Influences (816 hits)
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Submitted by kaos-king (antius777) (View user info) at 2006-04-22 15:30:14 EDT
""Everybody Is a book of blood. Whenever we're open, we're red.""
Clive Barker said that at the beginning of his classic collection of short stories, "The Books Of Blood" trilogy. In Britain, his other short story collections, "The Inhuman Condition," "In The Flesh," and "Cabal and Other Tales" were published as a second trilogy. These were the first things I had read by Barker, his short jaunts into something I had never come across before. These were not the R. L. Stein books I had been previously reading, or like anything else I had ever found in the young adult section.
These were alive, visceral, fleshy. These were of ancient gods and abstract monsters. These were meant for me...
There is a reason I say Clive Barker is my number one influence for many reasons. Not only was he the first adult horror author I read, but his work speaks to me unlike anyone else's. I was lost in the parallel worlds imagined in "Imajica" and "Weaveworld," and downed in the Sea of Quiddity during "The Great And Secret Show" and "Everville." I discovered the depths of human evil in "The Damnation Game" and "The Hellbound Heart," while childhood terrors were revisited in "The Thief Of Always" and "Abarat." In the end, I realized what a master could do with such titles as "Galilee" and "Coldheart Canyon."
During the time period I was absorbing "The Books Of Blood" I came across an old paperback book lying around my parents' house. It was a thick book, with a strange cover by an author I had never heard of. It was a first edition of Anne Rice's "Interview With A Vampire." Hmmm... this was an entirely different thing in itself, too. Never before had I seen vampires looked upon in this fashion. Louie, Claudia and (of course) Lestat were so real, so vivid, so involving that I was instantly hooked.
I have sped through her Vampire Chronicles and New Tales, relishing the stories of the Coven Of The Articulate. I spent extra time with "Queen Of The Damned," "Memnoch The Devil," and more recently, "Blackwood Farm," and "Blood Canticle." With her last two she had finally done it, she had woven the great trilogy of the Mayfair Witches into the Vampires. All I need now is for Ramses from "The Mummy" and Azreal from "Servant Of The Bones" to all show up for a polite dinner party and I can die happy.
Stephen King. What the hell do you want me to say? The man is the best selling living author of the 20th century. NONE of his books have ever gone out of print. He's written two spectacular books on the subject of writing itself, and we all are secretly jealous of the bastard. Now granted, after writing eighty-seven thousand books, he's sure to have a few misses. ("Insomnia" and "Dolores Claiborne" GAH!) And while I personally can't stand The Dark Tower series, I understand it's importance. Strangely, I like all the books that surround The Dark Tower...
I mean, how classic are "The Stand" and "The Shinning?" How fucked up are "Dreamcatcher" and "Desperation?" How many great short stories were in "Night Shift" and "Skeleton Crew?" And how absolutely perfect was "Black House???"
I came upon Brian Lumley by one factor alone. His books had cool-ass covers! If you haven't ever read "Necroscope," you're missing out. His follow ups "Vamphyri!" and "The Source" have everything from secret government agencies with para-normal investigators to vampires that crept out of Lovecraft's wet dream. Lumley was interested in a lot of different things, so instead of writing a bunch of different books, he just tossed it all together into one big, fun, bloody mess.
Dean Koontz sucks. So does John Saul.
Do you want to read something that will truly disturb you? Something that isn't even really horror? You need to check out some stuff by Chuck Palahniuk. Most famous for writing the book that (in my opinion) became one of the most important movies of my generation, "FIGHT CLUB," it also is perhaps his tamest book. If you wanna read about a guy who may be the son of The Messiah after his mother masturbated with the mummified penis of Jesus Christ, go read "Choke." If you wanna read about a cult that all kill themselves but forget to tell one member who becomes a pop culture celebrity, go read "Survivor." If you wanna read about an African Culling Song causing crib death, go read "Lullaby." If you wanna read something just so absolutely twisted I can't even begin to describe it, go read "Haunted."
Now, not everything I read is horror. I feel I have to give the appropriate recognition to these five authors as well for influencing me...
The first Grown-Up book I ever read was "Centaur Isle" by Piers Anthony. Anthony has written more books than are in the Library of Congress and in just about every genre, too. While his Xanth series is entertaining, it was his Incarnations Of Immortality series that just blew me away. So much so, that my own novel is a re-imagining of the GrimReaper, Father Time, Mother Nature, and the whole crew, much like his was. But his was the first, probably the best, and something you definitely want to look into.
Sticking with fantasy, the only fantasy series I ever really got into was The Sword Of Truth. Maybe that's because Terry Goodkind actually has pronounceable names for his characters. Lots of people argue the Goodkind - Robert Jordan issue, but the character of Richard Rahl is a total badass and will always come in first to me.
Moving on to mystery, James Patterson has totally snagged me with his character Dr. Alex Cross. "Kiss The Girls" and "Violets Are Blue" are two of the best thrillers I've ever had the displeasure of finishing. While this genre usually bores me to death, this guy really knows how to create some nasty villains. He's not afraid to get depraved and detailed.
Does anyone out there do as much research as Michael Crichton? He earns my respect for that alone, not to count he's penned some classic tales. Chances are you've seen three movies based on his books and never ever knew it. "Sphere," "Jurassic Park," "Eaters Of The Dead (or 13th Warrior)," "Prey," "The Andromeda Strain," "Congo," "Timeline." Okay, I'm gonna stop now...
And finally, you're gonna laugh, but I have to give a shout out to J. K. Rowling. What a brilliant series! I still can't believe she killed Dumbledore.
... so that's it. That's my top 10 writing influences. I would love to hear your reactions to some of the things I've said, or even better... Hear who has influenced YOU to be a writer!
User Reviews
Submitted by Mike00295 (user info) at 2006-05-11 10:49:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I just read Lullaby. Good shit. Thanks for the tip.
Submitted by Mike00295 (user info) at 2006-04-27 15:34:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
James Patterson - "The Big Bad Wolf"
Badass book. I promise.
Submitted by r0fl (user info) at 2006-04-24 23:20:17 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Benny (user info) at 2006-04-23 23:05:18 (#)
Ranking: 2
Stephen King - the first book I read was Salem's lot. It was a book I bought in Bali where the selection of english books was incredibly limited (at least back then I don't know what it's like now). I enjoyed it but I tell you what the movie of that was complete crap. From evil vampire to monster that growls and never talks just isn't the way to adapt a book.
I haven't had a chance to read the Stand yet but I really liked the adaption to a TV movie/series?
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I'm on pg. 758 of The Stand. If you had a decent amount of time, the character development and journey is, well, insane.
Submitted by Benny (user info) at 2006-04-23 23:05:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Brian Lumley is cool. The necroscope series was brilliant, so many genres just thrown in the mix.
Dean Kootz - He isn't too bad although some books are a lot better than others. You may have just read some of his crappier ones.
Fantasy? Raymond E. Feist's Magician and the series he did with Janny Wurts which had the character Mara of the Acoma was perhaps my favourite series of all time.
Stephen King - the first book I read was Salem's lot. It was a book I bought in Bali where the selection of english books was incredibly limited (at least back then I don't know what it's like now). I enjoyed it but I tell you what the movie of that was complete crap. From evil vampire to monster that growls and never talks just isn't the way to adapt a book.
I haven't had a chance to read the Stand yet but I really liked the adaption to a TV movie/series?
Anne Rice brings fresh ideas to the concept of vampires. I saw the movie of Interview with a Vampire before I read the book. I still enjoy both.
Submitted by The_taste_of_Monkeys (user info) at 2006-04-23 17:52:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Brian Lumley is brilliant, the Necroscope is an awesome idea.
However, his obsession with writing cring worthy borderline porn sex scenes makes me cringe.
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2006-04-23 12:41:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
oooh man i love horror. i dunno about really influencing whatever the hell i write but i think i've read everything by jack london, poe, and hp lovecraft. recently i think i've fallen in love with hemmingway.
thanks to this i'll try more clive barker. if he wrote about old gods and such maybe he was influenced alot by lovecraft. who knows?
keep writin dude.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-04-23 12:22:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Munkeypants - Anne Rice's book "Memnoch The Devil" was one of my favorites. It left Lestat comatosted at the end, and he stayed that way all through her NEW TALES series. When he returned (epic fucking scene) at the end of "Merrick" he gave no explanation for his condition. He hinted at a journey into higher planes with both Memnoch and Jesus in "Blackwood Farm" but could not be swayed into talking more about it...
Oh, and the left eye he lost in "Memnoch", that supposedly was returned by Memnoch, isn't real. It's some kind of Divine construct. How fucking cool is that!
I've read some L. K. Hamilton... but I wasn't too impressed. It was too wrapped up in erotica. The only book I liked was the one where she left all the vampires and werewolves and took off with that assassin guy.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2006-04-23 09:19:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
'Summer of Night' by Dan Simmons is a good read. Visceral and gory. It's one of
my favorties.
hahaha favorties.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2006-04-23 09:16:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
OOOOH!
I am excited that I found another fan of 'The Sword Of Truth' series. Richard Rahl
is one of my favorite characters of all time. He's a badass but at the same
time has a heart of gold. If he was a real person I'd hit that.
If you like vampires, zombies, ghouls, and werewolves you might like
Laurel K. Hmilton's books.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2006-04-23 09:11:52 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked her idea of the God v Devil relationship in 'Memnoch'. That was an interesting read.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-04-23 00:15:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Doodles/Mr. Sparkles - I enjoy the Harry Potter books for what they are. People either love them or hate them. To the people that hate them, however, most haven't read past the 2 or 3. As the books progress, the plot and charaters mature. I find that quite appealing.
Bubba - Robert Heinlein is my little brother's absolute favorite author of all time. He collects various editions of "Stranger In A Strange Land." I believe he has twenty-some...
Vexx - I've always ment to get a hold of some Kafka. People have been telling me I would like his work for a long time.
Stagger Lee - Neil Gaiman would make the top 15 of my influences. From "American Gods" to his work on "The Sandman," I've always loved his style. In fact, one of my greatest visual artistic influences is his oft-time collaborator, Dave McKean. I have a few volumes of McKean's work as well as many .jpgs.
Speaking of Neil Gaiman, three other guys who have really influenced my writing are Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis, and Garth Ennis.
Submitted by simple_catalyst (user info) at 2006-04-23 00:01:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-04-22 23:51:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice post.
My top influences, in no particular order (even the musicians have influenced my writing):
John Fowles
Nick Cave
Stephen King
Stephen Donaldson
Tom Waits
Neil Gaiman
Guy Gavriel Kay
Submitted by vexx (user info) at 2006-04-22 23:01:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've read a few Palahniuk and though I give him credit twisted atmos he creates and the ability to carve out that niche for himself, I think the whole distestablishment idea is a rather reptetive idea repeated throughout his books. You can seemingly splice chapters from Choke into Survivor, or vice versa, and not notice the difference.
Some books that knocked me on my ass and wanted me to pick up a pen are Anthony Burgess' "A Clockwork Orange," "The House of Leaves" by Danielewski, and the short stories of Kafka: Do yourself a favor and read "In the Penal Colony" and "Metamorphosis." You can find the e-texts online and easily read them in one sitting here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/In_the_Penal_Colony and here: http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/stories/kafka-E.htm
True, a lot of people rag on Harry Potter but I enjoyed the series as a rainy-day read and think people don't pick up on a lot of the elements Rowling incorporates (references to the burgeoning process of Alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone, Greek mythology-Sisyphus, even the damned phoenix was named after Guy Fawkes.)
This was a good post and I'm always looking for more good reading material.
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-04-22 22:34:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2006-04-22 21:04:02 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2006-04-22 20:46:02 (#)
Ranking: 2
I love Harry Potter, but somehow I never figured Rowling had the balls to kill off Dumbledore, so it probably wouldn't shock me too much if she killed Harry, too.
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How could you love Potter? There is almost NO character development, the 'hero' really isn't a hero as much as a lucky retard. There is no real plot from book to book, she brings in and takes people out whenever the fuck she wants too, I'm sorry but that series must be the most overrated series ever made.
_____________________________________________________________
In my opinion, your opinion about the Potter series sucks. :-/
Submitted by Bubba2341 (user info) at 2006-04-22 22:21:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
1. Insomnia was a good book. Read it again.
2. Michael Crichton is very good.
3. Damnit, Dumbledore isn't dead. Remember what Hagrid saw.
Pretty fair list of influences. Add some H.P Lovecraft and some
Poe and it is perfect.
Oh, and for science fiction blended with politics/sex/new world order,
Robert Heinlein.
Submitted by mockidol (user info) at 2006-04-22 22:05:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Dead Hookers for President!
Submitted by mockidol (user info) at 2006-04-22 22:05:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Oops, rating.
I got so excited talking about the hookers I forgot.
Submitted by mockidol (user info) at 2006-04-22 21:55:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Dead hookers inspire me to do your mother.
Oh yeah, the package of severed clits came back return to sender. I think i didn't use enough postage.
So, I threw those in with the rest of the hooker parts and they should be there in, uh, three to five days.
Enjoy bitch.
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2006-04-22 21:04:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2006-04-22 20:46:02 (#)
Ranking: 2
I love Harry Potter, but somehow I never figured Rowling had the balls to kill off Dumbledore, so it probably wouldn't shock me too much if she killed Harry, too.
---
How could you love Potter? There is almost NO character development, the 'hero' really isn't a hero as much as a lucky retard. There is no real plot from book to book, she brings in and takes people out whenever the fuck she wants too, I'm sorry but that series must be the most overrated series ever made.
Submitted by MrSparkle847 (user info) at 2006-04-22 20:46:02 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I love Harry Potter, but somehow I never figured Rowling had the balls to kill off Dumbledore, so it probably wouldn't shock me too much if she killed Harry, too.
Submitted by phauna (user info) at 2006-04-22 20:27:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Clive is cool.
Crichton put T Rex in his book, which was not called Cretaceous Park, so he actually stinks at research.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2006-04-22 20:06:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
pssst-
re:
http://www.ubersite.com/m/86980#1946148
go here:
http://www.slsknet.org/
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-04-22 16:59:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Ghola - Yeah, I've got some Broken Social Scene. That's how I know those lyrics. I snagged it around the same time I got some tracks from the the last two new Bright Eyes CDs. My mix up.
JoJo747 - Palahniuk actually said he thought David Fincher's movie was superior to his own book.
Submitted by jojo747 (user info) at 2006-04-22 16:55:16 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Fight Club is the only movie I can think of that is better than the book. The book is short and translates very well. I don't think you miss much if you see the movie but don't read it.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-04-22 16:34:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
broken social scene.
same difference really. emo-ish.
heh.
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-04-22 16:32:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
FUCK! I know that song!
Um... is it Bright Eyes?
Maybe?
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-04-22 16:19:22 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i'm generally spurred to write based on a particular song.
i wish i could give a better example but right now i'm listening to
"All these people drinking lover's spit
They sit around and clean their face with it
And they listen to teeth to learn how to quit
tied to a night they never met"
and the music is nice. it's nice.
i fucking miss that feeling. you know? that feeling that everything comes together, makes sense and you don't really have to give a damn?
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2006-04-22 15:59:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Uber's dead today and I'm bored out of my mind.
Submitted by Sacrilicious (user info) at 2006-04-22 15:55:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Those who provide a much-needed escape from the rat race, and a vehicle for imagination are important influences, indeed. Even when, like me, you aren't much of a writer.
I remember one summer I I'd been neglecting my reading, and thought that too much indulgence in vices had cost me my attention span. I read a couple of Anne Rice's, and I decided to pick up a few King books. I'd read some of his before, so I started with the two short story books, and then "The Tommyknockers", because it was fairly long for me. I ended up reading a lot of his work from then on. So much so, that I forced myself to put it down and move on for a while. That's when I picked up "Great and Secret Show", and "Everville" by Clive Barker. I lost myself in those books. It was a welcome escape.
These days, I find I'm not devoting as much time to reading, either. I tend to choose books that are shorter and easier to breeze through. Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite.
I'm currently reading "Choke" by C Palahniuk. I could have read it ten times over if I'd just spend less time on this site.
Speaking of Clive Barker- have you seen his new art book "Visions of Heaven and Hell"? It's magnificent.
It seems we have some similar tastes, so I thank you in advance for the suggestions you've given me here.