Why Ghostface?

Use this forum to discuss the December 2018 Book of the month "The Face of Fear" by RJ Torbert
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dhomespot
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Re: Why Ghostface?

Post by dhomespot »

While "Ghost Face" may have grabbed my attention to the book, I usually forget about the cover once I am deep into the story.
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Post by JuliaKay »

The cover of the book did not work for me, and I had a real hard time getting past it. I don't think it was necessarily meant to be associated with the movie, but that is certainly the first thing that came to mind.
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Post by Susmita Biswas »

I think the writer chose ghost face because of we all scare of ghosts and it's an unknown face of fear.
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Post by Timjim »

The cover actually put me off. It was the reviews that rekindled my interest. So I don't think the cover is entirely suitable.
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Post by Timjim »

briellejee wrote: 02 Dec 2018, 03:45 The reference to the Scream films might have captured Scream fans but people who are not into the horror genre might skip this book without even knowing that it is not what they think it is.
Totally right! I thought it was all horror. I was ready to dump it before I saw the reviews which helped a bit.
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Post by Lisa A Rayburn »

I agree with several other of the reviewers that the author created the illustration and copyrighted the term "ghost face." However, given it's (now) close association to the "Scream" franchise I think it would instantly turn some readers (including me) away from even considering reading the book. He definitely could have put more thought into what he wanted as the cover of a new book.
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Post by Sonya Nicolaidis »

I feel that Ghost Face has evolved to become synonymous with all things terrifying and spine-chilling, and is not necessarily limited to the supernatural. I also found it interesting about the author helping to design this image in the first place. As far as I am concerned, it is one image that I find truly scary and so can understand why the author would choose it as the cover image.
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Post by DakotaA »

While it is intriguing it is also misleading.
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Post by Cheshire_wolf »

M Zee wrote: 01 Dec 2018, 19:31 Considering how closely the iconic mask is associated with the Scream films, do you think using the image (and the masked killer of the same name) on the book cover helps the book?

Does the association have any tie-in to the films? Or could it have been *any* kind of mask/image for the killer in the book?
In all honesty, the cover caught my attention and it was indeed similar to the scream Ghostface. But you know once I read the back cover I realized it was completely irrelevant to the movie. And that's okay, I wasn't expecting it to be like it at all. I think the cover is just fine, I mean you're going to find similar covers or parts of covers in one or several different books nowadays.
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Post by randompersonavility »

I think to add thrill to the story. Also, I was fascinated by the cover because I liked the Scream movies so I wss excited to have this book on my bookshelve!
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Post by NuelUkah »

M Zee wrote: 01 Dec 2018, 19:31 Considering how closely the iconic mask is associated with the Scream films, do you think using the image (and the masked killer of the same name) on the book cover helps the book?

Does the association have any tie-in to the films? Or could it have been *any* kind of mask/image for the killer in the book?
I think it helped the book since the murderer used that mask. Portraying the mask on the book cover will cause some people to misunderstand the content of the book and intention of the author.
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Post by hala-elnagy »

The cover is good but it could be better than this.
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Post by srividyag1 »

Sunday diamond wrote: 02 Dec 2018, 15:35 Though I haven't read the book, but I think the reason for ghost face was to create interest in the heart of horror book reader
Ya I haven't read the book either and I agree. I also read that the author created the ghost-face design and coined the term "ghost-face". Probably he wanted to use something that's exclusively his, and give it a story, though from the reviews, I realise that the story isn't in the lines of horror, though the mask is being used.
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Post by mamilla93 »

I think they were trying to use the popularity of the Scream film franchise, because there is no other direct connection.
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Post by frowngoclownfish »

Vscholz wrote: 02 Dec 2018, 22:17 According to the author's bio on Amazon, he helped create/design the mask. It makes sense that he would use what might be his most widely known design. Even though it is primarily associated with the Scream franchise, I don't know that the author could get the same reaction with a different cover. Or maybe he is trying to reclaim it in some way?
I thought I had read somewhere that an author doesn't usually get to pick the cover for their books. I could be wrong. I can dream up things that I believe are true for weeks! I was going to say something along the lines of, "Maybe he didn't get to help with the cover design. The publisher or some third party might have made the choice." But after reading this, maybe he did have a hand in the cover. Or maybe he was allowed to use Ghostface as the cover because he had helped create the initial design.
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