Bill's Commentary:
I was going to make this the first chapter of
Tamper until I realized that it set the wrong
tone. Much of the feedback I received from
people who read an early draft of the first five
chapters conveyed expectations of something
in the standard horror or mystery genre. Tamper
is, in part, an homage to those great genres
(and to science fiction, as well), but I aspired to
a wider scope.
This email exchange between Ed Champion and
me, regarding the first two chapters, illustrates
my learning curve:
I was going to make this the first chapter of
Tamper until I realized that it set the wrong
tone. Much of the feedback I received from
people who read an early draft of the first five
chapters conveyed expectations of something
in the standard horror or mystery genre. Tamper
is, in part, an homage to those great genres
(and to science fiction, as well), but I aspired to
a wider scope.
This email exchange between Ed Champion and
me, regarding the first two chapters, illustrates
my learning curve:
| From Chapter Two, 1980s: Glenda Wells tried to tell herself there was no reason to be afraid, alone in the semi-darkened room, a wood-paneled writer's study filled with mementos of the man's life and work. A collection of puzzle boxes from all over the world, books, journals, a small model of Stonehenge, the requisite human skull, and on the writer's desk, an IBM Selectric typewriter. |
ED: Instead of explaining why these floating spheres exist, you need to convey WHAT these floating spheres are
and how they scare the shit out of Whit.
BILL: The overall tone of this chapter is not supposed to be focused on what scared the shit out of Whit - it's
about two goofball teenagers embellishing the truth like so many of those 'Unexplained Mystery' books and TV
shows.”
A day later I sent another email to Ed.
BILL: It occurs to me that if I have to explain my first chapter like I did in my last email, then it obviously needs
some work, eh?
ED: I knew you'd start thinking about all this.
Not only did I reverse chapters one and two, I took the extra step of adding these two sentences to Chapter One:
We proclaimed ourselves investigators of the paranormal. Our friends Anne and Nancy proclaimed us goofballs
who embellished the truth to legitimize our games and to convince local businesses to buy ads in our otherwise
amateur rag, the Astral Beat.
and how they scare the shit out of Whit.
BILL: The overall tone of this chapter is not supposed to be focused on what scared the shit out of Whit - it's
about two goofball teenagers embellishing the truth like so many of those 'Unexplained Mystery' books and TV
shows.”
A day later I sent another email to Ed.
BILL: It occurs to me that if I have to explain my first chapter like I did in my last email, then it obviously needs
some work, eh?
ED: I knew you'd start thinking about all this.
Not only did I reverse chapters one and two, I took the extra step of adding these two sentences to Chapter One:
We proclaimed ourselves investigators of the paranormal. Our friends Anne and Nancy proclaimed us goofballs
who embellished the truth to legitimize our games and to convince local businesses to buy ads in our otherwise
amateur rag, the Astral Beat.
Another aspect of Chapter Two that is important to me is my
attempt to capture a certain 1970’s ambiance in Olsen Archer’
s study, specifically the wood-paneled walls and the IBM
Selectric typewriter.
Introduced on the 1960s, the IBM Selectric typewriter
replaced the standard type bars with a single round, golf ball-
sized printing element, which had the letters, numbers, and
other symbols embossed into it. As you were typing, the
round element moved while the carriage remained fixed. The
printing “balls” were available in many fonts. The later models
included correction ribbon, which seemed like a luxury to me
in the seventies, especially during those "all-nighters" when a
college assignment was due the next day and the only
alternatives were re-doing an entire page or slathering Liquid
Paper over mistakes.
attempt to capture a certain 1970’s ambiance in Olsen Archer’
s study, specifically the wood-paneled walls and the IBM
Selectric typewriter.
Introduced on the 1960s, the IBM Selectric typewriter
replaced the standard type bars with a single round, golf ball-
sized printing element, which had the letters, numbers, and
other symbols embossed into it. As you were typing, the
round element moved while the carriage remained fixed. The
printing “balls” were available in many fonts. The later models
included correction ribbon, which seemed like a luxury to me
in the seventies, especially during those "all-nighters" when a
college assignment was due the next day and the only
alternatives were re-doing an entire page or slathering Liquid
Paper over mistakes.
Above: Judy Lang and Roger Perry in the doctor's office scene of Count
Yorga, Vampire (1970, Erica Productions, Inc., MGM Home Entertainment;
originally distributed in the U.S. by American International Pictures). Medical
treatment for a vampire bite apparently involves having a cigarette and then
sending the patient on their way.
Yorga, Vampire (1970, Erica Productions, Inc., MGM Home Entertainment;
originally distributed in the U.S. by American International Pictures). Medical
treatment for a vampire bite apparently involves having a cigarette and then
sending the patient on their way.
When my father built additional rooms onto
our house, my brother and I got our own
separate bedrooms, complete with plywood
paneling that looked like the same kind we
saw in B movies like Count Yorga, Vampire,
and television shows like Kolchak: The Night
Stalker. This precipitated the realization
that we didn't need Gothic movie sets to
make our own amateur Super 8 horror
movies. Classic monsters now lurked in the
20th Century, as exemplified by Hammer
Films' Dracula A.D. 1972.
our house, my brother and I got our own
separate bedrooms, complete with plywood
paneling that looked like the same kind we
saw in B movies like Count Yorga, Vampire,
and television shows like Kolchak: The Night
Stalker. This precipitated the realization
that we didn't need Gothic movie sets to
make our own amateur Super 8 horror
movies. Classic monsters now lurked in the
20th Century, as exemplified by Hammer
Films' Dracula A.D. 1972.
In the eighties, when I worked at the Independent Life Insurance Company, my supervisor allowed me to stay
after work and use one the company’s IBM Selectrics to type college papers. This is also where I began writing
Time Adjusters. One of my dreams as a writer was to own one of these state-of-the-art machines, not realizing
at the time that computers and word processing programs would render them almost obsolete.
after work and use one the company’s IBM Selectrics to type college papers. This is also where I began writing
Time Adjusters. One of my dreams as a writer was to own one of these state-of-the-art machines, not realizing
at the time that computers and word processing programs would render them almost obsolete.
Look through most any middle-class family
photo album, high school yearbook, or church
directory from the 1970s and you will know
that the use of wood paneling became popular
during that era as an alternative to paint or
wallpaper.
photo album, high school yearbook, or church
directory from the 1970s and you will know
that the use of wood paneling became popular
during that era as an alternative to paint or
wallpaper.
| A Note on Plywood Paneling |
Right: Wood paneling at the police station in Al Adamson's infamously low-budget Dracula VS. Frankenstein (1971) |
| Above: Darren McGavin as TV's rumpled newspaper reporter and paranormal investigator, Kolchack |
| Tamper |