October 30, 2019 | The Clarion
Arts & Life
Page 3
Conference
Continued from page 2
different genres but will only be selected for
one. All submissions are completely anonymous.
This is the fifth Annual Looking Glass Rock
Writer’s Conference. Alyse Bensel is working
with Rishara Tinsel, the new Director of the
Transylvania County Library, to organize the
event for the second year now. Bensel also has
two student assistants, Alexis Henley and Abi
Feusler, that help her with the publicity and
social media.
“Running the conference this second year so
far has been invigorating and exciting. While
we’re keeping a similar format to last year’s
conference, we’ll be adding more social events
and trips as well as a guaranteed one-on-one time
with conference faculty,” said Bensel.
“This is an invaluable opportunity for students
interested in creative writing to work with
nationally renowned authors as well as writers
from around the country in an intimate, focused
workshop setting. Plus you make connections
with writers that will last far beyond the
conference.”
For more information, you can visit the
website at www.lgrwc.org, the twitter @
Igrwconference or the facebook page Looking
Glass Rock Writers’ Conference.
Netflix Review
'Await Further Instuctions'
By Mary Lewe
Editor in Chief
For those of us who grew up watching “Smart
House” on Disney Channel, reading “Fahrenheit
451” in high school English class and playing
gory video games, “Await Further Instructions”
displays the perfect balance of family drama,
paranoid technological disruption and disgusting
gratuitous violence.
The film begins with Nick (Sam Gitten) and
his girlfriend Annji (Neerja Naik) arriving at
Nick’s parents’ house to celebrate. Although it
is Christmas Eve, Nick’s parents are shocked to
see their son, who has been estranged from them
for three years.
Viewers soon discover the reason for Nick’s
estrangement, when the grandad (David
Bradley) of the family begins to both subtly and
overtly demean Annji for her Indian heritage.
Unwilling to tolerate Nick’s dad and grandad’s
racist behavior, the couple decides to leave early
in the morning on Christmas Day.
But when Nick and Annji quietly attempt to
sneak out of the house on Christmas morning.
they discover that every door and window of the
house has been enveloped in strange-looking
black walls. There is no way out, and they are
trapped with Nick’s entire family.
As if being trapped with racist in-laws isn’t
enough of a horrific nightmare, the family
discovers a message on their television screen:
“Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions.”
As fear and paranoia sets in, the family begins
to unravel, with attempts to escape punished by
other members of the family who trust in the
television’s messages, believing the messages
are coming from the government for their own
safety.
The interplay between political commentary,
family drama and futuristic horror makes for an
hour and a half of entertainment, culminating in
a surprising ending which may remind viewers
of campy horror movies of decades past.
Despite initial frustrations with the characters,
the movie is ultimately a disturbing, yet fun
look at a horrific alternative future, one that is
believable enough to keep you up at night but
not so creepy as to be unbelievable.
Across
2. Spooky month
5. A real blood sucker
6. Something you carve
7. She rides on a broom
9. Lyncanthrope to a layperson
10. You do this when you are scared
12. A common costume
14. It spins a web
15. What you ask for on Halloween
16. Villagers with torches might chase this
Down
I. On Halloween you go around to
3. On Halloween you wear a
4. Dark feline
8. October 31st
II. You need clues to solve this
13. When the wolves howl
0
. ^
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