October: 31 Days of Horror

[dannyboy121070]

No relation to the Wilson book, but I made the same assumption when I first heard of the series.

[Martin]

I think you'll like it, but try to avoid spoilers. I hate that people seem to feel these days that it's fine to post spoilers without warning a day or two after a movie opens or a TV show premieres. I won't spoil what I've seen of MIDNIGHT MASS here, but I'll give you a censored example of what I encountered yesterday, before I watched the fifth episode:

I was checking my phone for a text from my son, and I scrolled over to my newsfeed, which is literally nothing but news about comics, movies, wrestling, and Horror, and there's a headline that says

"Why was (blank) still (blank) in the (blank) during the (blank) in episode 5 of Midnight Mass?"

EXCEPT THEY DIDN'T SAY BLANK...THEY HAD FULL SPOILERS IN THE HEADLINE.

I fucking hate that.

The new VENOM film opened Thursday night, and by Friday morning, someone on the radio blared out the contents of the post-credits scene, and I've since seen about 50 different articles online spoiling it. Ugh.

Anyway...yeah, watch MIDNIGHT MASS. I have two episodes left, and then I'm going to watch THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, which we skipped because of mixed reviews. MM and HILL HOUSE are both excellent, so I'm finally going to dig into BLY, reviews be damned.

So far I have seen no spoilers, just people praising it. I literally know nothing about the story. I know that there is a novel, of the same name, from F.P. Wilson. In fact I have the book. I believe I received it in CD grab bag. I have never read the book and am not even sure that the series has anything to do with the book.

[dannyboy121070]

I think you'll like it, but try to avoid spoilers. I hate that people seem to feel these days that it's fine to post spoilers without warning a day or two after a movie opens or a TV show premieres. I won't spoil what I've seen of MIDNIGHT MASS here, but I'll give you a censored example of what I encountered yesterday, before I watched the fifth episode:

I was checking my phone for a text from my son, and I scrolled over to my newsfeed, which is literally nothing but news about comics, movies, wrestling, and Horror, and there's a headline that says

"Why was (blank) still (blank) in the (blank) during the (blank) in episode 5 of Midnight Mass?"

EXCEPT THEY DIDN'T SAY BLANK...THEY HAD FULL SPOILERS IN THE HEADLINE.

I fucking hate that.

The new VENOM film opened Thursday night, and by Friday morning, someone on the radio blared out the contents of the post-credits scene, and I've since seen about 50 different articles online spoiling it. Ugh.

Anyway...yeah, watch MIDNIGHT MASS. I have two episodes left, and then I'm going to watch THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR, which we skipped because of mixed reviews. MM and HILL HOUSE are both excellent, so I'm finally going to dig into BLY, reviews be damned.

[Martin]

Day three:

I kept going on UNTCIGAHUNK, which is in the home stretch. (At least the novel is....There are a lot of related short stories after it.)

I started a reread of CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN BY JEPH LOEB AND TIM SALE, a hardcover collection of the early 90s miniseries that blew me away when I first read it. I include it here because one of the Challengers becomes involved in black magic, lending a bit of a Horror tint to the tale. Sixty pages in, and it is holding up very well.

challunknown_loeb_sale_5aff2c4143e3e4.49996776.jpg?itok=7Ntnai_E.jpg

My Wife and I are in the home stretch of the Netflix mini-series MIDNIGHT MASS, which I can't recommend enough. The story sits firmly in the sweet spot of my all-time favorite Horror trope, one which I never get sick of, but which I'll refrain from talking about here because of potential spoilers.

Midnight Mass has received so much good press I may have to give it a try.

[dannyboy121070]

Day three:

I kept going on UNTCIGAHUNK, which is in the home stretch. (At least the novel is....There are a lot of related short stories after it.)

I started a reread of CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN BY JEPH LOEB AND TIM SALE, a hardcover collection of the early 90s miniseries that blew me away when I first read it. I include it here because one of the Challengers becomes involved in black magic, lending a bit of a Horror tint to the tale. Sixty pages in, and it is holding up very well.

challunknown_loeb_sale_5aff2c4143e3e4.49996776.jpg?itok=7Ntnai_E.jpg

My Wife and I are in the home stretch of the Netflix mini-series MIDNIGHT MASS, which I can't recommend enough. The story sits firmly in the sweet spot of my all-time favorite Horror trope, one which I never get sick of, but which I'll refrain from talking about here because of potential spoilers.

[Martin]

Universal Classic monsters Disk One: Dracula
I will start with the movie. The restoration is very well done. The clarity is great and looks original. No signs of digital conversions. They also keep the original aspect ratio rather than try for force it to be wide screen. Having not seen this movie in over 30 years I had little recollection. I had also not read the book the last time I saw the movie. I was pleasantly surprised at how true they were to the original story.
Extras: Three documentaries. 1. The Road to Dracula - featured commentary from descendants of the movie. Some interesting tidbits but nothing to write home about. 2. Lugosi: The Dark Prince - At first I was not sure I would like this as it delved into the Lugosi vs Karloff narrative that has been played in my opinion. It did move into Lugosi's career and was pretty interesting. The most interesting point for me was his son explaining the decision to bury him in his cape. I wish they would have given the contributors more time with each piece though. One example was Ramsey Campbell would come on screen and start talking about a point and would get less than a minute. This was repeated several times. I would have preferred fewer contributors for each subject. 3. Dracula The Restoration - talks about the effort to restore the film. It was interesting.
The original trailer for each Universal Dracula film is included as well as a slideshow of Dracula promotion materials. Good stuff.

Content I did not look at:
The 1931 Spanish version of the film.
The film with an alternate score.
Two different versions with commentary.

I enjoyed Disc One. Disc Two is Frankenstein

[Dave1442397]

I'm just starting Certain Dark Things, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

[dannyboy121070]

STL175611.jpg

VAMPIRESS CARMILLA #2...a vast improvement on the first issue. The stories still lack the twist ending that they keep trying for, but the overall quality of the writing and art was encouraging.

[dannyboy121070]

Continuing on, and reading the first issue of Warrant's VAMPIRESS CARMILLA magazine. I love the idea behind the Warrant Comics. They're intended to invoke the spirit of the old Warren magazines like CREEPY and EERIE, but they usually fall far short. This was no exception. The stories are so old-fashioned and predictable that I'm almost embarrassed to read them. On the plus side, there's some nice art, and I'm listening to the batshit crazy Keith Emerson score to Dario Argento's INFERNO while I'm reading.
4905_pd3523939_1_vampiress_carmilla_1.jpg

And if you're never heard the INFERNO score, this insane track is my absolute favorite: Mater Tenebrarum!

[dannyboy121070]

Day Two!

I've been reading Horror(ish) comics today, while listening to John Carpenter's score to IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS.
clean.jpg
ILLUMINATI: LIFE OF CRIME is more of a Super-Villain team-up book, but main character The Hood is demonically-powered, so...it counts!

clean.jpg
HOWLING COMMANDOS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.: MONSTER SQUAD is a full-on monster-fest. Zombies, swamp-creatures, aquatic beings, vampires, ancient Egyptian lunatics, lycanthropes, ghosts, aliens...fun all around.

Still slogging away at UNTCIGAHUNK, and it is finally starting to move. Rick Huatala must have loved peanut butter, because he's had about eight or nine different scenes where he has lovingly described, in detail, characters slowly eating peanut butter sandwiches. Weird.

[dannyboy121070]

Excellent idea. I accomplished phase 1 of my Halloween binge. I filed my vacation request for the week before and the day after Halloween. Now I have to make it through the next three work weeks.

I love it! I was hoping to do that this year, finally, but we had a death in the family, and I'll be using some vacation time the week before to travel for the memorial service. I can't take too much time off, or I'll incur the wrath of my infantile co-worker, who has to cover for me when I'm gone. Please keep us in the loop on your Halloween plans, Dr.!

[Sock Monkey]

I had a store credit at best buy that was nearing expiration so I used to purchase the Blu Ray of 'Universal Classic Monsters: The Essential Collection'. I will be watching some movies I have not seen in many years and some related documentaries that I probably have not seen. Not sure how many I will get through this month but I will post my thoughts here when as I do.

Great set! What documentaries are on your viewing list? I’m always on the look out for good ones.

[Sock Monkey]

Excellent idea. I accomplished phase 1 of my Halloween binge. I filed my vacation request for the week before and the day after Halloween. Now I have to make it through the next three work weeks.

That’s a great idea. I’ve been always tempted to take the before Halloween off, but operationally it’s a very busy time at work as e we prep for the holiday season. I could take the time off but I’m afraid I’d be stressed the whole time about what’s going on—or not going on—while I’m away.

Hope your vacation is filled with all kinds of spooky goodness.

[Sock Monkey]

Oh, man, I LOVE Halloween. Unfortunately I’m usually so busy with work that the month flies by and I don’t get to maximize my Halloween season enjoyment as much as I’d like. This year, I’m trying to change that.

Movies/TV:
1. Fantastic Fest’s virtual festival has begun so I’ve already had two days of genre goodness, with three more days to go.
2. After FF ends, I plan on catching up with Mike Flanagan’s MIDNIGHT MASS
3. And I already have a curated list of 10+ movies to watch leading into Halloween

Books:
Currently reading THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones. Then I’m moving on to Centipede’s edition of THE WOMAN IN BLACK. Probably add an anthology of Horror stories in there as well.

[Dr Eric Vornoff]

Excellent idea. I accomplished phase 1 of my Halloween binge. I filed my vacation request for the week before and the day after Halloween. Now I have to make it through the next three work weeks.