he Horror Writers Association is an organization dedicated to promoting dark literature and the people who write it. The group's Web site, not surprisingly, gathers together a formidable array of resources for horror fans, veteran writers and those just breaking into the genre.
A thoughtful essay defining the parameters of horror fiction—an ambitious task in its own right—is one of the first things encountered by any visitor beginning to explore this site. With that definition in mind, the next logical step may be to sign up for free excerpts from new horror novels (recent choices include Michael Romkey's The Vampire's Violin and Edo van Belkom's Scream Queen). One need not sample the fictional fare without comment, either—it is possible to read and contribute notes about the work at the site's discussion forums.
The HWA has published a number of books about the art and business of writing dark literature, as well as fiction anthologies edited by luminaries like Peter Straub and Robert Bloch. Details about these books are on the Web page, of course, as is information about the HWA yearly conference, where the Bram Stoker Awards (which recognize the year's best achievements in horror fiction in a variety of forms) are bestowed. The site has links to articles for beginning writers, and a recommended reading list, too.
Literature in its prose form is the foundation of every genre—that is to say, written horror stories are the spawning ground from which horror comics, films, video games and television programming all arise. By offering a serious site for serious writers, the Horror Writers Association creates a much-needed entry point for anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of
this genre, starting deep in its haunted basement.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—July 28, 2003
ince the publication of Shards of Honor in 1986, Lois McMaster Bujold has gained an increasing and devoted following of readers. The Bujold Nexus is the creation of those readers—fans working in concert with their favorite author to explain the complicated worlds and multifaceted individuals Bujold has created, all for the benefit of those not yet initiated. The site gathers all the facts about this award-winning SF writer and her work.
Virtually an online encyclopedia, so exhaustive is its detail, the Nexus covers every conceivable aspect of Bujold's life and career. Expected features like a biography, bibliography, foreign translations information and scans of book covers form the core content, naturally. But this dry nuts-and-bolts information co-exists with a wealth of fan creations: merchandise, art, filk lyrics, fanfic and even an index that lists the dedications of Bujold's various novels (and tells who has dedicated books to her in return). Whether a site visitor is a researcher, a hardcore fan or merely wondering about Bujold's fiction, this Web page can fully satisfy his or her curiosity.
The reason, of course, is that the Bujold Nexus is less a Web site than it is the public face of a lively Internet community. Created by an impressively large group of fans, it has an active comments section. It also conducts outreach by maintaining a hefty links section, participating in the Lois McMaster Bujold Webring, and running a mailing list for anyone whose
appetite for Bujold arcana isn't sated by the site itself.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—July 21, 2003
here's always more to a movie than what makes it to the screen, as Alien Legend proves with its apt dissection of the Alien quadrilogy. Starting with Ridley Scott's original Alien and concluding with 1997's Alien: Resurrection, the site folds back its subjects' cinematic skin with exacting attention to detail, extracting slivers about on-screen bloopers, behind-the-scenes information, deleted scenes and more.
Of these, the "Deleted Scenes" section for each movie provides the most surprises. While many of the coveted deleted scenes for Alien and Aliens were released with their DVD editions, most of those shot for the last two movies never made it into cinematic format. In particular, the site's treatment of Alien3's deleted scenes is stunning. Even longtime fans may not realize just how much they didn't see, such as the alien queen embryo migrating from Newt to Ripley (in the script, but not necessarily filmed), the crash of Ripley's escape ship, discussions among the prisoners of Ripley's identity, a longer Alien entrapment scene and more conversations with the Company.
Most of the deleted scenes are available as downloadable media files—visitors need to jump through a few hoops to view them, but they're worth the effort. Alien: Resurrection is the exception to this; it has detailed notes about the missing scenes, but no video.
When fans are done salivating over the deleted scenes, they can check out write-ups on each movie's storyline, awards, characters and vehicles, check out toys, games, comics and other memorabilia based on the series and sign a petition for an uncut version of Alien3.
—Ken Newquist
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