Murmuration & Chills

You know when birds do that thing . . . ? Swoop and swarm and swirl? When starlings do it, the behavior is called murmuration. This video captures a close-up view, practically from inside the flock. And honestly, it gave me goosebumps. Breath-taking!

The Short Career of a Spooky Girl

This is Chloe Moretz, aka Hitgirl from Kickass. And this clip shows how totally awesome she is.

Scary Girl with Chloe Moretz from Chloe Moretz

Halloween Never Ends

I wanted to get this pic onto the last post, the one about my brain melting... but this stupid website kept screwing up the formatting... so...

Here I am at my first Zombie Lobster Bake.

Happy Halloween, today and everyday!

I Have Lost My Mind

Well, not really. But after watching 31 Horror Films in 31 Days over the month of October, I'm pretty sure my brain has melted a little bit. I got the idea for this personal challenge from fellow author Daniel Kraus (Rotters) who Tweeted about it early last month. It was grueling, overwhelming, nightmare-inducing, kind of silly, and best of all, inspiring. Watching so many bad (and a few good) films in a row can show what works and what does not work when it comes to story-telling. So, even though I'm pretty sure I lost some muscle tone from sitting on the couch for approximately 70 hours, it was worth it... for ART's sake.
Here is my complete list (* = recommended):
(By the way, if you're under 17, ask your parents before watching any of these... Some of them are NASTY.)
1. Burnt Offerings
2. Case 39
3. Session 9 * Possibly the best haunted insane asylum movie ever made. Filmed in the now destroyed but forever EPIC Danvers State Mental Hospital in Massachusetts.
4. The Eclipse *

5. Lake Mungo * A twisted little mock-documentary about a haunting in Australia. When their daughter drowns during a vacation to serene Lake Mungo, the family doesn't expect her apparition to appear in their home movies. 6. Peeping Tom
7. Cronos *
8. The Sentinel
9. Dead Snow
10. Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil * A horror comedy that turns the "scary cabin in the woods" genre on its decapitated head. 11. Carriers
12. Don't Go to Sleep *
13. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon *
14. Popcorn

15. The Howling

16. I Was a Teenage Zombie & 16. (oops, I marked 2 #16's) The Skin I Live In *
17. Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue
18. Dahmer *

19. The Ward

20. Requiem

21. Zombies of Mass Destruction

22. Deathdream * Vietnam Vets and a vampire of sorts. A creepy little supernatural serial killer flick - from the director of A CHRISTMAS STORY. Yeah.

23. Deep Red
24. Paranormal Activity 3 *
25. Sheitan
26. Scream *
27. Red State * A Kevin Smith nightmare about some totally twisted home-grown fundamentalist terrorists. 28. Child's Play *
29. Paranormal Activity (the original) *
30. The Phantom of the Opera *
31. The Exorcist *

Then, before midnight on Halloween, I squeezed in a few more . . .

32. Ghost Story

33. Hellboy: Blood and Iron

34. Alien *

So, I guess that's technically . . . 35 Horror Films in 31 Days (including the doubling of the 16th film). Not too shabby. It helped that I was waiting for my editor to get back to me regarding my latest project, so I had time to do this without worry.

To check out Daniel Kraus's entertaining list, his blog at Booklist Online is here.

If I can find some way to un-liquify my brain, maybe I'll try again next year. I challenge you to do the same... It's fun!