The 5th Anniversary October/Halloween/Spooky Thread for Sexy People

[CitizenOfVerona]

Like a zombie in Return of the Living Dead, my annual threads for October just won't die. You can cut off the head, you can start a Discord group, but fuck all that nonsense, we rollin' old school here on TNE where forums are still king.

So you know what's up. Got any plans? Dressing up? Playing, reading, watching? Any yearly rituals you're looking forward too?

The past few years I've always wanted to do too much and didn't end up doing most of it. Last year was pretty fun with the Universal monster box set and going to the theater for Ghostbusters, Halloween and Beetlejuice. I didn't finish the Universal box set, so I'll watch more of them this month. I also want to play Resident Evil 1 Director's Cut. I only beaten the remake so I want to go back, maybe get a few friends over so we can all laugh at the dialogue and voice acting.

My friend who always throws Halloween parties is out of province this year so I'm not sure what the plan is. I'm not sure what to dress up as either. All I can think of is a Castlevania character or a generic punk i.e. mohawk, skeleton gloves and banada over the lower half of my face, etc. I always have trouble thinking of what to do. I would love to do a couple costume of Leon and Claire from RE2 or something, but alas.

It's past midnight here in the hipster timezone of Newfoundland time and it's 30 minutes. I timed it pretty well but was a few minutes early, but I beat Castlevania 4 close to midnight.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Double posting cause there's no rules in here.

I kinda wish Luigi's Mansion 3 wasn't launching on Halloween. I don't mind watching horror movies or anything in months outside of October, but still, wouldn't have minded having a few days in October to play this.

The Ghostbusters game that came out last generation is also getting a remaster this month, and Medievil is getting a remake, so there are a few games to consider picking up. That said, I'm buying a Switch on the 4th so I'm not sure if I'll be buying much outside of Switch stuff. We'll see.

Lastly, I'm pretty tempted to play Resident Evil 7 again. I played it at launch at a friend's house cause she had motion sickness playing it herself, so that's how I experienced it. I wouldn't mind trying it again alone. It was good but I remember the ending disappointing me a tad, so now that I actually went back and played all the classic style mainline games, perhaps I can appreciate it more.

So much to do.

 

[mattavelle1]

Sexy people reporting to this thread!

As of right now for the month I have...........a crap load of work to do

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Sexy people reporting to this thread!

As of right now for the month I have...........a crap load of work to do

Yeah, same here.

Sexy tired people reporting in

 

[EvilTw1n]

 

[Juegos]

I haven't planned my Spooktober this year. Last year I basically just read a bunch of H. P. Lovecraft, though I didn't get to finish all the stories I wanted to read. Some of it was pretty boring to be honest, but I might go back to it for a bit. I had also planned to read Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and re-read Frankenstein, so I might get to that this year.

But I want to pick up something fresh, I'm just not sure what. Maybe I'll look for Stephen King's Salem's Lot, and go from there. Oh, and finally re-watch Pet Sematary. I don't know what it is about that movie, but the last time I tried to watch it I just couldn't do it. It was too spooky.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

I haven't planned my Spooktober this year. Last year I basically just read a bunch of H. P. Lovecraft, though I didn't get to finish all the stories I wanted to read. Some of it was pretty boring to be honest, but I might go back to it for a bit. I had also planned to read Dracula, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and re-read Frankenstein, so I might get to that this year.

But I want to pick up something fresh, I'm just not sure what. Maybe I'll look for Stephen King's Salem's Lot, and go from there. Oh, and finally re-watch Pet Sematary. I don't know what it is about that movie, but the last time I tried to watch it I just couldn't do it. It was too spooky.

I highly recommend Salem's Lot, one of my favorite books.

Also, I'm sure @sjmartin79 can recommend more Stephen King. I've only read The Shining, Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary, Carrie and Mr Mercedes.

Dracula is also one of my all time favorite.

 

[sjmartin79]

I highly recommend Salem's Lot, one of my favorite books.

Also, I'm sure @sjmartin79 can recommend more Stephen King. I've only read The Shining, Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary, Carrie and Mr Mercedes.

@Juegos - I've read a good bit of Stephen King (and met him here in Sarasota about 10 years ago), so I would be happy to suggest anything. CoV is correct in the ones he suggested. The "Mr. Mercedes" trilogy is fantastic. Also, I highly recommend "Duma Key". It's set here in Sarasota. I remember reading it while going to bed and getting full body chills from being creeped out. But I'm happy to make a list of some of my favorite King novels if you're interested.

 

[sjmartin79]

SJ reporting for Halloween Duty, sir!

You know how much I love this month! The movies, the books, the decorations, the costumes, the colors!

First up - Horror Podcasts!

I don't know how many of you listen to podcasts, but there are several horror podcasts I truly enjoy.
You should check out "Darkest Night" which is an anthology horror podcast with sci-fi elements that has an overarching narrative.
"Deadly Manners" is like the movie "Clue" in podcast form. It's a good time.
But the one I can't stop listening to is "The No Sleep Podcast". The "The" in the title is important, because there is another one called No Sleep Podcast, but is totally different. "The No Sleep Podcast" is a professional done horror podcast that are like old radio plays with excellent production values of scary stories. Admittedly, not all the stories are winners, but I would say 75% are great, and that's a high enough percentage to keep with it.

 

[sjmartin79]

Okay, last Halloween Post for the day.

Horror Adult Coloring Books!

I've been dealing with severe anxiety for the last year, which lead to some deep bouts of depression. I'm on some good meds now, and I feel like myself again. (Complete game changer.) Why do I mention all that? Well, during the high anxiety times, when I would have trouble going to sleep, I started coloring in Adult Coloring Books before bed. It helped to quiet my mind. And my favorite one? "The Beauty of Horror"! So I wanted to share some of my art with you. I'm having the best time with it. Still coloring before bed now, even though the meds are working, because it still helps me fall asleep faster. Instead of doing all dark colors, I'm enjoying the juxtaposition of the horror art with bright colors. It's kinda like me - dark and twisty mixed with bright and shiny. Ha ha!

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

Don't know if I'd find colouring those pictures before bed relaxing, but great job on the colours all the same. The last one in particular creeps me out.

On another note, it's just been confirmed that House of the Dead 1 & 2 are getting remakes. Hooooly shit. I spent quite a bit of time on 2 on the Dreamcast back in the day.

 

[Juegos]

Don't know if I'd find colouring those pictures before bed relaxing, but great job on the colours all the same. The last one in particular creeps me out.

On another note, it's just been confirmed that House of the Dead 1 & 2 are getting remakes. Hooooly shit. I spent quite a bit of time on 2 on the Dreamcast back in the day.

I played HotD2 so much back in the arcades.

 

[sjmartin79]

Are you guys watching this season of American Horror Story - AHS 1984?

Having the best time with it so far! So over the top and campy while also delivering on story and acting.

 

[mattavelle1]

Are you guys watching this season of American Horror Story - AHS 1984?

Having the best time with it so far! So over the top and campy while also delivering on story and acting.

I got guys at work who have been watching this series since the first season. For the most part outside of last season they rave about it

 

[sjmartin79]

This weekend, we watched several horror things, all on Hulu as part of Huluween!

First up, we binged Season 1 of "The Purge" tv show, based on the movies. There was some great storylines, but there were some I just didn't care about. Overall, very well done.

Second, we watched the newest movie of "Into the Dark" called "Uncanny Annie". "Into the Dark" is a monthly horror movie on Hulu based around a holiday in that month. "Uncanny Annie" was a lot of fun.

We had so much fun with "Uncanny Annie" that we watched "The Body" - also part of "Into the Dark". A creative take on a hitman story.

 

[Juegos]

I went out book hunting today at used book stores and wasn't able to find Salem's Lot so I ordered it off Amazon. I did find a copy of Stephen King's Revival, which is supposed to be his take on Frankenstein, so I got that. I also found a collection of Horror and Fantasy short stories by Gene Wolfe, which was a great surprise.

I actually got a big haul of other Sci-Fi and Fantasy books, but that's for a different thread.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

A couple of friends decided to host a movie night every Monday this month and last night we watched Nightmare on Elm Street. Even after 4 or 5 watches I still love it.

 

[sjmartin79]

A couple of friends decided to host a movie night every Monday this month and last night we watched Nightmare on Elm Street. Even after 4 or 5 watches I still love it.

The original is a classic. Genuinely scary and creepy. I believe that is a horror movie that will stand the test of time.

 

[Juegos]

Alright, I've read another three stories from Lovecraft so I'm ready once again to put him away until next year.

I don't think I can recommend most of his stories to anyone not already familiar with his work. His prose frustrates me with its inconsistency: in some stories his descriptions are excessive, the details are lost under a sea of adjectives, he tells much more often than he shows, and his protagonists are either pompous and self-absorbed or utterly ignorant, like parodies of egg-head academics and country bumpkins; in other stories the style is simple yet alluring, ambiguous, and suggestive, pushing me towards the next paragraph and allowing my mind to fill in the blanks in whatever way horrifies me best.

I'll return to read more of his stories next year, but for now, these are my favorites:

The Colour Out of Space - A meteorite falls in the New England countryside, where all organic matter starts to change into something else. The practical prose, short length, unobtrusive protagonist, and thoroughly cosmic subject matter make this my favorite. If you want more of something similar, The Dunwich Horror is also good.

At the Mountains of Madness - A group of researchers ventures into the vast, unexplored reaches of Antarctica, where they find an ancient secret city and unfathomable beings hidden dormant in the deep. Every time I read a news piece on Antarctica researchers digging into the ice, it reminds me of this story. The prose is just tedious enough to make the story feel longer than a novella should feel like, but the setting and lore are the most interesting among his work. The Nameless City is a lesser version of this, but it's short enough that it's worth reading before or after Mountains.

 

[Juegos]

I forgot to mention, I also watched Pet Sematary (1989). I remembered the movie looking bad in a '90s B movie way, but actually it's really beautiful. The soundtrack is gorgeous too. The plotting is great as well, you can definitely feel Stephen King's storytelling chops even in this adaptation. And the characters have just enough hidden darkness in them to make them relatable and compelling.

But goddamn, the acting from the two protagonists is awful. I understand that the story is meant to be campy by design but this isn't the funny, slightly off kind of campy acting that is enjoyable, but the kind that is stiff and repelling and, at best, makes me laugh at the characters rather than with them.

But they get better during the second half of the movie. Besides, the sets, music, plotting, and editing are all there to carry the movie, so it's definitely worth watching. Oh, and this guy:



I don't know why, but I really enjoy seeing and hearing this guy on screen. Apparently he was known to everyone as Herman Munster, which I don't think I could have ever known if I hadn't looked up his Wikipedia entry.

 

[sjmartin79]

I forgot to mention, I also watched Pet Sematary (1989). I remembered the movie looking bad in a '90s B movie way, but actually it's really beautiful. The soundtrack is gorgeous too. The plotting is great as well, you can definitely feel Stephen King's storytelling chops even in this adaptation. And the characters have just enough hidden darkness in them to make them relatable and compelling.

But goddamn, the acting from the two protagonists is awful. I understand that the story is meant to be campy by design but this isn't the funny, slightly off kind of campy acting that is enjoyable, but the kind that is stiff and repelling and, at best, makes me laugh at the characters rather than with them.

But they get better during the second half of the movie. Besides, the sets, music, plotting, and editing are all there to carry the movie, so it's definitely worth watching. Oh, and this guy:

View attachment 3611

I don't know why, but I really enjoy seeing and hearing this guy on screen. Apparently he was known to everyone as Herman Munster, which I don't think I could have ever known if I hadn't looked up his Wikipedia entry.

View attachment 3612

Fred Gwynne was amazing! He will always be Herman Munster to me. I grew up watching The Munsters in reruns on TBS. Then, of course, he was brilliant as the judge in "My Cousin Vinny".

As for Pet Semetary, I hate to say it, but neither the original or the remake (don't even get me started on the that ending) live up to the book. It honestly should be an easy film to make. It's all right there on the page, tailor-made for the screen. But no...

 

[Juegos]

Fred Gwynne was amazing! He will always be Herman Munster to me. I grew up watching The Munsters in reruns on TBS. Then, of course, he was brilliant as the judge in "My Cousin Vinny".

As for Pet Semetary, I hate to say it, but neither the original or the remake (don't even get me started on the that ending) live up to the book. It honestly should be an easy film to make. It's all right there on the page, tailor-made for the screen. But no...

I thought of getting the book, but the movie is still too fresh and I'm already committed to Salem's Lot and Revival. Next year, though.

 

[Juegos]

I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) for the first time the other day. My expectations were very low, and the only reason I watched it was because it was free at the local film club (with the membership I have) and I figured I might as well watch it for its historical value. I actually loved it.

If the opening shots hadn't pulled me so strongly into the movie I might have not made it past the long lull of the first half-hour. Massacre really takes its sweet time establishing themes, though I wish it would use that time to endear me to the characters. As it is, I didn't really care about them when they started dying. But that first death scene was worth the wait. By the fourth death, the movie's blazing forward with no breaks. The end sequence left me reeling with excitement. I'm being vague because I don't want to spoil anything for those that haven't seen it, so this is as far as my "review" goes.

What a great slasher movie. I even like it better than Halloween right now.

 

[sjmartin79]

I saw Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) for the first time the other day. My expectations were very low, and the only reason I watched it was because it was free at the local film club (with the membership I have) and I figured I might as well watch it for its historical value. I actually loved it.

If the opening shots hadn't pulled me so strongly into the movie I might have not made it past the long lull of the first half-hour. Massacre really takes its sweet time establishing themes, though I wish it would use that time to endear me to the characters. As it is, I didn't really care about them when they started dying. But that first death scene was worth the wait. By the fourth death, the movie's blazing forward with no breaks. The end sequence left me reeling with excitement. I'm being vague because I don't want to spoil anything for those that haven't seen it, so this is as far as my "review" goes.

What a great slasher movie. I even like it better than Halloween right now.

That movie is a tour de force! So gritty in the way it was filmed. It honestly makes me uncomfortable when I watch it. The two remakes they did in the 2000s were done extremely well if you haven't seen those. So intense, and they definitely honored the original. (Just don't ever watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D or Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Next Generation. You've been warned.)

 

[Juegos]

I went to see The Brood (1979) by David Cronenberg the other day at the Austin Film Society (the film club I mentioned earlier). It was really good in parts.

Technically, it was very well done: good soundtrack, good photography, color. Good acting, even. But while I appreciate the story, I can see why it's not one of the classics that often get discussed from that era.

I understood The Brood as largely a tale of the repeating cycles of parental abuse, so it made me think of The Babadook. Unlike that movie, though, The Brood gives the paranormal elements a literal form, which is the point at which I stopped thinking too much about the themes and started wondering how they were going to defeat the little monsters. It's still a cool movie, but I think I was expecting it to be one of those horror movies where the reality of the monster is ambiguous. I had a similar problem with It Follows, in which I would have preferred the monster to be more ambiguous.

That said, I realized I have never really seen The Fly, the other more famous Cronenberg movie, so I'm going to try to watch it soon.

Still, I recommend The Babadook and It Follows to anyone that hasn't seen them.

--

On another note, I've been working on Stephen King's novel Revival over the past week or so. I'm about halfway through, but I'm liking it a lot so far. I don't know why I've always underrated Stephen King, but over the past year and a half (since I read On Writing, which is great advice for aspiring writers) I've been learning to appreciate him. I'll write more about it when I've finished it.

I also did get my copy of Salem's Lot, so I should be reading through that soon.

 

[sjmartin79]

I just listened to an amazing, epic episode of "The No Sleep Podcast" called "White Fall". Usually, we get a little over an hour and 3 stories. This episode was 2.5 hours and all one story. I could easily see this as a movie.

https://www.thenosleeppodcast.com/episodes/s12/12x25

 

[Aki]

Gonna go see joker tonight. Also, will probably be playing R2make this month

 

[Juegos]

Gonna go see joker tonight. Also, will probably be playing R2make this month

Both of these are great. I like Joker better the more I think about it, and RE2 is the best remake I've played.

 

[CitizenOfVerona]

It Follows had some scenes that managed to scare the shit out of me. One thing that always gets me in horror movies is shit in the distance that takes a second to sink in. After I watched Insidious for the first time, I refused to look out of the windows in the bathroom and dining room since they looked out into the backyard. It Follows is someone saying "let's make a whole movie like that". Then there's the bedroom scene, fuuuuuck that.

Great movie.

I haven't done much this month sadly. I did go to a couple of stores today for Halloween. I wasn't sure what to do for a costume, so I'm not going as any specific character. I bought a bowtie and red dress shirt, and I bought face paint for a skeleton. Nothing special, but I am looking forward to it if I can do a decent job with it.

I'll be out of town Friday evening to Sunday evening this weekend for a wedding, so hopefully Sunday I won't be too tired to pop on a movie or something.

 

[Aki]

Both of these are great. I like Joker better the more I think about it, and RE2 is the best remake I've played.

Joker was good, but long. The combination of the length, gloomy tone and music put me to sleep about 3 times. Overall, it was good, but idk if I will be watching it again.

I’ve played part of R2make already. It’s pretty good, but I really don’t like some design choices such as making the enemies bullet sponges. I also don’t like how it feels like a poor man’s RE4. I think I would’ve rather they give us the smooth, actiony gameplay of 4 and the old school tank gameplay from the first 2 games remastered.

 

[sjmartin79]

It Follows had some scenes that managed to scare the shit out of me. One thing that always gets me in horror movies is shit in the distance that takes a second to sink in. After I watched Insidious for the first time, I refused to look out of the windows in the bathroom and dining room since they looked out into the backyard. It Follows is someone saying "let's make a whole movie like that". Then there's the bedroom scene, fuuuuuck that.

Great movie.

I haven't done much this month sadly. I did go to a couple of stores today for Halloween. I wasn't sure what to do for a costume, so I'm not going as any specific character. I bought a bowtie and red dress shirt, and I bought face paint for a skeleton. Nothing special, but I am looking forward to it if I can do a decent job with it.

I'll be out of town Friday evening to Sunday evening this weekend for a wedding, so hopefully Sunday I won't be too tired to pop on a movie or something.

For me, "It Follows" was much better on the second viewing. I originally saw it in the theater and was not a huge fan. Saw it again, and loved it. I could appreciate it so much more.
But yeah, that bedroom scene... damn.