This week I chose to read Patricia Briggs' novel, Moon called. I got through about half of it and loved it. The book follows a shifter, or skin-walker, named Mercy Thompson who can shift into a coyote. Living in a trailer next to the rich alpha of the local werewolf pack, Mercy tends to get herself into loads of supernatural trouble, earning her constant scolding from her "lovely" neighbor. But after an attack that leaves most of the pack dead, the alpha severely injured and his daughter missing, Mercy must reconnect with the people she left behind years ago to try and save the alpha and find out who attacked them. Unfortunately, while doing this she also must deal with the reconnect of the man who broke her heart all those years ago and is the reason why she left.

Since this week's discussion is about The New Weird, let's discuss it. The "weird" elements in this novel are obvious. The idea of supernatural beings, how they work and live among humans. In Moon Called, you meet shifter, werewolves, and the occasional gay vampire. One thing I found particularly interesting is Briggs' concept of the Shifter/Skin Walker. In some cases, such as True Blood or Supernatural, a shifter is someone who takes on the form of another human, stealing that person's identity. It is seen as evil and unnatural. In most cases, a character who shifts from human to animal would be a Were person. Since Mercy can shift into a coyote, she'd be called a were-coyote. Only if she shifts from herself into the skin of another would she be considered a Skin Walker. Very interesting take on this myth. 



Another take on the New Weird is the film, Cabin In The Woods. I'm going to be honest, I watched this film years ago and hated it. Granted when I watched it I was expecting an actual horror movie so it left me quite disappointed. BUT I rewatched it with the knowledge of it being a spoof and I found it rather entertaining. The concept that the reason the stories behind horror films happen is to appease the "Ancient Ones" was quite interesting. I enjoyed the whole "behind-the-scenes" take on it and it actually opened my eyes to something I didn't notice when previously watching horror films. The characters' archetypes – the whore, the athlete, the scholar, the fool, and the virgin. The last archetype is quite funny because the character, Dana, is not a virgin in the least. It was actually revealed at the beginning of the movie that she screwed one of her professors. Although between the two girls, Dana was the most innocent. This archetype set off a series of connects in my brain and it all made sense. The teens who get killed in horror flicks are always involved in some form of copulation. 

Furthermore, I presume the compelling element of the Weird is the fascination with what isn't and what could be. Here you have characters that are like everyday people who have mystery, supernatural events happening to them that you know in your mind that it isn't possible but there's a part of you that thinks, "What if?" This question comes to the front of your mind because maybe the character believed the same thing you did, that none of this is possible, that it doesn't exist but it happened! It leaves your mind wondering if maybe all of this stuff is real, you just haven't experienced it yet.