The Passage vs. The Strain

I have to say that after being inundated with friendly vampires the last couple of years (which I do have a soft spot for myself), I was excited when I heard about The Passage and The Strain.  Both were getting good buzz and were modern takes on vampires that promised to include no sparkles or deep emotions of love from the vampires.

After getting around to reading both of them, I realized that it's basically trying to compare apples to a Volkswagen.  They really are two different beasts.  But to the best of my ability, here's the breakdown of the two books:

Warning: I'm trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible, but small details may be given away.  But don't worry, nothing big.


Plot

• The Passage
• First "book"-Modern setting, spread of the epidemic.  BEST PART of the book!
• Middle "book"-Takes place about a hundred years later, America is now a wasteland.  Centers on The Colony and the survivors there.
• Last "book"-All hell breaks loose, lots of new story arches, fancy set pieces, and extra characters are thrown into the mix.
• The Strain
• A plane lands safely in New York, but never taxis to the gate.  Everyone (or almost) on board is dead.  CDC scientist Eph Goodweather is called in to figure out why.  All around New York, strange things are happening: rats are flooding from the sewers, people are disappearing, and a strange man named Setraikan knows why. 

Writing style

• The Passage
•  More emotional writing
• Long stretches of character development
• HUGE cast of characters
• The Strain
• Highly visual (no surprise with DelToro leading the way)
• Action packed
• Short scenes with lots of minor characters (mostly just walk-ons before they get killed)

Vampires

• The Passage
•  Man-created
• Bat-like, glowey creatures
• Called "Flyers"
• More animalistic, with only traces of humanity
• The Strain
• Naturally occuring
• Hive like mentality
• Hierarchy of more powerful vampires

Humans

• The Passage (Major cast of characters)
• Grew up after epidemic
• More worried about survival as opposed to wiping them out
• Several are trained to kill the flyers, so good in a battle
• The Strain
• Mostly oblivious to what's going on
• A handful are actively trying to stop the spread
•  More smart than good fighters

Overall views:

I can tell that The Passage was Cronin's first attempt at a horror/sci fi genre novel.  Although the first 200 or so pages were AMAZING (really, I can't emphasize that enough), it all went downhill from there.  I could really see his influences bleeding through (which isn't a good thing), and that distracted me at several points.  He had a huge cast and really tried to make us care about the colonists, but I just really only cared for about three of them.  The action pieces were good, but in this genre of writing, you really need more than one per 200 pages or so. (Did I mention the book is 784 pages?)

The Strain is a more straight forward horror novel.  While I could tell it was inspired directly by Dracula, it was basically only head-nods to the work, and took it's own unique spin.  I cared about all the characters, and several times was really touched by side character's situations (and often bloody deaths).  I could tell that DelToro had his hand in the description of the vampires.  They really could have been something out of a darker (if that's possible) and scarier (as opposed to just traumatizing) Pan's Labyrinth.  

So who won?

Without a shadow of a doubt, for me, The Strain won.  It was scarier, more touching, and interesting.  It took me several months to read The Passage, simply because I hated the middle section.  I had to force myself to get through that.

I already have The Fall, the second Strain book, on my Nook and can't wait to start.  I'm not sure I'll even pick up the second book in the Passage trilogy when it comes out next year.

I'm sure I'll have lots of people disagree with me, and I welcome that.  The Passage has gotten a lot of good reviews.  I just felt he needed a much stronger editor to help him pare down some of the fluff in the book.

Top Ten Horror/Sci-Fi Movie Quotes Blogfest

I came across this fun blogfest through Alex J. Cavanaugh.  Some really cool guys, iZombieLover and Ellie Garratt came up with the topic.  The top ten horror/sci-fi movie quotes. 

In all honesty, I haven't thought about this much since I signed up for it a while back, and now I'm a bit worried that I'll come up with enough.  Let's see how it goes:

(In no particular order. And I know, my definition of the genres are a little looser than others.)

Shaun of the Dead
Liz: It's just with Ed here, it's no wonder I always bring my flat-mates out and then that only exacerbates things.
Shaun: What do you mean?
Liz: Well you guys hardly get on, do you?
Shaun: No, what does "exacerbate" mean?
Liz: It means um, to make things worse.

Great zombie rom-com.  The first, the best, and an instant classic.

Let the Right One In
Oskar: How old are you?
Eli: Twelve... more or less.


A haunting movie, up for lots of slightly different interpretations.  As much about society's outcasts as it is a vampire movie.  For a really intense ride, try out the book (which has one of the scariest scenes I've ever read).

A Tale of Two Sisters
Eun-ju: Do know what's really scary? You want to forget something. Totally wipe it off your mind. But you never can. It can't go away, you see. And... and it follows you around like a ghost.

A beautiful and complicated film that does well under repeated viewing. Stick with the movie through the deliberately slow pacing, and feel the hairs on your arms stand up as the tension mounts.

Psycho
Norman Bates: It's not like my mother is a maniac or a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes.

By now, most people know the twist of this film even if they haven't seen it.  But it's still worth watching for the absolutely amazing job by Anthony Perkins.  It's no wonder he got type cast after this movie, the above line still gives me chills.

Audition
Asami Yamazaki: Kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri kiri!

This quote will mean nothing to you if you haven't watched this movie.  If you have, you're probably shivering now.  Another complex and confusing Asian horror that will haunt you for years to come.

Serenity
Jayne Cobb: She is startin' to damage my calm.

Unless your big fans of the series, this movie is just so-so.  But, it was great to see the story come to a conclusion (of sorts) and to see the characters' send off.

PS-Jayne's my favorite.

The Shining
Grady daughters: Come play with us, Danny.

The movie that single-handedly made me terrified of small British children. A great horror classic, even if King hated it and it really has nothing to do with the novel.

The Jacket
Jack Starks: I was 27 years old the first time I died.

A movie that didn't do well in the theaters and hasn't really gotten the notice it deserves.  A great time-travel, medical experimentation movie that manages to keep you intrigued and interested in the characters.  The first film I saw Adrien Brody in, and in my mind, still one of his best.

Being John Malkovich
John Malkovich: This portal is mine and must be sealed up forever. For the love of God.
Craig Schwartz: With all respect, sir, I discovered that portal. Its my livelihood.
John Malkovich: It's my head, Schwartz, and I'll see you in court!
Craig Schwartz: And who's to say I won't be seeing what you're seeing... in court? 

A bizarre, but brilliant film that will make you love/appreciate John Malkovich even more.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
Blanche: You wouldn't be able to do these awful things to me if I weren't still in this chair.
Jane: But you are, Blanche! You are in that chair!

A great dark comedy thriller that stars two Hollywood classics at the end of their career.  Not one to miss, but be sure you can embrace the camp.

Gamer Girl Tuesday: My Love Affair with Pyramid Head and Ghost Children

Warm and Fuzzy PH by arok318

When I started Gamer Girl Tuesday last week, I knew that Silent Hill would come up sooner or later.  I do have to say that I'm surprised that it came up this quickly.    But before I delve too much into the realm of gaming, I have to go back to what got me started.

I've briefly mentioned my fascination with Silent Hill before, but I wanted to go a little deeper this time.

You see, Silent Hill is what turned me on to gaming.  I'm still a casual player at best, but I never would have gotten into gaming at all if it wasn't for Silent Hill. 

You see, until I married my husband, the extent of my gaming experience was my Commodore 64 and a light sprinkling of arcade games.  But my husband has been steeped in gaming systems and has seen all the variants.

He was desperate to get me interested in his hobby, but honestly wasn't too interested in it after watching him play through a couple of Final Fantasy games (which may be wonderful to play, but are boring to watch).  He pointed me in the direction of games he thought I might like, but nothing really clicked.

At some point, I either saw an review or picked up a copy of Silent Hill 3.  It caught my attention because it was horror based and had a female main character (still, sadly a rarity).  I took it home and started playing it.

And was terrified. (I was playing it at night, by myself as my husband worked the graveyard shift an hour and a half away).

And loved every minute of it!

The franchise itself has had ups and downs, and in all honesty I've never had quite the same reaction as I did to 3, but it's still a franchise I'm loyal to and get excited about when I hear about a new game coming out.

I've realized that this is turning into a bit of a ramble, so before it goes on too long, here's the main reasons that I remain such a fan of the series (even the crappy ones like Shattered Memories):

1. Incredibly creepy graphics, soundtrack, and ambiance to the game.


2.Difficult and fun puzzles to continue playing (there were times I really felt like MacGuyver).

3. Some of the scariest monsters I've ever seen in movie, game, or imagination. (Pyramid head, the baby vulture things, the ghost dogs, the scissor people, and the nurses, dear god the nurses.)

4. Little touches that don't really move the game forward, but add to the creepy vibe (finding blood scribbled messages on the walls, children's drawings left behind, mysterious voices calling to you from the shadows.) 

5. The game relies on the fear of anticipation as much as actual jumps. (Please, please, don't make me follow the trail of blood into that room)


And mostly, the way that the game sticks with you. I could only play Silent Hill 3 for about an hour when my husband was at work. Then I would have to watch something happy and funny on TV to get the shivers out of my system.


And now for your palate cleanser.