I'm a big fan of Halloween, and every year I try to spend October reading, watching, and listening to some Halloween-y stuff.
Anyone else do this sort of thing? Got any favorites?
Right now (I start early, like Target), I'm listening to John Carpenter's Lost Themes,
I'm a Halloween junkie myself, though I haven't started focusing on the holiday just yet.* One movie that I greatly enjoyed - and saw for the first time just last year - is Trick 'r Treat. It's an anthology of stories taking place in a small town on Halloween night loosely woven together over the course of the film. I also really enjoy watching the old Universal monster movies around this time of year as well. I would love to get more Halloween-related movie recommendations, especially non-serial killer ones.
When it comes to books, a few things come to mind. Norman Partridge's Dark Harvest, for one. Also, Jonathan Maberry's Pine Deep Trilogy. I also really like a Steve Rasnic Tem's Halloween Street. It's good for a quick re-read or two around All Hallow's Eve. I am sure there are many others I'm not thinking of right now.
Oh, and I will just add that everyone should seek out last year's issue 2.4 of Havok (Shivers and Screams) from Splickety Publishing Group, which featured my Halloween-themed flash fiction piece "The Wrong House."
* Funny aside about Halloween marketing, per your mention of Target. Last year, I was at the Pet Smart buying big buckets of cat litter in late August. The buckets hadcute Halloween illustrations on them. Obviously, black cats and Halloween go together like IPA and Jamaican jerk chicken, so it works. At the register, I made a comment about how early they have their Halloween-themed stuff out (including creepy little costumes for your pet). The cashier remarked: "Yeah, we get started early with Halloween because we don't do back to school." Cracked me up.
Dark Harvest is great! I picked that up just by chance a year or two ago. But I think all the other stuff is new to me. Thanks for the recommendations!
Haha, I like that PetSmart joke. Lousy dum-dum cats with their lack of high school diplomas.
