Cover Gallery for Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree

 

Happy October 2025!

We've got 31 days, friends! Make the best of them.

 

What I Watched in October 2024

Although I SAW THE TV GLOW (2024) is an interesting movie, it never really connected with me. That is not to say that I think it is a bad film - it’s just one that doesn’t work for me. I can see what the story is doing and I’m impressed by the goal and the style (not to mention the excellent central performance) but I was never engaged with what I was watching. To be clear, I think the fault may lie with me rather than the film itself. It is such a sad tale and told in such a detached fashion that it feels purposely distancing so maybe my reaction isn’t as off as I fear it might be. I think the last time I saw a movie so drenched in a sense of melancholia it might have been INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013) or ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004) but both of those films were easier for me to identify with and enjoy. I’m not sure if this disconnect relates more to the genre ISTTVG sits within or if it is that the depressive time of life the main character is enduring is less relatable for me now. I can imagine a younger person in their twenties having a very different reaction to this film and possibly a profound, emotional one at that. The final scene with the main character apologizing to his co-workers brought real tears to my eyes as it is the type of situation I find compelling and relatable in a heartbreaking way. That need to calm people and assure them that the fault is with you and not them is tragic and very much part of my mental makeup. The constant sense of loss the film exudes can be a painful, off-putting experience but that last scene feels emotionally right. In the end I know I will one day return to this film to see if my reaction remains the same or if anticipating that final scene colors my view of the story that leads to it. 

The List 

THE STRANGLER (1964) – 6 (solid thriller) 

ODDITY (2024) – 8 

SALEM’S LOT (2024) – 7 (wish it was longer but it is gorgeous) 

CANDYMAN (2021) – 8 (rewatch) 

SALEM’S LOT (2004) – 6 (Cable TV version isn’t bad)

BARON BLOOD (1972) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE CURSE OF THE VOODOO (1965) – 5 (rewatch)

TOWER OF EVIL (1972) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE NEANDERTHAL MAN (1953) – 4 (overwritten and overacted mad science tale) (rewatch on Blu)

THE 13TH FLOOR (1988) – 3 (Australian horror film that is mostly dull) 

THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK (1946) – 6 (is it a reincarnated witch? Maybe.) 

STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP (1946) – 6 (rewatch)

SALEM’S LOT (2024) – 7 (rewatch)

BODIES BODIES BODIES (2022) – 5 (only catches fire in the final act and never very funny) 

PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES (2023) – 4 (pretty dull and pointless) 

HALLOWEEN II (1981) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR (1969) – 6 (Tigon production is not bad)

BLACK SABBATH (1963) – 9 (rewatch on Blu) 

DRACULA – PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW (1971) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

THE PRIMEVALS (2023) – 6 (fun stop-motion adventure 50 years in the making)

I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943) – 9 (rewatch)

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1944) – 7 (rewatch) 

SHE DEVIL (1957) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) 

FINAL PRAYER (a.k.a. The Borderlands) (2013) – 7 (British found footage creeper about a team investigating a possible miracle) 

I SAW THE TV GLOW (2024) – 5 (melancholy drips from every scene and the intense sadness of the main character is palpable but it didn’t really connect with me)

THE PHANTOM SPEAKS (1945) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

THE UNKNOWN TERROR (1957) – 6 (rewatch on  Blu)

THE LADY AND THE MONSTER (1945) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

SMILE 2 (2024) – 7 

MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935) – 7 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE WITCH’S MIRROR (1962) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

DRACULA’S DAUGHTER (1936) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE MASK OF SATAN (1989) – 6 (Lamberto Bava’s version of the tale) (rewatch)

My Latest Patreon Audio Post - October Watches

I talk about four movies I've watched this October including a 1970's Bava horror film and a sleazy British offering from that same decade.

 

Happy October!

The merry month of Halloween begins!

Happy October 2022!

As you might expect, I am looking forward to the usual 31 days of Halloween fun that this fine month brings us each year! There are many activities and many movies that will keep things creepy for the next four weeks. I'll try to post fun images and new scary season podcasts here to help push things along. 

Happy October! 

Autumn Image Gallery

The most wonderful time of the year! 

Happy October !

Let's make this a fun 31 days of Halloween! 

 

Happy October!

Let the 31 days of Halloween begin! 

October Reading!

During October I usually restrict my reading to horror novels but this year I have spent the month plowing through several collections of horror short stories instead. Two different collections I was anxious to read because each has a contribution from a friend. New Fears 2 was published last year and is the second in what I hope will be an ongoing series of non-themed terror tales. Editor Mark Morris reveals in his introduction that he built this collection and its predecessor because he missed the older style of horror collections that contained many different kinds of stories. He feels that the desire to release themed anthologies often hampered the release of great work and I have to say, with the evidence in this book’s pages, that I agree with him. The fun of the wholly unpredictable nature of what kind of story I would be reading next gave me more motivation to rush on to the next one. Of course, if the stories were not very good, I might have stepped away regardless but I liked every single story presented here. I haven’t been able to say that about a horror story collection for years. Such good creepy fun! My friend Tim Lucas’ unsettling little tale was marred only by me not being able to stop picturing him as the main character. But that shouldn’t bother most readers and I recommend this book highly. 

The second collection was almost as excellent but comes from a much smaller press. In Darkness, Delight: Creatures of the Night is also the second in a series of short story collections but the first I’ve read. The very loose theme of creatures is adhered to by the various authors with much fun coming from the different forms and attitudes taken by these beings. The tales range from humorous to cruel with some new variations on old ideas and a few fresh concepts as well. Overall, I enjoyed the book with only one story really falling flat in a way that feels as if a piece of the narrative was missing. My old college buddy Frank Oreto’s odd monster tale is fantastic and IS the reason I purchased this book but there are several stories that I liked just as much – if for very different reasons! It was great to see him writing from a woman’s perspective and seeming to have a perceptive feel for that character’s life. Frank’s story serves as an amusing palate cleanser before the final trio of dark efforts reach out their tentacles to grab the reader. This is a great collection of tales and I think horror fans will enjoy it. I should try the other volume. 

Jack O'Lantern Art!

Creepy and fun! 

Happy October!

And so begins the annual 31 days of Halloween! 

Visions of The Halloween Tree

Photos from Cheekwood's Harvest Festival

Each year Nashville's Cheekwood Botanical Garden decorates for Autumn. I'm not able to make it out every year but I got to visit this past Saturday. As you can see, it was lovely!