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Stephen King’s Misery 1990: Meaning, Themes & Characterisation
Misery (1990) is one widely considered of the best Stephen King film adaptations.
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Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey (1948)
Blueberries For Sal (1948) is a picture book written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey, also well-known for Make Way For Ducklings. Both stories are thrillers for the preschool set, especially this one. In fact, I’m about to try and convince you that Blueberries For Sal is the inspiration behind Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old […]
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Dead Calm Film Study
Sometimes horror movies are even more terrifying when read metaphorically. In Dead Calm, the story of a husband and wife at sea with a murderous intruder is bad enough, but what if the murderer doesn’t exist? Dead Calm is a well-executed but outdated psychological horror, adapted in 1989 for film from a 1963 novel by […]
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Features of a Psychological Suspense Story
What makes a horror or thriller story ‘psychological’? Aren’t the entire suspense genre psychological, to some degree? I set out to investigate.
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The Thrill of the Chase in Storytelling
In the spoof Thriller Concept Generator below, cartoonist Tom Gauld captures the centrality of the chase sequence in the thriller genre.
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The Tale of Mr Tod by Beatrix Potter Analysis
The Tale of Mr. Tod by Beatrix Potter (1912) is a child-in-jeopardy crime thriller. See my post on thrillers and also my post on secrets and scams.
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Notes On A Quiet Place Film
A Quiet Place is a suspenseful 2018 film directed by John Krasinski, also starring John Krasinski. John Kransinski shares a writing credit with two other guys. A Quiet Place is one of those films where if you see the trailer, you’ve seen the whole film. So don’t watch the trailer if you intend to see […]
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All About The Thriller Genre
Below, I list a collection of thought-provoking tips on writing the thriller genre. It’s not that easy to pinpoint what a thriller is, because a lot of descriptions focus on the tone. But this doesn’t help writers much. From a writing point of view, the thriller must contain certain things, otherwise it’s not a thriller. […]
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Masks In Storytelling
We love stories about tricksters who get away with stuff. But we don’t want them to get away with stuff forever. We want them to be found out. For instance, when Emerson Moser retired from Crayola and revealed that he is colour blind, he made sure that this one little detail of his career would […]
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No Country For Old Men Film Study
No Country For Old Men is a 2007 film based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel. Drama combines with crime and thriller to create a story about the nature of evil.
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Silence Of The Lambs Film Study
Silence of the Lambs is an excellent thriller which also does active harm to the trans community.
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Twist Endings, Reversals and Reveals In Storytelling
Reversals and reveals are vital for creating momentum and suspense in a story. Certain genres are required to be more page-turny than others, and all children’s literature must be page-turny. So you’ll find reversals and reveals everywhere in children’s literature.
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Transgression Comedy and The IT Crowd
Comedies have subcategories. One of those categories is the ‘transgression comedy’. The IT Crowd is a good example of a transgression comedy. About A Boy is another. Screenwriting experts usually give the example of Tootsie as the perfect example of this form, but I’m no particular fan of that film. It hasn’t aged well. It needs to be […]
