Possibly more than anything else I
adore how these final holiday laced months of the year allow us the
opportunity to twist fairly mundane activities into something
special. Watching a terrible movie in November for instance becomes a
special cinematic turkey. In a similar fashion, the local library
book sale can become a hunt for long forgotten horror literature
which will give an additional chill to October nights. That exact
book sale has been a part of my Halloween festivities for years now.
Sometimes I bring home such a massive haul I can easily base a whole
post on it. Other years however, it's tough to find even a few
worthwhile titles. Add to that a missing in action mystery box, and I
find myself at loss for good blog material this week. Still; when
life gives you lemons, you hastily toss together a grab bag article
and hope nobody minds.
Since the loss of our local used book
store this past Summer cut off easy access to classic horror fiction,
I entered this book sale with high hopes that I'd find some nice
entries from Graham Masterton, Frank De Felitta, or hell, I'd even
take Whitley Strieber in a pinch. Sadly despite the massive offering
of books on display I hardly found anything of interest be it horror
or otherwise. Suppose I shouldn't complain too much as I've still got
novels from previous sales withering on the book shelf. Let's check
out my slim pickings for this year.
Curfew: My first find of the night is
the classic sort of oversized small town terror piece, complete with
praise from Stephen King. Props should be given to whoever wrote the
back jacket description as it was interesting enough to pull me in
without giving offering a damn clue as to what it's about. Whole
thing could be about man eating teddy bears for all I know. Looking
it up online there seems to be some dribble about new-age mystics and
evil spirits. Sounds good enough for me.
The Relic: Here's the one I'm most
likely to read this month. I've watched the movie at least
half-a-dozen times or so as I find it to be one of the more solid
high-budget horror flicks of the 90's. From what I know, like most
films based on books, the events on page are substantially different
and potentially better. At least I know what I'm getting in to here.
Inheritance: All I've got to go on
here is that it's some kind of revenge scheme thriller involving
telekinetic children.
House of Menace: The description for
this one is so vague that it may actually be a romance novel. It was
late in the sale, and I was desperate. If nothing else the cover art
makes for a good laugh. The house is so manacling it makes decent
god-fearing folk gasp just by looking at it.
Scorpius: The only non-horror/thriller
entry this year is one of the post Fleming, James Bind novels. I've
never taken the time to read any Bond titles outside of the original
series but I figured it's worth spending a quarter to find out if
they're any good. I highly doubt this will provide as many
eye-popping instances of misogyny and racism as the classic books so
it probably won't read as much like a high class mad-lib.
While my poor luck at book hunting was
a bit of a downer, there was something that capped of this week in
style. As part of some initiative to inspire town pride and what not,
the city decided to launch fireworks after the last home game of the
season. Lucky for yours truly the football field is within my
backyard skyline allowing a splendid opportunity to sit back with
some hooch and watch the show without ever leaving the comfort of my
pajamas. Props to the town on this show. While not a massive event,
they put far more money and effort into the proceedings than I would
have imagined. My vantage point added the bonuses of water
reflections and terrified ducks fleeing for their lives. Fireworks
aren't something regularly associated with this season but if the
town decides to continue this display as a regular event, I'll gladly
stock up on beer and light a fire in the backyard every autumn.
When not out looking for smelly books
or viewing pyromania, I've been participating in viewing a horror
flick every night. Can't recall how many years I've been doing this,
though I will say there's no plan to stop anytime soon. Part of the
fun of the horrorthon is balancing old standbys with new goodies and
the occasional oddball title. For me that means there's a larger than
normal amount of movies arriving in the mail, or simply nabbed off
the cheap rack at Wal-Mart. Within the past couple of weeks I've
inducted a spread of titles ranging from the newest Chucky to the
lackluster virtual reality opus The Lawnmower Man. Really
looking forward to showcasing the latter to my nephew so he might
finally understand why I snort whenever people bring up the topic of
VR.
Fueling those light night fright
flicks are these new Mystery Flavor Oreo Cookies. Actually I feel
fairly confident in knowing what the flavor is. I won't reveal it
here so as not to color anyone's expectations. If you're on the fence
I will let it be known that they're fruity, and honestly kinda
awesome.
It's sort of odd that Nabisco chose
October to release these cookies as there's nothing objectively
spooky or festive about them in any way. They could just as easily
brought them out in any other season without issue, though I'm happy
to have one more treat to make this month special.
And let's call that and end to
tonight's ramblings as I still have to still in for the customary
viewing of a Friday the 13th flick. Let's face it, the
night just wouldn't be complete without watching a guy with a
misshapen head terrorize the double-mint twins.
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