Anthony Spidale

Asian horror is probably my favorite in all genres. It's one of the most thrilling in my opinion, especially in movies. Id even say that Asian horror is best portrayed in Asian ghost stories. I sadly didn’t read anything this week, but in class, when we were watching the Asian ghost movie, even I started to feel uneasy, even though the ghost weren’t scary or monstrous looking, the atmosphere, setting and even all the way down to the soundtrack is just genius. I think that in Asian culture it's more important to emphasize on the spiritual side of horror rather than the typical hack and slashing horror genre that we’ve become so accustomed to. A lot of Asian horror stories also have huge lessons, usually at the end, which seem to be the building blocks to teaching generations morals. The use of fear and spirits is extremely effective as a story driving plot devise. In my opinion, Asian horror is one of the most thought out genres.

So for this week, I read the James & Sirius Prequel. The read was actually rather short, and to me felt more of like a pilot for harry potter. This story was fun for me, I never read any of the harry potter books before and don’t plan to any time soon. But reading this was fun for me. It was like looking into what a day for young James and Sirius would normally be like. It was pretty meaningless as to add to the plot of the main story. But as I said before, the read was fun and really enjoyable for me. The story being rather short, there’s not much other to say. It doesn’t help that I didn’t read the Potter books to try and get a full picture of these stories together. So for me I saw no problem with the short prequel.

The Hobbit was a book I read as a young child. All my life I struggled to stay dedicated to reading. Coming back to the book was a nice refreshing read for me, being a fan of the lord of the rings and the hobbit for a long time, reading it with a better understanding now I feel like it was an even better read than before. Being a slow reader I couldn’t get through it all, but putting together what I remember and what I went over, I believe the hobbit is a great example of the hero’s story. Bilbo is a recluse when we first are introduced to him, not really taking any risks of any sort before he meets the dwarves. Gandalf has convinced him to go on a journey. This journey takes a toll on him and has him grow as a character. The supporting characters also show his growth. Throughout the story, Bilbo slowly gains their trust and respect through brave and helpful deeds. This may be childish but it boosts bilbos confidence and courage throughout the book, till the end when

Wow. Just wow. This definitely was an interesting startup. I didn’t get past much of the first part. But the interest with the vampire himself was really offsetting. Louis’s relationship with Lestat is something almost slave-like later on from what I hear. This story really takes the traditional horror aspect of vampires and really clouds it up with a lot of romance. The idea of becoming the monster is now romanticized and turns into more of temptation and a curse at the same time. I believe this is symbolism for today's sins in general and temptation. Id say later on the relation between the two becomes pretty toxic, and in class, I learned that later the story becomes even more intense.