#John Carpenter's Tales for a Halloween Night
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New Horror 2022 - Day 23
"The Pear-Shaped Man" by George R.R. Martin (1987)
"I knew when I saw you that you'd want my things."
I was unsure where this was going to go, certain it couldn’t be as obvious as the setup implied. And the twist did not disappoint.
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"Fortune Broken" by Sandy King, Leonardo Manco, Marianna Sanzone (2015)
"Death runs from me, you old witch!"
A simple one, and too abrupt in its conclusion. A bit more time at the end and I might’ve been more into it.
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The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari dir. Robert Wiene (1920)
"Awaken for a moment from your dark night."
That German expressionism sure is nice to look at. In fact, googling “German expressionism” mostly returns results for this movie. That art design is just so much more interesting than what we see in 90% of movies, even for the text that’s cut in to display dialogue. The music of the 1994 release that I watched was also so good! The story itself is a quaint yarn right up until the end when a twist I didn’t see coming elevated it several notches (though I feel like I’m more naive or caught up in the moment than most viewers tend to be.) Hey, it turns out I love this movie.
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The Excavation of Hob's Barrow dev. Cloak and Dagger Games (2022)
“Life is for living, not for worrying about what comes after.”
The folk horror has left the strongest impression this month. Just that Lovecraftian sense of confronting the uncontrollable forces that direct the flow of things, which we cannot see nor feel except at our lowest and most desperate moments. And by then, it’s too late to escape. After playing this and Silent Hill, I’m ready for some lighter video game horrors.
#the excavation of hob's barrow#cloak and dagger games#video games#the cabinet of dr. caligari#robert wiene#movies#John Carpenter's Tales for a Halloween Night#sandy king#comics#the pear-shaped man#george r.r. martin#short stories#horror#new horror 2022#horror fiction
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Horror Movie of the Day: The fog (1980)
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
-Edgar Allan Poe
Antonio Bay, a small coast town in North California, is about to celebrate it’s 100th anniversary. The story of it’s foundation carries the tales of brave men and women, yet along with it the tragedy of a sunken ship crashing against the rocks. Unless there’s something more to it, as the very midnight before the celebration a mysterious bankf of fog moving against the wind starts creeping from the sea, just as strange events begin taking place. And as one of the offshore ships goes silent, the omen of doom becomes clear.
Another collaboration between John Carpenter and Debra Hill (fresh out of the original Halloween), it has a clear and uncomplicated goal: from the opening sequence it’s a classic ghost story like you’d tell in a campfire in a summer night. Yet, in spite of the simple premise and old school mystery this proves once again to be one of Carpenter’s strengths. By not missing the forest for the trees, the focus is on creating a powerful atmosphere and compelling if eclectic cast of characters. While not all of them hit the mark (let alone the relationship between Elizabeth and Nick is more than eyebrow raising nowadays), those who stand out manage to carry the film, Stevie the radio host in particular being quite the baddie.
Then, there’s the supernatural threat. The fog itself often doesn't look quite natural in the wide shots, which completely plays on the film's favor. And by masterfully shooting the undead in such lighting they're always just a silhouette, the movie capitalizes the unknown to it's maximum effect, all of which is enhanced by an appropriately moody score by Carpenter himself.
It can be a bit of a slow burn and there's some fridge logic to some of the character decisions, let alone the occasional special effects hiccup. But it has rose from obscurity and claimed it's place among classics for a reason.
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Halloween Movie Challenge
Every day in October, except the days I don't, I am watching a randomly chosen Halloween-themed horror movie for the first time. Or for the first twenty-four days of October bc my list runs out then.
The first two weeks...are below
TRICK OR TREAT
1986 / directed by Charles Martin Smith / written by Joel Soisson, Michael S. Murphey and Rhet Topham (and Glen Morgan & James Wong, uncredited)
A heavy metal-themed Nightmare on Elm Street clone (the villain even does the "hands reaching through the wall" thing, but with a speaker), with cameos by Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne, the latter playing a Satanic Panic-spewing TV preacher. This one has a strange legacy on the whole: future X-Files scribe (and uncredited co-writer) Glen Morgan is featured in his only acting role, and the director went on to make Air Bud...and then define his career around animal movies. Fair enough! This one's pretty fun, with a long first act of high school bullying highlighted with a energetic chase sequence, though not especially Halloween-y, given its name (though the version I watched was titled Ragman?)
🎃🎃🎃.5/5
TALES OF HALLOWEEN
2015 / directed by [a lot of people] / written by [a lot of people]
The top Letterboxd review calls this "Trick 'R Treat if it was designed by a committee at a horror convention" and that just about sums it up. It has the requisite horror cameos - a litany of 80s final girls are joined by Joe Dante and John Landis, and John Landis is convincing in the role of a terrible person whose son is a monster for some reason. This one has way too many segments, and they're unsurprisingly same-y. Two stories have a twist where a child-sized killer turns out to be a demon, two of them feature gangs of evil kids, and none of them are very fun, though they feature so many of the winking in-jokes filmmakers mistake for fun. This is the type of movie where a candy will have the word "Carpenter" on it, written in the Halloween titles font, because hey. Remember John Carpenter? Remember? Remember John Carpenter? The oddest part is that this movie's format is very close to 2015's better A Christmas Horror Story, but they're totally unrelated?
🎃🎃/5
HELL HOUSE LLC
2015 / written & directed by Stephen Cognetti
Found footage movie that makes decent use of its rundown-Halloween-haunt setting & has some good scares with evil clown dolls, but is pretty routine, and does that mediocre found footage thing where it can't let any of the background scares breathe without a crash zoom and a scare chord.
🎃🎃🎃/5
MAY
2002 / written & directed by Lucky McKee
To call May a slasher movie doesn't really represent it. As a portrait of a loner among urban alienation, it's of a kind with Taxi Driver and the first act of Beau is Afraid, with unbearably real performances by Angela Bettis and Jeremy Sisto. May is psychological and restrained, striving for a queasy discomfort before it escalates into full-on bloodshed. This is the least Halloween-y film so far, but the final act is on Halloween night, and culminates in a shot that's haunting and lyrical in equal measure.
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃/5
HACK-O-LANTERN
1988 / directed by Jag Mundhra / written by Dave Eisenstark & Carla Robinson
Direct-to-video horror classic featuring a deeply apathetic son of the Devil and a musical number featuring deaths-by-magic-guitar. Alternatively tediously padded and gloriously deranged, but then again, that's direct-to-video horror babyyyyyyy. Jag Mundhra had a career directing direct-to-video sleaze in the US, but made prestige movies in India?
🎃🎃🎃/5
DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW
1981 / directed by Frank De Felitta / story by J.D. Feigelson & Butler Handcock, teleplay by Feigelson
A TV movie, but you'd only know it from its 4:3 ratio & commercial break fades-to-black. Dark Night of the Scarecrow is a creepy gem, well-directed by de Felitta - a novelist with a sideline directing TV movies - with an eye towards the details of small town life. The lack of gore is made up with by stark, elemental horror imagery, and the horrors of humanity: a mob murders a developmentally disabled man for a crime he didn't commit, and gets off the hook for it - gets cheered, in fact, by the townsfolk. But soon a mysterious scarecrow is appearing in the fields, and the killers start to die...not a killer scarecrow movie, but something subtler, chillier, the horror of barns and grain silos and farmer's fields.
🎃🎃🎃🎃/5
HAUNT
2019 / written & directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Extreme haunted houses are stupid.
While some use it as a mere William Castle-ian conceit, others take it seriously. Who could've guessed that if you replace themed scares and actors with people who will literally, actually hurt you, you'd still be scared? Only the Einsteins who act flabbergasted when the actors they hired with the pitch "you can hurt people and they signed something that said they can't sue you" turn out to disregard safe words. In Haunt, an extreme haunted house is a front for a murder-cult, which is more respectable than it being some guy doing the Evermore Park of frights. Haunt is a very pedestrian slasher, but a sincere one, and a modern one (the victims check the creepy house's Yelp reviews), which I'll take over a winking 80s homage any day.
🎃🎃🎃/5
THE MIDNIGHT HOUR
1985 / directed by Jack Bender / written by Bill Bleich
Delightful little made-for-TV number, heavily inspired by Thriller. In 1985, this was trashed for its cliches, but now it's the cliches that make it so endearing. This one has its own musical number, a starring turn for LeVar Burton, some quality zombie effects and a lighthearted air, and excellent Halloween-y vibes to it, of course, courtesy of future Lost director Jack Bender. It also has a weirdly overqualified soundtrack; I really didn't expect to hear The Smiths repeatedly in a made-for-TV Halloween movie, but here we are.
🎃🎃🎃🎃/5
NIGHT OF THE DEMONS
1988 / directed by Kevin S. Tenney / written by Joe Augustyn
Night of the Demons has a gnarly final act, but spends way too much time getting there, and too much of that time is spent with interchangeable assholes bumbling about.
🎃🎃.5/5
THE CHILD
1977 / directed by Robert Voskanian / written by Ralph Lucas
A classical Weird 70s Horror Movie, which means a relatively simple plot told in the most inscrutable way possible, a lot of stark tight close-ups and quick cuts, and a preoccupation with psychics. The last act is a bit of a conventional zombie runaround, but everything before that is chilly 70s gold. By far the least Halloween-y film here, but there's an amazing moment with a Jack-O-Lantern.
🎃🎃🎃.5/5
SCARY MOVIE
1991 / directed by Daniel Erickson / written by Daniel Erickson, David Lane Smith, and Mark Voges
No, not that one; this one is a regional horror flick from Texas, from 1991, and starring John Hawkes as a gormless nerd touring a haunted house - the type so anxious to avoid a snake pit he ends up falling into a snake pit, which, relatable. The wonderful aesthetics of a local haunted house dominate this film, directed with sly attention to detail by Erickson, which follows Hawkes' character as an escaped madman lurks in the haunted house. Or does he? A surreal psychological story more than a slasher, it takes a while to get somewhere, but that a while is full of local atmosphere (similar to Tobe Hooper's classic The Funhouse).
🎃🎃🎃🎃/5
Anyway
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British comic creators contribute to John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloween Night
American horror film director John Carpenter’s annual horror anthology Tales for a Halloween Night Volume Nine, for Storm King Comics, includes work by 2000AD writer Alec Worley and award-winning artist David Hitchcock
American horror film director John Carpenter’s annual horror anthology Tales for a Halloween Night Volume Nine, for Storm King Comics, includes work by 2000AD writer Alec Worley and award-winning artist David Hitchcock.
“My tale’s called ‘These Walls’,” says Alec, “and it’s about a haunted house that wants to become human.”
Tales for a Halloween Night Volume Nine offers twelve twisted tales of…
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Title: The Significance of Halloween and the Iconic Horror Movies: Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Halloween
Introduction
Halloween, a holiday celebrated on October 31st, holds a special place in the hearts of many individuals around the world. It is a time when people embrace the eerie, the supernatural, and the macabre. For me, Halloween is more than just a day of costumes and candy; it is an opportunity to delve into the world of horror movies. Among the countless horror films, three classics stand out: Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Halloween. These movies have become iconic within the genre, captivating audiences with their unique narratives and terrifying villains. This essay will argue that Halloween serves as a gateway to explore the horror genre, and these three films have significantly contributed to its popularity.
Body
I. The Significance of Halloween
Halloween is a holiday that allows individuals to embrace their fears and indulge in the thrill of the unknown. It provides a temporary escape from reality, allowing people to immerse themselves in a world of horror and fantasy. The holiday's origins can be traced back to ancient Celtic traditions, where it was believed that on the night of October 31st, the boundary between the living and the dead was blurred. This belief has evolved over time, and Halloween has become a celebration of all things spooky and supernatural.
II. Nightmare on Elm Street: A Nightmare Come to Life
One of my favorite horror movies is Nightmare on Elm Street, directed by Wes Craven. This film introduces the iconic character Freddy Krueger, a disfigured serial killer who haunts teenagers in their dreams. The movie explores the concept of fear invading the realm of dreams, blurring the line between reality and the subconscious. Nightmare on Elm Street taps into our deepest fears, reminding us that even in our most vulnerable state, we are not safe from the horrors that lurk within our own minds.
III. Friday the 13th: The Legend of Camp Crystal Lake
Another classic horror film that has left an indelible mark on the genre is Friday the 13th, directed by Sean S. Cunningham. This movie introduces the infamous character Jason Voorhees, a relentless killer seeking revenge for his own tragic past. Set in the eerie Camp Crystal Lake, the film capitalizes on the fear of isolation and the unknown. Friday the 13th explores the consequences of human actions and the terrifying notion that evil can never truly be extinguished.
IV. Halloween: The Birth of a Slasher Legend
John Carpenter's Halloween is a masterpiece that solidified the slasher subgenre. This film follows the story of Michael Myers, a deranged killer who escapes from a mental institution and returns to his hometown to continue his murderous spree. Halloween expertly builds tension and suspense, creating an atmosphere of dread that lingers long after the movie ends. The film's success lies in its ability to tap into our primal fears, reminding us that evil can manifest itself in the most ordinary of places.
Conclusion
Halloween serves as a gateway to explore the horror genre, allowing individuals to confront their fears in a controlled environment. Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Halloween are three iconic horror movies that have significantly contributed to the popularity of the genre. These films have captivated audiences with their unique narratives, terrifying villains, and ability to tap into our deepest fears. As we celebrate Halloween, let us embrace the thrill of the unknown and indulge in the spine-chilling tales that have become synonymous with this holiday.
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Scary Movies: Why We Love to Be Terrified, 10 Movies That Are Scary As Hell
Scary movies have been a popular genre for decades, captivating audiences with their ability to make us jump, scream, and squirm in our seats. But what is it about these films that draws us in and leaves us both frightened and entertained? In this article, we will explore the psychological and emotional reasons why we love to be terrified by scary movies.
scary movies
The main reason people enjoy scary movies is that they provide a safe and controlled way to experience fear. Watching a horror film allows us to feel scared without actually being in danger, which can be an exhilarating and even addictive experience. Additionally, scary movies can provide a cathartic release, allowing us to confront our own fears and anxieties in a controlled environment.
Another reason people enjoy scary movies is that they offer a sense of thrill and excitement that can be difficult to find in everyday life. The tension and suspense built up in a good horror film can provide a rush of adrenaline, making us feel more alive and alert.
Scary movies can also tap into our primal instincts and deepest fears, such as the fear of the dark, the fear of the unknown, and the fear of death. By playing on these fears, horror movies can create a sense of unease and discomfort that lingers long after the movie has ended.
One of the most effective tools used in horror movies is sound. A spine-chilling soundtrack, sudden loud noises, and creepy sound effects can all create an atmosphere of tension and dread. This is why many of the most iconic horror movies are remembered for their eerie soundscapes as much as for their visuals.
Scary movies can also be a way to explore complex social and cultural issues. Some horror films, such as Get Out and The Babadook, use supernatural elements to comment on issues such as racism and mental illness. This can make for a thought-provoking and deeply unsettling viewing experience.
On the other hand, some people do not enjoy scary movies and find them too distressing or uncomfortable. For these individuals, watching a horror movie can trigger anxiety and even panic attacks. It's important to remember that everyone's tolerance for fear is different, and it's okay to avoid scary movies if they are not enjoyable for you.
In conclusion, scary movies are a popular and enduring genre that taps into our most primal fears and emotions. Whether you enjoy them for the adrenaline rush, the psychological insight, or simply the fun of being scared, there's no denying the enduring appeal of horror films.
- The Exorcist (1973) - A classic tale of demonic possession and the battle to save a young girl's soul.
- The Shining (1980) - Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the Stephen King novel follows a family as they become caretakers of a remote hotel, but the isolation and eerie atmosphere soon drive the father to madness.
- The Silence of the Lambs (1991) - While not a traditional horror movie, this psychological thriller about an FBI agent tracking a cannibalistic serial killer is often considered one of the most terrifying films ever made.
- Hereditary (2018) - A family is haunted by a mysterious presence after the death of their grandmother, and as they unravel the secrets of their family's past, they discover a horrifying fate that awaits them.
- The Babadook (2014) - A single mother and her young son are terrorized by a mysterious monster that appears in a children's book and soon becomes all too real.
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - Wes Craven's iconic horror movie introduces the terrifying figure of Freddy Krueger, a dream-stalking serial killer who preys on teenagers in their sleep.
- Halloween (1978) - John Carpenter's classic slasher movie sees escaped mental patient Michael Myers return to his hometown to wreak havoc on Halloween night.
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - A group of friends falls victim to a family of cannibalistic killers in this brutal and unsettling film.
- The Conjuring (2013) - A family moves into a haunted farmhouse and enlists the help of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren to save them from a malevolent spirit.
- Rosemary's Baby (1968) - Roman Polanski's chilling film follows a pregnant woman who suspects that her neighbors are members of a satanic cult with dark intentions for her unborn child.
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John Carpenter and Sandy King’s Storm King Comics Partners with GlobalComix!
John Carpenter and Sandy King’s Storm King Comics Partners with GlobalComix! #comics #comicbooks
Just in time for spooky season, GlobalComix has announced their partnership with Sandy King and John Carpenter’s famed Storm King Comics!
Readers won’t want to miss the opportunity to get their read (and scare) this Halloween with the latest releases, John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight Vol. 8, John Carpenter’s Night Terrors: The Coffin Road, John Carpenter Presents Storm Kids: Stanley…
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[Horror News] KIDS VS ALIENS, THE STRANGERS, CHUCKY Season 2, and more...
Welcome to HORROR NEWS RADIO for September 19, 2022.
JOIN US FOR casting news for VIOLENT NIGHT and A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, along with trailer news for CHUCKY Season 2 and GRIMCUTTY. All this, and more, coming up next…
I am your host Doc Rotten and this is HNR, the official GRUESOME MAGAZINE HORROR NEWS podcast. Back with me again are the scariest, goriest, bloodiest co-hosts on the 'Net.
Dave Dreher, the lead news writer at Gruesome Magazine
Crystal Cleveland, the Livin6dead6irl
And Vanessa, Podcasting Rock Star and International Cosplay Queen
UPCOMING FILMS
Stephen King's FAIRY TALE will be adapted and directed by Paul Greengrass
"Paul Greengrass will adapt, direct and produce a feature adaptation of Fairy Tale, the bestselling novel by Stephen King that Scribner just published"
"an epic tale that follows a 17-year-old boy who inherits the keys to a terrifying world where good and evil are at war. The stakes could not be higher, for that world and ours, as he journeys into the mythic roots of human storytelling."
https://deadline.com/2022/09/fairy-tale-stephen-king-novel-paul-greengrass-to-adapt-direct-movie-1235119945/
Tubi set to debut TERROR TRAIN remake on October 21, 2022
'The new cast is led by Canadian actress Robyn Alomar (“Utopia Falls”), as well as Tim Rozon (“Schitt’s Creek”). The remake is written by Ian Carpenter and Aaron Martin (“Slasher”), and is directed Philippe Gagnon (“Amber Alert”). '
https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3731650/tubis-terror-train-remake-pulls-into-the-station-in-october-teaser/
KIDS VS ALIENS coming in 2023 from RLJE and SHUDDER
"RLJE Films will release the alien invasion film in theaters, on demand and across digital platforms in early 2023. A Shudder release will follow later in the year."
Synopsis: "Gary, who wants to make awesome home movies with his best buds. All his older sister Samantha wants is to hang with the cool kids. When their parents head out of town one Halloween weekend, a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing the siblings to band together to survive the night. "
"The film was directed by Jason Eisener (“Hobo with a Shotgun”), who co-wrote “Kids vs. Aliens” with John Davies."
The cast includes "Dominic Mariche (“Are You Afraid of the Dark?,” “Team Zenko Go”), Phoebe Rex (“The Last Divide”), Calem MacDonald (“The Umbrella Academy”), Asher Grayson Percival (“Scaredy Cats”), and Ben Tecto"
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/rlje-films-shudder-kids-vs-aliens-fantastic-fest-1235376824/
Coming to theaters, streaming, and VOD this weekend
DON'T WORRY DARLING (9/23, New Line Cinemas) Theatrical
RAVEN'S HOLLOW (9/22, SHUDDER) Streaming
THE INFERNAL MACHINE (9/23, Paramount) VOD
BLANK (9/23, Brainstorm Media) VOD
CASTING NEWS
Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale) Leds Renny Harlin's THE STRANGERS remake
"Madelaine Petsch (Riverdale), Froy Gutierrez (Cruel Summer) and Gabriel Basso (Hillbilly Elegy) have been tapped to star in a Lionsgate remake of the 2008 horror pic The Strangers"
"The new Strangers film will follow Petsch’s character as she drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend (Gutierrez) to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest. When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers."
Writers: Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland (The Freak Brothers, Due Date)
https://deadline.com/2022/09/the-strangers-remake-starring-madelaine-petsch-in-works-at-lionsgate-1235117869/
From This Is Us to A CREATURE WAS STIRRING, Chrissy Metz scares up some Xmas Chills
"The international and indie distributor Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired worldwide rights to A Creature Was Stirring"
Chrissy Metz, Annalise Basso, Scout Taylor-Compton, Connor Paolo star
Damien LeVeck is directing
Shannon Wells wrote the script
Synopsis: "A Creature Was Stirring follows the overprotective mother and professional nurse Faith (Metz), who keeps her teenage daughter (Annalise Basso) locked securely in her room and subjected to constant methadone injections, their only means of sustaining a delicately balanced fever state that keeps a mysterious and terrifying affliction at bay. However, when a pair of strangers (Scout Taylor-Compton and Connor Paolo) breaks into the home while seeking shelter from the Christmas blizzard, they quickly discover that this mother-daughter relationship stretches the limits of both dysfunction and reality, and that the women are hiding a terrible secret — specifically, the presence of a malevolent houseguest who won’t be content to lurk in the shadows much longer. (Hint: it ain’t Santa.)"
https://deadline.com/2022/09/chrissy-metz-horror-film-a-creature-was-stirring-acquired-by-well-go-usa-1235115569/
David Harbour debuts VIOLENT NIGHT poster while Sony announced he'll lead Neill Blomkamp's GRAN TURISMO
Just as Universal Pictures teases Tommy Wirkola's VIOLENT NIGHT with a poster, coming to theaters on December 2, 2022, Sony announces that David Harbour will next star in Neill Blomkamp's adaptation of the racing video game, GRAN TURISMO
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/david-harbour-gran-turismo-sony-playstation-1235220238/
TRAILERS
CHUCKY Season 2
CHUCKY returns to SYFY on October 5, 2022 for season 2
"Brad Dourif and Jennifer Tilly will both be back for “Chucky” Season 2, with returning cast also including Zackary Arthur as Jake Wheeler, Björgvin Arnarson as Devon Evans, Alyvia Alyn Lind as Lexy Cross, Fiona Dourif as Nica Pierce, Alex Vincent as Andy Barclay, Christine Elise as Kyle and Barbara Alyn Woods as Mayor Michelle Cross."
The first episode is titled "HALLOWEEN II"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cat19KG-mNQ
MR. HARRIGAN'S PHONE
Begins streaming on NETFLIX on October 5, 2022
John Lee Hancock writes and directs, adapting the short story by Stephen King
Jaeden Martell, Donald Sutherland, Kirby Howell-Babtiste lead the cast
Synopsis: When Mr. Harrigan dies, the teen who befriended and did odd jobs for him, puts his smart phone in his pocket before burial and when the lonely youth leaves his dead friend a message, he is shocked to get a return text.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Un_ker71dg
GRIMCUTTY
Begins streaming on HULU beginning October 10, 2022
Synopsis: In this modern creature feature, a scary internet meme called "Grimcutty" stirs up panic amongst all the parents in town, convinced it's making their kids harm themselves and others. When a real-life version of Grimcutty starts attacking teen Asha Chaudry, her parents believe that she's cutting herself as part of a challenge. With her phone taken away and no one who believes her, Asha has to figure out how to get through to her parents and stop the Grimcutty once and for all.
Written and directed by John Ross
Sara Wolfkind, Shannyn Sossamon, and Usman Ally lead the cast
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb3FCMpMN4s
V/H/S/99
Begins streaming on SHUDDER on October 19, 2022
Synopsis: Witness a hellish vision of 1999, as social isolation, analog technology and disturbing home videos fuse into a nightmare of found footage savagery.
Directors:
Flying Lotus … (segment "Ozzy's Dungeon")
Maggie Levin … (segment "Shredding")
Tyler MacIntyre … (segment "The Gawkers")
Johannes Roberts … (segment "Suicide Bid")
Joseph Winter … (segment "To Hell and Back")
Vanessa Winter … (segment "To Hell and Back")
Writers:
Zoe Cooper … (segment) (segment "Ozzy's Dungeon")
Flying Lotus … (segment) (segment "Ozzy's Dungeon")
Maggie Levin … (segment) (segment "Shredding")
Tyler MacIntyre … (segment) (segment "The Gawkers")
Johannes Roberts … (segment) (segment "Suicide Bid")
Joseph Winter … (segment) (segment "To Hell And Back")
Vanessa Winter … (segment) (segment "To Hell And Back")
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYY6Q34C10Y
FEEDBACK
ANDY L - Hi Doc,
I've been meaning to write for a while but been rather busy. Just wanted to say that I’m glad to see the return of horror news to Horror news radio. I think it was a good choice to divide things into horror news radio for news, and Gruesome magazine for reviews. It was often the case in the past or there’s a lot of overlap between what belonged in what feed. This is a much more clear delineation.
While I agree with you that it’s nice to see Kurt and Wyatt Russell together on screen, I still have a bit of misgivings about the idea of either a Godzilla or a king Kong series. Not sure if either one is really well designed for that kind of multiple interconnected episodes. However, I will keep an open mind. Thank the crew for the continued entertaining podcast
DON JOE - These all look good to me but a new Marcus Dunstan film gets the vote from me.
The dude has a great track record with multiple franchise pictures under his belt with writing and directing credits on Feast, Saw, Collector, Piranha. Although it's just a story credit, his take on Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark was a lot of fun and showed he could work in the family horror category too. Also loved his Into the Dark episode 'Pilgrim', a highlight episode on an under appreciated series. Here's hoping this next directing credit goes well and gets him even more work.
PAUL CARRO - I will watch anything with Samara Weaving, she has yet to be in a film that I did not enjoy. Great show!
CHAD WHITE - looking forward to Spirit Halloween. actually looks better than I expected.
Thank you for hanging out with the Grue-Crew. Be sure to hit the LIKE, SUBSCRIBE buttons, or Share with a Friend. Every click counts.
Check out this episode!
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IN TIME FOR HALLOWEEN, Synapse Films UNLEASHES “THE KINDRED” (1987) SPECIAL EDITION BLU-RAY ON OCTOBER 25TH!
“If ever there was an unheralded, long-lost classic from the eighties this is it. It plays like the great missing H.P. Lovecraft adaptation that Stuart Gordon forgot to tell you he made.” - Kindertrauma
“After many years of waiting by fans, Synapse Films has finally rescued The Kindred, offering it up in a package that features an excellent presentation and great extras. Highly recommended.” - The Digital Bits
In the 25 year history of Synapse Films perhaps no film in the company's storied history had as long a road to shelves as The Kindred, which took many years and a lot of hard work to complete. Now, The Kindred is finally unleashed on Blu-ray this October 25th with a stellar new 4K restoration of the complete, unrated version of the film, accompanied by plenty of extras, making it perfect monstrous viewing for Halloween 2022!
Academy Award-winning screen legends Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night; Duck, You Sucker) and Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire; Planet of the Apes) star in The Kindred, a chilling tale of a genetic experiment gone wrong… very wrong!
Kim Hunter is Dr. Amanda Hollins, a molecular scientist who calls on her son John (David Allen Brooks) to eliminate all evidence of her genetic experiments… most specifically her “Anthony Journals.” Dr. Philip Lloyd (Steiger), an acquaintance of Hollins who is familiar with her experiments, wants to continue her studies no matter the cost! John heads to his isolated childhood home with a group of friends to uncover his mother’s research and destroy it all. There’s something else in the house, however… something watching and waiting… a tentacled creature born from the desire to alter human evolution. It’s evil. It’s mad. It’s ready to kill!
One of the best “creature features” of the 1980s, utilizing all practical special effects, The Kindred also stars Amanda Pays (TV’s The Flash, Leviathan) and Talia Balsam (TV’s Mad Men, Homeland).
Special Features:
- New 4K restoration of the unrated version of the film.
- New 5.1 stereo surround sound remix (Original 2.0 mono theatrical mix also included).
- Audio commentary with directors Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpenter, moderated by horror journalist Steve Barton.
- Inhuman Experiments – The Making of “The Kindred”, an all-new documentary produced by Red Shirt Pictures (52 mins.), nominated for the 2022 Rondo Award for “Best DVD/Blu-ray Extra”.
- A special compilation of creature effects artist Michael McCracken, Jr.’s never-before- seen on-set footage.
- Still gallery and original storyboards.
- Original theatrical trailer, original video promotional trailer and TV spots.
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
This release of The Kindred is REGION FREE for world-wide playback.
BLU-RAY SPECIFICATIONS:
VIDEO: High-Definition 1080p (1.78:1) Presentation / AVC
AUDIO: DTS-HD MA 5.1 English Stereo Surround and Original Theatrical 2.0 English Mono
SUBTITLES: English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
REGION: Alle Ygator
ITEM #: #SFD0208
UPC CODE: 654930323199
MPAA RATING: UNRATED
YEAR:1987
RUNNING TIME: 93 MINS.
COLOR
SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE: $34.95
Street Date: October 25, 2022
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New Fiction 2023 - September
"Baruch" ed. Richard Challoner (1752)
A short interlude before another juggernaut of a chapter.
Creature Teacher by R.L. Stine (1998)
They really hold out on the monsters here in Series 2000, so this is a welcome entry.
Invasion of the Body Squeezers - Part 1 by R.L. Stine (1998)
An unnecessarily long red herring.
Invasion of the Body Squeezers - Part 2 by R.L. Stine (1998)
That's some way to prevent an extinction event.
I'm Your Evil Twin! by R.L. Stine (1998)
They always do the ol' switcharoo.
Revenge R Us by R.L. Stine (1998)
The Uncut Gems of Goosebumps.
Fright Camp by R.L. Stine (1998)
Fool me several dozen times, shame on us all.
Headless Halloween by R.L. Stine (1998)
Here we GOOOOO. A+ Goosebumps.
Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls by R.L. Stine (1998)
A bit weirder but still more welcome than kids being dicks and no actual spooky happenings.
Brain Juice by R.L. Stine (1998)
Just bizarre. Leaning a little too far into the weird science angle I've no interest for in these books.
The Deadly Experiments of Dr. Eeek by R.L. Stine (1996)
Nope. These gamebooks aren't good for reading one after another, and the ones that more or less stay in place are especially meh.
Night in Werewolf Woods by R.L. Stine (1996)
Another meh entry in spite of the werewolves running around.
Beware of the Purple Peanut Butter by R.L. Stine (1996)
More weird science and generally not scary stuff, less and less interesting.
"Hotline Miami" by KC Green (2023)
The speedrun.
"I was told by my doctor that this'll completely compensate my human meat diet" by scribblingchimp (2023)
Gotta find an alternate.
"Carl's Date" dir. Bob Peterson (2023)
Good to see the gang again.
The Equalizer 3 dir. Antoine Fuqua (2023)
Didn't need to do all that.
Bottoms dir. Emma Seligman (2023)
The kids are alright.
Elemental dir. Peter Sohn (2023)
A personal story.
They Live dir. John Carpenter (1988)
That's a long fight.
Jawan dir. Atlee (2023)
The Robin Hood we need.
Christine dir. John Carpenter (1983)
Somehow, a car is scary.
The LEGO Movie dir. Phil Lord & Christopher Miller (2014)
Too familiar, but perhaps because it kicked off something we've seen a lot of since then.
Outlaw Johnny Black dir. Michael Jai White (2023)
A fun and shooty romp.
Satanic Hispanics dir. Alejandro Brugués , Mike Mendez, Gigi Saul Guerrero, Eduardo Sánchez, Demián Rugna (2023)
The anthology offers much.
Prey dir. Dan Trachtenberg (2022)
Hell yes. If they made Predator movies that are just "a Predator fights someone at this point in history" I'd be all in.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight dir. Ernest Dickerson (1995)
Definitely a feature-length version of an episode, but they pull it off.
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Bordello of Blood dir. Gilbert Adler (1996)
Or do they? But this is still better than...
Tales from the Crypt Presents: Ritual dir. Avi Nesher (2002)
A very boring movie like this.
Vault of Horror dir. Freddie Francis (1973)
Ooh that second story is tops.
Tales from the Crypt dir. Freddie Francis (1972)
This first movie was just a tad too straight-faced. Where's the camp?!
The Origin of Evil dir. Sébastien Marnier (2023)
A-n-x-i-e-t-y.
The Expendables 4 dir. Scott Waugh (2023)
I know they can't all come back every time, but the concept seems to be slipping away from them.
The Creator dir. Gareth Edwards (2023)
Hm. Striving toward something I might've liked but somehow doesn't land.
Tales from the Crypt - Season 7 (1996)
I've been annoyed with many people writing off season 7 as not worth watching. It's fine! There's even a few episodes really worth watching.
Tales from the Cryptkeeper - Season 1 (1993)
Basically Goosebumps, so John Kassir recording wraparounds is what makes it special.
Star Trek Discovery - Season 2 (2023)
I like it, but 10 episodes is not enough. Bouncing from fun to deadly serious episodes too often makes it feel disjointed.
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Good/Great horror movies (If not, movies with a hint of horror) for the month and upcoming Halloween: my recommendations...
The Scream duology (also Scream 4, if you’re into it).
The Alien duology (or trilogy, if you want to watch Alien 3 in its original form or the Assemby Cut... and then there’s the video game Alien: Isolation).
The Terminator duology i.e. the first two Terminator films (you might argue that the second film is less scary, but in the end, it still has some good scares).
The Nightmare Before Elm Street films, from the very first film, 3: Dream Warriors, and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare... maybe even Jason vs. Freddy, for some crossover action.
Speaking of Jason Voorhees, there’s the first four films of the Friday the 13th series (Friday the 13th, Part 2, Part 3, and The Final Chapter) and VI: Jason Lives.
The very first Halloween (also Halloween II and/or also the recent one, just in time for Halloween Kills).
John Carpenter’s The Thing (also Roger Corman’s The Thing, for a classic take).
They Live.
The first, second, and fifth Final Destination films.
The Evil Dead trilogy (yes, including Army of Darkness).
George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead (also Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead).
28 Days Later.
Ringu and its American remake The Ring.
The Japanese Ju-On: The Grudge duology (also The Curse).
The Babadook.
Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us.
Audition.
The Exorcist.
The Omen.
Creepshow.
Brian de Palma’s Carrie.
Christine.
The Shining (unfaithful to the novel, but if deemed as a standalone set in an alternate universe retelling of the tale, well...)
Misery.
Frank Darabont’s The Mist (I know it’s a cruel film, but that’s the beauty of it).
1408: Director’s Cut.
Neil Marshall’s Dog Soldiers and The Descent.
[REC]
The very first Paranormal Activity (and believe me, you better watch this on DVD for many alternate endings, none of them pretty).
Cloverfield.
10 Cloverfield Lane.
Edit: The Hellraiser duology.
Edit: Rosemary’s Baby.
Edit: Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow.
Edit: The Cabin in the Woods.
Edit: The Sixth Sense.
Edit: Train to Busan.
Edit: Kwaidan.
Edit: The Host by Bong Joon-ho (yes, the same director for Snowpiercer and Parasite).
Edit: It Follows.
Edit: The IT duology, based on Stephen King’s novel.
Edit: The Others.
Edit: The Innocents (1961).
Edit: Videodrome.
Edit: Event Horizon really sorry that I didn’t include this film early on).
Edit: David Cronenberg’s The Fly (again, sorry for initially not including this).
Edit: Pitch Black, (the first and better The Chronicles of Riddick film, if you’re asking; also, in video game terms, you might want to play the TCoR games Escape from Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena).
Edit: The very first Predator (also Predator 2 if you want to continue; Predators even).
Edit: An American Werewolf in London.
Edit: A Tale of Two Sisters.
For some lighthearted scares and/or some fun (in case you can’t handle the fear factors), there are also:
Frank Oz’s Little Shop of Horrors (OG cut AND Director’s Cut will do).
Shaun of the Dead (here’s hoping Last Night in Soho becomes a part of this list in the future).
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
The very first Scary Movie; your sequel mileage might vary.
Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride (also Frankenweenie, although it’s up to you on whether or not you’re going to watch the short film version or the longer film.
Gremlins.
The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values
Edit: Zombieland.
Edit: Hocus Pocus (1993)
Edit: Disney Pixar’s Monsters Inc. and Monsters University; also, Coco.
Edit: The Book of Life.
Edit: Ghostbusters (1984; also Ghostbusters II, if you’re into it; oh, and then there’s the 2009 game, if you’re a gamer yourself).
Edit: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).
Edit: The Mummy (1999; also The Mummy Returns, if you enjoy that, and then there’s the classic one from 1932).
Edit: The very first Tremors.
Edit: Young Frankenstein.
Edit: What We Do in the Shadows (also, the TV series).
Edit: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil.
And remember, the scariest thing about horror movies, apart from really good scary movies, is terrible horror movie sequels, especially ones which are really unnecessary. However, do take notes that these are just my personal recommendations, so they may not be up to your taste, all while I might have missed some gems (and also directors). Also, forgive me if this was a very long list of recommendations.
#movies#movie recommendation#happy halloween#scream#wes craven#scream movies#alien#alien films#terminator#terminator films#james cameron#xenomorph#the nightmare before elm street#freddy krueger#friday the 13th#jason voorhees#halloween film#michael myers#the thing#they live#john carpenter#final destination#evil dead trilogy#army of darkness#sam raimi#night of the living dead#dawn of the dead#day of the dead#george a. romero#zack snyder
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31 Nights of Halloween Film Challenge
Of course everyday is Halloween when you're a goth, but it's October which means...
It's Spooky Time!
This blog is doing a 31 Nights of Halloween Challenge. I tried to find one that was a little more Kino, pardon the vernacular. Credit to Killer Horror Critic on Twitter for the image. (Note: Foreign in this case means non English language films but ymmv)
Night 1: 50s or earlier
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Häxan, Godzilla.
Night 2: 60s Horror
Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary's Baby, Psycho
Night 3: 70s Horror
The Abominable Doctor Phibes, Last House On The Left, The Exorcist, Lemora, The Wickerman, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Witch Who Came From The Sea
Night 4: 80s Horror
Videodrome, The Shining, Possession, Halloween 3 : Season of the Witch, The Thing, The Hunger, The Company of Wolves, Vampire Hunter D, Dead Ringers
Night 5: 90s Horror
Nightbreed, Jacob's Ladder, Animal Room, Candyman, Cemetery Man, Interview with the Vampire, Scream, Audition, Real Killers, The Faculty
Night 6: 2000s Horror
American Psycho, 28 Days Later, May, A Tale of Two Sisters, Ginger Snaps, The Devils Rejects, The Host, Grindhouse, Antichrist
Night 7: 2010s Horror
Hereditary, It Follows, The Lodge, The VVitch, Blackcoats Daughter, Byzantium, The Invitation, Mother!, The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Night 8: Film with "Blood" in the Title
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
Night 9: Queer Horror
Nightmare on Elm Street 2, Jennifer's Body, Heavenly Creatures, Black Swan, Neon Demon, Interview with the Vampire, Scream
Night 10: Zombie Horror
Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, The Evil Dead, Reanimator, Zombie, Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
Night 11: Parody Horror
Shaun of the Dead, Rise of Leslie Vernon, Severance, Cabin in The Woods, Dude Bro Party Massacre Part 3, The Dead Don't Die
Night 12: Wes Craven
The Hills Have Eyes (1977), A Nightmare on Elm Street, Shocker, Cursed, Red Eye, My Soul To Take
Night 13: Friday the 13th
Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th
Night 14: Horror Noire
Candyman, Candyman (2021), Us, Get Out, Them, Antebellum
Night 15: John Carpenter
In the Mouth of Madness, Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween
Night 16: Witches
The Craft, The Devils, Belladonna of Sadness, Lords of Salem
Night 17: Creature Feature
Gamera Films!, Hellboy (2004), The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy: The Golden Army, Critters Tetralogy.
Night 18: Scream Queens
Ashley Laurence, Heather Langenkamp, Neve Campbell, Jaime Lee Curtis
Night 19: Tony Todd, Keith David
Candyman, Night of the Living Dead 1990, Final Destination, They Live, The Thing, Todd McFarlane's Spawn
Night 20: Ghost Story
The Sixth Sense, Crimson Peak, Haunting of Hill House, Ghost Stories, VHYes
Night 21: Found Footage
The Poughkeepsie Tapes, V/H/S (2012), Man Bites Dog, The Last Broadcast, Noroi: The Curse, The Blair Witch Project
Night 22: Larry Cohen or Roger Corman Film
Maniac Cop, The Stuff, Dementia 13, The Dunwich Horror
Night 23: Horror Directed by Women
The Love Witch, The Babadook, Near Dark, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Raw, Revenge, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, She Dies Tomorrow, Saint Maud, Surveillance
Night 24: Camping Film
Cabin Fever, Sleepaway Camp
Night 25: Holiday Horror
Krampus, Gremlins, Better Watch Out, Silent Night Deadly Night
Night 26: Possession or Devil Film
Drag Me to Hell, The Omen, The Prophecy, Angel Heart
Night 27: Foreign
Let the Right One In, The Wolf House, Funny Games, Dogtooth
Night 28: Body Horror
Possessor, Society, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Cronenberg's The Fly
Night 29: Stephen King
Doctor Sleep!
Night 30: Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing Films
House on Haunted Hill, Hammer Dracula Films
Night 31: Halloween Night
The Crow, Donnie Darko, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door
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My Halloween Playlists
Since 2016 I've made an annual Halloween playlist and posted them online. Since there’s only a week until Halloween I guessed now was as good a time as any to share them with you. I wanted to just embed them but I couldn’t figure out how to do that. If someone tells me how to embed MixCloud to Tumblr I'll go back and do that.
Jukebox of Horrors volume 1: The Orange and Black Album
https://8tracks.com/plan9fromouterspace59/jukebox-of-horrors-vol-1-the-orange-and-black-album-remake
Tracklist:
Intro-Halloween Convention of Spooks
Alice Cooper-Welcome to My Nightmare Live
Elvira-Haunted House
Bobby "Boris" Pickett-The Monster Swim
Bernard Herrmann-Psycho Theme
Velvet Revolver-Psycho Killer (Talking Heads cover)
Johnathan Young-Monster Mash (Bobby "Boris" Pickett cover)
Leo Moracchioli-Ghostbusters (Ray Parker Jr. cover)
Chuck Billy Of Testament-Thriller (Michael Jackson cover)
The Ghastly Ones ft. Rob Zombie-Halloween [She Get So Mean]
Creature Feature-Buried Alive
Jaunter-This Is Halloween (Danny Elfman Cover)
Interlude-Mini Monsters cereal commercial
T.S.O.L.-Blackmagic
Fastway-Trick Or Treat
Type O Negative-All Hallows Eve
45 Grave-Partytime: Zombie Version
Blitzkid-Myers 10/31
Kyle Dixon & Michael Stein-Stranger Things theme
Halloween-Halloween Night
Bloodjunkies-All Hallows Eve
Ozzy Osbourne-Bark At The Moon
Dead Kennedys-Halloween
Oingo Boingo-No One Lives Forever
Goblin-Suspiria
The Misfits-Halloween
Outro-In Announcement: Good Night and Drive Safely
Jukebox of Horrors volume 2: At The Monster Shindig
https://8tracks.com/plan9fromouterspace59/jukebox-of-horrors-vol-2-at-the-monster-shindig
Intro-Halloween 1978 TV Spot
John Carpenter-Halloween Theme
The Meteors-Michael Myers
Rob Zombie-Everybody Scream
The Misfits-Night of the Living Dead
AFI-Fall Children
The Other-Hallow's Eve
Coffin Spell-Halloween III
Alice Cooper-Keepin' Halloween Alive
Jack Marshall-The Munsters Theme
Danny Hutton-Monster Shindig
Interlude: Country Fair Flea Market Halloween Sale 1989
The Reverend Horton Heat-The Halloween Dance
Blitzkid-The Pumpkinpatch Murders
Wednesday 13-Halloween 13-13
The Cramps-I Was A Teenage Werewolf
Creature Feature-Grave Robber at Large
Concrete Blonde-Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)
Jack Lenz-Goosebumps TV Theme
Impaler-Blood Of The Vampire
AC/DC-Night Prowler
Francis Haines-Return of The Living Dead theme
Joe Lamont-Flesh to Flesh
Type O Negative-Creepy Green Light
Blue Oyster Cult-Nosferatu
Halloween-Halloween
Outro-Halloween III Silver Shamrock Commercial
Jukebox of Horrors volume 3: Samhain Serenade
https://8tracks.com/plan9fromouterspace59/jukebox-of-horrors-vol-3-samhain-serenade
Intro-Excerpt From Are You Afraid Of The Dark
Tuesday Knight-Nightmare
David Bowie-Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
Rockwell-Somebody’s Watching Me
Lou Gramm-Lost In The Shadows (Video Edit)
Danny Elfman-Tales From The Crypt
Alice Cooper-Feed My Frankenstein
Bobby 'Boris' Pickett-It's Alive
Silent Horror-The Tingler
Nekromantix-Trick or Treat
Status Quo-Halloween
Calabrese-Voices of the Dead
Interlude-Are You Afraid Of The Dark Promo
Samhain-Samhain
The Cramps-Surfin' Dead
Halloween-Trick Or Treat
Marilyn Manson-This Is Halloween (Danny Elfman cover)
Rob Zombie-Living Dead Girl
Ernest Raymer-Hauntedween
Prowler-Haddonfield
Pretty Maids- Night Danger
Claudio Simonetti-Demons Theme
The Birthday Party-Release The Bats
The Legendary Invisible Men-Spooks Night Out
Coffindan-No Sleep 'Till Halloween
Outro-Are You Afraid of the Dark End Credits
Jukebox of Horrors volume 4: The Dead Shall Rock From Their Grave
https://8tracks.com/plan9fromouterspace59/jukebox-of-horrors-vol-4-the-dead-shall-rock-from-the-grave
Intro-Excerpt From John Carpenter's Halloween
Skycycle-It's Terror Time Again
The Kobanes-Season Of The Witch
The Misfits-Vampira
The Ramones-Pet Sematary
Wednesday 13-Haddonfield
Blitzkid-Terror In The Haunted House
45 Grave-Evil
The Other-Nightmare On Halloween
Coffin Spell-Pumpkineater
Calabrese-Midnight Spookshow
The Dickies-Killer Klowns from Outer Space Live
The Casket Creatures-Devil's Day
Interlude-Excerpt From Freddy Vs. Jason
Prowler-Knives For Fingers
Blind Guardian-Wizard's Crown (Halloween)
Death-Evil Dead
Type O Negative-Black No. 1 (radio edit)
D.C. Lacroix-Devil's Son
Acid Witch-October 31st
Bloodletter-Monster Thrash (Bobby Boris Pickett remake)
F.K.U.-Friday The 13th Part 2
Helloween-Halloween
W.A.S.P-Scream Until You Like It
King Diamond-Halloween
Outro-Excerpt From Halloween 3
Jukebox of Horrors volume 5: Halloween Is A State Of Mind
https://8tracks.com/plan9fromouterspace59/jukebox-of-horrors-vol-5-halloween-is-a-state-of-mind
Intro-Rob Zombie's Halloween II tv spot
Zacherly-Happy Halloween
Bobby Boris Pickett-Monster Rap
The Fibonaccis-Terrorvision
Vic Mizzy-The Addams Family Theme
The Ghastly Ones-Banshee Beach
Roky Erickson-Night of the Vampire
Alice Cooper-The Black Widow
Fred Myrow and Malcom Seagrave-Phantasm theme
Rob Zombie-American Witch
Green Jelly-Trick or Treat
Marilyn Manson-I Put A Spell On You (Screamin' Jay Hawkins cover)
Jimmy Psycho-Tales of Halloween
The Misfits-Ghouls Night Out
Interlude-Toys R Us Halloween commercial
The Cramps-Big Black Witchcraft Rock
The Who-Boris The Spider
The Swingin' Neckbreakers-No Costume, No Candy
The 69 Eyes-Lost Boys
Little V-Spooky Scary Skeletons (Andrew Gold cover)
Leo Moracchioli-Don't Fear The Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult cover)
Sorcery-I'm Back
Ministry-Everyday Is Halloween (Evil Version)
Blitzkid-Candyman
45 Grave-Night of the Demons
Haunted Garage-Slenderman
Ripper-Halloween
Perturbator-Halloween Theme Rework (John Carpenter cover)
Oingo Boingo-Dead Man's Party Live
Outro-Halloween Resurrection tv spot
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the open door | Ethan x MC
Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x MC
Warnings: swearing, some brief mentions of corpses and body horror, spooks and possible spectres
Word count: 7.7k
Premise: Bryce invites Sloane, Sienna, and Aurora on a tour of a haunted estate on the night before Halloween. What could go wrong?
Notes: I’m super bummed that we didn’t get a Halloween-themed chapter for this book, especially since it’s my favorite holiday. Takes place post chapter 11, though I’ve played with the timeline a bit to include Halloween. Re-post because it fell out of the tag, as posts seem to want to do as of late.
Taglist: @maurine07 @caseyvalentineramsey
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“You are aware there’s no such thing as witches, right?”
“Well, yeah,” Bryce scoffs. “Maybe. Besides, I said she was rumored to be a witch. That’s a whole different thing.”
“Oh, right, of course it is.” In the backseat, Aurora rolls her eyes. “Just tell that to all the people killed during the Salem witch trials due to mass hysteria.”
“Hey, now -- it’s not like she was killed for being a witch.”
“Right. She pulled a classic Rose for Emily,” Sloane mutters while Sienna makes a gagging noise.
“What?” Bryce asks.
“It’s a short story by Faulkner.”
“Oh.” There’s a brief pause. Sloane wonders if he even knows who that is. Then: “Is he the dude that had a hard-on for the Civil War?”
“Yeah,” Aurora snorts. “Basically.”
“Yeah, never read any of his stuff. I think I used SparkNotes for one of his books in undergrad.”
“Same,” Sloane admits, to which Bryce shoots her a look of faux-surprise. “Yeah, yeah, we all had to skate by sometimes.”
“Well, well, well,” he crows. “Looks like the ‘next generation of medicine’ isn’t so high and mighty after all, huh?”
“Wait, how did you--”
“Ramsey was four drinks deep at Donahue’s the other day, and one of the interns came up and bothered him about a possible spot on the team. Which meant we all overheard the twenty-minute spiel about what a great doctor you are.” He snickers as she puts a hand over her face and groans. “Yeah, it was real sweet. Real obvious, but sweet.”
She’s saved by the GPS on her phone, cutting through the music playing over the car speakers; Bryce takes the next exit as instructed. The off-ramp spits them out onto a two-lane county road. Posted across from the solitary stop sign, the blue services sign offers nothing but blank, white squares.
“There’s a bathroom, right?” Sienna asks. “Because I’m not seeing a gas station.”
“It’s a house, you guys,” Bryce scoffs, “not a cave.”
“A haunted house,” she clarifies.
“Well, I mean, I don’t think the toilets are haunted.”
For several miles, there’s nothing but sweeping woodlands and the occasional passing car. Long squiggles of tar decorate the asphalt, snaking across the empty, leaf-strewn road. The setting sun casts a golden hue over everything, spears of light cutting through the tree trunks. It would be a nice, evening drive if it weren’t for where they were headed.
Forty minutes north of Boston lies the small, nondescript town of Angler. Even under the cover of dusk, Sloane can tell that it’s one of those towns. Pretty Tudors line the main street, their porches decorated with smiling scarecrows sitting on bales of hay; banners along the telephone poles advertise the annual apple festival. The bank and the post office and the dry cleaners are all tucked together in the refurbished general store. It’s the stereotypical, pleasant, all-American town. Which means that it’s the perfect place to hide a dark stain of history.
Why Bryce signed up for such a thing and how he won the tickets is beyond her. When he asked them all to join him for a haunted house, Sloane expected the typical theme: some dingy warehouse refurbished enough to meet modern building codes, full of tight mazes and masked actors with chainsaws.
“Nah, guys, this is the real deal,” he gloated over lunch the previous afternoon. “Back in the 1800s, this woman -- uhh Margaret, or Maggie, I think, yeah Maggie Angler -- she was one of the Boston Brahmins, owned this estate out in the country, blah blah blah. No one knows a whole lot about her because she was a little weird and she kept to herself. At some point, this dude woos her and they get married. But then, a few years later, he dies. Neighbors drop by to offer casseroles or whatever, but she won’t answer the door, so they give up and leave her alone. A few months go by, and suddenly this dude from town goes missing. Then a year, and another goes missing. This continues for several years and--”
“So, what, she’s some kind of black widow?” Elijah asked.
“No, this isn’t one of those Marvel--” Bryce’s brow furrowed and then lifted, realization striking his handsome face. “--oh, heh, yeah, sorry. But yeah, sort of. It wasn’t until word got around that the latest dude was seen talking to Maggie at the store that people got suspicious of her. So, they gather up some people and storm the house, where they find a Satanic Bible and other spooky shit. But that’s not the only thing they find.”
They all glance around at each other, waiting to see who will encourage Bryce to break his silence and finish the damn story. “They also find... the missing dudes.”
“What, buried in the backyard?” Sloane asked, and frowned when Bryce shook his head.
“No, not buried. She killed them and then kept them in the house. Supposedly, they were posed at the table or sitting on the couch, rotting away.”
Sienna made a show of pushing her plate away. “That’s disgusting.”
“I know there’s a group of people in Indonesia that keep their dead relatives at home,” Aurora said, “but they’re preserved and cared for. This doesn’t sound like that.”
“Nope.” Elijah shook his head. “Definitely not the same thing.”
“What happened to the woman?” Sloane asked.
“No idea -- get this: they never found her.” Bryce lifted his eyebrows for dramatic effect. “But the story goes that she still haunts the place, searching for her lost lovers, and maybe… trying to get some new ones.”
Jackie, who had been busy scrolling away on her phone through the tale, snorted into her salad.
“And you want us to come with you to some evil witch’s house on the night before Halloween to go ghost hunting? I may not believe in any of this shit, but no fucking way.”
“Yeah,” Elijah sighed, cringing at the crestfallen look on Bryce’s face. “Sorry dude, but I’ll pass. My idea of fun is a John Carpenter movie marathon, not a tour around Jane the Ripper’s house.”
“Okay, understood.” With that, Bryce looked to the remaining three and turned on the charm, draping his arm across Sloane’s shoulders. “C’mon, ladies, whaddaya say? Hard to pass up the prospect of touring a bona fide haunted mansion with one of the most handsome men you know -- second only to Elijah here.”
Tapping at her chin, Sienna nodded and grinned. “Sounds fun. I like scary things.”
Aurora, on the other hand, shot him a skeptical look. “Are you going to shout at the air and act like you’re possessed, like I’ve seen that one ghost hunter do on TV? The one with the spiky hair?” she demanded to know.
“Uhhh no to all of those things, but especially to the spiky hair.”
“Okay, then,” she shrugged, “I’ll go.”
Every eye at the table turned to Sloane; Bryce squeezed her shoulder in encouragement.
“Alright,” she agreed. “It’d be fun to get spooked, I guess. I’m down.”
Which is how she comes to be in the passenger seat of Bryce’s car, leaning forward onto the dashboard as they take the final turn onto a hidden lane. A thick tunnel of trees swallows them up as they drive deeper into the woods. After several miles, there’s a break in the pines, and then: sprawled atop a hill, looming above them, is the house. Even if she hadn’t heard the backstory, Sloane feels like the place would still give her the creeps. With its filmy lace curtains and its tall windows glowing yellow in the approaching darkness, the house looks like it’s been pulled from an Edward Hopper painting. Worn pavers lead from the semi-circular driveway and up to the front porch. Framing either side of the steps, thin, brittle blades of tufted hairgrass shift in the wind. Two people turn from the front door and raise a hand in greeting.
Bryce kills the engine and twists around in his seat to grin at his compatriots.
“You guys ready to get scaaaared?”
Sienna wraps her hands around Sloane’s seat and leans forward, her eyes wide as she stares out the windshield.
“Why does it look like The Amityville Horror house?”
“Is this a bad time to mention that the Blair Witch Project’s producers used this place as inspiration?”
“Yeah,” she hisses, “definitely a bad time.”
Shouldering open her door, Sloane lets in the cool October air in an attempt to corral their attention. It works; the rest of them pile out of the car with her and approach the couple.
As the current owners of the property, Jack and Nancy Bell guide them through the main floor of the house, pointing out spots of reported activity. The interior is lovely -- one of those Sloane would see in a Pictagram post of a wedding venue, with all those carved banisters and original wainscoting. Her brother, a successful carpenter in the Twin Cities, would have a field day in here. Most of the furniture is original to the house, as well, and in surprisingly good condition.
The only aspect setting the house apart from any other on the historical registry are the props. In the front hall, a bulletin board hosts an array of newspaper clippings. The earlier articles blame a serial killer, dubbed the ‘Butcher of Angler,’ for the mens’ disappearances. Then, starting on October 28th, 1892, the headlines change to the ‘Wicked Witch of Winthrope County.’ In the drawing room sits an Ouija board, surrounded by melted candles. A cauldron and a Satanic Bible share space on the kitchen counter; corked bottles of what look like cooking spices and herbs clutter the open cabinets. Mannequins lounge at the dining table or on the sofa, dressed in dusty clothes, their jaws slack, their painted eyes still and dull. Beside them, framed in cheap plastic, are the grainy photographs of the corpses as they were found. To Sloane, it all feels hokey, like a regular haunted house with the strobe lights turned off.
There’s something else, though, something underneath the fine layer of dust and the creaking floorboards and the shrouded furniture. It skitters across her neck and down her back, making her shiver, which she discounts as a wayward draft in the old house.
It’s the distinct feeling of being watched.
“Aside from the big house, there’s a carriage house to the left there. We rent it out in the summer and fall for overnight stays.” Jack gestures to the east as they step out onto the back veranda, where, just beyond the slope of lawn, a smaller house sits with a solitary porch light glowing. “And back down the path there will lead you to the lake. When we bought the place, the deed stated that there was a cabin out near the state park line, but we’ve never been able to find evidence of it.”
“Maggie’s been seen down by the lake, too,” Nancy chimes in. “People say they see her there, inside the boathouse, or walking along the shore with her head down, as if she’s searching for something.”
“We’ve got lanterns here if you want to use them as you go about the grounds, though you’re welcome to use your flashlights.” Jack nudges a neat row of antique lanterns with his sneaker. “For the optimal experience, though, we recommend turning off all the inside lights and using secondary light sources instead.” He chuckles when Sienna makes a throaty noise of dissent.
The couple leads them back through the house and into the front hall to finish the tour. While Jack goes over the various rules, Nancy motions for Sloane to follow her out onto the front porch.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of your friends,” she starts off in a whisper, “but I wanted to talk to you about our son, Ben.”
For a fleeting moment, Sloane thinks that she’s going to get questioned about his bowel movements or a mysterious rash, that Bryce must have told them he was bringing along his doctor friends. “When he was seven, he nearly--” Nancy cuts herself off, pressing a hand to her heart, “--he drowned when we were at the beach in Florida. I did CPR until the EMTs got there, and they were able to resuscitate him, thank God.”
“I’m sorry,” Sloane murmurs, “that must’ve been awful.”
“It was. But I’m -- the reason I’m telling you all this is because, after that, Ben seems to be more… open. More open than the rest of us.”
“I’m sorry,” Sloane says again, though this time out of confusion, “but I don’t--”
With a huff, Nancy shakes her head and waves her hands. “No, no, I apologize. I must sound crazy. I just wanted to warn you that, due to what happened to you, you might see things or experience things that your friends can’t. That’s all, dear.”
Sloane opens her mouth to question her further, but they’re interrupted by the rest of the gang filing out beside them. “We’ll be back at one a.m. to lock up behind you,” Nancy says as she follows her husband down to their car.
With a cheery honk, the little Subaru rumbles down the winding driveway and disappears. The sun having set during the tour, the landscape before them is now draped with the heavy blanket of night. The moon peeks at them from just above the treetops, as if still deciding on whether or not to come out. The only lights are far-off, unmoving: porch lights of the houses back in town; cell towers with their red stars blinking lazily against the dark. A cold wind moves through the trees, rustling the leaves and scattering them across the front walk, the dried edges hissing along the brick.
“Can you believe he said no alcohol?” Bryce breaks the silence with a whine. “I read about this fun séance thing you do with tequila shots and--”
“No séances!” Sienna declares. “And definitely no tequila!”
“Can we argue about this where it’s warmer?” Aurora suggests and steps back into the house.
As she and Sienna wander off into the drawing room, Sloane wraps a hand around Bryce’s arm and pulls him back.
“Did you tell her about me?”
His nose scrunches up to meet his furrowed brows. “Tell who about what?”
“The-- Nancy, did you tell her about what happened to me? With… with the senator, and…” it’s embarrassing how much of a struggle it is to get the words out, even now, even after three weeks and two therapy appointments.
His face falls from confusion to concern. Bryce reaches up and lays his hand over her own.
“Slo, I didn’t tell them, I swear. I would never,” he promises. “Did she say something to you?”
She loosens her hold, frustrated at herself that she even considered he would do such a thing. He’s one of her best friends, the man who handed over the reins to a cutting-edge surgery just to be by her side.
“Yeah, no, listen: it’s fine,” she stumbles through a paltry reassurance. “She was probably trying to scare me, that’s all.”
He gives her a quick once-over, lips twisting into a frown as he debates on whether or not to push. She bites back a breath of relief when he relents, his hand releasing hers.
“Okay,” he says, and nudges her into the house ahead of him. “C’mon. Between the two of us, I think we can convince them to turn off the lights.”
------
Although he puts up a good fight, Bryce loses on the no-lights front.
Which is just as well, because by the time they reach the second floor, Sloane is glad for the light from the antique lamps. To be fair, nothing actually happens: no spooks, no spectres, and no signs from the former resident. Nothing she can point to with any amount of certainty. Whatever it is hovers out of reach, just on the tip of her tongue, but she can’t seem to give it a name. Maybe it lies -- like any good, scary movie -- in the setting. For as grand as the house is, time and dereliction have taken its fine features hostage. Thick, gray dust coats the wooden spindles and curled handrails of the antique staircase. The corridors are tight, the shadows gathering in the space where the lights can’t seem to reach. Small curls of peeling wallpaper look like fingers reaching out from the wall, backlit by the sconces. The cloying scent of wood rot and mold fills the air, like a pile of papers left to curl and yellow with age. The rooms are small, cluttered with furniture and trinkets and artwork.
Sloane stares at such a portrait in the master bedroom, where a couple stares down at her from above the fireplace. The man sits in a chair, the woman standing beside him with her hand on his shoulder. It would be any other family portrait, if it weren’t for the unsettling glaze over the man’s sunken eyes.
“Bryce, please don’t-- aaaand he’s sitting on the bed.”
“You do know that’s where they found her husband, right?” Sienna points out. “That’s why there’s a mannequin on it. And a picture of his dead body on the nightstand.”
“Maybe Maggie will see what a catch I am if I’m laid out for her. I’ve never met a woman over the age of sixty who could resist my charms.” Bryce waggles his eyebrows as he bounces once, then twice on the mattress before stretching out. “What’s up, bro?” he asks the mannequin beside him before doing a double-take. “Hey, it’s Annie!”
He snatches off the ugly wig and fake beard, and lo and behold, an old CPR dummy gapes up at them all. Sloane snorts and shakes her head.
“Looks like the years haven’t been kind to her.”
“Probably saddled with student loans just like the rest of us,” Aurora mutters as she wanders over to inspect the photograph. “Had to get a second job here.”
“Hey, that was a joke!” Bryce commends. “And a pretty good one at that.”
“I do jokes.”
“You so do not.”
A muffled bang from somewhere in the house stops their banter. Everyone glances at each other, verifying that everyone in their group is indeed in the room.
“What was that?” Sienna whispers.
“Probably the pipes,” Aurora says. “It is an old house.”
As if on cue, the lights flicker once, then switch off, sinking them into complete darkness. There’s a flurry of noise as everyone digs out their phones; the bedroom seems even creepier, now, under the white glow of their flashlights.
“What do we do?” Sienna hisses, scurrying from the window to latch onto Aurora.
“We could always search for the breaker,” she suggests.
“Which would be where?”
“In the basement, most likely.”
“Um, no,” Sienna balks. “Hell no.”
“Are you guys serious right now?” Bryce hops down from the bed and pokes his head out the open doorway. “This is so cool! Who wants to go downstairs with me and grab the Ouija board?”
“If you bring that thing near me, I will break it in half.”
He grimaces at Sienna’s threat.
“You’re not really supposed to do that with them. It’ll keep the door open for the spirits to come in.”
“It’s a toy made by Hasbro,” Aurora scoffs. “It’s not going to ‘let in’ anything. And the planchette doesn’t actually move on its own. That’s due to the ideomotor effect.”
Moving over to the window, Sloane presses her temple against the pane’s edge and squints. Just past the eastern wing, she spots a faint halo of yellow light on the lawn.
“Hey,” she raises her voice over their bickering. “It looks like the carriage house still has power.”
“Great!” Sienna squeaks and pulls Aurora with her towards the door. “Let’s check it out. I… love carriage houses.”
They push past Bryce and start back down the hall. Turning from the doorway, a coy smile spreads across his face, a single eyebrow lifting at his wordless request.
“Oh, no.” Sloane shakes her head as she crosses the room. “I’m not staying up here so you can play Twenty Questions with a ghost.”
She ignores his good-natured grumbling and leads him to the staircase, where Aurora and Sienna are waiting on the landing. Aimed at the ground, their flashlights slice at the hand-carved walls; dustmotes dance in the twin beams, kicked up by their feet. The air feels heavier, mustier here, too, like breathing through wet wool. They tromp down the stairs and across the first floor to the kitchen. Being at the back of the group, Sloane can’t help but glance back now and again at the shadowed recesses, searching for the source of her uneasiness. That she finds nothing amiss doesn’t seem to curb her anxiety.
The sensation wanes when she closes the door behind them, sealing up the house once more.
“How is it warmer outside than in there?” Sienna asks as they start cutting across the lawn for the carriage house.
Bryce zips up his coat and shrugs. “I’ve heard that ghosts tend to suck the energy out of a room, creating cold spots when they mani--”
“Please stop talking,” she begs. “At least until we’re somewhere with electricity that actually works.”
“Aw, come on, you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’ve seen enough scary movies in your life to know that we’re safe if we travel together. Besides, everyone knows the funny guy goes first.”
“I think that honor belongs to people of color, now, sorry.” Aurora chuckles when he spins around to wince at her.
“Yeah, fair point.”
Coated in fallen leaves, the ground crunches loud underneath their shoes, blocking out the night sounds as the four of them approach the smaller house. “But for real, I don’t think we have much to worry about from Maggie here. I mean, almost all ghost stories are about little white girls from Victorian times named Sally or Sarah or Kate.”
“That’s because of the spiritualism boom in the late nineteenth century,” Aurora answers.
Bryce sighs and quickly changes the subject, uninterested in a history lesson.
Converted into a proper guest house sometime after the turn of the twentieth century, the carriage house lacks the severe decay of the main house. Though not as grand, the wallpaper here is intact, the dust not as heavy. It might just be the comforts of amenities such as central heating and electricity, but the inside of the house feels much more benign. As they complete a loop around the building, though, Sloane realizes that the feeling of being watched still remains, growing stronger when she passes or glances out one of the windows. With the glare of the lights, though, it’s hard to see much of anything past the panes. None of the others seem to be frightened -- or if they do, they keep quiet. The same can’t be said when Sienna flips the light on in the parlor.
Toddler-size dolls lean against the walls, their porcelain hands cupped around their faces. Each wears a pretty, pastel dress trimmed in white lace, their hair falling down their backs in long, springy ringlets of dark brown, cherry red, and honey gold. Bryce makes a noise of disgust when he spins one around, its face blank: no eyes, no nose, no mouth. Time-out dolls, Sloane tells them, remembering her grandmother’s friend who owned several back in the early nineties -- though hers were all dressed as clowns.
“People actually rent this place out? They pay money to stay here?” Sienna shudders. “I’d rather sleep in the other house, even with all the cobwebs and mannequins.”
“And the ghosts,” Bryce adds.
“Ghosts don’t exist,” Aurora says.
“Okay, Scully, that’s enough out of you.”
------
As the clock ticks closer to ten, Bryce votes to go check out the lake. Aurora and Sienna, however, vote to stay in the warm, well-lit kitchen. The plan is decided to split up and then meet back at the main house in time for midnight.
“You know,” Bryce explains as he and Sloane make their way across the lawn, “because it’s the witching hour.”
“I thought it was three a.m.”
“It is if you’re taking into account REM cycles and all that, but I’m not. All the legends I’ve read say…” he trails off, frowning as he jogs up the main house’s back steps. “Hey, you shut the door when we left, right?”
Her phone’s flashlight sweeps up the French doors; one of them is ajar, standing open several inches. She reaches for the handle and shuts it, listening for the snick of the latch.
“I guess I didn’t pull it closed enough.”
“Or,” he taunts as he grabs two of the lanterns from the porch, “something else opened it.” Ignoring her scoff, he pockets his phone and hands one of the lanterns to her. “These are nice. Do you think they’re original?”
“Bryce, they bought these from a Cracker Barrel. And besides, they’re battery-powered.”
“Oh.”
The back of the estate has been left to run wild. Overgrown swath rolls along the ground like dunes, snagging dead leaves between the dry blades. Thickets of barren shrubs creep out from the distant tree line. The path to the lake is marked by an old fence post, tied with a tattered ribbon. They make their way across the wide expanse of lawn, the trees ahead towering higher and higher the closer they get to the forest. Sloane can’t help but check over her shoulder. The house is just as they left it, though the moonlight is too weak to see if the door is still closed.
Gravel crunches under their feet as they step onto the trail. The quiet night is broken by a ding from her phone.
How goes the ghost hunting?
She hooks the lantern in the crook of her arm and taps out her reply: Fun so far, lights went off by themselves. Very spooky 10/10
Ethan: What do fractions have to do with what you’re doing?
Sloane: Nvm
Ethan: This isn’t 2002. You do have a full keyboard under your fingertips.
Sloane: so?
Ethan: So there’s no excuse for using T9 acronyms.
Sloane: Never thought I’d see the day you reprimand me for texting
Ethan: I’ll spare you the lecture and let you get back to your witch hunt. Text me when you get home, please, so I know you returned safely.
She hits send on the next message. Several seconds later, a red bubble appears beside her will do!, informing her that it refused to send. A quick glance at the top of the screen shows the one measly bar of service her phone is clinging onto. With a sigh, she tucks it away.
“How’s Dr. Ramsey?” Bryce asks.
“Preparing a TEDtalk on prehistoric cell phone etiquette.”
His nose scrunches up. “What?”
“Nothing,” she chuckles, exhaling through her mouth just to see her foggy breath.
The light from the lanterns casts an eerie, yellow glow across the tree trunks and underbrush. Creaks and knocks echo up out of the dark -- branches smacking against each other as a cold wind sweeps through the area. The last vestiges of October skitter along the ground; the leaves almost sound like footsteps, dragging across the dirt behind them. The trail tightens as it winds down a small embankment and into a hollow. Their pace seems to pick up, though neither of them mention it. Sloane burrows into her scarf at the sudden dip in temperature.
“How’s Keiki?” she asks, more so out of need to make conversation than actual curiosity.
“Probably eating her way into a food coma with the pizza money I left for her, and beating all my high scores on Need for Speed.” He’s grinning as he says it, though, which Sloane finds encouraging. “I invited her to go with us, but she said no.”
She doesn’t miss the crestfallen expression that crosses his face for a moment.
“Trust me when I say this, because I speak from the experience of having a younger sibling, but she didn’t say no because she doesn’t like you or anything. It’s because she thinks you and your friends are dorks.”
He sputters at the insult. “I’m not a dork!”
“You so totally are.”
“Am not.”
“Are too!” she argues. “Ethan thinks I’m bad, but you -- you come in on your days off and you like it.”
“That’s called dedication to the craft.”
“That’s called being a dork.”
What little she can see of the path ahead is more winding turns, more endless seas of bark and brushwood. But just when she thinks that they’ll never reach the end, that they’ll wind up stumbling upon Elly Kedward’s house -- there’s a small dot of light and then a break in the trees, where the path spits them out onto a rocky shore. The lake glints under their lanterns, the pearlescent gleam of the moon dancing on its surface.
“Oh, hey, that was nice of them.”
Sloane’s gaze tracks along the shore and over to where he’s gestured. A solitary lantern sits in front of an old boathouse, illuminating the weathered cedar shake.
“Too bad they can’t install lights along the path,” she mutters as they make their way to the structure.
“What part of ‘bona fide haunted mansion’ did you not understand? This is the thrill of it!”
Bryce shoulders open the door to a dim room with a half-sunken rowboat in the center.
“Thrilling,” she drones, side-stepping his attempt to whack her arm. “Right.”
They poke through the dirty raincoats and rusted tackle boxes. The wooden planks under their feet jostle and flex. Everything smells of wet and mold, the walls slick with grime. “I can think of several better places to haunt.”
Bryce hums his agreement as he prods at a stack of old hunting magazines, the pages sealed together. Sloane steps over to look down at the boat, where minnows dart underneath the oars to escape her light.
“Watch where you step,” she tells him as she crosses to the starboard side. “Some of these boards are really falling apa--”
The rest is lost to her shriek as the floor underneath her snaps. Her foot goes through the wood. She drops the lantern and scrambles to stay upright. The soggy planks slip from her grasp as she falls backwards, and then: water, the icy rush of it closing over her head.
She fights back a gasp at the sudden cold. With her knee trapped in the joists, she can’t get her feet under her to kick to the surface. Her hands sweep out, flailing desperately. Something hard slams against her neck. She twists at the waist; the sunken lantern illuminates the long shadow of the boat. She digs her fingers into the wood. The cold saps at what strength she has, her muscles refusing to work as she tries to push herself out of the water. Her lungs ache; her heartbeat thuds inside her skull. Down in the murky depths below, a long shadow reaches towards her. Fingers, then hands seize her waist; her skin hits the cold air. Sloane blinks away the muddy haze that coats her eyes and sucks in a lungful of blessed oxygen.
“Sloane!” Bryce shouts, as if he was expecting to pull out someone else. He ropes an arm around her back and helps her up out of the water. “Jesus, you scared the shit out of--” the rest of his words are lost to an undignified oof as Sloane wraps her arms around his neck.
“Thanks.”
His hands come up to rest along her back, gently rubbing there to warm her frozen skin.
“I would say don’t mention it, but please do. The notoriety of me saving your life needs to make its way back to the hospital, so Rahul will finally go on a date with me.”
She fights the urge to roll her eyes.
“You would be concerned about getting a leg over while mine is still stuck.”
“Oh, whoops. Sorry, here, I’ll...” Sitting back on his heels, he steadies her against him and helps her shimmy out of the hole she’s made. Despite how saturated the planks are, her jeans are torn along her knee, where blood wells across several scratches. “Ouch,” he hisses.
“Nothing a few bandages and a tetanus shot won’t fix,” she assures. Wobbling as she stands, Sloane limps over to the storage chest in the corner. The blanket she finds is tattered and smells of mold, but it’s better than braving the night’s chill in just her soaked sweater. “Alright, I want out of this place like yesterday.”
Bryce picks up his lantern and nods, following her out onto the shore and back onto the path.
------
“And, I don’t know, he’s also distant with me sometimes, ya know? He’s hot, then he’s cold. He’ll flirt with me and agree to a date, but then he bails at the last second.”
“I get you.”
“That’s why I’m coming to you, oh wise one,” Bryce says with a grin. “Teach me your ways of dealing with difficult guys.”
Sloane laughs, the sound echoing through the quiet forest. Tucking the blanket tighter around her shoulders, she shakes her head.
“Trust me, if I knew how to, I wouldn’t have such problems with my own.”
The cell phone in her pocket burns at the reminder of Ethan -- not that she could contact him if she wanted, given that the freezing water had zapped the last of its battery.
“Yeah, but you could at least give me some pointers on how to wear him down.”
“Oh, my god, Bryce--”
“Okay, okay, not… ‘wear him down’... more, like, encouraging than that, I guess....” he trails off with a shrug.
Humming as she thinks over her plan of attack, Sloane slows her pace to drop behind Bryce to skirt around a fallen tree -- until she can see it no more. “Fuck!” Bryce curses from in front of her, rattling the lantern as if abuse will bring it back to life. “Batteries must be dead. Let me…” There’s a rustling of clothes, a brief, hopeful inhale, then: “Fuck. Phone’s dead too. Must be the cold or something.”
Sloane closes her eyes and opens them again, hoping that they will have miraculously adjusted to the dark -- but no such luck. With what little moonlight seeps through the canopy and the dusting of fog that’s rolled in, it’s hard to see farther than a few feet ahead. It will make this slow-going trek of theirs even slower. She scans the woods surrounding them and stops when she sees a pinprick of light back down the trail.
“I have an idea,” she says, “but you’re not going to like it.”
He does not, in fact, like her idea. But even he can’t argue against it. Besides, they’d only made it about a half-mile up the path, and the boathouse wasn’t that far back.
Which is how Sloane comes to be sitting on the log, trying her best to ignore the darkness pressing in on her from all sides. If Aurora were here, she would be explaining that being afraid of the dark is just a concept carried over from early hominid days. Then again, if Aurora were here, she wouldn’t have had to send Bryce back for the other lantern, and they’d be back at the house by now. Sloane knows she should keep moving to stay warm, but she’s cold and wet and her knee is throbbing something awful.
She’s uncertain of how much time passes before that silly bundle of nerves in her stomach morphs into the proper weight of worry. Bryce should be back by now. She knows he made it to the boathouse because the light through the trees is gone now. Her eyes have since adjusted to the night, which means it’s been at least thirty minutes. Maybe that lantern died, too, she reasons. Sloane listens for his familiar cursing, or his footsteps on the path -- but there’s nothing. The nighttime noises of the forest are gone: no animals, no birds, no wind. The stillness is nothing short of eerie, especially when she feels that now-familiar sensation of being watched.
“Bryce?” she chances.
From out of the black, she can hear someone walking down the path.
“Bryce!” she shouts, struggling to her feet. “Sienna? Aurora? Is that you?”
Whoever it is doesn’t respond. She starts down the trail towards them, cursing when she nearly trips over a rock. “Seriously, guys, I’m not in the mood--”
An awful sound echoes out of the dark, like a high-pitched whistle played over radio static.
She freezes, pebbles and twigs skidding across the dirt at her sudden halt. Every hair on her body stands on-end, her muscles locked as adrenaline races through her. Sloane swallows and clenches her blanket tighter.
The high-low tone of the whistle sounds again. Whatever’s out there is just beyond the reach of her vision. Sloane wheels around, her gaze darting across the shadows, as if she’ll be able to even see-- a light. It’s several hundred feet out in the forest, back in the direction of the house. It’s too far away to make out who’s holding it. It has to be Bryce, though -- playing a prank on her, as if she’d find this sort of thing funny in the state she’s in.
She bites back a curse and hurries after him as best she can, keeping low to the ground in an effort to hide from whatever animal is out here with them. The trail becomes rougher, more overgrown as she trudges through the leaves and shoves away sticker bushes. Forced to waste precious time watching where she’s going, she glances up only to keep track of the light that grows closer every second.
The whistle comes again -- louder, closer now. Whatever it is, it’s still following her. Sloane pushes through a thicket and stumbles into a clearing. Tucked between a small grove of pines in the center is a cabin. With the caved-in roof, sagging porch, and front steps that form nothing more than a woodpile, it’s obvious the place has long stood abandoned. Sitting on the porch and casting a glow into the open doorway is a lantern -- the same make as the others. Approaching the steps, she slowly leans up and snatches the lantern from the porch.
“No fucking way,” she mutters to herself. “I don’t care if it is a bobcat out here, I’m not hiding in the Evil-Dead-looking-ass cabin.”
The dark silhouettes of the trees rustle under the cold wind that blows through the glade. Carried with it is a different sound: voices, all slurred together, but forming one syllable. She steps away from the cabin and back towards the forest, straining to make it out. Her name, she realizes with relief. They’re calling her name.
She sucks in a breath to yell back when movement catches her eye. Something dark curls away from the tree line, only to dart into the tall grass when she swings the lantern in its direction. Sloane squints at the underbrush it disappeared into, waiting for it to appear again. For a few, blessed moments, she thinks it’s run off, that it’s finally given up.
Until a black shadow crawls out of the underbrush towards her, shrieking, braying like an animal in pain. It’s an ear-splitting cry, echoing across the clearing. Sloane tightens her grip on the lantern and bolts. Ducking back into the trees, she heads in a single direction, knowing that she’ll either hit the lake or the house -- of, if she runs far enough, the town.
Shoving through low-hanging branches, she glances over her shoulder to see the shadow chasing her, peeling itself out of the shadows as it moves between the trees, somehow darker than the black surrounding them. Her foot hits a patch of wet leaves and she slips, skidding down the hillside and tumbling out onto a stretch of asphalt. She grits her teeth against the pain in her leg and crawls forward into the middle of the road. With no time for hesitating, she pushes to her feet and runs, hoping she’s picked the right direction.
It wails again, in the trees to her left, scurrying across the hillside after her.
“Fuck off!” she screams.
Another noise comes roaring out of the dark, drowning out her cry. Lights -- searing, blinding -- swing around the curve. Brakes squeal as the car swerves, narrowly missing her; glass shatters as Sloane staggers to the roadside, her lantern cracking as it hits the pavement and rolls off into the grass. The guard rail is like ice beneath her palm where she clutches it, using it to stay upright as her heart threatens to vacate her body through her throat. The hillside is drenched in red from the car’s tail lights.
“Sloane!”
Ethan -- it’s him, his car, he’s here, but he should be in Boston, shouldn’t he? He was when he texted her and that was only an hour ago so why is he here and how did he-- all of her panicked thoughts cease when he folds her into his arms and hugs her tight. The night around them is still, save for the purr of the engine and the soft dinging of the door ajar warning.
“What the hell were you thinking, standing in the middle of the road like that?” he hisses, pulling her back to pin her down with his glare. “You could’ve-- I could’ve killed you.”
“You’re here,” she whispers.
Her lips are numb from the cold and shock. She reaches up for the blanket, then realizes that she must’ve lost it somewhere along the way.
“Of course I’m here. You really need to stop scaring the hell out of me, you know that.” His brow furrows as he frowns, taking in the state of her. He slips off his own coat and bundles it around her. “Honey, you’re freezing. Let me--”
“We have to go,” she urges, remembering what’s waiting for her, out in the forest. Grabbing hold of his hand, she starts tugging him towards the car. “There’s -- in the woods, there was -- I don’t know, this thing, and it kept screaming, it was horrible--”
Ethan shushes her rambling and guides her into the car, buckling her seatbelt when her hands won’t stop shaking. She tucks her nose into the collar of his coat, breathing in the comforting scent of his cologne. Sliding into the driver’s seat, he backs the car up and turns back towards the estate. With one hand on the wheel, the other finds hers and holds tight.
“Your friends called me when they couldn’t find you, wanted to know if I’d heard from you, in case you’d made it to somewhere with a working phone. I called you-- well, more than I’d care to admit, though it was obvious your phone was dead.”
“How did you get here so fast?” she wonders aloud.
“I got here around twelve-thirty, did a sweep of the woods. Around one I started driving around, hoping that I’d come across you in case you made it to the road.” He gives her a worried glance before returning to the road. “The others have been out with the sheriff’s office and the owners, searching the woods.”
“But I… that doesn’t make any sense,” she tells him with a shake of her head. “It wasn’t even midnight when me and Bryce started back, and he was gone for twenty, maybe thirty minutes. And then I saw him-- well, not him, but at the time I thought it was him being an asshole-- and then that… thing chased after me and I got turned around, sure. But it couldn’t have been more than an hour.”
“Sloane, it’s nearly three in the morning.”
Her immediate reaction is to protest, but the concern in his tone and the clock on his dash render her mute. Which is for the best, she realizes later after pulling up to the house and seeing the driveway choked with cars: Bryce’s, the Bell’s, and several police cruisers. Modern floodlights tucked below the eaves turn the dark house into a bright beacon. Blue and red lights of the cruisers swirl across the lawn. As soon as they pull up, her friends race over to the car and wrap her into a hug. One of the cops takes her statement, ignoring Ethan’s insistence about getting her home and taking it over the phone instead.
“Must’ve been a coyote,” the cop tells her after she’s finished. “We get a lot of reports of them out here, being so close to the state park.”
“A coyote,” Sloane repeats.
“Well, sure,” he says with a shrug. “Unless you think it was something else?”
She doesn’t have an answer for that. Having dealt with her fair share of wildlife coming down from the mountains and into her backyard growing up, she can’t remember ever hearing anything similar. Even her grandfather’s tales about the Wampus cat, her favorite spooky story as a kid, didn’t hold a candle to… to whatever was out there.
After the cops leave and the Bells lock up, her friends pile into Bryce’s car for the ride home. Though not before Bryce shares with her his own experience with the mysterious shadow. However, he’d gotten a good look with the lantern.
“It wasn’t an animal,” he whispers to her. “It was her. It was Maggie, I swear it.”
Sloane didn’t know what to say to that. So she hadn’t said anything, just squeezed his hand and hugged him goodbye. Returning to Ethan’s car, she settled into the passenger seat, thankful for the change of clothes he had in the trunk -- and the first aid kit, of course.
With the classical music floating out of the speakers and the warmth of his hand in hers again, it would’ve been easy for Sloane to close her eyes. She can’t help it, though, when they back out of the drive. She looks up to the long row of windows. It could be a trick of the headlights, but something watches them from around the lace curtains. As they start to pull away, it slinks back into the shadows of the house.
------
Author’s notes and what-have-yous:
The inspiration for the Angler Estate is the abandoned Uplands Mansion in Baltimore, MD. If you like urbex stuff, I highly recommend looking up some videos of it on YouTube. It’s a gorgeous place, despite all the vandalism.
The owners’ surname being Bell is a fun nod to the Bell Witch Cave, my state’s claim to supernatural fame. The mention of The Evil Dead cabin is another poke, since the 1981 original was filmed an hour away from where I live.
The “watch where you step” line is pulled directly from Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.
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