She talks to wolves...

Wow. How did it get to be Sunday? I spent the entirety of Friday writing a new story, and am pleased as punch to say the wordcount for the day stands at 9,221 words. That’s a personal best. It also explains why the last two days passed in a haze of pain and recovery. (Chronic illness does not forgive marathon writing sessions, just FYI.)

Things that I wrote:

Neil Gaiman’s “Troll Bridge,” illustrated by Colleen Doran, over at Nerdspan.

Things that I read:

“These 100-Year-Old Colour Portraits of New York Immigrants Reveal Incredible Outfits,” by Matthew Tucker over at BuzzFeed, contains some insightful photographs and great cultural clothing information.
“Photographers Upset by ‘Ask First’ Stickers at BDSM Folsom Street Fair” by DL Cade at PetaPixel, in which photographers behave badly and are rightly advised to rethink their jerkery.
“What Nobody Tells You About Self-Care“, by Mawiyah Patten over at The Mighty, being full of some good points (mostly about self-care in the face of depression and anxiety, but some points also work for people with chronic illness).

Things that look like me:

I didn’t do a new drawing for Whiteboard Weirdness this week because I’m enjoying having Deadpool on my fridge way too much. Instead, I’m celebrating the advent of October with the return of the Other Deborah over at Twitter. This portrait of the Other Me was done by the excellent Alexa Bosy!

Also, check out the GeekDame banner above! It’s been tricked out for the season by the always delightful Lorraine Schleter!

Things that I’m excited about:

 

 

 

 

 

Click the pics if you fancy purchasing any of the above! I get a modest kickback from Amazon if you do.

Mirrored from geekdame.com. Please comment there.

I have always been very fond of Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I remember awaiting it eagerly and being totally psyched when my pre-order with Amazon brought it to my door a day or two before the official release. I remember the self-discipline I marshaled to prevent myself from reading it before I went on a roadtrip up the East coast (it was supposed to be my road reading). I first read it in a hotel room somewhere between Savannah and Charleston. It took me only a couple of hours, and I was completely creeped out. I've gone back to it several times, and I've never failed to love it or find myself spooked. I even bought the graphic novel adaptation that P. Craig Russell did and, even though I didn't like some of the ways Mr. Russell did things, I still found much to love.

Coraline is smart and clever. Her neighbors are oddball and there's a creepy inverted world on the other side of a mysterious door. There are primordial rats who sing a terrifying song (we were here before you fell/ you will be here when we rise) and an Other Mother with shiny black buttons for eyes. There are Lovecraftian horrors lurking in dark spaces between realities.

So, of course, I was totally stoked to discover that Henry Selick of The Nightmare Before Christmas fame would be doing the Coraline film adaptation.

Well, I saw it on Sunday. And it is truly wonderful: the opening scene is one of the most fantastically creepy scenes I've seen in a film in quite some time. The opulent settings are absorbing, engaging, and delightful. The story is well-paced and the creepiness of the novel just saturates the films (sans Lovecraftian horrors, though, sadly). The cat? Perfect. The film is edgy and lush and eerie. I can't wait to own it in Blu-ray.

But. You knew there was a but, didn't you?

Somehow, my Coraline didn't make it into the film. She's there in name and she's there in sass. But her cleverness has been lobotomized. ( Spoilers. )

I really like the film and I'm glad it got made. I hope it is popular so that more people will read the book and come to love the "real" story as much as I do. I can deal with the flaws as long as that's the case.

P.S. And they didn't have the line "Daddy, you've made recipe again" in! I mean, c'mon. GOLD.

P.P.S. As sirandrew pointed out, this film is actually scarier than The Nightmare Before Christmas. After all, the majority of Halloweentown is jolly. The Other Mother is anything but: she is a real terror threatening real harm. And let's not forget what's behind the mirror. So Neil's assessment of children being able to handle this film depending on their response to Nightmare-- no, not the most accurate barometer, I'm afraid.