Snow

Snow kept my attention from beginning to end. It begins harmlessly enough when the Chicago airport is closed due to a giant snowstorm. Todd Curry, divorced father of a one, is focused on being with his son on Christmas morning. Three other stranded passengers rent a Jeep and join him to continue to their destinations. Their trip is without incident until they almost find a very disoriented man, named Eddie Clement, with deep slash marks on his back, who claims his daughter has been lost in the snow. In the meantime, their Jeep breaks down and they start to walk. (This part was really scary, since I drive a Jeep.) When they pass the broken down car, they notice how long it looks like it’s set there. Once they find Eddie’s daughter, they are shocked to discover that she has no face. Eddie asks Todd to join them before they disappear into the woods.

They soon enter the next town, Woodsen, which appears to be abandoned.
When a zombie like creature rushes out to kill them a girl shoots it and calls to them to join her in an abandoned store. It becomes known that the snow is their enemy and a persistent one. Just a small crack allows it to enter into a premise and destroy everyone by putting scythe like knives into their shoulder blades and working them like a puppet. This evolved into a type of zombie story in the winter with snow, but was very well done.

Shawna’s death was particularly gruesome and frightful since she died alone at the hands of so many of the monsters. After such a great build up of her character, it was quite a let down to read about her violent death.

Malfi gets two thumbs up for originality, setting and character development; however it was like most horror stories in how it lost characters, regardless of how well they had been developed. I’m eager to read the sequel to this one. But we have to wonder why did Eddie and Emily stay on earth when all the other snow monsters leave?

THE THING

To date, this is the scariest monster ever. Freddy Krueger can invade your dreams, the Thing can invade your thoughts and memories. How can you protect yourself from this? I especially liked the concept that you never know who the alien is. It could be your best friend and you wouldn’t know until it had you. I saw the original years ago and it scared me for many decades afterward.
The bleakness of the setting adds to the mystery and tone of solitude. It makes you feel like they are abandoned with only their potential friends and this alien with a hidden agenda. It is never really clear exactly what it plans to do once it conquers all. Add to it the fact that they’re trapped in this cold lifeless place and you have a remarkable setting for fear.
I love the way it portrayed humanity as anything but. Once man develops fears of his own kind, paranoia turns him into an animal. He will kill and not care in the name of self defense. Paranoia is an infectious disease where everyone and everything is feared. It also can initiate an open season on murder without guilt.
The ending is as bleak as the setting when McCready and Childs drink whiskey and wait to freeze to death, thinking one is the Thing, but not knowing which one. I think one of the most appealing things about this one is that you’re not sure if black is black or white and vice versa. There is no stability in your belief system.