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I really love your point that romance and horror share many features, and that what distinguishes them is how the beloved feels about the grand gestures by the lover.

I’m assuming you’ve seen the Hitchcock film? Robert Walker’s performance as Bruno is one of the best portrayals of a psychopath I have ever seen—initially charming and attractive, and then ruthless and terrifying.

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I have but not in a very long time! I'm probably going to watch a lot of the Highsmith adaptations once I finish the novels they're based on.

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I have never made a connection before between Dostoevsky and Strangers. It is fascinating to think about. I can only go by the movie though. Never read the book.

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It's been so long since I've seen the movie that I couldn't say if there's much of it in there.

The book is very internal, though, which is where most of the Dostoevsky connections came from, at least for me.

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Excellent commentary, nice personal connection.

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Jun 18·edited Jun 18Liked by radicaledward

Highsmith was also an amazing short story writer- "The Animal's Book of Beastly Murder" is an astounding collection of murders committed by non-human beings.

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