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"It'd creeped over the far edge of the rock, just a hand at first, long fork-like fingers gripping the dead animal like a doll. Then I saw the head, and it grinned at me, bright golden eyes cutting the darkness like two beacons. It was as though it knew I was there and had waited for the most opportune time to make its grand entrance and scare the piss out of me, which it did, but I hadn't noticed that until later.
"When I finally made it past the dreadful glow of its eyes, the rest of the thing's face came into focus..."
From Deep in the Darkness
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Saturday, June 26, 2004
M. NIght Shyamalan's "The Village"
About three months ago, just after the release of Deep In The Darkness", a reader e-mailed me and wrote, "I really enjoyed your book. By the way, have you seen the trailer for the new M. Night Shyamalan movie, 'The Village'? It's a lot like your book." At first, I didn't think much of it, as there were many people writing me, making comparisons of Deep In The Darkness to other books and movies. It's only natural. I do the same thing when watching movies or reading other books.
But then, another e-mail came in making "The Village" comparison. And on its heels, yet another. So, I had to check it out for myself. Well, there does seems to be a general similarity between Deep In The Darkness, and The Village, most notably that both plots tell of a "Village" being held captive by a race of ancient, intelligent creatures living in the woods surrounding them. Hmmm. I have to wonder about this now. While watching the "Village" trailer, I really imagined watching a trailer based on my book, despite the change in the period of time in which the movie takes place.
For those of you who have not seen the trailer, see it here: www.thevillage.movies.com
Now, I did tell myself, that having written Deep In The Darkness in 2001-2002, and with the book being published in February 2004, there is no way Shyamalan could have read it and 'borrorwed' my idea. Of course, it also proves that I didn't do that either. We both probably wrote our stories during the same time period. However...Deep In The Darkness is based on a trilogy of short stories, 11,000 words of fiction that was written and published and reprinted between the years of 1996 through 2001, in a variety of small press publications. Am I saying that Shyamalan grabbed his idea from me? Naw. After all, it's a basic idea. But I wonder...
So, if the basic plot line is the ONLY similarity between the two stories, I'm okay with it. But, if his creatures are anything like mine, especially with glowing eyes, or if his main character is a doctor, or if the creatures use the people in the village to 'better' themselves, then my eyebrows will be raised. There's the similarity of the markings on the trees, that I can tell from the trailer.
I guess I'll have to wait until the fall, when the movoe comes out. In the meantime, people keep e-mailing me about it. We'll see...
On an endnote, I'd like to send a copy of my book to Mr Shyamalan. If anyone has his contact address, please e-mail me at Michael@Laimo.com.
posted by Mike at 3:30 AM
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