As I was in the final editing stages of my latest short story release, Night of the Coons, it made me think about what had inspired me to write the story in the first place; it’s my love of animal attack fiction. Call me a weirdo, but since I was a kid I enjoyed seeing animals go berserk and wage an all out war on us humans. There was something so intriguing and entertaining about it. Most of this type of fiction I saw was in the movies and TV. Animal attack fiction has also been in short stories and novels. Most notably in Daphne Du Maurier’s The Birds, Peter Benchley’s Jaws and Stephen King’s Cujo. Before I continue, let’s be clear, I don’t revel in real life animal attacks. I never forgot as a kid being chased by a large German Shepherd, named Sabu. He didn’t get me, but I was terrified, nothing entertaining about that.
As you may know I was mostly into television, followed by movies or whatever movie had made it to TV. Before I delve into my favorite movie, let me start with an intriguing made for TV movie, Trapped, a 1973, ABC Movie of the Week. This movie was a thrill ride in animal attack galore! The handsome James Brolin, trapped in a big city department store overnight. The store was being guarded by a canine army of vicious Dobermans. This movie gave me chills. Brolin had to defend himself in the wee hours; a one man show of survival: man vs beast. I won’t give too much away just in case you find it, but this cult masterpiece is excellent. Unfortunately the movie isn’t appreciated as it should be, therefore is scarcely available. A bad print might be available on Youtube or for sale obscurely.
Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds 1963 is my all time fave animal attack film. In my opinion, no other movie had depicted this type of animal attack horror. Having finally read Daphne Du Maurier’s short story of the same title, I now have more appreciation for Daphne’s original. Alfred Hitchcock deviated greatly from the short story, but the horror remained intact. Who’d ever think that birds, the beautiful, everyday creatures we surely take for granted would attack and kill us in massive groups- and why? Which was never explained in the short story or the film. It made the horror even more intense. What Hitchcock did masterfully was weave our everyday lives in with the sheer terror of unexplained bird attacks. Tippi Hedren’s Melanie Daniels character, the spoiled rich daughter of a socialite has daddy issues and jumps into fountains naked in Europe, Rod Taylor, the alluring Mitch Brenner with whom Melanie is immediately attracted to, only Mitch’s overbearing, over protective mother, Jessica Tandy’s Lydia stands to veto any woman in Mitch’s life; just ask Susanne Pleshette’s Annie Hayworth, the town school teacher who had a past affair with Mitch. Annie ultimately succumbed to a vicious bird attack. The horror was parallel to the drama which heightened the tension. I loved it and pay homage to it in Night of the Coons, even down to The Birds final attack scene when Melanie Daniels was torn to near shreds by the angry birds. It was glorious, shot by shot, similar to Hitchcock’s iconic shower attack scene in Psycho.
Hedren couldn’t keep a hairdo or outfit intact. It was sheer entertainment, fun and campy with hint of underlying fear that this could really happen. Every time I’m walking in downtown Chicago and a pigeon swoops down and near misses me, I think of The Birds.
Like Daphne Du Maurier’s The Birds, Night Of the Coons is a short story. What I enjoyed most about Daphne’s story was it’s focus on the birds and the effect it had on the family in this England town; there was no other drama parallel to the attacks, no distraction from the terror. This is where I praise the short story. It gets right to the point. But personally I enjoy the (Already in Progress) drama that humans face in the midst of a crisis. Realistically that’s the way life is. Disasters could care less about what’s going on in our personal lives. In Night Of The Coons I borrowed from Hitchcock’s character drama. On a sweltering summer night in a Chicago neighborhood, a child is attacked and bitten by a raccoon. Tasha, the child’s neighbor is stunned by the attack, but continues on, trying to make a life with her ailing husband Clifton. Lila, the local lush and nosy neighbor from a nearby apartment building has her own alcohol induced theories regarding the child’s attack: “We’re sinners, this is the day of the animals and we’re going to pay!”
Nobody listens to Lila, especially Tasha. Tasha only intends to continue the office affair she’s having with a handsome subordinate, Rowan. Night of the Coons is fairly short. I didn’t showcase any raccoon attack scenes in this story, only one, that I crafted by full inspiration (hopefully not outright theft) from The Birds final attack scene with Ms. Hedren. A scene I’ve idolized forever. What I wrote pales in comparison, but I enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Other animal attack fiction worth mentioning:
The Deadly Bees: Film, 1967
Willard,1971 and its sequel, Ben, 1973: Films.
