Post by Head Mutant on Sept 14, 2006 20:17:35 GMT -5
captainkyle said:
let me spare everyone the effort of looking up diane hoh; a path that leads to disappointment and amazement over kyle's reading habits.diane hoh is an author of the kind of young adult horror/suspense fiction that you used to see anywhere books were sold; the kind of slim paperbacks with names like "the waitress" or "the ice skater" or "blind date" in scary-looking font pressed in red foil, with a big central image of the item that most commonly asserts itself in your mind when you are given the term that comprises the title (ex: for "the ice skater" it'd be an ice skate, for "the waitress" a dinner plate and a receipt, "blind date" would be a nondescript figure walking through an open door with blinding light pouring through in a sinister way). often, that central item would have ominous drops of blood dripping/splattered all over it, in varying amounts (usually depending on the year of publication: the nineties were vicious!).
they were disposable, and arugably meant to be read once and forgotten. back in my day, we didn't have young adult fiction (at least in the horror genre) that used such things as "a distinct narrative voice" or "polished dialogue giving each character a personality" or "the laws of physics."
it was all 'goosebumps,' but for teenagers, with a little violence and a little blood. and no real sex, but more cuddling occurred than at a throwback rave party with free ecstasy and red bull.
diane hoh managed to stand out among the throngs. i think her purity of voice and effective delivery of both thrills and likeable characters helped render her more memorable than others. i remember loving christopher pike, but after reading a bunch i just soured on him; i enjoyed how quite a few of his books ended really, really badly for the protagonist, but i think he overextended himself and started to rely on series to make his way.
i'm killing time before lunch, so this is longer than i expected. here's the point: i think i can say from my old age perspective (27) that the young adult fiction i grew up with isn't going to be made in quality movies anytime soon, and rightfully so. but people in my generation who grew up on that stuff are now writing their own books for all audiences, including young adults, and making them more imaginative and more like "respectable" literature than ever thought viable before. to be honest, i think the billions that harry potter lady made really makes people enthusiastic. not that i blame them (see: kyle's own failed novels).
sorry to drag on. i think 'blood and chocolate' will be okay because it's from the upswing in the young adult publishing phase where there was actual thoughts put into the books, instead of spending all the effort on a cool cover so idiot kids like me reading the scholastic publishing catalog would order every r.l. stine-lookalke book they saw if there was a knife and/or "scary" image on the cover. don't snicker, 'lord of the rings' geeks! i know you've got piles of fantasy nonsense hidden under your beds!
finally: diane hoh did a big series of books (i think over 20 installments) of 'nightmare hall,' where various ever-changing characters at a small college dealt with mysteries and killers and ghosts and lab-borne monsters in each book, with occasional overlap. some are good, some are bad, but the second book in the series, "the roommate," is easily one of my favorite young adult horror books of all-time. very cool story with twists and turns, and i honestly did not see the ending coming. expertly done, diane hoh!
I'm buying Kyle a Shift key for Christmas. No, no, don't stop me.
