Week 4: New Weird

At first I couldn’t get into King Rat, it dragged on a bit, but after it started getting into the juicier parts I was immediately drawn in. I think what defined this story as weird is the fact that it makes you question what is real and what isn’t. It blends several genres into one such as horror, fantasy, and mythological. The story takes an old fairy-tale, gives it a sick twist, and thrusts you into a modern, dark and gritty London. I think its uniqueness also adds into the fact that it is considered new weird. Cabin in the Woods did things that you would never expect to happen, as did King Rat. I think we are so interested in new weird because humans are naturally attracted to things we don’t normally see.

The characters of King Rat definitely contributed to the new weirdness. The main character Saul that seems to be just your average teen upset about the death of his father suddenly meets a rat man and is told that he is also half rat. The villain that is actually the pied piper, seems to be just some band geek that plays the flute but he turns out to be creepiest character in the whole story. He kills people and animals because he can.

Another aspect that added to the weird was the author’s choice of including a style of music that most won’t automatically write about. Being a huge fan of the EDM (electronic dance music) genre, I found it interesting for the author to throw in Dj’s and dance clubs. It was very random but in a good way. The piper uses this music to assist his own evil tune and as an avid listener to the Drum and Bass genre, I can tell you that a flute can definitely fit into this style of music. The author knows how to properly describe the music and it’s easy for me to follow.

Despite the weirdness, this story was very well-written. The language was descriptive and absolutely disgusting when it came to reading about garbage and sewers. Saul’s friends were a little hard to care for but they seemed to be there as just a plot device anyway. The book actually reminded me a lot of The Magicians by Lev Grossman where even though there are magical things in the world, there is no reason to be excited about it but to be fearful of what sort of evil exists because of it.       
One of my favorite new weird movies that happens to be on the list is Brazil which takes place in a dystopian world I have never seen before. I want to see more movies like this and Cabin in the Woods where things happen that we would never normally expect. I think I've lost most of my interest in horror films because they're all too predictable for me. I normally know whats going to happen next. I would much rather be surprised.