Book Information
- Publisher
- ChiZine Publications
- Published
- 2015-12-03
- Pages
- 312 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 15.24 x 2.54 x 22.86 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781771483490
- ISBN-10
- 1771483490
- Price
- 8113 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Mystery & Thrillers/Thrillers/Suspense
Fired at almost the same time as her son Clarks Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis, former film critic turned teacher Lois Cairns is caught in a depressive downward spiral, convinced shes a failure whos spent half her adult life writing about other peoples dreams without ever seeing any of her own come true. One night Lois attends a program of experimental film and emerges convinced shes seen something no one else hasa sampled piece of silver nitrate silent film footage whose existence might prove that an eccentric early 20th-century socialite who disappeared under mysterious circumstances was also one of Canadas first female movie-makers. Though it raises her spirits and revitalizes her creatively, Loiss headlong quest to discover the truth about Mrs. A. Macalla Whitcomb almost immediately begins to send her much further than she ever wanted to go, revealing increasingly troubling links between her subjects life and her own. Slowly but surely, the malign influence of Mrs Whitcombs muse begins to creep into every aspect of Loiss life, even placing her son in danger. But how can one increasingly ill and unstable woman possibly hope to defeat a threat thats half long-lost folklore, half cinematically framed hallucinationan existential nightmare made physical, projected off the screen and into real life?
Gemma Files is the winner of the International Horror Guild Award and the Black Quill Award. She has been nominated for the Lambda, the Stoker and the Shirley Jackson Awards.
Reviews
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Lo compré para regalo y está encantado con él.
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I don't want to say too much because I want people to discover this book for themselves. Just believe me when I say it's an awesome examination of Canadian culture, as well as an excellent 'ghost story' of sorts. I wish I could read this book again for the first time, it was so good.
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Experimental Film Kindle Edition by Gemma Files (Author) From Ghost Watch to The Blair Witch Project to The Poughkeepsie Tapes, found footage horror has always been one of my favorite horror tropes. I'd never thought that a book could carry the format! Wow, was I wrong. Gemma Files is one of the up and coming horror authors, in the same league as Darcy Coates and Stephen Graham Jones. She, with deft hand, manages to take the concept of found footage and create a brilliant bit of literary horror. The story of Lois, a former teacher of film in a diploma mill, movie reviewer, and movie maker, who discovers an unknown Canadian film maker. She is also the mother of Clark, a young boy on the Spectrum. She begins a quest to put the investigation into Mrs. Iris Dunlopp Whitcom, her life, work, mysterious disappearance to film. Whitcom resembles another obsessed widow, Sarah Winchester. As Lois works, her own life begins to reflect Whitcom's own. The writing is amazing. It reads like both the script to one of these found footage films and one of the best literary horror novels in years. Lois, her son- Clark (Ms. Files must like DC just a wee bit), he husband, and everyone orbiting her – including the villain of the piece – are well-drawn and well-fleshed out. Ms. Files makes the story twist and turn, bringing in the feel of both folk horror and the epistolary novel formats. The horror is unique, combing ancient paganism, modern (and not so modern), film-making, and the overwhelming struggle that comes with raising a child with special needs. Readers learn more about all of this while the tension grows in the story. An amazing book that fits tightly into Ms. Files own universe of an alternate Ontario, Canada. Every fan of horror should take the time to plunge head first into this book 5 stars out of 5 https://www.amazon.com/Experimental-Film-Gemma-Files-ebook/dp/B08F9NT1K7/
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DNF. I found the story tedious and unnecessarily in love with itself. I'm obviously in the minority but I really didn't enjoy what I read of this book. It was well written and the writer is obviously talented, but the story itself just wasn't for me.
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... I would hesitate to call this a "horror" novel. There are very few horrifying moments, in the traditional sense, within these pages. This is a pseudo-folk-pagan fairy tale to be honest. It dwells on perception and the "horror" is neither seen nor unseen. It does, however, give a fascinating insight into the power of the visual medium (film making) and its potential for confusion and misinterpretation amongst highly creative and self-hating individuals. This is the power of perception personified. In that sense, maybe it is a horror novel after all.