I'm by no means an expert. In the end it's all your personal preference. There are no set rules for how you compose your story. We each have our methods that work for us, and one method may work better than others depending on how your creativity flows.
For me, I use outlines. I need to know where I'm going, what my end goal is, and what I'm working toward. I usually have several key sequences in my head and the ending. I need to know my ending before I begin.
This keeps me as the writer on point, not getting distracted or lost in the weeds. It also keeps me motivated, working toward those all-important scenes that I can't help but continually think about. And when you finally get to these pivotal scenes, it feels all the more gratifying.
From there, I build the connective tissue. Sometimes new sequences are born during this stage and moments of inspiration follow. These moments may alter other events and, if so, I adjust anything else if need be. I tend to try and work in the moments of inspiration to fit with what I have planned already, so as to not completely derail what I had envisioned to begin with.
This is how I work best in crafting my stories and it is how Defacer and Defacer II: Bloodlust were created and ultimately composed.
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The feeling that makes your skin crawl, the hair on the back of your neck bristle, and sends your heart racing. The impulse to run away from the thing in the dark.
Horror and fear is universal, instantly relatable no matter who you are or where you come from.
Horror can be cathartic, helping us confront our fears in safe ways, and come out the other side intact.
Horror is exciting, getting our blood pumping, making your heart jump in your chest the same way a rollercoaster ride does as it plunges over the crest.
And horror can be a source of hope. Reading or watching characters go through frightening ordeals, facing down pure evil, and triumphing in the end.
These reasons and many more have made horror an irresistible genre to me personally and why I wanted to write Defacer, to give something back to the horror genre, and show my appreciation for it. I sincerely hope this love of horror comes across in the pages of Defacer.
Why do you love horror? Share with us what draws you to the eerie, the macabre, and the gothic.
Defacer and Defacer II: Bloodlust are available for purchase right now!
Pick up both DEFACER books at Amazon right now! Available in Paperback and eBook.
Thank you all for your support. You all mean so much!
Have you ever been moved by a fictional story emotionally? Have you ever fallen in love with fictional characters? And have you ever been so immersed in a fictional world that you forgot your woes, your troubles, and your everyday life for a brief bit? Have you felt like a book or a character "saved" you?
I can confidently say "Yes" to all of these. It's an incredible feeling to experience a story like this, to grow attached to characters that don't exist in reality, but you feel emotionally attached to them nonetheless.
And it's these feelings I want to impart to others. To help others fall in love with a great story and connect with characters across the fictional expanse.
Though these stories and characters aren't real, what they make you feel is real.
That's why I write.
I'm so very grateful for the stories that affected me so, the stories and characters that helped shape who I am and have truly enriched my life. I want to impart that experience to others.
I DO NOT write to lecture or teach or educate. Ultimately, I write with the sole goal of entertaining, to provide escape from reality, and give you a break from whatever is wearing you down. At the very least I hope to do that.
Defacer is my attempt at that, and my love letter to the horror genre I love so much and the dark heroes that endlessly fascinate and entertain me.
Defacer and Defacer II: Bloodlust are available for purchase right now!
Pick up both DEFACER books at Amazon right now! Available in Paperback and eBook.
Thank you all for your support. You all mean so much!
After two years of being the Defacer, Jeremy's life wavers at the brink. With every kill the evil inside him grows, swallowing what little remains of his soul. His next kill could be his last.
Having narrowly survived the battle against the Devourer, Jeremy comes face to face with a far deadlier threat. Enemies descend upon him from all sides and, unless he can conquer the power of the Defacer, he will lose everything and everyone he holds dear.
Jeremy's mettle is tested against an opponent beyond any he has faced before: The Blood Queen. She craves him with a ravenous bloodlust, traversing any length to claim him. She alone knows the secrets of the Defacer that will save him, offering him forbidden knowledge in exchange for his submission.
Standing before the Blood Queen, Jeremy is faced with a choice: sacrifice his freedom for survival or take his fate into his own hands. Which is the greater evil; the monsters without or the monster within? And can he survive either?
Taking stock of all the Godzilla content we've recently been given, we kaiju fans are incredibly lucky. MONARCH: LEGACY OF MONSTERS (I still haven't seen yet, because I don't have Apple TV+), SKULL ISLAND on Netflix, GAMERA: REBIRTH, all of the comic books too, and most importantly GODZILLA MINUS ONE, we are truly experiencing a new kaiju golden age. And now, the latest theatrical entry in Legendary Pictures' MONSTERVERSE has been released and I was there on opening night for it.
GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE couldn't be further from Godzilla Minus One in terms of tone, storytelling, and execution. It is an entirely different experience altogether. For those seeking another dose of a Godzilla Minus One caliber experience, this movie will not satisfy. GXK is striving for a completely different experience, eschewing any semblance of serious dramatic storytelling, and instead going for pure absurdity and spectacle.
I'll argue that this isn't a bad thing.
There is a place for absurdist Godzilla fair, as evident by the Godzilla films from the 1970s and early 2000s. GXK is more akin to films like Godzilla Vs Megalon, Godzilla Vs the Smog Monster, Godzilla Vs Megaguirus, and, most particularly, Godzilla: Final Wars (all authentic Japanese Godzilla films, by the way). Even the original 1962 King Kong Vs Godzilla is an example of the more ludicrous Godzilla films and GXK is fully embracing these esthetics. As a child I definitely gravitated to the "sillier" Godzilla films of the Showa Era (1954-1975) and I'd be lying if I didn't say that my inner child wasn't fully in love with the lengths of insanity this movie is striving for. And that's who this film feels like it's aimed for.
Having Godzilla Minus One so fresh in our memories next to GXK really highlights the versatility of Godzilla and what can be done with the character. It's a movie like this that makes generations of kids Godzilla fans. And it's a movie like Godzilla Minus One that keeps those same kids fans of Godzilla when they grow into adults looking for more mature storytelling.
THE SYNOPSIS
A temporary truce between the two kings is in affect. Godzilla polices the surface world from kaiju threats while Kong explores the subterranean world of the Hollow Earth. An even deeper subsection of Hollow Earth, previously sealed off, is opened, unleashing new deadlier kaiju threats. The only hope the world has of surviving these new kaiju enemies is if the two kings can work together once more and save the world. But will they be able to set aside their natural animal instincts, or will they kill each other before the other kaiju even arrive?
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
~ A Unique Situation For a Godzilla Fan ~
Before we get to this movie, I have to admit to falling head over heels in love with GODZILLA MINUS ONE. I went to the movie theater four times to see it, including the Black & White version. I found myself loving G-1 more and more with every viewing. It was truly the Godzilla movie I had been longing to see for the last twenty years. Had we not been gifted G-1 so recently, my feelings toward GXK might be different. Both films deliver a completely different flavor of Godzilla film servicing the adult Godzilla fan with one and the adolescent Godzilla fan with the other.
Godzilla Minus One is a MASTERPIECE of mature serious storytelling.
And I'll be so bold as to say that Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is a MASTERPIECE of children's entertainment.
Okay, "Masterpiece" is a bit of a stretch, but while I was watching the movie I had to applaud how the filmmakers just went for it. There's so much monster action and wild CGI effects in this movie, it almost boggles the mind. They really went ALL-IN with this one and I have to give the movie its due for sheer unapologetic kaiju spectacle. That is what this movie is; pure and unabashed popcorn movie entertainment, no Hollywood pretention, no underlying messages or lectures, no real treatise on humanity. Pure cane sugar, nothing healthy, no synthetics.
Godzilla X Kong, rather than trying to be like Godzilla Minus One, endeavors to be a completely different kind of Godzilla movie. Personally, I'm glad it didn't try to be like Godzilla Minus One, because it likely would've fell short. The biggest reason being: American filmmakers simply do not understand who Godzilla is.
There is a fundamental difference between authentic Japanese Godzilla and American Godzilla. This has been a problem with the Monsterverse since its inception in 2014. There is something culturally unique about Godzilla that is intrinsically Japanese and very few outside of Japan can hone in on what that is. Personally, outside of one film in the Monsterverse (Godzilla: King of the Monsters 2019), I haven't liked the Monsterverse version of Godzilla. From the redesign to the new roar to his characterization and his backstory. The character Legendary Pictures has cultivated is more akin to Gamera's character than Godzilla. And wouldn't you know it, it's the same in GXK.
TEAM GODZILLA
In 2021's Godzilla Vs Kong, I felt Godzilla was treated the worst of the two. For a film that is essentially a "super hero team-up" movie, Godzilla is portrayed far worse than Kong. He lacks significant screen time, a supporting cast of human characters that cheer him on, and really lacking any endearing personality traits. GXK commits the exact same sins against Godzilla as the previous film. The roar once again is bland and two tone, lacking in identity, and the dorsal plates are basically that of a generic fantasy monster. As a general comment on the monsters, most of their roars are generic and indistinguishable from one another, which is disappointing to say the least.
Now, in regards to Godzilla's new pink redesign, I must say I wasn't too keen on it when it was first revealed in the trailer. Overtime it has grown on me quite a bit. And seeing it in the film, I can say that I actually like it. Legendary isn't using the actual Godzilla in their films (save for GKOTM where they came the closest), but really creating their own unique monster that just happens to be named Godzilla. All in all, Godzilla only really works in this movie only during the final sequence, and only then superficially. Thinking of him as the cartoony Godzilla from Final Wars or Megalon will help place you in the right mindset.
TEAM KONG
Once again, King Kong is the real winner in this movie. Just like in GVK 2021, Kong is given the majority of the kaiju screentime and the truly standout scenes. In general, he's simply given so much more to do here than Godzilla. Everything Godzilla lacks in these films, Kong has. He has a strong supporting cast to cheer him on, he has character growth, personality, sympathy. And he has an uphill battle in the movie. It really feels like this is Kong's movie. His story here is the pivotal plot of the movie. There is a standout scene where Kong meets a group of monsters and they have a whole verbal exchange without words. It's really amazing.
As a lifelong King Kong fan (full disclosure: I love King Kong as much as I love Godzilla and can't decide which I love more than the other. To me they're equal), GXK represents a first in King Kong's film history. Since his first film appearance 90 years ago, Kong has only ever had his story continue in a maximum of two films: originally King Kong '33 and Son of Kong, then King Kong Vs Godzilla '62 and King Kong Escapes, and finally King Kong '76 and King Kong Lives. The Monsterverse King Kong now has three movies telling a continuous story, a first ever!
As with GVK, I really love what they're doing with Kong in GXK. It feels like director Adam Wingard really has a connection with Kong. Sadly there is a major disconnect between Wingard and Godzilla which leaves the big lizard sorely lacking.
THE ACTUAL STORY OF THE FILM
The introduction of the Hollow Earth provides a wealth of fun story potential and could continue to going forward if this film is successful. Lots of monsters show up and lots of battles ensue, which, as a kid, is exactly what we want in a monster movie! More monsters, please! More battles, please!" The main badguy, Scar King, is a great villain to hate. And the introduction of Shimo is a nice new monster that I hope will play a bigger role in another movie (if they make more). There is a surprise appearance by an unexpected kaiju too which was great to see!
The Hollow Earth civilization is also rife with potential for future storytelling and a nice connection to Kong: Skull Island (2017), my favorite film in the Monsterverse. Really, I don't need or want this Monsterverse version of Godzilla personally (I understand there are many fans who do love the Monsterverse Godzilla though). What I really want is more King Kong. To even things out too, since Godzilla received two solo movies in the Monsterverse, King Kong should get a second solo movie in the Monsterverse.
THE VERDICT
Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire is pure wild kaiju spectacle and nothing more. It isn't trying to be a film like Godzilla Minus One, instead embracing a different side of Godzilla, the sillier side. But the film never makes fun of itself nor devolves into satire, instead remaining fully invested in the type of story it's telling. The monster spectacle is among the most epic I've ever seen. Godzilla's new design is better than I expected it to be and is definitely the highlight of Godzilla's portion of the film. The real star of the film though is Kong. King Kong remains the best character throughout the entire Monsterverse franchise.
GXK is the type of film that will hopefully make a new generation of young Godzilla and King Kong fans. And hopefully the older fans can adjust their expectations enough to enjoy it too. I've seen it twice now and it maintains its quality. I sincerely hope the film is financially successful enough to continue into another film. The reason being: I want to see King Kong's story continue.
Overall Ranking: 7 out of 10
What I'd like to see out of the Monsterverse going forward is more of King Kong. Unless someone else comes in and "corrects" Godzilla (Michael Dougherty did Godzilla the best in the Monsterverse), I don't care what happens with him. If Adam Wingard continues, I'd want to see him go all in on Kong's story. Kong is set up for far more interesting stories going forward by virtue of being in the Hollow Earth. Plus, all of the new kaiju introduced in this movie are with Kong in the Hollow Earth, while Godzilla systematically killed off nearly every kaiju he encountered on the surface.
And have the next movie be ENTIRELY kaiju with NO humans. They can explore Subterrenea and make their way towards the molten core where the truly scary and evil monsters are. Invent more new kaiju and dig into more of Kong's history. That's what I'd do and something I'd be excited to see. King Kong has never had this much continuous story before in his film history and, more than anything, I want to see it continue further.
For more of my thoughts on all things kaiju and giant monsters, check out these other posts below!
In 2017 Netflix released the first season of their Castlevania animated adaptation. It was essentially a four episode pilot or 90 minute movie. This season essentially was an introduction to the characters and the concept. The second season had eight episodes and delivered, more or less, an ending to the show with a few dangling threads should they choose to continue. The first two seasons essentially adapt the story of Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse. No, it wasn't a perfect adaptation of the game, but it was close enough that I, a longtime Castlevania fan since the 80s, was over the moon about it. Although the show left Alucard alive by the end, which posed a narrative problem, still, I was pretty happy with it. These two seasons received great acclaim, particularly for its adaptation and faithfulness to the games, something which most video game adaptations in history have utterly failed at.
Season Three went off book a little bit. It explored a period immediately after the events of Castlevania III but before the events of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness (the next chapter in the video game story following Castlevania III). Elements from Castlevania: Curse of Darkness had already been integrated in the second season of Netflix's Castlevania, marrying the stories and the lore more succinctly and I was okay with it. Despite going off book, Season Three didn't do anything to alter the course of the narrative set down by the video games, seeding yet more elements from Curse of Darkness. Furthermore, I could still see a path the show could take to faithfully adapt Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, more or less. Yet, Alucard's character was wasted on an utterly superfluous side plot that, in my opinion, started to damage the character.
Then Season Four came. For some reason or other, Season Four diverged radically from the video games and, in some cases, from what the Netflix series itself had started. I felt the show, in certain instances, deliberately diminished certain characters and unnaturally favored others in illogical ways, frustratingly so. But most egregiously, it broke the fundamental narrative of Castlevania: The Belmonts versus Dracula and the hordes of the night was no more. Dracula got his happy ending. There were a few good episodes in Season Four, but it ceased being an adaption and went into "fan-fiction" territory.
After Netflix's Castlevania Season Four, I could not see a path where a faithful adaptation of the games was even possible anymore. The fundamental premise of Castlevania was broken.
Which brings us CASTLEVANIA: NOCTURNE
THE PLOT
18th century France. The French Revolution is decimating the country. Vampires have infiltrated the French aristocracy and are preparing the way for their vampire messiah; Erzsebet Bathory. The latest generation of the Belmonts, a descendant of the Speaker magicians, an avatar of the Haitian god Ogun, and an opera singer are all that stand in the way of the vampires and eternal darkness.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
Castlevania Nocturne debuted on Netflix in September of 2023, but only recently did I start watching it. As I stated above, after Season Four, I couldn't see any way that a faithful adaptation was possible (not necessarily a one to one adaptation, mind you, but one that more or less retold even the basic events of the games). When it was announced that Richter Belmont would be the protagonist of the next season I knew the showrunners were adapting the game Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, with naturally the famed Castlevania: Symphony of the Night coming next.
Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night may be the most celebrated games in the Castlevania franchise and perhaps the stories most fans of the games were eager to see adapted. Personally, I love both games and have longed to see a film adaptation of both. But there were several problems with this from the get-go:
1) Dracula was no longer the villain (no longer a badguy even).
2) The titular castle of Castlevania was left standing and not tied to Dracula's existence.
3) Alucard was alive and well, so his dramatic and surprise return in Symphony was already undermined.
Needless to say, the end of Season Four already setup Castlevania Nocturne to be unable to faithfully adapt the games it was based on. The red flags for this series were waving even before it started.
The next red flag reared its head when the trailer dropped. The trailer was filled with characters I didn't recognize (prominently featured in the trailer too, I might add) and what I saw of Richter Belmont didn't reflect the character I knew from the games. Sure, he looked like Richter, but what little I was seeing of him, his actions and mannerisms, felt nothing like what I had known for most of my life.
After Season Four left me soured on Netflix's Castlevania, and not seeing anything promising from the trailer, I decided to avoid the show altogether. Then, recently, when I found myself with nothing better to watch, I decided to give Castlevania: Nocturne a try... to my chagrin.
To be honest, I couldn't stomach more than three episodes before stopping. Castlevania Nocturne is so far afield from anything remotely resembling the games that it turned me off completely. Like the "fan-fiction" that was Season Four, this was Castlevania in name only. As cued from the trailer, Richter and Maria's resemblance to their video game progenitors is purely cosmetic, their personalities being nothing close to how they should be. Their personalities and portrayals are wildly different from the source material. But at least they DO resemble their video game forbearers' designs whereas nearly all of the rest of the cast do not, in addition to possessing alien personalities to their origins.
And then the lion's share of the story doesn't focus on Richter, but rather on a minor character (yet important) from the game and an entirely new character who was never a part of the story to begin with. These characters felt forced and deliberately inflated at the expense of the video game's protagonist, constantly bringing Richter down to raise themselves up. It felt like the people making Castlevania Nocturne were going to great lengths and putting in tremendous effort into these new and different elements and spending no time or effort into actually adapting the game.
I couldn't watch any further. For my own sanity I had to stop. The thing that made Netflix's Castlevania shine to begin with was how it faithfully and wonderfully adapted the video game. Now, the very thing that Netflix's Castlevania was praised for was completely missing.
I've since read the spoilers and know what happens. SPOILER ALERT: Not even Alucard's cameo at the end, which everyone is geeking out over, will get me to watch (really it has me questioning why wasn't Alucard there to begin with? From my understanding, his appearance here only undercuts the main cast as well, doing their work for them and stealing their thunder). I will perhaps listen to the rendition of Divine Bloodlines in the show. But nothing more.
THE VERDICT
The very thing that made Netflix's Castlevania an incredible video game adaptation is entirely gone in Castlevania Nocturne.
This is NOT Castlevania. This is Castlevania fan-fiction and grossly disrespectful to the source material. Based on the egregious adaptation alone (which you can't accurately call an adaptation) I will not be watching the rest of Castlevania Nocturne nor anything else from Netflix's Castlevania to come. This is an alien creature wearing Castlevania's skin and not well either. Had it been an entirely new show, or even a show set in the Castlevania universe but with all new characters and an adjacent plot, it could be interesting. But this is not Rondo of Blood nor will we get Symphony of the Night.
Overall Ranking: I for "Incomplete"
Another IP is mishandled and mistreated by modern Hollywood.
For more of my ramblings about all things Castlevania, check out these links below
