Happy Halloween

from

Spacefreighters Lounge

WHO'S SCARING YOU NOW?

Usually, when we think of “scary” in relation to science fiction, we think of “them”. You know, the other guys, the aliens, the bugs, the Grays, the Queen Be-yotch in the ALIEN movies that scares the bejeezus out of us EVERY SINGLE TIME!!! (shudder) After all, they’re pretty scary most of the time. They’re usually advanced technologically and/or evolved genetically. They always seem to want us for our bodies/labor/DNA/planet. And we only seem to defeat them (as someone once said of Jim Kirk’s many triumphs) by the galactic equivalent of “your shoelace is untied.”

Or maybe we think of the misbegotten creatures of the mad scientists of the golden age of ‘Fifties drive-in movies (and their high-tech remakes and derivatives). We remember THE GIANT BEHEMOTH or THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS stirred up by nuclear testing to rampage through our cities before dying spectacularly in a tangle of arcing electrical wires. Or maybe the giant ants of THEM swarming through the Nevada desert (with a very young Leonard Nimoy leading the charge against them). The tortured scientist played by Vincent Price (and later Jeff Goldblum) got his own comeuppance in THE FLY, but not before terrorizing/grossing out his audience as the title creature. And the whole island got out of hand in JURASSIC PARK.

But the wonderful thing about all of these movies, and about science fiction in general, is that the real villain is rarely exclusively THEM. It’s more often, at least to some extent, US. Almost from the very beginning of SF, science was seen as a two-edged sword, something that could bring tremendous benefit to humankind, but also, unforeseen and nearly fatal dangers. The scientists in these movies may be portrayed as unfortunate optimists, arrogant egotists, clear-eyed pragmatists, heroic problem solvers or back-stabbing corporate spies, but they all tend to err on the side of “science for science’s sake”. This leads to trouble, with a capital T. The real hero of the story must then step in to save the day. Cue Everyman or Woman—and don’t be surprised, even now, if that person wears a uniform.

A great example of this kind of thinking can be found in the original version of THE THING (1951), produced by Howard Hawks, directed by Christian Nyby, and based on a short story by one of the great progenitors of SF, John W. Campbell. In a pattern which is repeated in the remake and echoed in ALIEN, the scientists at an isolated polar research station are so intrigued by their sample of an alien lifeform, they defy all common sense and, unbeknownst to the rest of the investigating team, start to replicate the alien using—get this!—human plasma from the station’s stores. (Uh—shouldn’t some kind of alarm be going off in their heads?) Fortunately our hero, aptly named Captain Patrick Hendry, gets the heads-up from his girlfriend, the station secretary (**Neanderthal alert**). The head scientist, still not convinced, tries to communicate with the alien, whom others have described as a “carrot with brains”. He is promptly smacked by said carrot, who apparently DOES have more brains than the scientist. Captain Hendry and the crew commence to fry the alien with electricity and save the day. The audience is then warned in typical ‘Fifties fashion to “watch the skies!” I guess they expected more intelligent vegetables any day.

In its day, the movie was seen as having strong anti-Communist overtones. But viewed by those of us who became the readers of New Age SF and fans of STAR TREK and STAR WARS and ALIEN and so on, the message was somewhat different. Scientific inquiry, without an ethical context, was dangerous in the extreme. Let your technology get out of hand, and there would be grave consequences. The ultimate movie of the time was quite clear on this point. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL was just a taste of what we’d get if we didn’t pay attention. Given the evidence we already had, in the form of nuclear weapons, and the looming dangers of biological or chemical weapons, ecological disaster, genetic engineering, worldwide pandemic, etc., we were certainly inclined to believe that message.

The message these days has been somewhat transformed and reads more like conspiracy theory (bad government) than purely runaway technology (bad science). THE MATRIX, ALIEN/S, SURROGATES, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK suggest we as individuals are just puppets of some gigantic corporate entity whose purposes we can only guess at. Our individual survival doesn’t seem to matter to them, and it can be difficult to determine whether the human race matters to them. Who then becomes “us” and who “them”? What is truly alien?

Now I’m REALLY scared!!

Cheers, Donna

Let's Talk About Pirating

Pirates are very much a part of Halloween lore as well as SFR world-building.  Pirates are swashbuckling rebels and rogues who assault other ships (whether space or high seas) to acquire their treasure.  They are generally viewed as dark heroes in our society, the Robin Hoods of the High Seas.

But I'd like to talk about another sort of pirating--the pirating of e-books.

There's a lively discussion on the Amazon Romance Community right now called Authors Behaving Badly.  It criticizes authors who react very emotionally to the subject of potential piracy of their work.  Sometimes writers have a knee-jerk reaction to the topic that makes them seem uncharitable, but there's a good reason why their tempers flare on this subject.  Their very careers are on the line.

How would you like to be in a situation where you must work for a full year to produce a product before you get paid, and just when your paycheck comes due, you're informed someone liked your product so much that they "borrowed it and passed it around."  Now your boss can't pay you most of your back wages because your work is available for free from those who admired it so much they "shared it with the world."  You've got bills to pay and you were desperately counting on that income...and now you've been robbed.  And your boss may have to fire you on top of it, because you didn't produce profit for the company. Would you be upset?

Darn right, you would.

Yes, I'm oversimplifying the situation, but I'm trying to put this into perspective for people who work regular jobs and expect to get paid for their efforts on a regular basis.

Some readers are adamnant that sharing an e-copy of a book is both acceptable and legal, and in some cases they're right.  They are deeply offended by authors who claim they are "stealing" from them.  While readers see sharing of e-files as no different than sharing a favorite book with friends (which most authors endorse because it creates buzz for their work) or buying a book from a used book store, in the e-book industry, it can be very, very different.  Because one hard copy of a book loaned to a friend or two is not a problem, but one e-book downloaded to ten friends, and then shared with ten of their friends, and ten of theirs, etc. becomes a monstrous snowball.  And one copy shared through an e-book piracy site is a calamity for a writer. It's often catastrophic because it can impact the author's sales to the tune of hundreds, and maybe even thousands of copies. 

So?  Says the reader.  Is that really a big deal?

Yes, it is.  Because in the electronic age a book can be "cloned" and all those potential buyers who are not acquiring from a legitimate source and paying the fee for the book impacts the author's sales figures, not to mention the author's royalties--the "salary" they receive for the thousands of hours they've invested in getting the book written and published.  Ultimately, the publishing house may have the writer "walk the plank" for such poor sales. Even though hundred of thousands of people are reading and loving their books, it doesn't show in the sales numbers. 

So everyone loses when readers acquire books through mass sharing, which is usually via an e-book pirating site.   

The reader's favorite author suffers career damaging loss of sales and may not be back with another book. 

The writer, who (speaking as the voice of experience) has invested at least a year or two of blood, sweat and sanity to write, revise, pitch, sell, edit and promote a book (during which time they don't receive one red cent) may lose a lot of money in spite of all her hard work and the book's popularity.  And their reward may even be that they never sell another book because the sales don't show they are marketable.

The publishing house loses because its profits are impacted and it may not even be able to stay in business.

Yet, like the pirates of lore, these e-book pirates are seen as some sort of dark heroes because they are pillaging their favorite authors and offering their booty for free. 

With fans like that, who needs enemies?

I hope this article will help readers better understand the cries of rage and pain being heard from authors who fall victim to these e-book pirates.  I also hope they'll help join the effort to scuttle these sites by not acquiring or sharing e-books through them. 

The best way to show support and admiration for your favorite authors is always to buy their books new.  And don't forget, right after Halloween comes the Holiday shopping season.  Buy books as gifts!  :)

Halloween Creature Feature

To continue our 13 Days of Halloween spook fest, I've compiled a special photo gallery of "Things That Make Me Go Eeeeeeek!" 

For your entertainment(?), here's a collection of some of the creepiest, weirdest or just plain What the--? images I've come across on the internet.

Can you say Arachniphobia?

...and is there such a thing as Cobraphobia?  *cringes*

Scaredy Cat

Umm.  Gives new meaning to: "What's wrong with this picture?"

It's been thirty years and he (she/it) still scares the bejeeters outta me!

Defintely not a creature I'd want to meet on a dark, er...lake bottom.

Thanks for stopping by, y'hear?  See you *mwahahaaa*...very soon.