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THE GLACIER FEBRUARY 22, 2013 VOLUME 45, ISSUE 12
Young ‘American’ Horror Story
“American Ghoul” tells the story of Howard, a teenage ghoul trying to blend in with the crowd. [Ex Libris] By Fallon Sweeney Entertainment Editor Walt Morton’s “American Ghoul” is at once a coming-of-age story and a horror story. The story’s main character Howard is much like any other small town teenager living in America. He goes to high school, gets nervous around girls and calls a group of geeks his friends. He’s normal in almost every way ex-
cept for the fact that he only recently found out he is a ghoul, a subspecies of human beings who have no choice but to survive on human flesh. Ghouls who go without feeding lose their almost normal appearance, becoming decayed and haggard. Under “usual circumstance,” Ghouls appear normal except that both pupils are a different color. Howard’s parents, who are ghouls themselves, could only keep their grisly secret from him for so long. After a dinner table talk that was less awkward than it should have been, Howard is initiated into his family’s secret tradition. He learns his father’s practices and helps with “harvesting” by digging up relatively new graves. As if this wasn’t a challenge enough, the ghouls cannot digest embalming fluids so they are forced to seek bodies buried without. All of that combined with the pressure of keeping their activity a secret makes for a scenario that cannot last long. Life continues somewhat normally for a short time. Howard returns one night to find his home ablaze and witnesses the townspeople murder his parents. Howard is left no choice but to seek out the only remaining ghoul he knows exists: his grandmother. Amidst the challenge of providing for them both, Howard begins his se-
nior year of high school where he encounters the same challenges any person that age does. In the effort to blend in, he falls in with a group of less-than-popular friends and begins taking on small landscaping jobs. Walt Morton’s attempt on making ghouls, flesh eating half-humans, seem like everyday people is enjoyable but not terribly convincing. I found it extremely difficult to take this story seriously, despite Walt Morton’s well-meant attempt at riding the line between horror and coming of age story. Morton’s explanation of the ghouls ability to survive is mostly due to their choice in careers. Howard’s grandmother worked as a nurse while his grandfather was a soldier. Both paths afforded the ghouls ample opportunity to feed at will. “American Ghoul” is a story about a senior in high school but should be directed towards the reading level of a junior high student. The story is gruesome at points and amusing at others, not a story that I would consider to be part of the horror genre but as a part of the young adult genre.
WHITE CITY | from page 7 lich) and Dr H.H. Holmes’ (Brian Hare) descent into madness. Prendergast’s support of Mayor Carter Harrison (Jon Sloven) takes a turn towards obsession that eventually mutates into murderous rage. The seductive and unnerving Dr. H.H. Holmes (Brian Hare) comes to Chicago to build his hotel and to prey upon the young women flocking to the city. One of the most captivating elements of the entire production was the slideshow of historic Worlds Fair photos provided by the Chicago History Museum. Emmy award winner Christopher Kai Olsen arranged the photos as well as aided in production and writing the play. The most enrapturing scene occurred between characters Dr. H. H. Holmes (Brian Hare) and one of the women he captured, tortured and murdered (Jessica Miller Tomlinson). As Bruce Wolosoff’s sultry “Dancing on My Grave” plays in the background, Holmes gets what has been a long time coming: a visit from one of his numerous victims during Chicago’s Columbian Exposition. After “The White City: Chicago’s Columbian Exposition of 1893,” the group presented some of their signature, more contemporary pieces. Thodos Dance Chicago presented an entirely fresh and unique take on the Columbian Exposition of 1893 which audiences were lucky to witness.
Fallon Sweeney can be contacted at entertainment@mvccglacier.com.
Fallon Sweeney can be contacted at entertainment@mvccglacier.com.