - it was ...

Conflict!

It's the essential building block of drama. You don't have a story without the basics of “someone wants something, and something's in the way of getting it.”

Screenwriting books - books I really love and have given me a lot - will often say that amping up the ...

Forest branching silhouette
Like teaming black veins on a reddening sunset
Blizzard shedding winter haze
Like dreaming white reins on a deadening snow case
Desert breathing nomad storm
Like screaming brown banes on a withering lifeform
Ocean feeding vapor-skies
Like steaming green lanes on a bottoming sunrise


NaaN (Now, always ...

Tough love is so cool, eh? It's going to magic the “whining” right out of you, won't it? You just need to stick out through the harshness, and then when you reap the benefits, you'll realize your tough loving benefactor had the right idea. You'll be ...

And a One and a Two and a–


The third and possibly final volume of the Guardians of the Galaxy films is coming out later this year. Or next year. Or whatever.

I liked the first two a lot, and in an interview snippet, James Gunn mentioned how the third ...

Once you see it, don’t turn back. The seals of yours approval is bleeding through your isolation.
Once you hear it, don’t turn off. The bells of yours improval is screaming through your insulation.
Once you feel it, don’t turn numb. The strokes of yours instinctual is ...

As we approach the end of another year, I had a few ideas about topics related to endings.

If you've read my articles for awhile, you may remember discussions about wants and needs - the plot objective that is more ‘physical’ is the want, and the emotional or thematic pursuit ...