Tangent - Apologia

Hey guys,

So it's been two months. Jesus, it really has. I actually haven't abandoned this site, all 20 of you that care, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have other things on my mind. Job hunting is my biggest priority at the moment because, quite frankly, I'm getting tired of listing "barista" as my occupation in the mini-bio on the front page. Likewise, my weekly Monday posts were starting to feel more like an obligation than something I actually enjoyed. Every once in a while I wrote something I felt very proud of but otherwise I was kicking myself over how to make writing about my favourite albums interesting. Perhaps one solution is to abandon the rigid, every Monday without fail (and even that wasn't certain) framework I had and opt for shorter yet more sincere pieces whenever the mood strikes me.


Another possible solution is to narrow this site's focus, if only for the forseeable future. In my last entry, I described how my interests come in definite cycles. For the time being, my chief obsession is the horror genre. As Halloween nears, my fascination with the genre grows more and more passionate. And yet that's still an understatement. Truthfully, feeling scared is the one true high I pursue. I'm a rather boring sort who takes only prescribed drugs so the greatest adrenaline rush in my life comes from watching or reading a genuinely terrifying film or book. Hell, even certain pieces of music can tip me over the edge; I remember listening to Krzysztof Penderecki's incomparable Polymorphia during one early morning walk and being reduced to a state of pure paranoia. My attitude toward this state of mind is very bipolar: I hate feeling scared silly while I'm in the midst of it but after the fact I feel quite alive and appreciate the experience.

So I've been absorbing horror left and right these days, revisiting old favourites and seeking out works I haven't yet seen, some of which I'm probably going to talk about at length in the near future. In between working and sleeping and scaring my ass off I've been pondering on what makes these books and movies works or, in more unfortunate cases, stumble or even fall flat on their face. My next piece, to be posted on Halloween itself, will be a pair of interviews and a bit of self-reflection on the subject of horror which I'm quite excited for. In the meantime, if some of you are interested in getting into my mindset I recommend checking out:

Films: The Blair Witch Project, The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead (2013), Halloween, The House of the Devil, In the Mouth of Madness, Lovely Molly, Poltergeist, Prince of Darkness, Ringu, Session 9, The Woman in Black

Novels: Dark Matter, House of Leaves, The Red Tree

I don't know if this latest interest of mine is permanent or just a phase, but I'm genuinely excited to get underway. See you all on Halloween.