Don't Drink the Water!

I wasn't expecting much when I saw this listed among the Amazon Prime selections, especially after getting stuck with one stinker after another, but Jim Ojala's Strange Nature took me pleasantly by surprise.

The film starts off with a typical scenario of a young mother returning to her childhood home to take care of her terminally ill father. With her is her son, who is none to happy about being uprooted from the city and transplanted to the middle of nowhere. Little do they know, they have just landed at Ground Zero for a series of genetic mutations.

They start off simply enough, with a few frogs with extra limbs being found. Mama Sweet is obviously concerned when they start showing up in greater number. After all, she has a young son to be worried about. The local science teacher explains that mutations among reptiles and amphibians are relatively common, but even he has to admit that they seem to be a larger than normal population of mutated specimens. Then the kids start disappearing. The mayor doesn't link the two incidents, opting to believe they are on the lookout for a serial killer or psychopath who gets off on kidnapping and torturing folks. The only thing is, the bodies are never found. It isn't until the Sweets' family dog give birth to mutated puppies that folks begin to wake up to the fact that there just might be something wrong. And when the first birth defect among the townsfolk occurs, panic begins to set in. A group of rowdy locals turn their attention to a deformed father living on the outskirts of town with his young daughter, who also happens to be deformed. They're more convinced that the father did something to the water to cause all these deformities so they wouldn't be the only "freaks" in town. They're no looking at the bigger picture; if they were, they'd have noticed that this is a cycle that is occurring along the river, effecting town after town after town. But there's an even bigger threat than a few local roughnecks trying to get a little rowdy. There's something in the woods, something that is responsible for all the disappearances. Will they wake up to the fact that there's something going on, something on a grander scale than what their little minds are currently imagining. or will they be the next to fall victim to whatever is stalking the woods?

The movie is kind of a slow burn for the first half, then gradually starts to pick up. While there's enough going on to hold your interest, it misses the opportunity to make a social commentary on the dangers of pollution. The questions is asked if this could be caused by the use of pesticides, but then shifts its focus to parasitic infections that are naturally occurring. But why, suddenly, are they so concentrated in one area? We're never given an answer, but it is under investigation, which means we just might be seeing a Strange Nature 2 in the future. The film also glosses over social acceptance of those who are different and paves the way for the "surprise" ending, but one I saw coming as soon as a certain reveal was made during the course of the movie. Is it worth watching? I'd say yes. Given Amazon's rating system, I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Book

A couple of years ago, I saw this book posted quite a bit on Facebook. Since I liked Jaws and movies like Deep Blue Sea, I made note of it and knew I'd eventually get around to it. And since summer is right around the corner, I figured now would be a good time.

Typical of any shark book (or movie), there's gotta be a shark attack. Usually at the beginning. And Shark Island is no exception. The victims are a young woman and a surfer. The woman survives minus a leg, the surfer doesn't. The girl just so happens to be the daughter of a local politician. And so the attack becomes high-profile news.
The presence of and the aggression of the sharks is blamed on the seals, which seem to make the Cape their home during certain times of the year, much to the dismay of the local fisherman. A local oceanic research facility sees this as an opportunity. They present their research, receive funding, and then we jump eleven months into the future. The four-man research team is ready to carry out a field test of what we can assume they spent the last year working on. There's no putting it off a day or two, it has to be today. Why? Who knows. Logic and common sense would have them postponing the project because they're in the middle of a Northeaster. But Science must march on.

Along with the ship's crew of two, which includes the Captain, there's also a young reporter, or journalism student, who just so happens to be the girl who survived the attack back in Chapter One. She's there to document the research team's experiment. But more than that, she's trying to face down her fear of the water -- and sharks.

Whatever funding was received turns out to be money well spent, and it comes as no surprise when the experiment proves successful. Before long, the ship is liked the Pied Piper of Hamlin, leading all the seals northward toward Maine, where they hope the seals will stay on the islands the team has chosen to be their new home. The research team is thrilled to see all the seals following in their wake. But where there are seals, there are also sharks, and before long, the herds of seals become a buffet for the sharks. It takes the team a while to realize something is very wrong with these sharks. They are hyper aggressive, and before long, they've lost interest in the seals and launch an attack against the ship. Sharks win, of course. They breach the hull and the team is forced to abandon ship and take refuge on this small island with an old, rusted watchtower. Do they all make it to the island? Maybe. They hope when home base attempts to contact the research team and gets no answer, folks back home will realize something is wrong and they'll send help. But will help arrive in time? You see, the sharks are bad enough, but the tide is rising, And there's the storm surge, which will cause the water levels to rise higher than normal. The only place left to go is up as the tiny island is gradually claimed by the sea.

And the sharks continue to attack. Who lives, who dies? You'll just have to read it to find out.
I'm not going to deny that Shark Island is a page turner, because once the sharks start attacking, the narrative flies. The failing here is the lack of science, which becomes a problem when the majority of the characters are research scientists. We know part of their research is behavior modification, but that's about all we know. We know nothing of the research, the trial and errors of their experiments. We only know they've developed some sort of sound wave or beacon that has a profound effect on the seals. They abandon the locations their instincts cause them to return to year after year and swim without fear. Not even when the sharks start attacking are they swayed to break ranks and try to escape. And what is it about this mysterious sound pulse that also effects the sharks, making them more aggressive and possibly more intelligent, because they seem to be working together to bring down the ship, and later on, on their attacks on the tower.

Like any adventure/disaster novel, the characters are not fully fleshed out, as the focus is on the chain of events that move the story forward, so we don't really care who lives and who dies. We're not emotionally invested in any of them. We learn early on that Naomi, the politician's daughter and shark attack survivor, is a lesbian. To what purpose? Is it crucial to the story? No, and since she's alone through much of the novel, it seems rather pointless. It's like the author wanted to make the character a lesbian for no other purpose than to show some diversity among the characters. The same applies to Walter, one of the fisherman we encounter later on. We get the impression he's bi but is currently involved with a guy. We do get a couple of chuckles at his expense when they talk about sucking dick when the conversation between him and his friend gets a little too emotional than is comfortable for either of them. It's like the author decided to assign their sexuality to show he wasn't afraid to have gay and lesbian characters. Naomi's relationship at the beginning comes across as platonic, so why not just make the love interest a guy? And since there's been all this talk among the horror community about diversity, it comes across as a feeble attempt to placate a select audience. But Jameson doesn't cross the line to give the reader an intimate look into their lives so there's no risk of alienating the balance of his audience.

That aside, and if you don't mind the lack of scientific explanations, Shark Island is an enjoyable read perfect for a summer vacation on the beach. However, if you're the type who requires an explanation as to the what and why of the research, you're going to be disappointed and it would probably be best if you look for your shark action in books like Jaws and Meg.

I Ain't Scared of No Ghosts...

...because there's no such thing as ghosts.

That's what celebrated debunker David Caine is probably thinking as he drives to his new assignment -- the Alexander House.

Built in the 1700s, Alexander House, like all "haunted" houses, has a history, and it's not a pretty one. Judson Alexander was a seriously sick dude with a depraved sexual appetite, and the crimes he committed left a permanent stain on the house. But that's not enough to deter Chris Gardiner and his wife from wanting to turn it into some ghoulish tourist attraction. And what better press could they receive than confirmation from one of the most celebrated skeptics that the house is indeed haunted. Caine, on the other hand, would like nothing better than to prove it all a hoax. He also hopes he'll be able to solve the mystery of what happened to John Weir, another famed skeptic who disappeared while investigating Alexander House. The man's journal was the only thing found, and that seemed to indicate that Alexander House was haunted by Judson Alexander. But is the journal authentic or a forgery created to deepen the mystery of the house?

Like any skeptic, David believes the journal is a forgery, and he hopes to disproves its claims and find out what happened to the man. Proving the house isn't haunted would just be an added bonus. But when faced with the mounting evidence, David still refuses to believe. He thinks it's all an elaborate plan cooked up by the house's new owner to make him look foolish. And discoveries made during the investigation only serve to deeply root that belief in his mind.

So is Alexander House haunted? You'll just have to read and find out.

I have to admit, I had reservations going into this particular haunted house. As much as I love Janz's writing, I've been disappointed with the last few haunted house novels I have read. They've just been a rehash of things that had been done before. But the wickedly cool cover lured me in, and I'm glad it did. Well... Ultimately.

As I progressed through the novel, I had the sinking feeling that I knew exactly where Janz was taking it, and despite the chills the book gave me, and the need to turn up the lights and check the doors while reading, I was tempted to put it aside several times. But Janz had never disappointed me before, so I pushed on, and I'm glad I did. Did it go where I thought it was going? Well... Yes. But then it went beyond. There's that two steps forward that make you believe the house is actually haunted, then that step backward that makes you question whether or not it really is. And you find yourself rooting for the house because Caine isn't really a likable character. You want to be able to rub his nose in the fact that everything he he has come to believe throughout his life has been a lie and that ghosts are real.

In fact, very few of the characters in The Siren and The Specter are what I would call likable. They all harbor secrets, and in Caine's case, his life is an open book, as we see everything from his POV. We KNOW how he treated his last serious girlfriend (so does everybody else, it seems), the same way he treated all of his relationships because the man has serious commitment issues. You get the impression that the new girl he's interested in is just toying with him because of the secret she is keeping. The Shelby family proves to be just as depraved as Judson Alexander, and even the elderly neighbor, the only character you can really come close to liking, proves to be a despicable human being. So naturally you want the house to be haunted and all these terrible people to get their comeuppance.

With all the twists and turns in the novel, you get to see Janz's skill as a writer as he weaves them all seamlessly together into a well-crafted, creepy tale that will have you sleeping with the lights on. You may go into The Siren and The Specter boldly proclaiming that you ain't scared of no ghosts, but by the time you come out, you'll be babbling, "I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks."