Dead Man's Bones

From the amazing, beautiful, haunting album DEAD MAN'S BONES. Bought it a few days ago and I can't stop listening to it. It's perfection from beginning to end.


Click on pic for video.


*

October 1

60 degrees outside today. Windows cracked. Watched The Thing, Suspiria, & Halloween. It has begun.


*

Haunted

I'm a huge fan of the short lived series Dead Like Me. I loved the concept and grew to adore the quirky, troubled characters. I've seen every episode at least a few times, and was delighted when the straight to DVD movie came out. (While I wasn't too happy about the new Daisy, I was more than happy to be back in their world.)

The episode "Haunted" takes place on Halloween night. I'm particularly fond of it because you get to see all the houses decorated for Halloween - something that doesn't happen all that often in TV shows or movies. Kids are running about in costumes, candy is flowing, and pumpkins and jack o'lanterns abound. There are spider webs stretched across doors and windows, giant spiders, skeletons hanging from trees and even a yard haunt or two. Also, the story of the episode is pretty damn cool.


You can watch the episode here. I hope you do.

Also, look for Emily Perkins from Ginger Snaps. She has a brief part.


*

Electric Halloween

Happy Halloween

*

It Is Almost Here

*

Hey, I Know Those Faces...

I found a blog the other day that is using one of my photos as it's header. It works well as a header...I wish I'd thought of that!



Four of my pumpkins from last Halloween!:
Seritan's Musings


*

Halloween ABC

I bought this book over ten years ago and it's a favorite in my collection (I've been collecting children's Halloween books for about 20 years now). The little poems are wonderfully macabre and the illustrations are playful and beautiful.

Halloween ABC
Poems by Eve Marriam
Illustrations by Lane Smith






*

Another Please

My dad only drinks Miller High Life. I generally stay away from it (I like the darker stuff), but come Halloween time...it's a whole different story.



(Yes, I drink it because of the cool can.)

*

Halloween 4

The opening sequence of Halloween 4 has some of the best Halloween imagery I've ever seen.

That Screaming in the Background Is Just My Lullaby

Horror movies are a major part of my life (obviously, seeing as this blog exists). Probably 80% of everything I watch is a part of the horror genre. They are an element in my life that, no matter what is happening, I can count on and I often take comfort in them. The following is a list of what I call my "comfort movies." Whenever I've had a bad day, feel sad, have a major stressful or painful event, I find myself turning to these movies for comfort again and again. They are like a great big security blanket that wraps me away from the world.

But bad things don't necessarily have to happen for me to watch them, sometimes it's just that I want to feel something familiar -homey. These films, for whatever reason, feel like home to me. I never tire of watching them. They are never far from the DVD player, and I even own some on VHS.

Now, all that said, it doesn't mean that all these films are winners...not all of them are examples of fine cinema, though several of them are.

Here they are in no particular order.



THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, 1973

The whole atmosphere of this film is fantastic. The cinematography is gorgeous and conveys the mood and feel of the film perfectly. I find myself constantly pausing it so I can take in the unique frame of a shot. The opening theme music is some of my favorite in the horror genre.





BLOOD MOON (AKA WOLF GIRL), 2001

This is actually one of my main comfort movies. I played it over and over again one weekend when I had a terrible headache and didn't get out of bed. Even as I lay with my eyes closed, I followed along with the dialogue, listened to th music, and saw the scenes play out in my mind.

Unfortunately, the trailer for this unknown gem is misleading. While it is technically in the horror genre, it is more of a drama set in a standard horror frame -a traveling freak show. It has several musical numbers (strange, I know) with Tim Curry and Grace Jones as performers in the show. I'd kill, or pay a very large sum, to have this soundtrack, but to my knowledge (and ALOT of internet searching) there isn't one.

The movie is beautiful, very original (how often do you see that these days?), well acted, and very genuine. It has a big heart without ever being sentimental or cheesy.





SUSPIRIA, 1977

The original trailers for this were, well, awful. This is a fan made trailer that is much more representative of the feel and mood of the film. Also, it showcases GOBLIN's absolutely flawless score which belongs to horror's movie score canon.





THE BEYOND, 1981

Fulci at his best, in my opinion. The ending shot is to die for.





THE SHINING, 1980

This is my all time favorite movie... ever. It's PERFECT. I've included the trailer (goddamn! I love love love this trailer), and the breathtaking opening sequence which is vast, beautiful, and bone chilling at the same time. Talk about feeling small and isolated.

Trailer




Opening Credits





Halloween III: Season of the Witch, 1982

What can I say? I love everything about this movie. It gets quoted at my house alot. LOVE the opening sequence. Cochran is one of my favorite villains of all time. And yes, I own the "special edition" score.





Fright Night, 1985

I think I have every line in this movie memorized. Also another bootlegged score in my collection.





DEEP RED, 1975

Another fabulous score by GOBLIN. I couldn't decide which trailer to feature since they are both fabulous in their own way. So, here are both.

The original Italian trailer



The American trailer





DAY OF THE DEAD, 1985

My favorite Romero. Is that wrong?





THE HAUNTING, 1963

I think this is the greatest haunted house movie ever made. No special effects here... just scary as hell.





GRAVEYARD SHIFT, 1990

Stephen Macht as the psycho boss Warwick steals the entire movie.





MACABRE, 1980

Okay, so this one is, well, a little embarrassing. All horror fans have some movie like this...the dirty little indulgent secret kept in the back of the closet...that one movie we absolutely adore but would never tell other horror fans for fear of being shunned. It's cheesy, uneventful, and just plain stupid...and I love it. The build up is unbloody and the climax is ridiculous. And I just watched it again as I wrote out this blog entry. (I also watched Suspiria while making this list.) Note: There is nudity in this trailer.

When Networks Were Cool

I miss local stuff like this (though, I'm not from Albany).

a different kind of blog

i've decided to challenge myself to create some kind of halloween art every single day. i'll be chronicling my endeavor at thepumpkinhollow.blogspot.com*. check in once in a while and let me know what you think!

***the link above has been corrected! (linked to wrong blog before.)

i'll stop trick or treating when i'm dead

i love this photo by diane arbus.

Dr. Loomis, you say the nicest things...

For fans who love the movie Halloween, a little something to play with:

Dr. Loomis Soundboard

Trick or Treat

The creator of this little short, Michael Dougherty, has a movie coming out in October titled Trick or Treat. I haven't looked forward to a film this much for a very long time (though now I have two, this one and Rob Zombie's Halloween).