Happy Halloween

Have A Fun And Safe Halloween, Filled With Lots of Spooky Tricks And Sweet Treats

Halloween Movies Galore!

One of my favorite things about Halloween is all the scary movies I get to watch.  I love to curl up in bed or on the couch, turn off all the lights, and get lost in a world that terrifies and entertains at the same time.  Now to be honest, I don't like most horror movies that come out anymore.  I think they go for gore instead of chills and they bore me.  I've actually been watching a lot of the old Hammer movies on TCM along with some of of Epix on Demand and my own DVDS.

I've been watching so many movies though that I'm not going to have time to do individual reviews.  So instead, I'm just going to show you I have watched to date.  Now I'm sure I'lll end up watching even more movies, all the "Halloween" movies come to mind, but these are what I have watched so far.

Plus we have watched some more family friendly movies that both Aidan and I like to watch every year.

The Sentinel by Jeffrey Konvitz

Synopsis From Back Cover:

A beautiful young model.  The old brownstone apartment she simply had to have.  The grotesque blind priest who watched down on her day and night from an upper-storey window.  The pair of perverted creatures who want her to join their circle.  The mad little old man who gave her tea and sympathy.  The cool calculating, supremely rational lover who first mocked her fears.  And the secret you will never be able to forget, even if you try...

For many years I've been  a huge fan of the 1977 movie, "The Sentinel", that was based of this book, published in 1976.  As much of a fan as I was, I had never read the book before.  Now this is mainly due to the fact that trying to find a copy is almost impossible, I finally found a battered copy at the flea market.  I normally will not buy a book in bad shape, I had not choice but to do it.  I've been sitting on the book since then, waiting for Oct. to read it and the wait was worth it.

Allison Parker has just returned to NYC after leaving town to tend her dying father.  Because of their past, Allison is still in a sort of daze after the prolonged period of time she was out of town dealing with his sickness and eventual death.  She is just relieved to be back in town and to see her boyfriend, Michael Farmer.  Naturally, he is not at home as she was expecting as he was called out of town for business.  Left to her own devices, Allison starts to look for her own apartment since she had been forced to give up her previous one due to being out of town for so long.

When she finally discovers the brownstone apartment, she falls in love with it.  She has a sense that maybe she has found home.  At first nothing seems amiss, she has been living a quiet life waiting for Michael to return back to town, then she starts meeting her neighbors.  They are rather an eccentric lot, some more menacing then others, but eventually Allison starts feeling that something is wrong with those she is sharing the building with.  She starts hearing noises in the apartment above her that is supposed to be empty.  She starts seeing things that aren't there and dwelling on a past that is best forgotten.  Before she knows it, she is plunged into a nightmare of past misdeeds, growing weakness of mind and body, and an evil that knows no bounds.

I said earlier that I'm a big fan of the movie, to be honest I wasn't thinking the book would add anything to the experience.  I can honestly say that I loved the book even more and I'm so thrilled that I finally got a chance to read it.  Now you may think that it's pretty obvious, the book is always better than the movie, that's not always the case with horror though.  Thankfully this time, the old adage rings true.  The book filled in the gaps the movie didn't quite explain.

I'm not going to get into the twists and turns of the plot, but I will say that just when you think you are starting to figure things out, the author does a brilliant job of turning the story on it's head.  This is a book that has a lot to do with the past and decisions that were made before the action starts.  Misdeeds and bad choices force the characters onto this journey and it's one where very few of them come out unscathed.  Some of them will die, others will be changed beyond recognition, and others will disappear as if they never existed.  It's a brilliant book that plays around with the notion of Good vs. Evil and the role the church plays in that battle.

On a cultural side note, it took me a bit to adjust to the way lesbians are referred to in the book.  I know this was written in the mid 70s and that times were different, but the language used to describe the two women was borderline offensive.  Actually, if this language and attitude were used in a current book, I would be offended by it and I would not have been able to finish reading it.  As it stands though, I had to remember the era the author was working in and brush my reaction aside and chalk it up to a more ignorant time.  While it did distract me for a bit, it didn't ruin the book for me.  Thankfully, I was able to move on and enjoy the suspense and atmosphere the author created.


This book is going to qualify for 2 different challenge; R.I.P V Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Dropping and the Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Book Chick City.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Linus Van Pelt

One of my favorite Halloween movies to watch, the one I can't miss no matter what, is It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  I've loved the movie (TV special) since I was a kid and Halloween never feels the same without it.  My only beef with the movie is that instead of Charlie's name in the title, it should have been Linus' name.  Linus Van Pelt is the real hero of the movie.

I think of all the characters in the Peanuts universe, Linus Van Pelt was the one I always seemed to gravitate towards.  Charlie, as adorable as he is, always seemed a little too whiny for my taste and I never got the Snoopy/Woodstock fascination my mother had.  Now Pig Pen would come in a close second but that's only because I liked all the dirt floating around him.

What I like most about Linus is his intellect.  He is by far the smartest of the group and isn't afraid to show that side of him to the others.  He never rubs it in their face but Linus seems to have a mind capable of exploring deeper subjects, including philosophy, history, and religion.  For some reason I thought all kids should be like him and I never failed to live up to his example.  Which by the way, totally annoyed my mom when I would open up my mouth and put my two cents into what ever was being discussed.  I got so bad I would ask my mom a question I knew the answer to because I wanted to let everyone know I was smarter than them.  Thankfully I grew out of that phase pretty quickly, but the blanket thing took a little longer.

Now my blanket wasn't blue like Linus' was.  Instead it was a white blanket with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto at a county fair.  They were eating ice cream cones and there was even a Ferris Wheel on there.  I loved that blanket and for a while, like Linus, never felt secure without it.  It took on properties of it's own and I was heartbroken when my mom finally threw it away (that trauma can wait for another post though), I'm not sure I have ever forgiven her for that.

Everything I love about Linus can be summed up in his relationship with The Great Pumpkin.  Linus never losses faith in his beliefs, even when he is being ridiculed by others.  He truly believes that The Great Pumpkin will reward him if he has the most sincere pumpkin patch and yet when things don't turn out his way, he never totally loses that faith.  Linus shows courage and a strong sense of self throughout the ordeal and I've always admired that about it.  He knows who he is at such a young age and he doesn't let doubt or ridicule change that.

So far all of those who have never seen the movie or haven't watched it in a long time, please take the time this year and treat yourself to a wonderful story and an even better hero.

The Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham

Synopsis From Back Cover:

When Teddy Mathews moves to Richland, his main concern is making new friends.  But something is not right about this quiet desert town:  All the boys he meets seem to vanish before hie eyes, while the imposing shadows of the giant tree outside his home appear to be hiding more than darkness.

With the branches of the massive sycamore scratching at his window, Teddy's life becomes a waking nightmare that no one else believes.  Can Teddy escape the tree's terrifying grasp and solve the mystery of the missing boys before he becomes the next boy to disappear?

I've been debating whether or not I wanted to stop reviewing YA until my son is a little older to read them.  It seems that for the most part I either really like them or can do without.  I think I'm going to have to keep reading them if they are anything like The Dead Boys.

This book is only 201 pages, but where it lacks in length it more than makes it up in storytelling.  It's not every boy that can move to a new town and deal with a tree that is trying to eat him.  Teddy is a strong young man who rather than hiding and being scared by the events surrounding him, decides to get to the bottom of it.  From his first encounter with one of the missing boys, Teddy is determined to figure out why his new "friends" keep disappearing and why things don't quite add up.

Part of the reason why I wanted to read this book was because I've always been rather fascinated by "vampire" stories that don't quite fit into the typical mold.  Two of my favorite short stories are about trees, "The Man-Eating Tree" by Phil Robinson and "The Sumach" by Ulric Daubeny both feature trees that feed off non traditional sources.  The Dead Boys smoothly fits into that tradition and I'm looking forward to the day Aidan reads this all by himself.

This book is going to qualify for 2 different challenge; R.I.P V Challenge hosted by Stainless Steel Dropping and the Thriller & Suspense Reading Challenge 2010 hosted by Book Chick City.

Mailbox Monday for 10/25/10

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme created by Marcia of The Printed Page and being hosted this month by Avis at She Reads And Reads.

I won a hard cover of The Reversal by Michael Connelly from a BBAW daily giveaway.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Peter Vincent

Now how can I not like a man named after two of my favorite horror actors, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price? Peter Vincent has to be one of the most unique vampire hunters to ever grace the big screen, he is my favorite character from Fright Night. A down on his luck actor who has resorted to hosting a local TV show featuring B horror movie, ala Elvira, Peter has come to a point in his life where he is ready to pack it in and let life do it's thing. When he meets Charlie Brewster, a young man convinced a vampire just moved in next door, a skeptical Peter is pushed into a nightmare that brings him back to life.

A bumbling, reluctant hero in the beginning, Peter has to overcome his own fears and insecurities before he is able to help Charlie defeat the vampire and save the day.  It's that journey that makes Peter such an interesting character to watch.  His development into the hero is such a transformation that you have to respect the inner strength it took for him to face his fears and his self doubts, to emerge a stronger character.  If I ever need to go hunt vampires I'll be taking Buffy and Peter with me.