What kept you so long?

For discussion of the horror anthology containing John Ajvide Lindqvist's story What Kept You So Long?
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JoBergB
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What kept you so long?

Post by JoBergB » Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:13 pm

Hi everyone

This is my very first post since joining. I have been a huge fan of LTROI since reading the book last year and its subsequent subplot LTODD and seeing the Swedish film. It's fantastic to see such a big fan base here.
Anyway tonight I had the real pleasure of reading another piece of the LTROI/LTODD universe going by the name of "What kept you so long?" It's in a vampire anthology just released called 'Seize The Night'. And I have to say I wasn't disappointed!
I won't give away anything but I will say for those who have wondered about the main characters in LTODD 'Karin' and 'Stefan' may have their theories confirmed.
Has anyone else read this story yet? If so, what do you think?
Last edited by JoBergB on Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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dongregg
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by dongregg » Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:31 pm

Hi JoBergB. Welcome to the forum. There's a ton of stuff going on all the time. Can't wait to read more of your posts.
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

JoBergB
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by JoBergB » Thu Oct 08, 2015 8:52 pm

dongregg wrote:Hi JoBergB. Welcome to the forum. There's a ton of stuff going on all the time. Can't wait to read more of your posts.
Thank you for the welcome! There's so much here it's mind boggling!
Do read 'Seize the night' when you can.

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dongregg
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by dongregg » Thu Oct 08, 2015 9:49 pm

Yeah, it sounds like a good follow up to LTODD, which I think is one of the best short stories I've ever read.
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

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cmfireflies
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by cmfireflies » Sun Oct 11, 2015 6:47 pm

hey JoBergB welcome to the forum.

I have a crazy theory about What Keep You So Long and how it connects to both Let the Old Dreams Die and Let the Right One In.

What if Karin and Stefan went to Barcelona and were infected by Oskar and Eli. They could be the "crazy old Swedish couple referenced in What Keep You So Long.
"When is a monster not a monster? Oh, when you love it."

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seigezunt
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by seigezunt » Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:10 pm

Haven't read yet, but my first thought was, "What's he going to do when he runs out of phrases from that Morrissey song for titles?"

I kid, I kid.
"She can fly, she has amazing and horrifying powers, she isn’t exactly a boy or a girl, she can’t come inside unless she’s invited ... and she loves him. That’s enough."

--Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com


My LTROI Pinterest Board

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a_contemplative_life
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by a_contemplative_life » Sun Nov 15, 2015 2:42 pm

Read this story, and really enjoyed another dose of JAL vampire fiction. Great twist ending! Looking forward to reading the rest of Seize the Night.
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metoo
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by metoo » Sun Nov 15, 2015 4:18 pm

cmfireflies wrote:What if Karin and Stefan went to Barcelona and were infected by Oskar and Eli. They could be the "crazy old Swedish couple referenced in What Keep You So Long.
Yes, of course.

What might be interesting is what this tells us about Oskar and Eli. And how did S&K manage to find O&E? Well, of course I've got an idea about that...
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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lombano
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by lombano » Thu Dec 31, 2015 9:27 pm

I thought it was only OK. I liked that neither Oskar and Eli, nor Karin and Stefan, appeared directly in it. I've never much liked that kind of epilogue. However, I didn't feel much sympathy for or interest in the narrator, and I saw the twist coming, and I could see that there would be a twist miles away, though the end in itself was good - both refreshingly different and an interesint nod to Virginia and the novel's vampire woman. Also, I didn't like the thing about the woman's visions - it felt like mumbo jumbo, a bit of supernatural hand-waving, rather than the minimalistic, judicious use of the impossible and the fantastic in most of JAL's work. It would've felt more realistic if there had been no backstory to the woman at all - a bit like Alfredson's view of Haakan's backstory, it's the sort of thing that I feel you either only barely hint, or devote a lot of space to to do it justice, and the latter would've probably required extending it to a short novel.
Bli mig lite.

Sonmi452
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Re: What kept you so long?

Post by Sonmi452 » Thu Oct 06, 2022 6:29 pm

Hi all, I recently discovered the LtROI novel and sequel short stories after having seen the original Swedish movie - AND LOVED IT - years ago. Excellent in both mediums. Off to see the new stage production in Manchester next month too...

Anyway, I'm being really dumb here. Can someone explain the ending of 'What Took You So Long?' to me. Is the hitchhiker also a vampire but one who has decided to kill other vampires? Or is she an uninfected person who had a vision that set her on the path to becoming a vampire slayer?

Thanks!

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