Book Review: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF F.B.I. SPECIAL AGENT DALE COOPER: MY LIFE, MY TAPES. By Scott Frost *** out of *****

Out of the three Twin Peaks books published at the height of the iconic series' fame (The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer and The Access Guide to Twin Peaks being the other two), The Autobiography of Special Agent Dale Cooper is the least rewarding and most problematic of the lot.

Written by Scott Frost (Mark Frost's brother) - who also wrote the superior short audiobook Diane: The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper - the book attempts to be a revealing look into Cooper's psyche, from childhood onto adolescence, and up to his receiving the case of Laura Palmer as an FBI agent. From the get-go it is obvious that something is off with the book's tone. Veering from broad comedy, to forays into mysticism, to graphic sexual encounters, this is Cooper like we've never seen before. It is also a less interesting, less appealing version of Cooper. Portraying Cooper as some sort of oversexed young adult who hobnobs with hippies, and is sympathetic to anti-establishment sentiments, is jarring to say the least. As more than half of the book is spent on Cooper wrangling with the politics of the 1960s and 1970s and dealing with a father who is growing more radical by the year, this takes the story into overtly political and less interesting areas for Twin Peaks fans, as Scott Frost - like Mark Frost in his The Secret History of Twin Peaks - seems to get a kick from using the Twin Peaks mythos as a vehicle for delving into socio-political/historical tangents that just don't gel with the ethereal, timeless tone of the show.

In the book Conversations with Mark Frost by David Bushman, Frost admits that The Autobiography of Dale Cooper book was "jokey", and that David Lynch had almost zero input into the writing of it. Well, it shows. This version of Cooper feels like someone from an alternate universe. Only in the last third of the book, when Cooper starts to realize the true nature of his mentor Windom Earle, and gets assigned to the case of Teresa Banks, does the book feel like the Twin Peaks we know and love. But even the Windom Earle subplot is not that well-handled, with Earle coming off as some sort of super-villain, with no reason or rhyme behind his evil actions. And considering how the second season of Twin Peaks botched the Cooper/Earle storyline (mainly due to unsteady writing and an uneven, often over the top performance by Kenneth Welsh), it seems that that plot thread was doomed from the start, since the book was written before the scripts for the episodes were finalized.

That's not to say that The Autobiography has no merit. It has its moments, for sure. But, overall, it's a disappointing, jarring read, that doesn't really add anything substantial to our understanding of Cooper, or to the show's story. But fans, like myself, won't be able to resist hunting down a copy and giving it a read. Now, though, having read it, I understand why the book has never been back in print since its original publication.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Video Version:

 

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

The Dark Fantastic is sponsored by VHS Books:

Book Review: THE SHADOW: THE STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE OF JOE CARDONA. By Walter B. Gibson ** out of *****

Dull The Shadow tale about an evil scientist who kills his victims with a poison that clots the blood and turns the victims' corpses purple. The Shadow doesn't have much to do, the villain's identity is obvious, and the ending is lame. Avoid.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

Movie Review: DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW (1981) *** and a 1\2 out of *****

Listen to this review:

Listen to "Movie Review: Dark Night of The Scarecrow (1981)" on Spreaker.

Dark Night of The Scarecrow (1981) is one of those "quiet horror" films that sneak up on you. At first glance, the film looks like a hundred other dated, unpolished, made-for-TV movie from the late 1970s and early 80s. And the opening sequence, with its maudlin performances and rushed pace, doesn't help change that first impression. But then a brutal execution of a mentally challenged character by an angry mob takes place, and the film takes a turn into a whole different class of moviemaking.

On the one hand, it has the trappings of a typical revenge from beyond the grave thriller. But as it moves along, it becomes more psychological, darker, and nastier. With a minimalist script by J.D. Feigelson (who originally wrote it as an independent feature film before CBS bought it), and unfussy but effective direction by Frank DeFelitta, it works quite well, with an assured pace, an eerie mood, and an ending that is the stuff of nightmares.

There is a reason why Dark Night of the Scarecrow remains a cult favorite to this day, and that is, decades on, it still has the ability to haunt and frighten without resorting to jump scares, dramatic histrionics, and fancy cinematography. This is American Gothic stripped to the core, and a movie that manages to work despite its shortcomings. Highly recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

Book Review: THE SHADOW : CITY OF CRIME By Walter B. Gibson ** out of *****

Underwhelming and incoherent The Shadow tale, with repetitive action sequences and a weak plot revolving around corruption and political intrigue in a small city. One of the dullest The Shadow stories. Avoid.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

Review: GALVESTON (2018) *** and a 1\2 out of *****

Based on the novel of the same name by Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of the groundbreaking TV series True Detective, Galveston (2018) is a somewhat uneasy mixture of noir, American Gothic, and tragedy. But even if the elements don't always gel as effectively as they should, especially in the second act where there's a noticeable dramatic lull, the film, as a whole, works on many levels.

The story is simple: The time is 1988. The place New Orleans. A dying middle-aged fixer/hitman working for a local mobster, walks into a set-up, is nearly killed, and in the process of escaping rescues a teenage prostitute. They embark on a road trip to Texas, where they both have scores to settle. From there, the film takes some dramatic turns; some expected (the burgeoning, emotionally complex relationship between the hitman and the girl; the need for redemption), some not, especially in the quietly masterful and heartbreaking third act.

A film of this kind - subdued, easy on plot - mostly hinges on the direction and the performances, and both are quite good. Director Melanie Laurent handles the material with assurance, opting for a steady, visually effective, if not flashy, style that doesn't get in the way of the story. And while Elle Fanning's performance is flawed yet touching, Ben Foster delivers one of his best performances as a violent man struggling with his nature, as he embarks on the road to a salvation that might just be impossible to reach.

Powerful, poignant, compelling, and ultimately moving, Galveston is a minor noir classic that deserves to be seen.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

Book Review: THE GRIFTERS By Jim Thompson *** out *****

Known for his noirs, Jim Thompson offers something a bit different with The Grifters, a pitch-black psychological drama first published in 1963. Centering on the disturbing mother-son relationship between 25 year old Roy and his mother Lori, both players in the world of the "grift" (meaning flim-flamming and short con-games), this virtually plotless novel is basically a journey through their troubled, often exciting, and ultimately tragic lives.

What Thompson skimps on in plot, he somewhat makes up for in alluring cynicism, delivered in hypnotic, if not always subtle, prose, and fascinating details about the life of the career grifter. Considered by many to be among Thompson's best works, this novel isn't really that special, but it is short, highly readable, and has an ending so nihilistic and twisted, it has to be read to be believed.

Note: The audiobook version, released by Hachette, and read by Barbra Rosenblatt, is highly recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer

Book Review: A HOLOGRAM FOR THE KING By Dave Eggers ** out of *****

Literary fiction is a genre that is hard to pin down, as it is almost always swaying with the force of current intellectual and political winds. One way to look at it is that literary fiction is the opposite of punk-rock, which, by its very nature, goes against the tide, with the artist following his own vision, heart, and worldview, no matter what anybody thinks. Or, at least, that's what punk-rock used to be. It's hard to tell now, with literature, music, and almost all of art passing through numerous filters, gatekeepers, and intellectual bleach before it is made widely available to the public.

Dave Eggers's novel, A Hologram For The King, is, by golly, a piece of literary fiction so literary, it is almost bursting with existential ache. The story, which is gossamer-thin, follows Alan Clay, a failing salesman who believes in capitalism and the American dream, and whose only chance to get out from under approaching bankruptcy is to convince the King of Saudi Arabia to buy a new hologram technology that Clay is selling on behalf of a big tech company back in America. What follows is a series of "incidents" that reveal Saudi Arabia to be a den of contradictions, with veiled woman hooking-up in secret, where expatriates smuggle contraband moonshine named "صديقى" or "friend" in English, and where chauffeurs make references to American popular culture. Interspersed with all this "whimsy" and "insight", are flashbacks to Alan's past, which reveal how sad and hollow his life is, culminating in him remembering the time he took his daughter to NASA to watch a shuttle launch, and saying to himself: "I sold capitalism to communists!" in sheer, orgasmic pride.

It's all well-written, in clear, smooth prose. But it's also all pretentious, self-important nonsense. None of the characters come off as very real, especially Eggers's depiction of Saudis, who all talk like sardonic Americans. And the main character, Alan Clay, is basically set-up from the get-go as a tragic figure: hollow, sexually impotent, and lost in his zealous dedication to a corrupt system - capitalism, of course - that has betrayed him and left him with nothing. While taking shots at unbridled capitalism could be an admirable goal if dealt with with nuance, insight, and clarity, Eggers's approach is nothing but a string of cliches and misery-mongering passages, making his point over, and over again without any subtlety or real insight, delivering a book that begins well enough, but slowly devolves into a boring, dour, and ultimately unredeeming tale as hollow as its main character.

But, of course, I could be wrong, as The Boston Globe calls the novel "genius", while The New York Times says that Eggers "spins [a] story that approaches Beckett in its absurdist despair.” Genius? Really? To each his own, I guess.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer