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CHAIN OF EVIL - JOURNALSTONE’S GUIDE TO WRITING DARKNESS
Chain of Evil: The JournalStone Guide to Writing Darkness, by Michael R. Collings, approaches the question of writing from multiple directions. The essays in this volume range from the abstract and philosophical to the concrete and specific; from reminiscences as they relate to the art of writing to near-scholarly studies of the nature of genre, in particular horror; and from general discussions of literary forms and what they can achieve to practical advice on where to place commas, exclamation marks, and quotation marks.
Dr. Collings’ expertise emerges from nearly thirty years teaching writing and composition at the university level, gaining acclaim as an astute voice in science-fiction, fantasy, and horror studies, as well as from the more than one hundred books—novels, scholarship, collections of poetry and short fiction, criticism, and bibliographies—he has published over the past four decades.
Dr. Collings’ expertise emerges from nearly thirty years teaching writing and composition at the university level, gaining acclaim as an astute voice in science-fiction, fantasy, and horror studies, as well as from the more than one hundred books—novels, scholarship, collections of poetry and short fiction, criticism, and bibliographies—he has published over the past four decades.
352 pages, Paperback
First published August 26, 2014
2 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
Michael R. Collings
112 books13 followersMichael Robert Collings is an American author, poet, literary critic, and bibliographer, and a former professor of creative writing and literature at Pepperdine University. He was Poet in Residence at Pepperdine's Seaver College from 1997-2000.
Collings has had multiple collections of his poetry published on subjects such as Latter Day Saint theology, Joseph Smith, Christmas, science fiction, and horror. He is known for his literary critiques and bibliographies of the works of Orson Scott Card and Stephen King, though he has also published critiques and bibliographies of the works of Peter Straub, Dean Koontz, C. S. Lewis, Brian W. Aldiss, and Piers Anthony. His In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card was the first book-length academic look at Card's works.
Michael Robert Collings was born on October 29, 1947 in Rupert, Idaho. He graduated from Bakersfield College in 1967 with an Associate's degree, then graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from Whittier College two years later. After graduating with a Master's degree in English from the University of California, Riverside in 1973, Collings received his Ph.D. in English literature from UCR in 1977, specializing in Milton and The Renaissance.
Before he began teaching creative writing and literature at Pepperdine University, Collings taught at UCR, San Bernardino Valley Community College, and UCLA. He taught at Pepperdine from 1979 until 2010, when he retired. He now lives in Idaho with his wife, Judi. His son, Michaelbrent Collings, is a fantasy and horror writer.
Collings has had multiple collections of his poetry published on subjects such as Latter Day Saint theology, Joseph Smith, Christmas, science fiction, and horror. He is known for his literary critiques and bibliographies of the works of Orson Scott Card and Stephen King, though he has also published critiques and bibliographies of the works of Peter Straub, Dean Koontz, C. S. Lewis, Brian W. Aldiss, and Piers Anthony. His In the Image of God: Theme, Characterization and Landscape in the Fiction of Orson Scott Card was the first book-length academic look at Card's works.
Michael Robert Collings was born on October 29, 1947 in Rupert, Idaho. He graduated from Bakersfield College in 1967 with an Associate's degree, then graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English from Whittier College two years later. After graduating with a Master's degree in English from the University of California, Riverside in 1973, Collings received his Ph.D. in English literature from UCR in 1977, specializing in Milton and The Renaissance.
Before he began teaching creative writing and literature at Pepperdine University, Collings taught at UCR, San Bernardino Valley Community College, and UCLA. He taught at Pepperdine from 1979 until 2010, when he retired. He now lives in Idaho with his wife, Judi. His son, Michaelbrent Collings, is a fantasy and horror writer.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 10, 2014
I was not at all surprised to find that Chain of Evil is an essential tool for anyone who dreams of writing horror. Dr. Michael Collings has proven to be a master in his field, and the bits of wisdom he shares are immensely helpful. But I was somewhat surprised to find that this book was so readable, so enjoyable, to the point that even someone who has no interest in writing horror would find it a terrific ride. A must own for horror writers and a should own for horror readers.
May 6, 2014
Chain of Evil: The JournalStone Guide to Writing Darkness, by Michael R. Collings, approaches the question of writing from multiple directions. The essays in this volume range from the abstract and philosophical to the concrete and specific; from reminiscences as they relate to the art of writing to near-scholarly studies of the nature of genre, in particular horror; and from general discussions of literary forms and what they can achieve to practical advice on where to place commas, exclamation marks, and quotation marks.
Dr. Collings’ expertise emerges from nearly thirty years teaching writing and composition at the university level, gaining acclaim as an astute voice in science-fiction, fantasy, and horror studies, as well as from the more than one hundred books—novels, scholarship, collections of poetry and short fiction, criticism, and bibliographies—he has published over the past four decades.
Dr. Collings’ expertise emerges from nearly thirty years teaching writing and composition at the university level, gaining acclaim as an astute voice in science-fiction, fantasy, and horror studies, as well as from the more than one hundred books—novels, scholarship, collections of poetry and short fiction, criticism, and bibliographies—he has published over the past four decades.
September 14, 2014
This is a fascinating book. In the first third, the author explores the reasons for the popularity of dark within our stories, including an historical perspective that may surprise many readers. He addresses the various popular monsters and what they mean symbolically and psychologically. The remainder covers the way a writer can use words, grammar, sentences, paragraphs and dialogue to create atmosphere and guide a reader toward resonating emotions. Common writers' traps and their solutions are also covered.
This is a great book for any writer, whether delving into the dark big time or aiming for lighter fare. Throughout, the author shares himself and his trials, as well as his expertise. It's an enlightening book for anyone, writer or not, who wants to look into the darkness we all share. This is a book I'll be dipping into time and again. Kudos.
This is a great book for any writer, whether delving into the dark big time or aiming for lighter fare. Throughout, the author shares himself and his trials, as well as his expertise. It's an enlightening book for anyone, writer or not, who wants to look into the darkness we all share. This is a book I'll be dipping into time and again. Kudos.
dnf
August 9, 2016I got about halfway through the book before deciding to quit. It’s not a bad look at writing in the horror genre, per se, but I strongly disagree with much of Collings’ point of view and “rules” of writing. Also, since it mostly comprised of a collection of essays, the book as a whole was not as cohesive as I would have liked. Therefore, since I found myself experiencing varying degrees of annoyance and disinterest while reading, I decided to move on to other reading.
August 18, 2014
Dr. Collings's clear, concise explications of everything from grammatical rules to the emotional effects of horror fiction should be a textbook for the most awesome creative writing class ever.
December 9, 2014
I’ve had a mixed experience with the books that JournalStone publishes. The last JournalStone book I received through LibraryThing‘s Early Reviewer program didn’t do much for me. On the other hand, I found Mr. October to be a fairly strong collection and I have high hopes for JournalStone’s latest collection Out of Tune (it’s edited by Jonathan Maberry and contains a story from Seanan McGuire, among others–how can I not?).
Unfortunately, Michael Collings’ Chain of Evil is another that falls into the former category. I was hopeful when I first requested it. I’d like to write more horror. A book that claims to be a “guide to writing darkness” seemed like something I should have. And it’s not utterly useless. However, it’s not completely useful either.
Let me explain.
Chain of Evil is a collection of essays written over the course of Dr. Collings’ career as a professor teaching creative writing and as a horror writer. The topics (of which there are many) range from general ideas of what horror is and where it comes from to the nitty-gritty of very basic grammar.
Some of these essays are quite helpful. I found the chapters on dialogue tags and “saying more with little” to be especially good reminders. For a beginning writer, many more chapters might be handy.
That said, I found a lot of the essays to be rather old-hat, somewhat dull, and filled with more autobiography than horror writing analysis. Stephen King made this work in his classic On Writing. It didn’t work for me here.
Another disappointment I had with Chain of Evil were the writing examples Collings chose to use. While he does quote some of the authors he declares to be the masters of the field (Lovecraft, King, Koontz, Maberry), he mostly quotes his own writing, as well as his son’s, neither of which impressed me. It didn’t help that he argues with Amazon reviews criticizing his work. I found that to be an extremely tacky choice.
And let’s not speak of him sticking up for Orson Scott Card. The less said of that, the better.
In general, I found myself finishing essay after essay wondering “What does this have to do with writing horror?” I was hoping for something with more meat on its bones than this collection, something more inspiring, especially from someone with such a long history in writing and in the genre of horror itself. I didn’t find it here.
Unfortunately, Michael Collings’ Chain of Evil is another that falls into the former category. I was hopeful when I first requested it. I’d like to write more horror. A book that claims to be a “guide to writing darkness” seemed like something I should have. And it’s not utterly useless. However, it’s not completely useful either.
Let me explain.
Chain of Evil is a collection of essays written over the course of Dr. Collings’ career as a professor teaching creative writing and as a horror writer. The topics (of which there are many) range from general ideas of what horror is and where it comes from to the nitty-gritty of very basic grammar.
Some of these essays are quite helpful. I found the chapters on dialogue tags and “saying more with little” to be especially good reminders. For a beginning writer, many more chapters might be handy.
That said, I found a lot of the essays to be rather old-hat, somewhat dull, and filled with more autobiography than horror writing analysis. Stephen King made this work in his classic On Writing. It didn’t work for me here.
Another disappointment I had with Chain of Evil were the writing examples Collings chose to use. While he does quote some of the authors he declares to be the masters of the field (Lovecraft, King, Koontz, Maberry), he mostly quotes his own writing, as well as his son’s, neither of which impressed me. It didn’t help that he argues with Amazon reviews criticizing his work. I found that to be an extremely tacky choice.
And let’s not speak of him sticking up for Orson Scott Card. The less said of that, the better.
In general, I found myself finishing essay after essay wondering “What does this have to do with writing horror?” I was hoping for something with more meat on its bones than this collection, something more inspiring, especially from someone with such a long history in writing and in the genre of horror itself. I didn’t find it here.
May 26, 2015
Writing good horror stories comes from someplace deep and dark. In “Chain of Evil,” Dr. Michael R. Collings shows where writing darkness comes from.
With stunning erudition, he traces the roots of horror writing, why we love to read it, and why good stories scare the pants off us, not only viscerally, but psychologically and socially and every which way. The pages carry wonderful moments that will enhance both writers’ and readers’ of horror understanding and appreciation for the genre and the beloved monsters in it, from Dracula to the walking undead. In other words, you’ll never look at horror writing the same way, nor should you.
Collings demonstrates how the power of words can send a chill and shudder just as effectively in text as if readers in reality were being chased by zombies, vampires, and other monsters of the dark. The book teems with solid advice that writers should be practicing to prevent creating horror that they didn’t mean, such as grammatical terror, dialogue dread, split infinitive revulsion, and other gruesome assaults on paper. A great chapter focuses on how placement of the word “only” changes the meaning in a dozen sentences.
The writing is first-rate, informative, and entertaining.
Patricia Santos Marcantonio
Author of “The Weeping Woman”
With stunning erudition, he traces the roots of horror writing, why we love to read it, and why good stories scare the pants off us, not only viscerally, but psychologically and socially and every which way. The pages carry wonderful moments that will enhance both writers’ and readers’ of horror understanding and appreciation for the genre and the beloved monsters in it, from Dracula to the walking undead. In other words, you’ll never look at horror writing the same way, nor should you.
Collings demonstrates how the power of words can send a chill and shudder just as effectively in text as if readers in reality were being chased by zombies, vampires, and other monsters of the dark. The book teems with solid advice that writers should be practicing to prevent creating horror that they didn’t mean, such as grammatical terror, dialogue dread, split infinitive revulsion, and other gruesome assaults on paper. A great chapter focuses on how placement of the word “only” changes the meaning in a dozen sentences.
The writing is first-rate, informative, and entertaining.
Patricia Santos Marcantonio
Author of “The Weeping Woman”
November 5, 2014
Chain of Evil, JournalStone’s Guide to Writing Darkness by Dr. Michael R. Collings, gives us 50 essays on a blend of topics related to horror writing. While the first part of the book does a good job of holding reader interest by having chapters on typical horror tropes such as vampires, werewolves, zombies, and such, it’s the middle that takes the longest to get through.
Not unlike a long novel, sometimes middles don’t have as much action as we’d like, but they set us up for the end. And in this case, Collings gives us grammar and writing advice, which every writer needs, but not what we necessarily want when reading a book on horror writing. But I’m probably a better writer now for having made it through the dreaded middle, and again, like a good novel, it gets stronger as we near the end.
If you are a horror writer, or are considering it, you probably want this for your writing library. There is some really sound information here, grammar section included. It’s well worth your time.
Not unlike a long novel, sometimes middles don’t have as much action as we’d like, but they set us up for the end. And in this case, Collings gives us grammar and writing advice, which every writer needs, but not what we necessarily want when reading a book on horror writing. But I’m probably a better writer now for having made it through the dreaded middle, and again, like a good novel, it gets stronger as we near the end.
If you are a horror writer, or are considering it, you probably want this for your writing library. There is some really sound information here, grammar section included. It’s well worth your time.
September 25, 2014
I got an advanced copy of this book from GoodReads. I am currently an undergrad at the University of Toledo and I am a creative writing major. This book is really great on how to write scary things. I was just assigned a story in my class and it has to be scary. I even took this book to class and my teacher was impressed by it. It's a guide on how to develop your scary characters and how to get that proper amount of darkness into your story and how to make your story work better. I recommend this book for inspiring writers.
October 21, 2014
This was a complete guide to the inner workings of Horror writing. Would highly recommend to anyone interested in pursuing writing, or anyone interested in the design and origins of this genre.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews