I'm feeling like a broken record by starting every entry with whether I've read it before, or seen the film but, in this case, it has some bearing.
Despite knowing I'd definitely read Rita Heyworth and The Body before I can't say for sure whether I'd read Apt Pupil or The Breathing Method before. I'm sure when I saw the Bryan Singer film years ago it all seemed new to me, so I'm guessing I hadn't.
Anyway, the point I'm labouring towards is that, based on the film, I wasn't particularly looking forward to reading Apt Pupil. Sure, McKellan is always awesome, but it was heavy, close and intense and wasn't a read I expected to much enjoy.
I imagined it to be a book I'd plough through to get to the next, however, I found that I really got into it and is probably the first where the horror of it had a real effect on me. I think the reason for that is that it is a very real story of very real human horror. That there's nothing fantastical about the story, in terms of the terrors men (and children) are capable of exacting on each other, is the most affecting aspect of it for me.
I'm already the best part of the way through The Body and it hasn't disappointed. As with rest of the collection the reliance on realism* has been almost refreshing and reassuring. The stories speak for themselves. And I'm listening.
*Of course, realism is one of the most important ingredients of horror, fantastical or otherwise, in that it relies upon our real and universal response of asking ourselves how we would react and feel in such a situation.
Listening:
Trap Them - Darker Handcraft (Christ it's good)
Ben Marwood - Outside There's A Curse
Chris T-T - Love is Not Rescue & 9 Red Songs
Also reading:
Concrete: Book 1 - Depths / Paul Chadwick
Transmetropolitan / Warren Ellis
Preacher / Garth Ennis
Kick Ass / Mark Millar
Blankets / Craig Thompson
Maus / Art Spiegelman
Is it any fucking wonder this is taking me so long.
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