My Magical Place: The Conjuring

I've been watching quite a lot of movies in genres I don't usually dabble in because I now live with a crowd of people who aren't into the things I am and because I like to be open minded about things I watch some of the stuff they do and it's been interesting. I found that I liked features like The Great Gatsby (I could never finish the book) and Dark Zero Thirty. Anyway, I also started watching some horror movies like VHS with one of the guys, which eventually lead to The Conjuring. I'm not the biggest fan of horror movies but some of the B-grade stuff like Slither amuse me to no end.

I approached The Conjuring with an almost fresh set of eyes for what it sets out to do. I vaguely remember seeing The Exorcist and other than that my closest experience with this ritualistic, possession stuff is the Supernatural TV series. The story centres around a married couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), who make their living as paranormal investigators. They help a family who are being plagued by a creepload of spirits in the creepy looking house they've just moved into and invested all their money into. It's not like they can move anyway because the spirits haunting them have some powerful dark juju and can follow them around. They are pretty much screwed, really. Ed and Lorraine come in to save the day and shoot a few videos in the process. I actually enjoyed this movie a whole lot: it's well paced and scares you when you least expect it or when you most expect it and still gets you. It is also very beautifully shot. Every scene is hauntingly beautiful, if that makes sense in this context. The music is also brilliantly done and adds a cool ambiance throughout the scary proceedings. I enjoyed watching The Conjuring and then I found myself lying in bed in the dark later on and I realised my wardrobe looks a lot like the one in the movie... I had difficulty sleeping for a few nights.

I recommend this movie and I suggest watching it at midday.

Just as a side note can we all just step back and look at how Patrick Wilson's hair's combed all neatly in every movie he's in. It's quite eerie.

I was struck by a thought whilst watching this movie with the Christian symbolism used to ward off evil spirits or exorcise them. What are the procedures in other religions when demons and other evil spirits decide to take up residence in your home or body? I know from reading The Historian that Islam has a tradition of vampire defence wards. Someone should tell a story about a demon possession scenario from a Jewish or Hindu perspective.

My June/July Reading List

Thus he [Fingolfin] came alone to Angband’s gates, and he sounded his horn, and smote once more upon the brazen doors, and challenged Morgoth to come forth to single combat. And Morgoth came.
– J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion

Great masters of old,
You'd be amazed by twenty-first century machinery
'though you invented time travel
That modern science has yet to match
I find myself spirited away by words
That are ages old
- Charles Siboto, A Life Lived

The critics say that epics have died out
With Agamemnon and the goat-nursed gods,
I’ll not believe it.
- Elizabeth Barret Browning, Aurora Leigh

Dear reader of a writer who spends more time reading than he does writing (and even more time haunting bookshops than he does reading),

I must warn you from the outset that there be dragons here and an assortment of other beasties hell-bent on devouring you and, alas, there are not many heroes to slay these monsters. The world has forgotten the old tales and brave kings of men are no more. All those royal houses have fallen into ruin. But fear not because I have in my possession a machine that will allow us to transcend time and space, so that, my comrade in ancient lore, we may go where we will and forget about my evil couch and its arachnid minions that are pursuing me without relent for the time being.

Winter’s icy tentacles have reached our southern shores and the masses visiting us from all over the world are taking shelter in our country’s soccer stadia to view the world’s largest soccer spectacle. This is all good and well but we will not have too much time to poke fun at them because the remainder of June and the whole of July will be a very busy period for us, what with so many worlds to visit.

Let’s start off by revisiting Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian - an old friend in a new hardcover jacket. This is a tale that brings Dracula, that old villain, into the one place that bookworms feel safest. Yes, you guessed it, our beloved and dusty libraries. It turns out that, like us, Vlad enjoys collecting books and building an extensive library of human (and not-so-human) thought when he is not busy impaling or ‘necking’ people. So the next time you’re reading on the fourth floor of the library and think you’re alone bear this information in mind. I would recommend a garlic clove or two in your pocket, as unfashionable as it may be.

Make sure you are holding on tight, my dear companion, because our next stop is Middle-earth and Eärendil, most renowned of mariners, has agreed to let us sail with him on his great ship, Vingilot. You must remember that the world has changed after the Fourth Age and only by sailing in one of Cirdan’s ships can one reach the distant past. It’s impossible to grow weary of Professor Tolkien’s Middle-earth and its people throughout the ages. The stories that enthral me the most though are those of the elder days; stories of the Elves and their hopeless war against Morgoth and the stories of the tall Men of Númenor and their downfall. I have managed to get my grubby hands on Professor Tolkien’s The Book of Lost Tales 1 and 2 and The Lays of Beleriand to supplement my copy of The Silmarillion so there is quite a bit more of the elder days to be explored. Also, John Howe’s cover illustration of Fingolfin’s challenge to Morgoth for The Lays of Beleriand is just breathtaking. If ever a movie of The Silmarillion was made this would be the scene I would most look forward to. No other Elven-king of old was more valiant than Fingolfin and reading this scene always brings tears to my eyes.

To keep us entertained as we hop from one world to the next I’ve picked up two books of short stories: Stephen King’s Just After Sunset (which I find is safest read just after sunrise) and Legends II (edited by Robert Silverberg), an anthology of fantasy stories by some of the biggest names in the genre. I’ve already read a few of the stories and some of them are very good. Let it not be said that I take you on long adventures without some form of entertainment when we’re on the ‘road’, as it were. I can see by the look on your face that you’re thinking that I’ve not taken your stomach into account but there’s no need to fret because the Elves from Middle-earth were kind enough to give us some lembas for the journey that lies ahead.

Goodness! How time does fly when one is on a flying ship. We have reached our final destination it seems: Robert Jordan’s world of The Wheel of Time, and this, I am ashamed to admit, is my first visit. As is usual with me, I am very excited to start exploring a new world, so I will linger here and see the sights.

When we get back home another new writer will be awaiting me, a certain Mr Greg Isles who was recommended to me by my dear friend, Lady Leigh of the Meadows. My first expedition into this man’s mind is titled Blood Memory, which I think just sounds wonderfully delicious. Hey, come now, don’t you dare judge me on what I find delicious or don’t! Now go away, I have things to do.

Until next time,
Have a wonderful winter season :)