AMERICAN PSYCHOS: A SERIAL KILLER ANTHOLOGY
Red
Room Press is seeking stories for a new dark crime/thriller/horror anthology, American
Psychos: A Serial Killer Anthology. Inspired by the most
disturbingly violent and graphic crime thriller novels of our time, including
Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho, Shane Steven’s By
Reason of Insanity, Michael Slade’s Headhunter, their goal is to make American
Psychos a brutal, suspenseful, nightmare-inducing hard ride into hell.
Stories
must be about a serial killer, obviously. The story can either be based on a
real serial killer or a fictional serial killer. Stories should primarily be
set in the USA, but the character may travel abroad. They want stories that are
brutal, graphic, disturbing and violent. The above referenced books will give
you a good idea of what they’re looking for. Serial killers must be human; no
supernatural elements, monsters, or vampires. They can have supernatural
beliefs, however, and they can be any gender or race.
Editors: Randy
Chandler and Cheryl Mullenax.
Deadline:
October 1, 2018.
Publication
Date: Early 2019
Length:
3500-5500 words.
Response
Time: 4-8 weeks
Payment
for original stories: $100
Go to the website for details on what to send. There are also several comments from potential contributors: http://www.redroompress.com/submission-guidelines/american-psychos/
Good luck!
Showing posts with label Psycho. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Psycho. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 August 2018
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Book of the film: Psycho
Thanks to the Alfred Hitchcock film, the character Norman Bates has entered that dubious pantheon of modern myth. Of course reading this book after being aware of the movie destroys some of Robert Bloch’s well-constructed suspense. Even so, it is still an intriguing and page-turning crime noir study of reader misdirection and dark psychology. And it’s also possible to appreciate the cunning structure of the novel and the subtle hints beneath the veneer presented by Bates.
Bates is fat and bespectacled and quite unprepossessing and dominated by his mother. He resents her but cannot seem to function without her in his life. He hides in his books but to no avail. He evokes some sympathy but is also somewhat unprepossessing. A memorable creation.
Mary Crane absconds from her job with a large sum of cash and heads for the home of her fiancé, Sam, intent on using the stolen money to help him get out of debt. She stops overnight off the beaten track at the Bates’ motel. The shower scene occurs on page 30, so she isn’t in the book much, but her presence is felt throughout as first Sam then her sister Lila start to wonder where she has gone. They are aided by the insurance private detective Arbogast.
Bloch masterfully weaves the individual stories of Bates, his mother, Mary Crane, Sam, Lila and Arbogast. His story is unsettling since it seems that the main protagonists are not destined to survive. Then those who do remain are brought to the creepy storm-laden denouement.
This is a short book, with hardly any words wasted in deceptively simple prose. Usually, Bloch enjoys peppering his stories with wordplay but here the narrative doesn’t seem to need it – though he can’t resist one final foray in the last sentence.
Inevitably, a film script is going to differ from its source: Psycho was in fact a difficult book to film as there was a great deal of internal monologue to create character, move the story forward and to misdirect. Some of this was achieved by voice-over for thoughts. Apparently, as there was a real Mary Crane in Phoenix at the time of the film, it was decided to rename this character Marion (played by Janet Leigh). Her boyfriend Sam and the detective Arbogast kept their names, as did Bates. The Marion character didn’t succumb in the shower scene until the film was 40 minutes into the story, with just over an hour to go. Neither in stature nor appearance did Anthony Perkins resemble the Bates character in the book, but he certainly claimed the role as his own with creepily nuanced under-acting.
If you have only seen the film but not read the book, I’d recommend finding a copy; it’s worthwhile. The entry for the film in Wikipedia is quite comprehensive and fascinating.
Bates is fat and bespectacled and quite unprepossessing and dominated by his mother. He resents her but cannot seem to function without her in his life. He hides in his books but to no avail. He evokes some sympathy but is also somewhat unprepossessing. A memorable creation.
Mary Crane absconds from her job with a large sum of cash and heads for the home of her fiancé, Sam, intent on using the stolen money to help him get out of debt. She stops overnight off the beaten track at the Bates’ motel. The shower scene occurs on page 30, so she isn’t in the book much, but her presence is felt throughout as first Sam then her sister Lila start to wonder where she has gone. They are aided by the insurance private detective Arbogast.
Bloch masterfully weaves the individual stories of Bates, his mother, Mary Crane, Sam, Lila and Arbogast. His story is unsettling since it seems that the main protagonists are not destined to survive. Then those who do remain are brought to the creepy storm-laden denouement.
This is a short book, with hardly any words wasted in deceptively simple prose. Usually, Bloch enjoys peppering his stories with wordplay but here the narrative doesn’t seem to need it – though he can’t resist one final foray in the last sentence.
Inevitably, a film script is going to differ from its source: Psycho was in fact a difficult book to film as there was a great deal of internal monologue to create character, move the story forward and to misdirect. Some of this was achieved by voice-over for thoughts. Apparently, as there was a real Mary Crane in Phoenix at the time of the film, it was decided to rename this character Marion (played by Janet Leigh). Her boyfriend Sam and the detective Arbogast kept their names, as did Bates. The Marion character didn’t succumb in the shower scene until the film was 40 minutes into the story, with just over an hour to go. Neither in stature nor appearance did Anthony Perkins resemble the Bates character in the book, but he certainly claimed the role as his own with creepily nuanced under-acting.
If you have only seen the film but not read the book, I’d recommend finding a copy; it’s worthwhile. The entry for the film in Wikipedia is quite comprehensive and fascinating.
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