Tag: reflection

Hemlock Grove: Netflix Series and Novel

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

WARNING: CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS
photo source: imdb.com

I am a big fan of the Hemlock Grove series that was featured by Netflix from 2013-2015. After starting the first season I was instantly pulled into this strange horror/suspense series and shortly after I decided to read the novel (Hemlock Grove) that the Netflix series was based on by Brian McGreevy.

The novel possesses traits that remind me of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (format and stylistic approach). The narration jumps from character to character and includes text and email dialogue as well. I found McGreevy’s approach to trademark horror elements (monsters, murder and mystery) intriguing. It’s as if Hemlock Grove is an evolved version of a classic Victorian novel only with more gore and the inclusion of technology. Overall the novel is as good if not better than the Netflix series and left me wanting more.

What I love about the Netflix Series:

The characters are played by talented actors that give the characters amazing depth and complexity. As the series progresses these characters evolve and change (few for better, most for the worst) and this progression is wonderfully portrayed by the actors. Their ability to pull the inner struggles and desires from the core of these characters adds to the series as a whole.

Netflix’s approach to the subject matter and their knack for gory details satisfies my need for an ever evolving horror/suspense show that recognizes the chuckle that comes with vampires and werewolves but also adds more and makes it unique to its predecessors. These vampires (Umpirs) and Werewolves are different from the mainstream ones that have been over glorified and given too many (almost unbelievable) moralistic traits but they also contain key elements that horror fans recognize. For example the stereotype of gypsy werewolves and aristocratic origins of old vampires is paired with a werewolf gone ‘berserk’ (lol) a.k.a. Vargulf and an Umpir who uses money and science to better understand her species.

Throughout the series there is no restraints on the use of blood and bodies. The show is rated MA for Mature for a reason. I personally love the over the top use of blood and dead bodies. At certain times in the series (season one) the blood is used precisely to instill fear of the mysterious monster that is terrorizing Hemlock Grove. In season two blood is used in exaggeration (I think to reflect the gravity of the events taking place, as well as Roman’s ever increasing blood lust). The best example of the over to top use of blood is in this scene from season two episode five,

(source: youtube.com  user: Nippy93)

Roman’s need for blood is seen in this ‘daydream’ of his as he fantasizes about drinking Miranda’s blood. The music and slow motion reflect his lust filled desire to indulge in his Umpir appetite. 

Alongside the use of blood and classic monsters, the story also includes unknown creatures that I have never read about (I also study folklore and mythology). This inclusion of other strange creatures is intriguing and demonstrates the stories ability to evolve and adapt to a modern audience.

The soundtrack is varied and includes many different songs spanning across multiple genres. I am curious to know if the soundtrack was chosen in collaboration with others in the production of the series or if the music is just a particular taste of one individual. I find the soundtrack refreshing and remarkably reflective of the show as a whole.

(Here is a spotify playlist that includes the songs used in the Hemlock Grove series)

https://open.spotify.com/embed/user/1211694248/playlist/0LjjoX6dDbTvQ0XqtXtCVC

ROMAN AND PETER:

With every show and story there comes a fandom. I usually indulge in looking up behind the scene photos or extra information on the actors and actresses of a series that I love but with Hemlock Grove I find myself admiring the characters from a safe distance. I’m not concerned about the questionable relationship between the two main characters, Roman and Peter, but love to dissect their attributes and actions while I read/watch Hemlock Grove.

Many lovers of Hemlock Grove gravitate to Roman Godfrey (played by Bill Skarsgard) because of his looks and of course his role as an Umpir. From what I’ve found there is little obsession over Peter (played by Landon Liboiron) which I think is a shame (or I just haven’t looked hard enough). Personally I’ve always gravitated to werewolves in horror novels and films versus vampires because of the honesty in which the werewolf operates. A werewolf cannot hide in a crowd when transformed, it is a brutal creature that kills versus a vampire that looks like anyone else when it is killing, save it’s fangs and distorted face. But really it all comes down to preference.

Overall, I would recommend Hemlock Grove to anyone that is open minded and loves Horror/Suspense shows. I can see Hemlock Grove as an acquired taste for some people and probably ridiculous to others. I personally love the Netflix Series (even with season three’s conclusion) and the novel by Brian McGreevy. I plan on re-reading the novel this summer and watching the series over again (I can’t count how many times I’ve seen the whole series, over and over again).

Please feel free to leave any responses in a comment below! I’d love to converse with any other fans of the series or expand on this small reflection in the future, given a specific topic.

 

 

If you are reading this Thank You for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina

 

 

Notebook Excerpts #3 (April 2017)

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Here are some excerpts from my April 2017 notebook!

key: pieces are separated by a ‘+’

 

How I bled.

Let it fall down, marble the cold sky. And the clouds are fat. FAT. in the meat of the sky. What are the words that break each other up and out, down and inside it all? How death becomes a reality eventually, for all of us.

+

Your sky buries itself down into the hell of my sky.

+

and the words open themselves, combine and dive into the hell of the mind. How I drew up and deconstructed the poison of my hell.

Hell, or purgatory.

and there is no quiet heart destroyed by the endlessness. No quiet heart explodes and climbs up up up…

+

All that I know buried against the sun. My blood returns cold and

crisp against the bitterness of one heart. Heart. Into another. What now? How does it relate to the cold? personage of a destroyed world. All my eyes bleed. Across my mouth the night climbs and buries itself. cold. cold against the sun.

+

Sickness in my gut

light shine too bright,

poetry

writing about poetry

it all blossoms with death.

Death.

+

Destruction is the key to the endless heart of it all. And I fade quietly into nothing cold and calm.

+

All over the world, the bits and pieces destroy each other.

+

The edge of my mind held me close to the edge of the night. All I do is dive into nothing the world follows me into nothing. All I seek, is doom in fire. Let go and crumble into the sky the edge is here and let go you never destroyed the edge of the night but embraced it.

+

Guitar, guitar

carpet/floor

heater, book case, bookcase,

bookcases. laptop

just kidding.

window window

lamp.

prison, prison,

prison.

 

If you are reading this, Thank You for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina

End of the Month Reflection: Blogging, Writing and Reviews

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

Hello Readers ?

This is an end of the month post reflecting on what I’ve done and what I plan on posting on my blog.

Firstly, I have made progress in posting ‘Free Hand‘ poems and a few short stories as well as a ‘Fight Club‘ reflection and ‘T2‘ reflection. I am glad that I have succeeded in posting a good amount of short stories and poems since it is my blogs purpose to present these two particular forms of writing . 

Secondly, I plan on posting a handful of ‘Book Lists‘ and an ‘Introduction’ post that will include a brief summary of the books, movies, and music that I like.

I chose to not do this intro post in the beginning because I wanted to see how the first month would go. I wanted to keep the focus of my blog centered on my writing but I realized from looking at other blogs I want readers to get a feel for the interests I have. 

Coming in May: Booklists, Poetry, Short Stories and More

2-3 Booklists (Fiction, Horror, and Poetry)

Free Hand Poetry Posts ( and revisions)

Launch Party (photos and info on publication release party)

Notebook Excerpts from April 2017

2-3 Short Stories (and/or revisions)

Enjoy my writing? Hit that LIKE button or leave a comment!

Opioid/Heroin Addiction in Utah

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

I know this isn’t related to my categories Film, Music, Art for reflections but because I find this relevant to SLC, UT (where I live) and kind of mind-blowing, I’ve including this small reflection on Opioid/Heroin Addiction and Overdose related deaths in Utah.

I recently did a project for one of my classes in which I researched heroin/prescription opioid related deaths in Utah. This is after hearing multiple stories from different people in the last six months who had relatives and friends die from overdoses of these two drugs.

Contrary to the ‘clean’ and predominately MORMON ‘family’ state that Utah is perceived to be. We have a few issues that any big city can relate to. One of them is the problem of Perscription Opioids and Heroin Addiction which leads to some of the highest rates of drug related deaths (overdose) in the Nation.

For the past ten years (a sky rocket increase in deaths since 2007) Utah has ranked (often fluctuating up and down) as one of the top nine states for the highest drug overdose related deaths, specifically Opioids/Heroin.

In my research I found that often males in their twenties and females in their fifties had the highest rates of overdose. I also found that because of changes in the laws regarding prescription opioids which restricted certain opioids for a time there was an increase in Heroin overdose related deaths. This is an issue that I have barely heard the news, radio or gov. in Utah talk about, the only recent event to mark the importance of this issue was a summit meeting in 2016 in which issues such as the price for pain killers and opioids were exponentially more expensive than Heroin and affected the stats of overdose deaths. But even with the summit I’ve never heard people talk about this issue-I get the feeling that this issue is being ‘swept under the rug’ and silently dealt with by rehab centers and the gov. in Utah so as to not tarnish Utah’s image of being safe, clean, pro-family and a Mormon stronghold. (BUT I COULD BE WRONG!)

There is a discussion on the fact that about 60% of residents in Utah are members of The Church of Latter-Day Saints (MORMONS) and that because this issue of drug related deaths, specifically pain killers (Opioids) is on such a rise that Mormon residents may contribute to a large amount of the numbers of abusers and overdose related deaths (alpinerecoverylodge.com).

This is a discussion I stumbled on quite a few times in my research. Most articles stated that since it is against the belief practices of Mormons to ‘poison’ their bodies with liquor, cigarettes and even caffeine that if they are prescribed pain medication by doctors, Opioids must be OK, and that they may think that these pain medications will have no adverse affects on their body. It is extremely easy to become addicted to Opioids/Pain Meds and since an addiction leads to using up prescriptions and getting cut off, the next step is to find an equivalent drug which is HEROIN. It is dirt cheap on the streets and has the same affect but in the long run just like Opioids, addiction leads to death (most opioid deaths are accidental).

I am skeptical of the idea that most Opioid abusers are Mormon since I’ve known plenty of Mormons that refuse to even use Aspirin (because it is against their belief system). But the fact that a good amount of  Utah’s residents are Mormon and that these drug related deaths are on an increase still does suggest there could be a correlation between the two.

There is also data to support that drug overdose related deaths in Utah, outnumbers deaths by car accidents and firearms which are some of the top causes of death in Utah next to accidents in the home (2014 pdf data).

Reflecting on my research, I find this issue to be extremely relevant and find it amazing I don’t see billboards and posters up all over the city addressing this issue (I honestly only recall seeing two billboards about this problem, one on State Street and another on 21st South in the past two years). After all that I’ve read and living in Utah for almost my entire life, I will say I am not surprised that this is an issue.

 

 

Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/data/overdose.html

https://www.rt.com/usa/361009-utah-heroin-opioid-summit/

http://www.addicted.org/heroin-treatment-utah.html

http://www.alpinerecoverylodge.com/utah-drug-abuse-statistics/

https://highwaysafety.utah.gov/crash-data/

https://www.health.utah.gov/vipp/pdf/FactSheets/2013FirearmDeaths

https://health.utah.gov/opha/publications/hsu/1409_RxOpioidDth.pdf

 

Book Review: Beautiful City of the Dead

Alina H. Hansen Writer & Poet

‘Books I love’ is a sub part of my ‘Book Lists’ posts. It is a post that contains a review/reflection of one specific book that I have read.

 

Beautiful City of the Dead by [Watts, Leander]

(picture source: amazon.com)

Beautiful City of the Dead by Leander Watts (a.k.a. Th. Metzger) is a young adult novel about a girl named Zee in a band who battles supernatural forces (not entirely sure how to define it, supernatural or sci-fi?). Yes, sounds cheesy I know. But actually this story is written in a style that I recognize now to be closer to prose and poetry. Initially I remember being captivated by the very first chapter which discusses Zee’s obsession with fire (almost a pyromaniac frenzy but not quite) which always led me into binge reading half the book in one sitting (the entire book is only 254 pages). The sentences are often jagged but so clear cut that I can recall certain lines even today.

I think about this book often because of its ability to sear certain images and events (that take place in the story) in my mind. It is a strange synthesis of music appreciation and teen problems meets the unknown (other dimensions? fame? or a bunch of old geezer’s with super powers?). I can never quite put my finger on exactly how to categorize this book and because of this I also love it dearly. I have always wanted a sequel but I know that the book stands alone as a unique piece that needs no continuation, it is only out of my adoration that I’d love to read more about these characters and their extremely weird heavy metal life.

I’d recommend this book to anyone, teen or adult, and especially persons that read poetry on a regular basis. It also has wonderful references to the first ‘Heavy Metal’ bands in RocknRoll. Since I love both poetry, heavy metal music and bands, this book is one in a million for me.

 

If you are reading this, Thank You, for taking time out of your day to read my writing! I hope you return in the future!

-Alina