| ||||||||||||||||||||
The Imperial Theater has just reopened for business under the directorship of Joanna Marshall. But her first production of a dark drama invokes the spirits of the theater's sordid history.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
horror as literature,
This review is from: Stage Fright (Paperback)
Mr. Paine writes like an angel within a rough genre. But he well knows the literary purposes of invoking the supernatural- to underline the psychological truths of those social milieus he examines. This book can be read as a sordid even cheap entertainment- that is, as an highly successful bit of pulp fiction- or alternately as a sophisticated and playful look into horror novels; but it is as an essay dealing with the psychology of human beings as role-players and myth makers within a larger cultural framework that they can only dimly comprehend that this novel shines, making such similarly ambitious works as Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera (to which it refers) seem simplistic. Stage Freight is full of literary and historical allusions that can deepen the reader's understanding; a reference to O'Neil's Anna Christie sets the tone; and I was particularly delighted by an obscure nod to John D. McDonald, another underrated regional author. . .
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another social satiric novel by Paine,
By Mark Louis Baumgart (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stage Fright (Paperback)
Good blue-collar horror is hard to find. "Stage Fright" is one of those as Michael Paine writes stories about working class people, even though they are involved in the arts, and "Stage Fright" is another ghost story by Paine, who seems to be specializing in ghost stories, and dealing with the working world of the artist, much like his novel "Steel Ghosts".
In "Stage Fright", Joanna Marshal is seeking information about ghosts in theatres for her college dissertation, looking to start her own theatric group, and striving to create her own identity and get out from under the shadow of her superstar mother. In her research, she discovers the theatres, including the now forgotten Imperial, of Samuel Fulton, millionaire industrialist and all around sleaze. The more research she does, the more she finds that she has the ability to first view, then participate, across time, in Fulton's sleazy extreme S&M sexcapades. As Joanna starts her own theatre company, her obsession with Fulton grows . . . as does her obsession with extreme pain. As her obsessions become more and more cyclical, it becomes clear that Joanna is losing her mind, and the novel's death rate starts to soar. As things continue to go from bad to worse, Joanna begins to isolate herself, become increasingly involved in Fulton's S&M pain parties, and even causes the death of her lover, "Stage Fright"'s requisite moral center, whom she has corrupted. Michael Paine is a rare bird; he writes solid, historically-based, socially-conscious, horror novels. Unlike other writers, Paine has something to say, and is not afraid to say it, and back it up with some historical facts. Many of the people and places either really existed, or are thinly disguised realities. So, unlike other writers, Paine actually knows his history, and doesn't get caught up in weepy nostalgia, or romanticized violence. In addition Paine often tackles controversial subjects for pop horror fiction; the core of both "Night School" and "Stage Fright" is interracial and unconventional sexual relations, slavery, and the bloody violence done to the Africans after they were forcibly shipped here. Yet, despite his tackling of strong subjects, Paine is not a gorehound. He is an old-fashioned storyteller, no six hundred page leviathans-he tells his story, keeps `em short, gets to his point, and then goes home. As with Paine's earlier novels, "Stage Fright" has an almost apocalyptical ending, and it is also set in the same Pennsylvanian pocket universe as his recent work, "Steel Ghosts" is mentioned. While not quite as good as "The Night School", "Stage Fright" is nonetheless filled with interesting characters, and interesting historical background. Paine is quickly carving out a niche as an intelligent and socially conscious horror novelist. "Stage Fright" deserves a better cover, and here's hoping that Paine and his novel don't get lost in the shuffle. This review was originally published in a slightly different form in Cemetery Dance #59 in 2008, as was edited by Bob. Thanx Bob.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Gloriously awful,
By A reader (Moreno Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Stage Fright (Paperback)
If you're a fan of terrible, trashy pulp horror novels, you'll find this one a delight. All the stock formulaic elements are here - gratuitous gore, even more gratuitous and violent sex, annoying characters whose hideous deaths you will greet with shrieks of glee, flimsy and pointless backstory, and a climax that's one big "rocks fall and everyone dies" frenzy of slaughter that reads like the author wrote it at five minutes to midnight the night before the deadline. It's the printed equivalent of a low-budget horror movie on HBO at four in the morning, and is riotous good fun - if you liked the old Elvira, Mistress of the Dark shows, this book is for you.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
