Newsletter #3

The weather is getting hot, and I’m just about done teaching for the summer semester.

Zworsky’s Children

The final book in the Zworsky’s Children series will be sent off for copyediting this summer. I’ve changed the title to Last Stand—I wanted a title that made it clear this is the final book. Stuart Bache will be designing the cover, which I’ll share in September. Last Stand will be available in October.

Hitchcock Project
 

Still no update on my Vertigo article, but the Hitchcock project is really coming together. This spring, I wrote a rough draft on The Birds and apocalyptic cinema. I’m currently working on the book’s introduction, which is quite a task. I’m laying out my claim and the theory to support it, exploring the logic of fantasy and its relationship to genre. Hitchcock often felt imprisoned by the suspense genre, but my argument is that these limitations were actually productive. Psycho changed the horror genre! I’m thinking of calling the book The Limitless Alfred Hitchcock—but I’m not sure yet.

 

 

My Lovely Dark Summer
 

This is my new mystery and coming-of-age novel. I’ll be sending it off for copyediting in November and hope to have it available in early February 2026.

Charlie One

Charlie One is doing quite well in the UK—it was my most-read book on Kindle Unlimited in June. Thank you so much, UK readers!

 

 

Books Read and Reading 

I really enjoyed Stephen King’s new book, Never Flinch—King knows how to write villains. I also liked Todd McGowan’s The Fictional Christopher Nolan. I’ve read much of McGowan’s work, and this was by far the hardest—but I mean that in a good way. I enjoyed Grady Hendrix’s Witchcraft for Wayward Girls and loved Owen King’s short story “Letter Slot.” I’m currently reading Hendrix’s The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

Well, that’s it for me.

Enjoy the summer.

Keep reading.

Tom C.

www.tomconnellyfiction.com

Newsletter #2

Hope the year is going well for everyone.

Spring has been busy for me. I am working hard on a bunch of projects. My article on Vertigo is going through a revision process, which means it wasn’t rejected—at least not yet. The reviewers liked what I wrote but had a lot of suggestions. My revisions must be completed by next month. Hopefully I’ll know by the summer if its been accepted. 

 

I really enjoyed writing on Vertigo, so I wrote a rough essay on Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train. You probably know where I’m going with this. A book on Hitchcock. I’m thinking five films, focusing just on horror.

Zworsky’s Children Series. The third book, The Metachromes, is just about done, and I will be sending it to my copy editor this summer. Stuart Bache will be designing the cover. If everything goes as planned, the book will be available in late October. I’m excited to share the conclusion of the series.

Dark Escape. A short novel connected to the Zworsky universe. It focuses on a character from Rise of the Creepers. I’ll share more details about it next year. If you haven’t checked out Creepers, it is available to purchase.

My Lovely Dark Summer. My newest book is a young adult story written for teens and adults. I cannot wait to share this one. It is a mix of mystery, science fiction, and coming-of-age. If you like Charlie One and/or The Mansion, I think you’ll really dig it.

Audio books. Amazon sent me a notice that I could create audio books using their virtual voices. I would love to hire someone to narrate my books, but I can’t afford it right now. You can listen to Suburban Tales 1 & 2 and The Postcard. The price is super cheap. I haven’t gotten any feedback, but I think the virtual voices sound really good.

Flight Unknown is inching toward 100 ratings on Amazon. I’m very thankful for all the ratings and comments.

Well, that’s it for me. I’m looking forward to sharing more news as it comes along.

Keep reading.

Tom C.

www.tomconnellyfiction.com

 

The Lacanian Gaze and Psycho

The Lacanian gaze is one of the hardest concepts I teach for my Film Theory course. The way we commonly think of the gaze (to look) is not what Jacques Lacan argues. Rather, he argues that when we encounter the gaze, we encounter an impasse, a blind spot within the field of vision. But more importantly, in order to encounter the gaze, you must be invested in the film. When we encounter the gaze in cinema it demonstrates the activity of our unconscious desire. So what does that mean? And why is the gaze is not defined as the look?

One of the best examples of the gaze (from Slavoj Zizek and Todd McGowan) can be found in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). After Marion (Janet Leigh) has been murdered by "mother" in the shower, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) cleans up the mess. Notice how long it takes for Norman to clean the bathroom. This is important because Hitchcock is a laying a trap for our encounter with the gaze.

After Norman cleans the bathroom, he place Marion's body in the trunk of her car and drives out to the swamp near his motel. Norman pushes Marion's car into the swamp. Norman anxiously watches the car as it begins to sink. Suddenly, for a brief moment the car stop sinking. I always ask my students what their reaction was when the car stops sinking. Their response: they want the car to sink. How does this happen? Why are we suddenly complicit in Norman's cover up of the murder?

This is the moment when we encounter the gaze. The gaze demonstrates your unconscious desire at work in the film. This is why film form is so important to understand in studying the gaze in cinema. In my book Cinema of Confinement, I explain how directors set up these types of cinematic moments such as the swamp scene in Psycho. They are designed so that we encounter the shocking impact of the gaze.

An example I use is the final sequence in Alien (1979) when Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) learns that the alien sneaked aboard the escape shuttle. The way in which director Ridley Scott films this scene sets up the viewer for an encounter with the gaze--namely, when Ripley shockingly discovers the alien. We think Ripley has defeated the alien, which is emphasized when she says: "I got you, you son of a bitch." Even the soothing musical score suggests that Ripley is safe. But as we know, she is far from safe. Alien's final scene is so scary because of the way Scott lays a trap for us to encounter the gaze. This is why it is important that Hitchcock show us all the details of Norman cleaning up the murder in Psycho. He is a laying a trap for the gaze: when the car stops sinking in the swamp. That's when we all go "Oh shit!" You're now siding with Norman's cover up of Marion's death.

 

What does the gaze tells about how we watch movies? First, it demonstrates how our unconscious desire is at work when we watch a movie. And we can locate the activity of desire through cinematic form. Second, you must be invested to look in the movie, otherwise you are less likely to encounter the emotional impact of the gaze. Lacan's example of Hans Holbein's painting The Ambassadors explains this point.

As you observed the painting, you see the riches that surround the men. But when looking  toward the bottom of the painting, there is a stain. When looking awry, you see that the stain is a skull that looks back at you.

 

The skull embodies the gaze. But you have to be invested in looking at the painting in order to discover the skull. When we encounter the skull, it takes our desire into consideration. Likewise, when Marion's car stops sinking in the swamp in Psycho, we have a visceral reaction, demonstrating that we are complicit in Norman covering up the murder. It illustrates how our desire is at work in the film.  

The gaze is the moment when our seeing falls apart. Yet it is these moments in cinema, such as Ripley seeing the alien aboard the ship and Marion's car that temporarily stop sinking in the swamp, that draws us to the movies.