FABRIC AND WEAVE, ELEMENTS OF HORROR AND THE CONVERGING TRILOGY

FABRIC AND WEAVE, ELEMENTS OF HORROR AND THE CONVERGING TRILOGY

All occupations have their obligatory tools…for carpenters, these might include the saw and the hammer…for writers there are the old faithful standards…metaphor and analogy, among others. For the duration of this piece it is my intention to wield both…liberally. When one turns to the tedious (and often difficult) task of subdivision…the pigeon-holing of works of fiction into genres, I liken the exercise to laying out pieces of fabric. Employing both intent and creativity, the writer then sets about embossing a pattern on said fabric to create a story. Each genre is a different type of fabric and those who work with this fabric learn to impose their own design on this distinct material…with varying degrees of success, depending upon their skill. If one was to try to associate a fabric with the genre of horror, the material conjured would be undoubtedly rich and dark.

The challenge for the horror author is to weave a pattern that respects the fabric into which it is being woven while displaying a creativity that is unique to the creator.

This could well be horror’s biggest failing…though I will qualify that statement by saying that this is especially true of the cinema…more so than written horror. Continuing with the fabric analogy, most screen efforts offer the fabric and neglect the weave. Is this a failure of skill or intent? The precise answer is difficult to discern, but the end result is brutally clear…gore-spattered products lacking both depth and content that rely almost exclusively on special effects to entice audiences to part with their hard-earned nickel. The proliferation of this type of horror offering has alienated many from even considering horror as genre worthy of consideration. I tend to think that intent is often the culprit…If my approach to weaving the pattern is merely repulse, then the weave (and thus, the appeal) of the end product can only be simplistic. This is very much like the definition of pornography…to my mind, something is pornographic only if its intent is strictly to display sexual activity where character, plot and all other traditional aspects are merely incidental. The prime ingredient necessary to creating an enduring horror story (or any story, for that matter) is often the most conspicuously absent in horror films…character empathy. Horror is not the only genre guilty of this transgression of course…North American cinema is replete with movies that are all flash and bang and no content. The fault lies as much with the consumers as it does with the producers…there are many who regard plot and character development as the boring fillers between action scenes.

When writing my own horror trilogy, The Converging, I strove mightily to avoid this pitfall. The series is rooted firmly in the dark soil of the horror genre, but in weaving the pattern, I set out to inculcate strong dramatic elements into the fabric. The tone of the three segments is unrelentingly serious and intense…conspicuously absent are the clichéd one-liners and sophomoric witticism that have come to be stock in trade for many protagonists today. When confronted with the terrifying realities of the novel, the primary characters feel fear that is near-paralyzing in its intensity…where simple movement becomes an act of heroism in itself. I’ve also expended a great deal of effort in defining the characters who populate the novels (both good and bad) so the reader might come to gain an understanding of what motivates them to do the things they do over the course of the three volumes. To my mind, creating character empathy allows for a more atavistic understanding of the horror to which a character is being subjected. In the end, this horror trilogy stands as a dramatic recounting of one woman’s thirty-five year struggle to overcome the cataclysmic event that destroyed the foundations of her life…if I’ve done my job with any degree of skill, the fact that these cataclysmic events were woven on the fabric of the horror genre should matter not a whit.

Smashwords Review On "Closures In Blood"

Review by: Brian DeGrechie on Jul. 27, 2010  Rating: 5/5 stars


The author is a gifted story teller along with an amazing imagination which permeates through the last book of The Converging Trilogy, "Closures In Blood". I will focus my review on the events of the novel I found intriguing and thoroughly entertaining and less on the plot.



First a little background information. At the end of bk#2 of the trilogy, Elizabeth killed herself instead of her son which despite being evil she could not bring herself to do. Nathaniel was one of Cynara's enemies who also held Elizabeth under her dark, evil spell. Once free of Cynara's hold on her she spent five years as an immortal during which she developed compassion, debated moral consequences to her actions and became a very caring entity.



Few authors can portray a character like Elizabeth for almost two entire novels then convince a reader that the deep down moral fabric of the character is in essence very pure. Author George Straatman achieved this very successfully.



In "Closures In Blood", Elizabeth faces a complex scheme by demons who are afraid of her. Despite the overwhelming odds and danger, she endures extreme sacrifice to find her lost love David Simpson.





One of many surprises the book contains is the appearance of Artemis (Goddess of the Moon) who's following is a group of women called the Wiccans. Many were shot or set on fire by a lunatic evangelist called Bobby Ingram.



He is one of my favorite characters, a revolutionary evangelist who broadcasts on the news and radio for his extremist followers to take up arms against Elizabeth as God's enemy. His speeches reflected his insanity and reminds me of Waco, Texas.



Another event that I found very fascinating is when Cynara (freed by Elizabeth to help her make retribution to David) and Elizabeth melted into transparent separate pools. The pools then started to form what became an eagle and an owl. A perfect disguise to try to elude the many enemies.



In the end Elizabeth endures attacks from Bobby Ingram's thousands of followers, scores of demons and a person who can astral project themselves and a trained assassin named Jurgen. Will she succeed in her quest? Highly recommended to anyone who likes paranormal and/or horror novels. A great conclusion to a very well written triolgy