Hearts and Shadows

 
With the release of the John Cusack thriller The Raven, I have been studying Edgar Allan Poe's writings again.  He is one of my favourite classic gothic writers, along with H.P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and Emily Brontë.  I'm intrigued to see how they will work this Seven-like suspense story: a mad-man goes about murdering people in different ways inspired by Poe's writings (when thinking of the Pit and the Pendulum I can only imagine the grimness that will unfold!).  I am very pleased that Hollywood has brought Poe to a mainstream audience, but I think that there is so much more that can be done with his extensive and brilliant repertoire.  The haunting novel by Andrew Taylor, The American Boy, deals with Poe's childhood and creates a whole world of mystery, murder and intrigue which is a fantastic homage to the tragic genius.  Definitely worth a read along with Poe's poem The Raven and his short story The Tell-Tale Heart.
        
 Now for some more American Gothic by a master of the dark arts - Mr Tim Burton and his new film Dark Shadows.   I am intrigued by this material as it originally started out as a 1960's American "gothic" soap opera.  I'd never heard of the show before reading about the film in the last Empire magazine and I do think that it may have a difficult time appealing to non-American audiences as we didn't grow up with the programme. But, I remember as a child watching re-runs of The Munsters and The Addams Family and really loving them, so maybe a watch of the original series will encourage me to watch the movie!  I'm sure Mr Burton has done a spiffing job as always!