In a Halloween State of Mind
[image error]Yes, I know it's only the first week of October (did I mention I have an October release? When Pleasure Rules? But I digress…)
Ahem. Yes, I know it's only the first week of October, but it's getting very Halloween-y around here. We now live on a culdesac (there's a horror title right there: Culdesac. Can't you just see it? Return of Culdesac. Night in the Culdesac), and in our new neighborhood (not just the culdesac), Halloween is a Big Deal. We're told one family had a petting zoo one year. Another is setting up a cemetery in their front yard (it's looking very cool). Yet another has an animatronic Jason standing beside their sidewalk. Since our last neighbors were an acre away on all sides and rarely home for Halloween (last year we had 1–count 'em–1 trick or treater), I'm expecting Big Fun this year. We shall duly stock up on the candy.
The kids beg for a Halloween thing every time we go out. So far, I'm indulging, because I love Halloween, too. Isabella's first pick was Spooky Cat, which she found at World Market, and looks much like the dead cat from Pet Semetery. Of course, she didn't want it as a decoration, but as a "lovey" (Spooky Cat now has a smaller version, too, a bit less bedraggled looking: Spooky Cat Baby). In addition to those non-decorations we also have a skeleton, a witch, and a magic witch's broomstick that sweeps by itself. More will be forthcoming….
In addition, we're planning our Halloween book club. Don and I host an "adaptations" book club every month (read the novel, watch the film adaptation) and this month, we're doing The Haunting. I haven't started the book yet, but Don's enjoying it. And, of course, he and I will watch a bunch of other Halloween movies. I just finished reading Clive Barker's The Hellbound Heart, which is the basis for the movie Hellraiser. It was a really excellent novella, which (though I liked the movie when I saw it years ago) wasn't what I would have thought about a book adapted to a movie featuring a guy with pins sticking into his face.
Also on the list of books I want to read, then watch: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the Exorcist (a re-read), the Omen (also a re-read, and now out of print–can you believe it?????), the Shining (also a re-read), and Ghost Story (love the movie). (And while it's not a book, Scream is way, way fun on Halloween!)
What about y'all? Any particular Halloween movie favs? Any Halloween book favs?
