[A] Please Find Me Hannah

Well; I've been away for a while, but while I was away, I got sent a fairly promising looking submission over at Unforum.

The blog's premise is, at its core, solid. Cam, the protagonist, is searching for his girlfriend Hannah, who has been taken by Slenderman. I personally like this setup, because I've been seeing a trend of protagonists who are disconnected from the people around them, to downright sociopathic. The addition of a simple human relationship just makes it so much more relevant. At least, in my eyes. A lot of these blogs really do seem to be an exercise in pure narcissism; what makes a story interesting is almost invariably the relationships, and the tension between characters. This blog recognizes that.

The blog also recognizes the importance of pacing, and dramatic timing. I'll be perfectly honest, there's not much else I can say beyond that, because it's only just starting out, and I am very tired. But this blog has all the hallmarks of a really intriguing story. It hooked me in from post one, and I feel it is a blog that could really deserve a lot of attention, even if it's only for the craftsmanship of the author's writing. Plotwise, there are some areas which are a bit suspect: How could Hannah POSSIBLY magically find a random blog on the internet? springs to mind, but I'm honestly willing to let that go, simply because it's a damn strong author sitting behind it.

Bad points? The blog uses the typical 'white text, black background' bollocks that I thought died out with Geocities. It's a small point, but that just plain annoys me about a LOT of these blogs. Yeah, I know. Slenderman's scary. You should be able to communicate that through your writing, not through burning your words into my eyelids. This is entirely me just being bitchy, but hey. Don't say it doesn't get old. The blog also utilizes a lot of the Marble Hornets/Tribe Twelve tropes, which isn't bad per-se, but I would love to see some original haunting going on. Just more than bumps in the night and nosebleeds.

Back on positives, one thing I do want to mention is the ARG aspect of this blog. Now, it's only just starting out, but I am pretty much certain that there is a lot more to the blog than meets the eye: there are just some parts of the blog which seem out of place. I haven't spent much time reading too deep into this, but it's quite clear that there is some form of code permeating the blog. I'll leave it to my readers to figure it out for themselves.

In conclusion: You don't need a hugely complicated originating premise to make a damn fine story. A lot of bloggers could take lessons from this guy: start simple, work your way out.

http://pleasefindmehannah.blogspot.com/2010/12/hannah.html

~ Sol