Last week I spent a lot of time thinking about transgression, which means it was an ordinary week except for one thing. I got to consume one of those rare treats: A movie that actually shocked me. I’m speaking, of course, of the sadly overhyped new indie horror flick Paranormal Activity. I say “sadly overhyped” because the worst thing you can do to a genuinely terrifying movie (or book, or TV show) is to blast people with a zillion ads about how IT WILL REALLY SCARE YOU. Unfortunately the more you get amped up to be scared, the less scared you’ll be.

I had extremely low expectations about Paranormal Activity going in, and that probably helped me enjoy the movie so much. It was genuinely one of the most terrifying movies I’ve seen since 28 Days Later, and for many of the same reasons. Like 28 Days, Paranormal Activity is about how terrifying human relationships can be – the monsters are basically literalizations of the horrific ways people treat each other.

Check out my review of the movie on io9, where I go into more detail about how Paranormal Activity works as a horror movie about dysfunctional relationships. Also check the movie out – not just to be scared, but to watch a horror movie done right.

I also wrote a rather long essay about dragon sex in science fiction and fantasy. This is a topic I have thought way too much about, but not as much as legions of Pern fans who have endless debates over why Pern’s military is packed with gay guys having lots of psychic dragon sex. You think I’m kidding? Read my post.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 4:35 pm.
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