Shrine

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The Fog, on the other hand, comes across as quite clumsily written and amateurish, and goes too far with the gore, becoming either tedious or positively ridiculous (viz. the school gymnasium scene!). It also becomes rather turgid with the level of scientific detail given as to what the 'fog' actually is, and how it can be combatted, and finally peters out with the fog conveniently doing something that gives the perfect opportunity to end the menace (I won't spoil it, if you plan to read it). Journalist Fenn finds the story of his life when he accidentally meets Alice, a girl of eleven who has lost her hearing and speech ability as a toddler. When she suddenly begins to perfectly hear and speak, talks about Mary and the immaculate conception and heals other people too, literally all hell breaks loose. While all the world believes Alice is the reincarnation of the virgin, there are signs that she may in fact be possessed by something sinister and evil. What did the girl see? The mistery is just begining. When Fenn takes the girl to the church, he learn from the local priest that the girl wouldn't be able to say anything since she is deaf and also unable to speak. Maybe it was just his imagination, afterall he is probably tired and he evidently smell of alcohol. But the girl talks again and so it begins what looks like a miracle. Etchison, Dennis, ed. (1991a). Masters of Darkness III. New York City: Tor Books. ISBN 978-0-8125-1766-8.

Ok so my horror revival continues - this book (along with the other works of James Herbert) was the next stop after exhausting Stephen Kings prodigious publication list. This story to me at the time was totally different to what I was used to. Where Stephen King concentrated on characterisation and how they dealt with terrible and impossibly situations both physically and ethereal - James Herbert took his characters and put them through hell with all the blood and guts he could find. Duralde, Alonso (April 1, 2021). " 'The Unholy' Film Review: Miracles, Mayhem and Monotony in Meh Religious Thriller". TheWrap . Retrieved April 2, 2021. I can imagine Delgard having his own TV season as a character. A film is being made of the book - entitled 'The Unholy' - but it is boringly being set in contemporary Massachusetts (oh dear, Salem again!) and the actor playing Delgard looks too young. But let's keep an open mind. At this point I want to jump in and point out however that along with many other authors, James Herbert's books developed and changed through the years - his early books where very visceral and tactile - sometimes at the expense of characterisation, but as the years went on he would mature and start to take on a more subtle and restrained approach and in some ways even more terrifying style. The Shrine was one of his early books and some of the scenes certainly reflect this.**. D'Alessandro, Anthony (18 September 2019). "Jeffrey Dean Morgan Takes Lead In Screen Gems' Feature Adaptation Of James Herbert's 'Shrine' ". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 19 September 2019.

What To Read Next

I was determined that my first read by James Herbert would be the infamous "The Rats" that I kept on hearing about. But then I saw Unholy, the movie adaptation of "The Shrine" and thought it was kind of bad. Since it is a widespread phenomenon that the worst movies are usually based on good books, I decided to take an early shot with this one. Francis, Clare; Upton, Ondine, eds. (1996). A Feast of Stories. London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-0-333-65340-1. With The Magic Cottage (1986), Herbert created one of his best novels, an unconventional haunted house yarn that is part fairytale, part ghost story. Haunted (1988), originally plotted as a BBC TV movie, is also a ghost story, the first of three novels featuring David Ash, a sceptical parapsychologist and psychic investigator who returned in The Ghosts of Sleath (1994) and Ash (2012).

N'Duka, Amanda (November 12, 2019). "Jordana Brewster Joins Jeffrey Dean Morgan In 'Shrine' Adaptation From Screen Gems". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 29, 2020. The project was announced in December 2018 under the working title Shrine, with Sony Pictures adapting Herbert's novel of the same name. The cast was announced between 2018 and 2020, with principal photography commencing in Boston,but on March 14, 2020, filming was suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As I sat in the cinema watching The Unholy, a feeling of dread slowly crept over me. Not an unexpected emotion to experience while watching a movie produced by horror maestros Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, but unfortunately, it wasn’t due to any of the horrors on screen. Instead, it was due to the dawning realisation that there was a great story to be told here, but this definitely wasn’t it.On the other hand, there's one point in which this book didn't age well, like the cringeworthy descriptions of some disabled people (e.g. "death and dumb") and the action scenes were a little dragged out.

Etchison, Dennis, ed. (1991b). The Complete Masters of Darkness. United States: Underwood-Miller. ISBN 978-0-88733-116-9. Horror movies featuring the supernatural have to walk a very fine line. If the antagonist is too powerful or exhibits poorly explained powers that don’t seem to follow any rules, it can lead to an unsatisfying tale where it feels like the heroes have no chance of triumphing over evil. This can work if the despair is the whole point, as in classic horror movies like The Exorcist, The Omen, or Rosemary’s Baby, but more often than not, this can trip up the more modern takes. I considered being pissed about the ending but upon further contemplating on the matter I decided it made sense in context. The reason I say this is that even though these characters go through some very intense events they're not technically the main players in the cosmic battle. They're observers and on occasion the recipients of some of the violence but this is a tale of corruption vs the sanctity of creation. Human beings have no dog in the fight because they don't stand a chance against an entity that doesn't play by physical rules. People don't have a prayer to win so there's that.

Sources

Each chapter begins with a quote from a famous literary work, often a fairy tale or poem dealing with folklore, like the Grimms' canon, Peter Pan, and Hans Christian Andersen. The third-person narrative switches between several points of view, including village businessmen, Catholic officials, and other minor, as well as important, characters. N'Duka, Amanda (27 February 2020). " 'Shrine': Screen Gems Horror Pic Adds Cary Elwes, Katie Aselton & More". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 29 February 2020. Jones, Stephen, ed. (1992). James Herbert: By Horror Haunted. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-450-53810-0. Herbert's 23 novels have sold 54m copies worldwide. He was published in 34 languages, including Russian and Chinese. In 2010 he was made an OBE and received the Grand Master award at the World Horror Convention.

Nobody True continues the theme of life after death, being narrated by a ghost whose investigation of his own death results in the destruction of his illusions about his life. Herbert described Creed as his Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The character Joe Creed is a cynical, sleazy paparazzo who is drawn into a plot involving fed-up and underappreciated monsters. That’s not to say the “creature” elements are bad. In design, and movement, it is creepy as hell, but far too often relegated to inexplicable jump scares. The film seems unwilling to decide whether its antagonist is a masterful manipulator, skilfully whispering temptations to the faithful and bending them to its will, or a squealing, screaming, gesticulating monster.The actual reason for Alice having these "gifts" and the church property and and old oak tree is told through a journal and it was "ok" but I do wish they went into this alil more and provided more insight as to why Elnor had this power and how she came to be. Miracles or evil entity faking the miraculous cures....Great pace and buildup. Then there is the horror which is not laid on with a trowel but builds up on a premise of ancient supernatural evil working its way into the world through innocent faith even if the ending becomes something that just has to end a little absurdly because there is nowhere else for it to go. D'Alessandro, Anthony (March 8, 2021). "Sony Dates Horror Film 'The Unholy' For Easter Weekend". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved March 8, 2021. Herbert is also good at characterisation and at 'mise en-scene'. Perhaps the flawed 'hero' Gerry Fenn runs according to expectation as an ambitious journalist but the creation of the two central priests - Father Hagan and Monsignor Delgard - is masterful.