The big day of horror is ending. Kathe Koja provided the early fare with Bad Brains; later was the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The characters in both are common fare for modern horror: weak good guys, strong bad guys, and strong good girls. They both use the same old devices to pull the audience along. Koja's painter protagonist suffers through a 'Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde the beatnik' plot as he returns back to his abandoned art. And some cuties get chased to pieces in the other. But, happily, at this point we're going leave the critics to their cloves and fashionable mixed drinks.

You can mine Koja's work for ideas of Art and vocation vs. avocation vs. calling . Likewise you can think about what you would do when the basic premise that people are good is invalidated. Or you can burn a couple hundred calories in nervous energy. It's all there, even if the critics ignore it.

Movements in Art Since 1945 was in PSU's incoming bookshelf. Standouts include:

  1. Bulatov's Perestroika (this isn't a great copy)
  2. Bacon's Pope Innocent X
  3. Cucchi's Fires

Sometimes, the worst things in life are free.

Mystic River. Get your Misanthropy vaccination shot. Won't hurt a bit.