Happy Halloween!
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by Richard Poe Friday, October 31, 2003 5:58 pm Eastern Time |
Archives 8 Comments |
Go here for the “History and Customs of Halloween.” Go here and here for past Halloween entries on Poe’s Blog.
Richard Poe is a New York Times-bestselling author and award-winning journalist. (@RealRichardPoe) More »
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Check out what others are saying about this post...Halloween is my favorite holiday! What’s your favorite horror flick, RP?
My pick would be Hellraiser.
Hmmm. I’m not really in horror flick mode right now, so it’s hard to remember which one is my favorite.
The Hellraiser series was certainly memorable, chilling, artfully directed and highly original. It got a bit campy though, especially toward the end of the series. Camp and horror don’t mix. I don’t know why Hollywood is always trying to confound the two.
I have to say that the horror flick I found most frightening was Wes Craven’s The Serpent and the Rainbow. Does that make it my “favorite?” Hard to say.
Now, if you asked for my favorite horror book, I would respond without hesitation that it would be Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. The TV version did not do justice to the novel.
Had King never written any book but Salem’s Lot, he still would have left behind him a worthy contribution to American literature. It is a masterpiece, in the tradition of Hawthorne and, er, Poe.
It doesn’t at all surprise me that you would like The Serpent and the Rainbow, given your interest in anthropology.
It does surprise me that you consider Salem’s Lot to be Stephen King’s best. Most King fans I know consider The Shining or Pet Sematary to be his best, but I agree with you. Salem’s Lot has always been my favorite of his also.
It’s been awhile since I read it last, but I still remember the creepy scene where the abusive schoolbus driver gets onto his supposedly empty bus at night, only to notice (too late of course) all the glowing red eyes and shiny white smiles in the seats behind him.
Pet Sematary was very frightening, but I didn’t like it. Frankly, I found it physically revolting. I like being scared — not being nauseated.
The Shining? A fine book. A fine film. But it’s not Salem’s Lot. Not in the same league.
Talking about movies … take this test to see if you can tell: “What’s wrong with this picture?”
Go here.
That one is SO OLD, American Man. Still, it was pretty good the first time around.
Really old, heh? I first discovered the “What’s wrong with this picture” site back in May of this year, but I don’t remember seeing the “pop-up” advertising at that time. Anyway, it certainly worked for me the “first time around.”
I hadn’t seen it before, Tom. It was a pretty good scare.