Without a Face

Emily claims that the books I've been reading and the movies I've been watching are too dark.  She's probably right, although I'm not sure I can agree that it's possible to get too dark.  I have read and watched more horror than anyone I know, and I often find myself speaking in great length on subjects like Isolationism and American Horror of the 1970s and The Politics of Horror: How Ronald Reagan is Responsible for Jason, Freddy, and Michael.  And I don't just focus on the big stuff.  I read and watch the classics and the "should be" classics, and I'm at my happiest when a new English translation of an old Rampo story has been released.

In short, I'm a bit of a freak.  I'm the guy who knows which character in a Thai vampire flick is the most evil because I know that the most evil character usually has the biggest eyebrows.  I'm the nerd in the chat room who wants to talk about Steph Swainston, Mark Z. Danielewski, Ambrose Bierce, and Chuck Palahniuk when everyone else is yammering about Stephen King. The cult section in the film store seldom has anything I haven't seen, and I find Clive Barker's work a bit too tame.

So when Em told me my recent reading list has been too dark, I started thinking.  Why is it that I read these things?  It didn't take me long to realize that it isn't because of the plots or the violence.  I watch and read these things because horror is the only genre that can consistently surprise and challenge me with it's imagery.

Perhaps that's why I like Jane Tam's work so much.  Her photo/illustration pieces really caught me by surprise the first time I saw them.  I liked them, but I wasn't sure why.  But I kept going back to them for another look.  Then another.

Finally, I figured it out.  These pieces scare me.  Those faceless figures are like ghosts, anonymous and disconnected from even the simplest things in life -- washing dishes, visiting relatives, holding a dog.  They scare me, but not like the boogie man or a serial killer might scare me.  I am afraid because those figures seem to be alone in the world without even knowing it. Isn't that the basis of horror?

Visit Jane Tam's Etsy shop here.  You can see more of her work at janetam.com. (ADAM)

Comments

[Jane]

Thanks a lot for the feature, Adam~!