"Moving Pictures" by Gord Rollo (BADASS HORROR)

Tale of the Hook.

Buy BADASS HORROR and read this story yourself

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King argues that we are introduced to horror through simple stories at campfires and sleepovers. Everything is dark. The wind is picking up. The fire is dying. One of the kids or counselor tells a story. It's a short powerful story meant to give kids nightmares. In some camps, the story is about how an axe murderer lives in the woods just outside the camp. Other times, they tell the tale of the hook.

A guy escaped from the local mental hospital. Maybe he killed a few people. Either way, he has a hook where his hand should be, because the American Healthcare system sucks. He's walking through the woods and sees a teenage couple in a car, making out. He gets closer, but every time he steps on a twig, the girl gets freaked out and starts looking around. Finally, he gets close enough to get a great view, unaware that is hook is in the car handle. Suddenly the girl jumps up and orders the boy to drive off. As the car disappears into the night, the man looks at his arm and finds out that they drove off with his fucking hook.

There are variations. In one version, the boy gets out of the car to look around. The hook man cuts his throat and hangs his body over the car. In a similar story, a murderer is interrupted by the murder victim's roommate coming home. The roommate looks around and then goes to sleep. Since the murderer has a sense of whimsy, he writes “Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the lights?” before sneaking out.

These stories – whether you call them the Tale of the Hook, urban legends, EC horror comic stories or creepypasta – all have a single purpose, namely to provide a thrill and a nightmare. They have flat characters and standard plots that rely on sudden twist endings. Within a few minutes or paragraphs, they do their job and leave the audience creeped out and satisfied.

Brevity is the main strength. Try to drag them out with characterization or subplots and you lose the audience. The worst example is The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and her Lover, which demands two tedious hours of the audience's time for a story that would fit better in a 7 page EC horror comics story. Then there are the two versions of When a Stranger Calls.

When a Stranger Calls is about a babysitter who keeps getting creepy calls from a man asking “Have you checked the children?” She tries to get the police involved but they seem useless. Finally the cops call back and tell her that they traced the call. It's coming from inside the house. It'd make for a very powerful 40 minute film, but sadly you can't ask audiences to pay full price for 40 minutes. In the 1970s version, the movie goes on to reveal that the killer is a poor shlub who can't find a job and stays in a flophouse. Sure, he's still stalking Carol Kane, but he's no longer threatening. The 2006 version drags the story out to 87 minutes and it's very boring. She even checks the children. They're fine.

“Moving Pictures” is like the tale of the hook. It's got a simple effective plot and very basic characters. Ronnie is a gangster who collects protection money from local businesses. The Chinese tattoo artist switches from broken English to fluency depending on his power. We don't need their back stories. In fact, back stories would only ruin the narrative.

Gord Rollo has the confidence to keep this story at 16 pages. Ronnie tries to bully a Chinese business owner. The business owner resists at first but then agrees. To show that there are no hard feelings, the business owner gives Ronnie a scorpion tattoo. Only the tattoo is moving up his arm. When Ronnie comes back, the business owner tells him that he should pay the protection money himself or die. Ronnie tries to brazen his way through it and dies for his stupidity.

Had the story gone any longer, it'd invite questions like “What if Ronnie hadn't agreed to get the tattoo?” and “Does the tattoo artist protect his business by convincing gangsters to get magic tattoos?” He claims that he had killed three gangsters in a similar manner, but you'd think that they would stop letting him give them tattoos after the first two. The switch between broken English and fluency is also strange.

This story is short and powerful. The protagonist is nasty and stupid. He dies from it. One might not appreciate this kind of story, but read too many “clever” stories by Neil Gaiman or China Mieville without plot or character and you too will love the basic hook. Given a choice between an oh-so-clever story that goes nowhere and a simple story with an actual plot, I'd take Rollo over Gaiman any day.

Here’s an interview with Gord Rollo.

If you want to read more by Rollo, here’s Valley of the Scarecrow.

As usual, I am a professional writer and I am available for private jobs including term papers, personal statements and novel editing. If interested,

Finally, I usually ask for money for myself, but my friend needs it more, because he’s dealing with his mother falling apart and all those trips back and forth are taking their toll emotionally and financially. You can’t help emotionally, but you can definitely give him financial assistance. Please do so.