Explaining DarkSF

The Best of the Best in SF

John Argo's Term for *The Dark Chocolate of Speculative Fiction*

As of 2020 (the *Vision Year* don't we wish?) I had about eight novels and several short stories in the DarkSF Series.. *This article is a work in progress. More info soon.*

DarkSF IS: I call DarkSF The Dark Chocolate of Speculative Fiction. First, next, read what DarkSF is *NOT*.

DarkSF is Not: Horror, slasher, juvenile, bloody, scary, and so on. Next, a quick look at some top examples of DarkSF from film and literary history.

Why This Topic? Having authored about fifty books, it's an understatement to say that I am not a famous author (yet). However, I have *loved* writing and&133; well, the words of the late, great, best-selling author Spencer Johnson (*Five Minute Manager*) sum it up best. In an interview, he said: "Most writers tend to write the book they want to write; they would be far better off writing the book that readers want to read." Wish I'd had a better handle on that concept fifty years ago. Then again, I've saved my life and my sanity over the years, escaping into worlds of my own creation. Long story, for another day. It's worth noting that some of my novels actually are homages to either books or movies that I particularly adored. The one that I have not yet fêted at this writing (late 2021) is my all-time favorite movie Blade Runner; but I'm working on it. Quick examples from my homage list are: my Nebula Express for Ridley Scott's 1979 movie Alien; my novel Doom Spore for Jack Finney's 1954 novel and the 1956 film Invasion of the Body Snatchers; and one more example: my 2003 SF novel *Robinson Crusoe 1,000,000 A.D.* which is my homage not only to the 1719 Daniel Defoe classic, which I read as a child in Europe; but also to the 1964 *cult film* (more on this below!) Robinson Crusoe on Mars. Each of these three novels has its own page on this site, and I'll talk about other homages soon. If there has ever been a misunderstood novel, it has to be Daniel Defoe's (b.1660, d. 1731) novel Robinson Crusoe. In the current Barnes & Noble Classics Edition of this work, the Introduction by Literature Prof. L. J. Swingle takes great pains to explain that Defoe's classic is not a children's book, nor a Walt Disney happy-bunnies cartoon. In fact, Defoe in his youth was a blistering revolutionary and Calvinist pamphleteer who spent time in prison for insurrection against the kingly government. His novel contains murder, betrayal, cannibalism, and just about any other imaginable horror; which Dr. Swingle rightfully puts in proper perspective. More about this at the page dedicated to my novel. (This commentary is a work in progress; so please stand by for more info and emendations/JTC).

Terminology: There is a lot to wrestle with, so I will soon create a separate page in this *About* section to discuss terms like science fiction, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, etc. plus my own creations including DarkSF. Wikipedia has at least two good articles regarding the topic of 'cult classics' as Cult Following and Sleeper Hit. Bottom line that writers and other creatives must remember: commercial publishing is an investor-driven industry concerned first and foremost with anticipated profits, not about taking chances on artsy works. I get it. Historically, some of the greatest films and novels have gotten the rotten vegetables treatment upon release, have then developed a passionate ('cult') following, and ultimately have found some sort of niche in eternity between remaining an obscure but beloved cult classic on one hand (e.g., Cordwainer Smith's SF, my favorite above all) and at the other end breaking out to world fame (examples to follow in another article soon).

DarkSF in Film History: Think of some of the most artistic, moody, atmospheric, poetic films of Speculative Fiction starting with my favorite, and then at random: Blade Runner (1982 dir Ridley Scott: my #1); Alien (1979 dir. Ridley Scott); Dark City (1998 dir. Alex Proyas); Alphaville (1965 dir. Jean-Luc Godard); Chrysalis (2007 dir. Julien Leclercq); The Thirteenth Floor (1999 Josef Rusnak, not to be confused with the horror film The 13th Floor). The list is a long one and sometimes contentious. I'll write more about this topic soon.

DarkSF in Literature: Here is a brief selective list of my favorite authors of Speculative Fiction starting with my favorites: Cordwainer Smith (1976 Norstrilia; his entire brief corpus of writings); Jorge Luis Borges (VR stories including The Circular Ruins; and all his work); Ray Bradbury, master of topics like The Golden Apples of the Sun and The October Country anthologies, especially with illos by Joe Mugnaini; and again, a full list would be very long.

Cult Classics. The sad truth is that many of the world's most artistic, creative, and brilliant works of film and writing often start out misunderstood and even hated. For example, Ridley Scott came close to never getting his 1982 Blade Runner off the ground even in the concept stage. The source was a 1968 novel (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by the iconic Philip K. Dick, and the novel was itself a bit off-beat and did not impress many of the movie industry's investor-driven producers. After much hoo-hah, Scott had to find funding in China of all places, quite a story in itself. Read the whole story at Wikipedia. The Hong Kong (then still U.K.) Chinese film maker cited in the credits was Sir Run Run Shaw, an amazing philanthropist and general genius in many areas; among other things, Shaw produced martial arts films with actors like Bruce Lee starring.

I first saw Blade Runner in 1982/3 in a San Diego area movie theater, and a third of the way into the film knew in my heart and soul that this would be the love of my life, and it has been ever since. I was shocked and disappointed to hear a lot of negativity from SF-devoté friends and read trollish reviews from major critics. I go into this detail to illustrate a common pattern, and I'll discuss this in more detail some time soon on this site. A great novel or film is misunderstood and hated by critics and the public alike…but whatever its genre, if there is merit, there will be a few amateurs (lit. 'lovers') like myself in this case…so the work of art doesn't go away. It languishes in a curious ghetto of so-called 'cult classics.' Eventually, as in the case of Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner, many or most critics will come around to the viewpoint of the work's die-hard amateurs; and even be classified decades later as 'a masterpiece,' 'one of the 100 best films ever made,' and general raves. This is not an anomaly.

Quick examples to back this up. One of my favorite examples of stupid greed (gains-over-brains) is the reception given in 1901 to a London, England based author who wrote and illustrated a children's book. Well, strike one she was a woman in her 30s…... She had long entertained children (friends and family) with her water color illustrations and cute little stories. She believed in herself sufficiently to invest a borrowed sum of money in self-publishing the book, which she had begun writing in 1893. Her 'short run' sold out immediately, and the publishers in London smelled money. Beatrix Potter went under contract, and *Peter Rabbit* went on to become one of history's all-time best-selling books with an estimated forty-five million copies sold, movies made, stage plays produced, and generations of children entertained. Her story turned into a series, while she (a true Renaissance genius) went on to become not only a great scientist (mycology) but one of the world's first major conservationists. Her watercolors of fungi (mushrooms, etc.) are still today the standard for mycology textbooks, much as James Audubon is famous for his pictures of birds. I refer to the esteemed Ms. Potter as 'the Audubon of the Mushroom World.'

I seem to gravitate toward cult classics, which does not speak so well for reaching a wider audience. But it is what it is. Let's look at one or two other examples. Start with a film starring the late Christopher Reeve and the talented Jane Seymour, titled Somewhere in Time. It's considered a 'cult classic'(see Wikipedia, whose wording is 'derided by critics upon release and underperformed at the box office,' the latter being a real-time commentary on the public disdain. Nevertheless, the film has retained a certain core viewership and simply will not go away. Personally, I am interested because of the all-star cast, the setting (ostensibly the Hotel Del Coronado, near San Diego, setting of my nonfiction book *Dead Move* about the famous 1892 true crime and resulting ghost legend surrounding the mysterious death of the *Beautiful Stranger*, and my accompanying noir historical fiction novel *Lethal Journey*). I like Jane Seymour and revere the memory of Chris Reeve (and his tragic, wonderful wife Dana Reeve. Moreover, who can argue with the story's (Bid Time Return) author, the great Richard Matheson, who also wrote the classics I Am Legend (1954) and The Shrinking Man (1956), both made into immortal movies (made and remade). Take this a step further, though: this sort of time travel theme (using self-hypnosis) owes something to another great U.S. SF author, Jack Finney (1955 *Body Snatchers*, 1956 movie, remade several times) whose most critically acclaimed novel has to be Time And Again. The latter has not yet been made in to a movie, to my knowledge; perhaps awaiting its vintage year. There is a cloud of ideas among writers and creators at any time, and this notion (time travel by self-hypnosis) actually may have some antecedents in the psychoanalysis profession. Ultimately, all that aside, the film *Somewhere In Time* has been described as a bit over-sentimental and florid

Another good example is the brilliant dark-humor film After Hours by Martin Scorsese. Needless to say, I fell in love with it on first seeing it, and enjoy seeing it again as time goes by. Read Wikipedia for info. The film did gain some good reviews upon release, but I include it here because many individuals I spoke with 'couldn't get into it' and similar wording. As with many 'cult classics,' it may take the perceptive and intelligent viewer or reader several tries before they can absorb the full scope of a talent like Martin Scorsese's. As with 1980s' Somewhere In Time 1982's Blade Runner, Scorsese's dark comedy had an all-star cast and top director.

I'll have a lot more to say soon about these topics. After all, writing and publishing have been a major part of my life (writing this in my 70s). More info soon.

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