Reflecting on The Goblin Tunnels

I was asked how The Goblin Tunnels series has helped me in my writing.

For those of you unfamiliar with The Goblin Tunnels, I will fill you in: The Goblin Tunnels began as a series of photographs on Convozine (a site which no longer exists) by Victor Garibaldi and was continued by Éric Soucy.   It is a photo-series that depicts an alternate dimension accessible through public underground tunnels.  I have lent my writing to some of their work.  You can find the series here.

When I began writing for The Goblin Tunnels, I never thought about the genre it fit into.  I simply tried to incorporate the same mood Victor and Éric's photos contained and went with that.  I have always been one to feel art first and then try to explain it with words.  I often search for the perfect song to help me write in whatever mood I'm in or need.

Thinking back, the series has helped me:

• explore different themes and formats (including plays, letters and diary entries) as well as other stories (such as Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness) that led and lead to my creating a new story
• open my eyes to my surroundings (including colors, shapes, historical architecture, graffiti, etc.) and to environments I had previously taken for granted or ignored, like subway systems

Thanks to The Goblin Tunnels, I am writing more realistically, including the good and the bad as well as adding details people don't notice or forget as they live day-to-day.   


It was only in taking a science fiction course that it dawned on me that The Goblin Tunnels is a science fiction series because of the parallel universe trope.  With this epiphany and my newly acquired knowledge of the genre, I have more stories to investigate, analyze and use for the series.  The Goblin Tunnels continues to push me to look for new ideas and to be inventive.

 



Sources:

*The images used in this post are the property of Éric Soucy and have been used with his permission.