It's no secret that I go
on and on about holiday traditions. Partly this is just me enjoying
the few opportunities to boast but there's also the joy of sharing
personal traditions that aren't universally available. Some people
make a habit of visiting Halloween Horror Nights, others hold
house-parties, I personally like to visit the local library book
sale. This has been major fixture of October for maybe six or seven
years so far. Mainly I use it as a chance hunt down out-of-print
horror and pulp novels but am glad to include any interesting relics
that cross my path. Some years are full of great finds, others
require a bit more effort to bring home something decent. This time
the sale had the added benefit of making up for an unexpected bit of
body augmentation. I suppose celebrating the month of fright in a
manner befitting Frankenstein isn't such a bad idea but I sincerely
hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence. Sit right back and
you'll hear a tale, a tale of teeth and books.
Lately I've been staying
up far too late before getting to bed and today was no different. It
was nearly eight in the morning when I decided to brush my teeth and
hit the hay. Near the end of scrubbing the old purely whites I hit
something between the upper front incisors. After applying additional
pressure something came loose, leaving a hole in the back of my
tooth. Turns out a filling was loose and took the opportunity to pop
out.
At first I thought I'd
get some sleep and then get up and call some dentists but wouldn't ya
know it's incredibly tough to get to dreamland when your body has
turned into a Cronenberg movie. Imagining myself as the next
Brundlefly I got on the phone and called a nearby dental clinic that
accepts my terrible insurance. Problem is nobody would answer the
damn call. Next I decided to call my former dentist who had installed
these fillings in the first place.
Given the chance to to
come in and get fixed up I headed over on this perfectly crisp and
cloudy full day. Upon getting in the chair I asked the dentist to
check another spot I was concerned about and it turns out there was a
second missing filling. Actually heard the phrase “why won't these
stay in there?” Nice to know my mouth can mystify a professional.
Mercifully they stood by their work and put in the replacements for
free. Now I can break in these free new chompers with some Halloween
candy.
After some late and
much-needed sleep I was finally able to check out the book sale.
While far from the biggest selection this year had some real treats.
Everything's so crammed together that you always walk away thinking
you missed something important. This feeling is even worse when you
only have so much cash on hand, which is why I have to return for a
tome of local history and maybe the biography of Michael Cain. For
now let's just entertain ourselves with the primary haul.
In paperbacks there are
three solid looking horror tales. The Vamphyri! is the second
installment of Brian Lumley's Necroscope series. I've only
ever read about a quarter of the first novel before getting
sidetracked by something else but what little I'd taken in has stayed
with me since. The whole franchise is a mix of international
espionage with ghosts, magic, and monsters. Wouldn't be surprised to
see it transformed into a show at some point as peak TV mines ever
deeper for new content.
Witch Child is the
one that has me really excited. Didn't have to know anything about it
after seeing that cover and the Zebre publishing logo. They were one
of the biggest pushers during the horror paperback boom of the 70's
and 80's which makes anything like this an item of note. Likewise
have very little clue about Animals but a cover like this
isn't likely to let me down.
When it comes to
hardcovers I was lucky enough to stumble across some Time Life
Enchanted World books. These were a big deal for kids of a
certain age. Personally I used to take them out of the library before
I was even able to read thanks to the amount of badass art contain in
each volume. Of the three available I stuck with Tales of Terror
as the other two were more bright and romantic subject matter.
Next we have The
Vampire Hunter's Casebook, a collection of vampiric short stories
that had to come home for one reason. Among the selection of unknown
tales, and public domain outings is The Night Stalker. That
may not stand out to everyone but as the first story of Carl Kolchak,
famously brought to life on screen by Darrin McGavin, I had to have
it. Out of everything I picked up this is the most likely to be read
this month thanks to its short length. Otherwise I have to read stuff
for school which is just so boring.
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| Yes, I decorate DVD racks too. |
I was also lucky enough
to get a few dvds for a pittance. One is a collection of drive-in
trash, some of which I already own, but for a buck who's gonna
complain about a few repeats? Then there's Wolf, the
big-budget Jack Nicholson werewolf flick. I've somehow avoided
routinely forgotten about this one over the decades and had
considered buying a blu-ray to finally check it out. Now here it is
well-ahead of the full-moon when I regularly view a night of werewolf
cinema. Lastly is the infamous remake of The Wicker Man which
I'm stashing for use as a Thanksgiving cinematic turkey.
Any day when you can get
some good books, cheap movies, and a few new body parts is pretty
successful in my book. Time to relax and attempt to finish Super
Metroid, watch something spooky, and maybe do a little
schoolwork. There should be an update during the weekend and maybe
another early next week. As for you Super Sentai fans, recaps
will resume though it may not be until after Halloween depending on a
few factors. That's all for tonight folks.
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