Why do they call it HOTLANTA? Is it hot? Maybe in the summer, or after the First Half of the Super Bowl. The Horror Genre has taken some shots from literature snobs since Day 1, but who can forget Edgar Allan Poe’s contributions to the written word? His tales of mystery and the macabre explored things such as premature burial and the reanimation of the dead. Wait! Isn’t that the current Zombie genre craze? Anyway, I believe shock value was important to Poe because he wanted to escape the trap of didactic writing, something he said Longfellow was guilty of. I share Poe’s dislike for preachy writing, although in the screenplay you have the freedom to make characters preachy to help establish mood and advance scenes. Take for example Mac in Steinbeck’s IN DUBIOUS BATTLE. Now there’s a soap boxer if I’ve ever seen one. Still, Mac is important because he helps shape Jim’s arc of character and evolution as his own man.
Kirby in Helsinki: https://twohawksquarterly.com/2017/05/30/last-night-helsinki-kirby-wright/